Zhuang Rui blinked hard and rubbed his eyes, trying to see who was in the ward so he could match them with the people he had just seen.
"Xiao Zhuang, don't move. It's normal for your eyes to tear up after not seeing sunlight for a long time. Don't rub your eyes now. Wipe them with a sterilized cotton ball. Oh, where's Xiao Song? Wait a minute, I'll go get some gauze."
Zhuang Rui's raised hand was stopped by his attending physician. However, after blinking a few times, the stinging sensation in his eyes slowly disappeared, and his vision gradually became clearer. He saw his mother with tears streaming down her face and Uncle De with a worried expression. Only then did Zhuang Rui's mind clear from the erotic scene just now. However, he felt that the amount of coldness in his eyes seemed to have decreased a lot, with only a thin layer sticking to the area around his eye sockets.
"Xiao Rui, how are you feeling? Can you see? Does it still hurt?"
Zhuang Rui's mother kept staring into Zhuang Rui's eyes; the sight of him crying just now had terrified her.
"It's alright, Mom. My eyes don't hurt, and I can see very clearly. I was probably just irritated by the light. Don't worry. Uncle De, Manager Wang, thank you so much. I'm so grateful for your help these past few days."
Zhuang Rui told Uncle De and Manager Wang from the investment company who were standing to the side that the hospital had made things so convenient for him during his hospitalization because Uncle De and Manager Wang had communicated with the hospital many times. Otherwise, how could he have been admitted to the VIP ward? Moreover, Zhuang Rui's mother was not allowed to stay here to take care of him. According to hospital regulations, family members are not allowed to stay overnight in the ward, and a considerable fee is required to apply for a caregiver, even if it is one's own relative.
"Xiao Zhuang, don't say that. You dared to fight against evil forces and upheld your professional ethics. These are things we should all learn from. All we did was to help you, our hero, recover as soon as possible. It's nothing. I'm relieved to see you're alright. I'll go back and report to my superiors first. Once you've fully recovered, we'll ask you to give a report on your heroic deeds."
Manager Wang offered Zhuang Rui a few more words of comfort before leaving. At this time, the doctor also returned and inquired in detail about Zhuang Rui's eye condition. Zhuang Rui only said that he felt a slight stinging pain when he first opened his eyes, but it was fine afterward. As for that erotic scene, he naturally skipped over it, as it was not the time to delve into it now. Zhuang Rui only wanted to study it again when he had time to see whether it was a hallucination or something he had actually seen.
"Xiao Zhuang, the New Year is just around the corner. The company has decided to give you two months of paid leave so you can go home for the New Year. Resting at home is always better than staying at Zhonghai. After the New Year, you can rest for another month before coming back to work. The head office will temporarily take care of the financial matters, so don't worry. Your sister-in-law has been very worried about you lately, so you have to take good care of her when you get back."
Uncle De told Zhuang Rui about the company's decision. With the Chinese New Year approaching, and considering that Zhuang Rui's eye and head injuries required rest, staying in Zhonghai City would require hiring a caregiver. So, they simply gave him a two-month leave until he was fully recovered before returning to work.
"Hey, youngest, I'm here, that pretty nurse..."
A head popped out of the ward's main entrance, but the person swallowed back what they were about to say. This was Zhuang Rui's college classmate and also his dorm leader. During Zhuang Rui's injury, he came every day. However, whether his attention was on Zhuang Rui or the pretty nurse was unknown. In any case, based on Zhuang Rui's understanding of him, his dorm leader was generally not that humane.
Chapter 004 Discharge from the Hospital
Zhuang Rui majored in finance and accounting in college. This major is usually dominated by women. There were 45 students in the class, but 40 of them were girls and there were only five boys. Naturally, the five of them were assigned to the same dormitory.
The eldest brother's name is Yang Wei. I don't know if his ancestors are related to Yang Dingtian from Jin Yong's novels. Judging from the name alone, the eldest brother's name is obviously more catchy, easy to understand, and memorable than Yang Dingtian's. In terms of meaning, Yang is also very great. However, whenever the eldest brother is introduced to others, no one has ever explained the true meaning of his name in detail. So, Wei Ge (Brother Wei) has become the eldest brother's official name in and out of school circles, used by everyone, young and old.
Viagra's parents were originally ordinary factory workers, but his mother had a keen eye and was bold yet meticulous. In the early days of China Ocean Securities, his parents' factory was restructured and listed. At that time in the late 1980s, people did not understand or recognize stocks as a new thing. They always felt that it was safer to keep their money in the bank or at home, so they were unwilling to spend money to buy them. They were forced to buy a very small number of shares.
Despite opposition from her family, Wei's mother borrowed over 100,000 yuan from her own family and bought a lot of shares in the factory from her colleagues at the original stock price. After the stock went public, she made a fortune. Later, when the stock market became hot, Wei's mother carried several sacks of ID cards and hired people to queue up to buy a lot of subscription certificates to speculate. This series of actions enabled her to complete the initial accumulation of funds.
Afterwards, Yang Wei's family withdrew from the stock market and started a company, focusing on foreign trade. When the Soviet Union collapsed, they chartered a special train to transport goods to Russia. Although Wei's parents were not highly educated, they were considered prominent figures in Shanghai at that time.
Although there was no such thing as "rich second generation is useless" back in the 1990s, Wei Ge's parents suffered a lot from their lack of education in their early years. After much reflection, they devoted all their efforts to educating their son and sent him to a prestigious university. As for why he majored in accounting, it was because when the couple started their business, they often made mistakes in accounting, either overcharging or undercharging customers, which caused them great harm.
Because he was quite successful and made his parents proud, Wei Ge was relatively well-off financially. When he entered school, he already had a mobile phone, a big black brick. Back then, mobile numbers started with 9 and were analog. You could often see him carrying that black brick around the stairs looking for a signal.
Zhuang Rui was the youngest of the five brothers, but he was diligent, steady, honest, and loyal. He often helped his brothers copy notes and take attendance, so over four years, they became like brothers. Zhuang Rui only got his job at the pawnshop because Wei Ge's mother pulled some strings. ...
"Hey, Uncle De's here too. My dad bought a painting a few days ago and was just thinking of asking you to take a look. You know, my dad, last time he insisted that Tang Yin and Tang Bohu were two different people. I argued about it for a bit, and he almost hit me with a broom. With that level of knowledge, he insists on collecting antiques. He's completely clueless..."
Yang Wei and Uncle De were acquaintances, and as soon as they met, they started making fun of each other's fathers.
"You brat, how can you talk about your father like that? But Lao Yang is something else. I told him last time that in this line of work, you have to observe more, listen more, and act less. I guess he's been fooled by someone else's fabricated story again. Alright, I'll find some time to go and take a look."
Uncle De laughed and scolded Yang Wei, then said to Zhuang Rui and his mother, "Xiao Zhuang, sister-in-law, I won't see you off. When Xiao Zhuang comes back to Zhonghai, sister-in-law, you can come and live with us. Living together will allow Xiao Zhuang to fulfill his filial duties and have someone to look after him."
After Zhuang Rui saw Uncle De off, Yang Wei was already helping him pack his things. A few days ago, Zhuang Rui had asked him to help buy a train ticket. The Spring Festival travel rush had already begun, and if he didn't book a ticket in advance, he probably wouldn't be able to go home for the New Year. The ticket was for 1 p.m., and he should be able to get back to Pengcheng around 11 p.m.
"Youngest brother, you can't eat meat since your injury hasn't healed. I wasn't able to host Aunt Zhuang when she came to Zhonghai last time. Let me take you guys to eat some local Zhonghai snacks for lunch. Hey, we're brothers, why are you being so polite? Your company will settle the hospital bills, and your things are all packed. Let's go..."
Many things in the special care ward are provided free of charge by the hospital. Zhuang Rui didn't have much stuff; after packing, he only had a backpack. Yang Wei carried it in his hand, turned around, and said to Zhuang Rui.
Zhuang Rui opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He already owed his boss enough favors, and words of thanks wouldn't be enough to repay them. He'd better keep it in his heart. At this moment, Zhuang Rui felt that four years of university had brought him knowledge, but having a few true friends was the greatest treasure.
As Zhuang Rui left the hospital, he felt a little regretful because he hadn't seen Nurse Song, who had taken care of him for the past ten days, before he left. He had gone to the doctor's office to thank Nurse Song, but was told that she had taken leave.
Actually, in Zhuang Rui's heart, saying thank you was secondary. He was still thinking that if what he saw in the morning was real, that person must have been Nurse Song. But now there was no chance. Zhonghai was so big that there would be no chance to meet again in the future. Besides, even if he met her, he wouldn't recognize her.
"Hey boss, you changed your car again? How come other people's cars get better and better, but yours get more and more beat-up?"
Zhuang Rui was a little surprised to see his boss throw his luggage onto a beat-up Jeep. His boss always said that the car was his current wife, and the worst car he had ever driven was a Santana.
"Xiao Rui, how can you talk like that? Apologize to your brother Yang."
Aunt Zhuang said from behind that, in her opinion, Zhuang Rui's classmate was really good to Zhuang Rui. During the more than half a month that Zhuang Rui was injured, he ran around taking care of him and brought him a lot of food and supplies every day. Even his own relatives would hardly do that.
Yang Wei's face, which was almost as thick as it was long, turned red for once. He scratched his head and said with a smile, "It's okay, Aunt Zhuang. My brothers and I are used to joking around. My driving skills are so-so, but don't worry, I won't hit anyone. I changed cars because I accidentally backed into the wall with the previous car."
Zhuang Rui laughed and opened the car door for his mother, not saying anything more to criticize his eldest son. Not only was his driving skill mediocre, but even after driving for almost three years, he still bumped and scraped every time he reversed. His biggest problem was that he had no sense of direction; he couldn't remember a road unless he drove it dozens of times.
Once, Yang Wei asked a girl out for dinner at 6:30 pm in Huangpu District. But when she waited until 7 pm, he still hadn't shown up. When she called him, she found out that he had gotten on the elevated highway at 5:30 pm, but after getting on, he got off at the wrong intersection and drove all the way to Baoshan District, dozens of kilometers away. When the girl called him, he was on his way back. Needless to say, he didn't get to eat dinner, and he ended up eating dust all the way. Of course, the condoms he had specially bought in his pocket were also useless.
Sure enough, Zhuang Rui pointed out the way. After wandering around for more than half an hour, we finally found a soup dumpling shop on Huanghe Road in Huangpu District. The shop was extremely popular; it was only a little past 10 a.m. and it was already almost full.
However, the soup dumplings here truly live up to their reputation. The dumpling skin is thin yet unbroken, and when you pick them up with chopsticks, you can vaguely see the meat filling and juices inside sloshing around. Take a careful bite, and you'll find plenty of delicious soup and firm, chewy meat filling. Zhuang Rui has lived in this city for almost 6 years and has never tasted such authentic local snacks.
After lunch, Yang Wei drove them to the train station. It was almost 1 p.m. To prepare for the Spring Festival travel rush, five or six waiting areas and entrance areas were set up in the train station square with awnings. Each area had six ticket checkpoints, and each ticket checkpoint was staffed with three ticket inspectors. Passengers had to arrive four hours in advance. A long line of passengers waited to enter the station.
The ticket area was packed with people, the huge crowds making the station square completely jammed. Although there were many armed police officers maintaining order, the scene was still somewhat chaotic. Many people had been queuing here since the early morning in the cold wind, and the ground of the square was littered with fruit peels and scraps of paper.
After parking his car, Yang Wei didn't move it. He made a phone call in front of the car, and a few minutes later, a middle-aged man in a railway uniform rushed over.
"Xiaowei, why are you only arriving now? The train is leaving in ten minutes. Hurry up and come with me to the station."
The visitor nodded to Zhuang Rui and his mother, then turned and walked ahead without bothering to be polite with everyone else.
Yang Wei stuck out his tongue and whispered to Zhuang Rui, "This is our old neighbor. He's doing quite well now and happens to be in charge of ticketing. If it were someone else, it would be really hard to get tickets these days."
Compared to the chaos outside the train station, things became much more orderly once you entered the waiting hall. However, there was still a long queue at the ticket gate. The middle-aged man did not go through the ticket gate but led the group to the platform through the staff passage. Since the departure time was approaching, most of the passengers going from Zhonghai to Pengcheng had boarded the train, and the platform seemed rather empty.
"Youngest brother, go back and take good care of your injuries. We'll go see Nurse Song again next time we come."
After sending Zhuang Rui to the sleeper car, Yang Wei whispered something in Zhuang Rui's ear when Zhuang's mother wasn't paying attention.
Although the temperature inside the sleeper car was a good 27 or 28 degrees Celsius, Zhuang Rui still shivered. He didn't expect that this guy would still be so lustful.
Chapter 005 Double Pupils (Part 1)
The train sped forward, and the scenery outside the window rushed past, receding rapidly like walls. The desolation of winter meant that everything Zhuang Rui saw was barren and desolate.
After looking at the scenery outside the window for a while, Zhuang Rui felt rather bored and went to sleep. He didn't know how much time had passed when a loud roar woke him up. He looked out the window and saw that the car had arrived in Nanjing and was crossing the Yangtze River Bridge. Zhuang Rui noticed that snowflakes had started to fall from the sky.
In a short while, the open ground in front of them turned into a white expanse. Although it wasn't cold inside the private room, a breath of hot air would still cause the glass windows to fog up. Zhuang Rui habitually shrank his neck.
Yang Wei booked two soft sleeper tickets for Zhuang Rui. These soft sleeper tickets are generally not sold to the public and are mostly reserved for passengers with special status. No one knows what connections Yang Wei found, but he managed to buy two tickets. Even when the train attendants walked around, they would take a second look at Zhuang Rui and her son, who were dressed in ordinary clothes. Their service attitude was exceptionally good, a world apart from the treatment Zhuang Rui had encountered when he squeezed onto trains during his summer and winter vacations.
Zhuang Rui was incredibly grateful for his boss's care. At each platform, the sight of the ant-like crowds made his scalp tingle. The people rushing out of the ticket check area were like sheep being herded... All the passengers surged towards the train that had just come to a stop, shouting "Excuse me!" and "I'll go first!"
There are so many people traveling home for the Spring Festival that many can't even wait to board through the doors and climb in through the open windows. You can imagine that the ordinary train carriages are now packed with people like sardine cans, and the smell must be unbearable.
Turning his gaze away from the window, Zhuang Rui looked at his sleeping mother. He realized that his mother had suffered during his injury, and the loud noise of the train crossing the Yangtze River Bridge hadn't even woken her.
Zhuang's mother looked much older and more haggard than when Zhuang Rui last came home. She was nearly sixty years old. Zhuang Rui couldn't help but feel guilty. He had been working for more than a year and rarely called home. Yet, when something happened, his mother had to worry about him. He was truly unfilial.
Gently pulling the blanket up for his mother, Zhuang Rui slowly straightened his legs, which had gone numb from sitting for too long. Leaning against the bed, he began to think about what had happened during this time.
The robbery is now over. Although he suffered a bit, it was worth it. The pawnshop is a subsidiary of the city's investment company. If he becomes a manager there, not only will his salary increase, but more importantly, he can be included in the government's personnel system. Although Zhuang Rui has no intention of entering politics, this position brings many benefits, such as being able to get a loan to buy a house, transferring his household registration to Zhonghai, and his children's schooling in the future, all of which will be very convenient.
Thinking of this, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh at himself. He was thinking too far ahead. In all his life, he had only had one girlfriend in college. That girl was the most beautiful girl in his class, and she had a gentle personality. He didn't know why she fell for him. Back then, his friends were extremely envious. But just when they started holding hands, the girl's father immigrated to Austria because of his investment in mining. She also transferred abroad to study, and the relationship naturally ended without a trace.
Although Zhuang Rui wasn't particularly handsome, he had regular features and his 1.8-meter height made him look reliable and steady. His academic performance was also among the best in his class. However, in today's society, talent is not as important as wealth, and looks can't put food on the table. After his relationship ended in his second year of university, Zhuang Rui never dated again. However, he was not unfamiliar with matters between men and women. Of course, he didn't learn about it in junior high school health classes, but rather on his boss's computer, which was filled with information about the skin colors and languages of various races and was known as a sex education machine.
After graduating from university, Zhuang Rui unexpectedly returned to Zhonghai. Moreover, after working in the pawnshop for three years, he could enter the government's public sector. This attracted the attention of several local female classmates from Zhonghai. However, Zhuang Rui had always kept his distance from these female classmates, whom he had previously only glanced at out of the corner of his eye. He was not going to serve these pampered young ladies.
Thinking of women, Zhuang Rui recalled the scene that had occurred at the hospital that morning.
"Fantasy? You're not so thirsty that you can't even take care of your injured eye, and you're already thinking about women."
Zhuang Rui recalled the cool aura in his eyes since his injury. After that alluring scene that morning, the aura surrounding his eyes seemed much weaker. Could it be...?
Zhuang Rui rummaged through his backpack and found a small mirror. Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw no difference except for his pale complexion. However, his eyes seemed brighter than before. Zhuang Rui brought the mirror closer and stared intently at his own eyes in the mirror when a familiar scene unfolded.
As Zhuang Rui focused intently on the mirror, he felt the aura that had been dormant around his eyes begin to circulate again. At the same time, a greenish-blue light flashed before his eyes, and then the aura in his eyes shot towards the mirror along with his gaze.
Just as that aura shot out from his eyes, Zhuang Rui clearly saw that his dark pupils split in two in an instant. Although the time was fleeting and extremely brief, Zhuang Rui believed that he had not seen wrong. It was definitely not an illusion. He did see the two pupils in his eyes turn into four in a fraction of a second.
What was going on? Zhuang Rui felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly threw the mirror he was holding onto the bed. With such a bizarre thing happening to him, it would be difficult for anyone to remain calm.
Fortunately, Zhuang Rui didn't usually believe in ghosts or gods, nor did he worship heaven and earth. After a few minutes of blankness, Zhuang Rui took a deep breath and slowly calmed down. Because of his panic, he hadn't noticed any changes after his breath flowed out of his eyes, so he picked up the mirror from the bed again, preparing to observe once more.
Because he was prepared this time, after the aura shot out of his eye socket, Zhuang Rui could clearly feel that the aura still had some connection with him after leaving his body. He could clearly feel its presence. Also, the greenish-blue light that he saw was not displayed in the mirror, which meant that the color appeared directly in his eyes.
"return……"
Zhuang Rui had grown accustomed to the cool aura in his eyes these past few days, and he was genuinely afraid that the aura would disappear and never return. He silently called out in his mind, and to his surprise, the aura that had flowed away actually contracted back with his thoughts and lurked around his eyes again. However, this time his eyes did not feel stinging, and the aura did not seem to have diminished at all.
"I never noticed I had double pupils before. Could it have appeared after this injury? But when I looked in the mirror, besides that cool aura emanating from my body, I didn't see anything special. Could it be..."
Zhuang Rui seemed to have grasped something, but he wasn't quite sure. He turned his body to the side, raised his right arm, which had been leaning against the bed and was a little sore and numb, and held his forearm straight in front of his eyes. Then he focused on looking.
What first appeared before Zhuang Rui was a patch of green, but what unfolded below shocked him greatly.
Zhuang Rui was wearing a thick down jacket with thermal underwear underneath. But just as the blue light flashed and the aura in his eyes disappeared, he discovered that the down jacket and underwear on his forearm seemed to have turned into mist in his eyes. They were first blurry and then disappeared, while the skin on his arm was clearly visible in front of him, as if he were looking at it through a magnifying glass. Zhuang Rui could even see the size of the pores on his skin clearly.
"What happened at the hospital this morning was indeed real!"
Forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart, Zhuang Rui was about to shift his gaze to other parts of his body when he suddenly felt a stinging sensation in his eyes, followed by a stinging and burning feeling. His tear ducts opened like a floodgate, and tears flowed uncontrollably. It was the same feeling he had in the morning, only the stinging sensation was much milder. At the same time, the aura seemed to sense something and withdrew back into Zhuang Rui's eyes. Instantly, a cool sensation dispelled and alleviated the increasingly intense stinging and burning sensation.
"It's gotten much less, huh?"
After the cool aura returned to his eyes, Zhuang Rui could clearly feel that the aura had weakened considerably. However, since it was directed at his own body, he knew that the cool aura had actually penetrated into the skin of his arm. Moreover, his forearm, which had been a little sore and numb, first felt a little itchy when the cool aura entered his body, and then immediately became comfortable, as if it were full of power. Zhuang Rui quickly rolled up the clothes on his forearm, but found that there was nothing unusual on the surface of his arm. However, he could clearly sense the changes within it.
"What exactly happened to me...?"
Looking out the window at the swirling snowflakes, Zhuang Rui fell into deep thought.
Chapter 006 Double Pupils (Part 2)
A few years ago, Zhuang Rui watched a Hong Kong horror movie. He couldn't quite remember the details, but it seemed to be a ghost movie about people with double pupils who could see through the world of the living and the dead.
After watching that film, Zhuang Rui became interested in people with double pupils and researched a lot of information. He found that there were only four people in history who actually had double pupils: Cangjie, Yu Shun, Xiang Yu, and Li Yu. In ancient mythology, people with double pupils were usually saints. In ancient times, they were considered an unusual and auspicious sign, symbolizing good fortune and wealth, and were often a symbol of emperors.
In his essay "Miscellaneous Essays on Xuzhou", Qian Qianyi wrote: "The traces of the double pupils have faded into obscurity, and the ghostly flames before the Xima Terrace are blue. The ten-zhang-high Yellow Tower overlooks the Si River, and passersby still speak of the Overlord's Hall."
Zhuang Rui's old house in Pengcheng was not far from Ximatai, just a few minutes' walk away. When he was a child, Zhuang Rui often climbed over the wall to play inside and see the ancient bronze swords and soldiers' armor on display, so he had a deep impression of this poem.
However, Zhuang Rui later read some modern medical explanations, which stated that this condition was due to pupillary adhesion and distortion, a phenomenon considered by modern medicine to be early-stage cataracts. Because the eyeballs are light in color, it appears as if a large pupil is enclosing a smaller pupil, hence the term "double pupil," also known as "extraperitoneum."
However, Zhuang Rui felt that the changes in his eyes were different from those mentioned above. He only had double pupils when the cool air flowed through his eyes. Moreover, the double pupils were not a large pupil enclosing a small pupil, but rather two pupils side by side. Furthermore, he had not read in the books about those people with double pupils who had the ability to see through other people's clothes.
Zhuang Rui was 100% certain that he had never experienced double pupils before. This meant that the double pupils appeared after he was injured. However, Zhuang Rui's memory of the robbery only went up to the moment the firelight appeared in front of him. After that, he woke up in the hospital, and he had no idea what happened during that time.