Wild Fire Bids Farewell To Summer Chapter 23

frost

23:17.

The fluorescent tube in dormitory 307 hummed with overcurrent overhead, and the tungsten wire trembled, casting Wei Zhiheng’s shadow on the bottom of the upper bunk bed, stretching and flattening it.

He was lying on his side with his left cheek pressed against the pillow. The cotton pillowcase had rough fibers and rubbed against the skin of his cheekbone, causing a slight sting.There is a rusty taste in the mouth, sweet and astringent, and blood is overflowing from the gums and spreading from the base of the tongue to the soft palate.

He swallowed.The Adam’s apple rolled, and the air was squeezed out from the compressed glottis, making a hissing sound.A blood clot came up from the back of the throat, became thick and jelly-like, and blocked the trachea.He coughed, his chest vibrated, and he made crackling sounds.

A ball of dark red substance was sprayed on the pillow. It was not in the form of mist, but in the shape of a lump, about three centimeters in diameter. There were bubbles on the surface. It made a small pit on the white cotton pillowcase, then collapsed and spread.

The blood continues to flow.Seeping out from the gaps between the gums, the capillary network on the palate loses its barrier function when platelets are so low that it almost doesn’t exist. The blood crawls out like turpentine from the cracks in the bottle cap, slowly, continuously, and unstoppably.The liquid formed a perfect circle on the pillow, with regular edges and a deep purple center, gradually turning pink and then light yellow outwards – that’s the true color of the pillow core’s cotton.The diameter of the stain expanded to fifteen centimeters, like the circular opening of a skylight in Tunbang, with a white background and a red circle, with jagged traces of penetration on the edge. The fibers absorbed water and swelled, and the texture became hard.

Wei Zhiheng reached out and pressed it.His right hand stretched out from the quilt. The fingernails were glowing with light purple. Purple ink seemed to be embedded under the nail bed, and the edges were white.When my fingers touch the blood stain, it feels warm and sticky, and my fingers sink into it, like pressing into wet paint.The blood stains the fingertips, forming a red film. As the finger is lifted, a filamentous liquid bridge is pulled out, breaks, and drips back to the pillow surface, ticking, and the second hand moves.

There was a sound of turning over from the upper bunk.The iron bed frame squeaked, Lu Yan’s knees pushed against the bed board, and the wooden board hit the metal support, making a hollow echo.Lu Yan didn’t have a probe, but his breathing sounds changed, from regular sleeping breathing to awake breath-holding. The airflow formed turbulence in the nasal cavity and the frequency accelerated.

He smelled it.It’s not turpentine, it’s the sweetness of rust, mixed with the smell of rotten apples from Wei Zhiheng’s body, sinking at the height of the bed and spreading upward over the edge of the bed.

The smell of blood settled in the air.Lu Yan’s nostrils quivered and the wings of his nose expanded.He stared at the gap between the bed boards and the dark red light leaking from the gap – it was the reflection of blood stains under the light.He thought of the picture he saw in the library last week: a map of Guangxi with irregular edges.

He blinked and misperceived: he saw the circular blood stain as the limestone skylight in his hometown, as the weak rock formation that the underground river was about to break through.

Wei Zhiheng tried to sit up.I propped my elbows on the bed and exerted force on my waist. The grinding sensation of the rotating steel needle came from deep in my iliac bone – it was the aftershock of the bone marrow puncture two weeks ago.He failed, the muscles in his arms trembled, and the muscle weakness caused by low platelets caused his elbows to slip. His body fell back onto the mattress, and the springs let out a dull groan.

More blood poured from the mouth.There was no cough this time, it was seeping directly from the gums, like an underground river breaking through the rock formations, superimposing a second layer of red in the center of the “skylight” of the pillow. The color was darker, almost black, and the edges overlapped with the first layer of blood stains, forming concentric circles, a geological sequence.

Lu Yan stared at the gap between the bed boards for five seconds.His fingers were clenched tightly in the quilt, and his nails left four crescent-shaped indentations on his palms.He thought of the bedside lamp Wei Zhiheng lent him last month – when Wei returned it, the light bulb was replaced with a new one, which was brighter than the original one.

He loosened his fingers, lifted the quilt, and rolled out of bed.The movement was very fast, and the ladder bars were stepped on so that they made a metallic clang sound, three times.

He stood beside Wei Zhiheng’s bed, wearing a gray vest, with protruding collarbones, and his skin was bluish-white under the light.He did not touch Wei Zhiheng, but stared at the pillow, the “skylight”, and the line of blood hanging from the corner of Wei Zhiheng’s mouth – dark red, sticky, dripping down his chin to his neck, forming a stream at the collarbone, and flowing into the collar of his pajamas.

“Don’t move.” Lu Yan said.The voice is dry, the vocal cords make a rough sound when rubbing, the tail end is trembling, and the airflow is squeezed out from between the teeth.

He turned around and walked towards his locker, his steps dragging, the rubber soles making a dry sound as they rubbed against the terrazzo floor.The cabinet door opened, letting out a groan of metal fatigue.He rummaged inside, flipping the book with his fingers, and brought out a tangled red rope.

He touched a hard object – a roll of medical tape, transparent and narrow, with only one circle left. There were a few crooked hairs stuck to the inner circle. The tape was yellow and the edges were fluffy.He pinched it and felt the stickiness of the tape on his fingertips, leaving the greasy feeling of the previous user’s finger oil.

He walked back to the bed and stood within Wei Zhiheng’s sight, but did not hand it out immediately.He looked at Wei Zhiheng’s eyes, the extent of his pupils’ dilation, and the focus of his sight on a certain point in the void.

Wei Zhiheng’s eyes rolled, staring at the tape in Lu Yan’s hand, and he misperceived: It was a roll of white asbestos, rolled into a tube shape, with loose edges, carrying dust and carcinogenic silence.

The door handle is metal, spherical, and has a cloudy surface that indicates oil deposits.Lu Yan didn’t open the door. He stood there, scratching his fingers on the edge of the tape, making a slight rustling sound.He was hesitating – not whether to save or not, but whether to stop the bleeding or call someone first.Wei Zhiheng’s breathing became heavy, like a bellows, and every inhalation was accompanied by a gurgling sound of blood foam.

Lu Yan decided to call someone first.He turned around and turned the handle. The lock tongue retracted and clicked.The door opened, and the voice-activated light in the corridor turned on as the door axis turned. Pale light poured in, forming a bright thin line on the ground, cutting the room in half.

Lu Yan walked out, leaving a crack in the door.The width of the crack was just enough for the light from the corridor to come in, forming a bright thin line on Wei Zhiheng’s bed. The edge of the line was sharp, and the boundary between light and dark was clear. It just cut across the blood stains on the pillow, dividing the “skylight” into two halves, light and dark.

Wei Zhiheng stared at the light.

There is a fixed black shadow in the upper left part of the visual field, a retinal hemorrhage point, the size of a pinpoint, which appeared three days ago.The black shadow spread and swallowed the upper right corner of the pillow.

The blood continues to flow.The flow slows but continues.A drop of blood hovers from the corner of the mouth, stretched, the surface tension maintains a hemispherical shape, and the cold light of the fluorescent lamp is refracted inside.After a second, it broke, fell, and hit the pillow towel, forming a small satellite on the edge of the “skylight”, a red dot, separated from the main blood stain, but connected through capillary action.

There were footsteps in the corridor.The rubber soles rub against the terrazzo, making a rapid crunching sound, from far to near, with fast frequency and long strides. They are the leather heels of the dormitory manager Lao Zhou – heavy, rhythmic, click, click, pause, click.

The sound stopped at the door of 307. The door panel was pushed open and hit the wall, making a muffled sound.

Lao Zhou stood at the door, wearing a gray uniform, holding a flashlight in his hand, with a plastic casing and a red button.His eyes swept across the room, the slippers on the floor, Wei Zhiheng’s hand hanging by the bed – the fingernails were glowing lavender, the fingertips were dripping with blood, leaving dark red spots on the sheets – and finally landed on the pillow.

Turn on the flashlight.The beam is yellow, round, about thirty centimeters in diameter, and shines on the pillow.The blood stain appears purple-black under flashlight light, with a bright center and dark edges.

Lao Zhou’s nostrils twitched as he smelled the smell, blood mixed with the sweet rot of rotten apples, sinking to the ground.He thought of the smell of pig blood in the basin when the New Year pig was killed in his hometown. It was also sweet like rust, but it was hot and boiling. At this moment, the smell of blood in the room was warm and cooling, like turpentine that was about to solidify.

“The school doctor’s office.” Lao Zhou said.The sound has no rise and fall, but there is a slight dip at the end.

He walked in, the sound of rubber soles scraping against the ground amplified in the silence.He reached out, not to help Wei Zhiheng, but to grab a corner of the quilt, which was made of cotton and had a plaid pattern, and pulled hard.The quilt slipped off Wei Zhiheng’s body, revealing the school uniform pajamas he was wearing – white, already soaked with blood, with an irregular patch of red on the left lapel, forming a continuous block of color with the blood stains on the pillow, extending from the chest to the abdomen, with irregular edges, like ink that diluted after being soaked in water.

Lao Zhou wiped his fingers on the quilt and felt the wet stickiness. He quickly retracted his hand and wiped it on his trouser legs, leaving dark red fingerprints.

Wei Zhiheng tried to speak, but his tongue became a piece of lead and lay at the bottom of his mouth, unable to be lifted.Blood clots lodge in the throat, causing a gurgling sound.He shook his head, making small movements, and his cervical vertebrae made a friction sound.He pointed at the door, his fingers trembling, in the direction of Building 1.

Lao Zhou looked in the direction of his fingers.At the end of the corridor, the voice-activated light was broken, the tungsten wire was broken, and a black char point hung, casting a shaking shadow on the ceiling.The light was dim, with only the emergency exit indicator light emitting green light, hanging in the dark, with a steady green light, like a power indicator light that was not turned off.

“Wait.” Lao Zhou said.He let go of the quilt and turned towards the corridor. The footsteps sounded again, clicking, clicking, heading west, disappearing at the top of the stairs.His footsteps echoed down the stairwell, fading away and being overlaid by a more urgent rhythm.

The footsteps return.It’s not Lao Zhou, it’s another rhythm, one heavy and one light, heavy on the right and light on the left, the compound sound of rubber soles and metal nails – the muffled sound of the forefoot hitting the ground, the crisp sound of the heel being raised.The sound rose alternately in the stairwell, with fast frequency, long strides, and heavy breathing. The air flow formed turbulence in the chest, and every inhalation was accompanied by bloodshot tremors.

Huang Jinye appeared at the door.

He was not wearing a school uniform jacket, only a black sports vest, with broad shoulders, his right hand in his trouser pocket, his left hand hanging by his side, his knuckles protruding, and white stone powder embedded in his nails.His right knee made a dry friction sound when he bent it, and the fluid in the joint cavity swayed during running, making a muffled sound.

There were three fresh scratches on the back of his right hand, running across the palm print, about two millimeters deep, with the edges turned outward. Blood beads were oozing from the wounds, flowing along the palm print to his wrist, and dripping on the threshold – they were cut by the limestone while climbing over the wall.He had just climbed over the wall from the west side of Building 1. The barbed wire fence was interrupted at the junction, exposing the rough limestone cliff. He climbed with bare hands, digging his fingernails into the cracks of the rock, and stone powder embedded in the gaps between his fingernails. His palms were cut by the sharp edges of the limestone, and the skin separated, exposing the fat layer.Blood beads continued to ooze out, showing no sign of scabbing, steaming slightly in the cold air.

He rushed into the room and walked directly to the bed without pausing.

He stared at Wei Zhiheng’s face, at the blood on the pillow, and at the bloodshot hanging from the corner of Wei Zhiheng’s mouth.His breath blew on Wei Zhiheng’s forehead, hot and rapid, with the pungency of eucalyptus sugar and the astringency of stone powder.His eyes swept over the blood on the ground, Lu Yan’s figure standing by the wall, and the gray uniform jacket left by Lao Zhou and draped on the back of the chair.

Huang Jinye stretched out his right hand, palm upward.There were three scratches there, and blood beads gushed out in succession, forming red-gray mud in the palm of the hand, mixed with stone powder.

He did not show the wound, but used his left hand to support the back of Wei Zhiheng’s neck.He opened his fingers and pressed his fingertips on the spinous processes of his cervical vertebrae, forcing Wei Zhiheng to raise his head.Wei Zhiheng’s head tilted back, and his cervical vertebrae made a slight friction sound. Blood flowed back from the nasal cavity, irritating the throat and causing coughing. Blood clots sprayed on Huang Jinye’s right shoulder. They were dark red and jelly-like, adhering to the fabric of the sports vest, mixing with sweat, forming purple-brown mud.

“Let’s go.” Huang Jinye said.The voice was squeezed out of the chest, rough, and hoarse with congestion in the vocal cords.

He bent down, pulled Wei Zhiheng’s right arm over his shoulder, and put it on his neck.Wei Zhiheng’s body was light, his bones were prominent, and his shoulder blades pressed against Huang Jinye’s back.Huang Jinye straightened up and bent his knees to bear the weight. His right knee made a sharp friction sound, and the accumulated water stung under the pressure.He took steps, heavy on the right and light on the left, dragging his steps towards the door.

Wei Zhiheng’s left hand hung on Huang Jinye’s chest, and the purpura on his fingernails showed a swollen purple color under the light.His right hand still held the limestone specimen. The sharp edge cut into his fingertips, causing a clear sting.The stone was cold, just like his body temperature at the moment.He held it tightly and listened to the movement in the corridor.

In the corridor, Lu Yan was still standing by the wall, his back pressed against the limestone wall tiles. The moisture on the wall felt cool through the fabric of his vest.He watched Huang Jinye walking over with Wei Zhiheng on his back, watched the blood dripping from Wei Zhiheng’s fingertips, leaving dark red spots on Huang Jinye’s sports shorts, and watched the scratches on Huang Jinye’s right hand drip with blood, leaving intermittent red marks on the terrazzo floor of the corridor.

Lu Yan’s lips moved, wanting to say something, but in the end he just raised his hand and made a weak gesture, pointing in the direction of the stairs.

When Huang Jinye passed by, he took his right hand out from under Wei Zhiheng’s knees and quickly grabbed the roll of tape in Lu Yan’s hand.The fingertips brushed against Lu Yan’s palm, taking away the skin temperature and leaving blood stains.He didn’t pause and continued walking forward, his steps becoming heavier and lighter, forming a steady rhythm in the silent corridor.

At the entrance of the stairs, the wind poured in through the cracks in the windows, bringing with it the chill after frost. The temperature was close to zero, cutting into the skin.Huang Jinye carried Wei Zhiheng down on his back. Wei Zhiheng’s body temperature was transmitted through his school uniform and pajamas. It was as low as a stone fished out of the water, like 16°C limestone.

The back of Huang Jinye’s right hand was exposed to the wind, and the wound was stimulated by the wind, causing a sharp sting. The blood beads were blown away by the wind and dripped on the handrail of the stairs. The iron was made of iron and the green paint peeled off. The blood beads rolled on the metal surface, leaving dark red lines.

They reach the first floor.The iron door was pushed open, and the hinges groaned like they were breaking.

Outside the door is a limestone path connecting the two dormitory buildings. The ground is rough and unpaved. The exposed limestone has been eroded by rain, forming sharp ravines.Huang Jinye stepped on it, and the soles of his canvas shoes rubbed against the rocks, making a harsh scraping sound.He avoided flat areas and chose a steep shortcut, bending his knees and leaning forward, with Wei Zhiheng’s weight on his right shoulder.Drops of blood dripped from the back of his right hand and hit the limestone. They were absorbed by the porous rock and disappeared instantly, leaving only dark spots on the surface, like turpentine seeping into the canvas.

The school doctor’s office is on the ground floor of Building 1. The lights are on, and the fluorescent tubes are buzzing.

Huang Jinye pushed the door open, and the door panel hit the door frame with a muffled sound.The school doctor is sitting at the table, wearing a white coat and holding an enamel cup in his hand. The cup is filled with corn silk water, which is light yellow.He raised his head and looked at Wei Zhiheng on Huang Jinye’s back, at the dripping blood, and at the scratches on the back of Huang Jinye’s right hand that continued to ooze blood.

“Put it on the bed.” The school doctor said, pointing to the iron bed without raising his eyes.

Huang Jinye placed Wei Zhiheng on the diagnosis bed, which had an iron frame, white sheets, and a plastic texture.Wei Zhiheng’s body touched the bed, making a slight friction sound.

Huang Jinye straightened up, his right knee made a dry friction sound, and water sloshed in the joint cavity.He tried to wipe the blood from his hands, wiping it with the fabric of his gym shorts. The blood soaked through the fabric, forming dark stains on the black polyester, mixing with the previous cinder stains to create a geological texture.

The door was pushed open again.The teacher on duty stood at the door, wearing a gray uniform, holding a registration book in his hand, with a plastic cover and frayed edges.His eyes swept across the room, the blood drops on the ground, Wei Zhiheng’s pale face, and the traces of water on Huang Jinye’s knees – the fabric of the sports shorts was dented, showing the swelling of the joints.

He smelled the smell of blood in the air, frowned, and his nose quivered.He said, his voice was flat and the last sound was swallowed:

“Climb the wall.”

It’s not a question, it’s a statement.He pointed at Huang Jinye’s right hand, “It’s cut from limestone. Climbing is prohibited on the west side of Building 1.”

Huang Jinye did not answer.He stared at Wei Zhiheng and the cotton ball that the school doctor was applying to Wei Zhiheng to stop the bleeding. The white cotton turned red instantly.

His right hand was hovering at his side, his fingers were spread out, the joints were stiff, and the stone powder and blood between the nails mixed to form red-gray mud.Blood beads were still oozing from the scratches and dripping onto the floor, making a slight ticking sound in sync with the ticking of the second hand on the wall clock in the school infirmary.

“Demerit.” said the teacher on duty.

He pulled out a piece of red paper from the registration book, A4 size, with sharp edges, with black Song fonts printed on it: “Decision on handling of student Huang Jinye’s disciplinary violations.”He walked toward the bulletin board. The walls were made of limestone bricks, damp and hoarfrost.He used paste, which was white and sticky, scooped out of a plastic jar and smeared it on the wall, making a wet sound.Put the red paper on it, smooth it with your palm, and make a soft popping sound. The paste overflows from the edge of the paper, forming a white edge.

Black writing on red paper.The bulletin board is at the end of the corridor, with this new disciplinary decision on it, overlapping with the previous ones, forming a red layer.The smell of the paste is pungent, chemical, mixed with the smell of blood, and sinks to the ground level.

The teacher on duty took a step back, looked at his work, wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, then turned around, without looking at Huang Jinye or Wei Zhiheng, and walked straight out of the school doctor’s office. The footsteps gradually faded away in the corridor.

Huang Jinye turned around and walked towards the door.He didn’t look at the red paper, but at the scratches on his right hand.The blood was still seeping out, steaming slightly in the cold air, with no sign of scabbing.

He made a fist, and his nails left four crescent-shaped indentations on his palm, pressing on the biggest scratch.The pain was sharp, but he didn’t frown. He just retracted his jaw and tightened the side muscles of his neck.

He walked out of the school doctor’s office, his steps were heavy and light, right and left, echoing in the corridor.

Passing the bulletin board, he stopped.

The right hand hovers over the red paper.Stop three centimeters from the paper.

The fingers are hanging, the joints are stiff, and there is white stone powder on the edge of the nail plate.Blood drops dripped from the palm and landed on the ground under the red paper, forming new red dots that formed a vertical alignment with the red paper.

He didn’t tear it up.

He retracted his hand, put it in his trouser pocket, and touched the limestone specimen with his fingertips – Wei Zhiheng gave it to him when he carried it on his back. The stone was cold, with sharp edges, stained with the blood of the two of them.He tightened his grip, the sting waking him up.

He continued to walk forward, and his back became smaller, lighter, and disappeared on the limestone path.The frosty wind continues to blow, and the temperature is close to zero, cutting the skin and cutting the edges of the red paper on the bulletin board. The paste is not dry, and the corners of the paper are raised, trembling in the wind and making a rustling sound.The smell of blood and paste mixed together and settled on the ground.

The next morning, 7:15.

Li Min stood in front of the bulletin board.The navy blue cheongsam had slits that exposed her calves, and the fabric made a rustling sound.She held a corner of the red paper in her hand. The paste had dried hard and the paper adhered to the wall.She tore it hard, and the paper peeled off the wall, making a snapping sound, leaving traces of white paste on the edges, like fractures in limestone.

She folded the red paper in half, then in half again, into a small square with the edges aligned.Then she stuffed it into the side pocket of her cheongsam, the fabric tight and the outline of the paper highlighted.

She turned around, tapping her high heels against the terrazzo floor, and walked toward the teaching building.Her eyes swept across the playground, the team of students who were jogging in the morning, and the limestone path between Building 1 and Building 2 – there were a few drops of dark red blood there, which had oxidized and turned from bright red to dark brown, and were covered by frost, forming white salt frost, recording the sedimentary layer of this frosty night.