Chapter Five: The Bridge of Heaven

  My heart skipped a beat, but I still pretended to be threatened and said that if you eat the apple, you must tell me. She enjoyed it with relish, feeding me the whole apple little by little, patting her hands contentedly and laughing: "The apple is coated with poison, wait for your death!"

  I was stunned and dryly said: "It can't be, you've also bitten before, and we have no grudges or grievances, you have no reason to harm me."

  "Your cousin is just as unreasonable, yet you still did it?" She gently patted my forehead twice and said: "Time is running out, remember every word I say next. There's a big bridge under construction at the entrance of your company, no matter what, you absolutely cannot get close to it, not even after it's completed, don't even think about walking on it!"

  I was just about to ask her what this had to do with the big bridge, when she said: "As for your cousin's matter, I'll think of a way again. If it really comes to an irretrievable step, you'd better hide far away and never see her again. Be obedient and follow my words, I won't harm you!" The woman stood up, picked up the towel on the table, gently covered my face with it, and left behind one last sentence: "My name is An Su, peaceful as usual, remember me!"

  Ansu wanted to leave, I wanted to stop him, but the fish that had been pulled ashore could still struggle a few times. I, on the other hand, couldn't even lift my hand to press the intercom, let alone speak. My limbs were weak and I was unable to make a sound. My heart was anxious, but all I could do was listen as the footsteps faded into the distance until the door closed and there was complete silence for a long time.

  I don't know how long I was in that state of being unable to move or speak, but after quietly returning to the hospital room, she turned on the light and I subconsciously closed my eyes, rolled over and lay down, then heard her call out: "Brother, you're awake?"

  I didn't answer, Wen Jing whispered a sentence: "Not awake yet? Who cut this apple?"

  While Wenjing was pouring water, I took a sneak peek and found that on the plates placed on the cabinet, there were four peeled apples exposed to the air for too long, with some of their flesh turning yellowish, one of which had turned dry and yellow.

  This is what You Wu bought at noon in front of the hospital gate. He just happened to see them and bought four on a whim, but An Su was clearly feeding me one.

  Suddenly, I realized that these four apples looked exactly like those placed in front of my grandfather's portrait every year during the Spring Festival.

  In my heart, there are overwhelming waves, and the state of being unable to move just now made three words emerge in my mind - "ghost pressing bed".

  Just then, Wenjing sat down beside me, exerting herself to lift up my head, and gently placed a cup containing warm water at my lips.

  Although I didn't quite understand what kind of creature An Su was, her words and actions all conveyed a profound and unfathomable meaning.

  What this kind of person says is extremely credible!

  She said Wen Jing had no reason, but still poisoned me, which has confirmed the fact that Wen Jing wanted to kill me.

  So when Wenjing held my head, put the cup to my lips and whispered, "Brother, drink some water and sleep", I pursed my lips and didn't dare open my mouth. Although I was lying in the hospital, who knows if another poisoning would really be fatal? Moreover, what I least wanted to see was Wenjing's cold face or cruel smile when the poison took effect.

  Even if I won't die, I still don't want to try it.

  So you can never wake up a person who is pretending to sleep to drink water!

  Who the hell has ever heard of someone sleeping with their mouth open?

  After struggling for a while, Wenjing suddenly woke up and said irritably, "Brother, if you're awake, hurry up and drink some water. People who are sick shouldn't be naughty."

  I knew I couldn't pretend anymore, so I slowly opened my eyes and said in a weak tone, "You're here? I don't want to drink water, it's too painful."

  She said a few words and then hurriedly closed her eyes, tilted her head to one side, and continued to pretend to be dead. Wenjing was frightened out of her wits and hastily ran off to call the doctor on duty. After a flurry of activity, the doctor gave Wenjing a tube and told her to moisten my lips from time to time.

  Quietly guarding my bedside, constantly using a water-dipped straw to moisten my lips. This was the first time I had been poisoned, and it was with the legendary poisonous plant, "Duan Jing Cao". Suddenly, I thought of the scenes from martial arts novels, and I felt that the toxin would seep into my skin, and even breathing would inhale toxic air. All I could do was secretly hold my breath, taking a deep breath every ten or so seconds.

  I think she was so anxious that her face turned pale, and she gradually choked up, leaning against my ear and saying many considerate words. She said that the way I look now makes her heart ache, hoping I would recover soon and send her to university next month... She recalled many childhood memories, making me feel uneasy, both heartbroken for this little sister and wanting to get up and ask her why she poisoned me.

  She whispered in my ear, warm tears dripping onto my cheek and sliding into my neck, a trail of water marks that made my nose ache, then I made a decision, gently licking my lips.

  Wen Jing thought I wanted a drink of water and lifted up my head, handing the cup to my mouth... but who's stupid enough to drink that?!

  I just want to try if it's poisonous, if it is, I'll thoroughly break up with you, if not, I'll get up and open my heart wide. What if I swallow a big mouthful and my intestines are pierced?

  I didn't utter a word, quietly pondered for a moment, and did something that left me thunderstruck.

  I lowered my head, and after a few seconds, moist lips were pressed against mine. A nimble and soft thing gently teased my teeth up and down, and then flowed down with a warm and soothing sound. My mind buzzed, my thoughts went blank, and I was completely immersed in the strange and wonderful sensation that spread from our lips. Until the sweet spring water dried up, our lips parted lightly, but immediately came the second wave of invasion like honey sugar spring water...

  I don't know how long this process lasted, but when I wanted to pee, I felt like I was holding up the tent, and heard the sound of an empty cup being placed on the table. I had a sudden urge to get up and fill it with water, then lie back down in bed and pretend to be dead. Just as I was feeling disappointed, that warm and soft thing came again, but this time it was just a brief touch, and then it left.

  Wen Jing is still very dependent on me, even if she wants to kill me, even if the water just now still has poison in it, but her heart is still very painful. I made up my mind to save her, even if the poison breaks out later, it doesn't matter, anyway, we are in a hospital, and rescue will be convenient.

  At night, she quietly slipped away. I was tormented every minute and every second. At first, she would feed me water quietly once an hour. When it was around three o'clock in the morning, I guessed that she had drunk too much water and needed to pee. She couldn't wake me up, so she reluctantly took care of it for me...

  The next day, You Wu rushed to change shifts early. After Wen Jing went out, I opened my eyes dazedly, and You Wu was startled: "My god, isn't it too scary? Why are your eyes all bloodshot?"

  Haha, you try setting up a tent for a whole night!

  Without giving Yu Wu an explanation, I firmly told him that he must rescue Wen Jing and find a way to investigate the identity of the old man.

  You didn't mention it, but he came for this matter because I suspected that Wenjing knew the old man during the time she went to accompany the elder sister upstairs to keep vigil, so yesterday Youwu went to the police station to investigate the identity of the elder sister and then follow up on the lead. However, the problem lies here: the elderly woman upstairs has a son and daughter who are both 28 or 29 years old and work in government departments. Not only are they not the elderly woman I mentioned, but they also shouldn't be doing something like introducing an old man to a young girl, harming her purity.

  The most impossible thing is to steal mom's jewelry and sell it for money.

  About the age of that older sister, I was guessing. I've seen old ladies, judging from their appearance, they should be between sixty to seventy years old. Her children are naturally over forty years old. Later, when Wenjing showed me the gold jewelry, I complained that the older sister looked down on people too much. Although Wenjing grew up in a small county town, as her brother, I didn't treat her unfairly. Can't let Wenjing wear simple clothes and then take out some worthless trinkets to fool people?

  Wen Jing explained that these accessories were taken off her body by her elder sister and given to her on the spot, she liked her, so she gave her close-fitting objects, without any disdain.

  This also proved the age of the elder sister, a woman who wears that kind of jewelry will not be too young, so I said to Youmo, if it's not her daughter, it should be other relatives, most likely an adopted daughter, a foster daughter, or someone who has sent their daughter away.

  I went to my neighborhood early this morning and asked the old people who were exercising, and they told me that during those few days when the funeral was held, there was only one woman who matched the age characteristics every night, named Shi Babai, who was invited by the family to comfort the soul of the elderly lady.

  I'm talking about laying the old lady's spirit to rest, don't tell me that all the neighbors nearby are saying that she died under unnatural circumstances, that someone did her in and with a grievance in her heart, if we don't do something to appease her spirit properly, who knows, she might come back as a vengeful female ghost with long hair flowing in the wind.

  I said I was being harmed, so I called the police. The police cleared her name and that's it...... Halfway through speaking, I suddenly came to my senses and lowered my voice to ask You Wu: "I get it, since the children couldn't steal the jewelry, they killed the old lady!"

  "This kid's mind is so dark, as long as there's any suspicion of murder, the police will take them away for investigation. It's impossible that the old lady died in the morning and they were released in the afternoon to set up a funeral parlor." As he spoke, You Mo rummaged through the cabinet beside the bed, saying: "That old lady went out to buy vegetables in the morning and was fine, but when she got home, she just hung on. The doctor said it was heart failure, but someone saw that old lady talking to the bridge repair workers and said she was taken away to be a scapegoat...... What the hell? If you don't eat, then don't eat, but what's the point of peeling off the skin and throwing it away? Are you mentally abnormal?"