Geisterbestattung

Kapitel 16

Dadun must have noticed Li Hui's movements!

He knew she was coming to see him today to settle the case, so he quickly slipped away! He didn't want to see her because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself and would feel sorry for her; after all, he still had some feelings for her. That subtle emotion between a man and a woman can sometimes make even a tough guy act rashly and pathetically, and he was afraid his plan would fall apart halfway…

Li Hui was in despair.

She knew his so-called "business trip" was just an excuse, and she had no idea where he was hiding and secretly watching her every move.

From now on, he's in the shadows! And she's still in the open. He's about to inflict truly horrific persecution on her! This business trip idea is brilliant. He might first travel to Nanjing or Hangzhou, let all the witnesses see that he was indeed there, and then sneak back to Shanghai overnight, calmly doing what he needs to do, without anyone knowing.

At this moment, Li Hui will be deceived and numb by his note. She will not suspect at all that a deadly danger is lurking in the shadows behind her, ready to kill her at any moment!

Li Hui read the note over and over again countless times.

He entrusted his wife to her, asking her to give him guidance? Isn't that leaving her a "hostage"? Is he really willing to use his own wife and children as a gamble and bait?

How could someone who harbors such hatred for her possibly lose even the most basic vigilance towards her?

She looked at the note more closely and realized that it contained neither a phone number nor any way to contact his wife.

She realized: this was purely a smokescreen set up by Da Dun'er to mislead her; he had no intention of letting her actually get in touch with his wife and children.

Li Hui was increasingly aware of her opponent's strength. Her heart trembled uncontrollably, and she felt as if she had been completely outmaneuvered, which deeply shocked her already fragile heart.

The murderer, who claimed to be "on a business trip," was hiding in some dark corner like someone faking their death, waiting for an opportunity to strike! As for her, she was powerless, with only her head already confused by him, and was about to enter a state of logical chaos.

Li Hui's strong desire was: she must struggle! She would never give up easily.

She hailed a taxi, not caring as usual about how much it would cost to get home; what she needed to do now was far more important than a few taxi fares.

She slipped inside and quickly locked the door behind her, as if a ghost were following her.

The call quickly reached the prenatal care department of the maternal and infant hospital. Li Hui told Director Xu on the phone that if Dadun'er's wife came for another prenatal checkup, she would call her immediately.

"Which big guy's wife?" Director Xu was confused and couldn't understand.

"It's that short woman who's nine months pregnant, the one whose baby is overweight."

"There are several short pregnant women whose babies are overweight. Which one is it?"

"The one with big eyes, a small nose, and a big mouth, who speaks in a soft voice."

"Okay, I'll ask the doctors; maybe they know someone. Don't worry."

Li Hui's second phone call was to Zhang Lili.

"Lili, could you come here for a moment? I need to talk to you about something."

"What's wrong? You can tell me over the phone."

"No, you need to come to my house right now. I have something very important to tell you."

"Tonight, please. I'll go after work. Okay? Then you can wait for me tonight."

"Don't forget!"

"Oh my god! What's wrong with you? You're acting crazy!"

"I can't go on, you have to come!"

The third call was to Wang Yang. Due to the time difference, Wang Yang was still fast asleep. As soon as the call connected, Li Hui burst into tears.

"It's Ahui! What's wrong?" Wang Yang mumbled incoherently on the other end, his breath still smelling of the blankets. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I..." Li Hui didn't know what to say. She knew that if she lost control of herself, Wang Yang would be scared half to death. He would grow a mouthful of blisters overnight and rush back in a panic, not caring about the price of a plane ticket or whether he could actually leave his work. Thinking of this, Li Hui suddenly stopped crying. "I miss you..."

"I know, I know. Things are almost done here. I'll be in Shanghai in about ten days! Just wait a little longer, it's only the last ten days or so!"

"I...I'm going to die..." She didn't know how to express her feelings. Wang Yang thought this was just another exaggerated emotional outburst from a woman, so he used the usual male tactic to brush her off: "I know, I know. As soon as I get back, I'll buy you a car, and you won't have to work so hard anymore. Everything will be alright. Just wait about ten days!"

"Waaah..." Li Hui felt that at this moment, even if she had a mouth full of words, she wouldn't be able to clearly express her true feelings, and the last bit of rationality she had left wouldn't allow her to do so. As long as he heard her crying and knew her current predicament, she would feel a little better.

She cried for a while, then suddenly stopped. Every minute cost several dollars—crying on an international call! What was she thinking?! She cursed herself inwardly, and just as she was about to hang up, she heard Wang Yang say on the other end, "Feeling better? I'll call you again in a few days!"

After crying, she felt much lighter. Li Hui felt that she could now calmly handle the situation at hand.

As long as Da Dun'er's wife comes to the hospital for a check-up, she can explain the situation to her and ask her to bring Da Dun'er out to face Li Hui. She needs Zhang Lili's help with this matter; Zhang Lili is Li Hui's closest person now, and if anything unexpected happens, she will arrange everything for her.

But by 10 p.m., Zhang Lili still hadn't arrived.

Li Hui knew that she was in a relationship and was probably having fun with Mr. Yang somewhere right now, and might have already forgotten about her.

It's also possible that Mr. Yang deliberately used a scheme to keep her occupied, preventing her from leaving to be with Li Hui. Mr. Yang is now completely offended by her; he must be gritting his teeth whenever he thinks of Li Hui, and he's probably said countless bad things about her to Zhang Lili! Isn't he also speaking ill of Zhang Lili in front of Li Hui? What a man! She needs to tell Lili about Mr. Yang's character as soon as possible, so she doesn't get too deeply involved.

She couldn't sleep, and she couldn't concentrate on reading. She only read the beginning of Zhang Xiaoxian's book before she couldn't continue.

The only way to kill time is to go online, but due to recent changes, going online now requires immense courage.

Li Hui turned on her computer and struggled to convince herself not to go directly to her email inbox.

She wanted to find someone to chat with online. She wasn't used to chatting with others normally; she stubbornly believed that people who hung out online were all idle, scheming, and harboring ulterior motives, so she disdained associating with them.

Now she suddenly feels safe wherever there are people. At least, having someone to talk to can distract her from constantly thinking about those terrible things, and she no longer has time to feel anxious and fearful.

"Hey! Are you pretty?" a guy said to her.

"No." She couldn't be bothered to deal with people like that.

"No way. I'm looking for pretty girls!"

"Fuck you!" This was the first time Li Hui had ever cursed someone, thankfully it was online.

"Hello?" another guy said to her.

"Hello."

"You seem down!"

"yes."

"What's bothering you? Is it because you've broken up with your boyfriend?"

"It's the same old thing again. Bye-bye!"

"Hey! Is this Miss?" Another guy quickly jumped out.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your angel of happiness!" This person's words were so sweet that it was hard to tell if they were male or female.

"How can you make me happy?" Li Hui couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth, as a response to his inexplicable self-righteous humor.

"I'll tell you a ghost story! ...There was a young lady sitting alone at home one night when suddenly! She heard a knock at the door..."

Li Hui was terrified and immediately closed the chat box, her heart still pounding wildly.

Just then, there was a knock on the door!

Li Hui accidentally tumbled off the computer chair. She heard Zhang Lili calling her from outside the door: "Li Hui! Open the door! It's Zhang Lili!"

Standing outside the door was Zhang Lili, being helped by Mr. Yang. Her face was flushed, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was unsteady on her feet; it was clear she had drunk too much. Li Hui was stunned, not knowing what to do. Mr. Yang had already helped the tipsy Zhang Lili inside and placed her on the sofa.

"Give me some water, I'm dying of thirst!" Zhang Lili, her eyes half-closed in her drunken state, ordered Mr. Yang around in circles. Li Hui watched all this coldly from the side, feeling extremely disappointed. It seemed that her plan to ask Zhang Lili for help tonight was doomed.

"Hey! Li Hui, why are you unhappy? Aren't you welcoming me?" Zhang Lili took a sip of water and glanced at Li Hui sideways. "I came here specifically to see you! Why are you still unhappy?"

Mr. Yang must have deliberately gotten Lili drunk. He knew perfectly well that Li Hui was looking forward to Zhang Lili's visit because she had something to discuss with her!

Mr. Yang looked at Li Hui with a half-smile: "Don't look at me like that. It wasn't me who told her to drink so much! She wouldn't listen to me and insisted on drinking so much wine, saying it was for beauty!"

Li Hui gently placed Zhang Lili's constantly gesturing hands back down and covered her with a towel.

"You can leave now, I'll take care of her." Li Hui told Mr. Yang to leave, but he sat on the sofa and showed no sign of leaving.

"Li Hui, don't let Mr. Yang leave. Let him stay with you. If I fall asleep tonight, how can I manage without anyone to talk to?"

"Lili! You're drunk. Don't talk, go to sleep!" Li Hui shouted at Zhang Lili, then stood up to open the door.

"Mr. Yang...he really likes you, don't you know...?" Zhang Lili babbled drunkenly again. Li Hui ignored her. She watched Mr. Yang walk out, then turned back and handed her a business card: "If you need me, just call this number." Li Hui didn't take it. Mr. Yang loosened his grip, letting the small piece of paper flutter to the floor of the room. The door slammed shut behind him. Li Hui kicked the business card into a corner.

"Li Hui, why did you kick Mr. Yang out? I still need to ride back in his car! Why did you kick him out?" Zhang Lili said, half-drunk and half-awake. She didn't even look at Li Hui and drifted off to sleep.

Li Hui breathed a sigh of relief and went into the bathroom. She wanted to take a good shower and think carefully about what to say to Lili after she woke up the next morning.

The room was a bit chilly, but the water was a bit hot. Li Hui sat in the steaming bathtub and soaked for a while before feeling drowsy. She was exhausted; she hadn't had a proper bath in so many days. A few days ago, fearing her wounds would fester, she'd just rinsed them off. Having someone stay with her in this house tonight made her feel much more at ease.

Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.

She dreamt that she was lying in bed, naked and uncovered, just like she often did when she slept naked alone on summer nights.

Suddenly, a figure gradually approached her in the room. The figure was elusive, like a wisp of mist, drifting to her bedside and then stopping, staring at her naked body without uttering a sound.

"Who is it?" She felt a chill run down her spine and screamed in fright, and the figure vanished in an instant. When she rolled over and tried to find something to cover herself, she discovered that her clothes, blankets, and everything else were gone. She clearly remembered that those things were just on the headboard a moment ago.

Li Hui suddenly opened her eyes and realized she had just had a short dream. She saw the bathroom door ajar, and it was moving slightly, as if someone had just slipped out. But because of the steam, she couldn't be sure if what she saw was real.

Has Zhang Lili come in?

"Lili! Lili!" she called several times, but there was no sound from outside. Li Hui watched as goosebumps sprouted all over her arms.

When Li Hui came out of the bathroom, she was startled!

In the dim light, Zhang Lili sat upright on the sofa. The flush on her face had faded, her clothes were neat, and her hair was perfectly styled. She looked dignified and aloof.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Zhang Lili's voice sounded like it wasn't her own, devoid of any emotion, as if it were coming from a robot, which was quite chilling.

"Lili, do you want to take a shower?" Li Hui calmed herself down, walked over, looked at her, and felt that Zhang Lili was acting a little strange tonight.

"Did you not have a good talk with Mr. Yang tonight?" she wondered, thinking that Zhang Lili must have had a bad time outside.

Zhang Lili seemed not to hear her words, but just stared at Li Hui's body, looking her up and down endlessly.

"What kind of person is that guy surnamed Yang?"

"What do you think?" Zhang Lili suddenly asked back.

"Me? I...don't know him."

"Really? Didn't you all sleep in the hotel?"

"Who said that?" Li Hui jumped up from the sofa, her heart pounding.

"Don't be nervous, I guessed, hahaha..." Zhang Lili laughed hysterically, and she still seemed to be drunk.

Li Hui's heart skipped a beat at Zhang Lili's unnatural laughter. She quickly pulled Zhang Lili aside, saying, "Come on, take a shower first, then get a good night's sleep. You're too tired tonight. Let's talk about it tomorrow."

Zhang Lili abruptly shook off her hand, stood up, and went straight into the bathroom. Hearing the sound of running water, and thinking about Zhang Lili's unusual behavior, she felt a sudden, inexplicable unease.

That night, both Li Hui and Zhang Lili tossed and turned, unable to sleep, but neither of them spoke to the other.