Цветы персика - Глава 17
"The news is still being blocked, and it won't appear in the newspapers. How do you know?" He smiled bitterly, his loneliness swirling like a cloud that obscures the sky.
"I forgot to tell you, besides having a pair of ghost eyes, I also have the ability to foresee the future. I cannot know things that are beyond the control of fate. But what fate allows me to know, I cannot help but see."
"So you know everything?" he sighed.
The sigh was longer than this dark, narrow path, more boundless than the unseen and intangible road of no return leading from the mortal realm to the underworld…
"Hmm...human nature is such a subtle and complex thing. You wouldn't believe that the person who strangled you was so vicious when he killed you, yet he loved his son so much that he was heartbroken. You must have been to the hospital. What did you see?"
He remained silent.
I continued, "Seven years old. A very cute boy... He died in a car accident."
"The murderer, the father, sought your father's help to save his son's life, confessing to being your killer and offering to testify against another murderer. Why? For money. To save his son who was on the verge of death. He loved him very much."
"He killed you because he was poor and needed to feed his son. Now, he's willing to kill himself to save his son."
"What exactly is human nature?"
"He took your father's money to save his son, to pay exorbitant medical bills, to keep a ventilator on his son's nose and cheeks as he slowly walked toward death. The boy was ruthlessly diagnosed as brain dead, but his healthy heart was still beating, stubbornly refusing to stop."
"You didn't expect this, did you? This person who killed for his own selfish desires signed his name on his son's organ donation form, intending to donate all of the seven-year-old boy's healthy organs."
"The hospital corridor was long and narrow. You were a hidden spirit; you could see him, but he couldn't see you. He paced back and forth, stopping and starting in that narrow corridor, too pained to move. You watched as, with a father's sorrowful heart and tear-stained face, he personally pulled the respirator from his son..."
"A vibrant heart has stopped beating..."
You are stunned. Utterly shocked. "This is the last thing the murderer you hate did before he voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities, ending his son's life to save other patients who desperately needed surgery."
"A young body dies, but life continues in another form."
Section 43: Case Investigation (12)
"This murderer you hate. He was guilty, but he is atoning for his sins in another way."
I looked up boldly into his eyes and asked, "Do you still hate him?"
"I have no idea……"
"Stop it! Hating is too painful. It's endless and has no end."
"Don't ask me, this question will never have an answer, like a damn misfortune."
"Fine!" I sighed. "Take care."
A gust of wind.
The winds of the underworld on the road to the Yellow Springs are gloomy and dark, carrying a bitter taste.
He dispersed.
Did the agonizing wait bring peace of mind? I don't know. Just like the ghost said, this question has no answer, and no end.
But neither humans nor ghosts can exist on the basis of hatred.
A month later, I saw a news article in the newspaper. A father who had searched for his son's killer for seven years, after the murderers were executed, divided his remaining 50,000 yuan in assets among the families of the two murderers. He himself died of cancer a month later.
As for Shi Mei, I never saw her again...
I went shopping on Sunday.
Apple was with me. The light turned red just as we were about to cross the street.
"Wait a minute," she tugged at my sleeve. We stood at one end of the zebra crossing waiting for the green light.
The crowd dispersed. Some people were walking towards the other side of the road at a ninety-degree angle. My eyes inadvertently caught sight of someone, only his back, but he looked familiar and welcoming. Even in the crowd, he still possessed that noble air, standing out from the crowd.
Big forest? !
The drum in my heart started beating again, deafeningly loud.
"Hey, where are you going?" Apple pulled me.
I found myself running towards the opposite corner of the street without even realizing it.
That familiar figure?
That lonely figure amidst the bustling city.
Please don't disappear!
"Gah—"
A Ford braked suddenly and stopped in front of me.
Apple quickly caught up and grabbed me tightly: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She apologized to the people in the car, then shook me, "Are you crazy? How could you cross the road like that?"
When I came to my senses, I looked across the street at the diagonal angle, but the familiar figure had already disappeared.
“Apple.” My lips trembled as I spoke, my voice trembling with disbelief. “I saw him. I really saw him.”
She stared silently into my eyes, never glancing across the street. Finally, she sighed, looked up at the sky again, and said, "It's going to rain... Let's go back!"
rain?
Dark clouds rolled in the sky, and rain was imminent.
Before we could even get back to our dorms, the rain was pouring down. We stood under the eaves of the small auditorium to take shelter, listening to the patter of the rain. Raindrops slid down the eaves with a soft tinkling sound.
This scene is so familiar...
Big Forest took off his trench coat and wrapped me inside. We stood under the eaves of the small auditorium waiting for the rain to stop. "It's okay! It's just a thunderstorm, it'll pass quickly." I felt like I was standing in a safe haven, leisurely watching the storm raging outside. As long as he was by my side, the whole world was safe. Suddenly, a rumble of thunder startled me, and lightning illuminated the darkened sky. I cried out "Ah!" and covered my ears, turning around to press myself against the wooden door of the auditorium. "Are you afraid of lightning?" Big Forest placed his large hand on the back of mine. "Your hands are too small, you can borrow mine."
I was so happy then, like a bird nestled under someone's wings, my heart filled with peace and sweetness. It's a pity I never told anyone about it; the great forest probably doesn't know.
"What are you thinking about?" Apple shook me.
"It's nothing." I shook my head, trying not to think about him.
"The autumn sports meet is about to start, why don't you sign up for an event?" she asked me.
"Project? What project?"
"Any small project is fine! This will distract you and prevent you from overthinking."
I looked at her but didn't say anything.
“Really, you have a lot of yin energy,” she said. “That’s why you need to go to crowded places to boost your yang energy.”
I gave her a silly smile: "Time flies. The autumn sports meet is over and then winter comes. After winter comes another year, then the spring sports meet, then CUBA, then summer vacation. Then I'll be a junior, and after junior year comes internships..."
"Please!" she protested, pouting. "Your method of calculating time makes me feel uneasy, like I'll age very quickly!"
"I'm going to sign up for a sport at the fall sports meet, how about basketball?" I asked her.
She nudged me: "Come with me!"
The rain has stopped, and the sky is a bluish-green color, but it is refreshing and pleasant.
Where to?
"Didn't you want to sign up for the fall sports meet? If so, then you need to exercise more and gain more practical experience. There's a CUBA warm-up game between Northwest University and our school team tonight, you definitely have to go watch it!"
"Tonight? I still need to study for tomorrow..."
"Hey! You won't die if you don't study all night! Come with me! If we're late, we won't even get a seat."
Section 44: Return (1)
Come back
University A's gymnasium is the largest university gymnasium in the country, and its scale and grandeur are magnificent.
Before it even got dark, the basketball court in the stadium was already brightly lit, and the cheers from the stands grew louder and louder. The light blue plastic seats were packed tightly with a sea of people.
"Come here! This way!" Apple pulled me along, using a tunnel-like method to find two empty seats. "Sit here!"
I was pulled over by her momentum. But as soon as I sat down, someone shouted, "Who is this? How can you be so blind? Can't you see there's someone here?"
Looking back, we saw two tall boys standing proudly in front of us.
I tugged at Apple's sleeve and whispered, "Did you take someone else's seat? Shall we leave?"
"Why should they leave? If anyone should leave, it should be them!" Apple retorted rudely, becoming more and more aggressive the more she was threatened. "Hey big oaf, let me tell you, I'm watching everything. You're the one who's blind!"
"You brat, what are you saying?"
"Chinese! You're not a foreign parrot. You haven't even mastered your mother tongue. Go home, wash up, and go to bed!"
She quickly and firmly pressed me into my seat.
"You..." The big guy got into a fight.
"What? This seat doesn't have your name on it. Whoever gets here first gets it. Besides, how do I know you're not a liar? A carpenter's chisel, a blacksmith's hammer, a tailor's measuring tape, a cook's knife—everyone has their own way of doing things." They were evenly matched, neither willing to give in. "Ignore them, watch our game. Good shot! Good shot!" She waved the mineral water bottle filled with sand and gravel vigorously.
The two big guys looked like they were about to explode with anger, standing there like clubs.
"Hey, you in front, stop blocking the way! You're in the way! Move aside!" someone in the back of the audience shouted, clearly unhappy.
The big guys left dejectedly.
The game ended, and we walked out of the stadium. The CUBA players also left, passing by. They're so tall! If two people stood at the top of the stairs, they'd be like gatekeepers, blocking everyone in and out.
"Where's the Jeep?" I asked casually as we left the stadium. "Why didn't you invite him to see such a great show?"
"Sigh! What kind of big-character poster is he preparing? There's an event in front of the auditorium tomorrow. You know how boring the student council is, all they do is deal with these trivial things. I don't even want him to join the student council. People who get in change immediately, they become bureaucratic and opportunistic. It's not worth it."
Why do you say that?
"Well, I'm a straightforward person, I say what I think. I just don't like the student council. They do all those things so fake, all that sycophancy and flattery, just to get a position at the university. It's so pointless!"
"Perhaps the Jeep is thinking about your future?"
"You can't think like that. I can't stand the hypocrisy of officials. What a bunch of scoundrels! Mo Yan is alright, a pretty honest and upright person." As she spoke, she veered off to another topic.
"I didn't tell you about him."
"I know! I was just saying. Ruoxi, you really should consider him. Mo Yan is a good catch, a promising young man. Although he's not as handsome as Da Senlin, he plays basketball beautifully!"
I don't know why she told me all this, and I felt really down: "Apple, you should go back to your dorm first. I want to be alone for a while."
"But……"
"Please grant my request! I just want some peace and quiet."
"Okay! Then don't come back too late!"
"Okay." We split up, one heading north and the other east.