He chased them all the way to the entrance of the residential area, where he saw the shadows of a man and a woman flash by and disappear around the corner. "Stop thief!" he shouted as he ran, but after turning the corner, the two had vanished again.
Cars were coming and going on the road, but there weren't many pedestrians. He guessed that the two people wouldn't get a taxi and leave so quickly; they must have gone into one of the shops by the roadside.
He searched shop by shop. It was already late, and many shops were closing, so the search wasn't difficult. But even after searching all the open shops, he still couldn't find the person.
Just as he was feeling frustrated, he turned his head and saw two figures crossing the road at the intersection not far ahead. He cursed something under his breath, and his agitated heart was suddenly ignited. He became excited and sprinted across at top speed.
But by the time he reached the intersection, the two had already crossed the road, and the green light had turned yellow and was about to turn red. He was frantic, disregarding the danger, and without slowing down, he rushed across. At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind: catch them, catch the cat thieves, get the cat back, and get the money back.
The horns blared wildly, like a death knell.
He didn't even see what kind of car it was before his body was violently thrown into the air. The sounds of horns, impacts, and brakes combined to create a beautiful symphony.
In this movement, everything slows down. Cars move slowly, like wheelchairs for stroke victims; people stop slowly, then turn slowly, slowly covering their mouths and squeezing air from their lungs. Then, the movement is joined by the sharp cries of many people.
He was flying through the air, experiencing only a momentary dizziness, but no pain. He could still see, and his vision was even better than before. The world slowly spun before his eyes. He saw the man and woman turn around slowly, just like everyone else. The man seemed to be holding a cat in his arms, and he even heard a meow.
But at that moment, he couldn't care less about the cat. He knew he was about to die.
The music continued, and he twirled twice in the air, his body ramrod straight, like a gymnast. Unfortunately, he didn't land on both feet like a gymnast; instead, he fell straight down sideways.
Everything remained slow, except for the moment of impact with the ground.
Boom! A deafening roar, like Mars colliding with Earth. He felt his body instantly turn into soft dough, and something hot, salty, fishy, and sticky boiled inside him, like lava from a volcanic eruption.
Then, everything fell silent. The music stopped, and the sounds of cars, people, and the wind... all disappeared, leaving only a faint tinnitus, like autumn insects crawling into his ear canals.
He struggled to open his eyes, and in a blurry white light, he saw many indistinct faces. Some people were pointing at him, others were making phone calls. The man and woman were among them, chuckling at him.
He saw people's faces gradually receding into the distance, like a camera zooming in little by little. In a short while, there was nothing left in front of him except for that blurry white light.
Then he saw his mother.
The Blind Old Woman stood in the dim light, beckoning to him. "Son, come here."
He remembered when he was very young, just learning to walk, his mother would wave to him like this, encouraging him to move forward.
"My son, come here."
He struggled to his feet, his body limp and his head spinning. He felt as if he had lost so much, empty, as if he had lost his heart and soul, leaving only an empty shell.
"My son, come here."
The Blind Old Woman was still waving.
There was no path beneath my feet; before me lay a blurry world, with only my mother's indistinct figure and the random, flickering white light.
He walked with uneven steps.
My son, come here.
He heard his mother's call and felt his body being enveloped in a soft, warm place.
My son, come here.
His vision blurred, and his mother stuffed her nipple into his small mouth. A feeling both strange and familiar washed over him, and a nameless longing pounded wildly within him like a rabbit whose ears had been pulled. He unconsciously sucked on it, sucking hard. A sweet, slightly fishy liquid flowed into his mouth, enveloping his tongue, sliding down his throat into his abdomen, and spreading throughout his body. Happiness descended like a summer downpour.
My son, come here.
He stumbled over and saw his mother's young face, a smile on her lips. She held a bowl of hot porridge and scooped a spoonful into his mouth. He felt the heat and burst into tears. His mother's smile froze, instantly turning to pain, as if she herself had been burned. She carefully blew on the spoon, scolding herself as she did so, "Oh, don't cry, don't cry, it's Mommy's fault, baby, don't cry." His mouth no longer felt the heat, but his heart burned.
My son, come here.
His mother held his hand as they strolled through the dazzling market, buying him brand-new clothes and the most beautiful schoolbag. He was overjoyed. Wearing his new clothes and carrying his new schoolbag, he entered the unfamiliar school. When he looked back at the school gate, he saw many mothers standing there, including his own. He clearly saw that his mother's clothes had many patches on them.
My son, come here.
He returned from studying far away. His mother waved from the platform, her lips moving slightly. He heard her call from afar. He saw the white hair on her head and the deepening wrinkles on her forehead.
My son, come here.
He ran forward, bruised and battered, pursued by thugs from the casino's loan sharks. The wind howled softly ahead, and he saw his mother's trembling figure in the wind. His mother knelt down, gave a large bag of loose change to the loan sharks, and pleaded, "Please let my son go. I'll pay back what he owes."
Amidst wind and rain, and thunder and lightning, he saw his mother, wearing a raincoat, rummaging through a pile of garbage. Every bottle, every piece of cardboard, eventually became money for him to squander.
My son, come here.
The light and shadow shifted rapidly, and he followed his mother forward in a daze, as if reliving a lifetime. When the hospital gate appeared in front of them, his mother stopped, turned around, and said:
My son, I'm leaving now.
His tears welled up instantly.
He rushed into the hospital's emergency room, but couldn't find his mother. He then rushed into the ICU, but the nurses stopped him from entering. He said he was looking for his mother, but the nurses checked the roster and said there was no such person.
He was frantic, searching everywhere, and finally found his wife at the door of a regular ward.
"Where's Mom?" he asked anxiously.
His wife said indifferently, "He's inside."
He asked, "Weren't you delivering to the ICU? How did you end up here?"
The wife said, "I asked my doctor friends, and they said it doesn't really matter whether you go to the ICU or not, there's no need to waste money. If I hadn't been more discerning, you would have been fooled by the doctor..."
He angrily reached out and slapped his wife across the face, interrupting her. She stumbled and fell to the ground, clutching her aching face and staring at him in disbelief, but dared not utter another word.
He didn't even glance at his wife before rushing into the ward.
The Blind Old Woman lay peacefully on the bed, having stopped breathing.
"Mom--"
He screamed with all his might.
The nurse was startled and said, "What are you doing? Are you crazy?!"
He looked up at the nurse and realized he was sitting on a waiting chair outside the emergency room, tears streaming down his face and sleeves.
The nurse glanced at him a few times and asked, "Are you alright?"
He shook his head and said it was nothing.
The nurse handed over a form and said, "Your mother has woken up, but she's not out of danger yet. It's best to put her in the ICU for observation. The cost is quite high, so you, as her family, should consider it..."
Before the nurse could finish speaking, he snatched the form. "I'll go pay."