Wei Qian arrived home at 3:30 in the morning.

He stood at the door and pinched his nose, took a deep breath towards the door, and then slowly exhaled. On the long journey home, his anxiety gradually subsided, replaced by a deep reluctance to push the door open and enter the house.

Of course, it's not possible not to go in.

He opened the door gently and found the soft reading light in the living room was on. Wei Qian was startled and looked inside. He saw Wei Zhiyuan sitting on the sofa, flipping through a fat book as big as a modern Chinese dictionary. He had a pair of bright dark circles under his eyes. He raised his head and smiled at him.

Wei Qian lowered his voice and asked, "Why aren't you sleeping yet?"

"Waiting for you," Wei Zhiyuan said as he stood up. "Have you eaten yet? There's nothing else. There's nothing else at home. Can I cook you a bowl of frozen dumplings?"

Wei Qian: "Why are you waiting for me? I want to eat, but I can't cook."

Wei Zhiyuan boiled some water without even turning his head: "I'm afraid you'll be worried."

Wei Qian took a red-eye flight for more than four hours, and then rushed home from the airport, which was another nearly one-hour drive. Every muscle in his body was sore. Logically, he should have been extremely exhausted, but he was already accustomed to this situation and hardly thought about whether he was "tired" or not.

But when the night was quiet, the fact that someone was waiting for him at home seemed to pull his spine out.

Wei Qian sat down on a small stool in the dining room, his hunched back pressed against the cold wall, his shirt wrinkled into a ball, and his open collar revealing his increasingly prominent collarbone and obvious neck muscles.

Wei Zhiyuan put the frozen dumplings into the boiling water, then turned around and poured a cup of water. He pinched a handful of lotus seeds and put them in to soak, then handed them to Wei Qian: "It helps reduce internal heat."

Wei Qian leaned against the corner between the locker and the wall like a boneless person, and asked with a somewhat wooden expression: "What's going on?"

"He's in the ICU. He just had surgery today. No visitors are allowed for the time being," Wei Zhiyuan pulled a chair and sat down next to him. "I talked to the doctor today. He said that after the situation stabilizes a little in a few days, he can arrange half an hour of visiting time every day for family members. Don't worry. There's no point in worrying."

Wei Qian understood what he meant - yes, there was no point in being anxious, as life and death were determined by fate.

He remained silent and drank water soaked with lotus seeds, which was so bitter that his tongue was numb.

He always thought that Old Lady Song was a bag of explosives ready to blow up the bunker at any time, but he forgot that this bag of explosives was already over seventy years old.

A few years ago, she slipped and fell, but nothing happened except scaring passers-by, and she got up on her own. After that incident, she proudly boasted that falling was not a big deal, and when she was young, she could throw a 200-pound sack onto a car by herself. I don't know if it was true or just bragging.

In order to save a few dollars, she walked ten miles every week to the morning market to carry home the vegetables they would eat for the week. It was common for her to carry ten or even twenty kilograms of vegetables, which were too heavy for a young man to lift. She would walk all the way back carrying them and would never take the bus.

Her famous saying is: They can't make a penny from me.

…even if they no longer lack money.

Her behavior had remained rude for decades, and even after moving to a relatively upscale neighborhood, there was no change. There was no evil old lady here to yell at her all day, so she soon found new ways to embarrass the three brothers - running red lights, spitting everywhere, blowing her nose on the side of the road, and then wiping her hands on the nearby street lamps or telephone poles.

For a while, the neighborhood committee advocated civilized communities and cracked down on spitting, with a fine of five yuan per person caught. But Old Lady Song took advantage of her seniority and acted like a spoiled brat, doing whatever she wanted, causing the people with red armbands to avoid her later.

Although Wei Qian was reluctant to buy any good things for himself, he was not reluctant to spend money on her. He had bought her royal jelly, American ginseng, cordyceps sinensis and other things. Unfortunately, the old thing did not appreciate it. Not only did she scold him in person for having nothing better to do, but she would also sell them behind his back - she was always ungrateful from the inside out.

She thought that those were things for the wives of officials and landlords to eat, and that using them would shorten her life.

Wei Qian's finances gradually improved, and he gave her 5,000 yuan in pocket cash every month. She was very happy with it, but she would just hold the money in her hands, counting it a dozen times before locking it up.

She holds her head high and chest out every day, thinking that she is now an old lady from a wealthy family. However, this "old lady from a wealthy family" still gets up early every day and sets up a stall on the roadside to sell boiled corn and tea eggs.

What a useless, uneducated and uncultured old bastard.

She would always try to make him unhappy, as if she couldn't live without a few arguments. But they had been together for so many years, and Wei Qian could hardly imagine how he would live without her.

"Brother, eat it while it's hot." Wei Zhiyuan's words brought Wei Qian back to life.

Wei Qian looked at the bowl of steaming frozen dumplings and lost his appetite. The bitter lotus seeds made him lose his appetite. However, he still took it reluctantly and mechanically forced himself to eat it.

"Where is Xiaobao?" Wei Qian asked.

Wei Zhiyuan said softly: "I am tired of crying, so I am going to sleep."

Wei Qian couldn't help but slow down his eating speed as it became increasingly difficult for him to swallow.

Wei Zhiyuan continued, "The worst possible scenario is of course... I'd better tell you the best case scenario. If grandma can be rescued, the best scenario is that she can walk on her own and take care of herself. It's impossible to recover to the way she was before. Even if she does, her brain cells will age and shrink faster. It can be delayed with medication, but it can only maintain the status quo or get worse. It can't be repaired."

Wei Qian was not a professional medical student, but he had a background in life science, and there was some overlap between their majors. When he heard this, he immediately understood.

If that continues, the end result will be nothing more than dementia.

He didn't want to eat anymore and put the bowl and chopsticks aside.

Wei Zhiyuan explained: "If that happens, she may need someone to take care of her. I can do other things, but some things are too personal. It's not convenient for me. I can't rely on Xiaobao. I may need to hire a nanny. Brother, do you think this is okay?"

Wei Qian was silent for a long time, then nodded: "Don't tell Xiaobao these words."

Wei Zhiyuan: "I know, she was terrified."

Wei Zhiyuan told him the current situation bit by bit, analyzing and discussing how to deal with different situations and what to do in the future. His steady tone and attitude gradually eased Wei Qian's confusion.

Wei Qian finally transitioned from "unimaginable" to accepting this reality, and he had a clear idea - she would not die, no matter what she became in the future, he would take care of her in her old age; if she was lucky enough to die without suffering, then he would give her a dignified funeral.

Wei Qian suddenly raised his head and looked at Wei Zhiyuan, and asked him: "You said Xiaobao was scared. If something happened to grandma, wouldn't you be afraid?"

Wei Zhiyuan held up one of his hands and squeezed it gently. Before Wei Qian could feel anything unusual, he quickly let go and stood up. "What would you do if I got scared too?"

Wei Qian was stunned for a moment. The shadow of Wei Zhiyuan standing up was made even taller by the light, as if he was completely trapped inside. He thought, why is this kid's words becoming more and more touching?

During the initial period, Wei Qian went to the hospital all day to check on Old Mrs. Song. Lao Xiong and his team's inspection took a particularly long time, which forced Wei Qian to take care of his work at the company.

Fortunately, Wei Zhiyuan moved back from school completely, and Wei Qian felt that things were not as tight as he had imagined.

Wei Zhiyuan was like an extra brain for him, thinking and doing most of the things for him every day.

He was like a sapling that gradually grew taller, supporting half of the crumbling roof.

Fortunately, Mrs. Song did not die. She was rescued and left the intensive care unit after ten days.

Her words were no longer clear, but she was not stupid yet.

Once admitted to the general ward, the family members began to get busy. Xiaobao was still in high school, and she had to run all the way to the hospital every day to squeeze in time to deliver meals... and such a large amount of activity seemed to stimulate her growth. Two months later, she was a 17 or 18-year-old girl, but her pants were much shorter. The length of her puberty challenged the limits of human beings.

Wei Zhiyuan has a heavy workload - not just school work, he may also be learning other things. Every time Wei Qian sees him, he has at least one or two brick-like books around him.

Wei Zhiyuan had to run back and forth, and his time was greatly reduced. Wei Qian had seen him several times sitting in front of the computer doing his homework at two or three in the morning, yawning, and sometimes he simply fell asleep while doing it.

Wei Qian never let him come to work the night shift again. He set up a camp bed in Old Lady Song's ward, and the company had to ask for a long vacation. After two months, Old Lady Song was discharged from the hospital.

There was no way. Ever since Old Mrs. Song regained her consciousness, she had firmly refused the caregiver.

When Wei Qian tried to talk to her about "finding a nanny to take care of her", Old Lady Song protested severely. She used her voice, which was as vague as if she was holding a piece of tofu, to make Wei Qian understand her idea. She was saying, "I am an old farmer, not the kind of person who orders people around."

Wei Qian said: "Oh my old ancestor, you are still living in the old feudal society. What's wrong?"

Old Mrs. Song glared and started to howl incoherently.

She would not think about wasting her family's time, delaying their work and study, and possibly losing more money. Although she was not stupid, her mind could not think so many ways, and she was even more stubborn than before she got sick.

Wei Qian smiled bitterly: "You really bully me. I am too embarrassed to curse at you. You are starting to take advantage of me, right?"

It was a rare occasion that Old Lady Song got the upper hand over him, and she was extremely proud.

Wei Zhiyuan carefully trimmed her severely deformed nails and asked Mrs. Song softly, "If you don't hire a nanny, will you let Xiaobao help you wipe your body, take a bath, and go to the toilet in the future?"

This sentence hit the nail on the head, and Old Lady Song fell silent.

Xiaobao just came in from outside, panting and carrying two thermos buckets of food. She only vaguely heard the sound and didn't understand the context, so she said rashly: "I can, I can! Grandma, it's okay, I'll serve you."

Old Mrs. Song didn't say anything, but she didn't agree to hire a nanny either.

As her body collapsed, she felt a little lost and had to become more conservative. In her opinion, this was a matter of principle.

But how could she bear to let Xiaobao take care of her?

Xiaobao grew up being spoiled. For the little girl, the most arduous work was just washing dishes and mopping the floor.

Caring for a patient is one of the most difficult things in the world. Old Mrs. Song has taken care of her parents-in-law, her husband and others until their death, and she knows this better than anyone else.

Finally, relying on her own perseverance to "throw a 200-pound sack onto the car", she exercised whenever she had time every day, and miraculously she was able to move slowly with the help of a crutch and the support of the wall.

When it comes to inner strength, no one is better than this old man who has lived for three quarters of a century.

On the day that Mrs. Song was discharged from the hospital, Wei Qian was originally going to pick her up, but that evening he received a call from their company's administrative office, saying that an important project was being promoted and that it now had to go through "three meetings and one floor" [Note], and he was asked to be present.

This major decision had to go through the "three committees and one layer" rules, which was a recently revised content of the company's articles of association and has been in effect for less than half a year. It was proposed by a professional manager that Lao Xiong poached from his father at the time. As their company gained some momentum and scale, it finally reached the stage of standardization and rapid development.

Wei Qian walked out of the ward and stood in the corridor, frowning and asking, "Which important project are you promoting?"

The other end told him: "It's the health resort project in City C last time."

Wei Qian asked bluntly: "Who pushed it? Is there something wrong with your brain?"

The other party heard his bad tone, hesitated for a moment, and said tremblingly: "It's Director Xiong."

Wei Qian: "Then transfer him to me now."

Administration: "He has gone home..."

Wei Qian: "What about talking about fish?"

Administration: "Maybe he's still on the plane. He said he'll be back before the meeting tomorrow."

Wei Qian cursed in a low voice. Usually, Sanpang was the one in charge of administration. Wei Qian didn't have much contact with them. He came and went in a hurry every day and didn't talk much. Later, most of the newly recruited employees were a little afraid of him.

The girl in charge of administration was even more unsure, and asked cautiously, "Then...can I ask if you are sure you can come tomorrow?"

Wei Qian sighed: "Something happened at home, this..."

"Brother, if you have something to do, go ahead." Wei Zhiyuan appeared behind him at some point, holding the ward door with his hand, looking like he was half-hugging him, "I'm here, don't worry."

Wei Qian glanced at him, then remained silent for two seconds. Finally, he said to the person on the other end of the phone, "Okay, I'll go over tomorrow."

He was not pretending, he really trusted Wei Zhiyuan.

Wei Zhiyuan had no classes the next morning, so he stayed in the hospital to keep watch that night. Wei Qian called Lao Xiong twice, but the other party did not answer. He had to tell Wei Zhiyuan and went out to find Lao Xiong to question him.

Lao Xiong was actually at home, pretending to be the grandson and not answering the phone.

The door was not locked, but loosely closed, and opened easily when pushed. Wei Qian stepped in and nearly fell over - there were several sticks of incense burning in Lao Xiong's house, making the place full of clouds and mist, and the air was as misty as the Fairyland.

The fathead fish was sick for some reason. He placed the sofa cushion on the ground as a futon, sat cross-legged on it, held a string of wooden prayer beads in his hand, and sat facing the wall. Hanging on the wall was a large-character copy of the Heart Sutra. The words were large and the lines were sparse, so it took up quite a lot of space.

Wei Qian didn't understand what was going on, but he knew at a glance that Sister Xiong was not at home.

The floor of the living room was covered with incense ash and tattered sofa cushions, leaving almost no room for footing. Wei Qian walked in like thunder, and asked with a tingling scalp: "What do you mean? Do you want to convert to Buddhism? Where's my sister?"

It seemed as if Lao Xiong had expected him to come. He didn't even turn his head when he heard the noise. "She's traveling out of town. If she were home, I wouldn't dare to do this. Please sit down."

Wei Qian looked at the other sofa cushion on the ground that he was pointing at, decisively ignored him, and sat on the sofa - he thought Old Xiong was crazy, but after hearing his ten-year fear of Sister Xiong, he reluctantly admitted that he was probably not completely crazy yet.

"What on earth do you want to..."

Lao Xiong raised his hand to stop him from speaking: "Wait a minute, I still have one last sutra to recite, wait for me for two minutes."

Then, he really began to lower his head and recite scriptures written in Sanskrit, which at first sounded like some strange bird calls.

Wei Qian waited for him to finish reading, and then, in accordance with the principle of respecting other people's religious beliefs, he patiently asked, "Have you started to believe in Buddhism?"

Old Bear: “I don’t believe it.”

Wei Qian pulled out a napkin and blocked his nose: "Don't believe it? If you don't believe it, why do you make your house look like a big opium den? Are you sick? It's stinking me to death."

The old bear said in a tone like a shaman: "I am looking for a place to rely on."

Wei Qian waved his hand: "You can rely on it however you want. I won't talk nonsense with you. Someone just called me to talk about the project in City C. What's going on?"

Old Bear got up from the ground awkwardly. "Oh, well, wait a minute. I'll get you a project proposal. It's China's first ecological resort villa complex. It's very attractive."

"Don't try to fool me with Zhang's tricks. You're not going to sell it to me," Wei Qian leaned heavily on the sofa. "Did you take the wrong medicine, Comrade Xiong Yingjun? Tell me, what is the core value of this sanatorium villa and cancer detection and inhibition center?"

"I told you, as the rich begin to pursue quality of life, health is..."

"Go to hell with your health. Do you know what health is?" Wei Qian interrupted him. "The health they pursue is prestige sports, organic food that acts as a psychological placebo, and rural farmhouses that can evoke childhood memories and make them feel young. How many people who believe in health care are willing to avoid seeing a doctor? They would rather practice qigong than listen to the doctor tell them what kind of cancer they have and how to treat it! Are you planning to turn this project into a hospice club?"

Lao Xiong was speechless for a moment, but he soon calmed down: "The mountains and rivers are beautiful and there is no pollution. For a place like this, the theme is just a gimmick. Mountain hot springs and the feeling of seclusion are what people really need. Villas will not have trouble selling."

Wei Qian said, "You are talking nonsense. Villa projects are inherently much riskier than other projects. Even if you really want to do it, can't you just build a row of them in the suburbs? Why go to that remote place where even local farmers can't see them? Who are you going to sell them to?"

Lao Xiong said: "I sell it to people who want to escape from the city, escape from all the stress and worries, and want to spend some time away from the world in a beautiful place with clear water and mountains."

Wei Qian said sarcastically: "A terminally ill patient who wants to wait for death in isolation from the world?"

Lao Xiong did not laugh, nor did he refute. He just looked at Wei Qian quietly and replied, "Family of a terminally ill patient."

Wei Qian first felt that he could not communicate with Lao Xiong today. He was just about to let go of his temper and get angry at this big brother who was always tolerant and gentle, but then he noticed something was wrong.

"Wait, Brother Bear, what do you mean?"

"She followed you and suffered countless hardships. When you finally wanted to treat her better, she didn't have time." Old Xiong's eyes turned red without warning. He turned his eyes to the wall covered with Buddhist scriptures. His expression gradually calmed down and returned to a kind of numb indifference. He stared at the scriptures and the Buddhist shrines, and said to Wei Qian as if lightly, "How do you think the family will want to make up for it? There is no way to make up for it. You say at this time, let this person use all his financial resources to build an artificial paradise for his family, while providing necessary medical services and various commercial services, so that they can escape from reality and enjoy life comfortably. Will he do it?"

Wei Qian looked at him almost in shock.

The old bear said, "If it were me, I would do it."