Chapter 85: Night 1 of 009
Water from the eaves fell, freezing into irregular icicles that, in the neon light, resembled the afterimages of expensive crystal chandeliers in a display case. (Online) A young woman in a white furry cloak and an officer in a black military uniform squatted below. Occasionally, the lights of a passing sedan or two flickered, and the two of them appeared like flickering shadows. The young woman wore a flickering smile, and she leisurely told a joke, seemingly to comfort herself. Passing cyclists couldn't help but glance sideways: it seemed like two people shouldn't be there like this, yet they were squatting on the roadside, talking so conspicuously. Why?
But no one had time to care about him.
Having just received notice that Yangjingbang was expanding to the northwest to build roads and factories, the Japanese taipan negotiated with the Huashang Electric Co., Ltd. in the French Concession to transfer 5,000 kilowatts of AC power to north Shanghai. The power plant's new steam turbine generator set would not be operational for a month; during that time, electricity would be cut off between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. for civilians in the French Concession and parts of the International Settlement.
The notice was issued at 4:00 today and was immediately implemented. The cyclists and passersby were all workers working overtime at a nearby factory. After the power outage, they gathered in groups of three or five, rushing past them noisily, occasionally casting curious glances.
Only the Municipal Council still had no power outage.
He'd seen plenty of theft and assault cases, and the trial process was well-established and streamlined, making it incredibly quick. Soon, the assistant officer came out to ask for Miss Lin. Xie Zeyi remained squatting there, waving his hand, meaning, "I'm not going in. I'll wait here for you."
He always tells you big things as jokes. After a long time, when he speaks seriously, others can't tell whether he is really serious, or just telling you a joke seriously, or making up a white lie to comfort you, saying to you: You see, I'm not doing well either, do you feel better?
Whether it's profound words, heartfelt words, or even humorous, self-explanatory jokes... I've never sought empathy in my life, nor do I expect anyone to understand. Anyway, I don't care, as long as you enjoy it.
He squatted there, smoking one cigarette after another, and when Chu Wang came out, the ground was littered with cigarette butts.
With the recent arrival of spring and the impending cholera and smallpox epidemic, the Municipal Council's Health Department, to prevent some Chinese from urinating and spitting in public, had posted advertisements for smallpox, cholera, and mosquito repellent. Littering cigarette butts at the Municipal Council entrance so early in the morning was a complete disrespect. So, as soon as Chu Wang appeared, the Municipal Council quickly ordered the Health Department to dispatch someone with a dustpan and broom to hide in a dark area, waiting for the lieutenant to leave and immediately clean up the area.
Seeing her coming, he didn't say much. He stood up, opened the car door, and asked her to sit in. After he got in, he asked, "How is it?"
The car drove off for a long time without a reply. At one point, he turned his head and saw the person in the passenger seat staring at him intently. He didn't know how long they'd been staring. Their undisguised gaze held a touch of admiration, a touch of pity, and a sense of vacant consciousness, unsure of what they were thinking. He'd seen this look before: the look of a museumgoer with limited artistic talent, contemplating a group of sculptures by deceased masters. Though their appreciation wasn't up to par, they'd memorized a few sentences to help them appreciate it.
But she was indeed looking at a sculpture. In the dim glow of the car lights, the man in the driver's seat looked like a precisely polished, hard, white, creamy Greek statue. But she wasn't admiring it; she was searching through her memories—after listening to his half-truthful, half-faked confession, she had a feeling she had seen such a person before.
The Municipal Council was unable to file a case for her, perhaps because of a little bit of bias, a little discrimination against the Chinese, and perhaps a little fear of the Japanese... In short, she accepted this result very early on, and did not feel too bad, nor did she argue for herself. She just remembered a sentence that the director repeatedly emphasized in the Sino-British Five Ports Trade Treaty - "If other countries and the British have any negotiations or lawsuits... the British will decide on the regulations and laws as to how to punish the British and send them to the officials in charge.'" She was very clear about this matter.
But once she left the Municipal Council, she kept thinking about Xie Zeyi's words, and for some reason something else came to mind—"A lieutenant colonel in the British-Chinese army, seriously wounded in the North African battlefield, never married." She seemed to have seen this sentence somewhere, perhaps on Baidu Encyclopedia, in a book, or perhaps in a museum or a World War II exhibition in a school library. It might not have been about Xie Zeyi, but about someone else... but it suddenly came to her mind. People like him, whether married or single, who died in battle and then dragged their broken bodies into the 21st century, whether Hong Kong returned to China or not, whether it was ten or twenty years ago... There was no place to place their emotions, no one knew for whom they fought and died in life, and no one knew where their souls would go in death. They could not hope for anyone's understanding, and no one would ever understand.
Whether you are accepted by Britain or China; no matter which country you are in, it will be difficult for a foreign land to become your home again.
Always an outsider, always alone.
I didn't expect that she would actually say to such a person: "There is a whole country behind you," and pointed to where she was standing and said "our own country."
God knows how much he probably also wanted to be like her and have something to cry for, to be able to point to a piece of land that he could insult but would never allow outsiders to trample on and cry out loudly: "This is our own country!"
Then, this person actually reveals his wounds and says to you: "Look, you still have something to cry about; it's better than me, I can't even cry even if I want to." Compared to this, do you feel happier?
"You staring at me like that makes me feel..." Xie Zeyi finally couldn't help but said something honestly, "It makes me feel very scared."
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "So, do you love Hong Kong?"
Although I couldn't figure out where her "then" came from, I still answered seriously: "Not really at the moment."
Then he asked, "When you are wronged, where do you want to go first?"
"What kind of grievance? Not really," he said, seriously pondering this nonsensical question. "In the past, the thought of returning to Hong Kong and living among those concubines seemed quite aggrieved."
She nodded, as if realizing something. With no country to love and no particular attachment to home, it seemed understandable that she might be a bit sentimental, with so many emotions unresolved.
The car drove all the way back to Fukaisen Road, and Xie Zeyi went upstairs with the flashlight in hand. He washed his face and changed his clothes. The power hadn't come back yet, but Xie Zeyi had foreseen it and asked his mother to buy a dozen candles. Mr. Zheng downstairs heard the noise, came out in the dark, and saw the light. He asked the two of them to borrow two candles to light up the house. He said, "I never thought there would be a power outage. It happened so suddenly that I was completely unprepared." He also said that Mrs. Zheng was afraid of the dark and hadn't slept all night. All the shops outside were closed, and she scolded Mr. Zheng all night. For this, he praised him repeatedly, "Mr. Xie is really thoughtful."
Xie Zeyi was praised and smiled, a rare gesture, without saying much.
The two of them rushed non-stop to the Red Cross Hospital. Winter dawns come late, and it was just beginning to break. The hospital had its own separate power line, so the power didn't go out, making it the brightest building among the surrounding buildings. A crowd of reporters waited at the main entrance. When they got out of their car and approached, they were stopped. Hearing that Chu Wang seemed to be one of the victims' insiders, they quickly called for someone to bring him inside. However, Xie Zeyi couldn't go in, so he had to wait outside.
As the nurse led him into the hospital through a side door, reporters' whispers drifted in from outside: "I heard that the woman who had the accident last night was a daughter of a wealthy Shanghai family, so they paid a large sum to transfer other patients to other hospitals; but I heard that the daughters who entered the hospital were from the Xue, Chen, and Xu families. Which one is it?"
A sharp-eyed reporter saw the nurse lead another well-dressed woman through a side door and couldn't help but add, "That makes four now. Who is this?"
Chu Wang thought as he walked, not only did the Shen family do the evacuation work quickly, but they could also use sleight of hand to make up for any shortcomings in the evacuation work. They might as well ask the reporters to do a multiple-choice question: There are four young ladies abcd here, so what is the correct answer?
During the college entrance examination, my English teacher said: If you don’t know what to choose, then choose C.
New Oriental IELTS teacher said: Choose the longer answer.
…
Miss Shen's ward has two entrances: the inside is the ward and the bathroom, and the outside is a visitor lounge, separated by a curtain.
During her time at the Municipal Council, she had seen the patients she needed to see, expelled the patients she needed to see, and avoided any outsiders she could. Now, behind the curtains were Miss Shen and her mother, while outside were Director Shen, Zhenzhen, and Miss Xu. Upon seeing her enter, Miss Xu stared at her with a hint of longing in her eyes.
Then, a light voice came from behind the curtain: "Ms. Lin?" followed by another miserable voice: "Have you reported the case?"
"I went there," she said, staring at Miss Xu, "but the case wasn't accepted."
Another sentence came from inside: "Oh." Mother Shen continued: "That's good. Yingying and we don't want to make a big deal out of this. After all, the reputation of an unmarried girl is important."
Miss Xu opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Deputy Director Shen coughed twice and said, "Reputation is a small matter, but human life is at stake. You little girls, remember this in the future." His tone was quite gentle, and it was unclear whether he was admonishing or threatening.
Chu Wang smiled and said, "I just came to visit my friend. What happened to Miss Shen? We don't know."
Deputy Director Shen stared at her for a moment, nodded, and said nothing more. Miss Shen, however, seemed to be crying again. "Mom, tell me, is it me who doesn't want to make a big deal out of this, or is it you? Are you worried about me, or are you afraid?" Mrs. Shen sighed. "Why are you asking this now?" Deputy Director Shen said, "You're an only child. If your parents don't care about you, what should they care about?"
Miss Xu sneered and turned away.
Suddenly, there was a burst of noise outside. I felt like I was outside the hospital just now, and the noise became louder and louder. There was a violent knock on the door outside the ward. Deputy Director Shen frowned and asked the person in, "Who is outside?"
The servant stumbled in and said breathlessly, "Master, it's Master Ye——"
Deputy Director Shen was shocked: "Who are you talking about?! How could he know?"
Zhenzhen had been sitting in the corner without saying a word. When she heard the sound, she looked up suddenly. Half of her little face was swollen and bandages were wrapped around it. The other half of her face was pale.
The servant said, "How would we know? He found his way here, all dirty and filthy, and he rushed in like he was desperate. Seven or eight of us couldn't stop him!"
A desperate sob broke out from behind the curtain.
Shen Yueying screamed: "Xue Zhenzhen? Xue Zhenzhen! Do you really want me to die? Do you still have any conscience——"
The bed creaked suddenly, and she seemed to be about to jump out of it, but was suddenly held down by Mother Shen, who sighed and said, "What are you doing again?"
There was a wailing sound inside, and Miss Shen sobbed, "Mom! If your daughter dies one day, the person who killed her is outside! Her surname is Xue——"
Miss Xu and Chu Wang both turned to look at her. Zhenzhen covered her face with her hands and shook her head in despair. "I don't know. I didn't ask him to come. There's only a few places in Shanghai with electricity. How could I have asked him to come?" She tugged at Chu Wang's sleeve and pleaded softly, "He was arriving in Hong Kong at two o'clock. I had originally agreed to pick him up, but when something happened, I came straight here. I didn't contact him, nor did I ask anyone to pick him up."
Although it was just a few words, I think anyone could get a glimpse of the truth of the matter.
Deputy Director Shen calmly sipped his tea and asked, "Ms. Xue, who is the 'he' you are talking about?"
The noise was close to the door. The moment Deputy Director Shen put down his teacup, the door opened with a "bang" and a person rushed in.
The man had purple skin and stood tall at the door, covered in sweat and scratches; his shirt and cashmere sweater were soaked with sweat, and the sweat flowed through his eyes and wounds; his clothes were dirty and disheveled, and one of his shoes was missing.
He had made it up the stairs, surviving through countless obstacles. When the door opened, two or three people tried to stop him. He flung them away like a mad lion, practically falling in. He didn't protect his head or any other part of his body as he fell to the ground. Instead, he stared intently at a small box that had fallen out of his trouser pocket, and because of that, he fell heavily in front of Deputy Director Shen.
Ye Wenyu seemed to be unaware of the pain. He fell to the ground for two or three seconds, then shuddered and staggered forward two steps. He picked up the small box with one hand and got up again.
Miss Xu screamed in surprise and asked in surprise, "How does this look like a young master?"
Deputy Director Shen didn't care about his loss of composure and only asked, "Why are you here?"
He was gasping for breath, his sweaty face looking like he'd been crying, and his eyes were a little blurry. "I..." He gathered himself and glanced at Zhenzhen's injured face. "I happened to pass by the hospital and heard from a reporter that a young lady was injured."
He was so dirty, and he came all the way from the port to look for him. He must have run to so many places and covered so many roads in these six or seven hours. Who would believe that he found him by chance?
Deputy Director Shen did not speak.
Chu Wang closed her eyes slightly and said, "Miss Chen is in there." The moment she said this, she saw Ye Wenyu obviously breathed a sigh of relief, and his whole body relaxed.
At this point, he no longer looked at Zhenzhen. He closed his eyes and said to Deputy Director Shen, "I... I'm late. I'm sorry."
Deputy Director Shen still didn't speak.
He took a long breath and said to the curtain: “Miss Shen, I’m late.”
Trembling, he opened the small box he had been clutching tightly in his hand, turned around, knelt on one knee, and repeated, "I'm sorry, I'm late."
Inside was a pair of Tiffany diamond rings.
There was silence on the other side of the curtain for a long time. After a while, Mrs. Shen lifted the curtain to look in, and then said with a smile: "Yingying, look who's here? Look who it is, look what he brought to see you."
…
Deputy Director Shen's stern expression relaxed slightly, and he smiled with satisfaction and continued to drink his tea.
Chu Wang quickly said, "Congratulations to Mr. Shen, Mrs. Shen, and Miss Shen. Today is a happy day. You and your family should have a good chat. We outsiders will not disturb you."
After saying that, Chu Wang bumped into Miss Xu, and together with Miss Xu, they pulled Zhenzhen, who looked like a wandering soul, out of the ward, closed the door, went down two floors, and just stood at the corner of the corridor.
A cool breeze blew up the corridor from outside the ward. The three men stood there silently, waiting for the wind to blow, shivering.
Zhenzhen's eyes were red and she was trembling. Seeing the two men looking at her, she actually smiled: "Why are you looking at me?" She added, "Don't look at me. Don't look at me. You're looking at me like that... I don't know what to think." There was a hint of tears in her voice, and it sounded cold. "How should I know what to think right now?"
Seeing Chu Wang still looking at her, "Chu Wang..." she smiled innocently and asked, "Am I wrong? Shouldn't I have run away at that time? Shouldn't I have thought about saving my own life?"
Chu Wang stared at her without blinking: "You're not going to run? Shanghai socialites are having a big sale, and one isn't enough. Are you two going to buy one, get one free for the Japanese?"
Zhenzhen's brows were furrowed, sometimes as if she was trying not to cry, and sometimes as if she was trying not to laugh.
Chu Wang gently hugged her in his arms, covered her eyes with his other hand, and whispered, "Cry."
Almost at the moment she said these two words, she felt a burning sensation on her palms, and tears began to flow down her face, like water flowing out of a floodgate, unable to be held back at all.
Miss Xu seemed a little moved as well and came forward to comfort her. Chu Wang took Zhenzhen a little further away from her and said, "It's okay if you know how to cry." He added, "Since there's nothing wrong, Miss Xu, please go back."
Miss Xu didn't say anything more, turned around and walked down the stairs.
What to think about?
The prince who has been pampered all his life, in order to marry you, is not afraid of the road ahead, cuts through thorns and brambles for you, slays demons, kills dragons... When he arrives at the foot of the castle, he has become someone else's knight.
It’s hard to say who is more pitiful.
I don't know how long I cried with Zhenzhen, but the sky was already bright. It seemed like the electricity had been on for a long time. The wonton stalls, fried cypress, and tofu pudding were shouting in unison - it was dawn and time to get up.
After waiting for Zhenzhen to cry enough, he took her hand and left the hospital through the back door. Besides the black car from the Municipal Council waiting there, Lin Zitong had also arrived. When Zhenzhen saw him, tears welled up again. Without hesitation, she kicked him, cursing, "You bastard officers—"
Lin Zitong spread her hands, made a gesture of surrender and retreated step by step; when she could no longer retreat, she had no choice but to endure the kicks from the high heels again and again; while enduring the pain, she pointed at her, wanting to ask Chu Wang what was going on.
She gave him a sympathetic look.
The Xue family's driver was waiting not far away. She didn't persuade her to go home directly, but let her beat Lin Zitong to vent her anger.
Then he turned around and opened the door of the co-driver's seat of the Municipal Council car.
After closing the door, Xie Zeyi started the car with a smile and went home.
If you still have the energy to hit someone, then it's not too bad. (m.)138TXT
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