The Little Deaf Man Decided to be Spoiled

34

Chapter 34
"Where?!"
On the other end, Ji Ruan heard a loud crash, as if something had been knocked over.
"No, no, don't panic," Ji Ruan quickly said, gripping his phone tighter, "It's Senior Zizhang. She's in surgery for appendicitis. I came with her to the hospital."
"......"
"What about you? Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine. Absolutely unscathed."
There was a brief silence on the other end before Gu Xiuyi let out a heavy sigh, "Ji Ruan."
Ji Ruan, slightly alarmed, stammered, "Wh-what is it?"
"Can you, for once, finish what you have to say without leaving it hanging?"
Ji Ruan touched the tip of his nose, "...Oh."
·
On the ambulance, when asked for a family contact, Ji Ruan used Cheng Zizhang's phone to notify Cheng Yunxiu and Lin Qing.
Professor Cheng, being out of town, couldn't arrive immediately. However, Lin Qing was the first to get there, and surprisingly, Duan Zeping was with her.
Seeing the pair appear together, Ji Ruan's eyebrows quirked involuntarily.
Wasn't Lin Qing supposed to be back in his hometown for a funeral? Why was he with Duan Zeping?
Had they become so close that Duan could accompany him back home?
That seemed unlikely.
Duan Zeping looked slightly taken aback upon seeing Ji Ruan but soon greeted with a smile, "Isn't this Ji Ruan? What brings you here?"
Ji Ruan nodded, "I called the ambulance for Senior Zizhang."
"Did you?" Duan Zeping rubbed his hands, eyes drifting toward the operating room, "How is she now?"
"Acute appendicitis. She's still in surgery."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qing's expression changed subtly. He turned his head slightly and murmured, "How could this happen? What if the work isn't completed? She really is..."
Though he seemed to be talking to himself, the silence outside the operating room was so profound that even a pin dropping could be heard, let alone his words.
His somewhat resentful tone didn't sit well with Ji Ruan.
Grasping the armrest and sitting upright, the cold metal refreshed Ji Ruan's fatigued mind:
"What would happen if the work isn't completed?"
Lin Qing shot him a look, "The project is due to the organizers tomorrow. If it isn't done, it'll certainly affect the event, and the consequences would be grave."
"I see..." Ji Ruan said thoughtfully, feigning confusion, "But aren't both of you responsible for it? If Senior can't complete it due to her illness, why can't you finish it?"
Lin Qing squinted slightly at him, pondering why Ji Ruan would ask such a question, "Yes, she's my senior. If she's unable to work, I could certainly help with some of her tasks. But Ji Ruan"
His tone grew stern, "I don't appreciate the way you're speaking. Are you getting a bit too righteous? Helping her is a favor, not helping is my right. Why should I automatically take over her tasks just because she's sick? Why should I be responsible for her shortcomings? Just because she's my senior?"
The implication was as if Ji Ruan was coercing him, leveraging their senior-junior relationship to morally bind him to duties not in his domain.
Intrigued, Ji Ruan chuckled with feigned realization, "So, you do understand this principle?"
"What else?"
Lin Qing sighed, "I know you're close to my senior and might instinctively side with her. I get that. But shouldn't you avoid being too biased? If so, can I also find any random excuse and dump all my work on someone else?"
"- Haven't you always been like this?"
Lin Qing paused, "What are you talking about?"
The hospital was adequately heated. Both Lin Qing and Duan Ze ping took off their coats, holding them in their hands. Ji Ruan, however, felt a chill. He slipped his hands back into his pockets, leaning back in his chair and said languidly:
"Teacher Cheng assigned you both to complete a piece together, yet you frequently went missing with various excuses. To finish the project on time, your senior had to cover the parts you were responsible for. Isn't that the truth?"
He waited for two seconds. Seeing that Lin Qing didn't respond, he continued, "Her immune system weakened from exhaustion, leading to acute appendicitis. Isn't that partly due to you? If the project wasn't completed on time, wouldn't it be only fair, both in emotion and reason, for you to make up for it? How has it become a matter of others forcing you?"