Paper Plane - Chapter 76

Tang Junhe was stunned by the sudden bad news, he suspected that he heard it wrong: “Mom, what did you say?”

“You, let Yang Xuan answer the phone.” Tang Xiaonian said weakly.

The powerlessness in her words trickled into Tang Junhe’s ears along the phone line, and the trembling of Tang Junhe’s fingertips spread all over his body in an instant, and he suddenly began to tremble all over, tremblingly handing the receiver Yang Xuan.

The moment he took the receiver, Yang Xuan’s face was covered with a thick layer of frost. Every second of answering the phone, the layer of frost was getting thicker. When he finished answering the phone, the expression on his face It has been frozen as if frozen, holding the receiver in a daze.

Tang Junhe was terrified, his teeth were chattering, and the voice that came out of his throat was also trembling: “Brother…” Seeing that Yang Xuan was still in a daze, he called out again with a trembling voice. He reached out to shake his brother’s hand, but their hands were cold, and no one could give the other a trace of warmth.

Only then did Yang Xuan come back to his senses, the thick layer of ice on his face shattered instantly, exposing the fragility and bewilderment of an eighteen-year-old boy in a sudden accident. He then closed his eyes, hiding all his fragility under the thin eyelids, and then exhaled heavily, his voice changed in a hoarse voice: “Go back.”

The return journey was far from smooth. All flights to the provincial capital were canceled due to the heavy rain in the provincial capital. They had to fly to Yancheng first, and then transfer to Runcheng by train.

All kinds of languages ​​at the airport rushed to their ears, and the footsteps of passers-by were hurried and chaotic. Yang Xuan’s steps were faster than when he came here, and he held Tang Junhe’s wrist tightly. Tang Junhe almost ran to keep up with him, his wrist was so painful from Yang Xuan’s grip, those tightened five fingers seemed to be clinging to his bones, but he didn’t say a word. Although he had always hated Yang Chengchuan, at this moment he just felt panicked and helpless.

After more than ten hours, the plane landed and they got on the train in Yancheng. I don’t know which city it started from, but the rain has been falling non-stop. The closer it is to Runcheng, the harder the rainstorm will be.

Tang Junhe has never seen Yang Xuan like this before—he leaned on the back of the chair and closed his eyes, his whole body was full of depression and exhaustion, his protruding Adam’s apple would occasionally slide up and down because of swallowing, and the pride and idleness of the past disappeared from him at this moment no deposit.

Tang Junhe went to pick up the hot water, and he touched Yang Xuan’s arm with his hand: “Brother…”

Yang Xuan opened his eyes, the eyes were covered with bloodshot eyes, Tang Junhe was taken aback, he saw a trace of bewilderment flashed in his brother’s eyes, “Brother, drink some water.” Tang Junhe took the water Handed it to his eyes and whispered.

“You drink.” Yang Xuan said in a hoarse voice, he sat up slightly, stretched out his hand to pinch the center of his eyebrows, and then closed his eyes again.

“It’s almost there.” Tang Junhe said, reaching out to shake Yang Xuan’s hand. In the past, Yang Xuan’s fingers were always slightly cold and dry, but now those five fingers are all cold and hard, with cold air coming out from the cracks in the bones.

More than ten hours have passed, and Yang Xuan still can’t believe that Yang Chengchuan’s sudden accident happened, but Tang Xiaonian’s tone on the phone made him believe it.

“Your father, I was just waiting for you to come back. If you still have a conscience, come back and see this scum.”

“Are you saying it’s retribution? Every year Runcheng has to prevent floods. How come this year’s incident made him catch up.”

Yang Xuan felt that this might be a bitter trick by Yang Chengchuan, which was fabricated specifically to trick them into returning to Run City. If this was the case, the first time he saw Yang Chengchuan, he would disregard his status as a junior. He punched him hard.

The whispers from the front seat came clearly at this time, completely shattering the last trace of luck in his heart.

“I heard that it was an inspection on the front line. Just after the interview, the reporter put away the machine. Suddenly, a mudslide broke out on the mountain. A rock fell on his head, and he died on the spot.”

“It’s only 40 years old. It’s a pity. I saw such a talented person on TV.” The speaker clicked his tongue. “What a blow to the family.”

“I heard that I just got married for the second time, alas…”

A hesitant sigh ended the discussion between the two people in front of them on this matter.

Tang Junhe felt that the hand holding his finger tightened suddenly, and his finger was almost broken. He turned his head to look at Yang Xuan, who still had his eyes closed, with a blue vein protruding from the corner of his forehead. Bouncing down.

Runcheng was swept by this unexpected rainstorm. The rain on the streets rolled into the sewers, and in the old city with poor drainage, the water on the roads had overflowed the calves. The torrential rain for several days has almost paralyzed the transportation system of this small city, and the few scattered cars on the street are wading through the water and driving hard.

Chen Xing came in the rain, with water dripping from his hair, he followed behind to hold an umbrella for the two of them, and drenched himself outside: “Hurry up, get in the car!”

All the local channels on the car radio broadcast the news of Yang Chengchuan’s death: “At eight o’clock in the evening on the 17th, the deputy mayor Yang Chengchuan came to the front line to organize rescue work immediately after learning of the sudden mudslide disaster in Meng County. , and just after the residents of Meng County safely evacuated the disaster-stricken area, the 40-year-old deputy mayor Yang Chengchuan was suddenly hit by a small-scale mudslide in the local area. A rock rolled down the mountain hit his head and fell into a severe coma on the spot. At present, Deputy Mayor Yang is in the emergency rescue at the hospital, and reporters will continue to follow up and report on the matter. According to statistics, the mudslide has caused 13 deaths and 25 serious injuries in Meng County. At present, all residents in the affected area have moved out safely. According to the Flood Control Office According to the relevant person in charge, this precipitation covers a wide area and is locally intense, and all districts and counties…”

Yang Chengchuan never thought that his life would end in this way. That day was the time for the self-enrollment re-examination, Tang Junhe skipped the exam, Tang Xiaonian focused all his anger and resentment on him, and asked him to return his son like crazy.

“That precious son of yours is gay!” Yang Chengchuan shouted at her angrily.

Tang Xiaonian was stunned for a moment, and then cursed back in a tone higher than his: “Yang Chengchuan, are you crazy, he is my son, and he is also your son!”

“Look what a good son you have raised!” Yang Chengchuan walked into the study, slammed the door heavily, sat on the wooden sofa and smoked distractedly, only the crackling of the pouring rain on the window could be heard in his ears. It was Tang Xiaonian’s loud cursing outside.

Yang Chengchuan did not reveal the truth of the matter after several restraints. In fact, on the day Yang Xuan took Tang Junhe away, he roughly understood what was going on. Yang Xuan and Tang Junhe left to confirm the fact that they were “homosexual”. This incident was too absurd. Yang Chengchuan couldn’t believe it and at the same time, he was furious, a hundred times more angry than when he received the text message. I wanted to tell Tang Xiaonian about this, but Tang Xiaonian’s almost collapsed expression that night made it difficult for him to speak. He could only comfort her over and over again, saying that Yang Xuan just wanted to take Jun He out for a few days. Something will happen, so let her not be too impulsive.

After all, Yang Chengchuan is the head of the family, he cannot become a broken lunatic together with Tang Xiaonian, there must be a calm and sober person in the family. He has been in the officialdom for many years and has seen many scenes, so he still has the emotional intelligence to deal with things. After persuading Tang Xiaonian, he forced himself to calm down, took a look at what happened, and planned to hide this matter from Tang Xiaonian first, persuade the two brothers to come back, beat him from head to toe, and then beat Yang Xuan himself. sent abroad. As for Tang Junhe, this time he insisted on finding a psychiatrist to treat him inside and out!

If the two didn’t come back next week, it was ridiculous that he had to go abroad to bring them back himself!

Hearing Tang Xiaonian’s scolding outside the door, Yang Chengchuan smoked a few times, then took out his mobile phone and dialed back the landline number he called a few days ago, but the line was still busy. He suppressed his anger, opened the text message interface on his mobile phone, calmed down the anger in his heart, and sent a long text message to Yang Xuan calmly, with emotion and reason, all the content was on one theme Service – come back quickly and stop messing around!

Just as Yang Chengchuan sent the text message, the person in charge of the Municipal Flood Control Office suddenly called: “Deputy Yang, something serious happened in Meng County. A sudden mudslide broke out in Fengyuan Mountain, and the village below the mountain was completely flooded and smashed!”

Yang Chengchuan immediately realized that something was wrong, with a solemn expression, he asked, “Is anyone dead?”

“Dead, alas… Now it is known that three died, the specific number has not yet been calculated, and now the villagers are being organized to evacuate…”

“I’ll rush over there right away.” Yang Chengchuan immediately stood up and pinched his cigarette, put on a suit, and didn’t have time to tie it. The driver didn’t bother to call, and drove into the garage in the rain.

It is rainy in Runcheng, and flood control has always been the top priority. This year, the higher-ups entrusted him with this important task. This is a recognition of his ability and will be an important step in his future promotion. Now that the mudslide in Meng County has caused casualties, he, the Chief Inspector, can’t escape being held accountable anyway, so he has to rush over to make amends as soon as possible.

In fact, after he went to Meng County that day, the disaster relief work has been almost organized, there has been a round of mudslides, and the rain has become lighter. A reporter from the TV station came to interview. In order to pursue a sense of presence, they stood at the foot of a muddy mountain to conduct interviews. Yang Chengchuan first summarized the progress of the emergency rescue work, then reflected on the inadequacy of the flood control work, and finally promised to clarify the responsibility for the incident, appease the suffering families, and do a good job in the aftermath. In just a few sentences, the matter is clearly and powerfully outlined, and Yang Chengchuan’s expressive ability in front of the camera has always been stable.

But within a few minutes of the interview, Yang Chengchuan was about to call the person in charge of the Flood Control Office over to scold him, when the second round of mudslides suddenly broke out behind him. He was knocked unconscious by a rock that rolled down from the top of the mountain.

***

The ICU was as quiet as dead silence, and Yang Chengchuan waited for his two sons to return with his last breath. His breathing was so weak that he almost stopped, but his heartbeat was still struggling to maintain. A day ago, the doctor had announced the news of his brain death and stopped the rescue work.

Brain death means that Yang Chengchuan can no longer perceive any changes in the outside world. At this moment, he is like a plant that has been crushed by the rainstorm, unconsciously waiting for the moment when his breath stops.

Yang Xuan hurriedly walked into the ward, followed by Tang Junhe. The haggard Tang Xiaonian stretched out his hand to pull Tang Junhe over, and sighed. Yang Chengchuan’s secretary took a step back to make way for Yang Xuan who was walking over.

Yang Chengchuan, who used to be high-spirited, now wears a ventilator on his face, and all kinds of tubes are inserted into his body, so as to maintain his dying life. Yang Xuan walked over and leaned over to look at the person on the hospital bed. Is this still that high-spirited scumbag Yang Chengchuan? Yang Chengchuan is obviously taller and stronger than the person on the hospital bed, but the face on this frail body is indeed Yang Chengchuan. He has seen him for seventeen years and he will not mistake his father.

Yang Chengchuan closed his eyes tightly, as if he was already dead. Only the electrocardiogram machine beside him was beeping, showing the last sign of life on his body.

Yang Xuan swallowed his throat, stretched out his hand to hold Yang Chengchuan’s hand, the bulging veins on his arm exposed the churning and suppressed emotions in his heart at the moment.

He whispered “Dad” to Yang Chengchuan, his voice was already hoarse like him.

Yang Chengchuan had already lost consciousness, he couldn’t sense the changes in his surroundings, and he couldn’t hear the surrounding voices, but after Yang Xuan called “Dad”, his eyelids moved, and he opened his eyes lazily. Pupil looked at Yang Xuan, as if he was about to come back to life suddenly.

Yang Xuan raised his head abruptly, looked at the doctor standing aside, and said in a hoarse voice, “His eyes…”

The doctor also noticed that Yang Chengchuan opened his eyes, leaned over to look at his pupils, then shook his head helplessly, and sighed again.

Without images, opening eyes is just an unconscious conditioned reflex.

“Dad…” Yang Xuan called out again, but Yang Chengchuan didn’t respond this time.

Yang Xuan stared at his half-closed eyes for a long while, finally lowered his head powerlessly, and slowly knelt down beside the hospital bed, with his forehead pressed against Yang Chengchuan’s cold hand. His head was buried deeply, and his shoulders shrugged slightly, as if crying.

Yang Chengchuan’s dilated pupils could no longer move. He opened his eyes to Tang Junhe at the end of the bed. His heartbeat became weaker and weaker, but he still refused to stop, as if he was still waiting for something.

The doctor who was used to birth, old age, sickness and death really couldn’t bear it, looked at Tang Junhe and reminded: “Call ‘Dad’, he is waiting.”

Tang Junhe’s slightly protruding Adam’s apple moved, but his lips were tightly closed, forming a line. At this time, he still refused to call him “Dad”.

“Call,” Tang Xiaonian turned his face away, “let him go with peace of mind.”

Tang Junhe lowered his eyes, his fists were clenched tightly, trembling unceasingly, his short nails sank into the palm of his hand, but he still didn’t say a word.

Tang Xiaonian reached out and patted his arm: “You just call out.”

Tang Junhe shook his head almost invisibly, he was even more stubborn than Tang Xiaonian back then.

A long sound of “Di—” broke the dead silence in the air, a straight line was drawn on the screen of the electrocardiogram machine, and Yang Chengchuan took his last breath.

More than ten years ago, he tried to get a “Dad” from Tang Junhe’s mouth, but until the second of his life, he didn’t wait for it.