Fear of food

Chapter 23 Good News

The moment Chen Qi saw Dr. Zhao appear, he was extremely glad that he had made the right decision.

Fortunately, I didn't run headfirst into it; being careful was definitely the right thing to do.

After witnessing the abnormality in his mother, Chen Qi had no doubt about how terrifying Dr. Zhao was.

After all, Dr. Zhao was one of only two people Chen Qi had ever seen whose abnormalities directly manifested in their bodies.

"It seems that 'Mother' had already contacted the hospital to pick me up."

If Chen Qi hadn't decisively chosen to escape from home, his mother might not have been provoked into showing abnormal behavior and turning into a monster.

But he will inevitably face the fate of being caught and taken back by Dr. Zhao.

Chen Qi leaned over the windowsill, carefully observing Dr. Zhao's movements.

After getting out of the car, Dr. Zhao said something to the community security guard and then walked straight into the community.

Chen Qi could guess without even looking that Dr. Zhao had gone straight to his house.

There should be other people in the car.

Chen Qi observed the ambulance. Dr. Zhao had just gotten out from the passenger seat, which meant there was at least one driver in the vehicle.

However, as long as Dr. Zhao is not around, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Chen Qi planned to take advantage of the moment when Dr. Zhao left and rush out.

He wanted to get away, and this might be his best chance.

Although the community has two other exits, they are quite far apart. If you were to run into Dr. Zhao or "Mother" while walking around the community, you would be doomed. The risk is too great.

Why not choose the exit that's right in front of you?

Chen Qi followed Dr. Zhao's movements with his eyes, quietly waiting for Dr. Zhao to walk away.

Dr. Zhao suddenly stopped in his tracks, as if sensing something, and looked around.

Chen Qixin's heart leaped into her throat. She quickly pulled her head back and held her breath.

Fortunately, after a short while, Dr. Zhao continued walking and soon disappeared around the corner.

Chen Qi didn't dare to delay and immediately went downstairs.

Once downstairs, he pretended to be nonchalant and walked out at a leisurely pace.

As he walked out of the residential compound, he observed through the windshield of the ambulance that the driver was peering at him.

Chen Qi seemed oblivious and walked directly towards another residential area across the street.

His neighborhood is all residential, with one complex after another.

He knew he couldn't walk along the road; these people could catch up with him in a few cars.

Therefore, he could only choose to move between different neighborhoods and use the complex terrain to get rid of them.

boom!
I heard the sound of a car door opening and closing behind me.

The ambulance driver got out of the vehicle and shouted, "Wait!"

Chen Qi ignored him and continued walking forward.

It's perfectly normal for the other person to notice him; he might be the only pedestrian coming in or out at that spot.

The ambulance driver reached out and knocked on the back of the ambulance.

The rear door was then pushed open, and two security guards jumped out of the car.

"Is it him?" the driver asked.

"That's right, it's him, I recognize this outfit!"

Hearing the conversation behind him, Chen Qi finally stopped acting and ran away.

"Chase!"

A driver and two security guards shouted and gave chase.

Chen Qi glanced back briefly and saw that one of the security guards was the same one who was on duty at the hospital building at night.

That is, the security guard recognized his clothes.

However, this guy has learned to be smart. Knowing that Chen Qi can run, he slowed down after only a few steps and deliberately lagged behind.

The other two, however, put in a lot of effort to pursue Chen Qi.

With Chen Qi's current physical condition, he is not afraid of the two middle-aged men, whether it is speed or stamina.

In just the time it takes to cross the street, he has created distance between himself and the two.

The group chased each other and disappeared into the residential area across the street.

A few minutes later, Chen Qi, relying on his familiarity with the surrounding environment and his physical advantages, completely shook off his pursuers.

He didn't stop, but randomly picked a direction and kept walking, passing through several residential areas and crossing several streets, until he finally arrived at a 24-hour convenience store.

Chen Qi walked into the convenience store, but since he had no money, he didn't buy anything and found a corner seat to sit down.

There's a power outlet here, so I can charge my phone.

The main reason he chose this location was because there was a mobile phone store next to the convenience store, so he could stay there until the store opened in the morning and go directly to get a replacement SIM card.

Chen Qi rested on the table, feeling sore all over.

So much happened that night.

For more than three and a half of the past four hours, he was either walking or running.

Even though he had recovered, he still felt somewhat tired.

But compared to the physical discomfort, the feeling of helplessness was what tormented him the most.

He was running away the whole way, trying to get away from his "mother" and Dr. Zhao. He didn't have time to think about anything else.

Now that he has some free time, his mother's painful and struggling face keeps appearing in his mind.

"why?"

Why Mom of all people?

Chen Qi had known for a long time that his parents had been eating strange food, and he was mentally prepared for his parents to be affected.

But he thought the impact was like that of nurses like Xiaoru, who looked no different from normal people, except for the instinctive impulse to "protect their food".

As long as Chen Qi doesn't eat wild food around them, they won't show any obvious abnormalities.

He never imagined, and could never accept, that his mother had become such a monster!

Moreover, it wasn't just a physical change; it was quite obvious that the mother's consciousness had been hijacked, and she had essentially lost control of her body.

Chen Qi couldn't understand why his mother was so special among so many people in Jinghai City.

Among so many medical staff and patients in the hospital, Chen Qi did not see a single person turn into a monster.

The only suspected case is Dr. Zhao.

“Dr. Zhao…” Chen Qi’s heart stirred, and he vaguely grasped something.

When did Mom start acting so strangely?

Chen Qi thought of the morning of September 5th.

His mother had promised to visit him at the hospital that day, but she never showed up.

But she went to the hospital, only to give up visiting Dr. Zhao and leave immediately afterward.

From that day on, his mother's attitude towards him changed significantly.

Not only did she lie to him, but she also stopped visiting him at the hospital and even refused Chen Qi's reasonable request to go home for two days on the weekend.

She stopped replying to his messages promptly every afternoon, became perfunctory in her attitude, and repeatedly urged him to cooperate with Dr. Zhao's treatment.

From that time on, my mother was like a different person.

"All of my mother's unusual behavior started after she met Dr. Zhao that day."

"Is it Dr. Zhao? Is it related to him?" "Or rather, it's actually related to me!"

Chen Qi seemed to have figured things out. He had good reason to suspect that the strange changes in his mother were related to Dr. Zhao.

Why did Dr. Zhao choose the mother?
There's only one answer, and it's because of him, Chen Qi!
Because of his special nature!

Because he can see the abnormality in the food, because he has been eating wild food, and because he does not compromise.

If he had compromised like Sun Xuechao, cooperated with Dr. Zhao's treatment, and eaten the strange food earlier, becoming one of those influenced and controlled, perhaps none of these things would have happened.

"So you controlled my mother to make me compromise?"

"Dr. Zhao, Zhao Mingyuan!"

Chen Qi clenched his fists, his eyes twitched, and beneath his calm face was a barely suppressed rage.

For the first time in over twenty years, he hated someone to the point of wanting to kill them.

Although all of the above are Chen Qi's speculations without any evidence, he is not a judge; he is just a son who wants to save his mother.

He doesn't need evidence; he just needs a clear objective.

However, Chen Qi was not blinded by hatred. He knew that taking revenge on Dr. Zhao was secondary; saving his mother was the most important thing at the moment.

His mother repeatedly told him to run far away, but Chen Qi couldn't ignore her. Even if there was only a sliver of hope, he would try his best.

He has no clue how to turn his mother back into a monster, so he can only ask Momo for help.
-
At nine o'clock in the morning, the branch next to the convenience store finally opened.

Under the somewhat strange gaze of the convenience store cashier, Chen Qi left the convenience store and went to the adjacent business hall.

Fortunately, he had his ID card with him when he left the hospital, and it didn't take him long to get a replacement SIM card.

Chen Qi returned to the convenience store, ignoring the cashier's suspicious look, and sat back down in his previous seat, inserting the newly issued SIM card into his spare phone.

After successfully connecting to the internet, Chen Qi logged into WeChat and the "Guoke" app after some initial troubleshooting.

He immediately sent a comment to Momo: I'm out.

Only then did I check the unread messages on WeChat.

There were only two messages from Xu An'an, sent around 8 a.m.

Xu An'an: I heard you escaped from prison?

Xu An'an: Does one hundred yuan still count?

Chen Qi was speechless. Did Xu An'an think he had run away with the debt?
Chen Qi: Yes

After giving a brief reply, Chen Qi immediately sent a 100-yuan red envelope.

The red envelope was claimed instantly.

Chen Qi swiped the screen, looking at the few silent chat boxes, lost in thought.

His escape from the hospital, such a major event, was reflected in an eerie silence in the person involved.

Only Xu An'an contacted him.

Neither "Mother" nor "Father" sent a message. There was also no word from the hospital.

It seems no one is looking for him.

They ran away, so be it.

But Chen Qi didn't think Dr. Zhao would let him go so easily.

"Does Dad know that I ran away from the hospital?"

"And what about Mom? Should I tell her?"

Chen Qi opened the chat interface with his father, wanting to send a message, but after hesitating for a long time, he gave up.

He didn't know if his father also had a problem.

Recently, my father's behavior has been a bit unusual. He keeps postponing his return after going on business trips and rarely contacts me.

Although his father was not a man of many words, he was very concerned about Chen Qi's condition and would ask about it every day or two.

Chen Qi thought to himself, "If something happens to my dad too, there's no point in me contacting him; it might even put me in danger."

“If Dad is alright, he might not believe anything I say, and he might even rush back because of it... If he does, he'll run straight into Mother's hands, and things will likely turn out badly.”

After much deliberation, Chen Qi realized that in either case, letting his father stay in another city seemed to be the best option.

So he decided not to talk to his father too much for now, but just to keep an eye on the date his father would return.

As long as his father doesn't decide to come home, he just has to pretend nothing happened.

Next, Chen Qi began to anxiously await Momo's reply.

He kept refreshing the "Passerby" app, hoping to find unread messages, while also chatting with Xu An'an in fits and starts.

Through Xu An'an, he was able to learn about the general situation at the hospital.

Chen Qi's escape did not seem to cause much of a stir in the hospital building.

The entire inpatient department was operating as usual, and the hospital was trying to downplay the incident. This was understandable, as it would be bad for the hospital if the matter became too big of a fuss.

Chen Qi: By the way, how's my twisted dough stick coming along?

Xu An'an: It wasn't very successful. I'll take a picture for you when I get back to my dorm at noon.
Chen Qi: Okay
Xu An'an: What are your plans for the future?
Chen Qi: I don't know, let's take it one step at a time.
Chen Qi: Dr. Xu, do you have anywhere to take me in?

Xu An'an: I live at school

Chen Qi: What about your place? Do you have any empty rooms? A bit old or run-down is fine, as long as it's habitable, I can pay.
Xu An'an: I have no home

Chen Qi: "Hands clasped together" expression - sorry
Chen Qi didn't ask any more questions about Xu An'an's family affairs; he needed to find a suitable place to live as soon as possible.

He never imagined that he, a native of Jinghai City, would end up homeless.

He only had less than three thousand yuan on him. Staying in a hotel would be too expensive, and with other living expenses, he probably wouldn't be able to make ends meet for long.

I'm currently unemployed and have no source of income, so I definitely need to be careful with this little bit of money.

Chen Qi didn't want to bother his former classmates and friends, so after thinking it over, he could only rent a cheap house.

Chen Qi opened the "Passerby" app again, and a striking red dot made him perk up.

"Momo replied to my message!"

He quickly clicked on the comments.

momo: Add me as a friend, on WeChat...

momo: Remember to delete the comment after you add it.
Momo, who had previously refused to add Chen Qi as a friend, changed her attitude significantly after Chen Qi was discharged from the hospital.

Chen Qi quickly copied the WeChat ID and searched for it on WeChat. An account with a pink cartoon dragon avatar and the nickname "momo" appeared.

"Is WeChat also called Momo?"

Chen Qi suspected that this was the other party's alternate account.

I requested to add you as a friend, noting "passerby" in my message, and the other person quickly accepted my friend request.

Momo: I've accepted your friend request. We can start chatting now.
Chen Qi: Hello, what's your name?

momo: You can call me momo.
Chen Qi paused for two seconds, abandoning his original plan to introduce himself.

Chen Qi: I want to know what exactly happened?

momo: I don't know much either, I'm still figuring it out, but I temporarily left Jinghai City these past two days and found some good news.
Chen Qi: What?
momo: The scope of food horror isn't that broad.

Chen Qi: Food horror?
momo: Oh, I forgot to explain, 'food horror' is the name we gave to this food anomaly disaster.

momo: Food terror has not yet affected the entire world, and even Yushan City, which is next to Jinghai City, has not been affected.

momo: The food here is normal, everything is as usual.

Chen Qi: Are you sure?

This is indeed good news, so good that Chen Qi can hardly believe it!

If the abnormal area is limited to Jinghai City, then as long as he escapes Jinghai City, wouldn't he be able to live a normal life as before?

(End of this chapter)