Mr. Bai Juyi, an elderly man, resides in the internal dicine ward 203 at Ditan Hospital. Counting the ti Zhu Shijun was hospitalized, this is Xiao Xian’s second ti entering a hospital, making her quite familiar with the place, although such familiarity isn’t really a good thing.
On the way, Feng Xing ntioned that Zhuo Feng was also still in the hospital. Just before leaving the house, Xiao Xian saw the callia that she rescued from Mr. Bai’s undeserving nephew and thought that bringing so flowers for a hospital visit seed appropriate, so she brought it along by so twist of fate.
Ditan Hospital is a top-tier hospital, where both the nurses and doctors have a great attitude. Hearing that Xiao Xian was there to visit a patient, they directed her where to go.
Seeing the pot of callia in Xiao Xian’s hands, the young nurse at the reception couldn’t help but be impressed and complinted, "Young lady, your callia looks very beautiful, it just has a few too few flowers blooming."
Upon their comnts, Xiao Xian scrutinized the pink callia in her hands. The plant itself wasn’t very tall, about sixty to seventy centiters, its leaves as green as jade, without a single speck of dust. There were only three buds on the plant.
The first blossom was exceedingly beautiful, uniformly pink, while the other two were just buds, with the sepals enveloping the blossoms, looking rather pitiful.
"This sixty-year-old dwarf callia, propagated by cuttings, has its lower branches frequently pruned, resulting in a much smaller canopy compared to other similar-aged tall callias. It only blooms three flowers a year and is also known as the ’Red Powder Eighteen Scholars.’ ’Eighteen’ doesn’t refer to the eighteen different colors of callia ntioned in the novels, but to the eighteen petals each blossom has, diagonally arranged, pure and beautiful, appearing as if they’re eighteen young ladies, each standing gracefully."
Red Powder Eighteen Scholars? What a refined na, it’s just regrettable that it almost fell into the hands of those who don’t appreciate flowers, thought Xiao Xian.
However, just from its literal sense, the market value of this "Pink Eighteen Scholar" sixty-year-old callia couldn’t be low.
Earlier, the villains apparently didn’t take the plant because, despite its beautiful bloom, it had too few flowers. If they knew it was the rare Eighteen Scholars callia, who knows how upset they would be.
The room was a double room and the conditions were quite good. The elderly man in the bed next to Mr. Bai Juyi had passed away last night due to a sudden heart attack.
When Xiao Xian entered, a nurse was changing the sheets.
Hospitals are places filled with hope but also rife with despair, welcoming new life every day and bidding farewell to those who pass.
Mr. Bai Juyi’s bed was near the window. Looking down through the sparkling clean glass, one could see the red maple trees planted in the hospital, fiery red. When the wind blew, leaves gracefully fell to the ground.
"Mr. Bai, I’ve co to see you," Xiao Xian carefully placed the pot of flowers at the bedside, adding a bright pop of color to the overly sterile room.
"Cough, cough," Mr. Bai Juyi turned his head, and as soon as he spoke, he started coughing. He too noticed the pot of pink callias, as if seeing sweet rain, a smile squeezing out on his desert-dry face.
A pang hit Xiao Xian’s heart. The old man had lost a lot of weight. She couldn’t tell the precise monts of life and death, but seeing his dry eyes, hunched back, and skin clinging to his bones, she could guess that his days were numbered.
Despite the caring attention from the kind couple, Zhuo Feng and Feng Xing, over the past few days, Mr. Bai Juyi, like autumn leaves, was slowly walking towards the end of his life.
Unlike Zhu Shijun, Mr. Bai Juyi hadn’t even tried to fight his illness. Heart disease and its resulting complications eroded both his body and will.
"Mr. Bai, don’t talk, have so water first," Xiao Xian went to pour so water. Zhuo Feng wasn’t in the room; on the cabinet beside the bed, there was a pot of porridge and a few apples.
"Young lady, are you on break?" After giving Xiao Xian a Hami lon, Mr. Bai Juyi had waited at ho for a few days, hoping Xiao Xian would co by to borrow an onion or pick a lon, just so there would be more people around the house.
He waited more than two weeks, never seeing the lively and smart girl again. Later, when Zhuo Feng took him to the hospital, he was told that the young girl was attending a residential middle school, coming ho only once a month.
"Yes, my school is holding a sports day. Mr. Bai, let tell you about so fun things at school. There’s a really good Sichuanese food stall on our school’s comrcial street, and the couple who runs it makes delicious chili sauce," Xiao Xian tried to talk about happier things. Before, Zhu Shijun always enjoyed hearing about her day at school, with one of them talking and the other listening.
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