TSED; chapter 7

It would take seven working days for the paternity test results to come out. The process could be expedited, but Zhang Qiming did not choose to do so. Instead, after the test was performed, he took Zhang Hang home. He then left Zhang Hang alone in their house, which seemed emptier than usual, and drove nowhere in particular.

Zhao Xiaolian still hadn’t come back. Zhang Hang sat at his desk quietly, his mind blank. He felt like he should be thinking about something, but couldn’t form thoughts at all. The path in front of him was obscured by mist, and he was uncertain about the future.

At this time, Zhang Hang knew that there must be a problem with his eyes. However, Zhang Qiming’s attitude made it difficult for him to bring it up. As for going to the hospital to have tests done… everything was so messy at the moment that he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Even though it was winter, the north wasn’t too chilly and the house was quite cozy. However, Zhang Hang felt very cold. The warm home of the past now seemed like a black hole, ready to devour him. Just being there was terrible. He wanted to escape, but where could he go? Zhang Hang was afraid to think about whether he was Zhang Qiming’s biological son. If he wasn’t, he didn’t know how to go on. Even if he was his son, he would still have reasons to be sad.

He only felt cold. In this sort of winter, a person’s body temperature was not enough to keep them warm.

“Woof! Woof, woof, woof!”

When he heard the familiar barks outside his window, Zhang Hang rushed out of the room. Big Black was scratching at the door. His fur was covered with frost, and his claws were caked with snow. Before, when he was chasing after the car, it was impossible to keep up with them the entire way to the hospital. He couldn’t figure out which one they went to, so he had to run all the way back home.

The Labrador looked at Zhang Hang intently, his black eyes bright with concern. Zhang Hang’s heart filled with warmth and his limbs felt less cold. Now, his house seemed a little less lonely.

He took Big Black to the bathroom and carefully washed his paws, then dried them to prevent frostbite. After finishing, Zhang Hang rubbed Big Black’s fur and whispered, “You’re really warm.”

It was so nice and warm that his heart became warm as well.

Lu Chengye rubbed his head against Zhang Hang, feeling helpless. If he was still human, even if he was just a teenager, he would still be able to comfort Zhang Hang and help him feel less alone. Thinking back, his behavior when chasing a car was pretty stupid. A paternity test would take time. After getting the test, Zhang Hang would likely head straight home. Lu Chengye had run to so many different hospitals that he was half dead. It was stupid to leave the teenager home alone when he could just go back early and be there for him. Thankfully, he was covered in fur. Animals with fur were beneficial to one’s health!

Seeing Lu Chengye acting spoiled, Zhang Hang’s face finally revealed a trace of happiness. Speaking to Big Black and himself, he said, “Even if I’m not dad’s real son, I will treat myself well in the future. Big Black, let’s go to the hospital tomorrow to get my eyes checked, okay?”

Going to get his eyes checked, and he would only be accompanied by a dog. Lu Chengye heart was so heavy that all he could do was lick Zhang Hang’s palm, leaving a wet blessing.

You’ll be okay, he said with his eyes.

Before, Zhang Qiming was very good to Zhang Hang and Zhao Xiaolian. None of them were short of money. Zhang Hang, a high school student, had saved tens of thousands of New Year’s money over the years. In 2005, this was a considerable amount. Zhao Xiaolian even had an unlimited credit card and would exceed its limit each month, but Zhang Qiming would pay off her debt without a word. She also had a lot of jewelry and cash laying around in her room, but Lu Chengye couldn’t remember how much. He kept an eye out as he went into Zhang Qiming and Zhao Xiaolian’s room. Inside, he found more than 10,000 yuan in cash and secretly stuffed it into Zhang Hang’s schoolbag.

One teenager and one dog went to the hospital when it opened. Lu Chengye was not allowed to go in, so he waited outside quietly for Zhang Hang to finish. It was a good thing that he had come to get his eyes looked at. If he was sick, he should get treatment.

After waiting for a long time, Zhang Hang exited the hospital with several bottles of medicine and a visit summary. Lu Chengye saw his face and instinctively felt something was wrong.

However, Zhang Hang didn’t say anything and took Big Black home. The entire way, he was so worried that he held the visit summary tightly and didn’t speak. Lu Chengye peeked at the medicine he’d been given, which were simple vitamins.

What was going on?

At home, Zhang Hang threw himself on his bed and closed his eyes as if he were sleeping. His breathing was light. If one didn’t look closely, they would not be able to tell his mood.

Lu Chengye stared at the visit summary and tried to read it several times, but because Zhang Hang was holding it, he had no opportunity.

Today, Zhang Hang cooked rice for Big Black but didn’t eat anything himself. Lu Chengye barked at him for a while to try to get him to eat, but Zhang Hang didn’t react. In the end, Lu Chengye ate the rice himself. If Zhang Hang fell down, he had to have the strength to ask for help.

Probably tired, Zhang Hang fell asleep in the evening. When Lu Chengye could hear his even breathing, he picked up the visit summary with his claws. A dog’s night vision is much better than a person’s. In the weak light, Lu Chengye could make out that the visit summary said Zhang Hang had been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. Conservative treatment could alleviate vision loss.

Lu Chengye didn’t know much about this disease. He ran to Zhang Qiming’s room and secretly turned on the computer. He struggled to type the two words with his dog’s claws. When he saw the explanation on the internet, his blood ran cold.

This kind of recessive genetic disease may not present in both parents, but their children could still get it. If parents were closely related, the disease would be more likely to appear in the child. The initial symptoms were night-blindness and the gradual narrowing of the field of vision. This could trigger complications such as cataracts¹ and glaucoma². For this kind of disease, there was no definite cure. Medicine could only prolong the inevitable. As for treatment, all you could do was take vitamin A supplements to delay the disease.

Ultimately, you would become blind.

Lu Chengye turned off the computer and went to sit beside Zhang Hang’s bed, feeling that he had not cherished this child properly. He hated Zhang Qiming and Zhao Xiaolian very much. If not for his existence, Zhang Hang would definitely be able to take care of himself. He still had some money on hand, and would be able to make it last through sophomore year. As long as he was strong enough, he would be able to live his own life.

Now, however, he was begging from the bottom of his heart for Zhang Hang to be Zhang Qiming’s child. Even if the man hated him, it didn’t matter, he would still take care of his child. Zhang Hang would get the best care and be able to delay the deterioration of his vision. If he did end up going blind, he would be able to get accommodations.

The multiple blows this child had to suffer these days were too much. Disasters that even adults wouldn’t be able to bear fell on Zhang Hang’s shoulders. As a dog, he couldn’t do anything.

The next day, Zhang Hang got up and rubbed at his dry eyes. He went to the store and bought a lot of carrots. He tried hard to eat them and chewed continuously like a rabbit, eyes red. Seeing that he was so upset, Lu Chengye ran out with some change in his mouth. The people in some nearby shops knew that Zhang Hang had a cute dog, and seeing that the dog had brought money to buy bread, they were even fonder of him. A shopkeeper even sent him away with two sausages extra.

He took the shopping bag full of food home, put the bag by Zhang Hang’s feet, and barked at the small rabbit who was still eating carrots. Even if eating carrots could delay the disease, he had to eat proper food!

The rabbit was brought back to the present by the dog’s barking. When he saw the shopping bag on the ground, he began to silently cry. Tears wet the dog’s black fur, and Lu Chengye felt like the hot tears were burning his skin.

Under Big Black’s care, Zhang Hang seemed to recover some of his spirit and took medicine and supplements each day. He also was good to himself and tried his best to eat.

A week passed in a flash. On the seventh day, Zhang Hang’s hands shook as he dialed Zhang Qiming’s phone number.

Half an hour later, Zhang Qiming drove to pick up Zhang Hang. Zhang Qiming was drunk. Lu Chengye didn’t bark at him, though, and acted very obediently. He only hoped that Zhang Qiming’s mood would improve and he wouldn’t treat Zhang Hang badly.

In fact, Lu Chengye hated that Zhang Qiming had taken Zhang Hang with him to find out the results, but he could understand the reason behind his actions. Zhang Qiming, even as an adult, probably can’t face it alone. Zhao Xiaolian didn’t come home during the seven days, so she could not accompany him, but Zhang Hang had reached out. Naturally, he took him along to the hospital.

They didn’t take the dog with them, but this time around, Lu Chengye knew which hospital they were going to. He followed the car and ran the entire way there.

Zhang Qiming and Zhang Hang soon arrived at the hospital. After getting the test results, Zhang Qiming’s hands shook. Finally, he summoned up enough courage to take a look.

He’d only just glanced at the paper when the test sheet fell to the ground. Zhang Hang stooped to pick it up, but his vision became blurry and he couldn’t make out any words. Of all the times, why now!

However, did he even need to see it? Zhang Qiming’s attitude was evidence enough.

Zhang Qiming staggered slightly, then snatched the test sheet from Zhang Hang’s hands. He glared at Zhang Hang for a while before leaving with the test sheet and driving away.

Zhang Hang was left alone. He felt like people were looking at him strangely and couldn’t stand it, directly running out of the hospital. He ran through the snow, and wasn’t able to tell where he was.

Snowflakes floated down from the sky, turning the landscape into a white winter wonderland. Zhang Hang eventually found a wall and sat weakly against it. The snow fell on his hair and coat, and he gradually became a snowman.

When the snowflakes touched his warm face, they would turn to water and drip down his neck. Despite this, Zhang Hang didn’t feel the snow’s cold, so he continued sitting on the ground and watched the snow fall. Sometimes it was blurry, sometimes it was clear.

There were only a few people walking along the sides of the road, and even fewer cars on the street. Zhang Hang didn’t know where he was, and part of him didn’t want to know. Here was good. Nobody would look at him strangely, and it was quiet.

The sound of light footsteps came. If there was no snow on the ground, he probably wouldn’t have heard it. When he turned towards the sound, he could see a snow-covered black dog looking at him, standing out against the pale world.

“Big Black!” Zhang Hang threw his arms around Big Black’s neck and leaned all his weight against the dog.

The snow kept falling, but Lu Chengye couldn’t feel any hot tears coming from Zhang Hang. His heart was so broken that he wasn’t able to cry.

The winter of 2005 was exceptionally cold.

T/N: *no longer crying in anger but crying in sadness*

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^{1. clouding of the lens in your eye↩}

^{2. a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, can lead to blindness↩}