In a small supermarket on Tufang Street, the police officer turned around and looked at Xiao Yucheng: "Is it your child that you can't find?"
"Yes, yes! Did you see it?" Xiao Yucheng looked panicked and nodded while gasping for breath.
"How old?"
"Seven years old!"
"What are his characteristics?" the police officer asked again.
"He is not tall and is very thin. He should be wearing a blue short-sleeved T-shirt. Oh, by the way, he also has severe asthma and lung disease. He should be wearing a mask when he goes out..."
"That's you." The police officer nodded and interrupted, "Come with me."
"What's wrong with him?" Xiao Yucheng asked immediately.
The police officer paused and looked at the lame father with some sympathy: "It's like this, he had a little accident. He had a seizure near here last night and didn't get timely treatment, so...!"
Xiao Yucheng only heard half of the words when his head buzzed and he stood there in a daze with a pale face.
…
An hour and a half later, in the corridor of the morgue of Zhanan Central Hospital, a slight chill was surging, and the large iron door leading to the morgue stood coldly in front of everyone.
When Xiao Yucheng reached the door, his legs were weak and his mind was blank.
The police officer was young and kind-hearted. He supported Xiao Yucheng with his left hand and comforted him while signaling the hospital staff to open the morgue, and then everyone went in together.
The staff member put on a mask, opened the large drawer containing the body, and said numbly and coldly: "You need to sign it later."
After that, the staff member turned and left. The police officer whispered to Xiao Yucheng, "You were not at home yesterday, were you? Your son seemed to have gone downstairs to buy something to eat. On the way, he met a few children who asked him to play football with them... I interviewed some witnesses, and they said that your son did not play at first, but sat on the curb to eat pie... But later, he may not have been able to bear it, and was called to the playground by a few other children. He got sick after playing for a while... There were no adults around, and the children ran away when they saw something was wrong. In the end, the old man who was on duty at the playground found your child, but notified the patrolman. By the time he was sent to the hospital, it was too late and the best time for rescue had been missed...!"
Next to the large drawer, the police officer was explaining the facts to Xiao Yucheng in a gentle tone, while the latter stared at the drawer in a daze, feeling extremely painful.
My son's face was purple and blue, his eyelashes and skin were covered with frost, he was still wearing that blue short-sleeved T-shirt, and there were several obvious needle marks on his arms, left by the emergency treatment in the hospital.
Feelings of collapse, regret, and disbelief surged in Xiao Yucheng's heart. He looked at his cold and stiff son, and it seemed as if he had no strength left, and all motivation had disappeared.
Although Xiao Yucheng did not have a son in his old age, his son was his only hope. After so many years of working as a laborer, he no longer felt any joy in life.
When he was in Sinalo, he would work as soon as he woke up and go to bed as soon as it got dark. He had no private time at all. Sometimes when he heard artillery fire in the middle of the night, he had to get up immediately and take refuge in the air-raid shelter.
Wandering around, his wife is gone, and he himself has become disabled. Thirteen years have passed in the blink of an eye. In Xiao Yucheng's memory, he is like a machine that keeps running, living numbly and earning money to support his family.
Xiao Yucheng no longer remembers the original purpose of coming to Longcheng. His ambitions and ideals in his youth had long been shattered in the painful life. His wife is gone, and his only hope is to raise his son who was born with a disease, give him a relatively healthy living environment, and save some money for him so that the next generation does not have to live like him.
But today, the son that Xiao Yucheng had taken such good care of was gone, and all his hopes were shattered like a vase falling to the ground.
In the cold morgue, Xiao Yucheng leaned against a large drawer, slowly squatted on the ground, hugged his head, and shed tears in confusion and despair.
Next to him, the police officer did not urge him, but turned and walked outside and smoked a cigarette.
He didn't know how much time had passed, or who had spoken to him, but in a daze Xiao Yucheng signed several notices and claimed his son's body.
The hospital staff put away the paper and pen, looked up at Xiao Yucheng and asked, "Cremation? We have a car to take you there, 500 yuan."
Xiao Yucheng replied woodenly: "No... no cremation."
"You can't cremate the body, and you can't bury it privately. What are you going to do?" The staff frowned and said, "Now if you are caught burying the body privately, you will be fined and detained. What do you think..."
"Then let's cremate it." Xiao Yucheng replied calmly.
Ten minutes later, the car carrying the corpse drove out of the hospital, and the second security guard who was responsible for monitoring Xiao Yucheng followed the car in front, holding the phone and saying: "... Damn, I'm so unlucky. The man I followed has a dead son. Yes, he just came out of the hospital and went to the crematorium... Ah, what should we do? Give him two more days to deal with the funeral? Damn! I give up, what is going on!"
Erbao communicated with his superiors on the phone while driving with Xiao Yucheng to the crematorium.
…
For a person to be born, the mother has to go through ten months of pregnancy, and the double pain of mother and child. Even the most particular new parents may need to prepare for pregnancy for a year or two, and go through numerous difficulties and obstacles before the child can come into this world.
But a person's death and disappearance only takes less than three minutes. A fire is started and not even a bone or a residue is left.
Late at night, Xiao Yucheng walked out of the crematorium holding the urn. The cold wind blew past. No one came to greet him, and there were no relatives or friends who could feel his sadness. Only Erbao stayed by his side and didn't even have dinner.
Erbao, who had been squatting all day, got out of the car, smoked a cigarette, walked up to Xiao Yucheng and said, "Shall I take you home?"
Xiao Yucheng looked at him and nodded woodenly.
"Let's go!" Erbao called out.
Two minutes later, the car left the compound. Erbao sat in the front and said nonchalantly, "It's really depressing that you've been involved in this, but one thing is one thing, and you still have to hurry up and deal with this case! I can't follow you every day, it will be troublesome for you and me. You'd better find the money and settle the matter quickly."
Xiao Yucheng sat in the back seat, looking at the back of his head, his body as stiff as a sculpture.
"Just now at the crematorium, I called Brother Xu and interceded for you. He agreed to give you two more days." Erbao continued, "But what I mean is that if you can get the money together as soon as possible, do it quickly and don't delay. This will make it easier for you to hold a funeral for your child later. But if you really can't get it together now, then at most within two days, you must..."
There was a gleam of spirit in Xiao Yucheng's numb eyes, and his eyes turned blood red.
…
The headquarters of the Coders Association.
Jing Yan held the phone and said, "Chairman Lu means that after Carl and others from the Control Department leave, we can talk about delivering goods to Sinalo. Yes, I plan to let Gu Baishun do it..."