Chapter 45
The midday sun bathed the arcade in front, casting neat shadows on the columns. Shop signs swayed in the breeze. On the street, schoolgirls with pigtails and wearing matching plain school uniforms walked together in the sunshine, their laughter ringing.
The rickshaw's wheels rolled over gravel, sending a gust of wind blowing across her face. Yang Ye squinted, the driver's dark arms glistening in the sun. The old man in the rickshaw sat quietly, his neatly trimmed Mao suit and a calm gaze behind his silver-rimmed glasses. The wheels rolled over potholes, and the driver's cloth shoes kicked up a cloud of dust from the ground.
Aunt Zhang put the bundle of vegetables into the basket at hand and saw Yang Ye still standing there with a dull expression, her eyes looking into the distance, but it was hard to tell where she was looking.
Aunt Zhang walked over and asked, "What are you looking at, Madam?"
"Nothing." Yang Ye retracted his gaze and saw Aunt Zhang beside him. Her hands were full of food, more than what they usually ate in the past few days.
"Why buy so many things?" Yang Ye asked.
Aunt Zhang said with a smile, "Didn't Mr. Wang say he would be back tonight? I'll buy some more and make him some delicious food to nourish him. He must have lost weight after being gone for more than half a month."
"He said he would come back tonight, but he didn't say he would come back for dinner tonight. I don't know when he will be home." Yang Ye sighed softly, his words full of helplessness and worry.
"I'll buy it first. I can't let my husband go hungry when he comes back," said Aunt Zhang as she struggled to adjust the position of the things in her hands so that she could hold them more steadily.
Yang Ye bent down and tried to take some of the things from Zhang Ma's hand. "Don't tire yourself out too much."
"It's okay, ma'am. I can carry it." Aunt Zhang dodged her hand and said something else, "You go ahead. I remember there's a sesame candy shop. Don't you love it the most? Hey, ma'am..."
Before she finished speaking, Yang Ye had already taken the meat and vegetables she had just bought from her.
"Madam," Aunt Zhang called her.
Yang Ye said: "I'll take these, you see if there is anything else you want to buy"
"That's all, these are enough," said Aunt Zhang.
The two walked towards home, the sunlight enveloped their bodies, casting a long shadow behind them.
Yang Ye looked at the road ahead, his fingers stroking the straw rope with fresh pork tenderloin hanging on it in his palm. The vendor selling candied haws at the street corner was about to close his stall, and the copper spoon hit the iron pot, making several clanging sounds.
"Do you think he came back this time because something serious happened outside?" Yang Ye asked Aunt Zhang in a low voice.
She hadn't been sleeping well these past few nights, sleeping fitfully and often waking up from nightmares. Her chest felt tight, as if something was blocking it, making it hard to breathe.
Aunt Zhang turned her head and saw Yang Ye's anxious and uneasy look. After thinking for a moment, she lowered her voice and said, "I went to the market earlier and heard Master Li, the basin repairman, say that Blind Wang's son just came back from Tianjin and said that the foreigners in the concession have started moving boxes onto the ship. Although our city is still stable, it's hard to say. Every time Mr. Wang comes back, there's something hidden in his eyes. Madam, I think you should listen to him and leave here as soon as possible."
"Where else can I go if I leave here?" Yang Ye shook his head and said, "At least here I have a place to stay and the people around me are familiar. If I really go somewhere else, how can the situation be any better?"
Aunt Zhang said, "I heard from the fortune teller next door that the south is doing well and there doesn't seem to be any trouble yet."
Yang Ye was worried, "It's just that it's not there yet."
Aunt Zhang comforted her, "Madam, don't think too much. The master and the others are ahead and will definitely suppress this disaster."
As they were talking, there was a sudden loud noise behind them. The sound was so deafening that it seemed as if the whole street was shaken.
Yang Ye was frightened by the sudden sound. She instinctively stopped and couldn't move. Her heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and fear spread throughout her body. She looked around and saw that everyone on the street was in a panic.
The next moment, a rickshaw, only a meter away from her, exploded. The young man who hadn't gotten off and the driver in front were killed instantly. The blast also blasted those fleeing nearby, leaving the ground covered in blood. Amidst the dazzling firelight, she saw the desperate crowd, dodging in panic like headless flies through the streets.
Yang Ye was swept forward by the crowd. Several more wooden bangs sounded behind her, then to the left, then to the right, and finally everywhere. It was as if someone had fired a wooden bang into the fleeing crowd. The child beside her, clutching a cigarette rack, was hit by the bang. The child fell to the ground, and countless feet trampled over his back. The sobs from his mouth turned into the shouts of the fleeing crowd.
"Auntie Zhang," Yang Ye shouted in fear, but there was no trace of Auntie Zhang around him.
Aunt Zhang was separated from Yang Ye by the crowd that rushed over. She looked behind her anxiously and saw many people running towards her.
Bang.
The sound of a wooden warehouse was heard.
The noise of the crowd seemed to have quieted down.
"How is she?" Xue Shangyang went up to him.
The doctor took off his mask and said, "Madam is in good condition. The bullet wound is not life-threatening."
"Then why can't she wake up yet?" Xue Shangyang asked. For three days, she lay on the hospital bed. Apart from her steady breathing, he could not feel any life from Yang Ye.
Several doctors looked at each other in confusion until the leading doctor said, "The machine shows that the lady is in good condition. As for why she hasn't woken up yet, we don't know the reason."
"Don't know?!" Xue Shangyang grabbed one of them by the collar and asked angrily, "You're a doctor, and you don't even know this? Where's the brain X-ray? Did you take it?"
"Here, here," the doctor trembled as he took out the film. "Madam's brain is not affected either."
Xue Shangyang couldn't figure it out. He kept asking the doctor, "Why can't she wake up?"
Yang Ye woke up in chaos.
Her eyelids seemed to be pulled by a heavy object, and she took a lot of effort to slowly open them.
Seeing the still hazy white ceiling in front of her, and the white gaps gradually gathering, she lowered her eyes and saw herself lying on a hospital bed, surrounded by all kinds of cold instruments.
Yang Ye moved her fingers, but her whole body felt limp, unable to muster any strength. The strong smell of disinfectant in her nose, mixed with a faint, almost ginger-infused potion, made her feel dizzy and her chest felt stuffy.
In the quiet ward, the machine made a monotonous and repetitive ticking sound, which hit her already fragile nerves. A deep fear and confusion surged in Yang Ye's heart. She tried to recall what had happened and how she came here, but her head hurt so much that she went blank.
"Mrs. Xue, you're awake." The nurse pushed the door open and placed the injections and medicines she brought in on the table next to her.
Yang Ye moved her body, which had become stiff from lying down. She supported herself on her elbows and got up from the bed. Seeing the nurse who had just entered, she asked, "Where am I?"
The nurse helped Yang Ye up, "Hospital"
"Then how did I get to the hospital?" Yang Ye asked.
Her head was still a little dizzy, as if it had been hit hard by a heavy hammer. The successive stabbing pains made it impossible for her to concentrate on thinking. Yang Ye frowned, "How long have I slept?"
"Seven days," the nurse arranged the record book in her hand and responded with her head down.
Yang Ye heard this and repeated in disbelief: "Seven days"
In an instant, the memories that had vanished briefly came flooding back like a raging tide. She saw the crowds running towards her, heard the creaking of wooden cannons beside her, heard grenades dropping, and the air was filled with the horrific smell of blood and heavy gunpowder.
"If you want to save her, you can only exchange your life for hers."
The faint voice seemed to come from far away, and seemed to be speaking into her ear.
She struggled to get out of bed, but she was so weak that she could only fall heavily back onto the bed.
The nurse hurried over to stop her and said, "Mrs. Xue, you are still very weak. You need to rest well."
Yang Ye grabbed the nurse's wrist and asked anxiously, "Where is Xue Shangyang? Where did Xue Shangyang go?"
Sadness welled up in her panicked eyes, and two tears inexplicably flowed from the corners of her sore eyes.
The ward door was pushed open from the outside. The adjutant saw Yang Ye, who had remembered. He went over and held him down with the nurse. "Madam, your back injury hasn't healed yet. You can't get up."
Seeing the adjutant in front of him, Yang Ye asked fearfully, "Where's Xue Shangyang? Didn't he come back with you?"
"The commander heard you were injured and rushed back overnight."
"Where are he now?" Yang Ye asked again anxiously.
The adjutant hesitated and said, "The division commander has something important to do and will be back soon."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
