Chapter 106 Extra 6: Premonition Before the Thunderstorm
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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Thirteen years ago. 17 years old, sophomore year of high school.
“Today our city has thunderstorm weather, please be cautious when traveling…”
The raindrops pattered against the hospital window like glass marbles, making a crisp sound.
Xie Shiyu had been taking care of his mother overnight. She had late-stage stomach cancer, and the doctors said she wouldn’t make it through the year.
His mother had been experiencing stomach pains before, but she brushed it off as a chronic ailment and didn’t bother seeking medical attention. Even when she needed to undergo a gastroscopy examination, which cost a few hundred yuan, his mother was reluctant, perhaps partly out of fear of discovering something serious. So she had never come to the hospital for a check-up.
Xie Shiyu often worked outside to support the family and hadn’t noticed his mother’s condition in time. By the time they realized it, it was already in the late stage.
It was said that the survival rate of late-stage stomach cancer was less than 10%.
Tick, tock…
The drip in the IV bag continued to steadily deliver nutrients into his mother’s frail body. Xie Shiyu watched the drip, listened to its faint sound, and felt as though he was hearing the sound of life slipping away, drop by drop. He could only watch, unable to do anything to stop it.
Buzz…
His phone alarm vibrated, exactly at 6:00 AM.
Xie Shiyu, who hadn’t slept all night, turned off the alarm. His phone was always on silent mode, fearing that the ringtone would disturb his mother.
Every morning at six o’clock was Xie Shiyu’s bedtime. He would lie down next to the hospital bed and sleep for 18 minutes.
At 6:19, Xie Shiyu would force himself to wake up, get up, and prepare breakfast for his mother.
In the brief ten minutes or so of sleep, Xie Shiyu slept very restlessly. In a daze, he felt as if he were in a snowy white room…
It looked like a hospital, but it wasn’t a ward. The windows were small, the bed resembled a long cabinet, and most importantly, the place was empty, devoid of any medical equipment.
On the cabinet-like bed laid a person, covered with a white sheet over their head.
It was a dead body.
In his dream, Xie Shiyu realized where he was: the morgue.
He wasn’t afraid. For Xie Shiyu, who had been involved in autopsies since he was thirteen, there was nothing to fear about corpses. He naturally walked forward, intending to lift the white cloth and see who had died…
Xie Shiyu actually had a premonition about this. He even felt that he might be dreaming. His mother had late-stage stomach cancer, so it seemed reasonable that he would dream about this scene. The doctor had informed him two months ago that they might need to start making preparations.
Approaching the white bed, Xie Shiyu began to feel a strange sensation gripping him as he got closer. His heart pounded violently, as if… he were nervous.
Xie Shiyu found it incredible that he was feeling nervous. From childhood to adulthood, he had hardly ever felt nervous in the face of death, whether it was when he was seven years old confronting a serial killer or when he took action himself at thirteen. His heart had never pounded like this before.
Taking two more steps closer, in his dream, Xie Shiyu could vaguely see the outline protruding under the white sheet on the bed. It seemed… somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t recall it for a moment.
The only thing he could confirm was that there was no protrusion in the chest area of the body, undoubtedly indicating that it was a male corpse.
—It wasn’t his mother.
So who had died?
Suppressing his racing heartbeat, Xie Shiyu reached out to lift the white cloth—
“Woof! Woof woof woof—”
Suddenly, a loud bark came from behind him, and Xie Shiyu turned around to see a large black dog leaping towards him—
Tick, tock…
Xie Shiyu woke up abruptly from the hospital bed. It was now 6:19, exactly eighteen minutes of sleep.
“Oh, Little Xie, are you still here? Aren’t you going to class today?”
The nurse who came to check on him walked in.
Xie Shiyu responded, scratching his messy hair, and got up to prepare breakfast for his mother.
“Let me help you…”
The nurse couldn’t help but want to assist the busy 17-year-old in front of her.
“When your mother wakes up, I’ll feed her. Why don’t you go to class today?”
“It’s okay.” Xie Shiyu smiled. “I can skip a class or two.”
The nurse said, “You’re in your sophomore year already, you should keep up with your studies. Go on, it’s okay, I’ll take care of feeding her.”
“Thank you.” Xie Shiyu expressed his gratitude and went to wash his face in the bathroom, trying to clear his mind. He shook off the water droplets from his face, walked back to the ward, picked up his backpack from the chair, and suddenly remembered something. He hesitated for a moment, turned around, and asked:
“How much is the hospitalization fee for this month… approximately?”
The nurse sighed and shook her head. “I’m not sure. You can check the bill at the end of the month.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you.”
Xie Shiyu walked out of the ward with his backpack.
He wasn’t a naive high school student. He knew how expensive hospitalization costs were and how difficult it was to get a better bed. It often required connections.
But miraculously, when his mother was hospitalized, a vacant independent bed happened to become available. Even more miraculously, the chief expert in treating stomach cancer had a gap in his schedule and was able to perform surgery on his mother. She had previously undergone surgery to remove half of her stomach, which had been successful, and she had recovered for about half a year. But now the cancer cells had spread again…
After roughly calculating the series of expenses, Xie Shiyu estimated that it would cost at least two or three hundred thousand yuan, with daily fees for staying in such an independent ward amounting to four figures.
But it was strange that every time he checked the bill at the end of the month, it only amounted to a few thousand yuan. Even if he added them up over the months, it was only tens of thousands of yuan.
Xie Shiyu felt it was incredible, but each time he received the bill, because he didn’t understand medical equipment and wasn’t sure which items were charged to him, he didn’t know what was being billed. Moreover, no one had ever come to the hospital to say, “You’ve undercharged me, please recalculate.”
Thinking about this series of situations… Xie Shiyu stood at the entrance of the hospital, looking at the name of the building: City B First Hospital.
It was the best tertiary hospital in the city.
—Chu Feng’s maternal grandfather was the president of this hospital.
But Xie Shiyu had never told Chu Feng about his family.
From childhood to adulthood, whether it was his father’s drug addiction, his mother’s theft, or later being chased by loan sharks, Xie Shiyu never told Chu Feng about any of the unpleasant things. He’s no longer in the same class as Chu Feng, so Chu Feng doesn’t see what he does every day anymore.
Chu Feng has been studying in the advanced class and attending extra tutoring classes after school. The time they spend together has greatly decreased since junior high school. Sometimes they only meet briefly after school, and Shiyu doesn’t want to bring up his mother’s cancer during those times. He usually just talks about school-related things, sees Chu Feng smiling happily, and then says goodbye.
He briefly mentioned a couple of times that his mother wasn’t feeling well, but he didn’t go into detail. He didn’t mention anything about late-stage stomach cancer, the debt at home, or his drug-addicted father being chased by loan sharks again. He kept all the messy things hidden.
But now…
Looking at the grand name of this top-tier hospital, Xie Shiyu thought about all the care he and his mother received there. Even if he didn’t say anything, Chu Feng might have figured it out.
Scratching his head, Shiyu regretted not being honest with Chu Feng earlier. With such a big change in his family, he hid it from Chu Feng, who was closest to him. But Chu Feng probably already knew and had been silently taking care of him in his own way, just waiting for him to confess.
Xie Shiyu opened his phone and paused on Chu Feng’s number in the contacts, editing a message:
“[Are you free after school?]”
Right before sending it, Shiyu hesitated for a moment. He was unsure if Chu Feng’s phone was with him or with his parents. Chu Feng had a separate phone for contact, which he only carried when he’s traveling or attending classes outside. He might leave it with his parents during normal school days.
Sending this message could potentially expose him.
Xie Shiyu considered deleting the message, thinking about calling instead, but then he noticed it was already 6:30. Most people would find it odd to receive a call this early, and Chu Feng was busy with school; he might not have time to chat. Rumor has it that the advanced class might be going to S City for summer training. Shiyu wondered if Chu Feng had been selected. He probably has…
Standing at the bus stop in front of the hospital, Shiyu waited for the bus to school. His slightly long hair, due for a trim, added a touch of melancholy to his handsome appearance. With one shoulder carrying his backpack, he stood under the mottled metal sign, looking somewhat forlorn.
He absentmindedly scrolled through his phone, thinking about Chu Feng. He was about to send a message but then decided against it, fearing he might disturb Chu Feng’s studies. He stared at Chu Feng’s phone number, editing and deleting the message repeatedly.
The bus arrived with a clatter. Shiyu boarded the bus, grabbing onto the handrail and standing by the window. His backpack pocket neatly held a folded umbrella. The sky was overcast, clouds thickening, a thunderstorm looming.
The cool breeze carried the dampness of impending rain, hitting his face. Shiyu placed down his phone, feeling a sense of urgency, a fire igniting within him, urging him to see Chu Feng immediately.
This morning’s dream, like a small note slipped into a book, floated back into his mind: the snowy morgue, the sudden appearance of the big dog.
A very strange dream. Shiyu’s hand trembled as he opened his phone browser and searched: “What does dreaming of a dog symbolize?”
[Dream interpretation by Zhou Gong]: [Dog, representing loyalty, is a human’s best friend. Dreaming of a dog is usually a good omen, symbolizing good financial luck or unexpected windfall.]
[When a woman dreams of a dog, it signifies finding a loyal partner in love, while for a man, it symbolizes business development…]
Shiyu felt impatient with these generic interpretations. He scrolled down and found many more analyses: dreaming of a puppy, a dog biting a cat, a dog biting a snake… Dogs also symbolize interpersonal relationships.
Shiyu’s finger paused on the screen.
[Sometimes, dreaming of a dog symbolizes the state of your partner or friend.]
[Dreaming of being bitten by a dog indicates poor interpersonal relationships and the possibility of being manipulated by villains.]
Shiyu pondered. The dog in his dream did indeed charge at him, but… strictly speaking, it didn’t actually bite him; the dream ended before that.
[If you dream of a fierce big dog rushing at you, it indicates that your friend or lover may encounter a major accident and may even pass away.]
The hand holding the phone stiffened.
Shiyu recalled the morgue in his dream, where a male corpse laid on the bed. Not his seriously ill mother.
Moreover, that silhouette seemed somewhat familiar.
***
At 17, Chu Feng sat at the family dining table.
“Eat more, high school sophomore is a crucial time.”
“Yeah, especially for a student like you, by senior year, you’re pretty much set. By the way, has the list for the summer training in S City come out?”
His parents, as usual, inquire at the dining table. Chu Feng nods, “I’m on it.”
Chu Feng’s mother says, “That’s good. Hey, don’t you have some old professor in S City? Let them take care of him when he’s there…”
Before the father could reply, Chu Feng interjects, “No need, the teachers will arrange for us to stay together.”
“Yeah, he’s a tall guy, over six feet, what else does he need help with… when I was 19, I was out there fighting battles on my own…”
As Chu Feng ate, he listened to his father boast about his courageous exploits in college, displaying a different kind of masculinity from Chu Feng, who won’t even eat boiled eggs.
Chu Feng had learned to respond with “yeah” and “okay” to his parents. “I’m full, I’m leaving,” he said, when they start arguing about feudal superstition.
Chu Feng picked up his backpack and noticed a green charm tied to the zipper of his black backpack: Success in academics.
“What’s this, Mom?”
“Oh! Didn’t we ask the fortune teller to calculate your college entrance exam fortune last time? Well, the fortune teller said your fate is very good, but there will be a major disaster between 15 and 20 years old, and another one between 25 and 30 years old. If you get through them, your life will be smooth sailing. I thought, ‘Oh no, you’ve had a smooth 17 years, maybe the disaster is your college entrance exam.’ So I quickly got you this charm. You have to wear it every day, tie it to your backpack, and don’t take it off.”
Chu Feng: “…”
His father sneered, “This is feudal superstition. Remember the fortune teller who said I wouldn’t get into college? But everything turned out fine in the end. They just want your money. If they didn’t tell you there’d be some trouble with the college entrance exam, how would they get you to buy their talisman?”
Chu Feng’s mom replied, “Better to believe it than not! What if it works? Wearing a talisman won’t hurt.”
Seeing that his parents were about to start arguing about superstition, Chu Feng interrupted:
“And what about the other person?”
Chu Feng’s mom: “…What?”
Chu Feng: “I gave you a classmate’s birth details. How are they doing?”
Last time, Chu Feng saw his mom fussing over birth charts and his photos at home, preparing to take them to a fortune-teller. For some reason, he thought of those scenes from historical dramas where they match birth charts before marriage. He got a little mischievous and added Xie Shiyu’s birth details to the mix.
By now, Chu Feng had become quite adept at figuring out his parents’ thoughts. He lied, saying: “He’s the top student in our class, my competitor. Let’s see how he’ll do on the college entrance exam.”
Chu Feng’s mom asked, “How do you even know his birth details?”
Chu Feng replied nonchalantly, “We often study together. We’re pretty close.”
Chu Feng’s mom beamed, “Alright, then let’s have his fortune told too. But if the results are bad, don’t tell anyone else.”
Chu Feng: “Mm-hmm.”
At this moment, seeing his mom silent, Chu Feng thought she had forgotten about it. It wasn’t a big deal, so he was about to drop the subject…
“About your classmate’s fortune,” Chu Feng’s mom said, “Well… it’s hard to say.”
Chu Feng, a bit curious, asked, “What happened?”
Chu Feng’s mom explained, “When I reported his birth details, the fortune-teller started calculating, but halfway through, he suddenly packed up his things and left.”
Chu Feng’s father now seemed interested, “What’s the matter?”
Chu Feng’s mother explained, “The fortune teller seemed furious at the time, saying how could I bring such a fate for him to calculate. Then he just packed up and left.”
Chu Feng: ?
Chu Feng’s mother continued, “I was confused too… Later I found out, people with this kind of fate have very tough lives, and fortune tellers who cherish their own lives won’t read their fortunes. If they encounter someone like that at their stall, they have to pack up and leave immediately, they can’t continue.”
Chu Feng: …
Chu Feng’s father joked, “Oh Chu Feng, that’s not good. If someone’s fate is so tough, they might do really well in the college entrance exam. You gotta work hard.”
Chu Feng: …
“I’m heading out.”
He politely declined his father’s offer to drive him in the Porsche, choosing to wait for the bus himself. Sitting by the window, Chu Feng took out his phone from his school pants pocket.
Rocket Bar doesn’t allow phones, but Chu Feng often sneaked his in, not really to contact anyone, just quietly tucked in his pocket, with a certain someone’s number in it.
Tap, tap, tap.
The faint sound of typing emerged as Chu Feng found Xie Shiyu in his contacts and composed a text message:
[I heard your fate is tough / laughs]
He was about to send it when he glanced at the time…
Six thirty.
At this time, Xie Shiyu might still be in the hospital, taking care of his mother with stomach cancer, probably busy making breakfast…
Perhaps, he wouldn’t be in the mood for such jokes.
The 17-year-old Chu Feng hesitated for a moment, then slowly deleted each word of the message.
The first time Xie Shiyu revealed his mother’s illness, Chu Feng paid attention. When Xie Shiyu’s mother was hospitalized, Chu Feng knew.
He had wanted to ask Xie Shiyu several times, but Xie Shiyu always pretended everything was fine in front of him, carrying everything on his own. This made Chu Feng a bit unsure of how to respond, whether he should confront Xie Shiyu or just maintain the status quo.
The hospital’s director, Xie Shiyu’s grandfather, was quite understanding and approachable. Chu Feng admitted that he and Xie Shiyu were good friends, his mother was seriously ill, and their family was in financial difficulty. Could the hospital be more lenient with the medical expenses?
The director agreed to consider it, but money matters were related to the hospital’s accounts and couldn’t be waived entirely.
Chu Feng came up with another idea: Could I pay in advance?
The director asked, “How would you pay?”
It sounded somewhat unbelievable, but Chu Feng now had nearly three hundred thousand in his account.
Since childhood, his parents entrusted him with New Year’s money, pocket money, various bonuses, all to manage himself. While other kids were still asking their parents for five or ten bucks to buy candy or stationery, Chu Feng already had thousands of red bills in his wallet.
His parents taught him how to deposit money in the bank, introduced him to stocks, funds, and gold, explained inflation to him, told him that cash would only depreciate if kept idle, taught him the principle of making money with money, educated him on how to spend money wisely, and instilled in him the consciousness of saving and managing money.
Chu Feng never lacked money since childhood, never saved up for anything specific. He had over a hundred thousand in the bank, so he could buy whatever sneakers, clothes, or game consoles he wanted.
But his parents knew Chu Feng wouldn’t squander money on these things. They always trusted him, never interfering with his financial decisions. Since the fifth or sixth grade, Chu Feng put a third of his money into the stock market, another third into government bonds and gold, and the remaining third into bank fixed deposits. The leftover was his pocket money, for disciplined spending.
From elementary to high school, seven or eight years had passed, and the over a hundred thousand had turned into three hundred thousand. It was more than enough to cover most of the expenses for late-stage cancer treatment.
It’s said that selling a kidney would fetch around four or five hundred thousand, but after layers of exploitation, the seller might end up with just over a hundred thousand.
Chu Feng sat on the bus, looking at the classmates of all kinds of backgrounds. They all wore the same school uniform, but their family situations were vastly different. Chu Feng knew that his privileged upbringing made it hard for him to understand why someone would sell their organs for a mere hundred thousand.
He couldn’t tell Xie Shiyu that he had covered most of the surgery fees with pocket money. Chu Feng didn’t know how to say it without making Xie Shiyu feel excessively grateful or hurt his pride, so he opted to act ignorant.
Only at the end of each month, the 17-year-old Xie Shiyu, staring at the outrageously low medical bills, would fall into contemplation, while medical staff insisted that the charges were normal.
Chu Feng and Xie Shiyu couldn’t reach each other’s phones. One got off at the [Second High School] station, the other at [Second High School – East Gate], weaving through the crowd. One headed towards the Rocket Class, the other towards the Parallel Class, attending classes in different buildings without meeting each other.
6:50 AM. Chu Feng sat in his seat in the Rocket Class, taking out his homework to submit. The classroom was quiet, the Chinese class monitor already standing at the platform, preparing to start morning reading in an orderly manner…
At the same time, Xie Shiyu entered his class, Grade 11 (Class 16).
He hadn’t been to school for over a week. This time, when he returned, Xie Shiyu keenly felt that something was off in the classroom.
Normally at this time, the class would be bustling, with a few lively students joking around, no one doing morning reading until the subject teacher came in and scolded them, saying how other classes were much more disciplined, how the students from the previous year were much more obedient…
But now, the class was eerily silent.
As he entered, several classmates seemed startled. Xie Shiyu paid no attention and went straight to the back seat. Glancing around, he noticed several seats empty in their class. Many students were absent. Some classmates around him glanced his way, seeming to want to say something but hesitating.
Xie Shiyu didn’t bother to ask anyone, nor did he need to. He opened his phone to check their school forum. He thought he might need to search for posts related to Grade 11 (Class 16), but unexpectedly… The entire forum seemed to have exploded with numerous posts, flooding the screen. They all appeared to be from outsiders flooding in to berate their school.
After some careful examination, it seemed that a female classmate from their school had committed suicide due to unbearable bullying on campus. It happened seven days ago. Upon closer inspection, the posts mentioned Grade 11 (Class 16), which was their class… and the name mentioned was Lan Qiuyue.
Xie Shiyu couldn’t quite recall which female classmate corresponded to that name because, due to his mother’s cancer, he still hadn’t remembered everyone in the class. He seemed to float outside of this collective class, not interested in integrating into it.
… A female classmate.
Xie Shiyu thought of his dream in the morgue this morning.
If it had been a female corpse, Xie Shiyu could have easily explained it, one possibility being that he dreamt of an impending death after learning about his mother’s illness. If not his mother, then it could be interpreted as a premonition of the classmate’s suicide he found out about today.
But it was a male corpse.
Xie Shiyu became extremely uneasy. He recalled the interpretation of dreaming about a dog on the Zhou Gong website: [Your loved one or friend may experience a major change and depart from this world.]
“Now, everyone, please observe a moment of silence in your seats for Lan Qiuyue.” The homeroom teacher walked in and issued the instruction.
Xie Shiyu sat quietly in his seat, neither sad nor happy, watching as the initially silent class gradually erupted into small, stifled sobs from the class monitor, spreading slowly until the entire class was in tears.
Performance art.
Xie Shiyu thought of these words.
He didn’t have the extra energy to care about what had happened in the class. He had just pieced together the situation from the forum. Hearing the mournful cries of the class, he remained unmoved, even finding it somewhat amusing.
What’s the use of crying now when she’s dead?
It’s useless.
At the end of class, the students had escalated into full-blown crying. Xie Shiyu couldn’t bear this fake mourning atmosphere. He got up from his seat, ready to go to the Rocket Class in the opposite building to see Chu Feng before returning to the hospital.
“Class monitor, tell Teacher Chen that I came.” Xie Shiyu slung his backpack over his shoulder, passing by the seat of the class monitor, Yan Wenbin, and dropped a sentence.
Teacher Chen was the biology teacher who cared more about him, but biology class was in the afternoon today, and Xie Shiyu reckoned he wouldn’t wait.
“You… are you… just leaving like this?” Class monitor Yan Wenbin raised his teary eyes, sharply contrasting with Xie Shiyu’s indifference and aloofness: “Hearing the news about a classmate… don’t you feel even a bit upset?”
Xie Shiyu looked around. Yes, he was the only one in the class who hadn’t shed a tear.
He was also the only classmate who had never bullied Lan Qiuyue.
Xie Shiyu retorted with a half-smile, half-sneer, “I don’t care, unlike some people who, even if they cry their hearts out, still need to be careful walking alone at night, right?”
The faces of the surrounding classmates changed for a moment. Xie Shiyu added sarcastically, “Speaking of which, today seems to be her seventh day…”
The seventh day, a day when the soul may return.
Xie Shiyu could clearly feel the class monitor beside him turning pale with extreme fear. Intentionally, Xie Shiyu chuckled loudly a couple of times, patting the monitor’s shoulder, “You’re crying so sorrowfully; I believe she can feel it, and she will come back to find you for sure.”
Xie Shiyu walked out of the classroom, glancing sideways to see the monitor’s shoulders trembling like sieves…
Something was odd.
Lan Qiuyue had committed suicide due to bullying, and the four students who bullied her the most were now unable to attend classes due to online backlash. In her posts, Lan Qiuyue admitted to secretly loving a boy but wouldn’t expose him because, in the end, he was just a coward with a sharp tongue like other classmates.
Xie Shiyu glanced at some other speculative posts.
Many people said that this boy was Yan Wenbin, the class monitor.
Of course, Yan Wenbin wouldn’t admit it.
If it was indeed him, many boys in the class had slandered Lan Qiuyue together. Why was Yan Wenbin the only one showing such fear?
Xie Shiyu thought of the mention of the seventh day just now, and while the faces of the surrounding classmates didn’t look good, only Yan Wenbin appeared scared, as if he feared Lan Qiuyue’s ghost would truly come to find him.
If you haven’t done anything wrong, you shouldn’t fear ghosts knocking on your door.
Xie Shiyu was not a policeman or a dispenser of justice; he had no interest in probing into other people’s affairs. He walked straight towards the new teaching building to find Chu Feng’s Rocket Class…
When he reached the Rocket Class building, Xie Shiyu saw a notice board on the ground floor. He thought it was the ranking list and went over to take a look, wanting to see how his “wife,” Chu Feng, was faring. But what was written on the paper wasn’t rankings; it was the [S City Summer Training Enrollment List]: Chu Feng, …, …
The names of ten Rocket Class students were listed first, and as he scrolled down, he saw: [Yan Wenbin] Their class monitor, as a representative of the Parallel Class, was also going.
—With Chu Feng.
A person suspected of wrongdoing, possibly directly or indirectly causing Lan Qiuyue’s death, was going with Chu Feng to another city, S City, for a month-long summer training program at that unfamiliar school.
At that moment, Xie Shiyu recalled his dream from earlier in the morning. The male corpse in the morgue. The sudden appearance of the dog… [Your loved one may encounter a major change and depart from this world.]
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