Chapter 37: Pretentious

The snake is small, covered with black and yellow scales, with two mung bean eyes that are eerie and strange, waggling its bright red tongue; looking vicious and vigilant. Lu Zhiqiao caught a glimpse of it, suddenly, her heart constricted in fright, she screamed, and crawled back.

Qi Yan was fiddling with the camera, when she heard the sound, and suddenly raised her head, frowned, and ran over: "What's wrong?"

"Snake, there is a snake..."

A faint rustling sound came from the haystack not far away, and a small snake covered with black and yellow patterns twisted and swam away quickly. Qi Yan was taken aback, and subconsciously took half a step back. She chased it with a stone in a few steps, swung her arm and slammed it hard, hitting the head of the snake impartially, the snake twitched twice, and did not move again.

She gathered her fingertips, turned her head and ran back, and saw scarlet blood dripping from Lu Zhiqiao's thin white calf, and two rows of fine and dense tooth marks were shocking.

Bitten.

At that moment, her brain seemed to be hollowed out, Qi Yan was stunned for two seconds, her lashes trembled slightly, her mouth was involuntarily half-opened, suddenly took a deep breath. 

Without further ado, she squatted down and lowered her head to untie the shoelaces on her feet.

The tropical rain forest with lush vegetation has a humid and warm climate, and it is a paradise for all kinds of mosquitoes, snakes and ants. Tourists are prohibited from entering several areas on the island where wild animals often appear. However, in order to protect the local ecological environment, the restrictions are not very strict, so creatures that move fast and scurry around like snakes can't be guarded at all.

There have been several cases of tourists being bitten by poisonous snakes. Some of them died of organ failure due to untimely treatment.

"Qi Yan..."

Lu Zhiqiao's face turned pale, her lips trembled uncontrollably, and her voice became hoarse, almost gasping out. She stared at her calf and the wound kept gushing blood. The glaring scarlet slid down her fair skin, and dripped into the haystack. She seemed to feel no pain at this moment, and many thoughts flashed through her mind.

Most of the snakes in the tropical rainforest are poisonous, and they are highly poisonous, and people will die within tens of minutes after being bitten. Thinking of this, she realized that she might die here today, very soon.

A strong fear welled up in her heart, and she immediately thought of her daughter. What to do? Her little girl, who is not yet fourteen years old, with no ability to live independently, so she will go through life and death again, and then become an orphan completely. After she dies, who would take care of her daughter? Will she be sent to an orphanage? Will she be in pain? Does she have to suffer a lot?

In those difficult days in the past, she thought about ending her life countless times, but her sense of responsibility forced her to live. As long as she thought of her crime of more than ten years ago and her young and helpless daughter, no matter how hard it was, she could bear it. But today's accident made everything uncontrollable.

They depend on each other in this corner of the world. They are each other's only relatives.

Thinking of this, her heart was sore and bitter, tears welled up and rolled in her eyes.

"Well, I'm here." Qi Yan untied her shoelaces without raising her head, with voice low and panting.

Her fingers trembled a little, and she pinched the shoelaces and pulled them out several times. She took a deep breath, bit her lower lip tightly, and pulled them hard to remove the two shoelaces, and then spliced ​​them together to tie a knot. The first time it was loose, and the second time it was successful.

With these simple and steady words, Lu Zhiqiao seemed to be grasping at straws, sniffed lightly, and said, "My bank card password is 070217, all cards and passbooks are the same, and the passbook at home is in the bottom drawer of my closet. As well as the real estate certificate and household registration book, I bought insurance for myself..."

"Shut up!" Qi Yan interrupted with a frown, straightened the shoelaces to wrap around her calf wounds, and tied them tightly.

The palms of the hands were sweaty, and the knot was tied several times after repeated tries. She supported Lu Zhiqiao's shoulders, looked directly into those tearful eyes, and said word by word: "It's gonna be okay, listen to me, now, keep breathing steadily, don't panic, try to delay the time for the toxin to reach the heart, and then sit here. Don't move, I'll call the ambulance."

"Trust me, it's gonna be fine."

She said it again, with a calm face, but her voice was trembling uncontrollably, her tone changing and she had to clench her teeth.

Lu Zhiqiao stared at her with fixed eyes, and the tense string in her heart was torn apart, tears burst out instantly, and she choked up and called her name: "Qi Yan..."

For so many years, she is used to carrying everything alone, never letting herself fall into emotional mud, and always keeping calm and rational. Right now, in the face of life and death, she finally collapsed. If there was no one to comfort her, she might have to maintain her last sliver of strength. But after hearing Qi Yan's comfort; someone who understood her difficulties and pain, all emotions exploded at this moment: fear, anxiety, helplessness, hopelessness.

"Niu Niu is still so young...what will she do..." Lu Zhiqiao hugged Qi Yan and cried bitterly.

Thinking of her daughter's lonely and helpless future, her heart twitched and ached. After all, she didn't raise the child properly, and if she dies, her sins would be even deeper, she couldn't rest in peace.

The forest is quiet and peaceful, and the sun is shining down from the top of her head, like the last scene of her life.

Qi Yan hugged her tightly, her arms were trembling due to too much force. Her eyes were misty trying to blink away invisible tears, brows were tangled up, while her lips were pursed into a straight line, clenching her teeth to keep herself from choking.

Her heart was pinched, cut open, and crushed. The fear was contagious, and it was torturing her to death.

Because of this, Qi Yan understood that she could not be afraid or panic now. So she patted Lu Zhiqiao on the back and comforted her softly: "It will be fine, the three of us came, and the three of us will go back."

Having said that, she didn't know what to do, she just didn't want to think about the worst case, it would be an unbearable pain for her.

Lu Zhiqiao's mind was full of her daughter, so she couldn't hear the comforting words, but she cried even more fiercely, grabbed Qi Yan's hand and said, "The card and passbook add up to more than three million... I'll give it to you... Please ...take care of Niu Niu for me, okay..."

"Okay." Qi Yan nodded vigorously, agreeing without hesitation.  "Do not worry."

She raised her hand to hold Lu Zhiqiao's face, slowly wiped away the tears with her fingertips, patted her back with the other hand, and kissed her forehead lightly. Perhaps this answer played a soothing role, Lu Zhiqiao gasped, her tense body softened, and leaned against Qi Yan's arms, her eyes were ashen.

She can rest in peace.

Sorry.

Lu Zhiqiao apologized to Qi Yan in her heart, with a desolate expression.

Qi Yan grabbed her hand and kissed her, then helped her to sit up. Her eyes showing a trace of firm determination: "Wait for me."

After speaking, she got up, ran to the car parked on the side of the road, picked up her phone and dialed the local emergency number, explained the situation clearly and concisely, then returned to Lu Zhiqiao with the emergency kit, quickly dug out the gauze and normal saline, wiped off the fluid. After the blood came out, she washed the wound and did a simple bandage.

Her every movement is crisp and neat, racing against time.

"The rescue helicopter will be here soon. Let's go to the entrance of the rainforest now." Qi Yan pulled Lu Zhiqiao's arm around her neck and put it on her shoulder. Together, she helped her out of the forest.

"Mom--"

Lu Wei came back after using the toilet.

The little girl jumped to the side of the car and found no one inside. Turning around and looking around, she saw Qi Yan helping Lu Zhiqiao out of the woods. The latter's legs were wrapped in gauze, faintly oozing with blood.

She was frightened and ran over quickly: "What's wrong with your leg?"

The expressions of the mother and the teacher were not quite right, both of them had red eyes, especially her mother, eyes were red and swollen, her nose was also red, and her face was as pale as paper. At that moment, she had guessed that something bad had happened.

Seeing her daughter, Lu Zhiqiao's dark eyes lit up, but her heart became more and more sour. She opened her mouth, and just about to speak, Qi Yan stepped forward and said: "It's okay, your mother accidentally fell and hit her leg. We are now going to the hospital."

The little girl frowned worriedly, and wanted to ask, but she didn't dare to waste time, so she quickly opened the car door, helped her mother get into the car, and then went up by herself.

The old pickup truck shuttled along the forest path, much faster than when it came, and it was silent along the way.

The mother and daughter sat in the back row, Lu Wei hugged her mother's waist, and never took her eyes off her injured calf. Seeing that the red spot in snow-white gauze was getting bigger and bigger, her heart beat a small drum, feeling uneasy.

If she's bleeding so much, she must have fallen hard. If this continues like this, won't her life be in danger? She was so scared, her mother was her only relative in this world, if something happened to her, she would become a poor little unwanted person, and she would be sent to an orphanage, just...

"Mom..." The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, Lu Wei's eyes became moist, "Is your leg... serious?"

Lu Zhiqiao put one arm around her daughter's shoulders, her face was ashen, showing the calmness of waiting for death, but when she heard her daughter calling her, her heart ached again, and she turned her head and put her face on her forehead, softly: "It's not serious."

"But it's been bleeding a lot." The little girl's throat was choked up, tears streaming down her cheeks, her fingers clenched the corners of her clothes tightly.

"It's okay." Lu Zhiqiao smiled and kissed his daughter's face, "Skin trauma, it won't bleed after a while."

"Well."

The child didn't seem to believe it, but she didn't speak any more. She leaned her little head in front of her and hugged her even tighter.

Lu Zhiqiao took a light breath, touched her daughter's soft ponytail, more and more bitterness overflowed in her heart, and couldn't help saying: "Young girl, you have to listen to Teacher Qi."

"?"

Lu Wei froze and looked at her in horror.

"I mean, when we get to the hospital, you have to listen to Teacher Qi and don't run around." Realizing what she said, Lu Zhiqiao hurriedly made amends. If it wasn't for fear of scaring her daughter, she really wanted to explain everything right now.

"...okay." The little girl breathed a sigh of relief.

Qi Yan was driving in front, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, palms were sweaty and slippery.  Listening to the conversation between the mother and daughter, her heart was pounding. Just at this moment, she turned a corner, and a car approached her. She lost control of the direction and almost ran into it head-on.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly, slammed the steering wheel, made a sharp turn, and was able to avoid it.

With the sudden shaking, Lu Zhiqiao subconsciously hugged her daughter tightly and grabbed the roof rail.  She raised her eyes, looked at the back of the woman driving, and suddenly felt a dense sense of fullness in her heart, and her throat was a little choked: "Qi Yan..."

"I am here."

"I'm fine." She said softly.

Qi Yan pursed her lips tightly and did not speak, the car was getting faster and faster.

When they arrived at the entrance of the rainforest, the rescue helicopter also arrived. Lu Zhiqiao was carried on a stretcher by the emergency personnel, and Qi Yan and Lu Wei also followed. The little girl had never seen such a big show, and she thought it was amusing. But it didn't take long to realize the seriousness of the situation.

She saw Teacher Qi holding her mother's hand all the time, she also saw her mother's eyes as if saying goodbye, and even saw a tear in Teacher Qi's eyes. She heard Teacher Qi talking to the uncle who was carrying the stretcher. She spoke very fast, and there were many unfamiliar words.

It only took two or three minutes to fly from the small island to the main island. As soon as they landed in the hospital, Lu Zhiqiao was sent to the emergency room, and the teacher and student were stopped outside.

Seeing the heavy and thick door close, Qi Yan's heart was knocked, and her chest was empty, as if something had been ripped out.

Growing up so big, she has only experienced life and death once. It was when she was nine years old, and her grandfather who loved her like life was sent to the emergency room. She stood here just like today, watching the door close and open. The person who was just in the ward a moment ago and said that he would fry sweet and sour pork ribs for her turned into a still warm corpse in the blink of an eye, which was so fast that people were caught off guard.

She cried her heart out in the hospital that day, and she still deeply remembers the pain of being hollowed out.

For a long time afterwards, she would cry when she saw pictures of sweet and sour pork ribs, and would vomit when she smelled sweet and sour pork ribs, and could no longer eat all the food related to pork ribs.

The biggest thing in the world is life and death. Losing an important person is heartbreaking.

She and Lu Zhiqiao aren't relatives, but after only three months of getting along, that person has been unknowingly planted in her heart and took root. She remembered the gentle and vivid tears when she smiled, the cold and indifferent eyes and brows when she was not smiling, the light and pleasant smell of perfume on her body, her blouse that was always buttoned to the top, her unpredictable temperament, and unsolvable family mystery.

And all this will be taken away by the snake venom.

If they hadn't stepped into the woods at that time, if they hadn't stayed so long, or if they had changed to a location where there were not many trees and the grass was not lush, wouldn't it have happened?  Maybe the toxin is not that powerful, maybe they arrived at the doctor to deal with it in time, maybe she isn't poisoned, could it be a false alarm?

Qi Yan's nerves were tense, her legs stood stiffly, her heart was filled with mixed emotions, both apprehensive and hopeful.

"Teacher Qi..."

She regained her senses, curled up her cold fingers, turned around, and saw Lu Wei looking at her cautiously, her small face pale: "Are you lying to me?"

"Is my mother badly hurt?"

The child doesn't know much, but she can observe. Seeing their nervousness and panic, the few things she picked up during the rescue, she naturally understood a little bit. As she spoke, tears came out.

Qi Yan was startled, but her expression suddenly turned into pity.

The mother and daughter are each other's only relatives. If Lu Zhiqiao's life is in danger, there will be only this poor child left in the world. Just now Lu Zhiqiao was in a hurry to entrust her daughter to her, and she agreed without thinking, because if the worst happened, she would definitely do it, even without Lu Zhiqiao's instructions. It was not a matter of money, she was not short of money, her family has more than enough to raise a child.

Twelve years old is already a sensible age, she understands what life and death are, and what it means to have nothing to rely on in the future, but her mind is still immature, how will she bear such a cruel blow?

At least, Niu Niu has the right to know.

Qi Yan took a deep breath, moved her lips, stepped forward and took the girl's hand, wiped the tears off her face, and said softly, "Niu Niu, your mother was bitten by a snake..."

Before she finished speaking, the little girl cried even harder, her body twitched, and she choked up and asked, "Will she die?"

Qi Yan felt sore in her heart, she pressed her lips together, unable to utter a single word.

She didn't want to make any guesses, and she didn't want to think about whether the result would be good or bad. Every minute and every second of waiting was suffering, which would only increase the fear in her heart for no reason. But at the moment the child is more vulnerable and needs comfort more than her, the strong adult.

"No." Qi Yan hugged the girl, "The doctor can save her, we will wait here."

As soon as the words were finished, the door behind her opened. At that moment, she raised her whole heart, subconsciously hugged Niu Niu tightly, and told herself not to be afraid, not to panic, no matter what scene she sees. Then, slowly turn around.

A nurse came out, followed by Lu Zhiqiao with a dazed face.

"Mom!" Lu Wei cried and ran to hug her.

Qi Yan was also stunned, so she hurriedly went up to ask the nurse what was going on, and the nurse said, "Her blood does not contain any kind of snake venom, it was a non-venomous snake that bit her. We have treated her wounds, and now she needs to follow me. To get a tetanus shot."

Turning her gaze to Lu Zhiqiao, who was lowering her head to comfort her daughter, Qi Yan saw that the wound on her calf had been bandaged again, and the bleeding had stopped.

The tense nerves were suddenly relaxed, and she was lifted from hell to heaven in one swoop.

During the injection, Qi Yan was still not at ease, and asked the nurse if she was sure, "Is it really not poisonous? The snake's pattern is black and yellow, very bright, they're usually a poisonous snake."

"Poisonous snakes have two large fangs, and the wound left after the bite is two large and deep holes, while non-venomous snakes do not have large fangs, leaving only two rows of small symmetrical tooth marks." The nurse explained to her, then smiled helplessly.

"According to your description, it should be a yellow chain snake. There is a kind of golden krait that looks quite similar to it. It is highly poisonous. Those two are often confused by people."

Unfamiliar words appeared, Qi Yan didn't understand, but the meaning of the sentence was understood, probably there are two kinds of snakes that look alike, one is poisonous and the other is non-poisonous, the one that bit Lu Zhiqiao was non-poisonous, they didn't know it and it scared them to death.

When she saw the snake just now, Qi Yan was also taken aback. Her first reaction was that the snake was poisonous, so she only thought about saving Lu Zhiqiao and neglected to observe the wound. Now that she thinks about it, she and her friends went to the Amazon Rainforest to observe the wind in the early years. In a local village, almost everyone was bitten by a snake. There were some scars on their arms and legs. Some of them were bitten by a poisonous snake and survived in time. It is okay to be bitten by a non-venomous snake, and the wound has two shapes.

As long as you calm down, you won't be in such a mess.

However, it was about Lu Zhiqiao, how could she calm down?

Qi Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and held Lu Zhiqiao's other hand, her palm was cold and wet. Lu Zhiqiao looked up at her, with eyes revealing joy and other many complicated meanings. She seemed to understand, but at the same time, not quite understand.

The two stared at each other for a long time, their gazes tightly intertwined, filled with dark and unclear emotions.

Lu Wei's eyes widened as she watched from the side.

Her mother and teacher are looking at each other strangely, and there is a sense of familiarity, which is the same as the feeling when she saw them hugging on the sofa that day, just like... the hero and heroine in TV dramas often look at each other when they are emotionally confessing their love.

Can it be between good friends? It seems that she will try it with her little sister when she goes back.

After this incident happened, although it was a false alarm, they were terribly frightened. All three of them were exhausted, and no one was in the mood to play any more. After leaving the hospital, they took a taxi back to the hotel.

Qi Yan helped Lu Zhiqiao into the room, and wanted her to lie on the bed to rest, but she refused, fearing that the sheets would be dirty, so she insisted on sitting on the sofa.  Unable to resist, Qi Yan had no choice but to follow her, took a pillow for her back, and asked softly: "Are you hungry? If you want to eat, I'll go buy something."

Ignoring the child beside her, she grabbed her hand.

Lu Zhiqiao had just recovered from the fear of death, and her thoughts were a little sluggish. She saw fine beads of sweat on Qi Yan's forehead, her nose was sore, and subconsciously held the woman's hand: "You are tired too, take a rest. I'm not hungry."

"I'm not tired." Qi Yan smiled softly, and sat down next to her, "You only ate snacks from morning to now, and the main meal is over, it's a wonder why you're not hungry."

Lu Zhiqiao pursed her lips. At this moment, thousands of feelings were condensed in her heart. She didn't know what to say for a while. She was a little embarrassed to be stared at by Qi Yan like this, and then remembered that she had just made a false alarm.

She lowered her eyes in embarrassment and said nothing.

"Then I'll see what to buy." Qi Yan patted the back of her hand, let go and stood up, "Niu Niu, you stay here with mom, I'll go out and buy something to eat, and I'll be back soon."

The little girl came over with a glass of warm water and nodded: "Okay."

Qi Yan left and only the mother and daughter were left in the house.

"Mom, are you thirsty? Drink some water." Lu Wei handed over the cup and stood by the sofa looking at her mother in a daze.

She wasn't thirsty but she didn't say anything, Lu Zhiqiao took a few sips from the cup, put it down, reached out and took her daughter into her arms, touched her hair and face, and took a deep breath: "Niu Niu, it's okay, it's okay  It's..."

The warmth in her arms is extremely reassuring.

She is lucky, she didn't die, and it is God who is reluctant to let this child lose its mother. She is not poisoned, she is still alive, and her little girl will not become an orphan.

Lu Wei put her arms around her mother's neck, nodded, buried her small face in her hair, and said in a muffled voice: "Mom, Teacher Qi is also very worried about you."

Lu Zhiqiao was taken aback for a moment, the figure of that person flashed in her mind, the corners of her mouth slightly curled up, and a wry smile appeared.

In just two hours, her mood was ups and downs, as if she had walked through the gate of hell, between life and death. She suddenly had mixed feelings. When she was most flustered and helpless, Qi Yan was like a reassurance, melting into her heart gently and giving her confidence.

But she knew that Qi Yan was also afraid.

A girl who was five years younger than her, whose hands were shaking so badly that she was unable to control her tone, remained calm and comforted her, and even agreed to take care of her daughter without hesitation.

After calming down, Lu Zhiqiao realized how selfish she was.

Why did she think of Qi Yan, how can she have that face to speak? What gives her the right?

The two of them were neither related nor acquainted, they just did it once, they happened to live opposite each other, Qi Yan had no obligation nor responsibility for a burden that did not belong to her. It's her messed up mind that made a fool of herself and thought that Qi Yan is good for her and she can think nonsense. When usually, her so-called lofty and reserved image; a mask worn by her, couldn't stand the serious or false teasing of that person.

At the time of life and death, she suddenly became hypocritical and a little sentimental. After all these years, she carried her small family alone, she always coiled herself tightly and persisted with a sense of responsibility. No one asked her if she was tired, and no one cared if she was suffering. But Qi Yan's gentle eyes and two or three simple words easily defeated her fragile line of defense. She is just an ordinary and mediocre person, to be remembered so much, even if she is dead, it is worth it.

She is not as strong as she thought.

She couldn't tell what kind of feeling she really had for Qi Yan.

She like Qi Yan's confidence. She likes the sense of security Qi Yan gives. She likes her inexplicable but fascinating charm and many other things but she is not so sure about Qi Yan herself.

Her heart was in a mess, and when an idea came up, Lu Zhiqiao mercilessly drove it away.

She won't like Qi Yan.

....

Not long after, Qi Yan came back, holding a stack of food boxes in her hand, exuding a tempting aroma. She bought food for three people, took them out one by one, put them on the table, opened them, and called softly, "Niu Niu, it's time to eat."

The little girl was also hungry, and ran over when she smelled the aroma. When she saw that it was her favorite eel rice, she immediately put her exhaustion behind her and sat down to eat obediently.

Qi Yan opened the bottom food box, and the light aroma overflowed. She brought it to Lu Zhiqiao, and handed over the tableware: "You have a wound on your body, so you can't eat greasy and spicy food, so I bought vegetarian noodles, eat it first. In the evening, I will go to buy ingredients and prepare delicious food for you."

The gentle and soft voice was like a feather, passing lightly over her heart, Lu Zhiqiao's expression moved slightly, she looked down at the bowl of noodles, took it silently without saying a word.

"Is it tasty?"

"Yeah." Lu Zhiqiao lowered her eyes, not daring to look at her.

Qi Yan didn't pay attention, she focused on her bandaged calf, and said in a gentle tone, "After dinner, I'll go to the island and drive back, and then buy ingredients. You can rest in your room, and Niu Niu will accompany you."

"...Okay." She paused, "Come back early."

That afternoon, Qi Yan ran around outside, thinking of Lu Zhiqiao's words to come back early, like a wild kite tied with a rope, and the person holding the rope at the other end was her concern. So when the sun was about to set, she walked back to the hotel with her hands full, stepping on the last rays of the setting sun.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw Lu Zhiqiao holding pajamas and going to the toilet.

"Bathing?" she asked.

Lu Zhiqiao was stunned, with joy in her eyes. Seeing that she was carrying a bag full in her hands, she put down her pajamas and went to help carry it: "Yes, I'm sweating and my clothes are dirty. So I'll take a bath."

"I'll help you wash yourself." Qi Yan blurted out.

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