Snowlyme

Home/ The Selfish Gene/ Chapter 48

Outside the gate of Ji Chenfeng’s university, there was a vibrant commercial street. Due to the fact that it is mainly aimed at students, most of the shops here are either clothing stores or restaurants.

One of them was a western restaurant with poor food, unpleasant coffee, and poor service. However, it was often visited by me because it was located directly opposite the entrance and the window seat provides a good view of pedestrians across the street.

Ji Chenfeng’s schedule was very fixed. He had his own strict schedule of when to go to class, when to finish school, and when to go to work. I couldn’t say it’s hundred percent accurate, but it would never differ by more than five minutes.

The sun shone through the huge glass on the ground, adding a scorching warmth to the winter afternoon. Putting down my coffee cup, I glanced at the time on my phone. It’s two o’clock in the afternoon, and Ji Chenfeng should be coming out soon.

At 02:02, a dazzling figure walked out of the university gate. Neat black short hair, handsome facial features, and a height of nearly 1.9 meters, even if dressed in ordinary street vendors, passersby would still glance at him twice or more.

Quickly paying the bill with my phone, I put on a black mask, picked up my coat, and opened the store door to follow Ji Chenfeng from afar. He didn’t notice me following him at all, and walked quickly towards the subway station with his backpack.

His job at the coffee shop starts at 02:30, and it takes fifteen minutes to get there by subway from college, so he has to catch the 02:05 train every time. If he missed it, he won’t be late, but that skinny monkey-like manager will scold him a lot.

I followed Ji Chenfeng down to the subway station. He swiped his transportation card and went in directly, but I had to go to the side and clumsily pay for the ticket with my mobile phone. When I turned around after making the payment, there was no trace of Ji Chenfeng at all.

I swiped my ticket and hurried into the station. Fortunately, the train was still there, but there was no one waiting at the platform. The light above the door flashed, sounding an alarm, indicating that the doors were about to close.

For the first time in my life, I disregarded my image and rushed into the train in a panic. The door closed just as I stepped in, and I held on to the suspension ring to catch my breath. In the slightly shaking carriage, I looked around, trying to find Ji Chenfeng’s figure.

At this time, there were not many people in the carriage. Even though every seat was occupied, it was not too crowded, and I soon found him.

A door away from me, Ji Chenfeng leaned against the carriage door on the other side, unfolding a heavy book in his hand. He was not willing to waste these ten minutes on the way, and concentrated on absorbing the knowledge inside.

It has been two months since the cochlear implant surgery, and it will take more than a month to go back to school to continue his studies. He seems to be adapting well.

I found a seat diagonally opposite, leaning against the transparent baffle next to the seat, and blatantly casted my gaze at Ji Chenfeng, who was not far away.

The hair that was shaved for the surgery grew back very quickly, with a black coil attached to the scalp. You can’t really see it unless you look carefully. The speech processor on the ear was somewhat conspicuous, but most people would probably only think of it as a bluetooth headset.

Ji Chenfeng was too engrossed in reading, and I was too engrossed in watching Ji Chenfeng, so I didn’t even respond when the station arrived. Just as the carriage door was about to close, Ji Chenfeng suddenly looked up and realized that his stop had arrived. He quickly closed the book and ran outside with long legs.

Seeing him get out of the train, I was also about to leave, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the cochlear implant that had fallen in the middle of the carriage.

The moment the car door closed, I happened to walk to the spot where the cochlear implant had fallen. Carefully picking it up, I looked outside the train. Ji Chenfeng didn’t seem to realize that he had dropped something and left the platform along the upward stairs without realizing it.

After being so accustomed to the silent world, he could hear the sound now, but because it hasn’t been too long, even if he suddenly returned to the state of being unable to hear anything, he wouldn’t notice anything wrong for a while.

Previously, when searching for information related to cochlear implants, I often saw news of people losing their cochlear implant. I thought Ji Chenfeng wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake, after all, he had finally regained his hearing, but he lost the device in just two months.

Although it doesn’t cost much to replace the machine, wouldn’t Yan Shanhua come to me to borrow money again? Asking me endlessly for money, even if it is small money, it will still make me very unhappy.

Staring at the cochlear implant in my palm, I tightened my fingers and put it into my coat pocket.

After all, it is a valuable item bought with other people’s money, so cherish it a bit more.

At the next stop, I got off and went to the opposite platform, planning to take the subway to go back. I hesitated about how to return the cochlear implant to Ji Chenfeng, but as soon as I left the platform, I ran into Ji Chenfeng head-on.

My steps suddenly froze in place, and I was completely frightened by this unexpected head-on encounter.

The distance between us became shorter with every second, and my breathing became stagnant. In the next second, Ji Chenfeng brushed past me without noticing me or stopping. He hurriedly ran towards the service desk behind me.

My disordered heartbeat gradually returned to normal as he moved away. I touched the position of my heart and cursed inwardly.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

“My cochlear implant may have fallen in the carriage. I want to know if anyone has found it. I took the train that arrived at the station at 02:20 minutes…”

Looking back, Ji Chenfeng seemed to be talking with the service desk staff.

“Cochlear implant? What does this thing look like? Do you have a photo? Don’t worry, I’ll call the main control room and ask if anyone has found it.” The staff didn’t seem to know what a cochlear implant was.

Ji Chenfeng frowned and tried hard to distinguish the other person’s mouth shape. After a while, he declared his failure: “I’m sorry, I can’t hear any sound now. Can you… speak as slowly as possible?”

“Photos, do you have any photos?” The staff did speak slower, but the volume was also louder. Passers-by were attracted by the sound and cast curious glances at their location.

“Photo?” Ji Chenfeng finally identified the keyword, took out his phone, searched for a moment, and showed it to the other party.

“Oh, it’s a hearing aid.” The staff made a “stop” gesture, then picked up the nearby landline and started talking to the main control room, asking if anyone had found a black hearing aid.

Ji Chenfeng anxiously waited at the side, his eyes fixed on the staff’s mouth shape as they spoke. After seeing that the staff and the person on the other end of the phone made it clear that no one had found his cochlear implant, he looked like a polar bear who woke up and found that it had been carried hundreds of miles away from his home by the floating ice, completely lost in the vast sea— dazed and frustrated.

After admiring Ji Chenfeng’s interesting expression for a while, I looked around and saw a cleaner mopping the floor in front of the escalator. I stepped forward and handed the cochlear implant to him.

I pointed in the direction of Ji Chenfeng: “It should be that guy over there who dropped it. Could you please return it to him?” As I was afraid of being noticed by Ji Chenfeng, I accelerated my pace and left the subway station after speaking.

Not long after this incident, I hired Ayao. Sitting in her messy office, I stated my requirements to her, and in just ten minutes, I filled up an entire A4 paper.

“Is there anything else?” The girl’s smile was a bit forced. If the price I offered hadn’t been really high, she might have thrown me out of the office.

After thinking about it, I didn’t have anything else to add. I wanted to say that’s all, but when I opened my mouth, I suddenly added a sentence: “Be careful of Ji Chenfeng’s cochlear implant. If it falls, pick it up for him.”

Ayao was stunned: “Is it the one on the ear?” She took notes very seriously, “It’s very expensive, isn’t it?”

“It’s alright, maybe around sixty or seventy thousand. It’s not about money, it’s mainly about trouble.”

This much money is a lot for others, but for me, it doesn’t matter.

“Sixty or seventy thousand is not too much, boss, you are really rich.” Ayao was speechless.

Since then, it has become easier to keep track of Ji Chenfeng’s whereabouts. Every week, I checked where he went and who he met. Whenever I was in a bad mood, I would go to see him. I would drive my car, and park far away from the university gate, sometimes in front of a coffee shop, or sometimes near a food stall. In order not to make him suspicious, I would also change cars every once in a while.

Zhou Jiyu once said that any organ on a human body can form a reflex mechanism. Dogs were trained by Pavlov to secrete saliva crazily whenever they heard a bell and saw a red light turning on, because every time they were fed, researchers would always make them hear the bell and see the red light turning on.

So if a person goes to see another person whenever he is in a bad mood, and feels happy just by looking at the other person’s most ordinary appearance. Over time, won’t it form a conditioned reflex? Wouldn’t it be like being happy and forgetting all the unhappiness… at the sight of that person?

I should’ve disliked it, but in the end, I couldn’t help but be attracted to Ji Chenfeng, just like I was addicted to alcohol and tobacco.

Subconsciously, I also knew that this was wrong and that I needed to get rid of this hidden danger as soon as possible, but my actions always backfired.

I gave myself all kinds of excuses to get close to the other person, but now they all seem absurd and ridiculous.

Excuses like— Because I was afraid that he would know the truth, so I wanted to control him with emotions? Because I couldn’t accept giving up halfway, I accepted kisses, caresses, and more physical contact? What else should be done to turn him into a dodder, a waste that remains imprisoned by my side…

“Wouldn’t it have been more convenient to cause a traffic accident and knock him into a vegetative state? Look at you now, it’s so useless.” Sang Nian, who had black wings, came back to me, flapping his wings vigorously.

I lowered my eyes, and it took me a long time to come up with a reason: “That way… we won’t be able to humiliate him.”

“Ha.” Black-winged Sang Nian smirked and looked at me, saying, “Admit it, you like him. You like his kisses, his touches, and you like it when he calls your name in bed.”

“You like… no, you are addicted to this kind of intimate relationship full of exclusivity and demand. He satisfies all your fantasies about home— warmth, cleanliness, hot food, and good sex.”

“It’s hard to swallow food that wasn’t made by him. It’s impossible to vent the desire without his touch. You even use the same soap as him when taking a shower. But you actually think you’re capturing him?”

I slowly raised my head and learned the surprising truth from the other person’s words.

“…So, I am the one who was captured?”

Black-winged Sang Nian flew above my head and said with a smile: “You should have realized it when you felt heartbroken after losing him.”

Was that unbearable pain caused by the heartbreak? I thought there was something wrong with my heart…

“But he doesn’t like me anymore, so what if I realize it?” Looking at the black-winged figure floating in the air, I whispered, “I can’t go back.”

“It’s not too late, there is still hope.” Black-winged Sang Nian said with a snap of his fingers, “You can still go back.”

Before I could understand what he meant by “go back”, with the snap of his fingers, the entire space began to twist and deform, and noisy notes that did not belong to this world sounded in my ears.

Urgent shouts, buzzing of instruments, and women’s cries…

Opening my eyes suddenly, my throat felt sore and I felt the sensation of a foreign object in my mouth. I retched uncontrollably and wanted to get up to rip the thing out of my mouth.

The nurse quickly came over and held down my erratic hands, saying to someone: “Tell the family that the patient is awake.”

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