Когда любовь приближается, она подобна снегу

Глава 2

At this moment, Old Yu had already stepped over to Lin Cui's side and asked the medical staff in a low voice if she was alright. I saw that his face was also full of suspicion.

The doctor's initial diagnosis was that Lin Cui had only choked on water, causing temporary suffocation, and had no external injuries. After simple artificial respiration (which I can do too!), Lin Cui coughed up a few mouthfuls of water, opened her eyes and looked around, and then fell back asleep.

I stood right next to Old Yu, and I saw Lin Cui's every move clearly. Although she was only awake for a few seconds, I was confident I could see a look of surprise on her face during those few seconds. I had never been into water before, nor had I ever witnessed a drowning rescue, so I had no way of knowing whether this surprise could be explained as "being rescued from drowning and finding oneself still alive." If a famous detective were present, they might classify this as a murder case involving pushing someone into the water, with the victim's surprised expression being a crucial clue for identifying the killer. But I was almost certain that Lin Cui's expression was one of surprise, not anger, and it wasn't directed at any of us.

Of course, this was just a fleeting feeling of mine. My attention, like everyone else's, was then drawn to how the staff brought the boat ashore and used a spare footboard as a stretcher to carry Lin Cui off the boat.

Throughout this process, Dr. Yu fully demonstrated his composure and expert demeanor. On the one hand, he instructed the investigators to suspend their current work and classify and save all the data so that they could resume work immediately after Lin Cui was taken away. On the other hand, he kept a close eye on Lin Cui's condition, ensuring that not a single minute of treatment time was deliberately delayed.

Despite Mr. Yu's apparent calmness, I could still hear him muttering to himself.

"Mr. Yu, what did you just say?"

"Oh, I meant Xiao Cui is a very good swimmer. She even represented the bureau in a system-wide swimming competition. Even if she accidentally fell into the water... and she was a little drunk last night, it shouldn't be to the point of being swept to the middle of the river and needing someone to save her. Could it be..."

When I heard Mr. Yu say "plus he drank too much last night," I blushed and didn't even think about what he was talking about.

"Mr. Yu, I was wrong yesterday. I'll go with her to the hospital later."

When I said that, Old Yu smiled kindly and said, "What? Does having a member of the opposite sex mean you have no Party spirit? You'll just abandon your post and work?"

"How could that be?" Hearing him say that made me even more anxious. "I'm just worried about her! If something really happens to Lin Cui... how can I be at ease?!"

"Hehe, go ahead. The child will be fine. Spend some time with her at the hospital, and ask her what happened when she wakes up."

"Yes." I felt grateful in my heart; Elder Yu truly lived up to his reputation as a kind and generous elder.

That's how I got a ride with the research institute to accompany Lin Cui to the hospital. Before leaving, I didn't forget to add, "Professor Yu, let me know as soon as the flow is successfully closed."

"Don't worry, I'll call your cell phone," Old Yu replied from the bow of the boat.

At the time, I was certain that the merger would be a success, and that the Iron Turtle and Iron Ox would most likely be found; it was just a matter of time. But I never expected it to happen so quickly, and I certainly never imagined that I would have had the opportunity to know this news before Mr. Yu…

The hospital was only a 15-minute drive from the river. I was so busy in the car that I didn't even have time to properly experience the tension of rushing to save lives, nor did I have time to ask the names of the rather handsome medical staff, before we arrived at our destination.

The hospital lobby was filled with dialects that I could only vaguely understand. Registration and other procedures were handled by drivers and others, and all I could do was stay by Lin Cui's side.

When I carried her to the hospital on the gurney, I had no other thoughts. It seems I have indeed made progress in the past few years.

The dialect still sounded too fast. I understood the test results, the IV drip information, and other details by deciphering them, but the prepayment was crystal clear. Feeling like I hadn't helped at all, I subconsciously opened my wallet. Looking back, I was surprised that none of my companions tried to take it from me…

The air conditioning in the emergency room was very hot. I avoided the nurses while they changed Lin Cui's clothes, and I also took off my coat. I also asked where I could borrow a reclining chair or something similar, preparing to stay put for a long time.

The doctor arrived quickly. After a brief examination, he spoke to me in fluent Mandarin, saying something along the lines of, "Don't worry, your wife is fine, just need to be observed... How did she fall into the water? Did you two have a fight?" I hurriedly explained that we weren't married, while wondering what kind of doctor this was? Would a couple have a fight and he throw his wife into the river?

"Yes, I know, we haven't gotten our marriage certificate yet..." The doctor laughed and pretended to explain, leaving me speechless. Only then did I realize that I was the only one in the ward.

My phone rang just in time, saving me from an embarrassing situation.

The caller ID showed it was Mr. Yu calling as promised, but I never expected it to be so soon. I checked my watch; it was only 10:00 AM, 45 minutes before the official start of construction. But now I was in a bit of a predicament. Logically, getting the news is a reporter's top priority; we should be as quick as flies and as persistent as mosquitoes. But Lin Cui here…

"What?! The iron ox has been found!... The river hasn't dried up or the banks haven't been dredged yet, so how come the iron ox was found first?" I was genuinely incredulous at the time, but mostly I was overjoyed—the kind of foolish overjoyment a journalist feels when faced with news. (Of course, I only realized the word "foolish" afterward; it specifically refers to people like us who lack understanding of what happened and simply find it amazing, which is a good thing.)

To ensure I don't miss important information in any noisy environment, I always set my phone to its loudest, most piercing ringtone. This time, it worked.

"You're awake... Don't move, don't move, just lie still... Oh, right, Mr. Yu, Xiao Cui is awake... Xiao Cui, I have good news for you, Tie Niu has been found." While on the phone, I intentionally or unintentionally changed my way of addressing Lin Cui to "Xiao Cui," the same as Yu Jianguo, intending to continue calling her that if she didn't object.

"Tie Niu?" Lin Cui repeated the two words very slowly, seemingly not understanding what I was saying. Of course, at the time, her blank expression seemed to me to be just a temporary daze after she had recovered from her coma, which was perfectly normal.

At this point, I had made up my mind that now that Lin Cui had regained consciousness, I should prioritize my work and rush back to write the report.

After hanging up the phone, I started packing my belongings. "Xiaocui, you should rest first. If anything happens, just ring the bell to call the doctor... We've found Tieniu. I have to go over there for the interview first. I'll come back to see you after I'm done."

"An interview?" Lin Cui still looked confused. For a moment, she seemed to understand something, but then she immediately looked puzzled again. "What's the big deal about finding it... Where could such a huge iron ox be swept away?"

I had already put on my coat. Although I felt that Lin Cui's words sounded strange, I didn't have time to care. Getting to the scene was the priority.

Before leaving, I gave her the phone number I used less often, saying, "Call me if you need anything, it's ND in my phonebook."

Chapter Two: Turbulence

I had to take a taxi back to the scene, but the driver was still unhurried and didn't care about my feelings as a reporter at all.

Fortunately, when they arrived at the scene, the boat had already disappeared, and Old Yu and the others had all gone ashore.

"Judging from the metal detector data, it should be Tie Niu, no doubt." Boss Yu, with a sense of accomplishment and composure, lit a cigarette—something he hadn't done since boarding the ship—as he explained the situation to me.

While taking his statement, I casually offered my congratulations and told him, "Lin Cui is safe and sound, don't worry."

Old Yu nodded repeatedly with a broad smile. As I continued writing, I wondered why I had brought the topic up here. You must stand firm; this is working time!

“But she was acting a little strange when she woke up,” I tried to steer the conversation back to Tie Niu, “as if it wasn’t so surprising that she was found.”

"Nothing surprising? Humph." Old Yu gave a wry smile. "Many people who sit and talk without understanding the situation have said that."

My heart skipped a beat. "Old Yu, Xiao Cui isn't..."

Old Yu waved his hand to stop me from continuing, and nodded with his eyes closed to show his understanding. When he opened his eyes again, he immediately seemed to be thinking, "Actually, I think it's quite rare to find this place."

I immediately sensed something deeper in his words: "Why do you say that?"

"All the original data from the 1992 exploration are well preserved, and I have seen them all. However, it is clearly recorded that this area was thoroughly searched, and there was nothing that could be described as having a metallic reaction within a radius of about 20 meters from this point."

"Could it be technology..." I tried to explain.

"The technology back then wasn't much worse than it is now."

"Then...then it's personnel..."

“No,” Old Yu categorically denied my guess. “Jiang Lingfeng, who was in charge at the time, was my old classmate. I know him well.”

It seems that this is neither a technical problem nor a staff oversight, so I'll just keep quiet.

"Leaving room for doubt" is also an important part of news reporting. Making something that can be explained seem inexplicable to pique the reader's interest is a must-learn skill for journalists. With the backing of "experts expressing doubt," why wouldn't I leave room for doubt?

Old Yu was left alone, muttering to himself, "What could possibly be underwater that could cover such a massive iron ox so completely, without a single gap, even blocking the signal from the metal detector? How far do you think the raging river could move that 60,000-pound iron behemoth over ten years? Five meters? Ten meters? Twenty meters?..."

It was only when I saw someone come out of the water that I realized how heavy a set of diving gear is.

The diver moved with practiced ease, but his expression wasn't particularly sharp, perhaps because his head looked small without his helmet. I listened intently as he reported the situation to Mr. Yu, and I could hear the expected excitement in his voice.

"Yes, definitely, it's that big. You can see the iron thing very clearly... It's just strange, there's not a speck of mud on it, it's completely naked, you can even see the reflection underwater..."

My shorthand skills are top-notch, and this is almost exactly what he said. At the same time, I also noticed Mr. Yu's expression: he was not excited at all at the beginning, quite calm, even stern. Perhaps it was because "it really is Tie Niu" was already within his expectations and was not good news. When he heard "there is no mud or sand covering it", his brows furrowed more and more, and he looked at the diver as if he were looking at an alien. The poor guy himself was completely unaware of it.

At the time, I was secretly pleased. It seemed that the reporting direction I had chosen was correct. If I could vividly describe the various unusual phenomena of the "reappearance of the iron ox," it would be a far more exciting report than the annual maintenance itself.

Spicy news doesn't necessarily need a definitive conclusion; the feeling of suspense is better than a final verdict. However, I strongly dislike sensationalizing and exaggerating so-called doubts that have already been clearly explained. My principle is to list doubts based on as much factual information as possible, using a calm tone. (Actually, this is more likely to arouse curiosity, so there's a difference in style when it comes to grabbing attention.)

My notebook contains this passage from that time: The area surveyed in 1992 included the current location and even extended much further outwards. Based on the hydrological conditions of the past few years, the Iron Bull should not be here.

There are three reasons why the Iron Ox was not found in 1992: First, the Iron Ox was not within the exploration area, and some unknown hydrological anomalies over the past twelve years have brought it to this location. Second, the Iron Ox was too deep in the river in 1992 to be detected by the detectors. Although the detectors used at that time could not be compared with those used in geological exploration to detect underground mineral deposits, even if the Iron Ox was 20 meters deep at the bottom of the river, it would still be found. Not to mention that the Iron Ox could not have been buried at a depth of more than 20 meters, even if it had been buried at a depth of more than 20 meters, it is an inexplicable miracle that it has emerged from below 20 meters in the past twelve years.

The third reason, while also unlikely, is much more credible than the first two: the detector malfunctioned that time.

Tactically speaking, the so-called "third reason" is pure fabrication. It's merely a tool to make readers overlook the plausibility of the first two reasons, thus leading them into a state of wild speculation—if even a "much more credible" reason is so far-fetched, then the other reasons are even less tenable. The real reason must be…

So the worst disease to avoid is occupational disease. At the time, I was thinking about these little tricks, and I just thought there couldn't be that many weird things in the world. Even though I always seem to encounter evil spirits, the probability shouldn't be that high.

Subsequent events taught me a lesson: never think that some mysterious force is protecting you, whether it's called God or probability theory.

The daylight that day was exceptionally long, feeling like two days to a reporter. The spectacular closing ceremony was no longer my focus; the clock showed only 11:00 AM, and thinking back, I realized I'd only taken Lin Cui to the hospital at 9:30 AM—I usually hadn't even had breakfast by then. I was practically insane. If I followed my usual schedule, I could wake up in time to report on the discovery of the iron ox and dedicate the entire "morning" to it.

At 11:25, just 40 minutes after the diversion work began, the inner river section of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Area was successfully closed.

As the water level gradually receded, the anticipated iron ox was about to appear on the riverbed.

During this time, not only me, but also Old Yu seemed very nervous and anxious. Perhaps he noticed this himself, so he deliberately changed the subject.

"I hope nothing's happened to Xiao Cui."

"It's okay, I left her a cell phone, she'll call if she needs anything."

"What's her number? I'll call and ask her what's going on."

"I'll type it on my phone."

“Okay,” Old Yu took the phone, “and tell her that Tie Niu is about to be pulled up.”

Old Yu was very frugal using other people's phones. I had only typed two lines, which was just over a minute, when I heard his loud voice: "Okay, okay, I won't argue with you. You should rest and recover first... Alright, that's all."

Just as I was about to ask what was wrong, Old Yu started complaining: "This child is really strange. She actually said that Tie Niu was rescued a long time ago! I asked her when? And she actually told me in a very serious manner that it was 1992!"

I suddenly remembered Lin Cui's strange behavior when I left the hospital. It turned out that she thought Tie Niu had been pulled out of the water long ago! She even remembered it was 1992! It seems that although this fall into the water did not have a big impact on her physical health, it still had a rather terrible effect on her memory.

Although I felt a bit uneasy, I still tried to comfort Mr. Yu (and myself at the same time): "Mr. Yu, I wonder if it's like this: We often have this experience, seeing something and feeling like it happened a long time ago, when in fact that's absolutely impossible. Actually, it's just because there's a small problem with the part of our brain that manages memory, which causes this illusion. Lin Cui's situation should be similar."

Old Yu was silent for a moment, then nodded. “What you said is possible. Sudden events can indeed cause memory illusions. Some people lose their memories and can’t remember what happened; while others have their memories ‘advanced,’ treating things that didn’t happen as if they had.”

Although Mr. Yu said that, I sensed he wasn't entirely at ease. Even I started to have doubts myself. Could such a major event as whether or not Tie Niu was recovered also cause memory bias? Human memory is truly a wondrous thing.

What the feeling is when the Iron Ox emerges from the water is meaningless to a reporter; all I see through the lens is how to frame the shot, and reports often simply state "The 60,000-pound Iron Ox breaks through the water." But I still want to emphasize, rather unprofessionally, that my immediate feeling was, "Oh, that's the Iron Ox, all shiny and bright."

Afterwards, I estimated that the entire process, from the moment the iron ox's horns first appeared above the water to when they were fully exposed on the dry riverbed, took no less than fifteen minutes. A full fifteen minutes! Everyone's eyes were focused on the enormous iron ox, yet not a single person noticed—not a single person—until, until the iron ox stood tall on the ground, and the crowd swarmed around it like a magnet, before someone exclaimed—"Why is it sparkling?!"

As you can probably guess, if I hadn't been the first to exclaim in surprise, I wouldn't have the nerve to say this here.

Think about it, the iron ox from the Ming Dynasty, gleaming. If when I first saw it emerge, the word "gleaming" only vaguely reminded me of something amiss, then everyone else probably felt the same way. Throughout the entire process of this enormous object being hoisted and lowered before our eyes, everyone likely had this question in their minds, but perhaps they were too astonished to distinguish whether this astonishment stemmed from the sheer power of the iron ox itself or from its "gleaming" appearance. It was as if everyone's emotions were blocked by an invisible plug, until the iron ox landed, a crowd gathered to watch, and the "legally mandated" time for chatter finally arrived, and the question finally surfaced.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that iron objects will oxidize and rust after being soaked in water, especially mineral-rich river water, for several years. How much more so after nearly eight hundred years since the Yuan Dynasty? Everyone's initial expectation was simply to retrieve a vaguely identifiable "cow-shaped iron lump" from the river. Unexpectedly, the iron ox that was actually pulled out was almost brand new, except for a little dirt! Even more strangely, it was almost completely "standing" upright on the riverbed! There was no silt covering it; not even its knees were submerged, only its hooves were stuck in the mud, entirely due to its own weight. It's as if placing an iron ox on muddy ground would yield the same result.

I immediately turned to look at Professor Yu and found that the question he was about to ask, "How could it be so new?" didn't even need to be uttered; he was clearly thinking the same thing. The other experts and staff didn't look much better either. At that moment, I felt my thinking was becoming very strange, even wondering if someone was playing a joke, releasing a newly made iron contraption into the river to see the rescuers fail. There are many similar mysterious events abroad, such as certain crop circles, and investigations have revealed that quite a few are due to such pranks. But... is it possible for the Chinese to do that? Besides, the cost would be too high, wouldn't it? Is it possible to move such a huge thing here and sink it in the river without anyone noticing?

The expert group had already huddled together and were whispering. I should have professionally gone over to listen in, but since Mr. Yu would tell me later (I was confident of that), I decided not to bother them. Taking this opportunity, I put down my camera and carefully observed Tie Niu.

Besides appearing too new, another peculiar aspect of the iron ox is its shape. I don't know what Ming Dynasty sculpture was like, but this ox looks far removed from the traditional Chinese image of a sturdy ox with a nose and eyes. Rather than being the work of a Ming Dynasty craftsman, it resembles the work of Picasso or Dali—though not quite as abstract or stylized, but definitely not realistic. The ox's body is streamlined, lacking any defined lines, and details are completely omitted. Incidentally, this style also existed in my country, but only on Shang and Zhou bronzes, where a small animal on a lid or handle leaves you guessing for ages whether it's a sheep or a dog. This style declined after the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, while such depictions are acceptable on small objects, using this style on such a massive object is rather jarring.

Oh, right, the only part that doesn't seem to fit this minimalist style is the horns of this iron ox. The ox's head is lowered, and the horns extend almost horizontally forward. Unlike the rest of the body, the horns aren't smooth; instead, they display spiral patterns. Upon closer inspection, the patterns aren't smooth spiral curves, but rather uneven, much like the carvings on old mahogany furniture. You could even call it some kind of script—perhaps Mongolian script—thinking about as many possibilities as possible is a habit of mine. Coincidentally, this habit has somehow become connected to this event, which will greatly test my imagination and logic in the future. Compared to the astonishing bizarre nature of this event, the various peculiarities on the iron ox's exterior are practically negligible.

The experts' "temporary consultation" didn't take much time. The first thing Old Yu said to me was unexpected: "Xiao Na, can we not release this news for now?" I was stunned for a moment, thinking that Tie Niu must have something really strange about him, that he actually wanted to block the news.

My first reaction to this request was to refuse. "Mr. Yu, you must know that journalists' freedom of the press is protected by..."

“I know, I know Xiao Na.” Old Yu interrupted me, “But look at the appearance of this iron ox, it always makes people wonder if it is really the one from the Yuan Dynasty… I know it is unlikely that it was cast by modern people, but we should be more rigorous, right? If it really is not, and you just send out the news like this, it will be a big joke.”

I looked around and sure enough, each reporter had a staff member talking to them, presumably about the same things I was talking about.

“How about this, Xiao Na,” Old Yu continued, “we need to conduct an appraisal of Tie Niu first. If the appraisal results are satisfactory, we’ll notify you immediately… You can use this time to tidy up the article. This is also to ensure the reliability of your news, right?”

I could only nod and put the camera away. As for organizing the manuscript, I wouldn't do it. If the assessment result wasn't "no problem," I'd just reorganize all the material in a different way and write it as... a novel.

I had this thought at the time, and it turned out to be very prescient.