Chapter 56: “no One Responds Again”
Fu Fei focused intently on the thing on the ground ahead, not blinking even when his eyes ached and tears overflowed, his legs as if filled with lead, unable to lift them.
He was hallucinating again.
“Heh—” A bitter smile appeared on the young man’s weary face.
That cloth bag… how could it be, it must be… it must be another hallucination!
His illness had gotten worse.
Fu Fei dragged his heavy legs forward, walked a few steps, but saw that the cloth bag was still there.
His heart pounded heavily.
This was the first time since that incident two years ago that Fu Fei had felt his heart beating so vividly, realizing he was still alive.
His throat suddenly became dry, like sandpaper scraping over it, his eyes stinging badly, his body trembling uncontrollably, his teeth chattering, clacking together with a da-da-da-da sound.
A glint suddenly appeared in his eyes, and he quickly walked over, slowly squatting down, hesitating and fearful, not daring to reach out for a long time.
If it was real…
If it was really real!
“Dong, dong, dong!!!”
Fu Fei’s heartbeat grew faster and faster, his head suddenly flushed with blood, and he plunged headfirst to the ground.
His forehead hit something—not the warm, sun-baked soil, but the cloth bag, with its cotton cloth texture.
He had been thinking about this cloth bag for over two years, more than eight hundred days and nights, over twenty thousand hours.
Fu Fei quickly grabbed the bulging cloth bag.
The seam sealed with cotton thread, the seal at the seam, and the glaring red stamp on it were all there.
He clutched the cloth bag tightly, the wounds on his fingers cracking open, fresh red blood oozing out, a few “kgh, kgh” sounds leaking from his throat before he covered his mouth, the stifled sobs crashing in his nasal cavity like a wounded wild beast pacing in an iron cage.
A long time later.
He smiled, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.
Those numb eyes slowly gained a sparkle.
Brighter and brighter.
Fu Fei suddenly stood up and rushed toward the cotton textile factory.
“I didn’t embezzle! The money is here! Look, I really didn’t embezzle!!” He held up the cloth bag and shouted, showing the seal to everyone, “Look, everyone look, the seal is still there, the red stamp is intact, I didn’t take a single cent!”
At that moment, many people were working overtime at the cotton textile factory.
Hearing the noise, quite a few came out.
Those nearby saw the seal and red stamp on the cloth bag at a glance and were astonished.
The incident with Fu Fei two years ago had been a big deal; if not for incomplete laws and the factory leaders’ protection, he would have at least gone to prison, and even if not, receiving education was certain.
But now.
The cloth bag had appeared, looking just like it had been freshly withdrawn from the bank. This… this this this, it was like seeing a ghost.
The factory director walked out of the office and saw the cloth bag raised high by Fu Fei; his pupils contracted sharply.
Fu Fei rushed straight to him, “Factory Director, the lost money, the money has been found! I didn’t embezzle, look—the seal and red stamp are all there, I found it!”
He kept repeating that he hadn’t embezzled, his eyes bloodshot, emotions agitated, his appearance nearly mad.
The factory director took the cloth bag from Fu Fei’s hands, tore open the seal, and inside was a neatly folded Da Tuan Jie banknote.
He counted it again.
One thousand four hundred eighty-five.
Not a single cent missing.
“Where did you find it?” The factory director stood on the steps, his piercing gaze fixed on Fu Fei.
“The alley closest to the south gate of the factory.” Fu Fei said.
“How strange.” The quite imposing-looking factory director was puzzled.
Lost from where and picked up from where.
Like seeing a ghost.
As a retired soldier, he naturally didn’t believe in ghosts, but this matter truly couldn’t be explained.
The man handed the cloth bag full of money to the finance department and patted Fu Fei’s shoulder.
“Comrade Fu is a good comrade.”
Hearing this affirmation from the leader, Fu Fei’s expression shook; he squatted down, covered his face, and choked unable to speak, crying snot and tears everywhere.
Utterly disheveled.
After crying, the light in his eyes gathered brighter and brighter.
Suddenly he laughed, his whole body trembling with laughter.
“Hahaha—”
The young man stood up laughing, his shoulders, hunched from the infamy, straightened, his face full of tears yet laughing with relief.
He deeply bowed to the factory director, then Fu Fei ran out.
He ran very fast, from the cotton textile factory to the riverbank, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting “ah ah ah” a few times, as if to shout out all the grievances and pain accumulated in his heart over the past two-plus years.
Afterward, the factory office held a meeting.
In view of Fu Fei returning the factory’s losses, the cotton textile factory revoked its administrative punishment against him and simultaneously adjusted his work.
The money loss incident had a bad impact, so returning to the finance department was out of the question, but he could still enter an ordinary factory building.
Fu Fei said nothing and dutifully reported for duty.
Including everyone in the Fu family, all thought the matter was over just like that.
But they didn’t expect.
Less than half a month later, Fu Fei swapped jobs with someone and quietly left, never setting foot here again.
Some things, once happened, had happened and could no longer be treated as if they hadn’t.
These long two years, for him, were a scab formed in his heart, painful at the slightest touch; he wanted to start anew.
…
At the same time.
An old, rundown small courtyard on West Street.
The tiled roof was covered in moss, layers of moldy green trailing down from the ridge, the courtyard wall long mottled, the window panes pasted with yellowed newspaper, the half-remaining Spring Festival couplet on the door lintel rustling in the breeze.
An old woman with graying hair lifted the shiny black bamboo curtain and walked out; she held a peeling enamel basin in her hands, intending to fetch water to wash her grandson’s feet. She had just reached the water jar when a flash caught her eye.
Grandma Guo squinted her presbyopic eyes and looked again; the gold ring that had been lost for over two years was quietly sitting on top of the water jar.
“Clang—”
The enamel basin bounced and rolled away on the ground.
The elderly person staggered toward the water jar, her twig-like fingers clutching the gold ring tightly, pressing it into her palm, the carved patterns on the ring pricking her palm painfully.
Her palm hurt a lot.
Grandma Guo came back to her senses, dazedly opened her hand; the ring was still there.
In an instant.
Two streams of turbid tears flowed from the elderly person’s eyes that could no longer see clearly.
She suddenly shuddered and collapsed to the ground, suppressed cries overflowing from her throat.
“Why did you only come out now? Why only now! Too late! Too late!”
“My son—!”
“Cui Cui—!!”
“Mom found the ring, Mom has money to exchange for grain, come back—!!”
Grandma Guo clenched her right hand into a fist and pounded her own heart fiercely; it hurt so much.
“Mom is useless, Mom lost the ring, couldn’t exchange for grain, Mom is useless, son, Cui Cui, Mom is useless!”
“Why doesn’t Heaven take away this worthless old life of mine…”
Just then, a boy a little over two years old ran out barefoot.
Seeing Grandma crying, he ran over, his small hands clumsily wiping the elderly person’s deeply lined face.
“Grandma don’t cry, grandson will protect Grandma.”
Hearing her grandson’s words, Grandma Guo’s heart hurt even more; she hugged her grandson and cried even harder.
Her mind recalled the events from two years ago.
In the cold midwinter, snow falling heavily, the entire county had grain supply difficulties, and her daughter-in-law Cui Cui had just given birth.
The newborn eldest grandson’s cries were weaker than a kitten’s; she took her only remaining gold ring to exchange for grain, but before reaching the black market, the ring was gone, and she had to return empty-handed.
Her son, heartbroken for the child, went out to borrow rice, but in too much of a hurry, he fell on the road and passed out directly. By the time he was found, his body was frozen stiff.
The daughter-in-law heard the bad news, suffered a shock, and had a massive hemorrhage, blood staining more than half of the quilt.
By the time she found people, Cui Cui’s eyes were wide open, dying with eyes unclosed.
These two years, Grandma Guo had been tormented every moment.
She felt it was all because of her carelessness that her son and daughter-in-law died one after another; if not for her grandson, she wouldn’t have wanted to live on.
Now this gold ring popping up out of nowhere, what use was it? Her family was gone!
Family gone!
The little boy imitated how Grandma coaxed him, gently patting her shoulder; the small child was ignorant but obedient.
Grandma Guo’s eyes were bloodshot, “Grandma is fine, Grandma still needs to raise you big and strong, so later when you go down, you can face your parents with pride.”
The gold ring could be exchanged for quite a bit of money, at least enough to send her grandson through high school!
That day, similar strange things happened quite a few times in the county.
Some adults found long-lost things, some children inexplicably had a big bag of White Rabbit Toffee, and a little girl found her favorite hair tie…
Fengshou Brigade.
Lu Baozhen wanted White Rabbit Toffee and raised her hand to shout for Black Carp.
“Li Li.”
No response.
“Li Li?”
Still no response.
Lu Baozhen, spoiled by the Lu family with little patience, used her uneven nails to scratch at the place where Black Carp resided.
She scratched red marks one after another on her hand.
As if unaware of the pain, she kept scratching, harder and harder, shouting while scratching: “Li Li, come out!”
Black Carp had long disappeared from this world, naturally unable to respond to her anymore.
“I want you to come out! Give me White Rabbit Toffee! I also want to drink milk powder and eat meat buns!!” Lu Baozhen said in a commanding tone.
She had only eaten half a bowl of corn porridge that evening; she wanted to eat good things.
Su Yuxian came to deliver eggs to Lu Baozhen and heard voices from inside the room at the doorway, so she stopped and pricked up her ears to listen.
“Li Li, if you don’t come out, I won’t go find big brother and second brother anymore.” Lu Baozhen spoke as if talking to someone, looking very unhappy.
Through the door crack, Su Yuxian glimpsed the situation inside the room.
The little drag-oil-bottle sat on the bed edge, legs swinging, head down staring at her own hand, the other hand scratching fiercely, mumbling under her breath.
Suddenly, Su Yuxian recalled what she had seen before… Lu Baozhen’s face change, eyes black without a trace of light, facial expression eerie, no matter how you looked, not like a normal child.
Her heart sank abruptly, cold air rapidly rising from her soles through her whole body.
No, she must calm her nerves!
Su Yuxian peeled the eggshell and stuffed the entire egg, white and yolk, into her mouth.
Chewed a few times and swallowed it down.
Afraid of being entangled by the little ghost, she didn’t dare go in and quietly left.
There was no sun now!
At this point, the two people who were mother-kind daughter-filial in the original book hadn’t even had time to develop feelings and began hating each other from the start.
Lu Mu saw the light in her granddaughter’s room wasn’t off and came out wearing straw sandals to check.
Entering the room, Baozhen’s hand was full of scratch marks, some places still oozing blood.
“Aiyo! Baozhen, what did you do?” Lu Mu grabbed her granddaughter’s hand and quickly tended to the wounds, full of heartache, “How did your hand get like this, where’s your stepmother?”
“Don’t know.” Lu Baozhen answered.
She raised her head, looking dazed at Lu Mu, “Grandma, Li Li isn’t paying attention to me anymore.”
Lu Mu seemed to think of something, let go of Lu Baozhen’s hand, retreated two steps, eyes evasive, not even daring to look at her granddaughter.
She forced a smile, “…Is that so, maybe it fell asleep.”
For this monster, Lu Mu didn’t even want to mention it. She was afraid of being targeted by that Li Li; she wanted to live a few more years—what if the monster wanted to drain her lifespan?
Lu Mu was an interesting person; she couldn’t bear to part with the benefits brought by Black Carp but also didn’t want to deal with it from the bottom of her heart.
She was afraid, afraid to the point of not even wanting to mention it.
“Li Li never sleeps.” Lu Baozhen said.
Lu Mu’s face paled slightly.
Look, no need to sleep—what else but a monster!
“Yes, yes, is that so.”
Not wanting to mention inauspicious things late at night, she changed the topic, “Did you eat the egg?”
“No.” Lu Baozhen swallowed hungrily, though she didn’t really like eggs, “I didn’t see the egg.”
Lu Mu’s face darkened, and she rushed out to her son and daughter-in-law’s room, banging on the door bang bang bang.
“Su Yuxian, come out here for this old mother! Even stealing the child’s egg, why don’t you choke to death.”
Su Yuxian turned over, didn’t make a sound.
The palm-leaf fan in her hand swayed.
She had married Lu Yizhou and was also part of the Lu family—eating an egg, what of it!?
Mom was right; a daughter-in-law couldn’t always yield, or the in-laws wouldn’t treat her as human.
Must resist!
Her man couldn’t divorce her anyway.
After figuring it out, Su Yuxian didn’t care about her mother-in-law’s ugly insults.
Lu Mu cursed back and forth in every way possible, as vicious as it gets, outputting for a full half hour plus, then feeling tired, kicked the door, and left cursing.
Passing Lu Baozhen’s room, she shouted into the room: “Baozhen, blow out the lamp and sleep.”
Didn’t say she’d boil another egg for her.
“Oh.” Lu Baozhen blew out the lamp, didn’t lie down, still sat there; moonlight shone through the window on her, the little girl’s face flickering indistinctly, she murmured softly, “Li Li, I’m hungry.”
The room was completely quiet.
The next day.
No need to go to work, Lin Zhao slept until after nine, and when she woke, felt like she couldn’t breathe.
Opening her eyes, the dragon-phoenix twins were sprawled all over her, quietly playing with their fingers.
“…”
“Awake?” Lin Zhao’s voice was hoarse from just waking, patting the two little dumplings.
“Mm.” Si Zai crisply responded.
Her little head leaned in, planting a wet kiss on her mom’s face, grinning with a smile sweet like cotton candy.
“Mom.” She called, burying her head into Lin Zhao’s neck again, rubbing gently, extremely clingy.
Who could resist this?
Anyway, Lin Zhao couldn’t.
She sat up, hugged the two little sweet cubs into her bosom, and sniffed them hard; the dragon-phoenix twins giggled.
After playing, Lin Zhao dressed the little brother and sister in new clothes and got up with the children.
Fetched water to wash faces, casually tied her waterfall-like hair behind her, and did Si Zai’s hair.
Si Zai’s hair volume took after her mom, blacker and thicker than village kids the same age, fine and soft; just looking at the hair, you knew this was a cute little girl.
Lin Zhao combed her hair smooth, parted a layer from the top, tied a half-ponytail with a medium red butterfly bow, slightly uneven bangs, bob cut, cuteness doubled.
“Really pretty.”
The little clever one understood the praise, showed a pure bright smile, and said in a soft tone, “Mom pretty.”
Da Zai and Er Zai came back on time.
The brothers had played until covered in stinky sweat.
Si Zai wanted to show off her hair to her two brothers, waddled over, but smelled the unpleasant odor, her delicate cute nose wrinkled, turned a corner and ran away.
Cub disgusted.jpg
