Winter Solstice Chapter 1

Chapter 1

　　When the phone rang, Lu Yan was taking a shower in the bathroom. She was tired and sleepy, and all she could think about was the bed. As soon as she entered the door, she went into the bathroom, just wanting to hurry up and finish her shower so she could go to bed.

　　The phone was on the bedroom bed, some distance from the bathroom door, and the heavy shower curtain was pulled, blocking everything at once.

　　Lu Yan knew better than anyone what a phone call after ten o'clock meant, so she panicked and couldn't care less about her head full of foam, so she haphazardly wrapped it in a bath towel and rushed out to answer the phone.

　　But before she could run to the bed, the ringing tone was cut off.

　　She wiped her eyes with the towel, picked up the phone, and slid open the lock screen button.

　　The long string of unfamiliar numbers on the screen was neither the section's landline nor the phone of a colleague on duty tonight, and it was cut off at the right time, clearly a scammer's trick.

　　What the hell. She smoothly pulled the string of numbers into the blacklist and threw the phone back on the bed.

　　Last night was the same, near eleven o'clock, she was ready to go to bed, suddenly came a call.

　　She thought there was something urgent in the section and answered in a hurry, but before she could speak, the phone hung up.

　　She secretly greeted the liar on the other end of the phone and went back to the bathroom to take a shower.

　　With the matter in mind, the shower was quicker than usual. When she came out, her body was suddenly less wrapped in hot water vapor, she shivered with cold and went to the closet to find a set of thick pajamas to put on, and got under the covers.

　　This year's winter came extraordinarily early in the city of S. It was surprisingly cold in less than December, and it rained several times last week, causing the temperature to once approach zero degrees.

　　There are already many pedestrians on the street who have changed their winter clothes, slightly thin and skinny, and even wrapped up in thick down jackets.

　　Tonight, even she, who has always prided herself on her good health, could not bear it.

　　Pull up the quilt, she yawned and closed her eyes. As usual, drowsiness comes quickly, her profession, not even the qualification of insomnia.

　　Consciousness slipped unconsciously into the abyss until she was once again awakened by the bell.

　　She was so tired that at first she only felt something noisy in her ears and frowned. Later, the ringing had become like thunder.

　　Out of nowhere, like someone pulling her through the mud, her eyes snapped open.

　　The other end of the phone was the voice of a colleague on the night shift, a little anxious: "Xiao Lu, you have to come to the department, another epidural hematoma, too busy to come."

　　Somehow, she was suddenly relieved, remembering the famous joke: people downstairs waiting for another shoe to fall on the floor upstairs, waiting for a long time, and did not dare to sleep all night. To her, this phone call was not the "other shoe".

　　When the call really came, she was relieved.

　　"Okay, I'll be right there." She jumped out of bed, ran to the bathroom, wiped her face, put on her coat and left the house.

　　She had a second shift tonight, and according to hospital rules, she had to be there in ten minutes whenever something happened in the department.

　　She wrapped her clothes tightly and strode out of the apartment.

　　Through a long narrow alley, looking to turn a corner to the hospital's east gate, suddenly came a person.

　　It was one o'clock in the morning, the air was freezing, and there was not even a cat in the alley except for her.

　　The man appeared quite abruptly, silently, but aggressively, hitting him head-on.

　　Lu Yan reacted quickly and dodged sideways to the side, and heard an open sound, something on the ground was tripped.

　　The man's body lost balance and fell forward.

　　"Bang--" I do not know whether it is the head or shoulder, hard bumped into the wall, a muffled sound.

　　In the confusion, Lu Yan pressed against the wall to stabilize her body, her heart wondering, in the middle of the night, why is this person walking so fast.

　　Thinking of the bad news in society, she became wary and hurriedly took a step forward.

　　In this way, her entire body left the narrow alley, and with a shift of head to the right, she could see the security room at the east entrance of the hospital. The distance is only a few hundred meters, as long as you shout, the security guards can hear the movement and rush over.

　　After standing, she once again turned around vigilantly, only to find that the person was actually a girl.

　　Originally intended to leave, she stopped again.

　　Just now the girl hit the wall and the rush and rush, according to her, hurt quite badly. If unfortunately hit the head, I'm afraid that also have to hospital treatment.

　　"Are you all right?" She spoke up, looking the girl up and down.

　　The alley is thin and narrow, half of it is dim and staggered shadows of the house, the girl stood close to the wall, did not move.

　　Lu Yan looked at the other side, and a strange feeling gradually emerged in her heart.

　　The girl was tied with a double ponytail, wearing a short a-frame jacket, dull red and black plaid, rather confined style. This dress if put in ten or eight years ago, perhaps still considered fashionable, but now look, but too outdated some.

　　What's even stranger is that as soon as her eyes touched the girl, it was like a glimpse of something passing before her eyes, always feeling that she had seen each other somewhere.

　　Could it be a colleague from the hospital? She could not help but want to take a closer look, but unfortunately the overhead street light is too dim to illuminate the girl's lowered side face.

　　At this time, the girl suddenly moved, one arm still holding the wall, but the other arm slowly raised. Just like patting the dust, patted the shoulder.

　　Lu Yan was stunned, then sighed with relief. It did not look like it hurt the head and face.

　　She rushed to time, since the other party is fine, she did not intend to stay any longer.

　　The girl was about to turn around and leave when she suddenly slowly tossed her head like she was checking her neck injury.

　　Lu Yan's brain blood flow a boom, heart beating violently, beating so fast, so fast, like at any time can jump out of the chest.

　　That is a crystal butterfly hair card, very tacky and very outdated, now on the market may have long been extinct, but just a few years ago, the streets used to be everywhere.

　　She clearly remembers how the butterfly's wings spread delicately to both sides, and how the wings were densely plastered with rhinestones, and as long as there was light, worn on the head, the butterfly would emit a fine starburst.

　　When she was seventeen, she bought three pairs of such hair cards, one pair for herself, the other two pairs, respectively, were given to her two best friends at the time, one of the girls for their friendship, used to wear every day.

　　The night wind blew on her face, cold and hard like a knife, her brain became blank, looking straight ahead, only to feel as if something in the darkness was heavily embraced, impermeable to wrap around her.

　　She finally understood where that strange feeling came from, the girl in front of her, no matter what she was wearing or how she was walking, was highly compatible with the person she remembered.

　　But - no, this can't be.

　　She was at a loss for words, and at the same time, a piece of her heart had been sealed for a long time, like being pried by a merciless shovel, with signs of breaking through the ground.

　　The girl also seems to have discovered Lu Yan's difference, the whole person is still in the dimness.

　　A disturbing dead silence quietly permeates the alley.

　　It is clear that they are only a few meters apart, but there is a line between the two, as long as Lu Yan takes another step forward, it will be a foot into an unknowable world.

　　The girl moved unconsciously, in a dark haze, and when she turned around, her infrared jacket brushed against the wall, emitting a "rustling" sound.

　　When Lu Yan realized that the other party had turned to face his own posture, his breathing became steep and heavy.

　　Reason told her that the girl could never be that person, but watching the girl step closer to herself with a quiet pace, her teeth still chattered uncontrollably.

　　At that moment, a sharp bell cut through the silence of the alley.

　　Lu Yan was confused for a moment, and when she realized that it was the phone call from the section, she immediately grabbed a straw like a drowning person, and without thinking, she lowered her head to look for the phone.

　　But who knows that the more anxious she is, the less she can find it.

　　She desperately looking for the phone, the girl stopped, as if waiting for something quietly.

　　The ringing was high pitched, one after another, stubbornly vibrating the air around.

　　Lu Yan held her breath for a long time and finally touched the phone.

　　The company's voice, which was amplified twice, came over with a smile: "Xiao Lu, that emergency just now is not coming again, if you have not gone out, you are not in a hurry to come."

　　It turned out that she was too busy just now and accidentally pressed the speakerphone button.

　　She first jumped in her heart, and then, strangely calm down. The voice of her colleague was familiar and real, distinct from the world in the alley.

　　Reason instantly returned, she quietly, turned off the speakerphone, and changed the phone to headphones to answer.

　　"It's okay, I'm already downstairs, I'll be there soon."

　　Once she opened her mouth, she realized that her voice sounded like it had been sandpapered, becoming incomparably hoarse.

　　And at the moment she answered the phone, the girl turned around silently and walked deeper into the alley.

　　Lu Yan, of course, noticed and hurriedly put down the phone.

　　The alley is narrow and long, with a street lamp every few meters to illuminate the path of pedestrians' feet.

　　The girl walked in the alley, the body of the infrared cover was reflected by one street lamp after another, light and shadow flowing, bright and dark, from afar, as if a black sea waves floating in the red flower.

　　Lu Yan stared closely at the girl's back, until walking out far, far away, the red dot in the alley still does not go out.