Pursuit of the Truth

Chapter 1152: Watching Lives Pass as He Counted the Cycles of Life and Death Quietly in His Heart

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Zhang Wen Zhang might not like studying, but as the son of a teacher, he believed that he should sound eloquent when he spoke. It was rather difficult for him, however, which was why he listened to the advise of the daughter of his father’s employer, the one he was incredibly fond of and the one who was incredibly beautiful…

He started intentionally showing a thoughtful expression. No matter whether he was sleeping, eating, walking, or doing something else, he would keep a thoughtful expression. This was the method the girl he liked had mentioned to him when they were young. She suggested that he should look like he was constantly thinking about something, and because of that others would believe that he was knowledgeable.

Zhang Wen Zhang abused this method to its limit, and gradually, as he grew up, he began to slowly think for real instead of just pretending to do it.

On the day he married the woman he liked under the envious gazes of those around him, he thought about his life. When they were about to bow to heaven and earth as part of the wedding ceremony, the woman had to drag him down in anger so they could finish the ceremony.

He was very fortunate that the woman he liked had a father who did not love her. Because of that, he completely disregarded the marriage in which Zhang Wen Zhang’s status did not match up to that of his beloved. In fact, the man did not even turn up for the ceremony.

This luck seemed to have accompanied him throughout his life. As he continued pondering it, he thought to have come to understand something, but when he thought about it carefully, he found that he had understood nothing.

Time trickled by. On the second summer since the marriage, there was a night with rain pouring from the sky. There was a storm on that night, and as lightning crackled, his wife was about to give birth.

On that night, his father-in-law threw his head back in the rain and laughed as if he had gone mad. He did not care about the rain drenching his body. His laughter echoed in the air, and there was grief in his voice.

Zhang Wen Zhang stared at his father-in-law in the rain. The man’s crazed expression made him sink into contemplative silence. However, his thinking only lasted for a short moment before it was interrupted by anxiety. Because… his wife’s shrill screams of pain came from the house. Her voice was full of the pain from experiencing a difficult labor.

It caused his heart to tremble, and he could no longer ponder about his life. Fear was in his heart. He was afraid that on this day, he would part with his wife forever. Once the day ended, he might become as crazy as his father-in-law.

As his wife’s pained screams continued ringing in the air and his father-in-law’s laughter grew stronger, Zhang Wen Zhang shuddered. At that moment, someone pushed open the door to his wife’s delivery room. The midwife who was brought over to receive the baby ran out with an expression full of fear.

“Monster… Monster!”

Zhang Wen Zhang’s heart shuddered. He rushed into the house and cast a glance at the room where his wife was giving birth. When he saw her pained expression, he called out to the other people in the room to bring the palanquin. Then, they rushed out of the room.

He wanted to get a doctor, not a midwife, because he had a strong feeling that this birth might cost someone a life. If that was the case, then it was no longer something with which a midwife could help. He needed a doctor to save his wife’s life!

With rain pouring down on him, he walked past the noodle stall which was still open despite the storm. He did not notice the old man sitting on the rock with his gaze towards him. Zhang Wen Zhang in too much hurry to pay attention to those around him.

When he finally brought the doctor whose skills were rather similar to those of Doctor Mo back to the courtyard, Zhang Wen Zhang stared at his wife’s labor room before gritting his teeth and stepping inside. He did not want to wait outside. He wanted to hold his wife’s hand so that he could go through the hardship with her.

But the moment he pushed open the door to the room, someone else pushed it open from within as well. Lightning crackled and thunder roared. At that instant, he saw a baby in the doctor’s arms, and he also saw the body of his wife lying on the bed without moving or breathing.