Chapter 256: 252 Luck

May 20, 2023, the weather was overcast and rainy. Fang Mu stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the rain outside slant into lines and beat against the glass. He placed his hand on the windowpane, unsure if the glass was shaking from the intensity of the rain or if his hand was trembling itself.

He looked down at the people scurrying about at the base of the building and heard the playful shrieks of children and young people, yet he felt no vitality of the human world.

Perhaps the air conditioning was set a bit too cold; Fang Mu sat back on the sofa and wrapped himself in a shawl to barely feel a trace of warmth, but this was not enough to soothe his restless heart.

As for why he had become like this, it had to start from when he finished reading that diary with yellowed pages on the coffee table... No, it should be traced back even earlier, traced back 10 years.

10 years ago, Fang Mu was not yet a novelist, but he was already a prospective high school student full of interest in literature. From a very young age, he was influenced by his family's culture and became keen on reading. By the time he was in the second grade of elementary school, he had already mastered a vocabulary and reading volume dozens of times greater than his peers, and he began to try his hand at writing some childish texts and practicing essays.

Another reason why he loved literature and enjoyed writing was likely related to his frail and sickly body. Being bedridden often and staying at home for long periods also fostered his introverted personality, so he did not like socializing, which in turn allowed him to pour his rich emotions into the worlds he wrote about.

When one begins to love and has the conditions to immerse oneself in something, one will not feel that losing certain things and skills is such a pity.

However, it was precisely because of his frail body that things went wrong during his physical education high school entrance exam 10 years ago on May 20.

He remembered that day was also an overcast and rainy day. During the 1,000-meter long-distance running assessment, in order to strive for a perfect score, he threw caution to the wind and ran with all his might.

Fang Mu lived up to expectations and took first place in his group, also securing a perfect physical education score, but because he had pushed himself too hard, he suddenly felt excruciating pain all over his body and was immediately rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

The results of the emergency treatment came out quickly; he was temporarily out of danger, but his family was told that his heart had failed.

The doctor told his family that if Fang Mu wanted to live, it would be best to transplant a new heart.

Fang Mu's family had some background and financial resources, so upon hearing the doctor's words, they immediately sent people to inquire about a suitable Heart Source for Fang Mu.

And Fang Mu had his own luck; in less than half a day, there was actually a fresh heart organ available that was a suitable match for him to transplant.

This heart had a somewhat mysterious origin. After the surgery, Fang Mu heard that his family had used connections to buy it from the black market. Although there might have been some hidden concerns, it would never be worse than watching Fang Mu die right there, so they spent a high price to buy it.

The heart transplant surgery was very successful, so successful that even Fang Mu felt amazed. If not for the surgical scar on his chest, he probably would never have believed that he had actually replaced his heart.

The transplanted heart had almost no impact on Fang Mu's daily life, and Fang Mu curiously consulted his surgeon about this.

When the doctor answered him, a look of shock flashed across the other's eyes, explaining that he was truly lucky to have received a heart that was almost a perfect match for him, matching to an incredible degree.

To this day, Fang Mu clearly remembers the doctor's incredulous expression at that time. Rather than calling it incredulous, a more accurate description would be "thought-provoking and terrifying."

Having walked through the gates of life and death, Fang Mu had a deeper realization about life. After being discharged from the hospital, he had been actively inquiring about the owner of the heart inside his body. He really wanted to know what kind of person this stranger was, who had a line of fate intersecting with his own by chance or necessity, and why his heart was able to end up in his own body.

Fang Mu knew that what he was doing was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack. After all, his heart had come from an illicit source, and the black market had its own rules of survival; some things sold there might not even have a known origin to the sellers themselves.

In the hearts of those black market merchants, the origin of the goods was not important; business was what mattered most.

Perhaps feeling that he had experienced a bizarre stroke of luck, and feeling an intense curiosity for this kind of plot that only appeared in books, every time he uncovered a little information about the owner of that heart, it was as stimulating and blood-boiling as when he first secretly flipped through those forbidden classics.

This investigation went on for nearly ten years.

It was not until half a year ago that Fang Mu finally received the news confirming the final identity of the heart's owner from a detective he had commissioned.

After hearing and reading the news from that Private Detective, Fang Mu felt a bit of loss and regret, because he might never again hear such fun like chasing a novel, but he was ultimately very happy, after all, he had finally found his lifesaver.

The name of the original owner of his heart was Fang Jianhua. In the year he turned 20, which was early 2013, he had suddenly disappeared mysteriously because he owed a huge debt and was fleeing from creditors, leaving behind only his younger sister, Fang Jingjing, who was the same age as Fang Mu, in their hometown.

By the time Fang Jianhua appeared in people's field of vision again, he had become very wealthy, only he had been turned into countless pieces, each with its own high price.

People are just like that; when they are whole, they are not worth much, but after being dismantled piece by piece, they reveal their "due value."

Because of Fang Jianhua, Fang Jingjing had a very difficult time for a long while after Fang Jianhua disappeared. Her studies and life were often harassed by those collecting black-market debts, so she was forced to drop out of high school before graduating and went far away to work.

Fang Jingjing came to work in the city next to Fang Mu's. With no real qualifications, she tried almost every job, but she never had a stable one and often worried about making a living.

After suffering for a long time in days of hunger and cold, this strong girl finally collapsed, and just like him, who had once risked his life for the physical education entrance exam, she was struck down by illness.

The thought of comparing himself to Fang Jingjing had just crossed Fang Mu's mind when he immediately felt ashamed and wanted to slap himself; he always felt he was being thick-skinned.

Fang Jingjing had lost both kidneys; she had kidney failure.

After hearing about this, Fang Mu was quite moved, feeling that this was probably an arrangement of fate, and everything was a cycle of cause and effect.

He owed Fang Jingjing's brother a heart, so he intended to donate one of his kidneys to her to compensate for the debt he owed her family.

Fang Mu felt that since Fang Jianhua's heart could match his own almost perfectly, it meant that his organs and the Fang family should have some close compatibility, and it should also be compatible with Fang Jingjing.

Just in case, Fang Mu still had an institution perform a compatibility test between himself and Fang Jingjing. The result was as expected: his kidney was indeed compatible with Fang Jingjing and could be used for her transplant.

Thus, Fang Mu solemnly went to her door to express that he was willing to donate a kidney to her.