Free Web NovelChapter 471: Chapter 442: The Child Who Fell from the Building_1
"Zhou Ning, Zhou Ning!"
With the shout, Zhou Ning opened his eyes as if he’d just emerged from drowning, gasping for air, his body shaking uncontrollably. Shi Tianxiao held his hand and let out a sigh of relief.
"You scared me to death. No matter how I called, there was no response. What did you see at the end?"
Zhou Ning shook his head while He Shancun also rushed in. After all, such shouting was particularly worrying.
"What’s going on? What happened exactly?"
"I was just guiding Zhou Ning to revisit that dream from years ago, not standing in his position, but on the living room sofa. After all, it’s the perspective of a third party and you can see the whole picture.
I wanted to try and see if there could be a breakthrough. But Zhou Ning’s breathing and heartbeat sped up, and then suddenly it seemed like he had no pulse. I didn’t know what he saw, he just stared upward, but there was no gasping, as if he were drowning."
He Shancun fixed his gaze on Zhou Ning, continuing to smooth his chest before taking his wrist to check his pulse.
"It’s not too serious. What did you just see?"
Zhou Ning shook his head again, now able to speak.
"I don’t know. I couldn’t see anything, just heard shouting that sounded the same as what happened back then. It was pitch black in front of me, and then the sounds gradually faded away. It was like there was no air around, and I was suffocating. Then I heard Doctor Shi calling me; his voice was very distant. I didn’t want to listen, but suddenly I thought of Xia Momo, and I woke up."
He Shancun patted Zhou Ning’s shoulder, full of self-blame.
"It’s my fault today, forcing you to come here and reopen old wounds for what? Let’s go, let’s head back."
Shi Tianxiao glared at He Shancun and then turned to look at Zhou Ning.
"I’ll prescribe you some medication. Don’t engage in such high-intensity work anymore. Although there’re no issues with your body now, if you’re highly stressed, problems will arise. Rest up for now, and after the New Year, you can come over anytime. We’ll try to hold the sessions every two weeks again."
Zhou Ning wiped his sweat, gradually moving down from the recliner.
"The medication isn’t necessary. My sleep is fine."
He Shancun glanced at Shi Tianxiao, seeing his determined expression, then handed over a box of medication, which He Shancun inspected, seeing "Propranolol" written on it.
"You don’t have asthma or allergic rhinitis, do you?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Then take it as the instructions say. Don’t mix it with other medications. Doctor He, is this prescription okay?"
He Shancun didn’t look amused but rather worried.
"Alright, then we’re leaving."
All the way, He Shancun sneakily watched Zhou Ning. Although he usually bickers with Zhou Ning without restraint, today’s Mr. He was completely different.
"Whether or not you want to continue seeing Shi Tianxiao is up to you. I regret forcing you to come today. I always thought you’re about to get married and shouldn’t carry these emotional burdens into your married life. Some things should be left in the past. Speaking with Shi Tianxiao is like saying farewell to the unresolved issues of your past.
But I never imagined that memory could be so resistant for you, even causing issues like psychosomatic disorders. Since that is the case, we won’t touch on it anymore. Also, you need to reduce your workload, or your health will fail. I can talk to Director Xu about it."
Zhou Ning shook his head. Although the experience he’d just undergone was unpleasant, he didn’t think it was as dire as He Shancun was making it out to be.
"Cut the crap. It’s not as serious as you’re saying. I won’t be taking this medication. I know what it treats, and I don’t have any organic diseases. Everything’s fine. Regarding Doctor Shi, I’ll find time after the New Year to come. He opened up a new train of thought for me today. Maybe I can shift my perspective. Perhaps I could get a clear view of those two people."
He Shancun glanced at Zhou Ning, filled with concern, as though this moment’s Zhou Ning was not the sunny young man he knew. Buried deep in his heart was a shattered and desolate memory. With a sigh, He Shancun drove toward the front.
"After the New Year, I’ll accompany you."
"Forget it, Zhou Xiaoyu’s due date is February 28. After the New Year, focus all your attention on Xiaoyu. What do I, a grown man, need your company for?"
"No, I must accompany you. I don’t trust anyone else with this, and it’s not up for discussion. Lean the seat back a bit more and close your eyes to sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive. Don’t worry, recently I’ve been treating you like an ancestor, just like Xiaoyu."
...
March 2, 2013, Saturday, 8:14 AM
Mr. He sped down the road in Zhou Ning’s car, glancing at Mr. Zhao in the passenger seat, and urged:
"Is that shop around here?"
Mr. Zhao waved his hand dismissively and, looking back at Zhou Ning, couldn’t help laughing.
"I tell you Zhou Xiaozhou, your sister’s not the little princess anymore. She’s the empress dowager of the He family now. She says she wants strawberries, and here we are running around in circles for who knows how long?"
"Enough with the chatter, just tell me where it is?"
Mr. Zhao sighed and pointed back the way they had come.
"You’re impossible. They said it’s by the clinic where Doctor Shi works, but when we came out, there were no parking spots. Just turn into Vanke Charm City next door. I’ll get out and buy them at the entrance, you circle around, and pick me up after. Alright?"
He Shancun laughed.
"Not bad, finally doing something humane. Let’s go, we’ll leave right now."
Mr. Zhao curled his lip.
"Fine, I realize I’m less important than strawberries, but Zhou Xiaoyu’s due date has been delayed for several days. Why aren’t you worried at all? Just take her to have a C-section. Why insist on trying for a natural birth?"
He Shancun showed no sign of nervousness, and said cheerfully:
"I’m prepared for either. Don’t worry, I won’t let Xiaoyu suffer. When it’s time, you all get ready to go down. I’ll be out soon."
Mr. Zhao hurried out of the car, but there was a bit of a traffic jam at the entrance of the neighborhood; for a while, they were stuck there, unable to go in or come out. It wasn’t until Mr. Zhao came out with the strawberries that he discovered the two of them had just driven into the neighborhood gate and were now blocked at the second intersection, unable to move.
He quickly picked up the strawberries and ran to the front of the car. He opened the door but hadn’t gotten in when he heard a loud bang followed by another.
After that, there were screams rising and falling.
Men and women alike, all at a high octave, completely uncontrollable howls. Mr. Zhao instinctively looked toward the direction of the noise and saw, right by building number five on his right, people starting to gather. He stepped on the edge of the car door and stretched his neck to see into the center space.
There, two small heaps were lying in the middle, with blood quickly seeping out, forming a large pool on the ground. The closer he looked, the colder Mr. Zhao felt.
"Damn it, two kids, right by building number five! Two kids have fallen from the building. Hurry and see!"
Upon hearing this, He Shancun rushed out of the car. As a doctor, when hearing someone is injured, the first instinct is to save lives. Thanks are not needed for such reflex actions; it’s like an instinctive response of the body. He didn’t even take the time to close the car door.
Zhou Ning quickly got out of the passenger seat and glanced at the time: it was 8:23. He made a sign with his eyes to Mr. Zhao.
Mr. Zhao understood instantly. Zhou Ning was asking him to bring the forensics kit. But it wasn’t the right time to speak out loud, as a glance made it clear that the two children were already dead.
After all, they hadn’t fallen onto a green belt but onto the solid concrete steps. It wasn’t just that they were motionless—it was the kind of posture that said everything.
Zhao Xinli nodded, quickly opened the trunk, took out the kit, and donned a mask before following Zhou Ning to He Shancun’s side.
As expected, the two children were lying face up on the steps, one above the other, their skulls deformed. The children’s necks were twisted unnaturally—a clear sign that their cervical spines were broken. They had hit the ground head and occipital first, causing their cervical spines to break.
Looking up, only the windows of the fifteenth floor were open. After all, it was early March, and the morning temperature was quite low. The wide-open windows were somewhat puzzling.
Zhou Ning took out his phone and police badge, and directly dialed Liu Yufei’s number.
"Director Zhou?"
"Mrs. Fei, I’m at building number five of Vanke Charm City in Liuhe District. Here, one boy and one girl, two children have fallen and died. I believe they fell from the fifteenth floor. I’m not familiar with the people in the Liuhe sub-bureau. The oldest child is not even three years old. You should come and take a look yourself."
There was a sound of a chair being pushed quickly over the phone.
"Okay, stay put. I’ll send someone from the Liuhe sub-bureau first, and we will follow shortly."
After hanging up, Zhou Ning moved closer to He Shancun. He didn’t ask anything, but lifted the eyelids and looked at the pupils of the two children. Both pupils were fully dilated, which meant there was no hope of saving them. However, Zhou Ning didn’t speak up to stop He Shancun’s actions.
He was a doctor. As long as there was a sliver of hope, he would give his all.
Seeing He Shancun rush up, some onlookers drew closer too. A woman clutched her chest, obviously terrified, holding her cellphone, and shaky voice spoke: freeweɓnovel.cøm
"I’ve called 120. The doctors will be here soon."
A few men also crowded in, wanting to help. He Shancun shouted loudly:
"I’m a doctor from the emergency department of the Central Hospital. Everyone, please back away, don’t touch us. The kids have no breathing or pulse. Everyone step back a bit, I need to check them. Can someone contact the children’s family?"
With this call, everyone stopped in their tracks.
At the same moment, the unit door that had been slammed open with a bang, and a man burst out from inside, with one of his slippers missing, barefoot, he just stared at the two children on the ground and lunged forward to pick them up. Zhao Xinli, with a quick reaction, grabbed the man to restrain him.
But the man struggled fiercely, almost knocking Zhao Xinli down, howling like a madman.
"Let go of me, release me so I can see my daughter and my son. I want to see them. It’s all daddy’s fault for not taking care of you. Ahhh!"
He Shancun glanced over, continuing to perform CPR on the children, even though he knew it was futile. He still hoped for a miracle, as the two children were so young.
"Are you the father of the children? Which floor is your apartment, what’s the number? What’s your name?"
A crowd was gathered, and the man, seemingly stupefied by grief, collapsed weakly to his knees on the ground with Zhao Xinli’s intervention, grabbing the hands of the boy and girl, not answering He Shancun’s question.
His expression and actions seemed to suggest he was overwhelmed with grief, to the point of stupor.
However, Zhou Ning noticed that the man wasn’t just holding the children’s hands, but was attempting to feel their pulse with his fingers. This discovery made Zhou Ning start, and he even thought he might be seeing things.
At that moment, an old lady came over, took a glance inside, and was probably frightened by the state of the two children. As she was turning to leave, she saw the man held by Zhao Xinli, covered her mouth in surprise, and exclaimed:
"Ah, isn’t that Zhang Bo from unit 1502 of building two?"
