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墨書 Inktalez
Old Zhou's words were always inexplicable, leaving people puzzled. After hanging up the phone, I thought for a moment and concluded that it must have been a close call. My heart felt a bit more at ease.
However, the next ordeal was being transferred to the general surgery department to complete the admission procedures. It dragged on until midnight, and when I finally settled into my hospital room, pain and fatigue hit me like a flood, overwhelming me until I drifted off into a deep sleep.
The next morning, I was awakened by the sunlight streaming through the window. I shielded my eyes with my right hand and attempted to sit up, but as soon as I exerted myself, a sharp pain shot through my wound. I grimaced and lay back down. Turning to look out of the left window, I saw bright sunshine illuminating the lush greenery below. Beyond that was an Artificial Lake. Despite the pain in my wound, my spirits lifted significantly.
"Are you awake?" A gentle voice from my right asked. It was a woman.
Curiously, I turned my head. Huh? It was Xu Zengjing! She was sitting in the chair beside me, looking at me.
"It's you?" I exclaimed in surprise.
She didn't respond directly but lowered her head. "An Officer Huang came to take my statement this morning. Someone drugged me last night, and you saved me. Officer Huang said it was very dangerous last night; you almost..."
"Ah Huang?! Where is he?" I interrupted her.
"He brought me here. He saw that you were still asleep and left," she replied, still looking down. It was strange; she usually held her head high with pride, but now she seemed different.
Suddenly, she spoke hesitantly, "About what happened before... I'm sorry! Thank you!"
"What happened?" I asked, feeling a bit confused before realizing what she meant. "Oh, I'm a soldier; if I see something, I have to intervene. You don't need to be so polite about it. What's done is done." I said lightly, then added after a moment's thought, "Besides, at that time, I didn't even know it was you."
Unexpectedly, she shot her head up, her face flushed red. After a while, she said, "Are you still angry with me? If it weren't for me, would you have bothered with it at all?!"
"Not really; I just didn't expect such a coincidence. You're so wealthy yet still go to bars to hang out with those people?" I teased her.
"You!" Xu Zengjing stood up, looking like she was about to explode, but in the end, she just stomped her foot and ran away.
Haha, it was really satisfying to see her at a loss.
At that moment, a fellow patient beside me said, "Hey, brother, that girl has been sitting here watching you all morning. I couldn't even turn on the TV because she was afraid of disturbing you. Is she your girlfriend?"
"Brother!" I noticed he looked about my age, so it was hard to judge. I could only call him brother. "She's really not my girlfriend, and she won't be!"
"Hehe." This brother smiled mysteriously. "She looks pretty good!"
"How about I introduce you to her?"
"No, no, I already have a girlfriend!" He quickly waved his hand.
The morning passed by as I lay there. During that time, Ah Huang called to check on me and updated me on the case. They had already confirmed the identity of the suspect known as Five Master through sketches. It turned out that this Five Master had been active in Yunnan-Guizhou and Guangxi regions, even extending overseas. What he was involved in was likely related to drugs, and he had committed murders as well. However, due to his background as a Scout, his counter-surveillance awareness and skills were very strong; he was too cunning for the police to catch. I never expected him to show up here. The Horse-Faced Man wasn't one of his subordinates; they had only met for the first time through an introduction. I heard that Five Master needed a large sum of money urgently soon, and the Horse-Faced Man was helping him find a way. Coincidentally, the Horse-Faced Man's university girlfriend knew some wealthy girls in her class, which is why he asked her to arrange a meeting with them.
The Horse-Faced Man had already been detained, and they had managed to extract some other cases from him; Huang had made a big profit this time.
At noon, the fellow patient went out. I didn't feel like going out either, so I ordered takeout through the bedside service and ate in the ward.
In the afternoon, Old Tang brought a few Squad Leaders and soldiers to visit me. They were all in high spirits; I couldn't tell if they were here to see the patient or if they were preparing for an outing. When I asked, I found out that the team had been notified in the morning to stay put for hygiene duties and clean up the barracks in preparation for an inspection from higher-ups. They didn't have to run five kilometers or train; no wonder everyone was so happy.
I hadn't been injured much; I just had a careless fall onto something sharp. Since everyone saw that I could laugh and move around, they didn't pay much attention. After chatting for a while, I sent off this group of cheerful brothers. Looking back at the pile of fruits they brought me at the bedside, I felt troubled; there was no way I could finish all this by myself. However, my roommate envied me greatly and kept saying how good it was to be a Unit Commander.
I smiled without explaining and gave him some of the fruit. When I asked him about himself, he told me he was a staff officer from the Provincial Military District named Maliao who was hospitalized due to training injuries. Just as we were sitting cross-legged on the bed chatting with each other, the door of the ward was pushed open again.
I leaned forward to take a look. Oh, why is Xu Zengjing here again?! I had no idea what she was up to.
I withdrew my gaze, pretending not to see her, and continued chatting with the Brothers. To be honest, I really didn't want to deal with this kind of rich girl. Among the wealthy, Xi was much better than her.
Unexpectedly, she slowly walked between our two hospital beds, holding something in her hands. I had no choice but to lift my head and look at her.
"This is for you. Thank you for yesterday," she said shyly.
"No need for thanks; anyone would do something in that situation. Who knew someone would get hurt? By the way, what is this?!" I asked, eyeing the stack of metal boxes she was holding.
"Oh, this is food. I made it for you. Look, this is a dish, the second layer is rice, and the third layer below is soup. Want to try?" She eagerly opened the containers and laid them out on the bedside table.
"You made this?!" Seeing my skeptical expression, her face turned red and she fell silent. "You bought it outside, right?!" I teased her.
Watching her awkward demeanor and recalling how haughty she had been before, I felt a sense of satisfaction but also a twinge of sympathy. Helping others should not be about expecting something in return; why did it have to be like this?
"Hey, you really don't need to be so polite. Honestly, my injury was an accident and has nothing to do with you. I appreciate your kindness, but please don't be so formal in the future."
I thought she would understand my meaning, but unexpectedly, her eyes lit up. "Really? Then I won't hold back!"
She actually sat on my hospital bed, grinning at me. "Hurry up and eat! After you're done, I'll take it back up and have someone pack it again. By the way, do you eat late-night snacks?"
I had planned to force myself to eat a little, but upon hearing that, my eyes nearly popped out. "You're coming back tonight?!"
"Well, I’m actually here for observation in the hospital. I'm staying on the fourth floor in internal medicine; it's very convenient for me to come down," she said while pointing upwards.
"Ah!? I don't have a habit of eating late-night snacks! How long do you plan to stay?"
"Just observing. I don't know; I'll stay as long as you do."
The brother on the opposite bed chuckled, and I felt quite embarrassed. But how long she stayed was none of my business. I shook my head, stopped talking, and buried myself in my food while Xu Zengjing watched me eat with a smile.
"You're not bad, brother. This girl treats you pretty well, and she's not bad-looking either."
I forced a smile. "She's not my type. Besides, I can't match up to her; she's from a wealthy family."
"Hey, don't say that. Wealthy people are even better! It's rare to find a rich person who's good-looking and treats you well. If things develop, you could get married."
"Brothers, marriage?! Don't joke around. Are we supposed to get married without feelings or love?" I looked at him in confusion.
"Well, I should be a bit older than you. Let me tell you, in the end, marriage is just about finding someone suitable to be with. Whether there's love or not doesn't really matter; it's just about living together. You need to see it for what it is; that's the essence of life."
"The essence of life?" I felt lost. To be honest, I hadn't thought that much about it. During my first love, I always believed that as long as two people cared for each other, they would definitely be together. Who knew that after graduation, I would realize many things weren't certain? Yet even so, I still believed in love. The thought of spending a lifetime with someone I had no feelings for was terrifying.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." I felt a bit flustered. "I'm going out for a walk. I'll come back when the lights go out to avoid her looking for me. Just know I'm gone; who knows when I'll be back?"
"Haha, sure! If she's waiting here, I'll keep her company!"
"Fine by me." I got out of bed and planned to stroll along the Artificial Lake since being cooped up in the hospital was indeed stifling.
Just as I was about to leave, he called out, "Hey, Brothers! Be careful when you come back; don't take the wrong path! Go right when you exit!"
"Don't go over there?! Why?"
"Oh, that's the Morgue!"
"Oh, got it. What do I care where I go?!" I shrugged.
After stepping out the door, I wandered onto the street. I walked along the road for a while, feeling a bit bored. This hospital seemed to be on the outskirts of the city, by the riverside, with hardly any houses around. It was dark at night, and there wasn't much to see. Before eight o'clock, I turned back.
Upon returning, I strolled along the lakeside for quite some time. On summer nights, there were a lot of mosquitoes by the lake, and I couldn't stand it anymore, so I decided to slowly head back to my ward.
Just as I reached the entrance of the Department, I saw a nurse pushing a hospital bed out from the second-floor passageway, heading toward a corridor next to the Department.
As she passed by me, I glanced over casually. A white cloth covered the bed, and beneath it was vaguely a human shape. My heart sank as I recalled what my roommate had said; this was a dead person being taken to the Morgue!
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow!)
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