601 Move Forward
It rained at the plastic surgery hospital. The light mixed with blood and washed away the building’s mutation. The gentle and patient wife stood in the rain. Her body was covered in wounds. “I saw his face. When Fu Yi almost dragged me into the abyss, he stopped Fu Yi. Didn’t you notice it? From a moment onwards, Fu Yi has changed.”
The wife looked at Lee Guo Er, who was still working hard to piece the body back together. “Using power to approach you and harm you was Fu Yi. The person who risked his life to save you from the car accident was another person.”
Her voice became louder as she pointed at the youngest female netizen. “Fu Yi used beautiful language to lie to you. After Fu Yi got what he wanted, he abandoned you and all his promises. But the other man was the one who carried you to the hospital in the rainy night and sat beside your bed until you woke up.”
The wife wanted to unload everything in her heart. She turned to Fu Yee’s mother. “I know your life is hard. Fu Yi abandoned his wife and daughter, so you had to suffer extra torment. The person who escaped responsibility was Fu Yi. However, it was the other man who rushed to take down your daughter’s picture despite the crowd. Even after losing his work, his reputation, the thing he cared about the most is your daughter’s illness!”
The wife turned to Teacher Liu. “I know about the things between you and Fu Yi. I’ve read your chat history. Whenever Fu Yi wanted to approach you, he would paint me as the worst wife, and he couldn’t find love at home. He slandered his children and me to get your sympathy. Your father was framed, but Fu Yi didn’t care about the truth. He only promised he wouldn’t become someone like your father. But the person lying there never cared about the rumors. He investigated the truth for you. He was the one who dug up the truth from decades ago and returned it to your father!”
The wife spoke louder as she poured out her heart.
“Fu Sheng’s mother, you should know Fu Yi as well as I do. Fu Yi was the one who cheated on you, and Fu Yi was the one who attacked Fu Sheng for the sake of reputation. Fu Yi was the one who caused Fu Sheng to isolate himself from the world. He was never a father and a husband. He was the one who ruined the family! When I was about to give up under pressure, another person appeared. He was completely different from Fu Yi. He tried his best to glue the family together. He never brought his negative emotions home. He was gentle and respectful to the children. He would put on the apron to cook for the children, and he would lower himself to play childish games with Fu Tian. When Fu Sheng was bullied, he charged to help him without hesitation. To help Fu Sheng return to school, he found the school admin to talk about it. He even beat up the crooked headmaster. Teacher Liu knows about that. He was the one who helped your son walk out of despair.
“The person who saved you from the car accident was him, the person who carried you to the hospital was him, the person who helped your father was him, the person who lost his job and suffered humiliation to save your daughter was him.”
The wife was covered in hatred. Her eyes scanned the many Pure Hatreds until they settled on Han Fei’s body. “He was also the person who gave me that bit of hope.” The wife stood there. Her hatred couldn’t stop the rain. The prayers and mutated blood fell on her dress, but it was like she couldn’t feel them.
Zhao Qian sighed and wanted to console the wife, but she realized she couldn’t do that. She placed her hands on Han Fei’s shoulder. She left behind her love and hatred before leaving. Love and Zhao Qian left the hospital, and they might never return. The Pure Hatreds left their love and hatred inside Han Fei’s body, and only Zhuang Wen pursed her lips. The building manager was dead, and his body was dismembered…
When she saw the other Pure Hatreds inject their hatred and love into Han Fei’s body, Zhuang Wen picked up the faceless woman and forced her hatred into the body too. She controlled the hatred to fix Han Fei’s body. She couldn’t bring the person back, but at least she could bring back a complete body. After some hesitation, Zhuang Wen finally made the decision. She was about to turn to the wife when Lee Guo Er suddenly said, “Can I take him away?”
Zhuang Wen’s eyes shook. Was someone going to fight her for this?
Seeing the wife, Lee Guo Er knew the answer. She put down the broken glasses and dampened her smile. She bowed at the wife. “I’m sorry.”
After pouring their hatred and love into the body, the women around the altar started to leave. They put down everything. Some pretended to forget, some maintained their surface strength, but none of them could forget those few moments of precious memories. As the Pure Hatreds left the mutated hospital, the building showered by light slowly returned to normal. The mutation was irreversible, but among the prayers, normalcy returned. Pain and despair were covered. The land and sky healed. On the altar base, Han Fei’s broken body was slowly pieced together by hatred and love. The wife stood beside him until the rain stopped. The hatred on her body disappeared. It transmuted into a special emotion. She wanted to help Han Fei reconstruct his heart. Holding the shattering heart, the tears slid down her face. The cold heart regained some temperature. “I should bring you home, but I know someone is still waiting for you.” She placed the heart back into Han Fei’s chest. She pulled her hands back. She lifted her head to look at Zhuang Wen with unwillingness, “Bring him home.”
Zhuang Wen didn’t expect the wife to say that. The black flame in her eyes flickered, but she soon realized something. The Pure Hatreds in the memory world didn’t need a black flame. Their love and hatred were not scorched by flame, and they were at their purest form.
“You trust me?”
“You don’t belong here. I remember many things and people when I was dominated by hatred.” The wife slowly turned around. “This is the best ending.” She shed all the love and hatred. She walked out of the hospital. Suddenly, she stopped. She looked at Han Fei’s body and told Zhuang Wen. “Bring him home, don’t let the people who love him worry.”
The hatred and love of ten Pure Hatreds were imprinted on Han Fei’s body. His body slowly returned to normal.
The wife didn’t turn back as she exited the hospital. She walked down the dark street and held her empty heart. Suddenly, the city felt so big. It took forever to reach home. The night faded away, and the dawn shone on her.
Taking out the key, the wife opened the door. She changed her shoes, put on the apron, and entered the kitchen. She prepared breakfast like usual, but when her hands touched the knife, she realized she couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened. The wife leaned against the cupboard and slowly slid down. She hugged her knees. She didn’t dare cry too loudly lest she woke up the kids.
The kitchen door was pushed open. Fu Sheng, who hadn’t slept, stood at the door. His father often didn’t come home, but he was strangely afraid this time. He passed the napkin to his mother. He knelt beside her, but he didn’t dare to ask the question.
After a long time, the wife lifted her head. She looked at Fu Sheng with red eyes. “Dad has gone to a very faraway place, and he might never return.”
Fu Sheng’s brain halted for a second. He was stunned, like his brain couldn’t process this info. “Where was he yesterday night?”
“At the hospital. His last call said that you should never go to that hospital…” Before the wife finished, Fu Sheng charged out the door. He had no idea why he was doing this. Perhaps the faster he ran, the bigger the chance he had of saving his father. His brain was blank, but he believed he should do something.
The mutated hospital looked so normal under the sun. For the hospital, that was another day. No one would remember it in days. Fu Sheng rushed into the hospital and asked anyone he encountered. He knew his father worked here. However, he didn’t get any answer. He was eventually stopped by the guard. Just as he was about to be chased out, a female doctor and her caretaker brother came over.
“Do you know Fu Yi’s ward? He is the caretaker here. I need to see him!” Fu Sheng grabbed the male caretaker’s arm. The caretaker looked sad. “You know where he is, right? Tell me!”
“He left.” The female doctor handed him a wrinkled hospital report. “He had this illness for a long time already. He was living on borrowed time.”
“Doctor, I just want to see him! Can you let me see him?” Fu Sheng grabbed the report, and he became agitated. More guards surrounded him.
“I’m sorry.”
Fu Sheng was dragged away by the guard. The male caretaker consoled Fu Sheng. He brought Fu Sheng to the places Fu Yi had worked before. Everything was the same, but the man was not there.
The sun rose, and more people arrived at the hospital. Fu Sheng followed the male caretaker like a zombie until he was swept away by the crowd.
Holding the hospital report, Fu Sheng sat on the hospital steps. He didn’t know what he was thinking. The sun cast a shadow through the window. As the sun rose, the shadow moved. Then, Fu Sheng suddenly stopped up, held the hospital report, and walked away. He left the hospital and entered the street. The pedestrians and cars moved past him. Fu Sheng looked at the busy city. He felt lost like a broken kite.
“Fu Sheng!” Someone called his name from the crowd. He looked around but couldn’t see that man. Fu Sheng walked towards the voice and saw Fu Tian’s mother, who was so worried.
“Please don’t run away on your own again. I’m afraid of losing you…” The wife had calmed down. She hugged Fu Sheng.
“I’ll inform you no matter where I go in the future.” Fu Sheng looked at Fu Tian’s mother. He never called the woman, mom, before, but she didn’t mind.
“Okay. I’ve made breakfast. Let’s go home.” The wife and Fu Sheng walked through the busy crowd and returned to the old neighborhood. The wife served the dishes, and Fu Sheng silently pushed the hospital report into his pocket. The dining table was still the same, but a chair was left empty. Fu Sheng and the wife lowered their heads to eat. Fu Tian looked at his mom and then his big brother. He held his spoon and asked, “Where’s Dad? He isn’t home yet?”
“Dad has gone overseas to work. He will need one or two years before he can come home. He is working very hard for this family.” The wife’s tone was different from normal.
“Then, can I call him? I want him to come back home early. I want to play hide and seek with him. I will win this time!” Fu Tian said happily as he ate the breakfast.
“Dad is working a confidential job, so he can’t answer any call.” Fu Sheng carried his bowl into the kitchen. “I’m full.” He cleaned the bowl and returned to her room. HE closed the door, pulled back the curtain, and sat on his bed.
The wife saw Fu Sheng lock the door. She wanted to say something but didn’t in the end. She looked at Fu Tian. The boy who hated carrots ate a lot of carrots as if to make his mom happy. “Don’t you hate carrots?”
“I’m not a child anymore. Only a child will be picky.” Fu Tian finished his breakfast. “Before Dad left, he told me that if one day he was gone, I had to protect mom. He also told me not to make you angry.”
“Is that what he told you?” “Yes, Dad also told me many things! He said you’re the best wife in the world, and if you two argued, it must be because he did something wrong! He said big brother and I will be great people who would change the world! Mom, what is a good person?”
“It’s someone like your Dad.” The wife turned her head away. After some time, she said, “After breakfast, you should go do your homework.”
“Okay!” After Fu Tian returned to his room, the wife started to clean. She made herself busy. Time slowly passed. The sun disappeared down the horizon. The wife entered the bedroom. She lay on the bed and turned to look at the empty floor.
Someone knocked on the door. The wife jumped up from bed and ran to open the door. Fu Tian, in his pajama, stood at the door. He couldn’t stop crying as if he had dreamed of something.
“What’s wrong?”
“I miss Dad. I can’t sleep.”
The wife bit her lips. She didn’t say anything, and she reached out to hug Fu Tian. Adults could numb themselves with work, but children couldn’t. They would expose the adults by expressing sadness directly on their faces.
“How about Mommy read you a story?” Fu Tian lay in bed. The wife took out the storybooks and told him about the fairy tales. Time moved. It didn’t stop for anyone.
A new day arrived. The wife woke up early to make breakfast, but she would make one set less. The room door opened. When breakfast was ready, Fu Sheng walked out of his room. He wore a new set of school uniforms and carried his school bag. It was like the first time he left his room. “I’ve prepared your lunchbox.”
“Okay.” Fu Sheng picked up the lunchbox. “I’m going to school.”
He walked out of the neighborhood. He opened his school bag and was about to put the lunchbox inside when he spotted a can of cat food. He remembered that day clearly. His father was fired. He needed to find a new job, and Fu Sheng ran into him near the school. His father then became a caretaker at the hospital., “I never wanted to know anything about him but now I realize I remember the details so clearly.”
Holding the can of cat food, Fu Sheng didn’t go to school but the bus station. When the familiar bus arrived, he got on it. The bus was filled with people. There were office workers, aunties, and uncles out for morning exercise and students. They squeezed together. As the bus trundled, the acquaintances greeted each other.
“Check this out. The game got released this morning at 5 am. I waited a whole night for it! It’s amazing!”
“Isn’t it just a normal dating sim game?”
“Dating sim? Put on the headphones. I can’t play this game in public.”
The bus passed by many stops. Fu Sheng held his bag and looked out the window. After half an hour, he got down and walked to the abandoned park. Walking on the path overgrown with weeds, Fu Sheng opened the can, but strangely enough, not one stray cat came.
He carried his bag and walked further. He saw someone sitting on the bench. The bushes blocked his full view of the man. Fu Sheng picked up his speed. He jumped over the bushes and hurried towards the bench. His heart raced. For some reason, Fu Sheng felt great anticipation. He parted the bushes and came to the bench. A young man sat on one end of the bench. He carried a large bag filled with beers. Many stray cats surrounded him.
Fu Sheng looked at the young man and was reminded of that morning. He skipped school and found his father, who lost his job here.
Holding the open can, Fu Sheng sat on the other end of the bench. He placed the can on the ground, and the cats crowded over.
“Hey, why did you skip school again?” The young man looked at Fu Sheng with a smile.
Fu Sheng didn’t have the mood to answer. He stared at the can of cat food.
“Do you want a beer? You’ll feel better.” The young man opened a can of beer and placed it before Fu Sheng. Hearing that familiar tone, Fu Sheng turned to the young man. He looked at the beer and then shook his head with a frown.
“You’re a young man in his prime. How can you be so down every day?” The young man pushed his hand into his pocket and then took out a black box from the bag filled with beers with his other hand. “I’ve contemplated for days whether to give this to you or not.” The young man mumbled to himself. He didn’t give the box to Fu Sheng but put it back into the bag. “Never mind. It was so hard to change the future. I shouldn’t waste it!”
The young man stood up and looked at Fu Sheng. “There are many people who still love you in the world. I know you made that decision for them. So, stop skipping class. Haven’t you promised someone you wouldn’t do that anymore?”
The young man sauntered away, with Fu Sheng watching in shock. As he was about to leave the garden, the young man pressed something on his phone.
There was a ringtone. Fu Sheng only noticed it a few seconds later. He took out the phone his father had bought for him from his bag. The phone only contained his father’s number. Only his father knew this number. He switched it on, and he had received a new message from his dad.
“Be courageous and move forward. Walk the distance. See more people and places. Be a better version of yourself.”
