Chang Le pushed open the door to the hospital room, and his long-awaited father and mother appeared vividly before him.
He forcibly suppressed the tumultuous emotions in his heart and, with a choked voice, said, "Dad, Mom, I've come to see you."
The annual opening remarks, nearly 20 years of responses echoed only by the sound of wind, rain, and rustling leaves, and now...
"Lezi? What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to come? Your dad is fine, the doctors have checked him. You're in your final year of high school now, every minute and every second of your time is precious." Tan Xiaoya scolded.
"Just let him be. If he doesn't see, Lezi won't feel reassured. It won't take much time anyway. Sit down." Chang Xueqin chuckled.
"Yeah." Chang Le sat down on the other side of Chang Xueqin, earnestly observing his father. The lively expression before him matched the memories in his mind, like a puzzle game, gradually completing from fragments to seamless wholeness, just like the memory of his young, elegant, and intellectual father.
Nervous, yet joyful.
Chang Le's silence and focus made Chang Xueqin think he was worried.
"Lezi, Dad is fine, just a bit tired. The doctor has checked him and said resting for a few days will be fine." Chang Xueqin comforted.
Chang Le squeezed Chang Xueqin's hand, then looked at his mother, Tan Xiaoya.
In Chang Le's memory, he had two mothers.
The confident and radiant mother before the college entrance examination, and the haggard and aging mother after the examination.
But now, his mother was so confident, elegant, and beautiful, radiating with splendor.
How wonderful!
"Mom!" Chang Le released Chang Xueqin's hand, walked over to Tan Xiaoya, and hugged her, silently saying to himself, "Long time no see."
"You child, you were fine in the morning, what's wrong now? Your dad is fine, hurry back to school." Tan Xiaoya was momentarily stunned, then smiled and patted Chang Le's face.
After sitting in the hospital room for a while, Chang Le finally relaxed and left the hospital briskly.
Not long after Chang Le left, Chang Xueqin and Tan Xiaoya began to discuss.
"Xueqin, did you notice something strange about Lezi's emotions? It seemed like he was on the verge of tears at any moment?"
"Lezi is not a child anymore, he's already an adult. Whatever you can think of, he can think of too."
"Yeah, we really have to thank our lucky stars."
Not long after Chang Le left, the secretary arrived with a group of people at the hospital room.
Compared to the solemn and sad atmosphere of the emergency room, this place was undoubtedly much more relaxed.
"Secretary Qingyun?" Chang Xueqin propped himself up with both hands and half-sat up.
"Oh... you don't need to get up, don't get up. Rest is the priority. Comrade Xueqin, what did the doctor say?" The secretary helped Chang Xueqin up and asked.
"Secretary, the doctor said it's not a big problem, just some anemia. Resting for a few days should be fine."
"That's good, that's good! But still, we can't take it lightly. Even small problems need attention, otherwise they'll accumulate into big problems. This is the same principle as our work. We still need to coordinate and balance, do well in our work, and not neglect our health. Rest when necessary."
"Secretary, you're right."
"You're Comrade Xueqin's partner, right?"
"Secretary, hello."
"As expected, they are as dazzling as rumored."
"Secretary, you're too kind."
"This is not just my evaluation, they all say so. I heard you're also a doctor?"
"Yes, Secretary, I'm the ultrasound doctor at this hospital."
"Then you haven't fulfilled your responsibility. You can't just take care of the crowd, you can't neglect your own husband."
"Secretary, you're right, I'll pay more attention in the future."
"The same goes for other comrades, you must take care of your own health. This is an extraordinary period. The lessons from this accident are extremely painful. We must deeply reflect on it, thoroughly investigate the underlying issues behind this accident, solve them, and resolutely prevent similar situations from happening again. We can't afford it, nor can we tolerate it."
After Li Qingyun and his group left, Tan Xiaoya sighed.
"These leaders, they always speak so tactfully..."
"That's basic etiquette," Chang Xueqin chuckled. "But don't underestimate those words. Those who don't understand may think they're just empty words, but those who do can discern a lot of subtleties."
"Then why, after serving as an official for so many years, do you still speak plainly like us ordinary folks?"
"Hehe, that's why they're leaders, and I'm just a doer."
"Being a doer is good. They said so much, yet it feels like they didn't say anything at all, giving a sense of disconnect. I don't want you to become like that."
"Actually, it depends on the occasion. They speak very simply in private."
On Chang Le's side,
Chang Le walked out of the hospital, feeling relaxed all over, looking up at the sky, which was unusually blue, bright, and clear.
He went to the bus stop to wait for the bus, noticing a row of storefronts behind the platform, including a welfare lottery shop.
He immediately thought of the "luck" icon that occasionally appeared in the corner of his eye, along with the exaggerated endless luck value, and some thoughts formed in his mind.
In games, there's this thing called luck. Without leaving the newbie village, you can randomly kill a monster and get a bunch of orange, red, and a few purple-gold equipment drops, making it hard to even find white equipment.
So, could there be many possibilities in reality too?
Winning the lottery jackpot shouldn't be too far-fetched, right?
He turned and walked into the welfare lottery shop, spending two dollars on a random lottery ticket.
Back at school, he met his homeroom teacher, Yuan Weijian.
Yuan Weijian didn't ask about Chang Le's unexcused absence, as he had heard some rumors.
It's hard not to know about such a big event.
"Chang Le, is your father okay?" Yuan Weijian asked.
"Thank you for your concern, Teacher, my dad is fine," Chang Le replied.
"That's good. Go to class quickly. Although your grades in this monthly exam passed the benchmark, it's still dangerous. You must work hard to stay above the safety line."
The so-called safety line is 30 points higher than the passing score, otherwise there's a high probability of not being able to fill in the desired college.
"I will, please rest assured, Teacher," Chang Le nodded.
Back in the classroom, he flipped through the math test paper from the previous class.
Barely passing, with a score of 95.
Looking at the specific questions, his head felt dizzy.
After so many years, he had almost forgotten everything.
He couldn't even remember a few math symbols, let alone formulas.
Now, asking him to do it, the score would probably be between 9 and 5 with a decimal point in between.
Chang Le felt a headache and dizziness.
God had already been generous enough; he had to face this small problem with effort.
"Do your best and leave the rest to fate!"
On the podium, the English teacher emphasized verb tenses.
Chang Le took out his freshman math textbook and started reading from the first page.
The day passed like this, and it was 10 p.m. when evening self-study ended.
Chang Le hurried home following his memory as fast as he could.
No one was at home. Tan Xiaoya called and asked him to arrange his own time as she needed to accompany Chang Xueqin.
Returning home, Chang Le didn't have time to reminisce in his room. Instead, he opened his computer to search for the latest winning numbers, then took out his lottery ticket to check them one by one.
1, 2, ... 6, all the red numbers matched;
the blue number... also matched.
First prize this issue: 5 winning tickets, each with a prize.
Chang Le double-checked several times, and the jackpot was confirmed without a doubt.
Before confirming, Chang Le imagined countless possible emotions.
But facing this moment, his mood was surprisingly calm, or rather, slightly excited.
Excitement was also expected, as it was his first time winning in two lifetimes.
However, the stimulation of money was far less precious than the safety and health of his parents.
The dreamlike reunion diluted much of the surge and excitement brought by money.
NEXT