Chapter 255: Lucky
On May 20, 2023, the weather was overcast with continuous rain. Fang Mu stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the rain outside the window slant into lines, pounding on the glass. His hand was placed on the window surface, unsure whether the glass was shaking from the heavy rain or if his hand was trembling itself.
His gaze looked down at the people escaping everywhere on the ground floor, hearing the children and young men shrieking as if in play, yet he felt no vitality in the human world.
Perhaps the air conditioning was on too cold, Fang Mu sat back on the sofa, wrapping himself in the air conditioning shawl to barely feel a trace of warmth, but this was not enough to comfort his uneasy heart.
To say why he became like this, it had to start from when he finished reading that diary on the coffee table with yellowed paper… no, it should be traced back even earlier, back to ten years ago.
Ten years ago, Fang Mu was not yet a novel writer, but he was already a prospective high school student full of interest and love for text and literature. From a very young age, he was influenced by family culture and passionate about reading. By the second grade of elementary school, he had mastered a vocabulary and reading volume dozens of times that of his peers, and began attempting to write some childish text, practicing articles.
Another reason he loved literature and enjoyed writing was probably related to his frail body, often bedridden with illness and staying at home for long periods, which formed his somewhat introverted personality, so he didn’t like socializing, and this also allowed him to pour his rich emotions into the world under the pen.
When one starts to love and has the conditions to immerse oneself in something, one won’t feel how regrettable it is to lose some things and skills.
However, it was precisely because of his frail body that he had an accident during the sports middle school entrance examination on May 20 ten years ago.
He remembered that day was also an overcast rainy day. During the one-thousand-meter long-distance running assessment, in order to strive for full marks achievement, he went all out and ran with all his strength.
Fang Mu successfully took first place in this group and achieved full marks in sports, but because he pushed too hard, he suddenly felt intense pain all over his body and was immediately sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.
The rescue result came out quickly: he temporarily escaped danger, but his family was informed that his heart had already died.
The doctor told the family that if Fang Mu wanted to live, it was best to transplant a new heart.
Fang Mu’s family had some background and financial resources. After hearing the doctor’s words, they immediately sent people to inquire about a suitable heart source for Fang Mu.
And Fang Mu also had his own luck; surprisingly, in less than half a day, there was a suitable matching fresh heart organ available for his transplant.
This heart had some unclear origins. Fang Mu heard after the surgery that it was bought by his family through connections from the black market. Though it might have some hidden worries, it absolutely wouldn’t be worse than watching Fang Mu die right before their eyes, so they still spent a high price to buy it.
The heart transplant surgery was very successful, so successful that Fang Mu himself felt amazed. If not for the surgical scar on his chest, he would never have imagined that he had actually replaced his heart.
The transplanted heart had almost no impact on Fang Mu’s daily life. Out of curiosity, Fang Mu consulted his surgeon.
When the doctor replied to him, a flash of shock appeared in the other’s eyes, explaining that he was really lucky to have gotten a heart that matched him almost perfectly, to an incredible degree.
Fang Mu still clearly remembers the doctor’s incredulous expression at that time. Rather than incredulous, a more accurate description would be “fine thoughts extremely terrifying.”
Having walked a circle through the gate of life and death, Fang Mu gained a deeper insight into life. After discharge, he has been actively inquiring about messages regarding the master of the heart in his body. He really wanted to know what kind of person this stranger was, who had an accidental or inevitable fateful intersection with him, and why his heart could reach his own body.
Fang Mu knew that doing this was no different from fishing a needle from the sea. After all, his heart had improper origins, and the black market had its own survival rules; for some goods sold, even the sellers might not know the source.
In the minds of those black market merchants, the source of the goods is not important; business is the most important.
Perhaps feeling that he had experienced a bizarre stroke of luck on his body, he felt extremely strong curiosity toward this kind of plot that only appears in books. Every time he investigated and found a bit of message about that heart’s master, it was as stimulating as secretly flipping through those taboo classics for the first time, making his blood boil.
This investigation lasted almost ten years.
It was not until half a year ago that Fang Mu received the final identity confirmation message about the heart’s master from a detective he had commissioned.
After hearing and seeing the message from that private detective, Fang Mu felt a bit of disappointment and regret, because he might never hear such novel-reading-like pleasure again, but overall he was very happy, after all, he had finally found his lifesaver.
His heart’s original master’s name was Jianhua. In the year he turned 20, that is, early 2013, he suddenly mysteriously disappeared because of owing huge debts and fleeing from creditors everywhere, leaving behind only a younger sister Jingjing, about the same age as Fang Mu, in his hometown.
When Jianhua appeared in people’s sight again, he had become very rich, just transformed into countless pieces, each with its high price.
Humans are like this: when whole, they are not valuable; after being broken into pieces, they reveal their “due value.”
Because of Jianhua, Jingjing had a tough time for a long period after his disappearance. Her studies and life were often harassed by those debt collectors, so she was forced to drop out of high school before graduation and go far away to work.
Jingjing came to work in the city next to Fang Mu’s. With no education, she tried almost every kind of work, but never had stable work, often worrying about livelihood.
After being trapped in days of hunger and cold for too long, this strong girl finally fell, just like him who had once risked his life for the sports middle school entrance examination, struck down by illness.
The thought of comparing himself with Jingjing had just arisen when Fang Mu immediately felt ashamed and wanted to slap himself, thinking he was too thick-skinned.
Jingjing had lost two kidneys, kidney failure.
After hearing about this, Fang Mu felt quite emotional, thinking this was probably some arrangement of fate, everything was cause and effect cycle.
He owed Jingjing’s brother a heart, so he planned to donate one of his kidneys to her, to compensate for the indebtedness to her family.
Fang Mu felt that since Jianhua’s heart matched him almost perfectly, it meant his organs should also have some close compatibility with their Fang family, and should be able to match Jingjing.
To be safe, Fang Mu still had the organization do a compatibility test between himself and Jingjing. As expected, his kidney indeed matched Jingjing and could be used for her transplant.
Thus, Fang Mu solemnly visited her door to express that he was willing to donate a kidney to her.
