The Game of Life

Chapter 593: Chapter 591 Uncomfortable

By the time Jiang Feng squeezed into the ward with the quilt in his arms, there was nobody left outside, and Zhang Weiyu and the others had vanished, probably back at work. The ward was still crowded, and the relatives of the patient in the next bed were still sneaking glances at the Jiang family members with a mix of fear, suspicion, and curiosity, but things had calmed down somewhat since he left.

Jiang Weiming was now resting on the firm pillow brought by Jiang Weisheng, his face covered by a breathing mask preventing him from talking. Seeing Jiang Feng, he offered a typical Jiang Weiming-style smile.

A weak smile.

Weak though it was, at least he was awake, which gave him more life than when he had been lying on the bed before.

Despite bringing the quilt, Jiang Feng couldn’t get close to the bed. The seat nearest to the bed, which also had a chair, was Jiang Weiguo’s, followed by the great-aunt, and then Jiang Weisheng. The rest had to rely on their own abilities to get a spot.

Jiang Feng could tell that Jiang Jiandang and Jiang Jianshe didn’t have much “ability” for they were both standing near the door, wiping a cabinet. It appeared as if they were cleaning, but in reality, they couldn’t squeeze in due to their lack of “capacity.”

Similarly lacking in “capacity,” Jiang Feng squeezed next to Jiang Jiandang and Jiang Jianshe and asked, “Second Uncle, Fifth Uncle, has the doctor come? What did he say?”

Jiang Jiandang whispered, “The situation is okay, but he needs to be closely observed for another couple of days. We’re moving to a double room soon.”

“Wasn’t it said there were no more double rooms available?” asked Jiang Feng.

“Director Zhong helped sort it out. Just now, Director Zhong even came up specifically to have a look and said that if there’s a single room available in a couple of days, we’ll move there. Grandpa said we need to properly thank Director Zhong this time,” replied Jiang Jianshe.

Jiang Feng nodded, “We really should thank Director Zhong properly; he’s been very attentive.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Jiang Feng smelled the strong scent of donkey meat sandwiches.

Not only Jiang Feng noticed it, but Jiang Jiandang and Jiang Jianshe did too. Following the scent, they saw Jiang Jianguo, who for some unknown reason hadn’t squeezed close to the bed either.

Given Jiang Jianguo’s build, that shouldn’t have been the case.

Jiang Jianguo was awkwardly holding a donkey meat sandwich he had just taken out of a plastic bag, explaining to everyone, “I just saw it and wanted to have one.”

“Got a bit hungry.”

After Jiang Feng entered the ward with the quilt, he had carelessly set the sandwiches on the table, forgetting to tell everyone. Only Jiang Jianguo, who was closest to the table, had noticed them.

“If you want to eat, go outside to eat. What kind of behavior is it to eat those things in the ward?” Sir scolded gruffly.

Jiang Jianguo nodded repeatedly and then grabbed another sandwich and slipped out.

By now, it was past mealtime, no one had eaten, and they were originally not hungry, but now that they smelled the delicious aroma, it was hard not to feel hungry.

So the donkey meat sandwiches on the table suddenly became the second focal point of the room, after Jiang Weiming.

“Grandpa, how about you all eat the donkey meat sandwiches first? I just bought them; they’re better when hot,” Jiang Feng suggested.

“If you want to eat a meal, go and have one. Just leaving two people in the ward is fine,” Sir replied, and he was the first to stand up.

Under Sir’s lead, everyone took a donkey meat sandwich and left the ward to find food. The previously crowded ward suddenly became spacious, with only Jiang Feng and Jiang Weisheng left by Jiang Weiming’s bedside.

Jiang Weisheng took the opportunity to sit in the spot closest to Jiang Weiming, which had been Sir’s, but sitting there was of no use since Jiang Weiming still had the breathing mask on and couldn’t talk.

Jiang Feng didn’t know what he could do, so he just adjusted the quilt to make it neater, and then continued standing.

As he stood, Jiang Feng realized something was missing next to Jiang Weiming’s bed—other patients’ beds had a thermos flask either beside them or underneath, but Jiang Weiming’s did not.

“Mr. Jiang, shouldn’t we buy Granduncle Weiming a thermos flask?” Jiang Feng asked. “I don’t know if De and the others are still at the supermarket, let me send him a WeChat message.”

“No need, I’ll go and buy it. There seems to be a supermarket downstairs at the hospital,” Jiang Weisheng said as he got up.

He too wanted to find something to do. Even though his heart was at ease with Jiang Weiming’s awakening and he no longer thought about all sorts of awful things, he felt strange just sitting idly in the ward.

Jiang Weisheng actually wasn’t very good at taking care of people, his idea of looking after his grandson was limited to cooking meals. In his imagination, taking care of a patient should involve sitting by the bed and peeling an apple, but Jiang Weiming couldn’t eat apples at the moment.

“That, turn right when you go out the door for the supermarket; they sell thermos flasks there,” a relative from the next bed bravely offered.

“Thank you,” said Jiang Weisheng and then he left. Now, only Jiang Feng was left by Jiang Weiming’s bedside.

Jiang Weisheng had just left when Jiang Weiming immediately raised his hand, pointing towards the cabinet, evidently wanting something from inside it.

Jiang Feng opened the cabinet following the direction Jiang Weiming was pointing and found only a pillow inside.

The small soft pillow that comes standard with hospital beds.

Jiang Feng seemed puzzled by Jiang Weiming’s request but still took out the pillow and asked him with a confused expression, “Granduncle Weiming, do you want this pillow?”

Jiang Weiming nodded urgently and also pointed to the pillow under his head, then shaped his mouth into the silhouette of a word.

Hard.

Jiang Feng: …

Who said Granduncle Weiming liked to sleep on hard pillows?

A hard pillow might be good, but at critical moments, it’s uncomfortable.

Jiang Feng carefully swapped out Jiang Weiming’s pillow, and his overly cautious movements compelled a family member of a patient in the next bed to help out, turning the simple task of changing a pillow into a difficulty on par with changing a dressing.

After they had changed the pillow together, Jiang Feng and the family member from the next bed formed a brief bond of camaraderie.

“Young man, I saw that your family is quite sizable; are you locals from Beiping?” The patient in the next bed was also an elderly man, being looked after by someone who seemed to be his son, a middle-aged man around his fifties.

“Sort of.” Jiang Feng replied.

“What illness does your grandfather have?” the middle-aged man asked cautiously.

“Acute heart failure, he collapsed in the ER, thankfully the doctors responded in time.”

“Gee, acute heart failure is severe, how did they put you in a four-bed room? With your grandfather’s condition, he should be in a single or a double room, four-bed rooms are too noisy and not conducive to recovery,” said the middle-aged man.

“We’re moving to a double room this afternoon,” Jiang Feng said.

The middle-aged man nodded, “Old folks should be taken good care of at this age. My dad, like your grandfather, also collapsed in the ER, from a heart attack, and was timely saved by the doctors. After staying in the ICU for two days, we moved him to a private room and even hired a nurse to care for him. Now that his condition has improved, Sir didn’t like staying alone because he enjoys the hustle and bustle, so we moved to a four-bed room.”

“Dad, is your back pain any better? Do you need me to call the doctor to check on you again?” the middle-aged man turned to ask his father lying on the bed.

“No need, it’s an old issue, I just need to lie down,” said the father.

“By the way, does your family need to hire a nurse? The first few days of recovery are especially important; it would be best to get a nurse,” he suggested.

“Chu is not bad,” said the man lying on the bed with a coarse voice, eager to join the conversation even while lying down.

“Chu is the nurse who previously took care of my father,” the middle-aged man explained.

“If we need a nurse, we have someone we know,” said Jiang Feng, knowing that if Jiang Weiming decided to hire a nurse, he would definitely turn to Zhang Guanghang for help. Xia Mushi had driven away quite a few nurses during her hospital stay, and those who remained were surely the best.

The middle-aged man then enthusiastically shared his knowledge about the doctors and nurses in the area with Jiang Feng, explaining which nurse had the best temperament, which one was the most meticulous in their work, which one was a bit grumpy, and which nurse to approach to get things done more efficiently. He rattled off all this insider information only known among family members of patients to Jiang Feng.

Clearly, both he and his father were sociable people, never at a loss for words.

It was only at the very end of their conversation that the middle-aged man casually asked, “By the way, young man, your grandfather seems quite old, looking even older than my dad. He must be over 80, right?”

“99,” said Jiang Feng.

The middle-aged man looked shocked.

Not just him, the family member of the patient in the next bed who was playing with their phone was also visibly shocked, and so was his father lying on the bed.

Then Jiang Feng witnessed a scene that left him utterly perplexed.

The elderly man in the next bed, who had been lying down because of back pain, now struggled to sit up to take a look at his uncle beside him.

The hearts of the elderly are as elusive as a needle at the bottom of the sea.