Ning Xin said, “Go pick up another bunch for me to see.”
Nie Ran forcefully shoved the flowers into her hand and sat opposite her.
“Stop talking nonsense. Just hold onto them since they’re for you.”
The roses were as red as fire, each petal plump and fresh, emitting a faint fragrance.
Receiving flowers for the first time in her life, Ning Xin felt a mix of disdain on her face but happiness in her heart.
However, Nie Ran’s behaviour was too strange. She played with the petals and asked, “Why did you give me flowers?”
“I thought they looked nice.”
“You gave them to me just because they look nice?”
Nie Ran rolled his eyes. “Should I have given them to him?”
Ning Xin glanced at Lang Xiao, who was mesmerized by the ingredients, and reluctantly accepted this reason.
The grill was hot now, so she set the flowers aside and started grilling food.
The other two had no experience and didn’t know where to start, so they just watched her.
Ning Xin grilled three pieces of bacon, one for each person.
Lang Xiao wolfed down his piece, and Nie Ran, after observing for a moment, picked up another set of tongs and started grilling as well, mimicking her actions.
From then on, he took full control of the pace, and Ning Xin happily relaxed and focused on eating.
“Let’s go to the hospital in the afternoon. We need to start purchasing materials at the latest tomorrow. Do you have anything you want to buy? Speak up now, or it’ll be too late,” Nie Ran said.
“We need to buy more materials to fix the house,” he continued.
She remembered the dismal state of the asylum now, and her heart ached.
“Can it be fixed? It’s all collapsed. Even if we were more capable, we couldn’t build a good two-story house,” she lamented.
Last time, they only did some interior work, like painting walls and laying floors, which they barely managed.
This time, the project was immense and difficult. Both of them were amateurs, not even knowing what tools to use. They couldn’t possibly build a house with just their bare hands.
Thinking of this, Nie Ran fell into contemplation as well.
“If only we could send things between the two worlds like with a courier. I saw online these kinds of simple houses made of wooden planks and steel, not only beautiful but also cheap,” she sighed.
“What kind of houses?” he asked.
She showed him on her phone, and he examined it carefully, forgetting even the meat grilling on the pan, which began to emit a burnt smell.
Ning Xin hurriedly removed the burnt meat from the grill, just as Nie Ran took the phone and looked at it for several minutes. Then he looked up and said, “We’ll buy the materials and build it ourselves.”
“What are you joking about?” Even if it was a simple house, there were still many tricks to it.
Nie Ran seemed very confident, placing his phone on the table and saying, “Tonight, I’ll make a list of the materials we need, and tomorrow we’ll go buy them.”
Ning Xin felt he was overly confident, but she couldn’t think of a better way herself, so she agreed. She thought to herself that if all else failed, they could always chop down some trees and build a makeshift shelter.
As they chatted, Lang Xiao suddenly asked weakly, “Can we buy anything we want to take back?”
She smiled at him and replied, “Do you want something too? Is it these meats? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we have enough food. You won’t go hungry.”
Lang Xiao shook his head. “I want that thing.”
“What thing?”
“That one.”
He pointed upwards, and Ning Xin looked up to see the LCD TV in the shop.
During these days in the hotel, Lang Xiao had spent almost all his time watching TV, captivated by the variety of programs it offered. Life in the asylum was indeed too dull, with little entertainment.
Ning Xin also wanted to buy some electrical appliances to live a more modern life, but the generator consumed too much fuel, making it inconvenient to use. Plus, now that they didn’t even have a house, there was nowhere to put them even if they bought them.
She became conflicted, and it wasn’t until they finished their meal and were preparing to leave that she said, “It’s not easy to bring that along. How about I make something more convenient?”
“More convenient?” Nie Ran asked.
She smiled and replied, “You’ll find out tomorrow.”
The three of them left the mall and headed straight to the hospital. When registering, Ning Xin specifically requested to see the same specialist as last time. After waiting for quite some time, they finally saw him again.
The specialist was quite old but had a good memory and immediately recognized them.
“How has the condition been lately?” he inquired.
Ning Xin answered, “The medication you prescribed has been very effective. His condition has been stable. We came this time to get some more medication and to have you take a look at my other brother.”
“Another brother?” the specialist queried.
She brought Lang Xiao closer to her side, though he seemed slightly resistant and clung tightly to her.
“He has been living in the mountains with our grandfather since he was young, hardly ever encountering other people. When he came out to live in the outside world, he couldn’t interact normally with others. His emotions are particularly prone to getting out of control, and when that happens, he can become violent and hurt his family members. Could you please diagnose his condition?”
The specialist asked, “Is he your biological brother as well?”
“Um… yes,” she replied awkwardly.
“You should bring your parents in as well to see if it’s hereditary.”
“They passed away a long time ago,” Ning Xin said with a wistful smile.
The specialist expressed his condolences upon hearing this.
“So now they have no one to take care of them, and I’m working in a big city. I really want to cure them and bring them to live with me. Please, can you help us?” Ning Xin pleaded.
The specialist gestured for Lang Xiao to sit opposite him. Lang Xiao hesitated, leaning against Ning Xin’s shoulder like a child going out for the first time.
Ning Xin whispered, “Go ahead, don’t be afraid. I’m right here beside you. This person is a doctor, he won’t hurt you.”
Encouraged by her, Lang Xiao took the first step cautiously and sat on the chair with a guarded expression.
The specialist asked him a few questions and then handed him a form to fill out. Since Lang Xiao couldn’t read, Ning Xin went up to him and read each question aloud.
The rest of the procedure proceeded much like the last time: diagnosis, prescription, and leaving the hospital as the day turned dark.
The medication prescribed this time was slightly different from before, and Ning Xin couldn’t understand it. She memorized the doctor’s instructions and patted Lang Xiao’s shoulder.
“I told you it wouldn’t be so scary. This is a society governed by law. As long as you don’t hurt others, others won’t hurt you.”
Lang Xiao looked at the brightly lit street ahead, feeling like he was in a dream, too beautiful to be true.
Nie Ran took the bag from Ning Xin’s hand and asked, “Back to the hotel?”
She shook her head.
“Staying in a hotel is too troublesome. Without IDs for both of you, sneaking in every time feels like stealing. It’s not good to get caught. When we were waiting in line to pick up the medicine just now, I found another place,” Ning Xin explained.
Nie Ran asked her about the place, but she mysteriously refused to disclose it. She hailed a taxi and took them there.
As they entered the residential area, Nie Ran felt a sense of familiarity.
When they arrived downstairs, looking at the familiar architectural style, he exclaimed in astonishment, “Isn’t this where you used to…”
“Yes, it’s the residential area where I used to live. I rented another apartment here, but it’s not the previous one-bedroom, it’s a larger unit,” she interrupted.
She made a phone call, and the real estate agent quickly arrived, taking them upstairs to see the apartment.
The new apartment was on the eighth floor, unit 103, with two bedrooms, one living room, two bathrooms, and one kitchen. It was furnished with simple furniture and appliances, fully equipped with water and electricity, and the decoration was also very new, appearing very clean and tidy.
Ning Xin was very satisfied and signed the contract on the spot, handing over the money and receiving the keys.
After the agent left, the three of them stood in the living room. Ning Xin patted the sofa and asked with a smile, “What do you think?”
Lang Xiao climbed onto the sofa happily, urging her to turn on the TV.
Nie Ran asked, “Such a big apartment, the rent must not be cheap, right?”
“It’s five thousand a month, with a three-month deposit. I just paid twenty thousand,” she replied.
After so many days of living together, Nie Ran had developed a concept of the local currency and raised an eyebrow. “Are you willing to spend so much?”
She sighed and sat on the sofa.
“I can’t help it even if I don’t want to. We have to come here every month for a week-long stay. We need a place to stay. Sigh, we’ll have to find a way to earn more money in the future,” Ning Xin lamented.
The apartment was only furnished with furniture and appliances; they still needed to buy household items themselves.
Ning Xin checked the time and suggested that Nie Ran stay home with Lang Xiao while she went to the supermarket to buy things.
After Nie Ran heard her suggestion, he walked into the bathroom, brought out the bucket used for mopping, and made Lang Xiao smaller, tapping him on the head.
“Let’s go,” he said, pulling Ning Xin out of the door, with a worried expression on her face.
“Leave him alone? What if something happens?” she voiced her concern.
Nie Ran walked to the bucket and said coldly, “If you still want to watch TV alive, take care of yourself.”
There was a faint whimper coming from the bucket, as if responding to him.
He returned to Ning Xin’s side and opened the door. “Let’s go.”
Though still worried, Ning Xin decided to go quickly and return quickly. She entered a supermarket outside the residential area and didn’t bother comparing brands and prices; she just grabbed what she needed and put it in the shopping cart.
In less than twenty minutes, Ning Xin had bought everything she needed: beddings, toothpaste, shower gel, even pots and pans for cooking. They checked out and left the supermarket.
As they were leaving, they passed by a family of three. The mother held the daughter’s hand, while the father loaded groceries into the trunk. Ning Xin couldn’t help but glance at them a few more times, revealing a look of envy.
Nie Ran asked, “Do you like kids?”
She hurriedly said, “Of course not.”
“Then why were you looking at them?”
The three individuals were all very ordinary in appearance, with nothing particularly remarkable about their clothing. They were just an average family of three in the vast world.
It’s often during the evening when people are most prone to sentimental feelings. Ning Xin sighed and said, “I used to really, really hope to live like them, living in the same city as my family, going shopping and to the supermarket together after work, then driving home to cook and eat together. It would have been so nice and lively.”
Nie Ran’s eyes flickered, and after a moment, he said, “Such happiness is too ordinary.”
“Yes, the most ordinary happiness, but I can never have it.”
Her self-deprecating tone stung his eyes. Changing the subject, he asked, “What about your wishes now? The ones that are closer to you?”
Ning Xin shrugged. “The distant ones, I don’t know. As for the closer ones… to fix the house, and then for everyone to be safe and sound.”
The car had already driven far away, and Nie Ran took the bag from her hand and walked ahead.
Ning Xin followed, jogging along the way, “Slow down, wait for me!”
Back at home, Lang Xiao was still leaning over the bucket, listening to the TV with his ears perked up.
Ning Xin specially bought him a wide transparent plastic box to replace the bucket so he could not only lean comfortably but also watch TV.
After washing up, she went to sleep, while Nie Ran sat in the living room, holding a pen and paper to make a list, with his phone for searching beside him, not sleeping until very late.
Early the next day, he handed the list to Ning Xin.
She looked up the places selling these materials online and then took a taxi there.
Lang Xiao stayed home to catch up on sleep after watching TV all night.
“We need 350 pieces of 50-centimeter steel plates, 260 pieces…”
The boss’s fingers swiftly tapped on the calculator, announcing the total price.
“Total is 76,325. Since you’re our first customers today, let’s round it down to 76,000.”
Seventy-six thousand… Ning Xin looked at her bank card, hearing the ticking sound.
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