Crocs suceurs de sang

Chapitre 13

When the ambulance arrived, yellowish, translucent sap was oozing from Xianjing's burns. Lying on the stretcher, she held Ye You's hand and said, "I'm fine. Don't tell my parents. Can you help me look for the necklace I wore the day before yesterday? I don't know where I put it."

Ye You nodded, her mind blank, her heart felt like it was being torn apart, she wished she were the one who got burned.

Through the ambulance window, far away, Wu Chuntao was still sitting on the steps, her palms outstretched, slowly waving at the ambulance.

After applying the medicine, the doctor said to Xian Jing, "How could you be so careless? If you had burned your face, you would have been disfigured. You're not a child anymore. Get some rest and you can be discharged the day after tomorrow."

Xian Jing lay on the hospital bed, while Ye You sat on the bed opposite her. When the doctor applied the medicine, he paced around the bed and was scolded. He could only watch from afar.

Xianjing smiled and opened her arms. "I'm sorry to have worried you."

It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it, because as soon as she did, Ye You rushed over, buried her head in Xian Jing's chest, and burst into tears, "You have no idea how much it hurts me. I won't allow you to get hurt, and I never will again..."

Xian Jing felt a warmth in her chest because of Ye You's breath.

Ye You looked up at Xian Jing's wrapped head and neck, "You're never allowed to wash your hair again."

"Silly child, then I'll get lice on my head!"

“Having lice is still better than having your head wrapped in bandages like an Indian,” Ye You said seriously.

Xianjing laughed heartily, looked in the mirror, and really did look a bit like an Indian, which was rather strange.

That night, Ye You slept beside her. Xian Jing wasn't afraid at all. She felt she had a clear conscience regarding the Wu family. If they wanted to come, let them come. There was no point in running away. She would just sleep with them first.

(26)

After receiving Ye You's call, Lao Luo finally found the necklace on the kitchen floor and took it to the hospital. Reaching the door, he felt something was missing, so he went back. The lilies of the valley in the garden were in full bloom, and he picked a handful.

This woman isn't bad. Old Luo thought to himself as he walked. He remembered seeing Xian Jing mending clothes on the sofa that day, and glancing over casually, he noticed she was holding a pair of men's white cotton socks. Old Luo liked thrifty women; thrift was a pleasure. His ex-wife was the same way, mending and patching clothes. She didn't lack money for new clothes, yet she couldn't bear to throw away the old ones.

The door was ajar, and Ye You and Xian Jing were whispering to each other. After waiting for a long time, the two were still dawdling and laughing.

"Ahem—ahem," Lao Luo gestured from the doorway.

Ye You saw him and asked, "Did you find the thing?"

"Here you go." Lao Luo took the necklace out of his pocket. "It probably fell out while washing the dishes. I found it in the kitchen."

"Thank you." Xian Jing asked Ye You to help her put it on. Ye You looked at the burned skin and gently blew on it, "Does it still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore, but it's very itchy, and I feel like scratching it." Xian Jing used the best burn ointment in the entire hospital, as did the one in the ward. The hospital prepared a special nutritious meal for lunch, and Ye You said while eating that she wanted to stay a few more days because the food was delicious, which Xian Jing called a jinx.

Xianjing gestured for Lao Luo to sit down, "Thank you for the flowers, they're very beautiful."

The glass vase held fresh flowers, and the pain seemed to slowly subside.

Han Mei called to urge him when he would be back, and Ye You said that the attic at home was under renovation and he would be back in about two days. Xian Jing looked at him suspiciously. This kid not only lied without even thinking, but he also did it without batting an eye.

Ye You said, "When you lie, the more detailed the lie, the more believable it becomes. You can't say you have something to do and will be two days late, that would arouse suspicion. If you say you have something to do, what is it? Are you sick? That would cause trouble."

Xianjing looked on with admiration. When the doctor made his rounds and inquired about her condition, he asked Xianjing, "How about a full-body check-up this afternoon? It's not expensive. VIP patients get a 10% discount, so it'll be 2,700."

In a hospital, who dares disobey the doctor? Ye You nodded, "Then could you please make arrangements for three people this afternoon?"

Old Luo was surprised, "I don't need it, I'm perfectly healthy."

Ye You said, "It's my treat, why are you in such a hurry?"

When the nurses in the CT room saw that three patients had arrived, they were overjoyed, knowing that their bonuses for the month were finally in hand.

"Drink water, drink water, drink three bottles of water, and you can only have a CT scan if you feel the urge to urinate." Not every nurse is pretty or kind.

Xianjing felt like vomiting from drinking, but still didn't meet the standards. She said to the two of them, "You don't need to wait for me. Wait for me in the ward. I'll come down when I'm done."

Half an hour later, I finally felt the urge to urinate and entered that mysterious room.

I took off my clothes, and the cold instruments moved across my chest and back, making me feel chilly all over. The doctor was a young man wearing glasses, examining me repeatedly, saying things like, "Turn over, lie face down," and so on.

Xianjing regretted agreeing to the doctor's request for a full physical examination; the whole afternoon had left her feeling dizzy and exhausted.

The abdominal examination took a long time.

The young doctor's face suddenly turned serious, then ashen.

"What's wrong with me?" Xianjing asked. "Am I pregnant?"

"It's nothing, everything is normal." The doctor's hand trembled as he filled out the medical examination form, and with a sudden effort, the paper tore.

That evening, An Zhu came to visit Xian Jing. Ye You and Lao Luo, not wanting to overhear the women's secrets, spent the two men smoking on the balcony.

“I really saw her sitting on the steps, it was terrifying.” Xianjing whispered, glancing around, and said to Anzhu, “She was the one who asked me to eat it first, and now she’s asking me for it again, what do you suggest we do?”

An Zhu was somewhat angry. "We returned her daughter's bones back then, but she retaliated in such a heartless way. She's not even human."

Xianjing reminded Anzhu that Wu Chuntao was not human.

"What should we do? I think we should call Tang Zhou; things seem pretty serious." An Zhu said as she dialed the number.

Xian Jing remained silent, watching Ye You on the balcony, who was making faces at her without a care in the world.

"Hello, is this Tang Zhou?" An Zhu answered the phone and immediately launched into a long explanation of what had happened, not allowing Tang Zhou to interrupt. Finally, she asked, "What do you suggest we do?"

Tang Zhou pondered for a moment and said, "I don't know what to do either. I only know a little bit about it. Wait for my call, and I'll go ask my master."

"Okay, okay, hurry up, we're getting impatient. Xianjing's head is practically scalded by that ungrateful bastard with boiling water." Anzhu looked at Xianjing's scalp with heartache, thinking thankfully that it was only a small part that was injured, otherwise how could she go out in public with a shaved head?

After hanging up the phone, Anzhu held Xianjing's hand. "I'm sorry, I should have gone instead. Maybe I wouldn't have eaten that piece of meat. You're too trusting."

The phone rang, and the caller ID showed Tang Zhou.

"What did Master say?" Anzhu asked as soon as she answered the phone.

Tang Zhou said, "Wu Chuntao was wearing red when she committed suicide, and she was filled with resentment. If she hadn't eaten that piece of flesh, she would have been killed by it."

"So what exactly does it want to do?" Anzhu hurriedly asked.

"Maybe she wanted Xianjing to have a wicked child." As Tang Zhou said this, his four-year-old son was standing on a stool, eating something from a bottle on the table, and then turned around and smiled at Tang Zhou.

"Anything else?"

“My master said that everything is preordained. He originally told me not to tell you these things, but I thought it would be better to tell you anyway. By the way, remember to wear that necklace and don’t lose it. We’ll keep in touch when we have time.”

"Oh, thank you." Anzhu hung up the phone.

"Have ulterior motives?" Xian Jing was incredulous, screaming hysterically, "Are you kidding me? What's going on? Why me? I'm getting married soon, why did you choose me?!"

“We can’t rush things; we need to think of a solution. I know a Buddhist monk; how about I bring him to your house? I refuse to believe that evil can triumph over good.” An Zhu’s heart raced with panic.

Ye You came in and said to An Zhu, "Aren't you done talking yet? Then you can stay here with Xian Jing tonight. Lao Luo and I have to go out to take care of some things. We'll pick you up from the hospital tomorrow morning."

He kissed Xianjing, but didn't see the unease in her eyes.

At night, the hospital room lights were on, as if we had returned to the days of the rented room. Xianjing and Anzhu kept each other company, their hearts both afraid of ghosts, and they stayed up together until dawn.

In the early hours of the morning, Tang Zhou was woken up by his youngest son, who was lying next to him on the pillow. "Dad, I need to go to the bathroom."

Tang Zhou said, "Keep your voice down, Mom's asleep. Go by yourself."

"Daddy, I can't open my eyes." Tang Linxiu rubbed her eyes with her little hands.

"What did you eat today?" Tang Zhou quickly turned on the light and shook his wife awake. "Hey, get up, Lin Xiu is sick."

Tang Linxiu lay paralyzed on the bed, saying, "I ate the candy on the table, only ten pieces."

Yuan Yi's mind went blank for a moment, and she immediately dialed for an ambulance.

Tang Linxiu watched her parents busy themselves, wanting to say something, but her vision became increasingly blurry. She opened her mouth, spat out a few mouthfuls of white foam, and stopped breathing.

The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind. Tang Linxiu, four years old, had an honest and adorable appearance, but she didn't have time to call out "Mom" one last time.

The doctor said it was a foreign weight-loss drug. Adults who take more than four pills will have their nerves disordered, and children who take ten pills will definitely die.

Yuan Yi and Tang Zhou aged instantly, unable to bear blaming each other for forgetting to put the cap back on the diet pills. Their five-year-old son looked at his younger brother's lifeless body on the hospital bed and murmured, "My brother is asleep."

Every night, some people drift into sweet dreams, some are entwined in tender embraces, some tremble with fear, some yearn for loved ones, some suffer from insomnia, while others face life-or-death separations.

(27)

As Sun Xiaochen returned home from get off work, Li Cai'er, dressed smartly and elegantly, greeted him at the entrance of the hair salon, "Dr. Sun, it's been a long time." Under the dim red light, seventeen-year-old Li Cai'er smiled like a blooming poppy.

Single men should always find ways to have fun and not always rely on themselves.

Without any foreplay or complimenting her on her lingerie, he simply inserted himself and began thrusting. After a moment of intense release on her body, Sun Xiaochen followed Li Cai'er into the hall.

"Help me shave and clean my ears." Sun Xiaochen looked at his slightly tired face in the mirror; his beard was growing exceptionally fast.

The tool for cleaning ears was a long, thin silver needle with a small spoon attached to one end. Sun Xiaochen lay with his eyes closed, almost groaning in comfort, but he suppressed it. The proprietress led an old man in his fifties to select the beauties in the glass-door display.

Several men with cigarettes dangling from their lips entered. The leader, a burly man with a menacing face, yelled at the proprietress, "Are you going to hand over the person or not?"

As the proprietress pulled out her phone to call for help, she argued vehemently, "They ran away from your place to work here on their own. What does it have to do with me? If you're so capable, tie their hands and feet."

Upon hearing this, the man's face turned a deep purplish-red, and he slapped her hard across the face, shattering her phone in two. She stumbled and fell onto Li Cai'er.

Li Cai'er thrust her silver ear-picking needle deep into Sun Xiaochen's ear, causing him excruciating pain and rendering him unconscious. One end of the needle was pushed deep into his left ear, while the other end, with a small spoon attached, pierced his right eyeball, drawing blood that stained his chest red...

"Where's Dr. Sun? I need Dr. Sun to give me a CT scan. He's very thorough and meticulous." A heavily pregnant woman impatiently negotiated with a nurse.

"Dr. Sun died yesterday," the nurse said coldly. "Drink some water first, and come back for the scan after you've finished three bottles."

Xianjing's injuries were no longer serious. After being discharged from the hospital, she spent the day strolling around with Anzhu. When they returned home in the evening, Wu Chuntao stood far away in the garden, not daring to approach, her eyes seemingly filled with fear. Xianjing subconsciously touched the necklace around her neck.

Ye You and Lao Luo went out again, but he wouldn't say what they were doing. Xian Jing didn't care either, and chatted with An Zhu on the sofa. It was An Zhu's first time here, and she kept praising the location and furnishings of the villa, urging Xian Jing to get married soon.

"I've been targeted by that thing. I don't know if I'll even survive to get married." Xian Jing was somewhat dejected. It was truly unbelievable.

“Don’t worry, we still have Tang Zhou.” An Zhu picked up the phone again. “I think he definitely knows more, he just wants me to call him a few more times.”

"Hello, is this Tang Zhou? This is Zhu Zhu. I wanted to ask..."

Before he could finish speaking, Tang Zhou interrupted on the phone, "I don't know anything. Lin Xiu is dead. Don't call me again."

An Zhu looked at Xian Jing, her voice blank, "Tang Zhou's son is dead. He can no longer help us."

Overwhelmed with grief, Xian Jing took the necklace off her neck, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. She shouted loudly towards the garden, "Come on, come on! So what if you die? I'm not afraid. Come in!"

Wu Chuntao watched from afar, her eyes gleaming faintly in the darkness. A faint, intermittent sound, as if weeping, drifted in, sounding utterly mournful.

An Zhu picked up the chain from the ground and helped Xian Jing put it on. "Are you crazy? You still want to think about Ye You? What will he do if you die?"

Xianjing sighed, "Then what should I do?"

“We can only rely on ourselves.” An Zhu was calmer than Xian Jing. “Don’t I know a sorcerer? I’ll go find him tomorrow and get rid of this ghost. I’ll pay whatever it takes.”

Xian Jing nodded. "Thank goodness for you. Thank you. I'll take care of the money."

"No need to thank me, we're in the same boat. If you're in trouble, I'm in trouble too. Besides, I was the one who promised to dance..."