Gentlemen's Friends

Chapter 26 Part 1: Eight ([-])
"Uncle Ren, when will my father come back?"

"Well, hurry up," the tall man supported the little girl and let her get off the horse smoothly, "It will take a few days until he is in a better mood."

"Why didn't he even tell me a word, and went away..."

"At least he remembered to ask me to take care of you," the man comforted her, "don't worry."

"Um……"

"Why are you losing energy again, don't you like riding horses?" The man smiled and took the reins, "What else do you want to play, tell uncle."

Qu Ke lowered her head and rubbed against the grass on the ground: "I miss my father..."

Ren Ningyuan looked at her.

"Uncle Ren, tell me, could it be that I made Dad angry because he doesn't want me anymore..."

"Of course not." Ren Ningyuan patted her head, "He loves you the most. He has been under too much pressure recently and wants to go out to relax. The adults' affairs are very complicated and have nothing to do with you."

"My dad is outside alone, does it matter?"

"Don't worry, he is an adult, he can take care of you so well, and of course he will take care of himself."

The little girl rubbed her eyes: "Then will he remember to come back to me?"

Ren Ningyuan put his hand on top of her head: "Yes."

After returning to the villa from the racecourse, most of the things for the New Year have been delivered.In the past, Ren Ningyuan would always ask someone to send some to Qu Tongqiu. The man thanked him repeatedly every time, and took the trouble to describe to him how much his daughter liked and cherished.

Now that there is a lot of food and play, the little girl finally became interested, Ren Ningyuan opened a box of GODIVA black truffles for her, Qu Ke ate one, and was finally happy for the fragrant taste, but did not eat any more. Just put the lid on the box and put it away.

"Huh? Don't like it?"

"It's delicious, I want to keep it for Dad."

Ren Ningyuan sat beside her: "It's okay, there are many more. It's not like your father hasn't eaten before."

"No, my father has never tasted it at all. Every year you give us something, I eat all of it," Qu Ke sat there with tears in his eyes, "I am too greedy, so my father will not want me . Otherwise why didn't he take me with him?"

Ren Ningyuan wiped the little girl's face with a handkerchief: "Your father won't want you, don't think about it."

"Then," the little girl sobbed, "when will he come back to me?"

"It should be soon."

After dinner, Rong Liu came to pick up Qu Ke to play at Xiao's house as promised.The Xiao family has four young masters and young ladies who are about the same age as Qu Ke. They are all smart and beautiful. Rong Liu himself is also a big boy who can play and make trouble, and is very good at pleasing children.

Ren Ningyuan sent them to the car, smiled and waved goodbye.Let them have fun and have a good time, maybe Qu Ke won't ask Dad when he will come back.

He really couldn't answer her.

A child is the most sensitive and fragile creature in the world. He has only been with him for a few days, and he almost can't handle it, but he doesn't know how that man survived those ten years.

Ren Ningyuan was thinking about going back to ask the driver to prepare the car and go out, but he heard someone calling him behind him.

"Ren Ningyuan."

Looking back, Zhuang Wei stood there at some point, his face was paled by the deep black of his coat, and his boots were stained with mud.

Ren Ningyuan looked at him: "What's the matter?"

Two days after Qu Tongqiu's accident, Zhuang Wei also returned to China.Because of that man's matter, Zhuang Wei almost turned against him during this time, and even Chu Mo couldn't reconcile it.

"What else can it be?" Zhuang Wei snorted coldly, "Of course it's about Qu Tongqiu."

"Zhuang Wei, there is nothing to talk about between you and me about this matter," Ren Ningyuan frowned slightly, "I will give him an explanation, but I don't need to explain to you, you are nothing like him. We can't talk about any results Besides, there is nothing good to say about arguing, and I don't want to argue with you anymore. I want to talk about it after you get angry, and we don't have good contact recently, lest we really ruin our friendship."

Zhuang Wei smiled: "When did you become so talkative?"

Ren Ningyuan looked at him.

"Can't wait to send me away, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that I will hinder you, or are you afraid that I will expose you?"

Ren Ningyuan said lightly, "What do you want to say?"

"I've been looking for him everywhere these days, but I can't find him. I can't figure out where he went, what kind of ability he has, how can he go so far so fast?!"

"That's your business."

"But you never looked for him. How can you be so calm?"

"Zhuang Wei, he is an adult now."

"Stop pretending," Zhuang Wei couldn't bear it anymore, "he never left at all, let alone T city, he never even left the city! You know where he is better than anyone else, what have you done to him? !"

The two confronted each other, and the atmosphere was stiff and awkward. Ren Ningyuan looked at him for a while: "Zhuang Wei, since you were followed by someone and I couldn't find him, it means you think too much. Please go back."

He turned around and went back, Zhuang Wei shouted behind him: "Ren Ningyuan! What did he owe you? Why did you treat him like this?! Why don't you let him go? He has no ability to rob you, let alone seek revenge from you, you Why bother him?!"

"Even if he is a dog, he has been with you for so many years, you should let him go now! Do you have to kill him to be willing?! Is it that difficult to let him live?!"

Ren Ningyuan went around to look at the garden behind the house before returning to the house. Even in winter, there are still flowers in the garden. The gardener is diligent in taking care of it. Looking down from the upstairs window, it will still be a good view to calm the mood.It's just that the curtains have been lowered, obviously the people inside don't want to appreciate it now.

Ren Ningyuan went upstairs and entered a side hall. The villa is too big, and few people come here, only his visiting doctor friend is still there, flipping through the magazines on the shelf.

"How's it going."

"There is nothing wrong with all the inspections now, but it will happen sooner or later. He is too weak."

Ren Ningyuan thought thoughtfully: "He still refuses to eat?"

"It's not that he refuses to eat, it's that he doesn't respond to food at all."

The man in the guest room was very quiet, and he didn't see the need for two bodyguards standing guard outside.He sat in a daze most of the time, and occasionally muttered to himself.It's not impossible to let him eat. Forcibly stuffing food into his mouth to force him to swallow, he choked a few times, but he could only swallow it in shock, but the appearance of being forced helplessly in panic is so pitiful.

"I think he is living in his own world now, and he can't see anything outside..."

Ren Ningyuan interrupted him: "No, you worry too much. He can see. He can see me."

As soon as he appeared, the man would be hysterical, struggling like a trapped animal, hurting others and himself, it was useless to tie him up, and he had to be injected in the end.

"Ning Yuan, I can only treat him physically. Maybe you need to hire another psychotherapist..."

Ren Ningyuan said coldly, "Su Zhiyu, he is not a mental patient."

"Sorry, I was talking too much."

After a moment of silence, Ren Ningyuan asked, "How is he today?"

"Better than yesterday. Do you want to go in and see him?"

Ren Ningyuan didn't answer right away, he paused for a while before saying, "Is his current mood okay?"

"It's still okay to take another sedative today. If you don't mind."

"...No, I won't go in."

The man's body couldn't take it anymore.

Before leaving, Ren Ningyuan turned his head again: "If he refuses to eat, don't force him, just give him a nutritional injection."

Su Zhiyu looked at him: "Ning Yuan, it's not an option to go on like this. He shouldn't be my patient. I can say that I am one of the best doctors in T city, but I can't treat him."

"I know it all," Ren Ningyuan turned his back to him, "but you can keep him from breaking down. Just do it well."

"……it is good."

Ren Ningyuan came back the next day, the monitor had already been installed, and he could watch the man in the bedroom from the computer screen.The man was sitting neatly on the edge of the bed, with his hands on his knees, looking at the wall with a dazed and docile expression.

Ren Ningyuan looked at it for a while: "...he is very quiet."

"Yeah, much more peaceful than a few days ago."

That day the man completely lost control of his emotions and almost collapsed. He wanted him to calm down and tried his best to talk to him only after he calmed down.

It's finally calm now.

Ren Ningyuan breathed a sigh of relief, stared at the screen suddenly, straightened his back from the sofa: "Zhi Yu, who is he talking to?"

Su Zhiyu was also a little surprised: "...he's hallucinating."

"..."

"He wasn't like this when he was checked yesterday."

Ren Ningyuan looked at the screen: "I'll let you take care of him."

"Ning Yuan, as I said, I can only take care of his body."

Ren Ningyuan didn't speak again, and it took a long time before he said: "You go back."

When Chu Mo came, the living room hadn't turned on the light, and there was only the light of the computer screen in the darkness. The thin man on it started to walk around the room, walking back and forth, like a pendulum.

Ren Ningyuan was sitting on the sofa, Chu Mo stood beside him for a while, and said, "Do you want to hire a psychiatrist?"

"He's not mentally ill."

"Then you let him go, there is no good for him here."

"Let him go outside, how can he take care of himself in this state?"

Chu Mo looked at him: "Ning Yuan, admit it. You see, even you know that he has been driven crazy."

Ren Ningyuan replied after a while: "With a little more time, he will get better."

"Ning Yuan, don't lie to yourself. You are his illness."

The man on the screen was skinny and frightened, as if he was in a hurry to do something, he hurried from one end of the room to the other, and then from the other end to this end, clasping his fingers.

Chu Mo also left, and Ren Ningyuan sat there motionless, watching all night.

The car that was moving steadily in the rain came to a slow stop.

"what happened?"

"There's a traffic jam ahead, Mr. Ren."

The man in the back seat gave an "um" and looked down.The skinny man wrapped in a blanket was still curled up there motionless.

Ren Ningyuan let him pillow his leg, he was very quiet all the way, it was the effect of the medicine, but he was not stable, he also frowned and trembled slightly in pain in the forced sleep.

Ren Ningyuan reached out and touched his forehead, it didn't feel hot, but his lips were chapped, he knew that he was flustered.

The "buzzing" sound of the mobile phone vibrating was also very abrupt in the silence separated from the car, Ren Ningyuan quickly picked it up, and whispered: "Hello?"

"We're still on the way, just wait a little longer," Ren Ningyuan put one hand on the man's hair, "Are you ready?"

"There must be a large enough independent space, isolated from other mental patients, and no contact is allowed. Without my permission, no one can visit. Also, don't leave records."

"Even if someone asks, they have to say that they have never heard of this person... Yes, there is no such person as 'Qu Tongqiu'."

When he cut off the call and put down the phone, Ren Ningyuan lowered his head, facing the man's open eyes.The man's eyes were still chaotic, and he looked extraordinarily dazed because of the bloodshot eyes, but his expression gradually became sober and frightened.

Before Ren Ningyuan could speak, he had already struggled in the thin blanket that restricted his movement, and fled out in a ridiculous and pitiful way like a caterpillar.

Ren Ningyuan wanted to grab him: "Tong Qiu."

The man's strength in despair was astonishing. Ren Ningyuan was barely able to restrain his crazy resistance, and he was also a little embarrassed. He could only press his knees hard against his trembling legs and feet, pressing him down: "You Don't be afraid, I'm just taking you to the doctor."

The man's sunken cheeks were flushed with fear, he struggled desperately, and there was a hoarse voice in his throat.

Ren Ningyuan pressed him, making him almost unable to move: "Don't be afraid, I will visit you. When you are well, I will pick you up."

The man gradually ran out of strength in the futile struggle, whimpered, and for the first time showed a look that was almost begging.

All the usable parts of him have been dug up, leaving a worthless shriveled body about to be thrown into the madhouse.In the future, no one will be able to find him, and without leaving a trace, he will disappear from this world without a sound.

"Don't be afraid, it's okay, the doctor there will take good care of you..."

Ren Ningyuan was still coaxing him, firm and calm.Qu Tongqiu trembled, like a dying old horse, with tears in his eyes.

Suddenly, he didn't know where the strength came from, and he straightened his head suddenly, and bit down hard on the neck of the man who was approaching.

Ren Ningyuan finally let go of his hand this time, and in just a split second, the man rushed towards the car door in panic to escape.

"Mr. Ren!"

The car door was wide open, and Ren Ningyuan felt dizzy from blood loss in the rain that was caught in the wind.

"Mr. Ren, I'll take you to the hospital right away."

The driver hurried over to help him stop the bleeding and closed the car door.

The temporarily blocked traffic did not know when it resumed, the car behind honked its horn impatiently, it took Ren Ningyuan a while to realize that the man had finally left the enclosed space and fled outside.He didn't need to look, he also knew that everything outside the car had been seen.

Ren Ningyuan remained expressionless, and only closed his eyes amidst the slight sound of the car starting.

It is not difficult to find a man who is dripping like a frightened bird, no matter how small he is, among the well-dressed and decent people among the neat square high-rise buildings.

Boots stained with water and mud approached slowly, and a man in a long black coat held an umbrella and squatted down beside the dark corner where the man was hiding: "Qu Tongqiu."

The teeth of the man curled up in a ball were still chattering uncontrollably, whether it was because of the cold or something else.

"it's me."

"..."

"Do you still recognize me? I'm Zhuang Wei."

"..."

Zhuang Wei tentatively separated the man's cold fingers that were tightly clutching his trouser legs, and held them wet in his palms, as if coaxing: "Would you like to come with me?"

The man just stared at him dully with red eyes, which contained nothing but bloodshot eyes and a little tear.

Zhuang Wei looked at him for a while, took off his coat, wrapped the man up, led him, and whispered, "Let's go."

Zhuang Wei led him home. The man was dull and docile all the way, and his wet appearance was ugly. Like all stray cats and dogs picked up in rainy days, he was embarrassed, scrawny, and somewhat dirty.

Zhuang Wei took off his clothes in the bathroom, but he didn't resist. He shrank in the bathtub with red eyes, ignorant but very quiet.

When the water spewed out from the shower head with a "squeak", he trembled in surprise at the sudden noise, and then the hot water with the adjusted temperature poured on him, his hair was rubbed, and the shampoo The light fragrance and the bubbles expanded together, and he slowly relaxed.

"Close your eyes."

The man instinctively closed his eyes tightly when the water was dripping down his eyelids. Zhuang Wei blocked his ears with one hand, rinsed him with the shower head in the other, and then dried his face with a towel.

"Okay, you can open it."

The man opened his eyes tremblingly, watching Zhuang Wei's hand mixed with the bubbles of shower gel walking on his body, he shrugged his shoulders unaccustomed to the touch.

The cleaning process didn't last too long. Zhuang Wei took a rough shower for him. After washing himself, he wrapped him in a large bath towel, dried him up and down, and then put on his nightgown and let him sit on a chair. , Blow his hair.

The man sneezed in the swaying hot wind, and the tip of his red nose twitched. Zhuang Wei stuffed a box of tissues into his arms, let him hold his nose and blow his nose slowly, and then continued to dry the wet hair .

Looking at his clumsy and slow movements, Zhuang Wei felt that the man was not crazy, but stupid.

Maybe it would make him happy to be stupid, to avoid what he couldn't bear, and to be content to shrink into the narrow world of a fool's ignorance.

His hair was [-]% dry, so Zhuang Wei forced him to go to bed, then glanced at the phone that had been vibrating for a long time, and picked it up.

"You found him?"

"Yeah," Zhuang Wei replied with a bit of malice, "It's been cleaned up. Apart from being ugly, there's nothing wrong with him."

There was silence over there: "You want to put him at home?"

"I picked it up on the road, if I don't take it home, do I have to send it to you?"

"Zhuang Wei, he is a patient."

"I see it."

"If you are unable to take care of him, return him to me."

Zhuang Wei looked at the shadow on the thin cheek of the man on the bed, and said with a smile: "I can see that he has been well taken care of by you. Don't worry, I will only do better than you."

(End of this chapter)