Chapter 73

When he received the call from Qi Mingyu, Qi Ji had just finished working overtime on Saturday morning. As the end of the year is approaching, the design department also has to settle accounts, but compared to the financial system, they have a lot of free time, at least they don't have to be busy day and night.

Qi Mingyu called to ask how Qi Ji planned to spend the Spring Festival. After all, this was the first year they had no debts. When they talked about the topic of festivals, the atmosphere was much more relaxed.

Qi Ji joked, "Isn't there a few days left? Why are you asking about this so early and wanting a New Year's gift?"

"Who wants gifts, I'm not a child anymore." Qi Mingyu refused to admit it, he said, "Grandma Yu asked, she wanted to invite us to celebrate the New Year, and it happened that Eric was still in China. Together, the Spring Festival can be lively. point."

Qi Ji smiled slightly, but did not agree at first, only said: "I'll take a look at the company's work arrangements during the Spring Festival."

"By the way, Mingyu," he asked, "are you free this afternoon?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Let's go shopping in Guihe City and buy you something."

Although the tone was just joking, Qi Ji really had the idea to buy something for Qi Mingyu, at least to buy some new outfits. Usually Qi Mingyu wears school uniform all the time. Apart from tuition fees, he has never made any request to Qi Ji. With no debts, Qi Ji has a lot of money on his hands, and he feels that it is time to bring his brother some clothes.

Qi Mingyu didn't really want to appreciate it: "What do you need to go to such an expensive place to buy?"

But before he could refuse, Qi Ji made a decision: "That's it, see you in half an hour from Guihecheng."

Guihe City is a large-scale comprehensive shopping mall, and most of the high-end merchants that enter it are also high-end merchants with expensive prices, which are not suitable for students. In addition, Qi Ji was busy with part-time jobs before, so he didn't come here very often.

However, Qi Ji has taken over a few outsourcing jobs for advertising, and has been in contact with some men's clothing brands. In addition, Qi Mingyu is tall and thin, and he is very lined with clothes, so it was not bad for Qi Ji to pick clothes for his brother.

In less than an hour, they picked out two outfits, one formal and one casual, all of which Qi Mingyu could use recently.

Qi Mingyu didn't have much trouble with choosing clothes. If Qi Ji hadn't thought that it was not good for his younger brother to always borrow classmates' suits for formal occasions, he insisted on pulling him over. He wouldn't even want to come to the mall.

The only thing Qi Mingyu took the initiative to buy was a pair of wristbands. When passing by a sports brand store, he deliberately pulled Qi Ji in and picked a pair.

Qi Ji originally thought it was for his younger brother to use when he wanted to play, and planned to buy him another pair of sneakers. As a result, after Qi Mingyu took the wristband list from the front desk, he took Qi Ji away: "What shoes should I buy, these wristbands are for you."

Qi Ji didn't respond: "For me?"

"It's used when facing the computer. Didn't you say a while ago that your wrist hurts?" Qi Mingyu still had that impatient tone, and urged him, "Let's go, hurry up and pay."

Qi Ji couldn't help being a little surprised. He just mentioned it casually before, but he didn't expect his brother to remember it in his heart.

He thought about it for a while, and put into practice the frankness he had learned before: "Thank you, Mingyu."

Qi Mingyu gave a "tsk" and said angrily, "What nonsense, let's go."

The two of them walked towards the unified cashier with the list of clothes and wristbands. Qi Ji followed half a step, looked at the person for a while, and said in surprise, "Mingyu, your ears are red."

Qi Mingyu almost threw the wristband list in his hand: "Don't buy it!!"

Qi Ji smiled and stopped the person: "Okay, okay, I won't say it anymore."

Qi Mingyu's reaction when he blushed was exactly the same as his own.

Finally, pulled brother to the cashier, and there was another little episode when paid. Qi Ji was about to scan the code to pay when he saw Qi Mingyu took out his mobile phone.

"I'll buy it. I happen to have a scholarship for last semester."

Qi Ji was amused, and tapped his back with the long balloon stick next to the cashier: "Return the scholarship, your scholarship has been credited to my card, where did you get the scholarship?"

Qi Mingyu was about to say something, but the staff at the cashier asked carefully, "Which of the two of you is Mr. Qi?"

Qi Ji asked, "What's wrong?"

The staff said: "It's like this, we have a lottery in our shopping mall. The top prize is a total shopping gift of 50,000 yuan in the mall. Just now we showed in the background that Mr. Qi, whose mobile phone number is Xxxx, has won this prize. . So I'll let you know."

Qi Ji was surprised: "Have you won the lottery?"

The last number reported by the staff is exactly his mobile phone number.

The staff smiled and nodded: "Yes, congratulations."

He took out ten shopping mall gold cards with a face value of 5,000 yuan, put them in a shopping bag and handed them over to Qi Ji: "Please confirm your mobile phone number with us, and this is the gold card, which is common to all malls on the B2 to 8 floors. The validity period is one year, please keep it."

Qi Ji took over the gold generation card and found that it was indeed a physical card of Guihe City, with the terms and conditions common to the whole mall written on the back.

There are various propaganda banners and event costumes hanging in the mall all the year round, and it seems to be filled with a celebratory atmosphere. Qi Ji had never been to Guihe City before, and he did not expect that his first visit would be so lucky.

Fifty thousand.

Enough for him to buy a lot of clothes.

On the other hand, Qi Mingyu frowned and asked, "What activities are you doing?"

Isn't it because he is over-hearted? Isn't the general mall activities all gifts or discount cards? Why would you give such an expensive gift card directly? Besides, with such a high reward, no one from the shopping mall came to take pictures of the winners for publicity.

He asked, "Why don't we know when we got involved?"

The clerk pointed to Qi Ji's mobile phone and explained patiently: "The lottery event is conducted by randomly selecting a mobile phone number. As long as you connect to the free Wifi in the mall, you will automatically participate in the event."

There seemed to be no flaw in what he said, but Qi Mingyu still felt a little unbelievable.

Fifty thousand dollars.

...how this looks like a specific reward pre-designed by some people.

Qi Mingyu was thinking about whether to check whether the owner of the holding company in Guihecheng happened to be surnamed Pei, and found that Qi Ji also had some doubts because of his words: "But I didn't lose my name when I connected to Wifi. "

The staff explained: "Real-name system, sir, we can see your surname."

Qi Mingyu didn't want people to worry too much, so he paid three payment slips on behalf of the gold card, and then took the person away: "It must be your luck to win the lottery, go, get your clothes."

Hearing the words "good luck", Qi Ji was stunned for a while, and then said, "My luck... it shouldn't be too good."

Good luck is a word that Qi Ji never dared to hope for.

Whether it was the separation of his family when he was young, or the debts and accidents that followed, Qi Ji always felt that he was at fault. In the past, he always greeted people with a camouflaged obedience, and he didn't dare to get too close to kindness, which was actually the reason.

What's wrong with your feelings for Mr. Pei?

Qi Ji always felt that if he wanted to get close to someone, the other party would be implicated in bad luck.

...so he always thought that his name was under the fence, and never regarded himself as a miracle.

Even if she didn't immediately agree to grandma Yu's invitation to celebrate the New Year together today, it's not that she didn't have this consideration.

Although he didn't say much, Qi Ji's mood was obviously influenced by his thoughts. Qi Mingyu didn't ask any more questions when he saw this, he just dragged him to go shopping.

"50,000 yuan, go shopping again, if you don't buy it, you won't buy it for nothing."

The two hadn't had lunch yet. Originally, they wanted to go back to eat after buying clothes. This time, with the card, they settled for lunch in the mall. After eating, the two continued to stroll around, Qi Ji's mood recovered a little, and Qi Mingyu also asked him again: "Brother, shall we go to Grandma Yu's house for Chinese New Year?"

Qi Ji was still a little hesitant: "Will we disturb them when we go?"

"Probably not," Qi Mingyu said. "Grandma Yu said that Uncle Xue and his partner will be there, and Eric's wife and daughter will also come. There are more people, so we can celebrate the New Year together."

Seeing that Qi Ji was unsure, he said, "But don't worry, there are still a few days, otherwise we will think about it and talk to Grandma Yu in two days."

Qi Ji nodded: "Okay, then I'll wait for the company's arrangements during the Chinese New Year."

After talking about this, Qi Mingyu went to try on the shoes, and Qi Ji insisted on choosing a pair of sneakers for him. While he was changing his shoes, Qi sent a message to Pei Yusheng.

He wanted to ask Mr. Pei about the arrangements during the Spring Festival.

After all, it was a probationary period, Qi Ji thought about it again and again, but thought it would be better for him to ask.

However, until Qi Mingyu chose the shoes, Qi Ji still did not receive a reply from Pei Yusheng. He didn't pay much attention to it. He expected that the other party might be in a meeting, and the company was busy at the end of the year. And Qi Ji can actually roughly guess Mr. Pei's New Year's plan, and the other party should be with his family.

Qi Ji put away the phone and didn't wait for news.

When the two of them walked around the mall again, it was almost four o'clock, and when they were about to go to the supermarket on the B1 floor to buy something, Qi Ji suddenly received a call.

Qi Mingyu, who was about to ask people what they would like to eat at night: "..."

He had another hunch that he was about to be cut off.

But this call was far beyond expectations. After hearing the first sentence, Qi Ji's expression changed.

The call was from Dr. Zhao. His words were short and urgent.

Pei Yusheng fainted.

Qi Ji couldn't react for a while. He didn't expect to receive this kind of news just after thinking that he would bring bad luck to those close to him.

In the end, it was Qi Mingyu's voice that recalled his consciousness.

"Brother? Brother!" A pair of hands were placed on his shoulders, half supporting him, and Qi Mingyu's voice gradually came from far away, "Brother, calm down, what's the matter? Where are you going next? "

Qi Ji was in a trance for a moment, and then spit out a spot with difficulty.

"Go to Huashan Hospital."

The taxi was called by Qi Mingyu. Qi Ji was restless all the way. When he got off the taxi at the hospital, he realized that his younger brother was still by his side.

Qi Mingyu said, "I'll take my things home first, call me when you're done, and I'll pick you up."

Qi Ji smiled reluctantly, and said, "No, I'll go back on a bicycle later."

Qi Mingyu didn't argue with him about this: "You go first, be careful."

Qi Ji nodded casually, turned and walked towards the hospital. The bone-piercing coldness in the severe winter had returned to his side, making his hands and feet so cold that he couldn't help shivering.

The phone said that Pei Yusheng was overworked, back injury and insomnia combined, causing him to suddenly faint. In addition, Dr. Zhao hesitated on the phone, saying that he would ask Qi Ji to come over and chat in person.

Just listening to his tone makes people feel deeply uncomfortable.

Qi Ji's heart sank again and again.

In fact, there was still one thing in Qi Ji's heart that had not been answered. He didn't know why Pei Yusheng had such severe insomnia. Qi Ji had mistakenly thought that the death of his comrade-in-arms had stimulated Pei Yusheng, but the appearance of Wen Chuming has completely denied this possibility. Until now, Qi Ji only knew that he could relieve Pei Yusheng's insomnia, but he didn't know the reason for the other party's insomnia.

This time, Pei Yusheng suddenly fainted, which undoubtedly cast a cloud of worry on Qi Ji's heart.

Qi Ji was guessing randomly, and walked quickly to the floor where Dr. Zhao was, but just as he entered the elevator, he heard his cell phone ring.

is the information sound.

At this critical moment, Qi Ji didn't dare to miss any news. He quickly turned on the phone, but was startled by the news he caught.

He never imagined that this was actually a message from Pei Yusheng.

[There are no arrangements for the New Year, will you stay in S City? 】

There is another one at the back.

【Are you going home tonight? 】

Qi Ji was stunned.

Isn't Mr. Pei in a coma? Who is this message from?

The elevator door opened, and he followed the house number to find the room, but before he took a few steps, he ran into the man he knew all too well.

"Mr. Pei?!" Qi Ji was surprised, "Why did you come out... You, are you alright?"

The man in front of him was straight and poised, and he looked the same as usual. Except for the undisguised tiredness between his brows, there was no sickness on that handsome face. If he didn't mention it, no one would treat him as a sick person.

"I'm fine." The man didn't seem to expect Qi Ji's appearance, "Why are you here?"

Qi Ji carefully looked at the person from top to bottom, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the other party was really fine. "Doctor Zhao just called me and said you were in a coma," he said.

Pei Yusheng looked disapproving: "Why did he tell you?"

Seeing the anxious and worried expression of the boy in front of him, Pei Yusheng softened his tone and said, "I'm fine, probably because the wound is not healed completely, plus I'm busy with work, there was a small accident, don't worry too much, it's fine. "

Qi Ji asked nervously, "Is the wound still serious?"

Pei Yusheng reached out and rubbed his hair: "It's not serious, the medicine has been changed."

The two were talking, and Zhao Mingzhen also came out. He first said hello to Qi Ji, and then said, "Second Young Master, it's better for you to do a comprehensive examination. Aunt Xu also asked him to let him know before going to City B. You pay attention to your body..."

Pei Yusheng was unmoved: "Wait for my meeting in these two days to finish."

Zhao Mingzhen could only sigh at his uncooperativeness, and did not persuade him any further. He turned to Qi and said, "Xiao Qi, come here and I'll take you for an inspection."

Qi Ji was stunned for a moment, then pointed to himself: "Me?"

Zhao Mingzhen nodded: "Regular inspection of drug residues is not troublesome. It happens that I can take you there when I have time. It can be done in about half an hour."

Qi Ji was used to the inspection, so he didn't ask any more questions. But he was still worried about Pei Yusheng: "Is Mr. Pei's inspection more troublesome? Can't it be done now?"

"No trouble," Zhao Mingzhen said, and glanced at Pei Yusheng, "It's also half an hour, and you can go back together when you're done."

Pei Yusheng: "..."

Qi Ji was a little confused: "But is Mr. Pei busy going back to the meeting now? Can it be delayed for half an hour?"

The man who just insisted on going to work finally let go, "Yes."

He touched Qi Ji's soft hair again: "Then let's go back together later."

Qi Ji nodded: "Okay."

Pei Yusheng's comprehensive examination was to be done on another floor. He was taken away by the nurse, while Qi Ji stayed behind and followed Zhao Mingzhen.

However, Qi Ji did not expect that Dr. Zhao, who said he was going to examine him, did not bring him to the consultation room.

Before, because he didn't like the smell of disinfectant vapor, Qi Ji didn't come to the hospital very often, but he had also done several examinations in the nursing home, and he could distinguish the examination instruments. .

And when he followed people into the office, Qi Ji accidentally caught a glimpse of a little cold sweat oozing from the back of Zhao Mingzhen's neck.

Was it because Mr. Pei was in a coma just now and was frightened? Qi Ji was thinking about it, but saw Zhao Mingzhen help him pull out the chair, motioning him to sit, and then he sat down on the opposite chair.

It didn't look like it was going to be checked at all, Qi Ji asked, "Isn't it going to be checked?"

Zhao Mingzhen smiled, a little reluctantly: "Don't be in a hurry to check, Xiao Qi, I asked you to come here today, but there is actually something I want to tell you."

He paused and said, "After all, you are the most effective helper in the second young master's treatment."

Qi Ji was a little surprised, but what surprised him the most was the surprisingly seriousness of Dr. Zhao.

Thinking of the tone of the other party's call when he called, his heart that had just been put down raised again: "What's the matter?"

"Second Young Master suddenly fell into a coma this time. In addition to the wound and excessive fatigue, it should also be related to his insomnia." Zhao Mingzhen asked, "Second Young Master's recent sleep status is okay? I think he didn't send his sleep records yesterday. ."

"There's nothing unusual about this time," Qi Ji said. "Last night, it should be because Mr. Pei has been busy with work, and if he didn't go back, he probably didn't have a good rest."

He took the initiative to say, "I will go to the Rose Villa today and have a good rest with him."

But until he heard his last sentence, Zhao Mingzhen's face still didn't show much joy.

Qi Ji vaguely had an ominous premonition.

Zhao Mingzhen took off his glasses and wiped them slowly before putting them back on. In the process, he finally made up his mind and said, "Xiao Qi, I think this matter may still need to be told to you."

"We have been studying the sleep disorder of the second young master, but the progress is not obvious. The most effective treatment is your company." Zhao Mingzhen said slowly, "Some time ago, we carried out an exchange activity with the counterpart hospital in Moscow. A special case from decades ago was dug out from the archives, and an inspection report and a preserved brain tissue specimen were found."

Qi Ji didn't quite understand why Dr. Zhao suddenly mentioned this matter, but he still listened carefully and asked, "What case is it?"

Zhao Mingzhen was silent again, and then said, "That patient died of an extremely rare disease called fatal familial insomnia."

Qi Ji's heart skipped a beat.

Fatal insomnia?

The name of the disease directly hit the pain point in his heart.

"Fatal familial insomnia is a genetic disorder of the brain. The patient will be completely unable to sleep at the onset of the disease, this state will last about three months to about a year, and then the patient will die in a broken mood."

As Zhao Mingzhen spoke, his voice gradually became dry.

"The genetic rate of consanguinity of this disease is very high. So far... there is no effective treatment."

Qi Ji listened, and every word sounded so clearly into his ears, but he instinctively refused to associate this cruel disease with the people around him.

Can't sleep at all... No, no, it won't be like this.

But Zhao Mingzhen's next words completely overwhelmed Qi Ji's line of defense.

"The detection method for fatal familial insomnia is still immature and needs to be verified repeatedly. We haven't done this kind of test for Er Shao yet. But..."

Rao was mentally prepared, but Zhao Mingzhen was still so difficult when he spoke.

"But we found the patient information. The patient in Moscow... is the younger brother of the grandfather of the second young master."

Inbreeding.

Qi Ji was speechless.

These four characters are like a red branding iron, deeply imprinted on Qi Ji's reason.

And that cruel description continues.

"Second Young Master's great-grandfather also died because of this. It's just that the medical standard was not enough back then, so the symptoms could not be detected, and it was only regarded as a diagnosis of sudden disease. Now I look at it and find that he also fits the symptoms of the disease."

Zhao Mingzhen said: "Except for the two deceased elders, we are still unable to determine the genetic status of this disease in the Pei family. The second young master's grandfather has no symptoms of insomnia, and his deceased uncle has no descendants. So now the focus needs to be checked, It might be the second young master and his father."

There was a buzzing sound in Qi Ji's ears, and his eyes shook violently.

He still bites hard and refuses to admit: "But Mr. Pei's insomnia is not completely unable to fall asleep, he can still fall asleep..."

Zhao Mingzhen lowered his voice: "The average age of onset of this disease is around thirty to fifty years old."

Pei Yusheng has not yet reached the age of attack.

Therefore, his current symptoms cannot be used as a basis for rejecting the disease.

The room fell silent for a while.

After a long time, Qi Jicai finally found his voice: "But it's just speculation right now, right? And no matter what, we know the information so early, we can definitely prevent it..."

Zhao Mingzhen smiled bitterly.

He has persuaded too many people who have high hopes for doctors and current medical standards, but he never expected that one day he would persuade the people around him.

"That's right, Xiao Qi." He said, "I didn't mean Er Shao, we are talking about objective information that needs to be understood about this disease. Fatal familial insomnia does not belong to the category of mental and psychological diseases. It's a brain disease, a disease caused by mutations in the prion protein gene."

"The atrophy and damage of protein is irreversible, and human tissue cannot be repaired in reverse after injury."

There is no panacea in the world, as in the novel, one can bring the dead back to life. The human body is an extremely complex tissue system, and any damage will leave traces.

"This is a physiological disease, and it will not be transferred by human will." Zhao Mingzhen said, "This disease is very rare, but there are some cases all over the world. We have collected all the cases that can be found. So far, the attack The survival rate after that..."

He paused, his voice hoarse.

"It's zero."

Qi Ji froze completely.

He was always anxious on the way to the hospital, and it was not until he saw Pei Yusheng himself that he felt a little more relieved. He originally thought it was a false alarm, but in the end he realized that he had no such luck at all.

He should have known.

I have never been lucky.

"This matter... Does Mr. Pei know?"

Qi Ji reluctantly squeezed out the complete pronunciation of the sentence.

"No. We haven't been able to determine whether the disease is hereditary or not... Now we can only let everyone be psychologically prepared and actively cooperate with the subsequent treatment."

Zhao Mingzhen paused and said in a low voice, "But with the ability of Second Young Master, it's actually hard to hide this matter, he will know sooner or later."

Qi Ji didn't want to extinguish all hope, so he asked almost urgently: "It's not confirmed yet, right? The test hasn't been done yet, so we can't say it's possible as a result. Although the heritability is high, Mr. Pei's grandfather is also healthy. of……"

Zhao Mingzhen smiled reluctantly: "Yes, we still have to check."

Qi Ji persuaded himself and got Dr. Zhao's affirmation. Even though it was a positive result, he couldn't help but stare at him.

He intuited that Zhao Mingzhen's words were not finished yet.

Sure enough, Zhao Mingzhen was silent for a while, and then spoke with difficulty: "But the grandfather of the second young master has never had a sleep disorder for decades."

"It's the second young master and his father... Since they were young, they have suffered from severe insomnia."

The more he spoke, the lower his voice, until at the end he was almost inaudible,

"Like the uncle who fell ill."

Although the voice was soft, it was like a needle cone, stabbing Qi Ji fiercely.

When despair swept across the sky, Qi Ji suddenly began to hate himself.

He knew that he had bad luck.

Why are you still approaching Mr. Pei?

Why?