Résurrection de cadavres

Chapitre 34

Zhang Wen recognized him: "You, you're Fu Gen's father? I'm Dr. Lian's daughter."

Fu Gen's father clasped his hands in a respectful bow and chuckled humbly, "Oh, yes, yes, I saw you from afar and thought you looked like Nurse Fang, but I didn't dare to recognize you, so I just followed you... hehe."

"I was just looking for you. Didn't you used to work at the commune? I remember Fugen and I stole some letter paper from your office. Uncle, do you know where my parents are? Has my dad been released from prison? Is he dead or alive? What happened to my mom? Can you tell me?" Zhang Wen looked at him expectantly.

Fu Gen's father's oval face drooped even further, and he stammered, "Good boy, I... I don't know. I was just a commune clerk back then, and my family's class background was high, so we were under strict control. They wouldn't let me get involved in these things..."

"Didn't you hear even a single word, or even the slightest clue?"

"...No, no..." Fu Gen's father dared not look Zhang Wen in the eye with pleading eyes.

The mountains are verdant and the streams murmur; everywhere you look, there is an lush green that you can't shake off.

On the winding mountain road, Xu Haibing saw Zhang Wen's brow furrowed with worry again and comforted him, "Don't be discouraged. Just because your father hasn't come back doesn't mean he's dead. How about we go back and check the prison for clues again?"

Zhang Wen didn't answer, but as if he had overheard something, a look of delight appeared on his face.

The sound of rushing water echoed through the valley.

They hurried a few steps and saw a magnificent waterfall cascading down from the mountain stream, crashing into a deep pool with spray and shimmering water, a truly spectacular sight.

In the pond, a group of naked little boys were playing and frolicking over a basketball.

"This is Xitou." Zhang Wen said, rolling up her trouser legs. Seeing her about to go down, Xu Haibing quickly reminded her, "Be careful, the slope is steep."

Zhang Wen didn't say a word, but hugged a big tree that grew up from the bottom of the slope, slid down the trunk with a "creak," jumped into the pool, and then happily started playing ball with the children.

Looking down, Xu Haibing saw the clear, transparent pool water rushing into a stream, flowing gently and peacefully, making gurgling and murmuring sounds, as if whispering secrets to him… He suddenly felt an indescribable, mysterious connection with this clear, blue stream, as if all the hustle and bustle of reality had instantly gathered together and sunk into the water, restoring him to his pure, bright self. He felt instantly calm and refreshed, as if floating on air… He couldn't help but close his eyes slightly, stretch out his limbs, and greedily breathe in the refreshing mountain and water air, quietly enjoying this transcendent state of oneness with nature and forgetting himself…

"Hey! Silly boy, what are you thinking about? Catch!" Zhang Wen shouted from the bottom of the slope, waking Xu Haibing from his reverie. As soon as he opened his eyes, the basketball was already being thrown at him by Zhang Wen.

He quickly reached out to catch it, but it was too late. The basketball whizzed over his head and got stuck on a high branch.

Xu Haibing shook the tree trunk vigorously, but the ball remained unmoved, and the children below pouted.

"Watch this!" Zhang Wen used both hands and feet to nimbly climb up the tree trunk, spotted a thick branch, leaped up and grabbed it, then swiftly performed a backflip and kicked the basketball into the pond, eliciting cheers and applause from the children.

In an instant, Xu Haibing's mind flashed back to the scene of the man in black jumping out of the window that night. Wasn't that man in black the one who jumped out of the 407 window, grabbed a tree branch, did a backflip, and hid on the treetop...?

The children caught the ball and waved and shouted happily to Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen waved goodbye to them, then nimbly moved his limbs down the tree trunk to the top of the slope. Seeing Xu Haibing staring at him blankly, he said lightly, "What's so special about that? I've been practicing since I was little."

Xu Haibing hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but held back.

Zhang Wen looked at the sky: "It's getting late, let's go, we still need to catch the evening train."

The setting sun was about to sink into a sky ablaze with a poignant, blood-red hue.

Xu Haibing and Zhang Wen descended the mountain path in the deep purple afterglow. In the distance, they saw a lone, hunched figure squatting at the path's entrance. Seeing them approach, the figure slowly stood up.

It's still Fugen's dad.

"Uncle, are you waiting for me here?" Zhang Wen asked in confusion.

"Oh, oh..." Fu Gen's father hesitated, then burst into tears.

Zhang Wen asked, somewhat apprehensively, "What...what do you want to tell me?"

"I...I..." Fu Gen's father suddenly knelt down and burst into tears: "Girl, I'm so sorry to your parents, so sorry to your whole family! I've ruined Dr. Lian and Nurse Fang..."

"What happened? Get up and tell me slowly." Zhang Wen gestured for Xu Haibing to help pull Fu Gen's father up, but he just wouldn't get up.

"...Child, just let me kneel and say it, it will make me feel better..."

Zhang Wen and Xu Haibing slowly let go of each other's hands.

Fu Gen's father, tears streaming down his face, cried, "Do you know? That night, when your father went to the neighboring province's commune to see his lover, it was...it was me who told the militia battalion commander there...Your mother, she...she was also implicated by me..."

"What? How could you possibly betray my mother?" Zhang Wen's heart clenched.

"...Just two days after your father was imprisoned, the newly transferred commune revolutionary committee director, Luo Daduzi, found a pretext to call your mother to his office. Without saying a word, he tried to force himself on her, but your mother resisted and even scratched Luo Daduzi's face. Luo Daduzi was a notorious rebel leader in the surrounding area, insidious and vicious. How could he swallow this insult? He gritted his teeth and devised a despicable plan to torment your mother: to have Da Lianzi from the town rape her, and then catch them in the act and parade them around... But Da Lianzi was severely mentally challenged, completely ignorant of matters between men and women. But Daduzi didn't care about any of that. He called me and the militia company commander over and told us to treat this as a political task, a revolutionary action, and to complete it no matter what..."

QQ Lost (48(3))

"You...you agreed?" Zhang Wen's voice trembled.

"I didn't want to agree, but I had no choice. I come from a rich peasant family. Before Liberation, my father was a village head, and I joined the Three People's Principles Youth League. During the Suppression of Counter-Revolutionaries in 1954, my father was executed in Gangzi. They dragged me along to the execution ground... After that, I became a 'veteran' of criticism. I could be dragged away and denounced by anyone at any time. Even three-year-olds would spit on me and throw stones at me. I was worse off than a dog... If it weren't for the fact that there were few literate people in the town, and that I had some education, I would have been denounced to death long ago... I informed on your father back then because I wanted to find someone to take the blame and make my suffering less, but I never expected that he would be sentenced directly..."

"What...what happened to you...?"

"I...I know I can't do this. Luo Dadu isn't finished with me; he won't let me off easily. I...I deserve to die..."

"Speak quickly!" Zhang Wen shouted sharply.

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you... Those two days, I first took Ershazi to watch the livestock mating a few times. Seeing that he was starting to understand, I... I, along with the militia company commander, injected him with the aphrodisiac that the fish farm uses on fish. Then I coaxed him to your house, quietly unlatched the door, and let him in... Because we all know your mother is very clean and takes several baths a day. That night, the commune was having a major water conservancy campaign, and your mother and everyone else didn't get home until midnight. She thought no one would come so late, so she took a quick shower behind the haystack in the yard, and... and..."

Zhang Wen was furious. She grabbed Fu Gen's father by the collar and raised her hand to slap him, but a wave of dizziness hit her. She swayed for a moment and then collapsed into Xu Haibing's arms.

Her face was pale, her lips blue, her body trembling, and she was gasping for breath. Pointing at Fugen's father, she cried, "How could you be so heartless?! My parents saved your son Fugen's life!"

Fu Gen's father was filled with remorse and slapped himself hard across the face with both hands, shouting, "I'm not human, I'm an animal! I'm not human, I'm an animal!..."

Xu Haibing was also indignant and initially let him hit himself, but when he saw that the old man had beaten himself so badly that his cheeks were bruised and blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth, he felt a pang of pity and reached out a hand to stop him from continuing to hit himself.

With his swollen, bloodied mouth open, Fu Gen's father slurred, "Son, don't be sad. I also want to tell you that your parents might not be dead, they're still alive..."

Xu Haibing urged, "Tell me quickly!"

"...Not two years after she was taken away by her aunt, her father came back. The prison guards took him directly to the commune to process his parole. He learned that his wife and daughter were no longer in town, and he had lost his home. He immediately said he wanted to go back to prison. From afar, I could see that his eyes and hands were somewhat injured; he probably could never hold a scalpel again..."

Xu Haibing pressed further, "Where's her mother?"

"A few years ago, Fugen was working in the provincial capital. When he came back, he told me that he saw an old lady collecting aluminum cans on the street who looked a lot like Nurse Fang..."

Xu Haibing shook Zhang Wen in his arms: "Did you hear that? Your parents are still here."

Zhang Wen's eyes were closed, and he did not respond.

Fu Gen's father prostrated himself on the ground, wailing pitifully, "I'm guilty! I deserve to die!"

In an instant, the sound echoed throughout the entire valley—

"I am guilty, I deserve to die..."

QQ Lost (Chapter 49)

The east is about to dawn.

Xu Haibing and Zhang Wen, who were rushing back to Lianjiang on an overnight train, exited the station via an overpass. Zhang Wen, who looked haggard, stopped and looked expectantly at the first light of dawn on the horizon.

Xu Haibing patted her shoulder lightly: "Let's go, it's already broad daylight. Come home with me first, rest a bit, then go to the school to get a letter of introduction, and then go to the prison to look for clues about your father."

Zhang Wen reluctantly withdrew her gaze and followed them down the overpass.

Xu Haibing abruptly asked, "Oh, right, yesterday under the banyan tree, it's natural that you look like your mother, but why did they say I look like your father?"

Zhang Wen said in a hoarse voice, "It's just a casual remark. My dad is about your height, and it's been many years. Their eyesight is failing, so they can only remember things vaguely. It's just something they said; don't take it seriously."

...

"Ding ding..."

Just as Mrs. Xu was about to go for her morning exercise, she heard the doorbell ring, put down her magnolia fan, and opened the door—

The son stood at the door with a slightly older young woman.

"This is Teacher Zhang from the school," Xu Haibing quickly and solemnly introduced, afraid that her mother would misunderstand.

Mrs. Xu immediately greeted him with a smile: "Oh, welcome, welcome, come in quickly." She warmly led Zhang Wen to sit on the sofa in the living room, and then trotted into the kitchen.

Hearing the noise, Mao Dan cautiously poked his head out of the bedroom to look around. Seeing this, Xu Haibing went to the bedroom, pounced on Mao Dan who hurriedly jumped onto the bed, and tickled him vigorously.

Mao Dan dodged, pointing at his uncle with his little hand: "Tell me honestly, how many partners are you with now?"

Xu Haibing put on a stern face: "Don't talk nonsense. This is a teacher from the academy, older than me, who taught me."

Mao Dan, acting like a little adult, said, "Oh, teacher-student romance? I was already doing that in kindergarten." Xu Haibing continued to punish him with even fiercer tickling.

Xu's mother brought hot milk from the kitchen to Zhang Wen, who quickly stood up to receive it, saying, "Auntie, don't be so polite."

"Drink it quickly. It's autumn now, and the temperature difference between day and night is large and unpredictable. Be careful not to let the cold hurt your health." Xu's mother sat down and looked at Zhang Wen with loving eyes.

Zhang Wen had no choice but to take a sip.

"How many years have you been teaching?" Xu's mother asked.

"I just switched to teaching this year; I used to work at a university research institution."

"You don't look like a local. Where are you from?"

"My hometown is here; I grew up in Shanxi."

"Oh? Your parents are still in Shanxi? What do they do?"

Zhang Wen coughed as if he had choked on milk.

Hearing the noise, Xu Haibing came out of the bedroom: "Oh, Mom, look at you! Teacher Zhang has been on a bus all night, and she's just stopping here to rest before heading back to school. Give her a break." He turned to Zhang Wen: "Go wash your face in the bathroom."

Zhang Wen used this opportunity to escape the topic she didn't want to discuss and got up to go to the restroom.

Xu's mother leaned closer to her son, wanting to ask him something in a low voice, but Xu Haibing impatiently waved his hand to stop her.

QQ Lost 50

In the school's Party Office, Director Shou was on the phone with the principal, but his tone was much harsher:

"...Hey, Principal, let me explain slowly. When I get flustered, I don't speak my mind—no, I mean, I don't express myself clearly. What I mean is, Guo Qinqin is Guo Qinqin, the student council is the student council, Guo Qinqin is not the student council, and the student council is not Guo Qinqin..."

At this moment, Xu Haibing and Zhang Wen walked in. The thin director gestured for them to sit down and continued, "...Since this student council was formed through legal procedures and has been recognized by leaders from the Provincial Department of Education and the majority of students, there is no reason or need to overthrow it. As for Guo Qinqin, if she has lost her qualification to be chairperson, she can resign or be removed according to the constitution, and then a new chairperson can be elected according to the constitution. Japan has had several prime ministers in recent years, like a revolving door, but Japan is still Japan... Of course, this analogy may not be appropriate... I'm just expressing my personal opinion, and I hope the school leaders will consider it and not throw the baby out with the bathwater... Oh, right, it's not you who's choking, it's me, it's me..."

"Are you choking and still rambling on and on?" Xu Haibing, growing impatient, leaned in and snapped.

Director Shou put down the phone and re-examined Xu Haibing and Zhang Wen.

"What are you looking at? Don't you recognize me?" Xu Haibing questioned.

"You two?!" The thin director pointed at the two men meaningfully.

"Yes, there are no outsiders here," Xu Haibing said frankly.

"What are you going to do?"

"I need you to write me a letter of introduction."

"Huh? So urgent?!"

"There's no rush. It's almost 9 o'clock. If we're any slower, the noon train will be leaving soon."