The incident caused a huge uproar and lasted for half a year. It not only overthrew the entire Fan family, but also implicated many politicians from neighboring countries.
As the judge brought down the hammer, all those who deserved the punishment were convicted and sentenced and thrown into prison.
Buddha said, all things are empty, only cause and effect are not empty.
"You really don't want to know about Fan Xiao's news?" Shi Lihua asked, leaning against the door of the research institute while wrapped in an incredibly thick down jacket.
The New Year was approaching and the sound of firecrackers could be heard occasionally on the streets. The Sky-piercing Monkey leaped up with a shrill cry and exploded in mid-air, bringing You Shulang, who was in an undetermined mood, back to reality.
"I don't want to know." He said, holding his badge.
The scientific research base is open to the public without permission. He stopped Shi Lihua outside the door and didn't even offer him a cup of hot tea.
"Have you seen the news?" the unwilling man asked again.
"It's been pretty busy lately." You Shulang glanced at the laboratory behind the glass door, "It's still the same now."
Shi Lihua gathered his heavy clothes and said angrily: "Fan Xiao said that you have a heart of a bodhisattva, but I don't think so."
"Just pretend I've never been here." He turned and walked out, cursing as he walked, "Damn it, this horrible weather is freezing me to death!"
Without waiting for Shi Lihua's figure to disappear, You Shulang used his badge to open the door and returned to the laboratory. He was the only one left in the empty room as everyone had gone home for the New Year.
Walking through the long laboratory, the innermost part is the tea room. On the table, a half-eaten box of instant noodles has gone cold, with grease solidified on the soup, which is very unappetizing.
You Shulang put the instant noodles in a bag, threw it into the trash can, and then made himself a cup of tea with boiling water.
The pantry has a small window facing the backyard of the building.
The research base of Changling Pharmaceutical is an old building abandoned by the school. The backyard of the old building is basically unattended, with withered yellow grass covered with snow, looking desolate and desolate.
A piece of weeds hooked onto a passing plastic bag, and the bag was filled with wind, shaking violently.
"I can fly the plastic bag very high, higher than a kite." You Shulang suddenly remembered what Fan Xiao once said.
Sitting on the grass in the wetland park, the man bit his cigarette sideways, looking at the kite in the sky, with a smug look on his face: "Director You, do you want to see it? If you want to see it, I'll fly one for you."
You Shulang stood in front of the window and slowly drank a sip of tea. He was thinking about how he responded at that time. It seemed to be: childish.
Coming back to his senses, You Shulang looked away, put down the teacup, and walked into the laboratory.
He and Shi Lihua had not lied to each other just now. He was indeed very busy during this period. He had taken on a new project and was busy preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination. He was the oldest candidate in the pharmacy major this year. Before the examination, his former classmates invited him to drink and encouraged him: "Work hard, you will pass the exam and you can touch the hands of your "young" classmates."
You Shulang drank the wine happily and curled his lips: "I am looking forward to it very much."
They were all people in the medical circle, so naturally someone mentioned the big news from the neighboring country during the dinner.
You Shulang smiled and continued, "The little boy hasn't talked enough, why are you going off topic?"
Having passed the preliminary examination, You Shulang is now busy preparing for the re-examination.
He buried himself in literature and books day and night, uninstalled all irrelevant software on his mobile phone, blocked everything and ignored worldly affairs.
It gets dark early in the north in winter. You Shulang sat in front of the operating table until it was dark, and had to get up to turn on the light. His phone was connected to the charging cable and placed silently at the entrance. You Shulang turned on the light and glanced at his phone casually.
Four or five missed calls came in, all from the city's landlines. Unplugging the charger, You Shulang called back, and the city's No. 1 Hospital's slogan rang through the phone.
After a while, the call was connected. The other party obviously checked the caller ID and gave his name as soon as he answered: "Mr. You Shulang? I finally got through to you."
You Shulang has no relatives or friends now, and he feels that he is not worthy of this "finally".
"What do you want from me?" he asked.
"Do you know Wu Yuping?"
You Shulang paused for a moment and asked, "Who?"
The hospital's inpatient department was finally not full on New Year's Eve.
Chinese people value family reunions and also seek good luck at the beginning of the year. Therefore, if the illness is not serious, people will not go to the hospital at this time to bring bad luck.
The ward that You Shulang knocked on was a four-person room, but now only two people were living in it.
He was still checking the patient's name on the bed when the woman who was half lying by the window called out: "Brother You."
After they met, the blurry face in You Shulang's mind became clear, but also different. The woman now was much more withered than the one in his memory.
He walked over, stood in front of the woman, and said softly, "Ms. Wu, long time no see."
You Shulang and Wu Yuping also met for the first time in the hospital. Two years ago, Wu Yuping's son was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She could not bear the blow and collapsed, climbing over the hospital fence with her child in her arms.
In a panic, the child slipped from her arms. When the child was in danger, You Shulang and Fan Xiao worked together to save the child.
Fan Xiao at that time... You Shulang stopped his thoughts and asked, "Ms. Wu, are you sick?"
Wu Yuping, whose manuscript was as dry as a bone, patted the stool and asked You Shulang to sit down.
"I," just one word, like a sigh that lasted a lifetime, "liver cancer. I won't live long. The doctor said that my family members carry this 'bacteria' in their bodies. My son has it in his brain, and I have it in my liver."
You Shulang frowned slowly: "I heard that the child has recovered."
The woman's tearful eyes sparkled with a smile, and she nodded: "Thanks to you and Mr. Fan, Tiantian had two operations and several stages of chemotherapy. The doctor said that he is fine now."
You Shulang comforted him softly: "You will recover, too, just like Tiantian."
"I have no hope. It's in the late stage. I won't live for more than a few days." The woman stared at the corner with a terrifyingly empty look in her eyes. "To be honest, I'm really afraid of death. If I die, what will happen to Tiantian? I'm the only relative he has in this world. He's still so young and all alone. How can I feel at ease?"
"But what's the use of being afraid? I can't survive after all." The woman was only a few years older than You Shulang, but she was pale and old due to the pain. She wiped the tears from her face with her skinny hands and said timidly after hesitating for a while: "Brother You, I know you are a good person. It was you who gave Tiantian his life. You are his second parent. After I die, Tiantian will definitely be sent to an orphanage. Can I ask you... ask you to visit him more often?"
"I know this will bring a lot of trouble to your life, but I'm really desperate. I can only think of two people in this world who can be good to Tiantian and whom I can trust: you and Mr. Fan."
"Fan Xiao." You Shulang repeated subconsciously.
"I couldn't get through to him on the phone, so I had to find you." Hu Yuping lobbied incoherently, "Tiantian is very well behaved and obedient. He rarely cries at such a young age. You just need to go and see if he's doing well, healthy, and happy."
You Shulang gently patted the woman on the shoulder: "Ms. Wu, don't get excited, let's talk slowly."
He comforted her: "The country now has many policies to support and care for orphans, so you don't have to worry too much."
The woman fell silent for a long while before she spoke helplessly: "The policies are all good, but I hope he can have someone by his side who cares about him and whom he can also care about..."
You Shulang hooked his fingers on his knees, creating a few wrinkles in his pants.
The woman looked at You Shulang with a paranoid hope in her eyes: "He doesn't remember anything now, and he will forget me in the future. In such a big world, he is all alone. How sad he must be."
You Shulang pinched the cigarette box in his pocket from outside his clothes and was speechless for a moment.
"Brother You, you can refuse." The woman smiled while holding on to her loose skin: "Mothers are selfish. They always consider their children first. You don't have to..."
The woman's words were interrupted by a series of light and fragmented footsteps coming from the corridor, followed by the sound of a deep, middle-aged female voice.
"Tiantian, don't run. Here, here, your mother is in this room."
As soon as he finished speaking, a little boy appeared at the door. He was grabbed by a big hand behind him and started giggling.
"Why are you here?" Wu Yuping stretched out her arms to the child, "Come, Tiantian, come to mommy."
The middle-aged woman was a little fat, and she was a little out of breath after running after the child. She took a breath and said, "Tiantian's mother, haven't you found a nanny yet? The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and my husband and children are urging me to go back home to celebrate the New Year. Now the ticket has been bought for me, for the evening train. What do you think I should do?"
Tiantian is two and a half years old now, but he is shorter than the average child. He is very active. He rolled in his mother's arms and then climbed down from the bed.
He seldom met strangers, so he felt curious when he saw You Shulang. He took small steps closer and tilted his head to look into You Shulang's eyes.
The baby, who was once three or four months old, has now grown into a toddler, with sparse hair that cannot cover the scar on his head.
You Shulang looked at the child's round, doe-like eyes and smiled gently.
As soon as you smile, you will be stuck to others.
The child came close to him, raised his arm, and held You Shulang's thumb with his short, chubby fingers...
Outside the ward, Shi Lihua was leaning against a corner deep in the corridor, talking on the phone.
"I have done everything you asked me to do. I asked Wu Yuping to contact You Shulang. Do you think You Shulang will adopt Tiantian? Is he crazy? What does the child have to do with him?"
A deep voice came faintly from the phone: "You don't know him."
Shi Lihua snorted, "That's a child, not a cat or a dog. What if you guessed wrong? Send Tiantian to an orphanage? The doctor said Wu Yuping doesn't have many days left to live."
"If You Shulang doesn't adopt Tiantian, then I will raise him." The voice on the phone was lazy, but serious.
"You raised me?" Shi Lihua was shocked. "No, why do I feel like I don't know you?"
"That's the child we saved together. He will grow up happily, and someone will tell him that the world is not bad."