After getting off the plane, Turan first went to the "White Ship". The old store of "White Ship" has been replaced by Mrs. Daria's granddaughter to take care of it personally. Turan bought some of Hesta's favorite Kanalei before heading to the reserve base.
Long-time friends suddenly met, and both of them shed tears of joy.
In the afternoon, Turan began to study the medicine Hesta was taking recently. She looked at the boxes one by one, and suddenly pushed a blue box in front of Hesta's eyes, "Rico has taken this before, and I remember the side effects were very serious. Big...how are you doing? Are you feeling nauseous or dizzy?"
"Won't."
"That's good."
Hesta raised her head, "...when did Rico take this kind of medicine?"
"Just the first half year of your arrival at the base. Didn't anyone remind you that she was not mentally stable at that time?"
Hesta blinked, "...I have no impression."
"Doesn't this just mean that Rico is recovering well?" Turan put his arm around Hesta's shoulder, "You can too."
Hesta closed her eyes, "I feel like... trapped in this body, Turan."
"Don't worry," Tulan said warmly, "Take your time, it will be fine."
On the first night in Tanyi, Turan and Hesta lay on the same bed and talked about the past. Hesta fell into a drowsy sleep until she caught the key word "Lego" and opened her eyes, "Lego" When will you come over?"
"She can't get over it for the time being, because she was deported back then... Miss Chiba tried some methods, but in the end they were rejected by the coalition government, but it doesn't matter, you don't have to worry, she will be here in two months The ship that takes you to District 14 will be waiting for you - she will not get off the ship then, so theoretically it does not count as setting foot on the land of District 3."
"How long do you plan to stay this time?"
"One month, this month I won't go anywhere, I will just stay with you at the base."
"It's been so long, what to do with your...those projects?"
"Hey, don't mention it," Turan sighed, "I finally applied for a laboratory that studies the pathogenesis of chelation disease last fall. When I looked at the pre-admission list, I found that the fourteen people recruited in my batch I am the only girl, so I asked PMRC to re-check whether there was implicit discrimination in the admissions, but when the list was officially announced, the laboratory directly crossed out my name."
"...how dare they do this."
"Yes, how dare they? I spent the whole winter last year writing letters of complaint and interviewing various academic fairness organizations in the first district. In the spring of this year, the professor in charge of that research group was finally fired by both the university and the research institute. The laboratory All management levels above the executive level have also been reshuffled.”
"Sounds good?"
"No! It's very bad!" Turan sat up immediately, "My time is wasted on this kind of thing... That professor has a lot of criminal records - just because she is also a woman, every time she The explanation that I claimed that I recruit people purely based on ability rather than gender was approved. If I hadn’t had an AHgAs background and finally alerted Office 006 to intervene in the investigation, this matter would definitely have gone unsolved in the end.”
Hesta looked at her, "Then what are your plans next?"
"It's a blessing in disguise," Turan twirled his hair and lay down again, "I applied for a new young scholar program established by the Ava Morgan Foundation last year, and they will provide me with three years of financial support. , which means that I am now an independent scholar, and several research institutes in the second and sixth districts have just sent me invitations - I haven’t decided where to go in the end, but it’s not bad anyway.”
Hesta clapped her hands gently, "Congratulations."
…
In the following days, Turan did spend every day in the underground hospital of the base. Hestad had difficulty moving, so she helped with many things, such as going to the province of Nia to help Hestad pick up the letters and books placed there. , sending an unsigned postcard to a woman named Tina in the Independent Prison. More often than not, she would sit at the table next to Hesta and work, turning back to answer when Hesta needed help.
Since her lower body is all prosthetic, Turan can freely control her height. She occasionally uses this function to tease the doctors and nurses here. Most of them still remember this girl who escaped from death in the underground hospital. After learning that Turan has become their peer, and everyone is more kind to her.
At the end of March, Turan and Hesta learned from the news that Ava had passed away last winter. They were both shocked into silence.
Immediately afterwards, the news mentioned that in order to commemorate this pioneer who made huge waves in the world in the past two decades, the Tan Yi City Hall has prepared a special commemorative event. Tomorrow, thirty aircraft will fly to various wastelands to perform operations. The fighter planes on the mission flew over the city together and dropped flowers on the ground along the central axis of the city in Tan Yi.
Each flower is tied with a poem, most of which come from Ava's handbook.
The rules of the underground hospital are strict and Hesta will never be able to leave without making an appointment in advance. The two discussed together for a while and decided to ask Chiba for help. The next day they left the base very smoothly - but they thought Chiba would be waiting outside and travel with them, but that day Chiba Ye never appeared.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Turan drove Hesta alone to a square. Whining air-raid sirens came from all directions. In front of them was a clear sky. They saw fighter planes flying overhead from a distance and passing over the city. .
The two of them faced the sun and tried their best to look at the sky. In the rain of loose flowers, they each picked up a flower.
Turan turned around and handed the flower in his hand to Hesta.
"Come on, exercise your fingers and take the verses off."
Hesta accepted the challenge, and with trembling fingers, she untied the first note.
Turan came closer and whispered:
"The curse that comes from the depths of a woman's heart
Very salty, very bitter, very good” (1)
The past suddenly emerged, and every moment in Ava's house flashed back in Hestad's mind like a movie. She remembered every conversation she had with Ava, her sarcasm and comfort, those reading groups, and every moment there. The woman's face was a little dazed for a moment.
"……simple?"
"I'm fine," Hesta came back to her senses and shook her head, "I'll come back again... to remove the second one."
Hesta took a deep breath, but her hands shook even more violently. The warm spring sun reflected on her face, illuminating her whole body.
The note unfolded and it read -
It's getting late
There is still no time to talk about many things that should be talked about
It doesn't matter, it's too late tonight, there's still tomorrow. (2)
——End of this volume——
(1) It comes from a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I read the quotation in "How to Suppress Women from Writing", and the author of "Suppression" read the quotation in "Literary Women". What is the original text? ,I did not find it.
(2) From Rumi's "Into the Orchard in Spring"
