Chapter 60 Extremely Cold
The next morning, Long Weihe and Qian Duoduo showed up at the hospital again, much to Ping Mei's surprise. She was sitting on a chair at the door of the ward, having a video conference, and she gave them a greeting. "Grandpa Ping!" Qian Duoduo ran into the room, "I brought you something delicious." That morning, the mother and son had some barley cakes at the breakfast shop, and they found them so delicious that they ordered an extra portion to take home. Long Weihe put the fruit he had brought on the bedside table, "We're planning on returning to Guangzhou tomorrow morning, and he wanted to come and say goodbye to his grandfather." Ping's father was delighted, "Thank you! This child and I are destined to be together. Let's get together often in Guangzhou." Perhaps because the ward was boring, Ping's father pulled Qian Duoduo aside to chat. He was a talkative old man with a good sense of humor, and he made Qian Duoduo chuckle. "Why are you here again?" Ping Mei walked in. She found it strange that the old man and the child could chat so happily. Long Weihe took out the research report she'd printed out at the hotel front desk that morning and handed it to her. "Boss Ping, a friend of mine specializes in researching nursing homes and has requested this report. I wonder if it's useful to you, just for your reference." She'd printed it out specifically to avoid being questioned about her motives by handing over an electronic copy, as if she were using it as a pretext to ask for her WeChat account. Ping Mei took the thick stack. "Thank you! Come out and say a few words." Ping Mei came out and closed the door. She flipped through the report. "Thank you for your thoughtfulness. Leaving my position isn't easy. I can't simply tell you whether I'll meet with Boss Yang or not. I can only say I'll go back and talk to someone about the situation and make a final decision. That's a very responsible thing to say to you. Add me on WeChat and we'll get back in touch." She opened her mouth. Long Weihe's body lit up, hoping the person she was looking for was Shi Zhenglin. After adding him on WeChat, she knew things were looking up. Perhaps her body had adjusted, and she'd slept well last night after taking painkillers. She was completely free of altitude sickness today. She returned to the hotel from the hospital, packed her luggage, and had lunch. It was already afternoon when she set off for the manor. She planned to let Qian Duoduo play at the manor until evening. The weather wasn't great today, with thick clouds and alternating sunny spells. She'd told Lin Yao this morning that the forecast wasn't accurate. Even though it was Shangri-La's rainy season, the weather had been fine since she'd arrived. It was a bit of a mystery, some things just came back the other way around. Fortunately, the downpour didn't begin until they arrived at the manor. They'd thought it would pass quickly, but it rained for over an hour, leaving Qian Duoduo helplessly waiting at the reception desk. Shi Zhenglin had messaged her again last night, asking what flight she'd booked. She'd replied that she'd be flying directly from Shangri-La the morning after tomorrow. Ping Mei had finally gotten some good news, and she was in a good mood. She thought...
The next morning, Long Weihe and Qian Duoduo showed up at the hospital again, much to Ping Mei's surprise. She was sitting on a chair at the ward door, having a video conference, and she gave them a smile.
"Grandpa Ping!" Qian Duoduo ran into the room, "I brought you some delicious food."
In the morning, they went to a breakfast shop and had some barley pancakes. They thought they were really good and ordered an extra portion to take home.
Long Weihe put the fruit he had brought on the bedside table. "We plan to return to Guangzhou tomorrow morning. He wanted to come and say goodbye to Grandpa."
Ping's father was very happy. "Thank you! This child and I are destined to be together. Let's get together often in Guangzhou in the future."
Perhaps because the ward was boring, Ping's father pulled Qian Duoduo aside to chat. He was a talkative old man with a good sense of humor, which made Qian Duoduo laugh.
"Why are you here again?" Ping Mei came in. She found it strange that the old man and the child could chat happily.
Long Weihe took out the research report that she had printed out at the hotel front desk that morning and handed it to her. "Mr. Ping, I have a friend who specializes in research on nursing homes. I asked for this report. I wonder if it would be useful to you. For your reference."
She printed it out specifically to avoid sending the electronic version and being questioned about her motives, thinking that she was using it to get WeChat.
Ping Mei took the thick stack.
"Thank you! Come out and say a few words."
Pingmei came out and closed the door.
She flipped through the report. "Thank you for your thoughtfulness. Leaving my position isn't that easy. I can't simply tell you whether I'll go see Boss Yang or not. I can only say that I'll go back and find someone to understand the situation before making a judgment. That's a very responsible statement to you. Add me on WeChat and I'll get back in touch."
She opened the gap.
Long Weihe felt a surge of excitement all over her body, hoping that the person she was looking for was Shi Zhenglin.
After adding him on WeChat, she knew that the situation had taken a turn for the better.
Perhaps her body had adjusted, having slept well last night after taking painkillers, and she had no altitude sickness at all today. She returned to the hotel from the hospital, packed her luggage, and had lunch before leaving for the manor in the afternoon. She planned to let Qian Duoduo play at the manor until evening.
The weather is not very good today. The clouds are very thick, and it is cloudy and sunny at times. In the morning, she told Lin Yao that the weather forecast was inaccurate. Although it is the rainy season in Shangri-La now, the weather has been very good since she came here.
Metaphysics, some things become the opposite of what they appear when you say them out loud.
Fortunately, the rainstorm did not start until they arrived at the manor.
I thought the rain would pass quickly, but it lasted for more than an hour. Qian Duoduo could only stay at the front desk and wait for the rain to stop.
Shi Zhenglin sent her another message last night asking what flight she had booked. She replied that she would take a direct flight from Shangri-La the next morning.
Ping Mei had good news on this matter and was in a good mood. After thinking about it, she sent him a message, saying that Ping Mei was willing to go back and find someone to find out, and might find him.
I sent it around three o'clock, but he didn't reply.
"When can we go play?" Qian Duoduo couldn't help but wonder when he saw the lamb and the dog coming out to play on the lawn.
The rain had stopped at this moment, but the grass was still wet due to the heavy downpour. She just stopped him and told him to wait for the grass to dry up a bit.
She looked at the time. It was past four o'clock. If he didn't play now, it would be a wasted trip. She didn't care whether the grass was wet or not and let him play.
"This B&B is not far from your home, right?" She showed the accommodation order interface on her mobile phone to the girl at the front desk.
"It's not far, but you have to circle the lake about halfway. There's a speed limit around the lake, so if you drive without stopping, it will take about ten minutes."
"It gets dark quite late here. What time exactly does it get dark?" She remembered that it was around eight o'clock the past two days.
"After half past eight."
She felt relieved, thinking that it would be dark at 8:30, so if she left here for the accommodation before 8 o'clock, she would just need to arrive before dark and still have time for him to play.
This place really does attract children. Today, they've let out seven or eight plump lambs, a few dogs, and a few rabbits. Qian Duoduo, mingling with two or three other residents' children, chased the lambs across the lawn. Then, I don't know what leaves they fed the lambs, but the lambs started chasing after them. It was a lively scene.
She bought a cup of coffee at the front desk and checked her phone. It was almost six o'clock when Shi Zhenglin replied, "Thank you for your hard work. Are you feeling better?"
She replied, “No problem.”
These were the few hours during her trip when she could truly relax, feeling hopeful and relieved of some stress.
Unfortunately, the sky was not as blue as yesterday. It was cloudy after the rain and there were thick clouds. She watched Qian Duoduo laughing and chasing each other. She came to wipe his sweat and gave him some water, and found that his shoes and socks were all wet.
"Mom, look!" He was given a few sips of water and showed her his watch.
He took a lot of videos and photos with his watch. After sharing them, he video-called Qian Pingtao, ran around for a while, and showed him everything.
"Hit less, or your watch will run out of battery," she reminded him.
How could he listen when he was in high spirits?
She walked along the cobblestone path in the middle of the grass for a while and took many videos of him playing with her mobile phone.
They played until nearly 7 o'clock. Seeing that it was going to rain again, she wanted to leave early. He said he would play for another ten minutes. When the ten minutes were up, he was stubborn and wanted to play for another five minutes. After five minutes, she didn't care anymore and pulled him to the front desk.
After I changed him into clean clothes and shoes, he said he was very hungry and wanted to eat.
She looked at the time and saw that they still had time to leave at 8 o'clock. It was also time for dinner, so she had to have dinner. She hurriedly took him to the restaurant and ordered a bowl of beef noodles, urging him to eat quickly, otherwise it would be dark.
She arrived before eight o'clock, but when she came out of the restaurant it was already dark and it started to rain. The waiter told her that it would be dark at half past eight there, but she didn't consider that on a rainy day like this, it would get dark earlier.
A flicker of unease passed through her. Although the room she had booked couldn't be canceled after 6 p.m., she still tried to get a chance and asked the front desk if there were any rooms available before leaving. The response was no.
The temperature dropped to around 10 degrees Celsius, and she felt cold without wearing much. She opened the suitcase, took out some thick clothes, and gave them to Qian Duoduo. She only brought a thick zip-up sweatshirt, so she put it on as well. She got in the car, turned on the heater, and, feeling relatively safe, she used her phone to navigate the route and set off.
The route was actually very simple, it was just a walk around the lake. Since it was almost half a circle and could be entered from either direction, she followed the navigation.
We entered the Huanhu Road a little after 8:00. Apart from people like her who were in a hurry to stay there, no one came in even on a rainy day, and even on a nice day, basically no one came in at this time. The people and cars that did come in had already left.
She drove for several minutes before she encountered one or two cars going in the opposite direction. After a few more minutes, there were no more cars.
There are houses on both sides of this road, with lights on and people living in them.
It was completely dark, and under the headlights of the car, I could see the rain getting heavier. Perhaps it had rained heavily during the day, as water could be seen on the road, the depth of which was hard to gauge.
This road is famous as a water highway.
The lake is a symbiotic ecosystem of plateau lakes and grassland wetlands. During Shangri-La's rainy season in July and August, the lake is likely to flood the ring road around the lake. Some sections are so deep that a high-deck SUV is required for navigation. Lin Yao had given her a detailed itinerary before the trip, explaining that in years with deep water, there's no telling how many cars might stall on some sections. He urged her to rent a car with a high deck, which she did.
Shi Zhenglin also reminded her of this when he sent her to the airport that day.
After driving for about twenty minutes, very slowly, she had only reached a third of the way to where the navigation system indicated she was. She was starting to panic because she didn't know which section of the road was in deep water, and she was vaguely worried that the heavy rain would cause the water to get even deeper.
A car approached from behind, speeding past her. She glanced over and saw a white car with an out-of-town license plate, likely another tourist. She sped up, thinking that if that car could pass, hers could too, and emboldened herself.
"Mom, I'm a little scared." Qian Duoduo looked at the darkness outside and the heavy rain, and became a little anxious.
"It's safe in the car and we'll be there soon."
At this time, Lin Yao called and said urgently, "Why is the location still so far away? I want to tell you something, that..."
Before she could finish her words, the sound died down, the phone was out of battery, and the navigation system was also out of service.
In the morning, she asked Lin Yao to check out of the hotel in the city and told her to change to this one by the lake.
She quickly stopped the car and searched her bag for the charger, then remembered that she had given it to Pingmei at the hospital yesterday, and she hadn't returned it. Damn it.
Lin Yao was anxious, so he naturally called Qian Duoduo's watch. His watch had been recording so many videos that the battery had long since run out, and it didn't even ring. The last bit of power left on the watch showed up for a second before it went out.
There was a charging port in the car, so she went to her bag to find the charging cable for Qian Duoduo's watch.
"Where did you put the charging cable?"
She told him to take care of his watch and charging cable.
"I seem to have forgotten to take it. I forgot to collect it at the hotel." Qian Duoduo said heartlessly.
He didn't know what this meant yet.
She covered her head, trying to gather her thoughts. She recalled the navigation system showing the B&B on the side of the road, near the mountain. She rolled down the window and looked toward the mountain. It wasn't far away. Perhaps she'd see a sign if she drove further, or perhaps she'd pass a car. She'd stop a car and borrow its phone to look up the B&B's number. If she couldn't find it, she'd just turn back.
Continue forward. The car in front is gone.
There were no buildings on either side of this section of road, and the water was quite deep. But since the car ahead had just passed by, she wasn't too worried, as her car was in good condition.
She estimated that she was halfway there.
As we went further, the car started to drift a bit, probably because the place was not very flat. Even though the car was driving very slowly, the water splashed against the windows. Qian Duoduo joked that it was very exciting, like drifting.
She felt she couldn't go any further.
It was too late. With a "click" sound, the steering wheel and brakes became heavy, and the car speed dropped rapidly. It was as if forced to stop by external force. All the machine sounds stopped abruptly, the engine stopped running, and the car body tilted slightly.
The car seemed to have stalled.
Her heart dropped instantly.
"Mom, why isn't the car moving? Is it broken?" Qian Duoduo sensed something was wrong.
"I'll get out of the car and take a look. You stay in the car and don't move."
At this time, the car lights were still on, and the reading lights inside the car were still on. She glanced at the fear in Qian Duoduo's eyes and said, "You stay here, there's nothing serious. Mom will go down and take a look and come back soon."
She deliberately tried to open the car door, but didn't feel any shaking. Reassured, she stepped on it and realized why the car had stalled. The water in the pothole didn't even reach her calves. Her shoes and trouser legs were completely soaked.
The rain was hitting her face and she was shivering with cold. She walked around the car and looked back and forth at both ends of the road.
Now there is no way to even call the police, we can only hope that there are no passing vehicles.
She pulled her foot into the car, and instead of going to the driver's seat, she sat directly in the back seat close to Qian Duoduo and hugged him, "Baby, our car can't leave for the time being. Let's rest for a while and wait for the car to come."
"When will the car come?"
"Very quickly! Do you want to play with your toys for a while? Take out the little robot in your bag and play with it?"
"I don't feel like playing right now."
She kissed his forehead. His forehead was cold.
The heater in the car was out, and as soon as I opened the door, cold rain and wind blew in.
She hugged him tightly and felt that he was afraid.
"Mom, I'm so cold."
She took out an umbrella from her bag and took out the lollipops he had bought at the convenience store today. She peeled one for him and said, "Eat a lollipop. Wait for mommy. I'll get you some clothes."
Getting out of the car again, she waded through the water with an umbrella to the trunk and took out the suitcase.
Just as she had propped the suitcase onto the passenger seat and was about to open it to look for clothes, she saw headlights moving in her sight, getting closer. Her heart suddenly tightened, and she ignored her hands, straightened up, and stared at the headlights, waiting for them to get closer.
A hundred meters away, the car seemed to have stopped.
Realizing that the car was turning around, she instinctively stepped towards the car and lost the umbrella she was holding.
She ran a little way toward the car, yelling uncontrollably, "Wait! Wait! I need help!"
There was still some distance and the rain was loud, so the people in the car obviously didn't hear it. After turning around, the car drove away and the taillights disappeared from her sight.
She stopped to catch her breath and wiped the rain off her face.
This action scared Qian Duoduo, and he started crying in the car, "Mom, Mom, please come back... Mom, please come back, I'm scared, Mom..."
She looked back at him, then ran back quickly, her hair soaked and her feet soaked in water. She felt extremely cold and a sense of despair began to spread.
With trembling hands, she dug out her clothes and climbed into the back seat. She was soaked, and it was difficult to cling to him to comfort him. She quickly dressed him in all the clothes she could wear, then took off her own soaking-drenched thick clothes, put on a thin sweater, and then a shirt. She was left with only light clothing.
She hugged Qian Duoduo tightly and kept soothing her, "Don't cry, Mommy won't get out of the car. Don't be afraid, we will all stay in the car, it's safe."
After a while, she didn't know how long, another car light shone from a distance. This time, she didn't choose to get out of the car. She chose to wait for her luck. She stared at the light beam.
The other car did the same thing and turned around at about the same position as the previous car.
Only then did she realize that experienced people who had walked this section would know to turn back at that point. This section of road might not be used by cars tonight.
She hated herself for being careless, hated herself for making a mistake in judgment, and hated herself for not looking back.
The time that lasted for an indeterminate amount of time seemed so long.
Worse still, she didn't know why the reading lights and exterior lights all went out at once, plunging the car into darkness.
She frantically tapped the headlight button in the dark, but there was no response.
Qian Duoduo burst into tears again, and she could feel his fear.
She hugged him tightly again, kissing his head and face non-stop, "It will be okay, it will be okay, it will be okay soon, someone will be here soon."
Her voice was trembling, and he could feel it.
"Mom, are we going to die here? We are going to die here."
"Definitely not. Believe me, there will be more cars coming."
“What if no car comes?”
"That's no problem at all. Let's just experience some outdoor camping and sleep in the car."
"I miss my dad, I want my dad, I want my dad to come, I want my dad to save us." He choked.
He wanted daddy, and she had no answer.
Once a support, now a desolate place. She collapsed instantly, pulling her hand away to wipe away the cold tears on her face.
If she could replace it, she would rather replace it at any price so that he would not have experienced such a night. She was powerless and could only hug him tightly.
The enclosed, narrow, dark space, the unfamiliar world outside, the endless rain, and the crying of the child made her unable to calm down, and fear surged in her heart.
At this point, the prospect of another car arriving was a distant dream. The later it got, the slimmer the hope. She didn't even know what time it was. She thought of Lin Yao, wondering if she'd react if she couldn't reach her, if she'd contacted her accommodation, if she'd send someone to look for her.
"Close your eyes, pretend to be asleep, and turn off the lights." She pressed his head tightly into her arms, preventing him from seeing the darkness around him.
Qian Duoduo was probably tired and stopped crying. "Mom, are you shaking because you're scared?"
"I'm not scared, I'm just a little cold." She said hoarsely, "I'll tell you a story. What story do you want to hear?"
"I'll listen to any story."
She was no longer able to tell a story and could not continue halfway. She was extremely cold and her body was numb. Her words were trembling and she was shaking uncontrollably. She was afraid of hypothermia.
In my blurry vision, car lights appeared again.
This torment and despair made her lose hope. She was afraid it would turn around like the two cars just now.
The headlights are bright, the car is moving very fast, and it is wading through water with force and determination.
Getting closer.
The bright headlights swept into the darkness here.
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