Chapter 1 Memories are like a slap in the face
Some things are like a slap in the face to me. I feel like I get slapped every time I think of them.
——Fang Weiyang
01
In the residential area on the left, pink wild flowers bloomed all the way. Outside the guardrail on the right, the wind blew from the blue sea towards my face, soft and crisp.
This is a road I loved to walk on when I was a child, because my father, Fang Chongyan, lived in the white house at the end of the road.
Fang Chongyan and my mother's marriage ended when I was six years old. After they divorced, I was awarded to my mother, but I would live here for a week every year.
After I was ten years old, I never saw Fang Chongyan or the beautiful little boy he adopted again.
I always thought that he abandoned me and my mother.
The wrought iron gate outside the yard was locked. From where I was standing I could only glimpse a corner of the swimming pool. Looking at the turbid water and piles of apricot-yellow fallen leaves inside, I knew that no one had taken care of this place for a long time.
The fact that he hasn't come back in these eight years is like a slap in the face, every time I think about it.
Maybe I shouldn't blame him. After all, my mother remarried after he left, and her life was relatively stable. My stepfather Shen Huai was a man worthy of her lifelong trust, and he treated me like his own son. They took my feelings into consideration and didn't even have children.
The sea breeze hurt my eyes a little, there was nothing to linger here. I looked up at the window upstairs, turned around and started walking back along the road.
This is the last time I'll come here. I warned myself.
When I arrived at the block, it was almost dark, the vegetable vendors had already closed their stalls, and a few stray cats were gathering around on the ground sniffing for food. I squatted down, took out a few biscuits from my pocket and shook them in front of them. They looked at me timidly, so I had to put the biscuits on the ground and retreat to a safe distance, and then they swarmed over.
Even though this stranger has come to them many times, they still choose not to believe it!
I shook my head, looked down at the cookie crumbs in my palm, and prepared to take out a tissue from my bag to wipe them. Suddenly, there was a "bang" and I staggered and almost fell. I frowned and looked at the disheveled and panicked person in front of me.
He was hunched over, extremely dirty, and his ragged brown coat was greasy and looked funny. His dark face was covered with dirt, and his age was hard to tell. Only his eyes were moving rapidly, and he was a little excited when he saw me.
"Ah...ah...ah..." He stretched out his hand and gestured towards me in a babbling manner, but his words were not clear enough to express his meaning.
I stared at him coldly, and in my heart I had already classified him as a "madman".
I covered my bag calmly and felt sweat on my back.
Seeing my reaction, he suddenly grabbed my wrist and dragged me away. I screamed, and when I came to my senses, I found that he had dragged me several meters away.
The scenery on both sides was rapidly receding, but even if I struggled desperately, I couldn't break free from the strong hand of the man in front of me. He pulled me into an old alley and ran forward madly. I gritted my teeth and used my body to hit him hard. His feet were tripped and he fell heavily to the ground with a "thump". Due to the effect of inertia, I was thrown against the wall beside me.
"What are you doing!" I heard a roar of anger bursting out of my chest.
The "madman" was lying on the ground. He looked up at me, pointed his finger forward and babbled, his eyes full of anxiety.
I got up, looked at his bleeding forehead, and glared at him angrily. At this moment, I heard a weak groan of pain, and when I turned my head, I saw a shocking scene.
In the dark alley, a skinny girl was curled up on the ground, holding her stomach in pain. Her face was pale and a pool of glaring blood was flowing under her body.
"Help..." She squeezed out two words with difficulty in her dry voice.
I stared with my mouth open for a long while before I suddenly came to my senses. I took out my cell phone, dialed 120, and walked towards her with unsteady steps.
The lights in the operating room were still on. I stared at the red words above, and an inexplicable emotion surged in my heart. Everything that just happened was like a dream. Until now, I couldn't tell whether I was in a dream or reality.
Thinking of the stranger who dragged me into the alley, I felt a surge of guilt, as if I owed him an apology.
But why did he know to ask me to rescue people but not to rescue them himself? Or did he know that he would be more likely to be regarded as a bad guy, so he didn't want to get into trouble?
I smiled bitterly, feeling that I was no different from those stray cats just now, equally delicate and sensitive.
The corridor of the hospital was empty, and the sound of the pendulum on the wall stimulated my eardrums. For the first time, I found myself meddling in other people's affairs, and the result of meddling in other people's affairs was a lot of trouble.
Half an hour later, the girl was wheeled out by the nurse and sent to the ward. I followed her all the way, feeling a little overwhelmed.
"A family member, right? Come with me to complete the hospitalization procedures." A short nurse glanced at me and motioned for me to follow her.
I hesitated for a moment and raised my foot, but someone pulled the corner of my clothes. It was the girl on the hospital bed.
"Wait." Her voice was weak.
Under the soft incandescent light, her lips were dry, her pale cheeks showed no trace of blood, and her big black and white eyes revealed a hint of pleading.
My heart seemed to be pierced with pain.
I stared at her for a few seconds, then I turned to the nurse and whispered, "Excuse me, I'll come over later."
The nurse looked at us with a somewhat impatient look, told me to find her at the nurses' station later, and then went to do other things.
I didn't expect that the girl on the hospital bed asked me to wait in order to escape from the hospital.
As soon as the nurse left, she, who had been lying on the bed receiving an IV drip a minute ago, immediately pulled out the needle, got up weakly, found her coat and shoes and put them on.
"What do you want to do?" I asked in surprise, "You just came out of the operating room!"
Because the doctor in the ambulance sent her directly to the operating room, so at this moment, I have no idea why she fell ill on the street.
She glanced at me and lowered her head again, as if she couldn't spare the time to answer me. She bent down to tie her shoelaces, and her face was wincing because of the pain. Beads of sweat kept rolling down her face under her short hair. She was trying to be strong even though her body didn't allow her to do so.
After tying her shoelaces, she stood up and walked to the door to check what was going on outside. Seeing that I was in a daze, she smiled at me weakly and said, "Thank you, little beauty, for today!"
There was full of sincerity in his tone.
As I was about to speak, she raised her index finger and made a "hush" gesture to me until the nurse in the corridor walked over.
"Help me escape." After saying that, he pulled me out without waiting for my consent.
Fifteen minutes later, she and I sat on a bench in the park, each holding a cup of milk tea, watching the passers-by in the night, each with our own thoughts.
I don't know if it's related that she ran out so rashly, we seem to have owed a medical bill. She didn't turn around to look at me, her unfocused eyes were fixed on one spot, and she seemed to be thinking about something. I sat with her quietly for a while, and she suddenly spoke to me.
"What's your name, little beauty?"
"And you?"
"Just call me July."
"Fang Weiyang."
"Weiyang? August Weiyang...we are really destined to meet each other." She laughed.
July was not the first person to pronounce my name wrong. I didn’t correct her, or maybe I had corrected too many people and was tired of explaining.
The laughter stopped as a little girl holding a balloon ran over. Qiyue suddenly stiffened. I looked at her strangely. At this time, the little girl's balloon flew away, and she cried and shouted "Mom". Qiyue reflexively put down the milk tea and tried to get up. A woman in a beige dress ran over from behind, picked up the little girl, and hurriedly comforted her.
July sat down again, smiled awkwardly at me, picked up her milk tea and took a sip. Under the dim light, the color in her eyes was hard to read.
After finishing her milk tea, she didn't say anything, and silence flowed between us. I am indeed not good at talking to strangers, and it is difficult for me to ask questions even when I have doubts in my heart.
"I'm going back now. I'll treat you to dinner when I have time." July spoke after a long time, then took my hand and wrote a string of numbers on my palm.
Then, without even looking at me, she stood up and walked away indifferently. The cold wind blew up her thin sweater, making her look like a lonely fallen leaf in late autumn.
"What happened?" Looking at her back, I couldn't help but ask loudly out of curiosity.
It turns out how stupid my question was.
She walked for a distance, and then stopped after hearing what I said. She stood in the thin moonlight, and heard the low hum of grass insects.
She tilted her head slightly, the broken light of the street lamp reflected in her eyes, and her voice was light and clear -
"I just lost a child."
