Chen Ruoshui"s eyes brightened, “Yes! Oh, absolutely, yes! You are the best!”
The flying saucer zoomed steadily yet quickly. Considering safety issues, the maximum speed of a flying saucer when flying in the atmosphere was limited to Mach 20. That was 20 times the speed of sound. It takes about two hours to orbit the earth at this speed.
When flying in the city, the maximum speed limit was only Mach 0.1, which was 122 kilometers per hour.
Many people have complained that flying in the city in a flying saucer was “as slow as the crawling of a snail.” Yet even with the speed of “snails crawling,” flying saucers were still far faster than subways and ground electric buses.
Asia Resuscitation Hospital was located in Xinhai City. As the flying saucer flew in a “snail crawling” pace, it took Su Yutan more than ten minutes to rush to Lu Xiaozhi"s office from the Social Affairs Bureau.
Coincidently, it happened to be lunchtime, and the luxury set home delivery meal had arrived just in time.
The set was indeed luxurious, including a small dish of cherry ribs, a pair of pineapple chicken wings, a small dish of fried shrimp, a small dish of carrot fried corn, a small bowl of rice, a small bowl of catfish soup, and yet another small dish of seasonal fruits. It was full of color and mouth-watering fragrance. They ate to their hearts" content.
After the fabulously delicious lunch, Lu Xiaozhi took Su Yutan for a checkup. He first measured the level of neurotransmitters and then another consciousness mapping diagnosis.
The inspection results came out, and Lu Xiaozhi frowned deeply. Su Yutan thought,
Not good news, I guess…
“It seems that you are not scared; there will be no PTSD or anything. But … you are… too peaceful!”
Su Yutan also had a bachelor"s degree in clinical psychiatry, so she could review the diagnosis with him. She sighed, “I, too, feel that this is not normal. My heartbeat did not change when I was held hostage by Zhou Feng. When I was pulled close to death by Zhou Feng, at that moment… I felt like… I was very peaceful and even had a little vague… feeling of excitement and happiness.” She then stopped, pondering. A thought then hit her like a ton of bricks.
“Brother, do you think that one day, my subconscious desire to die will finally overwhelm the desire to survive, and I will… I will finally commit suicide?”
Same subconscious trauma syndrome, same grade six.
Zhou Feng seemed to be heralding her future, which is inevitable towards a self-destructive tomorrow.
Fortunately, she was just self-destructive, not anti-social. When the illness occurs, she will not retaliate against society like Zhou Feng and implicate innocent people.
Lu Xiaozhi smiled at her and caressed her short hair, “Do not worry since I will look after you. I won"t let that happen.”
Su Yutan looked at him, and her face broke into a smile. She softly said, “Brother, if that day does come, don"t be sad. I know my illness is not good for my well-being, and there is nothing anyone can do to help it, so this is not your fault.”
Lu Xiaozhi"s smile started to falter at the thought of losing her. He instead patted the top of her head gently in a soothing matter.
“Don"t say such silly things. I told you I"d be here for you.”
Su Yutan"s admiration for him deepened. She then decided to comfort him by saying, “Okay, sir! Don"t be so sad. If you think about it, optimistically, medicine is advancing at a rapid pace now. Maybe, in the near future, this disease can be treated after all, and all our worries will wash away just like that.”
“That"s right!” Lu Zhixiao sighed contentedly and attempted to change the topic.
“You don"t have to work this afternoon. Do you have any plans for today?”
“I have to accompany Sister Shui to buy new clothes. She fancied yet another handsome guy.”
Lu Xiaozhi and Chen Ruoshui were very similar. They shook their heads with a smile and did not comment on the matter.
When leaving the hospital, Su Yutan kept smiling and looked at the tungsten gold ring on the index finger of her right hand. Her sourness was lingering in circles.
“Don"t be indifferent. You can"t be a demon.” She meditated in her heart after reading the six words engraved on the inside of the ring and finally walked out of the hospital with a skip in her step.
When she arrived, the hospital"s underground disc parking lot was empty. The flying saucer had left her in front of the hospital and flew away, stopping at another nearby disc parking lot.
Now her flying saucer would pick her up from the hospital door again.
* PTSD: Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ed"s note: Can I have this opportunity to say to everyone that please do support the community and do give a Ko-fi for donations. Thank you. Mr. Quin out.
Miao: This sleepy lazy cat needs coffee to translate two extra chapters.