Hegel's Confession Volume 1 Chapter 27

Chapter 27 Fever and Rest The web forum was just like Xiao Teng had described. I was so excited. But looking at the shining image, I got a feeling that I had seen it somewhere, though I couldn’t remember where.   I entered the forum. The background was still dark, and looked depressing. And the golden wings in the sidebars, both right and left, gave people a strange feeling. The contents of this forum made my heart beat quicker. This was a h.e.l.l of the world. Everything was depressing and hard. My heart began to tremble. As a police officer, I had seen many sad things. When I was visiting the forum, I found that those were the tip of the iceberg. There were personal narratives of miserable things, the counter-reconnaissance knowledge, and successful crimes. To be honest, the users that came to this forum were all psychologically abnormal.   I changed to the message-leaving board. I was also surprised here. Thousands of messages were asking for the owner’s help. I was confused when I read two of the answers in the sea of questions. Was this a mere coincidence? With no more finds, I put the notebook aside. I was so upset. Those posts were written by visitors using aliases, so I was not sure if all of things they mentioned were true or not. This was truly an sick and twisted forum. I hated myself for visiting it at midnight. Next day, I woke up to go to work as usual. But I had a bad night of fitful sleep last night, and I was almost late. Sitting in my chair, I felt dazed. “Your coffee. Hey, you look so bad. Are you sick?” Xiao Teng asked, coming near with a cup of coffee. 　　 I took the drink from him; he put his hand on my forehead. I subconsciously batted his hand away. “Why? Leave me alone.” “Zhuxuan, you have a fever. What’s wrong with you? Do you have a cold?” Xiao Teng touched my forehead and nodded. “Yes, you have a fever, and the temperature is high.” A fever? I only felt like I was going to fainting. How could I have a fever? Was the bath water too cool and I didn’t get a good night's sleep? “Let’s go to the hospital.” Chu Haoran appeared suddenly. I shook my head. “No need. Help buy some medicine for me, yes, thanks! By the way, don’t call to wake me up. Let me sleep.” Then I leaned over the table, settled my arms under my head, got as comfortable as I could, and fell asleep. Chu Haoran brought me some medicine after a little time pa.s.sed. I took it and continued to sleep. I dreamed of the forum again, the depressing background and the golden wings. The feeling of seeing it somewhere came to me again, which made my head ache. When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the sofa. Xiao Teng was keying beside me, making some noise. Chu Haoran was not here. “Zhuxuan, you are awake? Did I bother you?” Xiao Teng stopped his movements. I shook my head. “No. It is already noon?” “Relax, today is not very busy. Chu said if you don’t wake up, I should take you to the hospital. By the way, how did you get this fever?” Xiao Teng brought me a gla.s.s of water. “Who knows. Where is he?” Xiao Teng said he had been out for half a day, without telling Xiao Teng what he was doing. He was studying the forum in the morning, but got no results.     “Oh, I should tell you that I successfully registered for the forum and visited it last night. The forum was so depressing, which made me feel uncomfortable. But I didn’t find anything special.” I rubbed my temples. When Xiao Teng heard me, he stared at me with wide, round eyes. “You succeeded? How? Tell me.” He was clearly frustrated. I told him the process and asked him to navigate through the internet to see if there were similar images. I felt it was familiar, but I couldn’t remember. Xiao Teng nodded. By this time, Xiao Teng had entered the room with some food. “Awake? How are you feeling? Eat something first. If you still feel sick, go to the hospital later.” Chu Haoran asked Xiao Teng to help him. In my memory, buying food was always Xiao Teng’s or my duties. I had never seen Chu Haoran bring any food. The smell made me realize I was very hungry. “Wow, is this chicken soup prepared for Zhuxuan? What a great aroma!” Xiao Teng smiled with some dubious meaning.   It was chicken soup indeed. I didn’t expect that Chu Haoran was such a careful one. I raised my thumb to indicate my approval, but my mouth was full of food and I couldn’t verbally praise him. “Slower. n.o.body will eat your food.” Chu Haoran was smiling. In the afternoon, Chu Haoran asked me to go back home and have a better rest. I couldn’t reject this opportunity and waved to him as soon as possible, being afraid that he change his mind.   I hesitated for a little while, and then I chose the way back home. I already had some medicine and my body was feeling better. The current apartment was rented; however, my home was a happy place with good memories. But I had not gone home for a long time. “Boss, Zhuxuan forgot her phone.” Xiao Teng picked up the cellphone on the table. Chu Haoran took the phone and said, “She is always absentminded. I have something to tell her.” My home was near my office, about a ten-minute walk. When I was a child, I liked to follow my father here for fun. Father always pretended he didn’t notice me; in fact, he knew everything and he would slow down to allow me to follow him. When I entered the police office after him, he would call my mom to take me back. He never blamed me.   “Zhuxuan. . .” A familiar voice was calling me from behind my back. I turned back to find Chu Haoran was standing not far away, with a cellphone in hand. I soon discovered that I forgot my cellphone. I seldom made these kinds of mistakes. Anyway, I had an illness today. That was the reason.