The Third Rose

When Mi Sheng saw Chen Xingze coming, he introduced them to both parties.

"This is my sister Mi Jie, this... this is my friend."

"My name is Chen Xingze, hello."

"Hello."

Mi Jie's voice was neither high nor low, very cold.She was about the same height as Mi Sheng in high heels, with a straight back, and a standard light gray OL outfit, which looked very strict.Her lips were drawn into a sharp line, and she looked at Chen Xingze with the scrutiny of an elder, very oppressive.

Chen Xingze was a little nervous.

Mi Sheng is also much older than Chen Xingze, but Chen Xingze will not be nervous when he is with Mi Sheng. He often ignores Mi Sheng's age, and sometimes even thinks that Mi Sheng's actions are very immature and cute.

"Who is a family member, come and get the medicine." The nurse called for someone, and Mi Sheng responded, "Here..." He followed the nurse to get the medicine, Chen Xingze cried out inwardly, not wanting him to leave.

Only Mi Jie and Chen Xingze were left, and Chen Xingze felt as if he was facing the director of the junior high school alone.

"Well, I'll go in and see my aunt." Chen Xingze wanted to hide in the ward, but Mi Jie said from behind: "From today onwards, I will take care of my mother, and I will pick her up when she is discharged from the hospital."

Chen Xingze stopped, "Are you going to pick up Auntie? What about Mi Sheng?"

Mi Jie sneered, "Letting him take care of you is the result now, I should have thought of it earlier."

Chen Xingze felt that Mi Jie's smile was very cold. He knew that he shouldn't interfere in other people's housework, but he still couldn't help but speak for Mi Sheng.

"He took good care of his aunt...this time, this time was an accident."

"What about next time?"

"There will be no next time!"

"What guarantee do you take?"

"I……"

Mi Jie's gentle voice put a lot of pressure on Chen Xingze, he didn't dare to look into Mi Jie's eyes, and muttered in a low voice: "...are all legal people like you?"

icy...

Mi Jie's expression remained unchanged, "How do you know that I do legal work, Mi Sheng told you?"

Chen Xingze: "Yes, he mentioned it."

Mi Jie still looked at Chen Xingze, but Chen Xingze didn't dare to breathe.After a while, Mi Jie said, "Come here, let's chat in another place."

Mi Jie took the lead, and Chen Xingze had no choice but to follow behind.Mi Jie came to the end of the corridor, pushed open the door of the safe passage, and closed it again when Chen Xingze came in.The iron gate cut off the sound of the outside world, and the smell of damp cement also covered the smell of disinfectant.Mi Jie leaned against the window.There is a large crane outside the window. The hospital is expanding the inpatient department, and construction workers are walking around.

Mi Jie took out a cigarette, lit it, and pointed the cigarette case towards Chen Xingze, Chen Xingze shook his head, "I don't smoke."

Mi Jie put away the cigarette.

Chen Xingze said: "Your smoking posture is very similar to Mi Sheng..."

"Do you know Mi Sheng well?"

"I don't know much either."

Mi Jie held the cigarette between her slender fingers, her eyes narrowed slightly in the smoke.

"Are you his boyfriend?"

Chen Xingze was startled, "Ah? No, no." Probably not...

When Mi Jie heard his denial, she chuckled lightly and said, "That's right, how could a boy like you be with someone like him?"

This was a bit harsh to hear, Chen Xingze said: "Mi Sheng is a nice person, many people like him."

"Is it?"

Chen Xingze pursed his lips, and summoned up his courage to say: "Actually... Actually, I have heard a little about your family. I am an outsider and I can't say anything, but I know that Mi Sheng really loves you and wants to reshape the relationship with your family. , can you-"

"No."

Before Chen Xingze could finish speaking, he was interrupted. Hearing this "can't", his heart went cold.

"But Mi Sheng didn't do anything wrong, it's too unfair for him to bear it all..."

"Let him bear it all?" Mi Jie repeated with some amusement.She took another puff of cigarette, exhaled the smoke slowly, and recalled: "Our family used to be in very good condition. In the 80s, it was ten thousand yuan households. You may not have heard of this word. At that time, my parents were in good health and their jobs were smooth. My brother and I did well academically too. Everything was perfect, but it all ended when I was 15."

Her tone was flat, and time had smoothed out her anger, leaving only bitter fruit.

She asked Chen Xingze with a matter-of-fact attitude: "In the law, the determination of responsibility is very important. When things become like this, someone should be responsible. You said he was not at fault, but my home is gone. Tell me who should be blamed?"

Chen Xingze didn't like this kind of conversation, he felt oppressed and suffocated.

"Actually..." Chen Xingze lowered his head and said with difficulty, "Actually, have you ever thought that if his family could support him, things might not turn out like this, at least not as bad as it is now."

"You mean our fault?"

"I didn't say that."

Mi Jie chuckled, the smoke was half burned.

"There are four people in our family. According to the vote of 3 to 1, he should compromise."

"You can't look at it like this..."

"Then what do you think, do you think the majority should obey the minority?"

"No."

Chen Xingze felt as if he had fallen into a strange circle. He was eager to find the exit, but he couldn't find it.

"Only a kid like you who is completely on his side can say 'he's not wrong'."

Chen Xingze lowered his head in defeat.

Mi Jie leaned against the window and said lightly: "Actually, I hate him not because he is gay. Whether he likes men or women doesn't make much sense to me. I hate him because he betrayed his family for others and he came out At that time, my father was running for the party secretary of the unit, and I was preparing for the exam. He didn’t care about these things, he only thought about himself, he ruined this family, and any reason is an excuse.”

Mi Jie concluded the matter, but Chen Xingze's heart was empty.

The smoke burned out.

Mi Jie twisted the cigarette butt in the crack of the window, turned around and walked out.

"If he likes a girl, probably there won't be such things..."

When Mi Jie walked to the door, Chen Xingze spoke softly.

"Actually, I have also thought about whether homosexuality is a disease."

Mi Jie stopped.

Chen Xingze: "In the final analysis, human beings are also a kind of creature, and the most basic instinct of a creature is to reproduce. If you look at it this way, maybe we really have a problem."

His voice was very light, with a heaviness and helplessness that did not belong to this age group.

"...But it's already like this, what can we do with the things that can't be changed. And I think no matter what people say, they are different from other animals. With the development of civilization, we can always find some way to contribute some other things. to compensate the family and compensate the society.”

Mi Jie unscrewed the handle of the iron door, but didn't go out.

She whispered: "No wonder he is so fascinated."

Chen Xingze didn't hear clearly, "What?"

Mi Jie turned her head back and said calmly: "You are very different from Mi Sheng, he doesn't think about these issues. He doesn't reflect on himself, and he doesn't introspect himself. He is an extremely selfish person when dealing with feelings, he only thinks about himself."

Chen Xingze: "Don't talk about him like that, he is not selfish, he is very kind to me, and he is also very kind to you."

Mi Jie smiled.

"When his father kicked him out, he gave him a sum of money. Did he tell you about this?"

"……No."

"Father wanted to sever ties with him, but in the end he thought of his family and gave him money. He could have started over in a place where no one knew him, which would be good for everyone. Maybe when everyone calms down, there will be talk in the future. A peaceful day. But he never left, he would go home as long as he was free, and he would come back after being scolded and beaten, and finally forced the family into this state. Do you know why?"

Chen Xingze said, "I don't know..."

Mi Jie continued: "I married my boyfriend last year. At that time, I wanted to take over my mother. Obviously this way he can relax, but Mi Sheng still disagrees. Do you think he did it because of filial piety?"

Chen Xingze was speechless.

"No." Mi Jie answered him, "That's because he couldn't live without people around him. When he was young, there were no lights in the corridor, so he had to hold someone's hand to go upstairs every time. It's the same when he grows up. Bo Yang betrayed him, and his problem became more and more serious, and you will know when you get along with him for a long time."

The two fell into silence together, Mi Jie didn't want to talk any more, and started to leave, but Chen Xingze called her to stop again.

"By the way! You reminded me!"

Mi Jie turned around.

Chen Xingze: "Song Boyang! Don't you know who should be held accountable? Just blame him!"

Mi Jie raised her eyebrows, Chen Xingze smashed the jar.

"Blame him, blame him! Let's blame him together! Don't blame Mi Sheng!"

The principle of extremes must be reversed came in handy. Chen Xingze's speech was extremely childish, but it looked very convincing.Mi Jie thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile, "Well, fine, you can blame him if you want."

Chen Xingze was satisfied.

Mi Jie left, Chen Xingze didn't dare to go with her, and waited for a few minutes before going back.Mi Jie has taken over from Mi Sheng to take care of her mother, and Mi Sheng is sitting on a chair in the corridor waiting for Chen Xingze.He hadn't had a good rest recently, and was always in a daze. Chen Xingze returned to his senses only after sitting beside him.

"Where did you go? I asked Mi Jie and she didn't tell me."

"Go to the stairs and chat for a while."

"What are you talking about?"

"I didn't talk about anything."

"Then why is it taking so long?"

Mi Sheng kept asking questions like a primary school student who was afraid of being isolated by his classmates.Chen Xingze held his hand, and said in a warm voice, "Tell me about Auntie's illness, and what happened on the day of the accident."

"Oh." Mi Sheng lowered his head, "She is very angry."

"You'll be fine after a while, and you won't be angry all the time." Chen Xingze pulled Mi Sheng's hand to his lap, and then saw that Mi Sheng's neck was a little red.

"Your skin is so fair."

"yes……"

"Change a little color to see clearly."

Mi Sheng knew what he was talking about, turned his face to the other side, and wanted to withdraw his hand, but Chen Xingze didn't let go.Mi Sheng seemed to sigh lightly, and said in a low voice, "Have you finished your exam?"

"Ah."

"Are you going home?"

"No, I called my family and I won't go back this holiday."

Mi Sheng turned back immediately, Chen Xingze looked at his reaction, and felt like a tickle in his heart.

"Why don't you go back?"

"Stay and look after you."

"I don't need you to look after me."

"Really, then I'd better go back."

Mi Sheng didn't speak again.

Chen Xingze smiled, took Mi Sheng's hand, leaned his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes to rest.

The sun was very warm, Chen Xingze let out a long breath and felt drowsy. "What's the matter, I suddenly want to write a score..." He tried to hum a few ditties, and tapped the time with satisfaction.