Brothers, Save Me

Brothers, Save Me

After leaving the Train Station, Li Banfeng took the subway.

Taking a taxi from the school to the station only took half an hour.

Taking the subway from the station back to school took over an hour.

Li Banfeng lived in Dorm 6, not particularly close to the school gate. By the time he reached the dormitory building, the old man at the entrance looked at him, raised his brows, and asked, "You haven't left yet?"

The corners of Li Banfeng's lips rose. He gave the old man a wooden smile and headed straight upstairs.

The school hadn't issued any notice to drive people out yet. Whether I leave or not, is that any of your business?

This floor was full of graduates. The building was deathly quiet; most of them had probably already left.

Li Banfeng went up to the sixth floor and entered his dorm room. It was pitch-black inside.

By regulation, the dorm lights were to be turned off at eleven. It wasn't even nine yet, but that old man had already killed the lights.

The dorm manager really knew how to save the school electricity.

Everyone else in the dorm had left. Those who had found jobs had gone to report in, while those who hadn't gone home to squat around.

He Jiaqing hadn't found a job, so he had taken his girlfriend home with him to squat around.

Now, Li Banfeng was the only one left in the dorm.

Li Banfeng couldn't find a job because he had a history of mental illness.

Nor did he have a home to return to. He couldn't exactly move back into the Welfare Institute.

How was he supposed to live from now on?

Go back to hauling bricks at construction sites?

Thinking of his bright future, Li Banfeng's brow relaxed, and his lips curled into a smile.

This time, it was emotional instability. Anyone in his shoes would have been unstable.

There was another job fair tomorrow. He would try his luck again.

Tonight, I'm alone in the dorm. At least I can get a good night's sleep.

Li Banfeng went to the communal bathroom and took a cold shower. Just as he was about to get into bed and play on his phone, he suddenly remembered something: he had to call He Jiaqing.

What if he really wet himself?

What if wetting himself made him catch a chill, and then he caught a cold? That would be terrible.

He made the call. It rang for a long time, but no one answered.

He really had fallen asleep.

Li Banfeng called again. It rang for ages again, until the call was finally answered.

"Banfeng..." He Jiaqing's hoarse voice came through the phone. He clearly hadn't woken up yet.

"Jiaqing, get up and go pee!"

He Jiaqing sounded utterly lost. "Pee? Where do I pee? Where is this..."

Where is this?

You really sleep like the dead!

Li Banfeng said nothing more and hung up. In the dark dormitory, he felt his way up the ladder, preparing to climb into bed.

Just as he reached the edge of the bed, Li Banfeng discovered that his blanket was bulging, as though someone was wrapped inside.

There's someone wrapped in my blanket?

Is it really a person?

Li Banfeng pulled back the blanket.

It really was a person!

The person lay facing the wall with his back to Li Banfeng, utterly motionless and silent.

Who was sleeping in my bed?

A wave of alcohol stench hit him. This person seemed to be dead drunk.

Even if you're drunk, you can't just find a bed and sleep in it!

"Get up! Who are you? Get up!" Li Banfeng shoved the person, but there was no response whatsoever.

The curtains were open, and moonlight spilled over the bed. In the hazy light, he could vaguely make out the person's silhouette.

Li Banfeng suddenly felt that silhouette looked familiar.

He grabbed the person by the shoulder and rolled him over. The moment he saw his face, Li Banfeng nearly fell off the ladder.

It was He Jiaqing!

An hour and a half ago, Li Banfeng had just seen He Jiaqing off at the station.

And now, he was sleeping in my bed!

"Jiaqing, what's wrong? Jiaqing, wake up..."

After pushing and shaking He Jiaqing a few times, Li Banfeng suddenly snatched his hand back.

Something was wrong!

I just called He Jiaqing. Wasn't he on the train? Wasn't he supposed to be going to pee?

If the one sleeping here is He Jiaqing, then who answered the phone just now?

Every hair on his body stood on end. The stuffy dormitory suddenly felt much cooler.

Was this really Jiaqing?

Li Banfeng turned on his phone's flashlight and shone it on the person's face for a long time.

It really was He Jiaqing!

He was Li Banfeng's best brother in college. Li Banfeng could never mistake him.

Thud!

Li Banfeng fell from the ladder, knocking over the wastebasket on the floor.

He calmly got to his feet, set the wastebasket upright, and quickly left the dorm room.

After closing the door, Li Banfeng leaned against the hallway wall and stood there silently.

The voltage was unstable, and the dim yellow lights in the corridor flickered without pause.

Li Banfeng forced himself to calm down, took out his phone, and called He Jiaqing again.

The receiver was so quiet it was suffocating. More than ten seconds later, a woman's voice came through:

"Hello, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."

He called several times in a row, but the phone could never be reached.

Call Lu Xiaolan?

Li Banfeng didn't have Lu Xiaolan's number. He had never had much contact with her.

There wasn't a sound in the hallway. It seemed everyone on this floor had already left.

Li Banfeng turned to look at the dorm room door, considering what he should do next.

Was the person lying in that bed really He Jiaqing?

He had been certain he hadn't seen wrong just moments ago, but now he was no longer so sure.

Go back and take another look?

Am I crazy? If I go back, I should at least find someone from another floor to help first!

Where am I supposed to find help now?

If worse came to worst, he could call the old dorm manager upstairs.

What good would it do to call him up? Not only would he be no help, he would just make things worse.

I'd be better off going back in myself!

Li Banfeng was arguing with himself.

By a normal person's logic, he definitely shouldn't return to the dorm alone now.

But Li Banfeng wasn't normal.

He had gone to the hospital for an examination. He wasn't insane, but his mind wasn't quite normal.

The corners of his mouth tilted upward slightly, revealing a faint smile.

His emotions were unstable, but he was in a very pleasant mood.

He used a special method to steady himself.

For what had just happened, he gave himself a reasonable explanation.

A hallucination. It had to be a hallucination!

I have a mental illness. Occasionally seeing hallucinations is perfectly reasonable.

If I walk back into the dorm like this and keep my mind clear, I definitely won't see He Jiaqing again.

Smiling, Li Banfeng opened the door and went back inside.

Hallucinations. They were all hallucinations.

The closer he got to the bed, the stronger the smell of alcohol became, as though warning Li Banfeng that this was no hallucination.

Li Banfeng climbed the ladder again, raised his phone, and looked at his bed.

He Jiaqing was lying on the bed, his eyes shut and his face deathly pale.

Li Banfeng patted He Jiaqing's face. It was warm.

He checked He Jiaqing's breathing. He was still breathing, but it was weak and intermittent.

Li Banfeng climbed down the ladder and decisively called emergency services.

After clearly explaining the location and situation, Li Banfeng hung up and quietly waited for the ambulance to arrive.

He stood beneath the bed, while He Jiaqing, who had come from who knew where, lay above him.

The two of them maintained silence in the same dorm room.

Click-clack~

A message notification shattered the silence in the dorm.

It was from He Jiaqing.

He was certain the He Jiaqing before him could not possibly have sent a message.

Yet he had indeed received a message from He Jiaqing.

The message contained only four words.

"Banfeng, save me!"

PS: The doctor said that after I finished writing this chapter, I could leave the hospital.

I think he was lying to me, so I've decided to write another chapter.

(End of Chapter)