Sissy (Niang Niang Qiang) - Chap 57
Chapter 57
After such an experience, he didn’t dare to knock on that door again.
Li Chengxiu wanted to avoid any trouble. It was clear that this person was very unreasonable, so just had to tolerate the current situation.
After he returned to his room, the sound of the basketball continued. Li Chengxiu was really annoyed and angry at himself that he couldn’t do anything about this.
During the day, he continued to go out to look for a job and do interviews. The job search as an accountant did not go very smoothly. Most companies were not willing to hire him because he stuttered.
Li Chengxiu came home as usual that day, and at a glance, he noticed that next to Teacup’s nest there was a small pool of milky white stains on the floor.
Li Chengxiu thought it was strange, and when he got closer, he realized that the puppy either vomited or had a weird bowel movement. No matter which, it was a serious matter.
Li Chengxiu hurriedly picked Teacup up and noticed that it was completely limp. He then immediately remembered that for several days in a row, when Li Chengxiu came through the door, the little pup wouldn’t run over to affectionately rub at his feet .
During this period of time, Li Chengxiu was very tired because of running around so much, so he didn’t pay so much attention to Teacup. Now it seemed that the pup was really sick. And any disease might easily kill such a little dog.
Li Chengxiu was so anxious that he almost started crying. He took out all the cash that he had at home, wrapped Teacup in a blanket and left the apartment. He asked around about the nearest vet clinic. By the time he got there, it was almost closing time. Li Chengxiu basically rushed in at the last minute.
The veterinarian was a chubby young man who looked very kind. Seeing Li Chengxiu’s anxious look, he couldn’t bear to lock the door in front of him.
The vet looked at the puppy and said: “Oh, this breed is very troublesome! The teacup poodles are bred by always picking out the smallest puppy in the litter for future breeding. Thus, the offsprings get smaller and smaller over time. But think about it, the smallest pup is also usually the weakest or the sickest, or is incapable of fighting for its mother’s milk. Their resistance to disease is usually very weak, and their lifespan is not very long. It’s basically a sick little baby that can easily die.”
Li Chengxiu was about to cry: “Doctor, will it be all right?”
The doctor was obviously not accustomed to a man looking so sad and frightened, so his heart softened, and he quickly comforted Li Chengxiu, “This puppy has worms. This kind of thing happens to pets from time to time. It is normal. Generally, as long as it takes the medicine, the prognosis is pretty good, depending on its resistance.”
Li Chengxiu sat down with a sad face, watching the doctor treat his little Teacup.
It was only the size of an adult man’s palm, and now it had shrunk into a small ball. It looked so tiny on the snow-white sheets. Teacup’s eyes were tightly closed, and its breathing was very weak. Looking at such a fragile little thing, Li Chengxiu’s heart was stuck in his throat.
His vision was blurry, his nose was sore, and he was at the brink of tears.
The only reason he lived now was because of this puppy who needed him. Li Chengxiu had nobody else in this world.
If Teacup wasn’t there anymore, he really wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
The more Li Chengxiu thought about it, the sadder he became, and he couldn’t help crying.
The vet was terrified: “Sir! Don’t cry, it might not even be so serious. Even people get sick once in a while. Every living creature gets sick. It’s a common thing… Please don’t worry too much…”
Li Chengxiu shook his head, nodded, buried his face in his palm, and choked: “Doctor, please save my dog!”
The vet nodded quickly: “I will try my best, I will try my best! So let’s just calmly put it here… I will give it some medicine, but I have to observe it in the clinic for a while.”
Li Chengxiu raised his head and glanced at Teacup. He was afraid to leave: “Doctor… I can…stay here.”
The doctor showed an embarrassed expression: “It’s useless for you to stay here all alone. Besides, I don’t have a place for you to sleep in the clinic. You should go home first. And early in the morning tomorrow you can come and see your puppy again.”
Li Chengxiu thought about it for a while, and realized that him staying here would really cause trouble for the doctor. The man had a lot of his stuff here, and he couldn’t be sure that Li Chengxiu wasn’t a thief.
Li Chengxiu nodded, paid a deposit of 300 RMB, petted Teacup for a long time and finally turned around to leave.
When he got home, he couldn’t even fall asleep. He repeatedly thought about the possible outcomes for his little Teacup, and he was so frightened that he cried.
He really had nothing he could do at this time. This kind of helplessness and despair devastated him. He had experienced too many things recently that he could not bear. The illness of Teacup was undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire.
Thinking back on his experience over the past year, Li Chengxiu felt that in this short period of time, he might have exhausted all his life’s energy. Whether it was the huge wreckage that Shao Qun left of his life, or the loss and guilt of being separated from Li Shuo – all of this tortured Li Chengxiu, until he couldn’t bear taking another breath.
He didn’t know how many changes and hardships he had yet to endure, nor how many he was even capable of enduring anymore.
He felt too tired. The Heavens didn’t grant him any time for rest, rushing him from one cliff to the other in order to break him completely.
Without even a wink of sleep, Li Chengxiu got up early in the morning and went to the clinic.
Teacup had already woken up, but it hadn’t eaten anything yet, and was just lying there. The vet said that he needed to keep the dog under observation for a little bit longer.
Instead of looking for a job that day, Li Chengxiu spent the entire time at the clinic with Teacup.
When he came back home at night, his mood was even worse than before.
He lay in bed, listening to the sound of basketball coming from next door.
Li Chengxiu’s heart suddenly burst into flames, and his face felt hot.
When one is in such an anxious mood an annoying noise can really bring out all the anger at once.
Li Chengxiu rushed out almost without thinking, and slammed the young man’s door a few times.
The sound stopped, and then the footsteps followed.
As soon as Li Chengxiu heard the footsteps, he suddenly got back to his senses. He realized what he was doing and got so nervous that his palms became sweaty.
He couldn’t imagine what he would do if that impulsive person attacked him.
Teacup was already in the hospital – Li Chengxiu couldn’t end up in the hospital too.
The door opened. The guy frowned, looking down at Li Chengxiu. Obviously, he was annoyed by the loud knocking.
He folded his arms and just silently looked at the thin Li Chengxiu.
Although Li Chengxiu was nervous, he still tried his best to say, “You…you are playing in the house…. Playing basketball…. It’s too noisy…. I can’t rest.”
The youngster rolled his eyes and said impatiently, “Noisy? Then find a better place to live.”
Li Chengxiu said angrily: “We are… neighbors, and we should value… peace. Why can’t you… be considerate… of others?”
The young man was obviously too impatient to listen to Li Chengxiu’s stammering words, so he hummed: “You can’t even speak properly, yet you come here and lecture me, Young Master! I want to practice dribbling. If you don’t like it, move out.”
Li Chengxiu’s eyes were red from anger, and he was almost speechless, as he just repeated: “You…You…You”
The guy saw that Li Chengxiu could only pronounce a few words and was about to cry.
Li Chengxiu finally managed to say, “You can…go to the basketball court.”
The youngster curled his lips: “If I could find a basketball court, I would have gone there, duh. I’ve only moved in a couple days ago. How would I know where to find a court around here?”
Li Chengxiu was stunned for a while, but then he hesitantly said, “I know…one nearby.”
The young man’s eyes lit up: “Really? Is it for free?”
Li Chengxiu nodded.
The guy picked up his ball: “Then take me there.”
Li Chengxiu said: “I can tell you how to get there…”
The youngster waved his hand: “Stop talking nonsense, and just take me there.”
In order to have his peace and quiet, Li Chengxiu had no choice but to take the guy to the basketball court.
Li Chengxiu felt a little bit uncomfortable on the way, so he casually asked: “What’s… what’s your name?”
The man glanced at Li Chengxiu: “My last name is Ji.”
Li Chengxiu realized that the guy only gave him his surname, so he was a bit embarrassed to tell him his own full name. Finally, he said: “My last name is Li. You can call me Li-Ge.”
The young man sneered: “I don’t call just anybody “Ge”. Looking at you, I’d rather call you Li-Jie[3].”
Li Chengxiu knew that the youngster was mocking his girliness. He felt uneasy, so he stopped talking.
The basketball court was actually not far from where they lived. It was only a ten-minute walk.
Li Chengxiu had a habit of quickly familiarizing himself with his new living environments, so he knew about this basketball court in their neighborhood.
The youngster was very happy when he saw the court.
Li Chengxiu said, “I’ll go now.”
“Hey.” The guy stopped him, “Wait for me here. How will I find my way back without you?”
Li Chengxiu was stunned: “Just go back the same way we came here…?” That was really not that complicated to remember.
A strange look flashed on the guy’s face, and he frowned: “It’s my first time here. How can I remember the way so quickly? Wait for me here for a while, and then you can take me back. If you start something, you should finish it!”
Li Chengxiu was reluctant, but thought that if he didn’t agree with this youngster, he would have to suffer from the dribbling noise again, so he had no other choice but to stay.
The guy took out his phone and his keys from his pocket, then unfastened the watch on his wrist and rudely threw it all to Li Chengxiu, “Hold it for me.”
Li Chengxiu unwillingly took the stuff.
The youngster ran to the center of the court with his basketball, excited and fast as the wind breeze. Immediately he performed a three-step layup.
Bored, Li Chengxiu sat down on the stone bench and glanced at the things in his hand casually. The watch attracted his attention.
If he remembered correctly, he had seen this kind of watch at Li Shuo’s house.
Li Shuo was a collector, and actually had a whole cabinet full of famous watches. One time, Li Chengxiu noticed this particular diamond watch. It was so beautiful and dazzling that he glanced at it a couple of times. Li Shuo then said that he would give it to him. Li Chengxiu was frightened at the time, saying he would never dare to ask for something like this.
Later, Adrian found out about this by accident and made a scene, calling Li Chengxiu a complete idiot for not accepting a watch that cost more than one million RMB.
Li Chengxiu couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the youngster’s watch, but he assumed it was a fake.
If this young man was so rich, why would he live next door to him?
Li Chengxiu didn’t give it more thought but he still was extremely careful when handling the watch. He couldn’t tell a real thing from a fake, and on an off chance that the watch was real, he didn’t want to damage it.
After playing for a while, the youngster was probably bored playing by himself, so he called Li Chengxiu over.
Li Chengxiu waved his hands again and again: “I can’t…I can’t play.”
“What’s so difficult about basketball? You only need to throw the ball in the hoop. Come here.”
Li Chengxiu still shook his head: “I really can’t.”
With a “tsk”, the youngster suddenly pulled him up from the bench.
He dragged Li Chengxiu into the center of the court: “If you can’t play, just stand here and let me practice passing the defense[4].”
Li Chengxiu didn’t understand what kind of “defense” the guy was going to practice. The kid was already in motion, rushing towards him from a distance and ready to throw the ball. Li Chengxiu was scared and felt that at that speed, the guy was going to inevitably crush into him. So he screamed in horror and ran away.
The young man was a bit surprised for a moment, and then he lost his temper. He laughed and scolded: “Are your guts made of fucking paper? Or are you a woman disguised as a man?”
Li Chengxiu was bitter, feeling that he really couldn’t keep up with youngsters. He begged for mercy: “I really don’t know how to play.”
The guy probably also found it meaningless to play by himself, and, seeing that the sky had already turned dark, he finally wanted to go back.
Li Chengxiu felt like he was granted amnesty. After returning the things to the guy, he quickly took him back home.
That night, as expected, there was no dribbling sound coming from next door, and Li Chengxiu felt relieved.
Teacup stayed in the clinic for four days before finally showing some signs of improvement – the dog developed some appetite.
The vet said that as long as it was eating, it was a good sign.
Li Chengxiu breathed a sigh of relief, took notes about everything the vet advised him to do and took little Teacup back home with him.
Li Chengxiu’s hands were a little unsteady when he was paying for the treatment. Unexpectedly, this whole thing turned out to cost more than 1400 RMB. Li Chengxiu had never even had such an expensive disease himself!
But as long as Teacup was doing well, Li Chengxiu was ready to pay. It’s just that now his money situation was suddenly much tighter.
In the first few days, Li Chengxiu still didn’t dare to leave, for fear that when he left, something would happen to the pup. But the money was only going out and not coming in, so he slowly began to panic.
One night he was stewing bone soup at home. Teacup had developed a better appetite recently, so Li Chengxiu wanted to prepare something good for him.
As soon as the apartment filled with the delicious fragrance, the doorbell rang.
Li Chengxiu opened the door and saw the youngster named Ji right in front of him. He looked at him inquiringly.
The guy seemed a little embarrassed. He pretended to be casual as he said: “Take me to the basketball court, just like the last time.”
Li Chengxiu was taken aback: “I…I’m in the middle of something.”
“Isn’t it just a few minutes away? Take me there!”
Li Chengxiu thought for a while, then frowned and asked, “Don’t you know the way?”
The guy’s face changed slightly, and he unconsciously raised his voice: “I’ve only been there once. How the hell could I remember the way?”
Li Chengxiu was helpless. How was it even possible not to remember the way? It was just three corners away.
He looked back at Teacup squatting on the kitchen floor and eagerly looking at the steaming soup pot. Apologetically he said, “Tomorrow, okay? I really have something to do.”
The youngster bent over Li Chengxiu’s shoulder and looked inside. The apartment was very small, so he could see everything at a glance.
The smell of the fragrant bone broth also drifted into his nose, and his stomach growled.
Both of them were a little embarrassed. The youngster looked at Li Chengxiu with his bright eyes.
Li Chengxiu asked politely: “Have you… Have you eaten already? Or…”
Li Chengxiu didn’t actually mean to invite him, so he really didn’t expect that this young man would be shameless enough to say “Okay!” and walk right inside his apartment.
Li Chengxiu just stared blankly at the guy’s back.
Well, it wasn’t so bad to be a little neighborly. Li Chengxiu closed the door and invited the guy to sit down.
