Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Fang Shimian handed the water to Huo Zhong...
Fang Shimian handed the water to Huo Zhongshan and went back to put the paper cup back into the storage box under the water dispenser.
The clear drinking water sways in the paper cup, like some messy emotions floating in the mind.
Before Huo Zhongshan could raise the cup, there was a knock on the door of the monitoring room.
"Hey, the door outside is not locked."
As he spoke, Fang Shimian was about to go forward to take a look. Huo Zhongshan drank the water in one gulp, put the cup down, picked up his phone, and walked slowly behind Fang Shimian.
Fang Shimian opened the door and it was Ming Ke who said apologetically, "Sorry to bother you, Mr. Fang."
Then he looked at Huo Zhongshan and smiled, "Boss Huo, I have an appointment with Boss Huang at 10 o'clock. Do you need me to cancel it and reschedule it?"
Fang Shimian quickly made way upon hearing this, and gently pushed Huo Zhongshan slightly, muttering, "Then you go quickly."
Huo Zhong was silent for a moment. Before leaving, he pinched Fang Shimian's face, his fingertips sliding across the wet red lips intentionally or unintentionally, "You can call me for anything."
Fang Shimian nodded hurriedly.
"What did I just say?" Huo Zhongshan stopped.
"I can call you if there is anything." Fang Shimian repeated everything.
He answered the question seriously, looked into the man's eyes, his brows slightly furrowed, and his delicate and beautiful facial features made the boy shine in this dark space.
The moment they looked at each other, Huo Zhongshan felt a momentary tingling sensation in his heart, as if a slight electric current was running through his limbs.
It took a long time to calm down.
After everyone got in the car and left, Fang Shimian closed the door of the monitoring room and slowly returned to his work station.
When he returned home in the evening, Fang Shimian packed two servings of snail noodles and went to Xu Long's place to eat. Xu Long was lying on the sofa with his bare feet, holding the bowl of noodles without chili and slurping with sweat all over his forehead.
Fang Shimian drank Coke and took a sip of the snail rice noodle with red oil, which was so spicy that it sizzled. Xu Long saw that his mouth was swollen like a sausage and laughed: "You didn't make it too spicy, did you?"
"Medium spicy." Fang Shimian continued to struggle, but after a while he couldn't stand it anymore, so he went to his rental apartment to get a bottle of mineral water and drank it in one gulp. He walked in front of Xu Long and muttered, "Why is the medium spicy so strong this time? My tongue is numb from the spiciness."
Fang Shimian's eyes were bright and watery, and his mouth was grinning, with his lips bright red, beautiful and eye-catching.
Xu Longtou leaned back and laughed so hard that he almost choked.
After they finished eating the noodles, they took a break. Fang Shimian curiously looked at the big blisters on Xu Long's feet, which were brightly reflecting the light.
Fang Shimian finished watching silently and sat back down. After a while of silence, he commented, "Brother Long, your feet smell a bit."
Xu Long was furious, but the big bubble was too noticeable, otherwise he would have kicked it, "You! You have the guts to accuse my feet of eating your stinky snail noodles, how dare you! Rebellious son! If you want to eat something this savory in the future, go to your place, and don't bring it to me!"
This time it was Fang Shimian's turn to laugh. After he finished laughing, he asked, "Brother Long, are you going to take a day off tomorrow?"
Xu Long glared at Fang Shimian unhappily, "If it weren't for you, I would have taken half a month off this time! And you still say that my feet smell, how ridiculous! Besides, which man doesn't have smelly feet..."
Fang Shimian raised his hand sincerely, "I don't stink, I wash my socks every day, they really don't stink, if you don't believe me, just smell it."
"You bastard!" Xu Long threw the pillow next to him at Fang Shimian, baring his teeth, "Get out now, immediately, right now!"
Fang Shimian was not annoyed by being scolded. He happily ran back to his room to take a shower and sleep.
In the blink of an eye, half of the month has passed. After working today's day shift and taking two days off, I will switch to the night shift.
It was already four o'clock in the afternoon when today's temporary parking fee was sent. While Xu Long was listening to the video account talking about the increasingly tense international situation in recent times, he quickly filled out the form and sent it out.
Fang Shimian sat next to Xu Long, staring intently at the phone that Xu Long had thrown on the operating table.
"Why are you staring at me? Someone is calling you." Xu Long raised his chin towards the lit phone screen in front of Fang Shimian.
Fang Shimian picked it up and saw that it was actually a call from Teacher Zhao. He stood up a little nervously and slid towards the answering machine.
The passionate speech came to an abrupt end. Xu Long paused the video, turned off the sound and played mahjong.
"Xiao Mian, your brother Shun is missing. We have searched everywhere nearby... Go look around your area to see if he has come to see you." It was the voice of the Master's wife, sobbing and in despair.
Fang Shimian's hand holding the phone was shaking a little: "Okay, I'll go find him now... Don't worry about you and the teacher, Shun will be fine."
After hanging up the phone, before Fang Shimian had time to organize his words, Xu Long was playing with his phone without even looking up, "Go quickly, I had a good sleep this morning."
"Put on your down jacket!"
Fang Shimian pulled out a down jacket from the closet, put it on while running to the non-motorized vehicle garage. He rode his electric scooter along the Riverside Garden where he had taken Zhao Shun before, looking around along the way.
Zhao Shun was not allowed to go out alone. Due to his special physical condition, he could not stand too much stimulation. In the space where Zhao Shun lived, talking loudly was not allowed... In terms of going out, the Zhao family had educated Zhao Shun since he was a child. When he went out, he would only go out with people he was familiar with and liked, and had never tried to go out by himself.
Fang Shimian didn’t know how Zhao Shun ran away. He didn’t know how to use the elevator. Even if he went downstairs, the guard at the gate of the community would immediately notify Zhao’s family to pick him up if they saw him.
He rode his bike for a long time searching along Zhao Shun's life trajectory.
The cold wind seemed to freeze all the bones and Fang Shimian's hands and face were numb from the wind. When he got close to the bridge, strong winds blew again. Fortunately, the helmet was able to block some of the cold wind, otherwise he would not be able to open his eyes.
After getting on the bridge, Fang Shimian saw a group of people gathered on the sidewalk opposite the bridge. The bridge was very wide, and he could not see or hear clearly what was happening on the other side. He did not pay much attention to it at first, but he heard shouting and cursing in the whistling wind. He could not hear what they were saying at all, but when he looked across, he seemed to feel something in his heart, and he could hear a loud heartbeat in his eardrum.
There was no place for vehicles to turn around on the bridge, and it took a long detour to get under the bridge. Fang Shimian rode his bike off the bridge and parked it under a tree by the roadside. There was no sidewalk around. When Fang Shimian saw that the light was red at the intersection and there were few cars, he rushed over and climbed over the fence. He heard fierce honking and the driver's cursing. Fang Shimian knew he had done something wrong, and he felt panic and regret, but he still ran to the other side without hesitation and rushed onto the bridge.
The closer he got, the stronger Fang Shimian's premonition became. He heard someone in the crowd screaming and shouting that they were bleeding.
Someone cursed: "That's a lunatic!"
Fang Shimian's legs went limp and he fell to his knees on the ground without noticing anything.
He raised his head and saw through the gap in the crowd that Zhao Shun was curled up at the feet of several people with a panicked expression, blood flowing from his forehead and his lips were black and purple.
Fang Shimian let out a brief roar of collapse. Like a trapped beast at the end of its rope, he viciously slammed past the crowd that was blocking his way.
He saw clearly that the people surrounding and beating Zhao Shun were several very strong middle-aged men. Fang Shimian clenched his fists and desperately attacked one of the men who was kicking Zhao Shun on the head.
The little boy who was originally sitting on the bridge also stared at Fang Shimian who rushed out with wide eyes.
There were cries of surprise from the crowd. Fang Shimian was unable to defeat the enemy and seemed to want to capture someone to die together with him. He would ram whoever he caught into the traffic on the bridge.
"Another lunatic!"
"Don't touch him!" Fang Shimian raised his head with bloodshot eyes, "I'm not! And neither is he!"
“Hey, this thing can talk…”
"Go, go, go, something's wrong."
There were whispers of conversations coming from the crowd. Some people felt it was dangerous and walked away, while others started recording with their cell phones.
The men surrounding Zhao Shun stepped back a little and looked at Fang Shimian with frowns, "Do you know this lunatic?"
Fang Shimian regained some of his senses, took out his cell phone and called the emergency number, and very skillfully pulled out the bottle of medicine hanging around Zhao Shun's neck, poured a few pills into his palm, pried open Zhao Shun's mouth and put the medicine in.
"Brother, something is wrong. That madman seems to be ill..."
"He's that big, can he die if I kick him twice?"
"Yes, he was the one who scared the kid first."
Zhao Shun was still conscious at this time. He looked at Fang Shimian, feeling aggrieved and confused. He reached out and gently grasped Fang Shimian's thin arm, tears streaming down his face.
Fang Shimian heard the sound of the police car. The strong men were talking about leaving in a low voice. Fang Shimian grabbed the pants of one of the men, whom the others called "big brother", and asked angrily, "Why, beat him?"
The man looked wronged and humiliated, "This lunatic kept circling around the child, scaring the child so much that he almost jumped off the bridge!"
"That's right. If we hadn't taken action, the child would have jumped down."
"Besides, this madman can't be driven away, and he doesn't talk. He's so big, what if he hits us?"
"Let's go, let's go. The police are here and there's nothing for us to do..."
"Hurry up, hurry up, or you'll delay things."
Fang Shimian listened to the special whistle sound getting closer and closer, and the hand holding Zhao Shun trembled unconsciously, "Since you did nothing wrong, why are you running away after doing what is right! My brother is not a lunatic at all, and he would never scare a child for no reason. You want to run away after beating someone? It’s not too late to leave after the police come and investigate!"
"There are surveillance cameras on the bridge. Ask the police to check the surveillance."
"Yeah, it's better to explain it clearly when the police come."
"Even if you were doing something righteous, you shouldn't have beaten that person like that..."
Perhaps it was the attempt of those people to escape that aroused everyone's suspicion. Fang Shimian's words further stirred the emotions of the onlookers who did not know what was going on. Everyone in the crowd was talking, and someone even shouted that no one was allowed to leave.
Meanwhile, in a place where no one was paying attention, the little boy sitting on the bridge had an extremely panicked look on his face. He listened to people asking for details one by one, and looked at more and more people and the police cars that had already gone onto the bridge. He made up his mind, stopped making noise, and just fell back.
Under the high bridge is a wide river with undercurrents and whirlpools. Not to mention a child, even an adult who can swim would be difficult to rescue if they fell from here, not to mention that it is winter and people wear thick clothes. Once soaked in water, it would be like a weight attached to the body. The river water is so cold that there is most likely no way out.
When the boy fell, the crowd didn't even scream yet, but Fang Shimian rushed forward and grabbed the child's backpack strap as if he had expected it. When the screams came out in waves, the child had already been grabbed and thrown from the bridge guardrail to the bridge deck.
The eyes of the onlookers fell on the handsome young man who saved the man.
The moment the uniformed policeman stepped out of the police car, the crowd fell silent, except for the child who burst into tears after looking at his scraped palms.
The men who were beating the man had panicked looks on their faces and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to run away, but they were seen by sharp-eyed residents, who loudly told the police that they had beaten up the madman lying on the ground.
Fang Shimian's perception of the things around him dropped rapidly, and his eyes and ears seemed to be soaked in water, and were foggy.
He leaned over and hugged Zhao Shun, who had stopped crying and opening his eyes, and murmured with trembling lips, "Save him, someone save him, he didn't hurt anyone, why... why did you all know to call the police but were unwilling to give first aid, he was clearly bleeding..."
It was rush hour after get off work, and the police contacted the traffic police in the area to help the ambulance clear the way.
The police took the men away first, leaving two police officers at the scene to continue handling the situation. The crowd was quickly evacuated. When the ambulance arrived, medical staff and police came to help Fang Shimian put Zhao Shun on a stretcher. Fang Shimian sat in the car this time, watching Zhao Shun lifelessly being plugged into oxygen, and the machine in the car began to sound an alarm...
The police asked: "Are you his relative?"
"I'm not." Fang Shimian took out his cell phone with a blank expression and called Teacher Zhao.
Even though they had expected this, the couple on the other end of the phone burst into tears when they learned that Zhao Shun's life or death was uncertain. Fang Shimian told them about the hospital and asked about the reason. Fang Shimian already had a general guess in his mind, but it had not been confirmed, so he just said that the police were still investigating.
When the car arrived at the hospital, Zhao Shun was pushed directly into the emergency room amid the crying and wailing of Teacher Zhao and his wife.
Two more policemen came and wanted to take Fang Shimian back to take a statement. However, since Fang Shimian was still injured and did not want to leave the hospital, the police discussed with the hospital and found an empty ward to take the statement.
After asking for basic information, the conversation became serious.
"Why did you fight with Li Wu and others on the sidewalk of Jiangbei Bridge?"
"At that time... they were beating Brother Shun and Zhao Shun." Fang Shimian lowered his head and shed two tears.
The police looked at each other and then asked, "You said you didn't know the specific situation, but why were you able to save the little boy who was about to jump off the bridge so quickly? How did you know that the child was going to jump?"
Fang Shimian lowered his head and pressed his thumb on the dot on his pants that was soaked by tears. "Shun Ge wanted to save him and was always watching over that child. I will help Shun Ge to save him."
Zhao Shun could hardly open his eyes, but he was still motioning Fang Shimian to look at the child sitting on the bridge. Fang Shimian had been with Zhao Shun for so long that he naturally knew what Zhao Shun meant. He told Fang Shimian over and over again, patiently, that it was very dangerous for the child sitting there.
He told Fang Shimian to save him and save the child.
"Did you call the police?"
Fang Shimian said: "No."
"You said Zhao Shun wanted to save that child?"
"yes."
"You mean he wanted to save the child when he first appeared and kept walking around him?"
"yes."
"But the surveillance video shows that you were not at the scene at the time. You only appeared after Zhao Shun was attacked. How can you be sure that his previous behavior was not intended to hurt others?"
Fang Shi Mian suddenly raised his head, his eyes red and swollen, "Shun Ge has never had any aggressive behavior since he was a child. He has autism, but he only has repetitive mechanical movements when he is very nervous. You can contact his therapist to find out whether his behavior at that time was aggressive or not."
"I really didn't lie."
The police saw Fang Shimian's sadness and were glad that he had rescued the little boy in time. His tone of questioning was generally gentle. After asking a few small questions about details, he let Fang Shimian go, only asking him to ensure that communications were open at all times.
Fang Shimian walked back to the emergency room alone. He took the fire escape and walked very slowly, wiping tears as he walked.
If I had gone earlier, if I had thought that Shun Ge would go to Jiangbei, it would have been great. Zhao You's high school was obviously in that direction, and he had taken him there once, so how could he not have thought of it?
How could I forget...
Fang Shimian walked slowly and lightly. When he reached Zhao Shun's emergency room, the lights in the stairwell that had just been turned on had already gone out. It was not until he smelled a familiar smell of tobacco in a trance that he raised his head and saw the lights in the corridor suddenly lit up.
Huo Zhongshan's handsome face looked particularly stern under the cold incandescent light of the hospital. His expression was dull, his look indifferent and weary, his eyebrows slightly drooped, and the cigarette in his hand was half burned, and the white smoke slowly dissipated.
When the light became brighter, the man had already set his sights on Fang Shimian, and the fierce aura around him gradually softened.
Fang Shimian wiped the tears from his face, his voice still choking, "Brother Huo."
The boy's sobbing sounded particularly confused and sad in the empty corridor.
He was so brave when he was saving people, and he was willing to risk his life. Even Huo Zhongshan realized for the first time that this kid had this side of him.
"Come." Huo Zhongshan put out his cigarette and stretched out his hand towards Fang Shimian.
The aura of a man who is superior makes people feel in awe of him even if he behaves gently and elegantly.
Fang Shimian stood still, staring at the condescending man with wide eyes, like a child who had done something wrong and was afraid of being scolded.
"Come here, don't be afraid, you saved Zhao Shun, you did a great job, no one is braver than you."
Huo Zhongshan's gaze was unusually gentle at this moment.
After the lights went out, they lit up again as Fang Shimian slowly walked upwards.
Fang Shimian is actually a very patient person. He has stumbled his way to where he is today and has suffered a lot.
Some pains were unbearable, so his brain helped him forget them. He tried hard to make himself better and secretly mended the self-esteem that he had lost when he was young.
He kept blaming himself for the mistake he had made in the matter of Zhao Shun, and was afraid to hear the bad news when he walked to the door of the emergency room.
The abrasions on his body were still burning with pain, but he could digest all of this in silence. He thought he could endure it all.
But Huo Zhongshan said to him, you are not wrong.
The smell of tobacco mixed with the wood incense on the expensive suit formed a special smell. This light fragrance was very familiar and inexplicably brought a sense of security.
Fang Shimian's nose felt sore and his eyes instantly turned red.
He hugged Huo Zhongshan, lowered his head, sobbed and cried, and asked intermittently: "Has Brother Shun come out? Is he okay? I... I don't dare, I don't dare to go and see."
When he took Zhao Shun into the ambulance, Zhao Shun's face was pale, his hands and feet were cold, and the instruments kept issuing sharp alarms.
I just remember those people saying, those people saying, the patient has no vital signs...
Huo Zhongshan touched Fang Shimian's drooping head and spoke softly, as if he was coaxing a fragile child. "He's still being treated. Don't worry. I've brought a doctor who's very good at cardiology. When his condition gets a little better, I'll take him to Anhe for treatment. We'll use the most advanced equipment and the most effective drugs. He won't die. The Zhao family is taking good care of him and he's very healthy."
"You saved him in time. You did a great job."
"Really?" Fang Shimian looked up at Huo Zhongshan with tears in his eyes.
This look is really pitiful, like a puppy that was abandoned and suddenly found by its owner, with its tail drooping, and it only dared to follow people from a distance, feeling aggrieved and confused, and not sure.
"Believe me, you saved him just in time." Huo Zhongshan stroked the boy's trembling back, as if to soothe his uneasy heart. "Zhao Shun will definitely not die."
"You are the bravest person I have ever met."
The dinner where we first met, the deserted winding mountain road, and this time the viaduct.
Such a seemingly fragile and vulnerable little guy always surprises him.
He is like an asteroid with a fixed orbit. He will not go beyond the scope of his own domain, but will move forward tenaciously in his orbit.
Fang Shimian slowly stopped sobbing and secretly wiped away his tears.
When the two walked back to the corridor outside the emergency room, the red light at the door of the operating room was still on.
Teacher Zhao and his wife usually have a very good relationship and have never had a quarrel with each other, but now they are blaming each other.
Fang Shimian looked around but didn't see any sign of Zhao You. Grandpa Zhao and Grandma Zhao were not there either.
When the teacher's wife saw Fang Shimian, she hugged him and cried for a long time. Teacher Zhao quickly came over and helped her to the seat next to her.
"Let's call our parents and ask them to come over!" The teacher's wife sat exhausted on the bench. The snow-white wall made her face look white, with only her eyes visible. The blood on her eyeballs was connected into one piece, which was extremely scary.
Teacher Zhao stood beside the bench, leaning against the wall dejectedly, shaking his head, "No, my parents can't stand this..."
Uncle Zhao Shun and his aunt also nodded, wanting to say something to comfort him, but they couldn't say it.
The Master's wife placed her hands on her knees, covered her face and started crying again, "What if...what if something happens to Shun Shun? They have loved him for so many years, wouldn't they even be able to see him for the last time!"
Teacher Zhao took off his glasses, scratched his forehead a few times, turned around and saw Fang Shimian and Huo Zhongshan, and forced himself to cheer up. He said to Fang Shimian: "Xiaomian, thank you so much this time. You helped us find Shunshun, and asked Mr. Huo to find an expert to help. If Shunshun can pass this test this time, teacher really... In the future, if the Zhao family has a say, just ask."
The promise in this sentence is very heavy. Although the Zhao family seems to be in decline in recent years, Mr. Zhao is still there. He hates privileges the most, but that doesn't mean the Zhao family doesn't have them. As long as they want, Teacher Zhao will not be just an ordinary elementary school teacher in an institution.
In some ways, a word from these people is more effective than real money!
Fang Shimian didn't feel good after hearing this. He concealed the bitterness that flashed through his heart and looked up to ask, "Teacher, why did Shun Ge suddenly run out today?"
Teacher Zhao sighed, "It's all Lao Er's fault. He quarreled with us, and the brat slammed the door and ran away. When Shun Shun heard him say he would never come home again, he was so anxious that he ran around the room. But we coaxed him to sleep last night, and we didn't expect... we didn't expect that he would actually make up his mind to go find Lao Er."
Fang Shimian was puzzled, "How did he get out?"
"He walked down the stairs by himself. The community security guard happened to be replaced by a new one today. Although he knew the situation in our family, he didn't like his face. Shunshun didn't look special, so they let him go..."
Such a coincidence.
It's like God is playing a joke on me.
The master's wife listened to these words and seemed to have cried all her tears. She even wanted to dig out her heart and give it to Zhao Shun so that he could come out of the operating room smoothly and continue to grow up without worries.
There was also a man in black plainclothes in the corridor who hadn't spoken a word from beginning to end. He had a short buzz cut and a long scar on the back of his head.
Huo Zhongshan first took Fang Shimian to treat the wounds of varying sizes on his body. Originally, Huo Zhongshan wanted to follow him in, but Fang Shimian refused very firmly. Huo Zhongshan didn't say anything on the surface, and after Fang Shimian came out of the room, he walked in front of him without saying a word.
Fang Shimian was preoccupied with something and didn't pay attention. After he returned, he kept talking to Teacher Zhao. Huo Zhongshan stood beside him for a long time, and finally, helplessly, he pinched the back of his neck lightly.
The boy subconsciously raised his head and trembled slightly.
The skin that was touched slowly turned red, and the red spread all the way to the boy's ears.
Huo Zhongshan stared at it for a while, then slowly withdrew his hand.
Ming Ke walked over, nodded to Fang Shimian, and then handed the iPad in his hand to his boss.
After Huo Zhongshan took it, he saw an online meeting in the to-do list that would take place in about ten minutes. Seeing that Fang Shimian was in good condition, he went to the meeting first.
He actually wanted to bring Fang Shimian with him and come back together after the meeting, but Fang Shimian was reluctant and said that he was doing well now and could accept any outcome. He decided to wait with Teacher Zhao and the others.
After waiting for more than an hour, Zhao Shun still didn't come out. Only the doctor and the nurse came out again to issue another critical illness notice.
The teacher's wife almost fainted, and Teacher Zhao couldn't help shedding tears. Zhao Shun's uncle and aunt whispered to comfort him with heavy expressions.
"It's okay, it's okay. Shun Shun is blessed..."
And in this atmosphere, a person no one expected appeared.
Or maybe, the person who should not be there at this time showed up.
Zhao You.
He was wearing a thin school uniform with some dark red bloodstains on the cuffs, his fists were clenched tightly, and his steps were slow. Even though he usually acted rebellious and fearless, there was still some panic on his face when facing this kind of thing.
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