April 28, 2013, the nineteenth day of the third month of the lunar calendar.
Sunday, around 7 a.m.
18-year-old Chen Yu took a taxi alone to the Huode Zhenjun Temple next to Houhai.
He is not here for fun or to burn incense.
Today is the day of death of the 8-year-old boy that my 38-year-old self wrote in the text message I sent him.
In that text message, the 38-year-old himself wrote the name and age of the little boy, but did not include a picture.
This greatly increased the difficulty for him to find the little boy.
Fortunately, in that text message, it was mentioned that the place where the little boy drowned was on the back sea not far from Huode Zhenjun Temple.
Otherwise, it would be really hard to find him for a while because the sea back there is so big.
But even so, it was still quite difficult for him to find it today.
Not only because he did not have a photo of the little boy, he only knew that the little boy was 8 years old and his name was Xu Tianxing. On April 28, 2013, he came to Huode Zhenjun Temple with his cousin to play. After coming out of Huode Zhenjun Temple, he came to
After arriving at the beach, he accidentally fell into the water and died at 11:22 am.
That's all the information.
And today is Sunday. There are many people coming to Huode Zhenjun Temple, and there are also many people at Houhai Beach. Is it easy to find that 8-year-old boy who doesn't know the truth in this huge sea of people?
not easy!
So Chen Yu came very early today, intending to keep an eye on everyone who came in and out of Huode Zhenjun Temple, especially a combination of a woman and a little boy about 8 years old.
In order to make himself look more natural and less eye-catching, he bought a SLR camera in advance.
I came to the gate of Huode Zhenjun Temple very early in the morning and took pictures of flowers, plants and trees, and some birds on the treetops.
Occasionally when he sees someone passing by, he will glance at the person. If there is no child with him, or if the child he is with obviously does not look like an 8-year-old child, his eyes will naturally be turned away.
If he sees a suspicious target, he will look at it a few more times.
Time passes little by little.
He found two pairs of girl/girl combinations that roughly matched the characteristics.
The woman in one of the girl/child pairs is about thirty years old, and the boy looks like he is five or six years old, but maybe he is growing slowly, or he may be an eight-year-old child.
The girl in another girl/child pairing is about seventeen or eighteen years old, and the boy is estimated to be about eleven or twelve years old. However, it is possible that he has been well nourished since he was a child, so it is possible that he has grown quickly.
At this time, Chen Yu observed the harvest of more than two hours.
His intuition told him that neither of those two girl/girl combinations looked like the target he was looking for.
It was already past 9 o'clock in the morning, and the time when the little boy drowned was getting closer and closer, and he couldn't help but feel anxious.
After all, it was a human life. Even if he did not consider the special status of the little boy, even if Chen Yu knew that such a child was going to drown at a certain time and place, he could not remain indifferent.
what to do?
Are you going to watch next to Houhai now?
Call the police?
Can't call the police!
No one has fallen into the water yet, so if I call the police, it is a false alarm.
Tell people - I know a little boy is going to drown there?
Who believes it?
If you beep again, the mental hospital will arrange a bed for him.
He originally thought that as long as he came earlier today and stayed in front of the gate of Huode Zhenjun Temple, he would definitely not miss the girl/girl pair.
Now it seems that just watching it by myself is a bit risky.
Maybe I really missed it.
Even though he had been watching carefully today, he felt that he had not missed anyone who entered the temple, but because he had not found a very similar target so far, he still couldn't help but wonder if he had missed it.
Just when he was getting more and more anxious and couldn't help but want to leave here and go to Houhai to wait and see, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a fiery red figure out of the corner of his eye.
His eyes were drawn over.
It was a girl wearing a fiery red dress. She was neither tall nor short. Her skin was very white, as white as porcelain, and seemed to be a little shiny.
This girl looks about seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed youthfully, with an oval face, a little baby fat, and a pair of very smart eyes.
Wearing a red dress seemed to add a passionate temperament to her.
She walked briskly and happily led a little boy towards this side. As she walked, she urged, "Tianxing, hurry up! Let's go in quickly and burn incense to pray for grandma, and then let's go to Houhai to see the turtles, okay?"
"
The little boy was wearing a small gray striped suit, a pair of brown leather shoes, and a three-quarter haircut. He looked like a little adult.
Hearing this, he looked up at the girl holding his hand and said, "Sister, are there really little turtles on Houhai Beach? Why didn't I see any little turtles when I came to Houhai before?"
The woman curled her lips, "Have you been to this temple before?"
The little boy shook his head.
The woman said in a brisk tone, "Then when you came to Houhai before, you must have never been around here, right?"
The little boy didn't understand why she said this, but he still followed her words, nodded and said yes.
Woman: "So, when you came to Houhai before, you didn't see the little turtle, but it's different here!"
The little boy looked up at her again, "What's the difference?"
Woman: "Because there is a temple here. After some people come to worship in the temple, they will go out and buy some small turtles and release them into the back sea next to it. Do you understand the release?"
The little boy blinked, "Sister, do you mean to let the little turtle survive?"
Woman: "Yes! That's what it means, but turtles are stupid. Some of the little turtles that were released were obviously released into Houhai, but they still stayed on the shore and did not swim away. I will take you to look for them later.
OK?"
"Oh, that's it, that's good!"
…
The figure of the woman holding the little boy has disappeared through the temple gate of Huode Zhenjun Temple.
Chen Yu, who had just heard them talking and followed them quietly for a while, stopped and did not continue to follow.
Star?
He just heard the woman in the red dress calling the little boy "Tianxing".
And the little boy also called the woman in the red skirt "Sister". Judging from the appearance of the little boy, she did look like a child of about eight years old.
They must be right!
Chen Yu felt relieved.
Finally the target was spotted.
Judging from what the woman in the red dress just said, when they come out after burning incense, she will take the little boy to Houhai Lake to see the little turtles.
So, this is how this little boy slipped and fell into the water?
He shook his head secretly in his mind.
Girls who grew up in this city are just different.
He grew up in Chenjiaba. There is a river and several fish ponds near their village. A little further away, there is the Xin'an River.
But he has been warned by his family since he was a child not to play by the water unless an adult takes him with him. Otherwise, if he goes there once, he will have to eat a meal of fried meat with bamboo shoots when he comes home.
Anyway, there is a lot of bamboo in their village. My mother will break off a thin bamboo strip and slap him on the butt while scolding him. She must slap him until he cries and promises never to play by the river again.
, stopped after grandma’s dissuasion.
Actually, it's not just him.
Children in their village, if they went to play by the water when they were young, they would be beaten if adults saw them.
If you are taken to play by the water by your brother or sister, you will also be beaten by your brother and sister.
How is it like the girl in the red dress just now, who actually took the initiative to take her brother to play by the water?
Is it because you were never beaten by your family because of this when you were a child?
After feeling relaxed, Chen Yu began to act like a photography enthusiast, taking pictures here and there.
About half an hour later.
He glanced at the fiery red figure, forget it! For such a stupid girl, let's just write about the fiery red figure!
He caught a glimpse of the girl leading the little boy out of the temple gate quickly.
Chen Yu smiled, and in order to get rid of the suspicion of following him, he turned around and strode towards Houhai.
As long as I keep walking in front of them, it's not stalking!
Of course, in order to avoid losing them, he would stop from time to time, as if he was looking at the surrounding scenery to see where it would be suitable to take another picture.
Most of the time, he just looked at it.
Mainly just glancing at the girl/girl pair out of the corner of my eye.
Make sure they are still within his sight.
In this way, Chen Yu arrived at the back seaside ahead of them. There was a guardrail on the waterside. He stopped and began to take pictures of the water scenery, glancing at the two people again from time to time.
In this way, sometimes he walked fast, leaving them far behind, and sometimes he walked slowly, allowing them to far surpass him.
Anyway, he always made sure they were within sight of him.
The time is getting closer to 11 o'clock.
During this period, he saw the girl in the red dress and the little boy by the water, sticking her head out of the guardrail of the water to look for the little turtle by the water.
They actually found him. Chen Yu was surprised when he saw them pointing somewhere by the water.
Are turtles that good-looking?
If you like turtles, why not buy one and kill it for soup? Let the turtle become one with you. You can keep the leftover turtle shell forever.
Or, you can raise a live one.
"Cen Ying? Huh? It's really you, what a coincidence!"
When a tall handsome man passed by the girl in the red dress, he accidentally caught a glimpse of the girl's face. He was surprised and stopped to talk to the girl in the red dress.
The girl in the red dress heard his voice and followed it.
Seeing the tall and handsome man, she had an expression of surprise on her face.
"Liang Jin? Hey, why are you here too? You didn't come to Huode Zhenjun Temple to offer incense, right? What a coincidence, what a coincidence!"
Chen Yu, who was more than ten meters away, witnessed this scene with the corner of his eye. He was surprised to find that the girl in the red dress, Cen Ying, had her eyes shining when she saw the handsome guy?
That excited look seemed too proactive.
Is she only so excited when she sees this Liang Jin? Or is she so excited when she sees every handsome guy?
Well, I guess it was only when I saw Liang Jin that I became so excited.
Because she had never been excited when she saw me several times just now.
He would not admit that Liang Jin's sales were better than his.
He would rather admit that Liang Jin is a pretty boy, but who real man can compete with a pretty boy? He doesn't even bother!
Time continues to pass.
More than ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and Cen Ying was still chatting with Liang Jinre, whom she met by chance. She giggled from time to time, which made Chen Yu want to roll his eyes.
At the same time, he also knew why the little boy Xu Tianxing drowned in the original time and space.
Seeing how his cousin Cen Ying completely forgot about the 8-year-old Xu Tianxing when she saw the handsome boy, even if the little boy fell into the water, Cen Ying probably wouldn't notice it.
Chen Yu seemed tired. He was leaning on the guardrail by the water, with his face raised and his eyes squinting. He seemed to be enjoying the breeze, but he kept paying attention to the 8-year-old Xu Tianxing out of the corner of his eye.
Why does the name have the word "天" in it?
When people in the country name their children, they deliberately choose something mean. Even if they don't name their children something mean, they won't give their children names with words like "Heaven", "God", and "Immortal".
I am just afraid of violating taboos and arousing the jealousy of heaven.
Chen Yu, who was bored, had these boring thoughts running through his mind.
He caught a glimpse of the little boy talking to his sister Cen Ying several times, but Cen Ying dismissed her impatiently. Then she continued chatting happily with the handsome Liang Jin.
Is this the legendary love-brained woman?
8-year-old Xu Tianxing tried to ask his sister for help several times, but was dismissed impatiently. Even at the age of 8, he was angry and glared at his sister, but was completely ignored by her.
Finally, he angrily came to the railing by the water alone, climbed outside the railing little by little, and reached out to catch a small turtle by the water.
But the little turtle was obviously not willing to be caught, so it tried hard to paddle its four short legs, trying to stay away from the little boy's claws.
The little boy held on to the railing with one hand and used the other to catch the little turtle by the water. Because the little turtle swam further and further away, the little boy leaned further and further forward. Suddenly, the leather shoes under his feet slipped and he
Ah screamed in surprise, the voice was not too quiet, but his cousin Cen Ying, who was not far away from him, turned a deaf ear and didn't care at all.
The handsome guy Liang Jin, who was chatting happily with her, didn't pay attention to the exclamation just now.
Only Chen Yu noticed that the little boy slipped into the water and suddenly disappeared on the water, unable to see the top of his head.
Seeing this scene, Chen Yu, who had learned to swim in the Xin'an River since he was a child, plunged into the water and could swim almost twenty meters from the bottom of the water. He calmly took off the Danfan camera hanging around his neck and stepped on it with his left foot.
The shoe on your right foot, step on the shoe on your left foot with your right foot.
About swimming?
He's grown so big that he has never met a rival.
He couldn't drown even if he didn't move his hands or just tread water with his feet.
At that moment, without saying a word, he climbed over the railing at the water's edge, jumped into the undulating water of Houhai.
Suddenly, pedestrians on the roadside exclaimed.
"Ah, no good! Someone jumped into the sea..."
"Someone jumped into the sea!!"
"Hurry and save people! There is a young man who just couldn't think of jumping into the sea..."
…
Even Cen Ying, who was more than ten meters away, was stunned, and then exclaimed: "Someone just committed suicide by jumping into the sea..."
Everyone who had witnessed the scene of Chen Yu jumping into the sea just now rushed to the railing by the water and peered at Chen Yu in the water.
Immediately, these people were stunned.
Because they were surprised to see that Chen Yu, who jumped into the sea and committed suicide, did not give up his struggle for survival. In other words, he did not seem to be struggling for his life at all, but was struggling to swim towards the position of Cen Ying and Liang Jin.
The water splashed everywhere, Chen Yu paddled hard under the water with his hands, and kicked back violently with his feet.
Is this supposed to be breaststroke?
He swims in a country-style way, with no particular emphasis on swimming as fast and as easy as he wants.
He swam really fast. Every time his feet moved, his whole body would suddenly jump forward a lot.
He swam so fast that the two men on the shore who wanted to go into the water to rescue him were stunned.
This young man...does he really need to be saved?
"Hey! Young man, what are you doing? Are you committing suicide or swimming? If you are swimming, why don't you take off your clothes? How can anyone swim with clothes on like you?"
A curly-haired woman on the shore asked him in a loud voice.
Chen Yu ignored him. He discovered that the little boy just now didn't know what happened. He slipped into the water and never came out of the water.
When he was a child in Chenjiaba, he also saw a friend who couldn't swim lose his footing and fall into the water. He remembered that after the friend fell into the water, he would scratch his hands and his head would jump out of the water from time to time, but every time he just jumped out of the water, he would still
Before he could take a breath, he was submerged under the water again.
As for the little boy Xu Tianxing just now, after he fell into the water, his head was never seen jumping out of the water.
Is the water here too deep? Xu Tianxing suddenly slipped to the bottom?
Thinking of this, Chen Yu suddenly took a deep breath, pursed his lips tightly, and bulged his cheeks high, like a toad. Before the people on the shore could react, he suddenly plunged into the water.
He dived head first into the water, while his feet were still on the water and kicked several times in succession.
"Is this a new way of committing suicide by diving?"
On the shore, a city girl who had never seen a rural person make a fool of herself asked the little sister next to her blankly.
Fortunately, the little sister was not as blank-eyed as she was. She gave her a blank look and explained to her, "This is Zha Mengzi. Are you stupid? The handsome guy just now is obviously very good at water. When such a person jumps into the water, his body will float."
, it is difficult to sink to the bottom of the water, so he is definitely not committing suicide by diving!"
The city girl who couldn't swim frowned when she heard this, and instinctively doubted, "Are you bragging? People who can swim can't drown if they jump into the water? I've heard people say before that all those who drown are those who can swim!"
…
At this moment, Chen Yu wanted to rescue the little boy ashore as soon as possible. After diving into the water, he opened his eyes as much as possible and looked around for the little boy.
People in movies and TV shows seem to be able to clearly see what's going on underwater when they open their eyes after entering the water.
actually not!
Anyone with diving experience knows that it will be very uncomfortable if a person opens his eyes underwater. As long as he opens his eyes underwater, even for just a second or two, his eyes will turn red after landing.
Moreover, even if you open your eyes underwater, the distance you can see is very short. If the water quality is slightly turbid, you will not be able to see beyond one meter.
Notice!
It’s not that you can’t see clearly here, it’s that you can’t see it!
Even if the water is crystal clear, you can only see a faint outline of a person one or two meters away, nothing more.
From this aspect, human eyeballs are naturally not suitable for seeing underwater.
It was not evolved for use underwater at all.
shore.
As Chen Yu plunged into the water for longer and longer, he was still not seen coming out of the water. He could only see a string of bubbles emerging from the water from time to time. The crowd on the shore gradually began to commotion, and the chatter became louder and louder.
Come bigger.
Some people also suspected that Chen Yu committed suicide by diving into the water.
Suddenly, there was a splash and a big splash appeared from the water. Chen Yu's head finally emerged from the water. Many people on the shore breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this scene.
"Young man! You are good at water! You can hold your breath long enough!"
"Huh...it seems like it's really not suicide..."
"Young man, come up quickly! The water temperature is still a bit low this season, come up quickly!"
…
The crowd on the shore made a lot of noises.
At this moment, another smaller head appeared in Chen Yu's arms. The 8-year-old boy Xu Tianxing was strangled by Chen Yu's arm. The other hand was held in Xu Tianxing's arm. With a sudden force, he pulled
Xu Tianxing's head was raised above the water.
Immediately, Chen Yu stepped on the water and took the little boy to swim to the shore.
When the crowd on the shore saw this scene, one by one, their eyes widened and they were all dumbfounded.