The phone rang for a long time without being answered, and just when it was about to beep, a familiar female voice finally appeared on the phone:
"Which one?"
The environment on the phone was a bit noisy, as if there was some activity going on on the other end.
When I heard my wife's voice on the phone, I breathed a sigh of relief and said into the phone:
"Who else, I am your son's dear father. I promised to call you last night."
Before I finished speaking, there was a sudden exclamation from the other end of the phone, and then my wife said with a tearful voice:
"Shen Lian! You've been stabbed a thousand times! Where have you been in the past few years?
If you run away, don't come back. Why did you choose to call me today?
Oh my god, why is my life so miserable?"
Before I could figure out what was going on, an old man's voice rang through the phone:
"Shen Lian? Is that my uncle Shen Lian?
You kid, I haven’t heard anything from you in the past three years. I thought you were dead.
Isn’t this right? I just closed the account for you last week.”
I heard that the person who spoke was my father-in-law, but what he said was incomprehensible. I just stayed in the Taoist temple for one night, how come I have been missing for three years?
Before my father-in-law could finish speaking, I interrupted him and said:
"Dad, what are you talking about? Why haven't you heard from me in three years? Didn't I call your girl yesterday morning?
I also said that I would go back in the next few days, and I would also bring you some local specialties, dragon whips, and give me another brother-in-law.
If you don’t believe me, ask your girl.”
"What a mess"
My father-in-law interrupted me, took a deep breath on the phone, and continued:
"Shen Lian, I don't care how crazy you have been in recent years.
Today is Cui Wen's happy day. Finally, a young man is willing to marry her for a second time. Don't make trouble.
You have been missing for three years, and Cuiwen has been waiting for you for three years, and his kindness has been exhausted."
After hearing what my father-in-law said, I realized something was wrong.
When I just heard my wife talking about my account being cancelled, she thought she was having a little temper with me because she didn't call her last night.
But now that I heard these words, I was definitely not joking.
What happened this night? Why is my wife so happy again? Who is he happy with?
My head almost exploded when I thought about it, and suddenly I thought of something more important, so I said into the microphone:
"Dad, don't make such a joke.
I'm still fine, why is your girl so happy again?
To put it another way, even if I really disappeared for three years and my account was canceled, where would our children still be?
The child was born two years ago, right?
Is she taking her children to the wedding?"
The father-in-law on the phone sighed and said:
"Shen Lian, Cuiwen has been waiting for half a year and there is no news from you.
She doesn't know what happened to you, or whether you are alive or dead.
If you are no longer here, how can she live alone with her children?
You should also think about Cuiwen - the child was beaten."
After saying these two sentences, my mind went blank and I was stunned on the spot with the phone in hand.
At this time, a burst of firecrackers suddenly came from the microphone.
Then came the voice of my old mother-in-law:
"The groom is here to pick you up, hang up the phone now!
The phones are all turned off, and you are not allowed to answer calls from people you don’t recognize today.”
Before I finished speaking, the phone in my hand already gave a busy signal.
My wife was actually overjoyed again
I said dullly to the proprietress of the canteen:
"What year is it today? What day is it?"
The landlady was already frightened by my appearance. She didn’t answer, she just pointed to the calendar hanging on the wall.
March 23, 1898 - May 8, 2018.
Fatty Wang and I came to Luoshen County to collect accounts on May 8, 2015.
After I rubbed my eyes to make sure I saw it correctly, I suddenly started to panic and my body began to shake involuntarily.
While my body was shaking, my clothes were soaked with cold sweat.
As if I had forgotten how to breathe, I started to breathe in my mouth desperately, and then breathed out hard.
I haven't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon.
My body has already reacted to hypoglycemia, and I have been frightened several times. Now I understand that it has been three years inexplicably.
I can't accept it for a while, and my body has a stress reaction.
At this time, the proprietress of the canteen noticed something was wrong and grabbed me. She was worried that something might happen to me in the store. She couldn't explain clearly, so she hurriedly helped me sit on a chair.
Then he took the phone from my hand, put it away, and said:
"Brother, this is not right for you.
You are exactly like my brother when he was suffering from hysteria. He discovered it early and sent him to the hospital to find a good doctor.
It'll be fine in a few days.
If you listen to the elder sister, just take the long-distance bus to the city and get off at Wenhua West Road.
I went to the hospital to find Director Tong, and it was Director Tong who cured my brother."
While talking, she helped me out of the canteen, pointed to the long-distance bus station opposite and said:
"That's the car, get in it quickly and go to the city.
Remember, get off at Wenhua West Road, the hospital is right next to the station."
As she spoke, she took me, who was confused, onto the bus bound for the city.
Soon after the landlady paid for my ticket, the bus also arrived and headed towards the city.
After the car started driving, I went through what happened from last night to now in my mind.
But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't understand why three years had passed since I just stayed in the Taoist temple for one night.
My wife, who kissed me yesterday morning, went to celebrate with someone else again?
I have pity on my unborn child, who died in confusion before he saw the world.
The more I thought about it, the more awkward I became. It seemed that just when I was about to get into a corner and my spirit was about to collapse, the conductor on the car said:
"We have arrived at Wenhua West Road. Passengers who get off at Wenhua West Road, please prepare to get off in advance."
Wenhua West Road is the address of the hospital that the proprietress of the canteen told me, but why does it sound so familiar? It seems like I have heard it somewhere before.
Perhaps it would be better to suffer from hysteria than to have his wife and children separated.
Maybe you can find the right doctor, take some medicine and have a good sleep.
When you wake up, everything may be normal.
Maybe I never came to Luoshen County at all, the weird Taoist priests in the Taoist temple, and these inexplicable three years were just a dream.
I got out of the car in a daze and saw a small hospital next to the station.
I wandered to the entrance of the hospital. Before I could see the name of the hospital, I was attracted by the house number on the doorpost.
The blue-painted iron house number is No. 185, Wenhua West Road.
Isn't this the house number in front of the weird Taoist temple gate?
Is this hospital also an illusion? I never left the Taoist temple at all?
Just when my head was about to explode, a man walked out of the hospital.
This man was wearing a Taoist robe, he was twenty-seven or eighty years old, and his handsome features were exactly what a Taoist temple would look like.