Chapter Twenty-Three: Watching the Lotus in the Mud
A yellow wind swept by, rolling up dust and flying in the sky. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoHalf of the remnant sun was still struggling on the horizon, Zheng Pei was walking on a dirt road in the wilderness, and behind him was already engulfed by the night, and there was still a faint yellow in front of him that was about to disappear and exude a sense of sickness. Zheng Pei didn't know where he was going, and he couldn't see the direction he came from when he looked back. But in order not to plunge himself into endless darkness, he can only chase the dying sunset. From walking to running, the speed is getting faster and faster, Zheng Pei only has the whirring wind in his ears, he can neither see the way out nor shout, he can only run desperately, chasing the little hope left. However, hope vanished much faster than he was chasing, and he felt as if there were countless hands pulling at him behind him, not to drag him anywhere, but to add resistance to him and make him give up. Eventually, the sunset that completely disappeared stopped him. Zheng Pei looked blankly into the distance, letting the darkness devour his body to his heart's content.
Why? Zheng Pei is not only puzzled, but also angry! Why? Why do I always fall into a darkness, I can't even find a direction without a head or a tail, I just want to go on simply, why can't I even meet such a small request? Zheng Pei wanted to shout, but found that he couldn't shout, he wanted to kick and beat to vent, but he felt that his hands and feet were being held down, and he couldn't move at all. The nameless fire in Zheng Pei's heart instantly rushed to his head, but before he could start to explode, he suddenly fell into the darkness, as if falling from a cliff, and all his emotions and hopes were annihilated in the endless sense of weightlessness. Zheng Pei felt that he was completely finished, fear became his only remaining consciousness, and he fell into the wind like a dry leaf.
Suddenly, a slippery strip wrapped around his whole body, and he no longer fell, and was quietly suspended in the air. That slippery feeling he experienced once and will never forget, it was a snake! Such a stout one should be regarded as a big python. Zheng Pei felt that the python, which was as black as the surroundings, wrapped around him again and again. Finally, the head of the snake stopped in front of him. Zheng Pei could even feel those dark eyes staring at his face carefully. Zheng Pei had given up hope, and at this time he no longer felt fear, after all, death was also a result, and knowing his result made him feel relieved. His mind was already wandering in the distance, not caring in the slightest about what was about to happen. However, the snake did not swallow him, but began to turn into countless small snakes from the head of the snake and burrowed into Zheng Pei's mouth and nostrils, and even some small snakes that couldn't wait went directly into his flesh! But the strange thing is that Zheng Pei didn't feel pain, but his whole body was itchy and numb, his stuffy chest cavity coupled with countless small snakes pouring in, Zheng Pei felt that he was almost suffocating, he shook his head hard and wanted to struggle out a little space to breathe, even if it was just a breath! The harder he threw it, the harder he threw it, the more desperately he threw it, and at the moment when he was almost unconscious, he keenly felt a sudden opening in his mouth, so he exhaled the breath that had been accumulated for a long time with all his strength......
"Wow!" Zheng Pei sat up and let out a long breath, and he found himself lying in a white room with white walls, white quilts, and two startled people in white coats. He felt dizzy, then closed his eyes and went straight back.
Hospital? How could I be in the hospital?
"Oh, you lie down, don't run out of the needle in your hand!" Zheng Pei heard a woman's complaining voice and smelled the unique smell of a hospital on her. She picked up Zheng Pei's hand and looked at it, and gently put it away.
"Oh, it's good to wake up." Zheng Pei heard another man's voice, and finally his eyelids were ripped open and he was shaken by a fat man with glasses with a small flashlight.
"Does your head hurt, do you feel uncomfortable?" The fat man asked.
Zheng Pei didn't speak, just shook his head slightly, he felt that his mouth was very dry, and his throat was dumb.
The door to the room was pushed open, and two people walked in. There should be a woman among them, Zheng Pei's nose clearly smells a fragrance, just like Yang Ni's, but it is a little different. This time the flavor is lighter and purer.
"How's it going?" An unfamiliar female voice should be the person who came in just now. Although Zheng Pei didn't open his eyes to see it, he judged from the sound that it should be his peers.
"Oh, no obvious injuries have been found yet," said the fat doctor, "and as for any other problems, we'll have to wait and see." ”
"Oh......" The young girl sounded worried, and Zheng Pei could imagine her expression just by listening to the voice.
"In addition, it is better for you to inform the family members as soon as possible, so that the patient can have someone to take care of him while he is in the hospital." The female nurse who smelled of a hospital said.
"I don't know him, where can I find his family!" A man spoke, his voice impatient. "He was lying on the ground by himself, and we didn't hit him!"
"Don't worry, we'll do our best." The girl interrupted the man, "Brother Xiaoguang, you go out to rest, I'll talk to him." ”
The three of them went out, but the smell of pure fragrance was still there, and Zheng Pei felt that only he and the girl should be left in the room. The girl walked up to Zheng Pei, the warm and fragrant breath brushed his face one after another, Zheng Pei felt nervous inexplicably, and licked his lips unconsciously.
"You're thirsty, aren't you?" The girl asked with concern.
Zheng Pei was nervous and didn't know what to say, but shook his head mechanically.
"Wait a minute." The girl pushed the door and went out, but immediately came back again. Zheng Pei felt the pillow being raised a little, and the warm rim of the glass gently leaned against his chapped lips, "Come, drink some water." ”
The warm water soaked Zheng Pei's chapped lips, and his mind went blank at this time, like a puppet for the girl to fiddle with. A little boiling water moistened his throat, and the fragrant smell also moistened his heart a little bit.
The girl raised his pillow a little higher, so that he could drink water more conveniently, Zheng Pei's ears were suddenly swept by a lock of hair, and he felt a thrill in his heart, the water in his mouth choked on his throat, and he immediately coughed dimly. Zheng Pei's face was coughed red, and all the water in his mouth squirted out, and after calming down a little, Zheng Pei slowly adjusted his breathing, and at this time, he inadvertently saw the girl's face.
A delicate face, long black hair, small and delicate facial features, and delicate skin slightly exuding an ivory-white pearl. The girl was sprayed with water, and when Zheng Pei opened her eyes, she was wiping the water droplets from her face with the back of her hand, and when she noticed that Zheng Pei was looking at her, a crimson flew up her cheeks.
Zheng Pei not only squirted water everywhere, saliva hanging on his chin, but also squirted out two pieces of snot, he immediately twisted his body to the other side, trying not to let the girl see his embarrassed appearance, he was hiding while looking for something to clean up his face.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The girl handed a little folded toilet paper to Zheng Pei's hand, her voice full of apology. "I choked on you."
"It's okay, it's okay." Zheng Pei replied in a panic, and when he wiped his nose, he tried not to make a sound.
The girl quietly watched Zheng Pei clean up, and handed him a little toilet paper at the right time. When Zheng Pei was almost cleaned up, she handed Zheng Pei a roll of toilet paper, got up and walked out of the room.
Zheng Pei was embarrassed, and the whole room was sprayed with his saliva, and at this time there was gradually a slightly sour taste. Zheng Pei wanted to open the window to change the air, but he still had the needle of the infusion set in his hand, so he had to give up.
In short, Zheng Pei felt that he was so embarrassed now.
Soon, the girl pushed the door and came back, she gently wiped her hands with a handkerchief, and there were some small droplets of water on her bangs and hair on the side of her face, it seemed that she should have gone to wash her face. She smiled at Zheng Pei, walked to the window and opened it. Jeans and a long-sleeved pullover with a hood seem to depict the girl's delicate curves, this shadow that brings Zheng Pei fragrant fresh air, bathed in the sun, Zheng Pei was stunned.
"How are you feeling?" The girl didn't seem to notice Zheng Pei's stupidity, and asked with a smile.
"Well, it's fine." Zheng Pei noticed his stupidity, quickly sat down, and replied embarrassedly.
"Is there anything wrong with you?" The girl continued.
"Well, no, it's all good." In fact, Zheng Pei is a little strange all over his body now, especially in his heart, the inexplicable panic has escalated into panic.
"What's your name?" The girl saw that Zheng Pei was nervous and asked with a smile.
"Zheng Pei." Zheng Pei always kept his head down when he answered, and he didn't dare to look at the girl's eyes.
"Oh, hello, Zheng Pei, my name is Arlene Song." The girl smiled and held out her hand, "You can call me Arlene." ”
Zheng Pei didn't actually hear the girl's name clearly, it seemed that she was called "Arlene Song". Although he said anything, he still felt that the surname "A" was strange. Although he did not refuse to shake Arlene's hand in a friendly manner, he just shook Arlene's fingertips like a dragonfly.
Even the tips of your fingers feel warm and soft.
"Zheng Pei, do you remember what happened? Just before you faint. Arlene asked.
Zheng Pei rubbed his face with his hands, he really didn't remember what happened at that time. I just feel that I am weak, and then there seems to be the sound of emergency brakes.
"No, I can't remember anything." Zheng Pei shook his head.
"Well, that's right......," Arlene was a little disappointed, but she asked, "where is your family, I can help you contact them." ”
"No," Zheng Pei's mood was slightly depressed, "My home is far away from here, and I go to school here alone." ”
"Then you tell me the school's contact information, and I will inform your teacher." Arlene tried another solution.
"No, no." Zheng Pei immediately refused, "I don't have anything to do, no one needs to say, I still have to go to work tonight." ”
"Are you sure?" Arlene said a little worriedly, "Although I didn't hit you with my car, people don't faint for no reason, are you sure you don't want to check again?" ”
Zheng Pei shook his head with a smile and said bluntly: "It's okay, maybe I didn't wake up in the morning." ”
Arlene looked at Zheng Pei helplessly, she felt that this young man was a little too indifferent to his body. At this moment, a female nurse pushed the door and walked in, she looked at the medicine in Zheng Pei's infusion set, and then turned around and went out. Zheng Pei and Arlene fell into a kind of embarrassment, and the two seemed to be unable to find a common topic for a while, and looked at each other and smiled.
"Ah, yes." Arlene picked up Zheng Pei's book from the bedside table next to her and asked, "Can you read this book?" ”
Zheng Pei's mind suddenly flashed back to what happened last night, and every detail reproduced in his mind like a marquee. He felt that his fainting was not due to accident, but at the moment, he could only shake his head at Arlene's question and say that he couldn't understand it.
However, Arlene showed a strong curiosity about the book, she turned the pages of the book, and said: "I have seen such a book before, according to professional research, it is said that the internal records of a non-governmental organization in southern China, the content is probably about the teaching of some folk secret arts, how can you have such a thing?" Have you ever been a member of such an organization? Or have people close to you attended? ”
Zheng Pei shook his head and did not speak.
Seeing Zheng Pei's silent appearance, Arlene felt that her question might be a little abrupt, and she could only temporarily suppress her strong curiosity and gently put the old book back on the bedside table. "Well, then you rest first, and I'll go out for a while."
When Arlene walked out of the room, Zheng Pei was amazed at how good his eyesight had become, and he could even see the thin ends of Arlene's back hair. He turned his head to look at the corner of the ceiling, and could clearly see the spiders on the spider's web, entwining their prey with silk threads. There is a force in the body that clashes back and forth, sometimes converging, sometimes scattering, and it is difficult for Zheng Pei to feel and grasp it clearly. When that force reached his arm, Zheng Pei noticed that there was a trace of black ink-like stuff that rushed down the needle of the infusion set into the upside-down bottle, spreading out like smoke and disappearing without a trace in an instant.
Arlene went out to buy a hospital meal, she thought that Zheng Pei might feel hungry from lying in the morning, and when she pushed open the door of the ward with a plastic bag, she found that the room was already empty.
Watching a man with an inch head and Arlene drive out of the hospital gate, Zheng Pei slowly emerged from behind a tree. He felt that things were complicated now, and that he had already inserted a kudzu ingot before he could figure it out, so there was no need to mix in a curious Arlene. But at present, the more important thing is his body, although he can't say what is uncomfortable, but Zheng Pei always feels that there is something wrong with his body, it seems that he can only wait until he meets Ba Niang on Friday night, maybe she will know what is going on with that book, and what happened to her body.
Thinking of this, Zheng Pei decided to go back to school first, although he couldn't catch up with the afternoon class, he still had to go to the work-study program in the evening. But as soon as Zheng Pei walked out of the hospital gate, his stomach "gurgled" for a while, and it was only then that he remembered that he had not eaten anything since the morning. Zheng Pei rubbed his stomach and looked around, trying to find something to sacrifice to the Five Organs Temple first, but when he touched the bits and pieces of tickets in his pocket, he could only swallow his saliva and endure it, after all, it was more important to go back by car.
When Zheng Pei sat in the car, his front seat was a mother and son. Mom bought a roasted sweet potato and carefully peeled off the skin little by little. The little boy was mischievous in his seat, and when his mother handed over the peeled sweet potato, he stopped playing and took a bite as if showing off. Although the aroma of sweet potatoes made Zheng Pei feel even more hungry, the longing for his mother at this time really tormented his heart. The sunlight shines through the branches of the trees, hitting Zheng Pei's face bits and pieces, just like his memories of home, unpredictable, but like a shadow.