Chapter 20 Sick Leave

Chapter 20 Sick Leave

Wang Fuqiang stepped onto the subway.

It was the tail end of the morning rush hour, and the car was packed, but that didn't matter—he was sure to get a seat.

As soon as Wang Fuqiang entered the car, he scanned it, searching for a place to sit.

To the left, a few young men, an old woman, and two middle-aged men—clearly down on their luck and broke, they looked miserable.

There was also a strange man holding a mortar, pounding it up and down on his knee.

But there was clearly nothing inside the mortar. This man was obviously not all there.

What kind of weirdo takes the subway?

To the right…

Wang Fuqiang’s eyes lit up. He pushed through the crowd and headed straight to the right.

He stopped in front of a pale, delicate-looking girl.

The girl was on her phone with her head down and was completely absorbed. Wang Fuqiang stood there for a while, and when she showed no intention of giving up her seat, he coughed twice to remind her.

But the girl pretended not to hear and kept playing on her phone.

Wang Fuqiang had had enough.

“I say, young lady, have you got no manners at all?”

Wang Fuqiang grumbled, “You’re so young, yet all you can do is play on your phone. How can you not give up your seat to an elderly person?”

Only then did the girl look up from her phone screen, looking at him surprised.

“What are you looking at? Hurry up and give your seat to me, an old man!”

Wang Fuqiang raised his voice slightly, deliberately drawing the attention of those around him. “How can you, a young girl, be so shameless! Here I am, an old man with white hair, standing right in front of you, and you still have the nerve to pretend you don’t see me while playing on your phone?”

At his accusation, the girl’s face went bright red.

People around them began to look over.

The girl, both hurt and angry, said, “What are you saying! When did I pretend to play on my phone? I really didn’t see you earlier!”

Wang Fuqiang: “Then get up! Give me your seat!”

As he spoke, he was getting impatient and couldn’t help but point his finger in the girl’s face, lecturing her, “When you’re out in public, young people should know to respect your elders, don't you know that? Didn’t your parents teach you at home?”

The girl’s eyes welled up instantly, and she said loudly, “I know to respect my elders, and I will give up my seat to the elderly—but I won’t give it to you!”

“Why not?”

“No reason!”

Upon hearing this, Wang Fuqiang’s temper flared.

He raised his cane and jabbed the girl’s thigh: “How can you, a young girl, be so unreasonable, yelling at an elder like me? Is this how you behave? Did your parents really not teach you any manners?”

“Don’t touch me!” the girl screamed, pushing away the cane that was poking toward her inner thigh. “Don’t you dare insult my parents! What right do you have to insult my parents!”

People around them began to speak up.

“Hey, if you have something to say, say it—but keep your hands to yourself!”

“She’s a girl. Put your cane away first! What’s wrong with you?”

“You’re the one who’s out of line! You’re just picking on her because she’s small and seems like an easy target! Why don’t you ask those big men over there to give up their seats?”

Some even held up their phones, recording Wang Fuqiang while pointing and commenting.

“Fine! Young people these days…” Wang Fuqiang glared furiously at the people around him, raising his cane ready to cause trouble, when suddenly something jabbed him in the base of his spine!

“Ouch!” Wang Fuqiang immediately grabbed his back and cried out.

He turned around angrily and shouted, “Who! Who was it! Who hit me?!”

Before he finished speaking, he saw a young man in a suit standing there stone-faced in front of him.

In his left hand was a mortar, and in his right hand was a stone pestle.

Just as Wang Fuqiang made out what the young man was holding, the stone pestle jabbed him in the chest again.

Jab! Jab, jab, jab!

“Ouch! Ouch!”

Wang Fuqiang’s chest bone hurt from the pestle jabs, hurting so bad he couldn’t stand up straight. He tried to dodge while yelling, “Someone, help! Someone, help! An old man is being beaten! Is there no decency left? Bullying an old man in broad daylight!”

Everyone around was stunned.

No one had expected a young man to suddenly appear, jabbing an old man with a pestle…

Wait, why a pestle? Where did the pestle come from?

Oh, it’s the pestle that goes with the mortar in the young man’s hand…

But why is there a mortar on the subway? Could that thing even pass security???

Well, maybe it could…?

While everyone was still bewildered, the young man in the suit looked completely blank-faced, didn't even flinch no matter how loudly Wang Fuqiang cursed and yelled.

He just kept jabbing.

Jab, jab, jab.

After jabbing his lungs, he jabbed his heart. After jabbing his throat, he jabbed his stomach.

Wang Fuqiang yelled in pain, couldn't protect one spot before another got hit. Finally, he gave up on cursing and ducked and covered desperately.

As he dodged, he ended up turning around.

Seizing the opportunity, the young man jammed it right into his spine!

“Ah!!!” Wang Fuqiang jumped up with the vigor of a shrimp getting deveined.

With that kind of jumping power, he could’ve slam dunked on a basketball court.

And so, one dodged, and the other jabbed.

The old man and the young man thus roughhoused their way out of the carriage.

So much energy.

Everyone was stunned.

What in the world was that?

The comical scene unfolded in the next carriage, causing an outburst of shouts and screams from the passengers there.

Passengers raised their cell phones to capture this astonishing scene.

Some thought the young man was bullying the old man and couldn’t stand it, wanting to step in and stop it.

The experienced onlookers in this carriage quickly noticed something was off and hurried to stop those who were trying to intervene. They also showed the video evidence from their side to the others.

The spectators in the other carriage: “???”

Though they didn’t know what was happening...

Nice job with the poking!

...

Half an hour later, at the police station.

That shameless old man actually falsely accused him first, making a scene and insisting on taking him to the police station. Lin Jianyuan wasn’t afraid of him, of course.

But to Lin Jianyuan’s surprise, several passengers from their carriage voluntarily came along to back him up.

Among them was the girl who had been harassed initially.

The girl was so worked up her eyes were red. Pointing at the old man, she recounted the scene, still trembling with anger as she recalled it.

Other passengers also presented video evidence, stating that Lin Jianyuan had stepped in to do the right thing.

If it weren’t for Lin Jianyuan’s bravery, that cane would have landed on the girl’s head.

Although there were witnesses and evidence, the fact remained that Lin Jianyuan had still resorted to physical action.

That wretched old man even yelled about suing Lin Jianyuan and having him jailed, but the cop advised him to accept mediation.

The reason was simple.

Because Lin Jianyuan is mentally ill!

Old man: If he’s mentally ill, why’s he out roaming around everywhere!

Cop: He took the wrong medication, so he’s going to the psych hospital for treatment!

Old man: ...

Air-tight logic. Flawless.

In the end, the old man could only grumble his way into accepting the mediation.

Lin Jianyuan walked out of the police station without a scratch.

Outside the station, the girl thanked him over and over and even asked for his WeChat, wanting to buy him a meal to properly express her gratitude.

Lin Jianyuan: “Don't worry about it. Actually, I wasn’t trying to help you.”

Girl: “Huh?”

Lin Jianyuan: “That old man was just too infuriating. If I didn’t do something, I literally would’ve exploded from anger!”

The girl was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

In the end, Lin Jianyuan didn’t add her on WeChat because he was in a hurry to get to his doctor's appointment.

Finally arriving at No. 700 Jiangchuan North Road, Lin Jianyuan was worried his appointment time had passed, but when he reached the waiting area, he saw there were a lot of patients today. His number hadn’t been called yet.

Lin Jianyuan found a seat and sat down to wait. He pulled out his cell phone, planning to play a few rounds of Candy Crush, when a call from Pei Shuo popped up on the screen.

Lin Jianyuan’s heart sank, afraid something else had gone wrong.

Unexpectedly, after answering, Pei Shuo said: “Bro! You’re all over trending news!”

His tone was full of admiration!

Lin Jianyuan: “...”

Lin Jianyuan quickly opened the trending topics. Sure enough, it was the incident on the subway.

That was fast? He was actually trending? Lin Jianyuan found it unbelievable.

Great, now the whole world knows he’s mentally ill.

Compared to a talking squeeze toy, him trending felt even more unreal.

As Lin Jianyuan put away his cell phone, he accidentally glanced at the screen and noticed another topic trending at the same time as his:

#Shi Shaoning Turns Reality Dating Show into a Circus#

Shi Shaoning? Who's this?

Never heard of him. Don’t know him. Probably just another celebrity.

Lin Jianyuan put his cell phone back in his pocket and took out the squeeze toy again.

The snail-shaped squeeze toy was still swaying its head and muttering: “Rainbow-colored gastric juice is disgusting guts, the air conditioner’s broken, ah, why is the air conditioner broken again? You promised a lifetime meal ticket, but why are you sleeping with the food? Disgusting! Super perverted and gross!”

Lin Jianyuan: “...”

What utter nonsense.

But the squeeze toy’s babbling reminded him of something.

Lin Jianyuan pulled out his cell phone again and called his landlord, engaging in a 15-minute back-and-forth.

The topic was still about fixing the air conditioner.

Lin Jianyuan threatened: The landlord’s responsibility for appliance repairs is written in the contract. If the air conditioner isn’t fixed soon, he’ll raise hell.

The landlord, completely fed up, finally agreed to send someone to repair it today.

After hanging up, Lin Jianyuan thought about the trending topic again and couldn’t help but feel pathetic.

Some hero I am.

Even just getting an AC fixed requires arguing for ages with the landlord... What kind of pathetic hero is this?

At this thought, Lin Jianyuan started feeling agitated again and couldn’t resist grabbing something to vent his frustration.

This time, he didn’t pull out the squeeze toy. Instead, he grabbed his mortar and pestle.

One grind.

"Ah!"

Another grind.

"Ah! Ah!"

Keep grinding.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

—"Little Stone" let out screams like a squeaky toy chicken inside the mortar.

Of course, Lin Jianyuan was no sadist. He wasn't stuffing "Little Stone" into the mortar and pounding it just to listen to its screams.

The main reason was that this "little stone" had a really fun trait.

With one grind, it would split into two halves. With another grind, the two halves would split into four.

Once the "little stone" was crushed to bits, if left alone for a while, the shattered gravel would reform into a "little stone" again.

—Weirdly enough, it’s stress-relieving.

Lin Jianyuan decided that, since this was the case, while the squeeze toy was out of commission, he would use "Little Stone" as a substitute to relieve stress!

After waiting in line for quite a while, Lin Jianyuan finally entered the consultation room and met Dr. Cen.

Lin Jianyuan recounted the various things he had encountered recently. After listening, Dr. Cen drifted into thought.

"Is my condition getting worse?" Lin Jianyuan muttered to himself. "But honestly, I’ve been feeling much better lately than before. Acting crazy whenever, wherever has reduced my psychological stress, and I’ve been sleeping better at night... Oh, the better sleep might also be because of the medicine you prescribed. But the skip function of the squeeze toy is really useful, just like playing a game. Having a skip button in life is so damn satisfying... It’s a shame it’s unusable now."

As he said this, Lin Jianyuan felt frustrated again and couldn’t help taking out the "squeeze toy": "Doctor, can you help me figure out what’s wrong with it? Why does it seem crazier than me now? This illness of mine isn’t contagious, is it?"

Dr. Cen glanced at the snail-shaped "squeeze toy."

Before the doctor could speak, Lin Jianyuan realized: "Oh, sorry, I forgot this is also part of my hallucination. So, does the 'squeeze toy' going crazy also suggest that my condition is worsening?"

"Not necessarily," Dr. Cen said, reaching out and giving the "squeeze toy" a squeeze.

Squish.

Dr. Cen asked, "When did it start acting crazy? What happened at that time?"

"Nothing happened, really. I was just trying to use it to stretch time so I could sleep five more minutes... Wait."

Lin Jianyuan’s heart skipped a beat as he suddenly remembered something.

"No, it wasn’t then. This 'squeeze toy' is usually always chattering nonsense and is quite cocky, always bragging. But ever since that day when I ran into that spaced-out man, it stopped talking."

Actually, the "squeeze toy" would sometimes fall silent abruptly, like when Lin Jianyuan was with his roommate.

But this time was different.

Before, as soon as the roommate walked away, the "squeeze toy" would return to its cheerful, lively self.

This time, it had gone completely mad.

"Should I try to find that man? Maybe the 'squeeze toy' really went crazy because of him. But why..."

Lin Jianyuan started mumbling to himself again. "What’s so special about that man... Well, he did seem strange, but what does that have to do with me..."

"Perhaps you felt a sense of fellow-feeling with him?" Dr. Cen ventured.

Lin Jianyuan felt as if his inner thoughts had been struck a chord, paused for a moment, and nodded: "Seems like it. Yeah, now that you mention it, Doctor, I understand."

That pale, spaced-out man he encountered that day—Lin Jianyuan could tell at a glance that he had mental issues.

Recalling the man’s disheveled appearance, wandering the streets like a sleepwalker, Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but shudder.

He was truly afraid that one day he might end up like that.

So, was it because of this unconscious worry that he paid extra attention to that man?

"You won’t," Dr. Cen said firmly. "You won’t. Your situation is different from his."

Such firm, reassuring words deeply comforted Lin Jianyuan.

Dr. Cen adjusted the dosage of his meds. After expressing his gratitude, Lin Jianyuan was about to leave the consultation room when Dr. Cen suddenly stopped him.

"Let’s add each other on WeChat."

Lin Jianyuan turned around in surprise to see Dr. Cen already pulling out his phone, opening the QR code, and handing it over.

He added, "If you have any questions about taking your medication in the future, just ask me on WeChat."

"Okay, okay," Lin Jianyuan said, pretty touched, quickly scanning the code and sending a friend request.

Dr. Cen really was a good doctor. Lin Jianyuan realized that although his life wasn’t great, he got lucky sometimes.

Just as he was thinking this, right after leaving the hospital, Lin Jianyuan received a call from his company—telling him to come back and work overtime.

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

So much for reflection.

Goddamn it, can this company not function without me? I took just one day off to see a doctor, and they’re calling me back in the middle of it! Are they even human? No wonder my mental illness keeps flaring up! It’s all because of this damn job!!!

Destroy everything!!!

Screw it all!!!

Ski—

Skip failed.

Lin Jianyuan grudgingly went to work.

Worked straight through until 9 p.m.

His ass was pretty much numb from sitting.

Fortunately, this time, no wriggling threads of blood emerged to drain his life force.

Because all the blood vessels in the office had been connected to each other by him.

All the circuits were closed, and no new branches could sprout to invade humans.

After finally finishing overtime, the city lights were already glowing brightly.

Pei Shuo got in the elevator with him. Only the two of them were inside, and Pei Shuo sighed helplessly, saying, "I really don't think our company is doing right by us. It's too exploitative of its employees."

Lin Jianyuan looked at him in surprise, then replied even more helplessly, "You still haven't started cursing? Your standards really need to lower."

Pei Shuo: "??"

Pei Shuo caught on, bursting out laughing and clutching his stomach.

Pei Shuo rode his bicycle home. He owned his own bike instead of renting a shared one, solving the problem of not being able to find a bike during peak commuting hours.

The two went their separate ways at the subway entrance.

Watching Pei Shuo's energetic figure biking off into the distance, Lin Jianyuan suddenly felt as if he had returned to his university days.

Being young is really great.

Not like me—completely pickled in overtime exhaustion.

Lin Jianyuan shook his head with a smile and boarded the subway home.

He had seen the scenery along the way countless times, and the window reflected Lin Jianyuan's exhausted face.

Had his dark circles gotten worse lately? Just as Lin Jianyuan was about to lean closer to the window to check, a strange patch of white suddenly appeared in his vision.

A white figure was wandering on the empty tennis court, swaying unsteadily.

That was—

Lin Jianyuan's pupils narrowed.

The subway slowly decelerated, coming to a stop just at that moment.

Without hesitation, Lin Jianyuan grabbed his backpack and bolted out the doors.