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1084 Words
"You!" Yes, what could she do for him? She was just an elementary school teacher, with no power or money, dealing with children all day. The thought left her speechless.
"Think about it yourself. I have things to do at the company. I'm going back." Li Jian said, without even glancing at her, as he picked up his bag and left, leaving her alone to grieve.
A few more days passed, and the weather, like her mood, was a constant drizzle. On her way to work, Olivia waited absentmindedly to cross the street with the crowd. The light turned green, and Olivia joined the flow.
"Hey, young people these days are so bold, doing it right in the street! What a decadent world!"
"Where?"
"No, those two in the car up front."
"Oh, in the car. Plenty of people have s*x in cars in broad daylight these days. It's just a kiss, what's the big deal?"
Olivia followed the two middle-aged women's pointing and talking, her gaze shifting to the car they were talking about. Suddenly, she felt like she was struck by lightning: That's... Suddenly, her mind went blank. She saw nothing, heard nothing. All she could see was her husband in a convertible, engaging in intimate acts with a stylish woman. Stunned, she stared at the scene, tears blurring her eyes. Suddenly, she screamed, and with a bang, the world went silent.
When Li Jian looked up, he saw this very scene. His wife's eyes met his, filled with shock, disbelief, disappointment, sadness, relief, and a sense of relief. Everything happened in a flash. A Land Rover spun from the nearby bus lane onto the sidewalk. With a thud, his wife, who had been with him for nine years, flew up, then landed heavily on the ground. He hurriedly opened the car door and, with trembling hands, lifted her up from the pool of blood. "Xiaoxue, Xiaoxue, don't scare me, Xiaoxue, wake up, wake up, Xiaoxue..."
Olivia struggled to open her eyes. Through her tear-blurred eyes, she saw her husband's terrified expression. It was all right. Let it go. Whether he still loved her now or not, at least he had loved her once. "Don't cry. I take back what I said at the wedding. If there is an afterlife, we'll never see each other again!"
"No, Xiaoxue, don't be so cruel, Xiaoxue!" No matter how much he called out, what was gone was gone.
Tang Qi Gongzi wrote in "Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms," "Have you ever loved someone? Have you ever hated someone? I'll let you go, and you let me go. From now on, we'll be even!"
News report that day: Around 1:00 PM this afternoon, a traffic accident occurred at the intersection of Xinghe Road and Xing'an Road. An out-of-control Land Rover struck a pedestrian on the crosswalk and then crashed into a nearby advertising wall. The pedestrian died on the spot, and the driver died after unsuccessful rescue efforts. The Provincial Department of Transportation later confirmed that the accident was caused by the Land Rover's brakes failing.
Pain, pain all over my body. That was Olivia's first feeling. Yeah, how could it not hurt? She was in a car accident, yet she survived. She's truly lucky, Olivia thought self-deprecatingly. Slightly opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was the white ceiling, adorned with several fluorescent lights. Since it was daytime, the lights weren't on. Turning around, she saw white walls with pale green trim. It must have been unpainted for ages, as both the walls and trim were peeling to varying degrees. The bedside cabinet was surprisingly old, still made of iron. What kind of hospital could be so shabby?
This man, truly forgetting the old when he found a new love, actually sent her to such a shabby hospital. She's truly lucky to be alive.
Just as Olivia finished her sigh, the ward door opened, and the person who entered startled her. "Mom, why are you here?"
Olivia was from northern China. After graduation, she followed Li Jian to work in Yang City, far from home. She could only visit her parents during the winter and summer holidays. After getting married, she spent even less time at her parents' home. Her parents-in-law loved her cooking, and if she stayed home too long, they wouldn't enjoy it. She was simply uncomfortable without anyone to take care of them. "Did Li Jian call you?"
"Li Jian? Who's Li Jian? Is he your classmate?" Mom said in surprise. "No, your teacher called. You're such a jerk! Why didn't you pay attention to the road while riding your bike? It's just a mild concussion. If it were more serious, how would I live—"
Olivia didn't hear what her mother said next. She froze in shock. She'd always felt a sense of disorientation since waking up, and it only intensified when she saw her mother. Now she knew what the problem was: the hospital was so old, so run-down, even the windows were made of wood. Plus, Mom looked so much younger, only in her thirties. And there was something wrong with her voice. She quickly held out her hand. Small, thin, and sun-tanned.
"Mom, you said I fell off my bike and went to the hospital, right?"
"Of course I did. I heard from your teacher that you were leaving school, and just as you were getting on your bike, a donkey cart came the other way. You couldn't dodge in time, so you fell into the ditch beside the road and fainted. Lili was so scared that she started crying."
Olivia remembered. It was September of the year she started junior high school, just a few days after school started. Because Olivia's home was far from the middle school they were attending, the girls from her village rode their bikes together to go to and from school. Since they had just learned how to ride bikes and weren't very proficient, they panicked when they saw a large animal like a donkey coming towards them, which led to what happened next.
Had she been reborn? Olivia closed her eyes, then opened them a minute later. Her mother was still there, still nagging at her with concern. It was true. She had returned, back to the past. Suddenly, all the grievances, all the resentment, all the anger, all the sadness melted into a deep sadness. "Mom!" She hugged her mother and burst into tears.
- Writer
