I was not interested in Mao Gang's arrival, but I was a little concerned about what Chi Qing said halfway. I didn't ask further. This is a principle of people in the crematorium. Curiosity is suppressed in the heart. Chi Qing didn't say anything more.
When I went to Chi Qing's house, I thought the chef must be a fat man. Unexpectedly, Chi Qing's father was a thin man who looked very neat and tidy. When I came, he shook my hand and then said something I didn't expect.
"My hands are so cold."
I just smiled, and Chi Qing's mother was busy running around.
"We only have this one daughter. Logically, we should have a brother or sister, but we didn't want one. We gave all our love to Xiaoqing. She has been suffering from love sickness since she was young, so we didn't want one."
There are refrigerators and TVs here. In that era, a home with these things must be very wealthy.
Chi Qing's mother is a middle school teacher. She is a very good tutor and her family is obviously well off.
We had a pretty good chat that day, but Chi Qing's mother asked me about my family situation, whether I was married, how old my children were, and then her face didn't look very good.
Chi Qing saw me out. Her mother didn't ask me to see her off far away. I waved and went home.
My father writes at home. He writes all his life and never finishes. I like watching my father write.
"Xiao Zuo, why are you so thin?"
"fine."
I talked to my father for more than an hour, and there were some things we didn't dare touch.
I took a day off the next day and went to work two days later. I sat by the river alone until noon. I went to school to see Xiaozhe. After school at noon, Xiaozhe would run home by himself to eat.
That day, I took him to a state-owned restaurant for dinner. He was a little nervous, but still wanted to get close to me. It seemed that Yunbai had told him something. This made me sad, but I didn't want to explain and put any pressure on Xiaozhe.
After dinner that day, I went back to the crematorium. It was very quiet in the afternoon. As soon as I walked past the guard, an old man came out.
"Master Ke, did you see someone jumping out of the gate yesterday? I dare say it was definitely not a human. The gate was so high and the speed was so fast, it was unbelievable that I couldn't even see it clearly."
"I… "
"Don't you live here? The lights don't go out until late at night."
"Don't you sleep at midnight?"
I left after I finished speaking. The old man looked at me blankly. This old man never bothers me with anything, but he suddenly said this today. It seemed that he was scared, otherwise he wouldn't have acted like this.
After dark, I went out to the restaurant to buy some food, then came back, went into the security room, and drank with the old man. I thought he might know more.
The old man was a little surprised and said embarrassedly that it was a waste of money.
That day, the old man told me a lot about what happened in the crematorium. For example, every once in a while, there would be a woman with long hair standing in the middle of the crematorium, not talking or moving. Or there would be the sound of a crying child or coughing in the middle of the night...
As soon as he finished speaking, he coughed again. I was startled and almost knocked over the wine jar. The old man suddenly laughed "Hahaha..." and then said.
"Master Ke, are you still afraid? There's nothing to be afraid of for someone who burned someone to death."
"Is that the same cough you heard?"
"You asked, you picked it up today. There are thousands of different coughs. I always hear them, so I can tell the difference. Just like this one today, it's definitely the first time I've heard it. There's a sting in the cough, which means your throat is swollen, but not serious. Some coughs are resentful, and some are happy. Anyway, there are all kinds of differences. Of course, there will be new coughs every once in a while. I've grown to like them."
I didn't expect that he could hear the difference in this cough. It seems that he is really an extraordinary person. I always feel that the old man seems to have something to say.
"By the way, what do you think about the director's disappearance?"
The old man looked at me, then looked out the window, and then spoke in a low voice.
"Take one first."
The old man can drink. He drinks here every day. At first, he did it to give himself courage, but later it became a habit.
I would like to hear your opinion on the disappearance of the director.
"I heard the director coughing these past two days. The one just now was him. I didn't dare to tell you because I was afraid you would be scared."
I stared at the old man in a daze. It seemed that he really had this ability. I thought he was bragging, but it seems not. The coughing sound came from the dark room, the coughing sound at the window.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. This cough is definitely different from a human cough. I can tell that this cough carries a sinister aura. Someone has died."
He then glanced up the window again.
"The police came to me, but I didn't tell them because I was afraid of getting into trouble."
It seems that what the old man said is correct. The director should be dead. If the coughing sound is from the director, then the director is in the Yin room. Can the person staying in the Yin room be alive? I can't think of it.
I drank until midnight and returned to the office. Without turning on the lights, I made the quilt, drew the curtains, lit a cigarette, smoked one, opened the door, went to the dark room, walked through the weeds, and saw that the door was closed, with the padlock still hanging on it and the key still glowing.
I stood there listening. I heard coughing sounds from inside, one after another. I remembered that the director had a cold and was coughing badly before he disappeared.
It seems that the person inside should be the director.
I opened the door and hid aside, listening and watching. There was no sound, and the coughing also stopped at this moment.
I opened my hand and shone it inside. I didn't expect that there was a wall between the rooms, like a screen blocking the view. The stone I threw was right under the wall. What could be behind the wall? Damn it, they were playing dirty tricks on me. This was too much for me to bear.
I walked slowly towards the door. The coughing sound stopped. I went in and found that there was an opening in the wall only on one side. I had never seen such a retaining wall before. No one would do this. It seems that I really don’t understand the feng shui of the crematorium. I have to learn some when I have time.
I walked very slowly, holding onto the wall. The opening was not big enough for only one person to pass through. I stood there for a long time, and then slowly moved forward, little by little. When I shone the flashlight inside, I almost fainted. There was a person hanging there, upside down, naked, with his eyes bulging, and one foot hanging. I rushed out at a high speed, and rushed so hard that I hit the door frame, which almost killed me.
I rushed back to the office, covering my head with my hands. The bump on my head was as big as a fist.
Although I was hanging there, I saw clearly that it was the director, there was no doubt about it.
I didn't sleep until dawn. I opened the curtains, put away the quilt, cleaned the office, opened the window to let in some fresh air, and made some tea. The tea was a gift from the manager, and I still had half a box of it left.
Today is my second day off. At 8:30, I entered Director Mao’s office and he stood up.
"Master Ke, aren't you taking a break today?"
"Oh, there is one thing. I know where the old director is."
Mao Gang was stunned.
"Where?"
I regretted what I said. I should have discussed it with He Dana first.
"I'm sorry, I was confused and I didn't know."
I turned around and went to He Dana's place. He was actually fishing in the pond. He was totally crazy.
"Godfather, I saw the director."
"What's new about that?"
"I mean the missing director."
"Oh, this is new. When will he go back to work?"
"Dead."
I told He Dana what I saw, and his eyes almost popped out of his head, and then he laughed so hard that I was stunned.
"Do you have a grudge?"
"No, but it is interesting to die like this. It is a kind of absolute death. There is no reincarnation. He will stay in the crematorium for a hundred years and then disappear. Completely."
"Why is this happening?"
"Too much harm has been done."
I didn't expect this.
"Can he hang himself from it?"
"Of course, just like suicide, hanging your feet doesn't seem to kill you, but that's not true. Everyone knows that the neck is important, but the ankle is also the neck. People's lives depend on their necks, some on their ankles, some on their wrists. Some people died with broken ankles, and some people didn't die with broken necks. That means their lives are somewhere else."
This is really new. This situation does exist. It turns out that our elementary school teacher broke his ankle while walking and died. No one could figure out what happened. I thought he died from falling. Now I understand.
"That was suicide?"
"Yes, but why did he commit suicide? He killed Ge Zhu, and we didn't report him. Even if the matter is over, he would actually commit suicide."
"What's his secret?"
"I think he wanted to keep a secret. He was the only one who knew this secret. In order to keep it, he committed suicide. Keeping a secret is more painful than death."
"What secret could it be?"
"You know, after the director got divorced, he lived alone in a large courtyard next to the Xiaoyan River, close to the river. He actually led the river into the courtyard and made it flow through the courtyard, forming a pond, where he planted flowers and raised fish. It was quite beautiful, and everyone who saw it liked it. It was just that he really didn't understand feng shui. The river water was led through the courtyard, which was like a sword piercing the heart, taking away blessings and wealth and flowing into negative energy. Logically speaking, he couldn't have not understood it."
He Dana analyzed.
"I don't quite understand."
"Eat and drink, and then we'll go to his house after dark."
I have never been to the director's home, but I have heard that it is a unique home.
At around nine o'clock in the evening, He Dana asked me to push him to the farm manager's house.
"You can't walk by yourself?"
"I can't borrow a leg today."
"Borrow a leg?"
"Yeah, the guys who lent me their legs didn't show up today."
I thought those guys he was referring to were ghosts or something, and I didn't want to ask any more questions.
I pushed He Dana to the farm manager's house. The yard there was quite big and the gate was locked. He Dana asked me to break the padlock with a stone.
"The cause of the director's death has not been determined yet, and the police are watching. Aren't you trying to harm me?"
"It's okay. I'll take care of it if anything happens."
I knocked the padlock off, pushed He Dana into the yard, and locked the door from the inside.
The river in the yard runs through the yard. There is a pond with fish, flowers, and rockery in it. It is so beautiful.
There are three rooms and three doors, all independent, which is a bit strange.
"There are three doors here, and one of them is never opened. You can see that it is the door on the left. It should be the ghost door. The director seems to understand Feng Shui, but I can't understand this river running through the courtyard. It is definitely a move that greatly destroys Feng Shui."
He Dana stared at the three doors and finally pointed at one and said.
"Just go through this door, not the other two."
I pushed the door open and looked inside. It was dark. I turned on the flashlight and shone it inside. The rooms on the left and right were the same as an ordinary house, except that the furnishings inside were different. I could tell a certain temperament and quality.
I carried He Dana in on my back, and he looked at it for a long time and said.
"Left door, don't go in the right one."
Pushing open the left door and going in, He Dana shouted.
"run."
Damn it, keep your voice down, his mouth was right in front of my ear, it almost made me deaf. (To be continued)