Chapter 71 Little Goldfish
Shen Luyao's home was filled with the sour smell of traditional Chinese medicine.
Her mother, Lu Fenfang, was lying on the bed, her face pale and her voice weak.
"Lu Yao, your classmates are here?" Lu Fenfang barely raised herself up and forced a smile to greet Xiao Zhen and Liu Xingquan.
"Yes, this is our class monitor Liu Xingquan, and this is Yan Zhen." Shen Luyao stepped forward and placed a pillow behind Aunt Lu's back, helping her sit up.
"Liu Xingquan? The parents in the group praise you every day. You are the top student in the grade and a well-known good student. Lu Yao, you must learn from your class monitor." Lu Fenfang looked at Liu Xingquan and nodded continuously.
Liu Xingquan quickly called out hello, Aunt Lu. He seemed to be accustomed to being praised in person by parents.
Lu Fenfang turned her gaze to Xiao Zhen again, "Yan Zhen, I know you, you are a good kid. Oh, you are also good-looking." She turned to Shen Luyao and said, "Hurry up and let them sit down. Bring out the fruit for them to eat."
"Auntie, you're welcome. We'll be leaving in a moment."
Aunt Lu seemed very embarrassed. She kept apologizing to Liu Xingquan and Xiaozhen, saying that due to her poor health, she had to let Shen Luyao run around, which really embarrassed her daughter's classmates.
Then she asked Liu Xingquan puzzledly whether Shen Luyao had some problems in class that was why they came to visit.
Liu Xingquan quickly shook his head. Xiao Zhen looked at Liu Xingquan's hesitant expression and knew that the matter of persuading Shen Luyao to participate in the competition would be stuck in his throat.
Aunt Lu was lying on the bed with a weak face. Shen Luyao was the only one busy at home. This was not a good time to persuade Shen Luyao to participate in the competition. What surprised Xiaozhen was Aunt Lu's superficial consciousness. As soon as he entered Shen Luyao's home, he felt Aunt Lu's dark mood, like a thick black fog - a mixture of pain and despair, permeating the air.
Xiao Zhen had experienced this kind of emotion many times before. It was especially common in hospitals of intelligent creatures. It was the grief of a dying person and the despair of giving up hope in life. The moment she felt that emotion, Xiao Zhen couldn't help but scan Aunt Lu's upper body. Her vital signs were stable. Although she was a little weak, she didn't look like someone with a terminal illness.
She probably didn't have any incurable terminal illness, but her emotions showed no desire to live. This was not a good thing. This mentality would command her brain to slowly die, and the thick and dark emotions would spread around like toxins, spreading into the hearts of the people around her. Shen Luyao, her daughter, whose shallow consciousness was originally light blue and clear, had now been infiltrated by this thick and dark toxin.
Xiao Zhen looked at Aunt Lu and said, "Aunt, we want to mobilize Shen Luyao to participate in the school sports meeting."
"School sports meeting?" Aunt Lu seemed a little confused. She asked Shen Luyao, "Are you going to compete?"
"Mom, I've already refused." Shen Luyao shook her head firmly, "If I go to training, I won't have time to cook the medicine in the evening."
Aunt Lu said softly, "But this is a school activity, you might as well participate."
"Mom, I'm not participating." Shen Luyao turned to Liu Xingquan and Xiao Zhen and said, "My mom needs my care. I really don't have the heart to participate in the competition right now."
Liu Xingquan was silent. This reason was indeed irrefutable. But Xiaozhen felt that after Shen Luyao said this, Aunt Lu's mood was obviously lowered. He asked, "Excuse me, what disease did Aunt Lu have..."
Aunt Lu pulled up the thin blanket covering her body, and Liu Xingquan uttered a low cry, because under the blanket, one of Aunt Lu's legs was empty. She pulled up the trouser leg, and the leg was completely cut off from the knee down.
"It was a car accident, and she had to have her limb amputated." Aunt Lu sighed and put the blanket back on. "It's been a few months. Her father is a seaman and is away from home all year round. Now I can only lie at home and rely on Lu Yao. It's her mother who is useless and is a burden to her."
"Mom, please don't say that." Shen Luyao said, "You are a fine person!"
Aunt Lu leaned on the pillow and repeated sadly, "It's mom who is holding you back."
Xiao Zhen saw that the black emotional toxin from Aunt Lu was spreading in Shen Luyao's clear shallow consciousness, and the color of Shen Luyao's shallow consciousness began to dim. This mother was unconsciously spreading negative mental emotions to her daughter, and it seemed to be normal.
This is also normal. After all, not many intelligent creatures can face their own limb loss calmly. Even in the technologically advanced galactic civilization, people use convenient prosthetic limbs to replace their stumps, which means paying a considerable amount of money. Only high performance and low price can make them better.
It's the same no matter what civilization you are in.
Because he couldn't bear to see this extremely depressing black fog, Xiao Zhen tried to send some happy messages to Aunt Lu. As a heretic heart-eating demon, he has always disliked directly manipulating the consciousness of intelligent creatures. Consciousness manipulation is a very delicate matter. Unlike small animals, some operations that violate the will of Homo sapiens may often harm the brain of Homo sapiens. Unless facing an enemy like the Izel Alien, Xiao Zhen will never take tough measures.
Just like now, he threw some hints of "happiness" and "pleasure" to Aunt Lu, which would only have a slight hint to the Homo sapiens object and would not hurt them. Although this trick failed on Teacher Feng, it was very successful on the Internet celebrity singer Xie Ran.
Aunt Lu's eyes lit up, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. She smiled and said softly, "If the child's father can come back soon, Lu Yao will feel more relaxed." When she mentioned "the child's father", her tone was very gentle. Then she shifted her gaze to the small goldfish tank on the bedside table, in which there was a small goldfish. She said softly, "This is the little goldfish her father bought for her when he went shopping with me in the park before he went out to sea this time."
Her gaze stayed on the goldfish bowl for a long time. Xiao Zhen watched in despair as the bright and happy message he had cast was completely swallowed up by the thick black fog, leaving nothing behind.
Aunt Lu's eyes dimmed, and she turned back into the weak woman who had lost all desire in life.
Xiao Zhen clearly heard a sentence in her subconscious: "I am like this goldfish."
The little goldfish in the goldfish tank seemed to have injured its fins, and its fins and abdomen were an unhealthy dark color.
"This is the little goldfish my dad caught at the park stall. He has been raising it for half a year." Shen Luyao said briskly. She picked up the fish food bag beside her and threw a little fish food into it. The little goldfish sensed the bait and immediately swam to the surface of the water.
But because the little goldfish's fin was injured, it could hardly keep its body balance. It turned half over on its belly, swam up sideways, and took a few bites of the bait.
(I am like this goldfish. Half dead, waiting to die.)
Xiao Zhen heard this again. He raised his head and saw Aunt Lu staring at the little goldfish with half its belly turned upside down with melancholy, and a thick black mist enveloped her whole body.
Half of its belly has turned over, and this fish really won’t live for many more days, Xiao Zhen thought to herself.
Both of Shen Luyao's classmates left.
Lu Fenfang leaned against the backrest in silence, her daughter thoughtfully turned on the TV for her, but she didn't even watch a word. She had been in a daze for several months since the car accident and the loss of her limbs. Even now, she still felt like it was a dream.
She reached out and touched her right leg. There was nothing below her knee. This was not a dream, but a cold reality.
Now she is a useless person.
Lu Fenfang thought of the friends and relatives who came to visit her. Their expressions of pity and shock when they saw her broken limbs made her want to tremble to this day. Yes, in their eyes, she was no longer a complete person, nor a complete woman, but just a cripple lying in bed.
What would her husband think when he saw her like this? They met on a blind date, got together and got married. Her husband is an ordinary seaman. The couple has been apart for a long time, but their marriage life has always been harmonious. Every time her husband comes back from the sea, she will clean the house, dress herself up beautifully, and cook a table of delicious food. Every time he comes back and reunites, it is the happiest day for their family.
Now, she can only lie in bed, a cripple, waiting for her husband to come back. What will he think of her? Pity? Sympathy? Disdain? What is waiting for him is no longer a caring wife, but a woman with a broken leg, a pitiful cripple, a useless person who needs to be taken care of.
And her poor daughter, who has been very strong since her accident, took on the responsibility of taking care of her disabled daughter after she was discharged from the hospital. Now she has to rush to the market to buy vegetables after school and go home to make medicine for her. During the period when her wounds had not healed, her little daughter also learned how to wipe her body with the nurse.
This is her most precious daughter, and now she is forced to learn to do these things.
I am the one who is holding her back, Lu Fenfang thought.
My daughter, my pearl, my sweetheart, she has been dragged down by me, by a cripple like me.
Even though her daughter did the housework with full energy every day , she saw the fatigue between her daughter's brows. If she continued like this, she would sooner or later drag down her daughter.
She cast her eyes to the goldfish bowl on the bedside table. The little goldfish was swimming in the water, half of its belly turned upside down.
It was also a cripple and dying.
I'm like this goldfish.
That night, she had a strange dream.
She rode on a goldfish, which was half-turned on its belly, with its fins and belly an abnormally dark color.
Why am I riding a goldfish? Wait, why are goldfish so big?
Fortunately, the belly of the goldfish was very soft, so she didn't feel too uncomfortable. But the goldfish was half-turned on its belly, looking like it was about to ascend to heaven, so she doubted how long this mount could last.
"Where is this place?" Lu Fenfang said to herself.
"On the sea." replied the goldfish.
"..." Lu Fenfang didn't know whether to ask why I was at sea or why you were talking. She was stunned for a long time and asked, "So, where are we going?"
"To see your daughter."
"Ah?" Lu Fenfang said, "Where is she?"
The goldfish raised its fin and pointed to the distance. Her daughter, Shen Luyao, was waving to her from a small island in the distance. Seeing her daughter's small figure, Lu Fenfang couldn't help but feel happy. She patted the goldfish and shouted, "It's my daughter! Come over here! Come over here!"
Shen Luyao showed a longing look and shouted, "Mom! Mom!" But suddenly a group of big crabs came out from behind her, waving their huge claws and surrounded her. Her daughter tried to escape, but the crabs cast a net and caught her daughter.
"Mom, save me! Mom, save me!" her daughter screamed in panic in the net. The crabs dragged her away mercilessly.
"Lu Yao! Lu Yao!!" Lu Fenfang was so anxious that she went crazy. The goldfish carried her to the shore of the island. Lu Fenfang jumped off the fish in a hurry, but fell to the ground in an instant. She remembered that she was a useless person, she was disabled, and she had no right leg.
She couldn't stand up. She couldn't save her daughter.
She lay on the ground, watching the crabs dragging her daughter back to the camp, and she couldn't help crying.
The goldfish asked, "Why are you crying? Aren't you going to save your daughter?"
Lu Fenfang cried, "I am a cripple, I can't save her at all." She looked around anxiously, "If my husband was here, if my husband was here, he would be able to save her. Husband, husband, where are you!!!"
The goldfish said, "You and your daughter are the only two humans on this island right now. It's a waste of time to rely on others."
Lu Fenfang cried, "But I am a cripple! How can I save my daughter?"
"I am also a cripple." The goldfish said to Lu Fenfang, "But your daughter once fed me fish food. So I will go to save her." The goldfish swam away without hesitation with half its belly turned up.
Lu Fenfang lay on the ground and watched it go away. She didn't understand how this goldfish could save her daughter. It was just a dying, disabled goldfish, how could it save people?
The goldfish swam to the camp of the big crabs and spit bubbles at them. The big crabs were immediately angry and attacked the goldfish with their claws and teeth. Their claws were very sharp and kept hurting the goldfish's belly. The goldfish retreated while hitting the waves with its fins.
(Hurry! Now!) Lu Fenfang heard the voice in her head.
(What?)
(I'll lead them away, and you come to rescue your daughter.)
(But I...)
Lu Fenfang didn't say anything else. She saw the goldfish lying on its belly, dying, but still struggling with the crabs. Its fins had been torn by the crabs' claws, and its belly had been cut, with its intestines leaking out.
This was the time the goldfish bought for her with its life.
She gritted her teeth and crawled on the ground until she was close to the grove where her daughter was imprisoned. She picked up two branches and supported herself to stand up. But her body still couldn't keep balance, which didn't matter, at least she could still move. There were trees next to her, and she could hold on to them for support. The goldfish had already risked its life, and if she could only lie on the ground and cry, she would really be a waste.
My daughter, my daughter, I am coming to save you.
She lost her balance again and fell to the ground. Haha, because since she became disabled, she has never done proper rehabilitation, but just immersed herself in pain. This is the bitter fruit of her self-pity. She picked up a branch, broke it into a length slightly longer than her right leg, and directly inserted it into the lower limb of her broken right leg. Blood dripped down the branch. It hurt, very much. But it didn't matter, now she could barely keep her balance by relying on the branch inserted into her lower limb.
Drops of blood snaked along the ground as she limped.
Mom is here to rescue you.
The goldfish really lured away all the big crabs.
The only person in the camp was Shen Luyao, who was tied up by a net.
Lu Fenfang and Shen Luyao supported each other and walked out of the crab camp. Lu Fenfang looked towards the shore and saw that the crabs were still besieging the goldfish, but it was already the goldfish's corpse.
…
Lu Fenfang woke up from her dream.
She turned over and stared at the goldfish bowl next to the bedside table for a long time. The goldfish in the bowl had completely turned over and was dead.
Shen Luyao pressed the alarm and jumped out of bed. She rushed to the kitchen and looked in surprise at her mother, who had always been bedridden, standing in the kitchen with a cane and cooking breakfast.
"Mom, why are you up?"
"Mom was so depressed before." Lu Fenfang said, "Even a goldfish is more ambitious than me. It doesn't matter if half of my leg is broken, I can still live well."
"mom?"
"I plan to start rehabilitation from today. When your father comes back, I will go to the hospital to get a prosthesis. It's just a broken leg, right? I can still live a good life."
"Mom?" Shen Luyao shouted happily.
Lu Fenfang turned around with difficulty while leaning on a cane and said, "You should go to the school sports meet and participate in the competition. It will be good for you to participate in more school activities. Your physical education teacher mentioned to me before that you have this talent."
"but……"
"Go ahead. Mom will go to school to watch your competition."
"Yeah!" Shen Luyao nodded.
Mr. Cat said, "Don't you think your dream script is a little idiotic?"
Xiao Zhen said: "It's not stupid at all, the effect is quite good."
"Teacher Xiao Yuan will definitely not be happy that you brought out the crab to play the villain."
"I can't think of any good ingredients at the moment, but the big crabs are really good." Xiao Zhen said, "By the way, we now have a new business partner."
He spread out his hand, and Dawn was standing on his palm: "I will have someone plant the tranquilizing fungus you ordered in the dark at Shen Luyao's house. 500 credit points, thank you."
“Does this thing work well?”
"Absolutely." Fuxiao said, "The tranquilizing fungus can effectively reduce the negative emotions of Homo sapiens and promote the secretion of dopamine in the brain of Homo sapiens. And it has no side effects on the human body."
"Okay." Xiao Zhen nodded. At least this Dawn Assistant looked more reliable than Boss Han, and was also cheaper.
