Chapter 1: Medical Certificate (1/2)

Translator: Ruriko

It was snowing when Zhishu He walked out of the hospital. Snowflakes were swirling in the air, and then fell on his long eyelashes, slowly melting into icy water. He blinked and finally realized that it was winter now.

The winter in Beijing was very cold, but his heart was much colder than it. Zhishu He shivered and wrapped himself in the scarf round his neck tight, with a crumpled paper in his hand-- it was a medical certificate.

He headed for the bus stop and waited for a bus to come. His fingers were stiff with cold, but he still tried to dial a number that he was so familiar with. As time went by, he sank into desperation as no one answered the phone. He kept dialing but it was in vain.

Zhishu He screwed the paper up and tossed it into the dustbin, feeling disappointed and frustrated.

Half an hour later, the bus finally came. He got on the bus and sat in a window seat. There were few people on the bus, quiet and serene, which relaxed his suppressed anxieties. He pressed his forehead onto the glass window and dialed the number again. This time someone answered, ”Hello.”

”It's snowing now. Winter is coming,” Zhishu He said in a low, soft voice, tears quietly streaming down his cheeks. They had been together for fourteen years, but now something changed.

On the other end of the line, Wenxu Jiang, who stayed with his new lover, signaled the young man beside him to be quiet and asked impatiently, ”What's up? I'm still working overtime in my office.” Obviously, he was tired of Zhishu He's puzzling remarks.

”You haven't been home for a long time. Can you come back this evening?” Zhishu begged as he rubbed the silver ring around his right ring finger over and over again, tears welling up in his sad eyes, crossed his face and fell down onto the back of his hand.

Wenxu Jiang got a feeling in his bones that something had happened to Zhishu He, so he asked, ”What's wrong?”

Zhishu He didn't answer his question; instead, he asked again, ”Can you come back this evening? In our hometown, we always eat dumplings when it snows. I will make some dumplings for you.”

”No, I'm busy now,” Wenxu Jiang said decidedly as he grew weary of Zhishu He's monotonous personality. ”Stay at home and don't do anything. I'll ask Assistant Song to send some dumplings to you, okay? Now I'm going to work again, bye.” He hung up the phone without hesitation after saying that.

Zhishu He's heart ached for Jiang's refusal to return home. He slowly put his cell phone into his coat pocket just like a soulless walking dead.

Wenxu Jiang was the president of his company. Did he really have so much work to do that he even had no time to have dinner with Zhishu? Nonsense.

The real reason was that Jiang had a lover outside.