Heart Dust

Chapter 29

Zhou Yifeng's heart skipped a beat, and he almost dropped the pen he was toying with. "Yes...yes, that's true. He wasn't feeling well a while ago, so we did a few hypnosis sessions," Zhou Yifeng said casually. He still didn't know how much of the treatment Yan Hao had revealed to Xia Tian.

"Sigh, I also feel... he's a bit strange!" Xia Tian's eyes looked somewhat melancholy. "It's really hard to explain!"

“That’s why I came to see you today!” Zhou Yifeng continued the conversation.

"Me? Professor Zhou, do you mean you want me to solve Yan Hao's problem?"

Zhou Yifeng nodded calmly.

"If there's anything I can do to help, that would be great! The person who donated blood even fainted at the end. Lei Ming and I have been feeling really bad about it. Professor Zhou, is there anything you need me to do? I'll do my best to cooperate!" Xia Tian's words were very sincere.

"Nothing... It's just that I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

Xia Tian stared intently at Zhou Yifeng, waiting for him to continue.

"You're from the class of '97, right? Have you heard about the student, possibly surnamed Jiang, who died unexpectedly and donated his body?"

Summer's face suddenly turned pale. After a moment of silence, she slowly nodded.

"His body... is it stored in our anatomy department?"

Summer nodded.

"Don't you think this has anything to do with Yan Hao? Didn't you just say that student was quite strange? What did you discover?" Zhou Yifeng had already thought through and sorted out these questions beforehand.

“I…I find it strange…no, but it can’t be…it’s been so many years!” Xia Tian’s voice was so low it was almost a soliloquy. “That student reminded me of the past twice, that’s all…I think it might just be a hallucination!”

"Is it just an illusion?" Zhou Yifeng pressed.

Xia Tian slowly raised her head and stared intently at Zhou Yifeng. "Professor Zhou, I haven't studied psychology systematically. But I'm a medical professional and a university teacher, so I definitely advocate materialism!"

Zhou Yifeng smiled and waved his hand, trying to ease the tense atmosphere. "Of course, of course, we are all materialists. Human spirit and consciousness are activities of the brain, and are also composed of a series of nerve impulses and reflexes. But Xia, there are still many gaps in science, especially in the area of human psychological activities, which I think you are aware of."

Xia Tian nodded. "I don't know why that student reminded me of things from the past. Besides, they don't even know each other; they're several years apart."

"Yan Hao mentioned to me that he saw a photo in your office. The person in the photo looked familiar, but he didn't recognize him. May I ask if the person in the photo is surnamed Jiang?"

"Yes! Those were his last possessions, a memento!" Xia Tian's eyes reddened.

"Excuse me, but could I ask—about your relationship back then?"

“Classmate! Just ordinary classmates. We did work-study programs together in the cafeteria. He’s a year below me.” Xia Tian’s voice was low, but her tone was crisp and clear, leaving no room for ambiguity!

"No, any romantic entanglements? Well, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine!" Zhou Yifeng asked cautiously.

"I don't think so..."

"What do you mean by 'shouldn't be'? Do you subjectively feel that it is?"

"I... I might feel that he likes me a little... but..." Xia Tian frowned, seemingly trying her best to recall.

"But you don't like him, or you don't have any feelings for him?" Zhou Yifeng asked.

"He was a good person, a good student, a good boy... That's how I would describe him... Nobody expected him to die."

Silence fell over the office. Neither of them spoke. Xia Tian's hands, holding the cup, trembled slightly.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now, Professor Zhou," Xia Tian broke the silence first.

“Okay!” Zhou Yifeng stood up as well. “Everything will pass, everything will be alright!” Zhou Yifeng didn’t know whether he was saying this to Xia Tian or to himself.

"If you need anything, feel free to contact me! Professor Zhou, thank you for taking care of Yan Hao!"

Zhou Yifeng nodded. "I'll contact you if I need anything! Thank you, Teacher Xia!"

After seeing Xia Tian off, Zhou Yifeng refilled his cup of "Lion Peak Longjing" tea. He sat behind his extra-wide and extra-long executive desk and closed his eyes.

He had no idea what to do next. But at least Zhou Yifeng understood that this was no longer a simple matter of psychological treatment. As he thought this, he could only let out a long sigh from deep within his chest. His wrinkled face was filled with pain and helplessness.

Time flies, taking away youth and aging us, but there are so many things that time can never take away—those loves and hates, those grudges—if only he had known this earlier! For the first time, Zhou Yifeng felt awe for all life and the sublime moral laws of humanity. He remembered some philosopher saying that God is fair to everyone. You gain some things, and you will inevitably lose some things. Conversely, what you lose will inevitably be regained in some way—now, Zhou Yifeng felt that this statement was true.

He was lost in thought until the phone rang beside him.

He picked up the receiver and heard Yan Hao's voice.

"Professor Zhou, I've already bought my train ticket. I'll be leaving after my exam. Just letting you know. Thank you for your help and treatment! Have a wonderful holiday!"

"When will you finish your exams?" Zhou Yifeng asked anxiously.

"There are still four days left, two classes."

"Okay, okay. I'll contact you again if anything comes up. Don't worry, everything will be alright, things will get better." Zhou Yifeng hung up the phone after saying that. He felt a little excited—because he suddenly had a bold idea, an idea that even startled himself!

The idea was to have a conversation between Yan Hao and He Jihong while they were under hypnosis. The one who tied the knot must untie it! Zhou Yifeng believed that if everything went smoothly, a solution would be found.

Zhou Yifeng paced excitedly around his large desk. He needed to think things through more carefully and prepare more thoroughly—he had experienced firsthand the power of the energy within Yan Hao, and still felt a lingering fear! Although he intuitively felt that thing wouldn't harm Xia Tian, he couldn't be too afraid of the worst—what if something happened to Teacher Xia Tian? He, Zhou Yifeng, would have no choice but to jump from this fifth floor!

Zhou Yifeng spent a whole day thinking about this. It wasn't until the afternoon of the next day that he finally decided to give it a try. Fearing he wouldn't be able to explain things clearly over the phone, Zhou Yifeng texted Xia Tian, saying he was ready to meet her in her office in an hour. Xia Tian replied that it was no problem.

In the physiology department, Zhou Yifeng explained his plan to Xia Tian in detail. Seeing that Xia Tian still seemed somewhat hesitant, he added at the end, "Professor Xia, I know you don't believe in ghosts and spirits. I... don't believe either. But you should know that physicists have proven that under a high-powered electron microscope, it is possible to change the arrangement and shape of quarks and even particles through human consciousness—of course, for larger atoms and molecules, or even everyday objects, ordinary people cannot make any changes to them through consciousness. But this at least shows that human consciousness is something yet to be explored, right?!"

Seeing Xia Tian nod silently, Zhou Yifeng continued, "If conscious thought cannot alter matter, what about the subconscious? Hypnotists, by controlling the subconscious, can make various changes to a person's physiology and surrounding environment. And aren't all the success theories circulating in the world today the result of subconscious self-adjustment? You must know the book 'The Greatest Salesman in the World'—almost every chapter is written in the language of self-suggestion. Indeed, some people have changed themselves, perfected themselves, and become excellent sales experts through this kind of suggestion!"

"Well... Professor Zhou, if I may ask, is there any direct connection between the development of the subconscious and Yan Hao's situation? Is hypnosis the only method? Why can't we try other methods, such as drug treatment? Wouldn't that be more reliable?" Xia Tian suddenly interrupted Zhou Yifeng.

“I believe that Yan Hao’s situation does not fall under the category of mental illness, or even psychological disorder. He is a new phenomenon, a new case. To put it bluntly, it is somewhat like the ‘possession’ or ‘psychic’ described in Chinese folklore and novels—of course, we do not advocate superstition, but we cannot deny the existence of such phenomena.”

Zhou Yifeng paused, seeing that He Jihong seemed to be listening attentively and didn't object. He continued, "Summer, I don't know if you've heard the story of the monk Huineng. He was the sixth-generation successor of the Chinese Zen school. After his death, his body was preserved in Nanhua Temple in Shaoguan, Guangdong—for over 1,600 years, without any preservation measures. They only coated the outside with fragrant mud, and the body hasn't decomposed at all. Guangdong has a tropical monsoon climate with an average annual temperature above 22 degrees Celsius—that's completely different from the conditions under which the Mawangdui female corpse was formed! I went to Guangdong on a business trip last year and specifically went to pay my respects. It was truly a miracle! Tell me, how can this be explained using modern biology and medicine?"

"A monk? You mean a monk?" Xia Tian murmured to himself.

“Yes, Venerable Huineng. He was very famous! It has been said for a long time that the incorruptibility of the physical body is the result of the protection of consciousness energy!” Zhou Yifeng casually picked up the conversation.

“Professor Zhou, I just remembered—after Jiang Boyu died, when he was sorting through his belongings, he left me an envelope. Inside, besides a photo of him, there was also a letter from Yungusi Temple in the suburbs. There were two sentences on it, I think they were two lines of poetry.”

"Really? This is a very important clue! Do you remember? What poem was it?"

"The grass, soaked in autumn frost, is filled with sorrow; a person stands still on a boat amidst the white sandpipers." Summer slowly recited it.

"Anything else?"

“That’s it!” Xia Tian replied. “The letter was yellowed and very old. It definitely wasn’t written by Jiang Boyu.”

Zhou Yifeng silently recited these two lines of poetry. After a moment, he said, "But it's also certain that this poem isn't finished. It has an introduction and development but no transition or conclusion. It seems this isn't an ordinary ancient poem!"

"Professor Zhou, have you figured anything out?"

Zhou Yifeng kept his eyes slightly closed and didn't answer. He muttered to himself. Suddenly, his face turned deathly pale. "I think I know..." he muttered to himself. "These two poems are about two characters. The grass and the general in the first line combine to form 'Jiang'. The person and the white in the second line combine to form 'Bo'. And 'Yu'... 'Yu' must be in the third line. So the fourth line, I'm afraid, I'm afraid, is what the real secret is!"

Xia Tian's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly stood up. "Professor Zhou, this note is at least ten years old. Could it be that someone foresaw something before he died? Or is it just a coincidence?"

"I don't think so! He must have had a reason for leaving that piece of paper with you!"

"Purpose? What purpose could there be? I've kept it for three years!" Xia Tian pursed her lips, at a loss for words.

"That's why I asked you to participate in the experiment... Figure out his intentions. Even, what do the last two lines of the poem mean!"

Xia Tian took a deep breath, shook her head, smiled, and said, "Professor Zhou, you've really convinced me. Okay! I'll definitely participate!"

After finishing his last two exams, Yan Hao will have his first winter break in college.

He only stayed in the hospital for two and a half days before insisting on leaving—Teacher Xia knew he had final exams, so she didn't force him! During this time, the atmosphere on campus was quite quiet—most people were holed up in classrooms or dormitories studying, and there were few people on the streets. Even Shen Zihan, who always proclaimed "play hard during big exams, play hard during small exams," was cramming at the last minute, staying up until two or three in the morning every day. Who could blame him when the last two courses were Physiology and Anatomy? The "old maid" declared at the end of the last theory class that her class had four rules: no highlighting, no pre-exam tutoring, no cheating, and no pleading. Once these four basic principles were announced, everyone wished their parents had given them an extra head. They also truly experienced what it meant for time to fly by during the big exam period!

However, Yan Hao remained depressed after being discharged from the hospital. Since his outburst in the hospital room, Xiao Hui'er had cut off all contact with him. The day before yesterday, when Yan Hao was buying train tickets, he even tried calling her dormitory—wanting to ask her to travel together. But Xiao Hui'er recognized his voice and hung up before Yan Hao could even speak. This left Yan Hao feeling extremely awkward!

Yan Hao just couldn't understand why Xiao Hui'er had gotten so angry back then, and why she had severed ties so decisively! It was a terrible nightmare—terrifying because he no longer knew who he was, what he would see next, or what he would do next. For the past two days, he had been secretly thinking that Xiao Hui'er wouldn't have thrown a tantrum at him for no reason, especially not with such nasty language—but Teacher Xia hadn't said anything unusual about his behavior. What could he have done during those two days in the hospital, besides eating and sleeping?

Xiao Hui'er said he was hugging someone else—Yan Hao felt it was an absolute injustice! How could he possibly have something going on with Teacher Xia Tian? After all, she was a teacher! Despite his youth, Yan Hao still felt immense respect for her! Yan Hao thought that if he had acted rashly in a moment of madness—Xia Tian would definitely have slapped him twice! But in reality, Xia Tian had always been calm and amiable in front of him.

Yan Hao decided to go to the fashion design school before his last two exams. He wanted to clarify things, no matter what, and if all else failed, he wanted to put an end to his childhood sweetheart relationship.

The Fashion Institute is eight subway stops away from the Medical University. It's located in a suburban area outside the Third Ring Road. Yan Hao found it amusing on his first visit—it meant a fashion and trend school was situated amidst farmland. Indeed, the Fashion Institute was surrounded by farmland, with not a single decent building. Although the campus itself was quite nice, students had far fewer places for leisure activities. Xiao Hui'er said their nightlife basically consisted of "playing cards, washing up, and going to sleep."

Yan Hao arrived at 5 PM. That was the time when students ate lunch and got hot water. The campus was bustling with people. However, just as Xiao Hui'er had said, the male-to-female ratio in the Fashion Design Department was severely imbalanced. The first time Yan Hao came, he even counted, and out of the twenty people who passed by him, sixteen were girls—and those girls were all very attractive, dressed boldly, and had much more class than the "angels" at the medical school! He even said enviously at the time, "How wonderful it would be to study here! Men are truly in their prime at eighteen!"—and then Xiao Hui'er pinched him hard!

But Yan Hao had no interest in admiring pretty girls this time. He went straight to Xiao Hui'er's dormitory building, determined not to leave until he saw Comrade Huang Xiao Hui.

He called Xiaohui'er's dorm room on his phone. The dorm mates said she'd gone to get hot water. Yan Hao secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed he only needed to wait and see. So Yan Hao strolled to the bicycle shed next to the dorm building, staring intently at the girls coming and going.

Huang Xiaohui, carrying three thermos flasks, quickly came into Yan Hao's view. Yan Hao rushed over and blocked her in the sidewalk leading to the dormitory building.

"What... what do you want to do?" Xiao Hui'er asked warily.

"Xiao Hui'er, I want to talk to you, okay? It must be a misunderstanding!"

"Let's just pretend it's a misunderstanding, no need to explain!" Huang Xiaohui turned to walk away from Yan Hao. Yan Hao quickly reached out and grabbed her sleeve, saying, "Please don't do this, just give me a chance, okay? I came here specifically to find you!"

Huang Xiaohui glared at him. "Let go! If you don't let go of me, I'll scream..." Yan Hao knew her temper and was so frightened that he quickly let go. Huang Xiaohui ran forward without looking back.

Yan Hao didn't care about anything else and stepped forward to stop her again, "Alright then, let's make things clear and part ways amicably! Okay?!" Yan Hao was also a little angry.

"Fine! You said it yourself!" Huang Xiaohui's face was so dark it looked like thunder was about to strike.

"Let's find somewhere to talk! There are too many people here!" Yan Hao looked at her nervously, then added, "I... I'll help you carry the water!"

Huang Xiaohui glared at him and walked straight ahead without turning into the dormitory building.

To the east of the dormitory building is a public green space with a small pavilion and a covered walkway. Yan Hao followed Huang Xiaohui to the antique-style pavilion.

"explain!"

"Xiao Hui'er, you know my personality and character. I would never do anything to betray you!"

"But you've already done it, are you going to deny it now?"

"Who are you talking about? Teacher Xia?"

"How would I know if her surname is Xia or Qiu? But I know you're shameless!" Huang Xiaohui's voice grew louder and louder, causing several classmates to look in their direction.

"This is a misunderstanding, Xiao Hui'er! I may have run into some trouble lately!"

"If someone like you never gets into trouble, then I might as well just kill myself right in front of you!"

"Xiao Hui'er, calm down... How am I supposed to explain this to you?" Yan Hao felt like a hundred mice were scratching at his heart at the same time, and he didn't know what to say.

"You can't explain yourself anyway! Yan, from now on, let's go our separate ways! Are you done trembling? I'm leaving!"

"Give me some more time, okay? Xiao Hui'er! Everything will be clear in time!"

"You said we could part amicably today! How come you're going back on your word? Are you even a man?" Huang Xiaohui turned and walked out.

Yan Hao froze, his mind a complete blank, buzzing. He just watched helplessly as Huang Xiaohui, carrying three water bottles, stormed away from him. He wanted to shout something, but no words came out.

Turning out of the pavilion, Yan Hao went straight out of the Fashion Institute's gate. He looked back a few more times at the not-so-imposing gate—he knew in his heart that everything was over!

The sky was overcast, and it looked like it was going to snow again! While waiting for the bus, Yan Hao suddenly felt a pang of sadness and had an urge to cry!

Back in the dorm, Liao Guangzhi handed Yan Hao a slip of paper. It said Zhou Yifeng was looking for him and had left a phone number. He asked Yan Hao to call him back when he got back. Yan Hao took the slip, and despite being extremely reluctant, he dialed the number on the paper.