Free Web NovelAs Jiang Li and Lu Yibei pushed the trolley into the 202 Ward, they immediately felt that this ward was somewhat different from the others.
This ward had a total of four beds. The bed closest to the door was occupied by an Old Man with silver hair, next to him was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen, the bed next to that was for the little girl who had just returned after chemotherapy, and the innermost bed was for a woman.
The Old Man leaned against the headboard, reading a newspaper, occasionally pointing at the news and chatting and laughing with the family of the neighboring patient.
The young man was hunched over a desk on the bed, concentrating on his practice exercises. On the wall behind him hung banners with phrases like “Strive,” “Sprint to Gaokao,” and “No Regrets.”
The little girl, who had just returned to the ward, had changed her clothes. Her father was feeding her. Although her small face would show a painful expression with every bite, she did not cry or refuse.
The woman on the innermost bed, whose hair had fallen out due to chemotherapy, wore a pink woolen hat and sat by an easel on the balcony, meticulously sketching the bougainvillea blooming outside the window.
There seemed to be something very special in the ward, making what should have been a very depressing ward feel like home.
Upon entering the ward, Lu Yibei and Jiang Hao hadn't even had time to introduce themselves when the Old Man on the bed closest to the door warmly welcomed them, smilingly saying, “You two are finally here! I’ve been watching you for a while now. Are you the volunteers who came to visit us? Haha, thank you so much!”
As the Old Man spoke, he rolled up the sleeve of his patient gown, walked to the trolley, and was about to help move things down.
“Let me do it? These things are quite heavy. You two little girls must be tired after carrying so much, right?”
“Don’t look at me like this, Old Man, I used to be...”
As the Old Man was speaking, the young man on the neighboring bed put down his pen and interjected, “Grandpa He, are you going to tell that story again about how you single-handedly dealt with a dozen enemies on the battlefield when you were young?”
“Grandma Zhang told me the other day that you were bragging. You were being chased by a dozen enemies, scrambling with your head in your hands. That’s not ‘dealing with them.’”
“Hey! You brat, exposing my flaws!” The Old Man glared at the young man.
As the Old Man and the young man bickered, Jiang Li and Lu Yibei exchanged glances.
Now they were certain that what this ward possessed was vitality, completely out of place with the lifelessness of other wards, like a husky mixed into a pack of wolves, with a unique style.
While the Old Man and the young man were bickering, Jiang Hao and Lu Yibei quickly moved the Solace from the trolley, one by one, and placed them on the nightstands of each bed.
Just then, a childish voice sounded behind them.
“Sisters, you’ve worked hard. Here, take this to wipe your sweat, okay?”
Turning around, they saw the little girl in the patient gown had come up behind them at some point. She held two wet wipes in one hand and a crutch in the other, supporting her body.
One of her pant legs hung straight down, empty beneath it.
She had undergone an amputation, her right leg.
Jiang Hao’s mood instantly became complicated, like a spilled spice rack in the kitchen, with various seasonings mixed together, making it impossible to describe the taste.
She knew very well how much burden and trouble losing a leg would cause the little girl in her future life; it was by no means as simple as not being able to walk flexibly.
As if sensing Jiang Hao’s emotional change, Lu Yibei took the wet wipes from the little girl with one hand, while her other hand quietly wrapped around her hair and rested on her shoulder, as if trying to give her strength, gently squeezing her shoulder.
She must have seen the little girl and recalled some unpleasant past memories, Lu Yibei thought.
Noticing Jiang Hao and Lu Yibei frowning as they stared at her pant leg, the little girl seemed not to mind, her small face blushing as she said, “Sisters, don’t look, I’m a little shy! The Doctor said Tingting’s foot was sick and broken, so it had to be cut off, and then it would get better.”
“Daddy said technology is very advanced now, so we’ll figure out a way to get a new foot later. Sisters, don’t worry!”
She was the one who was sick, and she was the one suffering from the illness, yet she used her naive and clumsy words to try and comfort those who were feeling down because of her plight.
Looking at the little girl’s angelic smile and then at her empty pant leg, Jiang Li finally couldn’t help but turn her face away.
Her gaze inadvertently swept across the corridor, and her pupils suddenly trembled.
The moment her gaze fell on the corridor, through the small window on the ward door, she saw a figure flash by. That figure seemed to have been secretly observing through the small window just a second ago, and upon noticing her looking, immediately left.
And the retreating back of that figure was strikingly similar to her mother’s.
Staring blankly for a few seconds, Jiang Li looked at Lu Yibei with a solemn expression, leaned closer, and whispered in her ear, “I’m going out for a bit.”
She must be unable to bear such a scene and wants to go out for some fresh air, right?
Lu Yibei glanced at Jiang Li out of the corner of her eye, then turned her head and sent her a message with her eyes.
【Go, I’ll handle things here! You know, I’m best at getting close to people. Give me half an hour, and I guarantee I’ll find out how many people are in their family and what their pet dog’s name is!】
“Mm.” Looking at Lu Yibei’s eyes, Jiang Hao nodded and quickly left the ward.
Watching her leave the ward, a hint of disappointment flashed in the little girl’s eyes. She pursed her lips and asked Lu Yibei, “Sister, did Tingting say something wrong just now?”
“No, you didn’t!” Lu Yibei squatted down and gently stroked the little girl’s head. “Sister is just tired today and wants to go out and rest for a bit.”
“Hmm, Tingting must be tired too after bringing wet wipes to the Sisters, right? Come, Sister will help you back to rest.”
“I don’t need Sister’s help!” The little girl lifted her chin slightly, saying with a hint of childish pride, “Tingting can do it herself!”
Watching the little girl use her crutch to return to her bed and shakily climb onto it, Lu Yibei gave a thumbs-up and praised, “Wow! Tingting is amazing!”
She withdrew her gaze from the little girl, then glanced in the direction Jiang Li had left. After taking a deep breath and slightly adjusting her state, she immediately entered her role—an energetic, lively, socially adept, but expressionless beautiful girl.
“Grandpa He, you said you once fought against a dozen enemies on the battlefield? Can you tell me about it? To be honest, my Grandpa was also a soldier, and when I was little, I loved listening to him tell stories about those battle heroes.”
Hearing this, the Old Man instantly became interested. “Oh? Haha, which unit was your Grandpa in? Maybe we were even comrades!”
“He, that Old Man, he...”
“Hehe, little brother, you look so handsome when you’re serious about your studies. A handsome boy like you must be very popular with girls, right?” Lu Yibei came to the young man who was doing his exercises and gently placed a peeled orange in front of him.
“No, don’t talk nonsense! No girls like me!” The young man said, blushing.
“How could that be? They must be so blind! If I were still in high school, I would definitely pursue you!”
“Sister, you draw so well! Can you teach me?”
Getting close to people is actually not difficult at all.
Friendly reminder: The Website is about to be revised, which may cause loss of reading progress. Please save your “book shelf” and “reading record” in time (it is recommended to save screenshots). We apologize for any inconvenience caused!
Nothing else, just a sweet tongue! —
Unbeknownst to them, the sky had darkened, dark clouds obscured the sunlight, the temperature quietly rose, and fog appeared outside the window, then quickly permeated the inpatient building, casting a hazy glow on the corridors of the inpatient building. °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Some large, amorphous life form had invaded the inpatient building.
Leaving the 202 Ward, Jiang Hao chased after the figure that somewhat resembled her mother, walking quickly down the corridor in the direction she had left. Everything she saw had an inexplicable sense of unreality.
But Jiang Li’s eyes were still fixed on the figure at the end of the corridor. The distance was too far, and thin fog drifted in the corridor, preventing her from seeing the figure’s face clearly.
Even the figure itself was not very clear, often just flashing by like a ghost in her vision, then disappearing without a trace.
She tried to activate her Spirit Mark Power, using the ability of 【Hunting Evil】 to lock onto that figure, but unexpectedly failed.
It was as if a terrifyingly strong Power was secretly hindering her tracking, or perhaps that figure simply didn’t exist, so her Spirit Mark Power couldn’t lock onto it.
Thus, she chased that figure upwards, upwards, until she reached the rooftop.
Along the way, there was no one walking in the corridors, and no sound came from the patient rooms on either side, as if they had fallen into a deep sleep, eerily quiet. freewёbnoνel.com
Following that figure, she chased all the way to the rooftop door. Jiang Hao stopped. Perhaps considering the safety of the patients, the large door leading to the rooftop was wrapped with thick iron chains and hung with a large lock, but now the iron chains had been violently cut and lay on the ground.
Looking at the iron chains and large lock on the ground, she hesitated slightly before pushing the door open.
The moment she pushed the door open, a strong wind carrying dense fog rushed towards her, and a strong, pungent odor instantly assailed her nostrils, causing a strong discomfort in her respiratory tract.
It was very uncomfortable.
Like countless iron rakes with tiny barbs plowing through her trachea.
As if an invisible pair of hands had suddenly choked her throat from behind, Jiang Li felt a moment of suffocation, her vision blurred, and her body swayed slightly.
A strong sense of crisis struck, and Jiang Li immediately activated her Spiritual Energy to protect her body, then quickly chanted a purification and healing Spell.
Accompanied by a milky white glow that enveloped her body from top to bottom, the suffocating sensation instantly vanished. She reached out to steady herself against the doorframe, and after a moment of heavy breathing, she looked up at the rooftop again, a look of disappointment in her eyes.
The rooftop was empty, with only the wind swirling white mist, twisting its amorphous body.
The figure she had chased all the way seemed to have merged into the fog and drifted away with the wind, disappearing without a trace.
She had lost her.
After silently gazing at the empty rooftop for a moment, Jiang Hao, still unwilling to give up, gently bit her pearly teeth and stepped through the doorway.
She had already chased this far, and the figure suspected to be her mother might be close at hand. How could she give up so easily?
Behind the high platform of the ventilation duct, under the solar panels, in the gaps of the water tank...
After spending more than ten minutes meticulously searching the rooftop, a disheartened Jiang Hao returned to the entrance.
Standing at the doorway, after looking back at the empty rooftop behind her several times, she sighed silently and descended the stairs.
It shouldn’t be a mistake. Although she wasn’t sure if that figure was her mother, that figure definitely existed.
Could its sudden disappearance be related to X Heavenly God? That pungent smell...
According to the records in the si ye book, when a certain area is affected by X Heavenly God’s Power, a pungent smell usually appears. At the same time, X Heavenly God also has the ability to use dense fog to condense various scenes. But why would X Heavenly God lead me to the rooftop?
After calming down slightly, Jiang Li walked back while pondering. Just then, a faint metallic clinking sound entered her ears.
The sound came from above, as if someone had tapped the stair railing.
Following the sound, she looked up, and a black dot entered her vision, rapidly enlarging as it fell.
She instinctively reached out and grasped something hard in her hand.
A cold sensation came from her palm. Opening her hand, an old peacock-shaped metal hairpin came into view. Jiang Li’s pupils trembled violently, and even her body uncontrollably spasmed a few times.
Although the hairpin was already rusty and most of its rhinestones had fallen off, she recognized it at first glance: it was the first birthday gift she had given her mother when she was five years old.
If nothing unexpected happened, on the other side of the hairpin, there would also be her own initials, meticulously carved by her with a small knife, bit by bit.
Thinking this, Jiang Ge slowly flipped the hairpin over, both surprised and relieved to see two capital letters on the back of the hairpin — “JL”.
That year, she had just learned Pinyin and wasn’t very proficient at writing her own name.
That year, her father, who had always loved her mother dearly, forgot her mother’s birthday for the first time.
In that instant, as if hallucinating, Jiang Ge heard her mother say in her ear, “Oh, my dear daughter has really grown up! She even knows to give Mama gifts!”
“From today on, Mama will wear this hairpin every day, okay?”
Then.
She saw her mother, overjoyed to the point of tears, clip the hairpin into her beautiful hair.
After returning to the rooftop and searching it again, Jiang Li, having found nothing, returned to the second floor of the inpatient building with a heavy heart.
As soon as she reached the corridor outside the 202 Ward, she saw Lu Yibei being pushed out, looking somewhat disheveled.
Immediately after, the ward door slammed shut with a “bang!”
Faint Spells could be heard.
“Get out! Don’t come again!”
Seeing this, Jiang Li was stunned and cast an inquiring look at Lu Yibei.
【What’s going on? Didn’t you say you’d handle it in half an hour?】
It was truly rare for Lu Yibei to try to get close to people.
【It’s a long story, but in short, as soon as I mentioned Tan Qiuming’s name, the atmosphere in the entire ward changed, and when I tried to delve deeper, I was kicked out.】
Lu Yibei responded to Jiang Li’s confusion with her eyes, silently sighing, “But, actually, there was a little gain. Shall we talk outside?”
“Mm!” Jiang Hao nodded. After a brief deliberation, as if making an important decision, a hint of determination flashed in her eyes. “I also have something important I want to tell you.”
She decided to tell Lu Yibei about finding a suspected buyer who resembled her mother on Tan Qiuming’s buyer list, and the process of chasing that figure all the way to the rooftop and finding the hairpin.
If she couldn’t even tell Lu Yibei, who else could she tell?
It’s just, it’s a bit strange...
When did I start relying on her a little?
Jiang Li thought, gently clenching the hairpin in her hand.
