011/Qiliu
Yingzhou felt that he should be happy.
But he just lowered the umbrella, and the umbrella cover covered most of his face, leaving a portion of his chin exposed.
The wind blew the rain in diagonally, and the wet vapor became the best cover now.
When the umbrella was raised, Yingzhou looked as calm as before.
He picked up the umbrella that fell on the ground and was blown far away by the wind, and smiled at Xu Wenling for the first time in a long time: "I lied to you."
Xu Wenling's expression was stunned, as if all her strength had been drained away, and she was gasping for air.
When she took the umbrella, her hands and feet were weak and she was full of doubts.
Yingzhou took off his coat and put it on her body.
In the car, Yuan Wenxin had been waiting for a long time.
He sat in the passenger seat, leaving the back compartment to Yingzhou and Xu Wenling.
When Xu Wenling got into the car, Yuan Wen could feel in his heart that the originally calm Gu worm in his body was twisting wildly, as if urging it to devour.
Yuan Wenxin bit the tip of his tongue and scratched his itchy wrist. There were soon scratched red marks like scratches there.
He covered the marks with his sleeves, turned his head, and showed a gentle smile to Xu Wenling: "Hello, aunt."
Xu Wenling was still a little distracted. She clenched her hands into fists and placed them on her knees. Her hair was wet and dripping.
She looked up hastily and smiled politely: "Hello, Xiao Yuan."
The moment their eyes crossed, Xu Wenling saw a light orange fox face.
The driver was Lu Ren. His ability was called "No Phase", and everyone in the car subconsciously ignored him. And Lu Ren seemed to enjoy this kind of neglect.
He stepped on the accelerator and drove slowly towards the airport on the outskirts of city A.
Yingzhou was the first to break the silence in the car: "Mom. You may have a hard time believing what I'm going to say next, but I hope you can understand.
"This is my 'shadow'. You've seen it."
Yingzhou spread his hands in front of Xu Wenling.
The thin black thread was like a stream of water, spinning around from his back to his knuckles.
It twisted around in Yingzhou's palm. It seemed like he was greeting Xu Wenling.
Xu Wenling replied blankly: "I...yes. I have seen it."
Just this morning, Yingzhou almost killed Li Yang with it.
Li Yang was probably frightened. When Yingzhou went out, he cried and made trouble at home, saying that Yingzhou was a monster and that he must be sent to prison or a nursing home.
Xu Wenling didn't react much to this, she accepted it naturally.
She thought, this is her son, how could he be a monster? Li Yang was really making a fuss.
But now, when Ying Zhou was mentioned again, Xu Wenling suddenly got excited and came back to her senses.
...Why did she think this was normal before?
"Our world is undergoing strange changes, and many monsters have been bred in the dark. These monsters are called 'scourges'. In order to fight against such monsters, some humans have evolved superpowers." Yingzhou used her as much as possible. He explained in understandable language, "I, Yuan Wenxin, and the driver are all people with such powers."
Xu Wenling: "Then what?"
Yuan Wenxin felt that asking Yingzhou to inform Xu Wenling was too cruel for an eighteen-year-old child.
Therefore, he took the initiative to join the conversation: "Based on my observations. I suspect that you have been parasitized by the scourge. After being parasitized by it, you will slowly lose your mind, become a puppet, and finally die. So, we hope you can go to a specialized hospital. , receive formal treatment.”
These facts are somewhat beyond Xu Wenling's cognition.
She turned her eyes to her son for help, looking dazed and helpless.
Xu Wenling asked: "Am I sick?"
It's like asking, but also like talking to yourself.
When a person has huge unknowns about the future, it is inevitable to feel fear.
Xu Wenling's eyes fell on the plush floor mat in the car, and her toes pressed together awkwardly: "Actually, I feel it vaguely. In the past few days, the auditory hallucinations in my ears have been very serious... I asked online myself and said it might be Schizophrenia, let me go to a regular hospital for examination."
She didn't go because she couldn't bear to spend the money.
Moreover, it would be embarrassing to tell someone about a mentally ill mother; Yingzhou would be discussed when the time comes, and it would be hard to get married.
There was a mental patient in the village where Xu Wenling grew up, who was crazy. He was originally the first college student in the village, but unfortunately he went out to study for a few years and went crazy.
His father bought a train ticket and stood there for 21 hours to pick him up from school. After coming back, I would move a stool and sit in the courtyard to bask in the sun every day. When his father asked him to dry the corn, he would just giggle.
Xu Wenling doesn't want to become that kind of person.
Yuan Wenxin replied: "Auntie, this is not a disease. I prefer to call it 'pollution'. You are just polluted by the scourge. However, the principle is similar to the treatment of diseases. If you want to solve the scourge, you need to receive professional help. .”
Xu Wenling did not answer immediately.
She searched online and found that hallucinations and auditory hallucinations were symptoms of schizophrenia.
Now, there was a strange sound in her ears.
[——He lied to you! Don't go to the institute! They want to kill you! You are the raw material! 】
The sound was sharp and harsh, and it had appeared three days ago.
At that time, Yingzhou had just been hospitalized. She rushed to the hospital in a hurry and did not have time to make dinner. I had to buy some braised pork on the road.
Li Yang was very angry. As I ate, I kept saying that the braised pork was not fresh and tasted strange. Xu Wenling knew that he had lost money and was looking for trouble to get angry, so she just kept picking up the bowl to eat.
Li Yang stood up again and slapped her.
That’s when the voice in my head appeared.
It said: [What a poor person. What a disgusting husband, how about we turn him into a beast? 】
…………
The car passed the highway toll booth and sped towards the airport.
The navigation reminds us that we still have the last three kilometers to reach our destination. There will be a special plane there, carrying Xu Wenling, a person who has never flown before, to leave her hometown.
Xu Wenling clenched her hands into fists, squeezed her skirt that was soaked by the rain, and asked: "Xiao Zhou, is everything he said true? Are you just sending me for treatment?"
She stared into Yingzhou's eyes.
【You idiot! I have never seen a woman as stupid as you... Now we are one and the same. I'm the only one who won't harm you, do you understand? 】
Then, Xu Wenling heard Yingzhou reply: "Yes."
So Xu Wenling loosened her grip and nodded vigorously: "Okay, mom believes in you."
*
The passenger flow at the airport in the early morning is much less than during the day, and the entire hall seems particularly empty.
This time we came on a special plane, so there was no need to collect tickets, and the entire journey was through special channels. There are also dedicated staff to lead the way.
There were probably people around them who thought they were celebrities. Ying Zhou saw someone raising their mobile phone. Lu Ren stood in front of them very unhappy.
When passing by the 24-hour duty-free shop at the airport, Yuan Wenxin suddenly stopped.
Xu Wenling had been caught in the rain before, and now she was wearing Yingzhou's school uniform jacket, but it didn't fit her well.
Yuan Wenxin asked Lu Ren to go in and buy a set of skirts.
The dress is expensive and beautiful. Xu Wenling had worked in a shopping mall, and she knew the price of this dress would not be too low as soon as she touched it.
Yingzhou glanced at the shopping bag.
The most indispensable thing in his school is the rich second generation. Yingzhou knows that this is a luxury brand.
Xu Wenling obviously liked this dress very much. She touched the feathers on the hem of the dress again and again.
She said: "This is too expensive, why not return it..."
People with low self-esteem are always like this. Whenever I receive a gift, my first reaction is to ask myself if I deserve it.
Yuan Wenxin lied without batting an eyelid: "It's not much money, auntie. I used my mother's points to get a discount. This skirt is a spring style, and there will be new summer clothes soon. Besides, we don't have enough time, so we have to return it." Too troublesome."
Only then did Xu Wenling give up the idea of returning the product.
Yingzhou met the employees sent by the institute at the boarding gate.
The researcher was wearing a gray protective suit, armored from head to toe, with not an inch of skin exposed. Even his face was covered with goggles.
Yuan Wenxin walked up naturally: "Hello, Teacher Zhao, this is Yuan Wenxin calling."
Zhao Sijia shook hands with him politely and distantly: "Hello. Please stop here. Just hand over the infected person to us. This is a confidentiality agreement, please ask the family members to sign. Thank you for your understanding and support."
She spoke, and Yingzhou realized that there was a woman in the protective suit, who sounded about fifty years old.
Yingzhou stood slightly in front of Xu Wenling.
He took the document bag and browsed through the pieces of paper filled with text.
Yuan Wenxin and Zhao Sijia used a familiar dialogue to get into Yingzhou's ears.
They were actually standing far enough apart, but Yingzhou's hearing range after alienation was far beyond that of ordinary people.
"Teacher Zhao, I didn't expect you to be here. I heard that you are about to be promoted to deputy director?"
"...How do you know so well? It wasn't your grandfather who told you again, right? That bad old man."
"This scourge-tainted host is my friend's mother. Please take more care of her. If something happens, he will fight for my life."
"We are a formal institution. We don't do human research and we are not mad scientists. Our staff undergoes psychiatric evaluations every week. Don't think of the research as so scary."
"Okay, speaking of which, is Pei Tianyin almost recovered?"
Zhao Sijia: "Pei Tianyin? Which day and which reason?"
Yuan Wenxin was obviously stunned.
There was a look of shock and confusion on his face.
"There's none?"
Zhao Sijia frowned: "I have seen every case of infected people in the hospital, and I am very sure that there is no one named Pei Tianyin."
"...Maybe I remembered it wrong." Yuan Wenxin's voice sounded a little out of sorts.
Yingzhou always lowered his eyes, as if he was reading the agreement seriously.
He held the pen in his hand tightly, signed his name slowly, and then handed the document back.
Zhao Sijia put the documents away and looked at the woman behind Yingzhou: "Xu Wenling, hello. I will be your first responsible person from now on. Come, get on the plane with me."
Her tone was gentle, which greatly relieved Xu Wenling's nervousness.
Xu Wenling took a few steps forward and then turned back: "Small boat."
She seemed to have a lot to say. He raised his hand slightly and put it down again.
Xu Wenling said: "Come on for the college entrance examination."
Yingzhou lowered his head: "...Okay."
Xu Wenling followed the researcher as she walked into the covered bridge. As she walked farther and farther, her figure gradually became smaller, like a small ant in a glass box.
Yingzhou looked at the back for a long time.
"What are you thinking about?"
Yuan Wenxin found that after meeting Yingzhou, he especially liked to say this sentence.
Yingzhou replied: "I just remembered that when I was a child, she took me to the mall. She wanted to buy a skirt. But she didn't have enough money. In the end, she bought me a book. I took the book and told her that when I grow up and make money, I will Buy her lots of beautiful dresses.”
But when she became an adult, the only dress she received as a gift was bought by Yuan Wenxin.
Yuan Wenxin was not very good at comforting others. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Then you can buy it for her later."
Although the memory may not be reliable, at least in Yuan Wenxin's perception, Xu Wenling's life has undergone tremendous changes.
She died in the Strange Realm in her previous life.
"I hope she can learn to buy it by herself." Yingzhou withdrew his gaze and said, "Let's go."
***
When we returned to the city from the airport, it was already three o'clock in the morning.
The car stopped at the entrance of the alley, and there was a long way left for Yingzhou to walk back by himself.
The home he didn't like very much became even more annoying because Xu Wenling left.
"Fortunately, we only have the last half month before the college entrance examination."
Maybe you can move back to the dormitory.
After all, Yuan Wenxin said that his unlucky roommate died.
There were no lights on the road, it had rained before, and the ground was covered in slippery mud.
Yingzhou walked back to the downstairs of the unit in the dark.
There is a tungsten light hanging at the door of the unit building. No one had changed it for a long time, and the light was very dim.
Many small flying insects cling to the bulb.
Next to the entrance of the unit building, there is an old sofa that no one else wants. The leather on the surface is worn. Usually there will be an old lady sitting here chatting with a hot enamel cup.
It's three o'clock in the morning, and of course there is no old lady at the door.
But there was a young man nestled in the sofa, who seemed to be asleep.
Yes, just nest. There is no better word to describe it.
In Yingzhou's short 18-year life, he had only seen stray animals sleeping like this.
Moreover, he has seen this person before.
Ying Zhou thought for a moment, raised the umbrella in his hand, and poked Xun Yu's arm that was exposed to the air.
Xun Yu opened her eyes with excitement and almost jumped up.
His eyes, which were dazed and a little angry, became focused when he saw Yingzhou's face.
That anger quickly turned into surprise. A pair of eyes shining brightly in the dark.
Yingzhou felt no malice.
He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and asked, "Are you waiting for me?"
