the next day, you went to the hospital with your brother and Gou Ji
"I don't like these places."
Gou Ji was sitting on the patient table
"It's going to be over soon. Just need to take a few X-rays."
"What are X-rays?"
"it's like a picture. but of the inside of your body."
"that's weird."
they take her to a separate room to take her xrays. When they come back, Gou Ji plays with the toys in the corner as the doctor showed you X-Rays
"So...we have good. news and bad news."
your brother looked worried
"well...rather hear the bad news first so i feel even better when you say the good, I guess..."
"it's seems like she's swallowed something such as a toy, and it's stuck. Making It hard for her to digest food all the way."
as he shows you guys the X-Rays on his computer, your heart sank to your stomach and you can tell your brother was about to fall into tears
"Will she be okay?"
"That's the good news. She'll be fine. We can just do a simple surgery and she'll be perfectly healthy. Luckily we have an opening on saturday at 4 o'clock. Just try to feed her soft foods for now."
"H-How much would the surgery cost?"
He did some typing and told you guys the price. and shit, it wasn't cheap
"o-okay..."
"your insurance seems to cover a good portion of it."
"that's good..."
"We will give you a call with further details."
"Thank you."
you two leave. The ride home was silent. When your brother parked, he looked at Gou Ji napping in her car seat in the back through the mirror.
"Everything's going to be okay, GeGe..."
"But the money, Li Fang...Surgery...room fees...and then there's medicine and we have to keep the store open extra hours just to make up time that we lost over vacation and to pay for Gou Ji..."
"I can get another job. I can take the semester off too."
"no no no. You already work two jobs. I won't let you take time off school..."
"if your wife helped out just a little..."
"Lin Li Fang. Will you stop with that?"
"What does she do? Tell me. Her online business sucks. She's spent more money than earned. Her sale stocks haven't changed one bit. and it's damn holiday season and no one wants to buy from her. She barely takes care of her daughter and doesn't lift a pinky to clean a dish at home or to grab a mop in the store. Hell, i haven't seen your talk to your own wife in a long time...are you with her because you still love her...or because you love Gou Ji so much...you don't want her to go through what we went through?"
tears started falling down your brother's face, but he quickly wiped them away
"Let's go."
he got out of the car and opened Gou Ji's door
"GeGe..."
he unbuckles Gou Ji's car seat and carries her inside. he placed her down in her bed as you waited on the living room couch.
his wife came out of her room
"How'd it go?"
"Well..."
you scratch the back of your head, finding ways to word it
your brother came out
"She needs to get surgery..."
you rested your elbows on your knees and looked down
"WHAT?"
"shhh..."
"Where are the others?"
"Hanyu went out with his friends and the parents went to eat out...Gou Ji needs surgery?"
"They said she swallowed some sort of plastic. Like a toy. And it's just sitting in her. She can't digest food properly. they said she'll be fine. it's a simple surgery."
"This is your fault"
she looked at you and you snickered
"It's always me, huh?"
you looked up at her with the most disgusted look on your face
"You weren't watching her!"
"NO! You weren't!"
you stood up
"Is it my automatic responsibility to take care of her 24/7?! You're her mom and she only sees you like, twice a day. It's always my fault because you don't want to own up to the face that you fucked up being a mother!"
"Lin Li Fang!"
"What?! Are you on her side again? I love you, GeGe, but you need to stop bullshitting yourself."
"I LOVE GOU JI!"
"You love her...then show it. all of us know your 'business' isn't doing shit. why don't you try spending time with her...and maybe take some weight off your husband's shoulders for once? He's done nothing but treat you like a queen...and you fail to notice that your home is becoming a broken one."
"You have no right talking to me that way!"
"you kidding me?"
"You don't know what it's like being a mother!"
Yes i have...i've been a mother for Gou Ji ever since she was born...but who cares. Lin Li Fang is always at fault."
you went to your room and shut the door. you sat on your sheets on the floor and leaned your back against Hanyu's bed
"Lin Li Fang is always at fault..."
you felt a tear roll down your cheek
"I'm sorry Xiao Xiao Gou..."
you curled up into a ball and just sat there
later that day, Mingrui came knocking at the from door with a flower in his hand
to his surprise, Gou Ji answered the door
"What are you doing answering the door?"
"I saw you out the window"
"did you now?"
all of a sudden, she started coughing
"oh!...um..."
he picks her up and walks inside, closing the door behind him. he rushes to the kitchen and holds her and she throws up into the sink
"Gou Ji?! Gou Ji?!"
he walked in to find Mingrui holding her and rubbing her back
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to get Li Fang, but she opened the door and started coughing
Gou Ji stops throwing up and Mingrui wipes her mouth with a paper towel
"oh you don't have to do that...um...I think Li Fang is in her room..."
"Thanks..."
he walked to the bedroom and knocked on the door
"FangFang~Can I come in?"
he opened the door and saw you peacefully napping on the thin sheets laid on the floor. He snickered and sat next to you.
he tucked your hair behind your ear. That's when he noticed your puffy eyes.
he gently put his hand on your cheek at caressed your puffy bottom eyelid
"Don't cry, FangFang..."
he placed the flower behind you and stood up
he started to walk to the door when he stepped on a squeaky floorboard. you opened your eyes and saw the flower. you looked up and saw Mingrui frozen in his tracks
"What are you doing h-here?"
he sighed and turned around
"We had a date..."
Like you couldn't feel guilty enough
"GouGou...I'm sorry...I-"
"It's okay...It seems like you're going through a lot...let me know if you ever need anything...I'll be here in a heartbeat, understand?"
you nod
"good..."
he reached for the doorknob
"Mingrui."
"mhm?"
he turned back around once more
"Can you stay for a little...please..."
"of course..."
he sat down next to you
"Tell me what's on your mind..."
"I-I-...She-...He just-..."
the fact was, your mind was all over the place. you couldn't get any words out and he realized that whatever you were going through, was something beyond just words
he pulled you into a hug and you cried into his shoulder
"Everything is always my fault..."
those were the only words you could mumble out of your mouth
"what is it? why would you think that?"
you backed away and you wiped your face
"Gou Ji needs surgery...she swallowed something...like a toy...Hua Ling always blames me but i think this time she's right.i'm supposed to be the one to watch her and I-"
"No...don't blame yourself...you take care of Gou Ji like a daughter...i know you would never let that happen...I don't give a fuck about what anybody says."
you couldn't stop crying. you tried wiping them away. Mingrui was just as surprised because he's never seen you cry this much since your brother left. He sat in front of you and gently moved your hands away from your face. he uses his thumbs and wipes away the tears
"Wiping them harder won't make the tears go away any faster..."
"But I watch her most of the time...and...she's just so little...."
"Don't worry...she's just like you...she's tough..."
you sniffle your nose and look down
"stop crying...don't blame yourself...okay?"
he leans down to make eye contact with you
"Okay..."
"I'll be with you before her surgery, during her surgery, and after...I'm still here as your best friend, FangFang..."
you two didn't break eye contact
you began to lean closer to him
your noses were about touching when you heard the door open
"Lin Li-"
you quickly straightened your back and wiped your face
"Sorry!"
he quickly shuts the door
"I-I should probably get home..."
"I'll walk you out."
you get up and put on your glasses
As you and Mingrui walk out of the room, you heard Hanyu scoff
you walked Mingrui out the door
"I can walk you home."
"no no no. Go inside. It's cold."
you put on your hood
"Let's go."
you start to walk away. Mingrui snickers and catches up to you
"You aren't cold?"
"no."
"you sure?"
"Yes, now stop asking."
you put his in a chokehold and rub the top of his head
"Ah, Li Fang!"
you let go
"i don't get how you're so strong"
you snicker
you felt his fingers intertwined with yours
he saw you were a little tense
"You still aren't used to this..."
"Wha-What?"
he lets go of your hand and puts his hand on top of your head
"FangFang...if you want to stay friends, that's okay with me..."
he gives you the warmest little smile and he puts his arm around you
"What kind of person would I be to leave you all alone?"
you two got to his house
"I'll see you later..."
"you too...get home safe..."
"I actually think I'm gonna take a quick walk...alone..."
"Be safe, okay?"
"I will..."
"Good night."
"Good night, Mingrui..."
you walk off
you went to the park and went to the wall you used to paint on. you remembered the first time you painted that wall
-10 years ago-
"FangFang! Let's just go inside!"
"No! I've been planning this for weeks!"
"It's late! And what if we get caught?"
"We won't. Stop worried you big cry baby."
"if we get caught, I'm blaming you."
"just shut up already and help me, you loser!"
"i'm not a loser..."
-end of flashback-
you looked around the park. And you don't know if you were high or sleep deprived, but it's like your whole childhood with Mingrui flashed before your eyes
"FangFang!"
"Hey FangFang."
"LIN LI FANG!"
"FangFang~"
"Shut up, FangFang!"
"Li Fang, I swear to god-"
"My FangFang~"
you smile at all the memories you've made in this small playground
you took out your phone and made a call
"GouGou..."