Lin Fan knew many people were talking about her, but she didn't care. How could someone who didn't even care about her own life or death care about the gossip of strangers?
If you really have depression and the symptoms are very severe, it is not easy to recover.
She stayed in the hospital for 3 months, and the doctor let her go home to give her a better recovery environment.
Over the next year, Lin Fan's body gradually returned to normal. At least it appeared normal. But her heart was still a shambles.
The world in her eyes was gray and she had no desire to live at all.
It seems that any illness, over time, will change from being treated with caution to being indifferent. Lin's mother, feeling that Lin Fan had become a normal person again, started nagging and arguing with Lin's father again.
Lin Fan's condition began to relapse again.
The doctor suggested that if you cannot understand each other, you should separate.
So, in order to create a better environment, Lin's father took Lin's mother to Gaoshi, where they had been doing business for many years. They also bought a house there, which was only an hour's drive away.
Alone, Lin Fan felt at ease and entered a long period of recovery. To others, this was just doing nothing.
While overcoming the pain caused by the side effects of the drugs, she slowly explored the hope in life.
However, the cost of treatment and medication for mental illness is very high. After their savings ran out, Lin Fan's parents used their retirement funds to continue supporting her. Life became increasingly difficult, and Lin Fan, unwilling to continue filling that bottomless pit, stopped treatment.
In the hopeless time, Lin Fan felt her own incompetence countless times, feeling the dullness and pain of her body. She wanted to get better quickly and make money to support herself, but the reality was the opposite. Her health was getting worse and worse, and her spirits were not good either.
Not to mention finding a job, sometimes it’s hard to even maintain a normal life.
As I get older, my health gets worse and worse, and recovery seems to be a long way off.
Lin Fan was struggling and trying to comfort himself. He couldn't get any help and couldn't get out of the predicament.
She lived in an old residential complex with good greenery. When it was first developed, a miniature park was built with small slopes, tree-lined paths, and a small pond at the entrance.
Lin Fan's room window afforded a perfect view of this landscape. Spring blossoms, autumn moons, summer insects, ice and snow, the changing seasons, a vibrant scene. This small scene soothed her anxiety and relaxed her.
But in the past two years, parking spaces have been tight, so the bushes and grass downstairs have been pulled up to make parking spaces. The pond has also been filled in, and parking spaces have been marked out and fitness facilities have been built.
Fortunately, there was enough space and the grove was finally saved.
One day, Lin Fan went out and saw a dirty stray cat scratching through a trash can for food. She watched for a while, but the cat didn't find anything. Instead, it noticed her gaze and ran away warily.
Perhaps it was the memory of the docile old cat from his grandmother, or perhaps it was because he felt touched by the difficulty of its survival, Lin Fan followed it into the grove.
The grove is really small. Standing at the entrance, you can see the end at a glance. It is only about 50 meters square. There was a time when no one cleaned it. There was garbage everywhere. It was dirty and smelly and no one came in.
Later, someone was arranged to clean the place, and maybe everyone's quality had improved, so we were finally able to go in. However, there were a lot of mosquitoes inside, so people with children were reluctant to go in, and adults found it boring, so it became a paradise for small animals.
Lin Fan walked in and searched carefully before he saw a few huts hidden among the trees on the top of the slope. He could even vaguely see the swaying tail.
"Meow..." She squatted down and imitated the cat's meow, trying to lure the cat out.
"It's useless. They are very wary. Unlike puppies, they will come when you call them." A kind female voice came from behind.
Lin Fan stood up and turned around, only to see a gray-haired grandmother approaching with a gentle smile. She took a few steps back without leaving a trace.
Grandma put down the bag in her hand, took out a bag of black stuff and a bottle of water from it, dug around the edge of the tree roots, and took out two disposable lunch boxes. She gently scolded the cat in the direction of the cat's nest: "You love to overturn the food bowl every day. You have to come to rummage every day. If I don't come one day, you will see what you will eat!"
The lunch box was a little dirty, so she slowly rinsed it clean with water, not forgetting to talk to Lin Fan: "Meow meow, you can't lure them over. It's better if they're familiar with you. They think you're a stranger and won't come out to eat until you leave."
He poured in clean water, opened the plastic bag, and emptied the contents into another lunch box. Lin Fan guessed the brown, round pellets might be cat food.
Grandma packed up her things and called to Lin Fan: "Let's go first. They won't dare to come out while you're here."
Lin Fan glanced at the cat that was about to jump out of the tree and followed it.
"I just can't bear to see these little things go hungry. I'm afraid they will be hungry if I don't come for a day. I'm very worried." Grandma said to herself as she walked in front.
When she was almost at the exit, she squatted down again, took out a bottle of water and food from her handbag, and fumbled in the bushes, but found nothing.
"Which heartless person threw it to me again." She was a little angry, took out two more disposable lunch boxes from her handbag, and started pouring food and water.
"This is for the little strays from outside, but most of it went to Meow Meow." She poured the food with a smile, "It's been a while since we've had a new little stray. That's great."
After finishing her work, grandma carefully put away the empty bottles and bags and asked casually, "Do you like cats?"
Lin Fan was stunned for a moment. It seemed that he didn’t like her…it wasn’t that easy to say.
"I just like cats and dogs. When I was young, I could never keep any pets." Grandma didn't seem to want to wait for her to answer, and continued with a smile, "Now that I'm old, I can't bear to see these cats and dogs without homes, starving and freezing."
"I fed them. The dog got along with me and came home with me. The cats weren't so affectionate, so they stayed in the woods. I built a nest for them, padded it with some old clothes, and checked on them every day. I wasn't worried about them getting wet or cold. At my age, I can be considered a person who has both cats and dogs."
"You are a good person." Lin Fan looked at the old man's happy smile and admired him sincerely.
"Nowhere." The old woman waved her hands and laughed. "I'm just old and can't do much else. Helping these little animals can make me look like a useful old lady."
This sentence gave Lin Fan a direction.
Maybe she could also add some small value to her life by feeding stray animals and helping these weaker and more helpless groups - at least she could do something useful.
After returning home, she immediately bought a bag of cat food online. It wasn't the best, but it was enough to keep them full. She also took a large coarse porcelain bowl from home to put the cat food and water in, and went to feed them every few days. Grandma Pei, who feeds the cats, was very happy after encountering her a few times. She no longer worried that she would occasionally not have time to feed the cats and leave them hungry.
But Lin Fan didn't like interacting with people, so she chose to go around noon, when people were having lunch or taking a nap. Over time, the cat became more familiar with her and dared to hang around the food bowl when she put out the food.
Life seems to have changed a little, it's a little different, and it can be considered a new step.
That afternoon, Lin Fan went to feed the cats again. The cats in the grove stretched lazily when she saw her approaching, urging her to eat. Lin Fan packed the food for them and was squatting, watching the little cuties intently eat, when she heard voices behind her.
"Ms. Lin?"
Lin Fan didn't think he was calling her.
In a small, fourth-tier city, the only people who spoke Mandarin were couriers and takeout deliverymen. She hadn't ordered any deliveries in the past few days, so no delivery driver would call her, and she never ordered takeout.
It wasn't until the mealtime cat suddenly disappeared into the woods, and she heard footsteps behind her and a voice very close by saying "Ms. Lin" that Lin Fan realized they might be calling her. She stood up and slowly turned around, only to see a young man with a smile standing three meters in front of her.
He wore a pair of black-framed glasses and wasn't particularly handsome, but his smile was incredibly friendly and infectious, elevating his 6-point looks to an 8. No one would dispute that he was a handsome guy. At noon on a scorching hot day, he wore a black suit with a crimson tie buttoned tightly around the collar of his white shirt, seemingly oblivious to the heat.
intermediary?
Lin Fan wondered, How did the agent know her? Did they get the wrong person?
"Ms. Lin Fan," the young man said, making sure he had recognized her correctly. He took a few steps forward and extended his right hand to shake her hand. "Hello, my name is John Woo."
Wu Yusen had expected Lin Fan to be even more depressed and gloomy. After all, his research indicated that Lin Fan had been suffering from severe depression for several years. He lived alone and disliked socializing. These descriptions formed a negative image in his mind, but the real Lin Fan was not like that.
She stood there quietly, showing no negative emotions. Her half-drooped eyelids seemed weak, and her eyes were calm. A closer look revealed a deep sense of fatigue. Other than that, he could hardly tell the difference between Lin Fan and a normal person.
Lin Fan glanced at his outstretched hand and slowly took two steps back.
Wu Yusen immediately withdrew his hand and said with a smile: "Ms. Lin, don't be nervous. I am a staff member of a state agency. This is my work ID."
As he spoke, he pulled out a black leather notebook from his suit pocket, opened it, and showed it to Lin Fan.
Lin Fan took a glance.
There is no doubt that the person in the photo is this person.
His name is... John Woo?
I didn't pay attention just now. If she remembered correctly, this name should be a famous director, right?
Position: Senior Special Agent.
Look at the official seal again—National Special Function Office…
Except for the photos, everything about him exudes the air of a scam.
Seeing Lin Fan's silence, John Woo took back his work ID and explained with a smile, "That's the name. I always have to say a few more words when introducing myself. The year I was born, the movie 'A Better Tomorrow' was super popular, and my parents loved it. I originally wanted to use the protagonist's name, but my dad's last name is Wu, so it felt awkward to change it to the protagonist's name. Coincidentally, the director's last name is also Wu, and they felt that anyone who could make a movie like that must be talented, and they hoped that I would become a talented person in the future, so they just called me by the director's name."
Lin Fan had definitely seen "A Better Tomorrow," but she couldn't quite remember the plot. Was it directed by John Woo? She only just found out. Did this count as a new piece of knowledge?
"Ms. Lin, let me introduce you. The National Special Functions Office is a formal state agency. Its predecessor was the 888 Human Special Functions Research Institute, established in the early days of the People's Republic of China." Seeing Lin Fan's lack of reaction, Wu Yusen continued, "In fact, the public has given us a nickname, the 'Dragon Group,' which you may have heard of."
I've never heard of 888, but I've heard of the Dragon Group a few times. But does this organization really exist? Isn't it just a fictional creation? Is there something fishy about this guy?
Lin Fan looked at the smiling John Woo and suspected that he might be suffering from some kind of mental illness.
Seeing that Lin Fan remained silent, Wu Yusen continued to try to exude friendliness and, with a smile, stated the purpose of his visit: "We initially suspect that you, Ms. Lin Fan, have special abilities."