Famine

Chapitre 23

The window faces south, and the door faces the window. A blue round clock hangs on the door frame; it's the kind of plastic clock you buy at IKEA.

Nono gently nudged Ah Hu: "Did you notice? The clock's position is wrong!"

The desk faces the wall. In the painting, this blue round clock hangs on the wall facing the desk. Now it has been moved and is hung on the door frame. Why is that?

Ah Hu patted his head: "That's right! Think about it, the perspective of the painting is that of someone standing at the doorway. If the clock were hanging on the door frame, the viewer wouldn't be able to see it."

The implication is that the clock's position was changed for the convenience of the viewer. But what exactly does this "convenience" mean?

The person in the painting becomes naked at noon, and misfortune strikes at midnight. In Zoe's world, time is a delicate thing. She uses clocks to remind everyone to pay attention to the time, or you will be in trouble.

This is Ah Hu's analysis, which already carries a certain philosophical flavor.

A series of rustling footsteps echoed in the hallway outside the consultation room. Soon, a young woman in a business suit appeared at the door. She appeared to be around twenty-four or twenty-five years old, with dyed chestnut-red hair and meticulously groomed features. She was holding a business report. Ah Hu noticed that she wasn't wearing a name tag, so he didn't know her name.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The girl stared blankly at the two strangers sitting on the windowsill.

Nuonuo and Ahu hurriedly stood up, explaining one after the other, "My mother is having treatment next door, we're waiting for her..." "We were looking for the restroom, so we came in and found the scenery here quite nice, with leaves..."

"Excuse me, this is the consultation room, and you can't just come in. Could you please wait on the sofa outside?"

The girl's tone left no room for argument. After speaking, she stepped aside, waiting for Ahu and Nuonuo to leave. The two had no choice but to walk out of the consultation room one after the other. The girl glanced around the consultation room, probably to see if anything was missing, and then closed the door with a click.

"plz follow me."

The girl led them to the reception area.

Do you know Zoe?

Nono's voice came from behind her, not loud, but the girl stopped abruptly, as if her feet were drawn to a magnet. After a few seconds, she slowly turned around, staring at Nono with a look of confusion and bewilderment in her eyes.

From her expression alone, Ah Hu knew that all the hypotheses proposed by Director Chen had been confirmed:

Zoe is a real person; she was a dentist who worked at White Dental Clinic.

My name is Xiao Yu, and my English name is Lisa.

I work in the marketing department. My job is to contact clients, expand the clinic's market, manage advertising, organize outreach activities for the clinic, and find sponsors for promotional items like chewing gum, toothbrushes, and toothpaste distributed at the clinic. Although it's called the marketing department, it's really just me, so my business card says "Marketing Manager."

Downstairs at Starbucks, Du Yaofeng, Nuonuo, Ahu, and Xiao Yu sat in a corner with two sofas and two heavy solid wood chairs.

"Zoe is gone, she's passed away," Xiao Yu told them.

The three people reacted indifferently, which was expected.

"How did she die?" Ah Hu asked first.

Xiao Yu lowered her eyelids, and after a long while, she finally uttered two words.

"suicide."

This was somewhat unexpected.

"He fell from the building," Xiao Yu added.

In Nono's eyes, falling from a building is the cruelest form of suicide. Leslie Cheung jumped from the 25th-floor platform, landing straight on the concrete sidewalk. For an artist who valued his appearance as his life, to let his carefully protected body twist and deform in just a few seconds—what immense courage that must have taken!

However, if you think about it another way, once life is gone, even the most beautiful face is nothing more than an adornment for a corpse. What's the point of having it? You might as well destroy it.

"When did she die?" Du Yaofeng asked.

"It was August this year... August..." Xiao Yu blinked and thought for a moment, "It was August 16th, right?"

It was as if a calculator had been turned on in Du Yaofeng's mind, and the number keys were being pressed.

August 16th was the last day of Mr. M's art exhibition, exactly thirty-five days later.

In Chinese tradition, the memorial activities held for the deceased are called "doing seven". If the person died on a Monday, then the following Monday is called "first seven", the Monday after that is called "second seven", the Monday after that is called "third seven", and so on, until the Monday of the seventh week, which is called "ending seven", and then it is considered to be truly over.

Among these, the "fifth seven" is a rather special day. It is said that the spirit of the deceased will return once, and the family members will burn a few pieces of clothing that the deceased wore in life so that he/she will not be naked in the underworld. They will also cook two dishes that the deceased liked in life so that he/she will not go hungry in the underworld. They will also burn some joss paper so that he/she will have money to spend in the underworld.

On the last day of Mr. M's art exhibition, the painting appeared in the C exhibition area on the second floor of the S Art Museum. This day happened to be the 49th day after Zoe's death. It can be seen that Zoe's spirit has really returned, and is attached to an ordinary canvas. She is not naked, but wearing that light blue doctor's coat. She is not hungry, nor does she lack money.

Zoe came prepared, with some motive. What exactly that motive was, or rather, what did Zoe want to do? It's unknown. Just like her expression, hidden behind that light blue mask, only her eyes, gazing at you intently, leave you completely bewildered.

"Why did she commit suicide?" Ah Hu asked impatiently.

In Nono's memory, most people who commit suicide by jumping off buildings are related to emotional setbacks. Because another person is still alive, for him (or her) to witness a vibrant person turn into a gruesome corpse is undoubtedly the cruelest punishment, and will torment him (or her) for eternity.

Xiao Yu glanced at the man, whose build resembled a teapot, and asked, "Why are you asking about this?"

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Section 53: All those hypotheses were proven true.

After hearing this somewhat far-fetched reason, Xiao Yu gave a bitter smile and said, "What else is there to investigate?"

The implication is that you are wasting your time.

Perhaps unable to bear the earnest, expectant gazes of the mother and daughter, Xiao Yu stood up and said, "Please wait a moment, I'll go get a photo; it's a group photo from when the clinic opened."

White Dental, headquartered in Beijing and registered as "Beijing Modern Medical Services Co., Ltd.", is a joint venture subsidiary established by a Beijing-listed company and a Taiwanese investor, each contributing 50% of the capital. The first White Dental clinic opened in Beijing, targeting expatriates, Hong Kong and Taiwanese residents, and local high-level white-collar workers; therefore, the clinic was located in a prime office building in a bustling area. Following the success of the first clinic, a second and third branch opened subsequently. Currently, there are three clinics in Beijing, one each in Shenzhen and Shanghai, with the Shanghai clinic being the latest to open, in 2002. The board's vision is to establish a firm foothold in these three regionally representative megacities—Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen—forming a three-way balance of power, serving as bridgeheads for expansion into other provincial capitals. The goal is to open one or two new clinics annually in the coming years, ultimately becoming a nationwide chain of dental clinics and securing a leading position in the high-end market.

Like an infant whose parents have a complicated background, this baby is accompanied by some tangled issues from the moment of its birth. As a result, two factions emerged in the Beijing headquarters: the local faction and the Taiwanese faction.

Currently, the company's president is Li Yongnian, who is the general manager hired by the Taiwanese investors. He is known as "General Manager Li" and is Taiwanese. He previously worked at two different dental clinics in Taipei and Kaohsiung, possessing extensive industry experience. His current work schedule involves traveling between Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing.

The general manager in Shanghai is named Zhu Chuan. As a representative of the local faction, he has a special background. His father is a ministerial-level leader in the central government. Currently, the old leader is 89 years old and lives in a VIP ward. It is said that he is almost in a vegetative state and relies on injections of expensive imported nutritional drugs to maintain his vital signs every day.

The former leader had three sons and one daughter, all of whom had acquired foreign citizenship. Two of his sons lived in the United States, Zhu Chuan was the second son and lived in Japan, and his daughter lived in the United Kingdom.

As a Beijing-listed company whose parent company is not engaged in the medical industry, it raised a lot of money from shareholders when it issued new shares. It wanted to expand its investment scope to the medical industry, which led to the idea of opening a dental clinic.

The parent company's industry was closely related to the department under the former leader's jurisdiction, so as the leader's son, he could naturally secure a high-ranking position. However, at the insistence of the Taiwanese investors, the board of directors hired a knowledgeable executive president, equivalent to a CEO, and a Taiwanese. The reason was simple: as outsiders, the Taiwanese were somewhat unimpressed with the children of high-ranking officials. They found it difficult to trust Zhu Chuan and preferred to trust locals, fearing that they would be bound by the "official ropes" of Beijing and have their hands tied.

In fact, Zhu Chuan's qualifications are hardly convincing. He studied law and worked as a lawyer in Japan, providing legal advice to Japanese companies interested in investing in China. Clearly, his expertise is completely unrelated to the medical services industry, and compared to Mr. Li, who has extensive management experience in dental clinics, he is naturally inferior.

Nevertheless, considering various factors, the board of directors needed someone with a political background like Zhu Chuan to provide support, so they offered him a position. Zhu Chuan readily accepted, resigned from his job in Japan, and came to Shanghai to begin preparations for the city's first clinic.

In terms of position alone, Mr. Li is the national president, while Zhu Chuan is only the general manager of the Shanghai region—a difference of one level. However, in reality, they are equals. Mr. Li focuses more of his energy on Shenzhen and Beijing, while in Shanghai, Zhu Chuan is the one in charge. Mr. Li tries to avoid interfering in the Shanghai business to prevent discord between the two. Because Mr. Li understands that he is, after all, an outsider, and needs to be cautious and prudent on someone else's turf.

There was no real conflict or contradiction between Zhu Chuan and General Manager Li. As for the claim of a "Taiwanese faction" versus a "local faction," it was merely a suggestion made by subordinates to demonstrate their loyalty.

As a local figure and the head of the Shanghai branch, Zhu Chuan knew his own limitations. He knew nothing about managing a dental clinic and was starting from scratch. However, he didn't want to rely too much on General Manager Li. This wasn't about saving face. Zhu Chuan reasoned that his special status would lead others to view him differently. He was afraid people would say he was relying on his father's connections. He wanted to rely on himself and achieve something to impress others. Therefore, he needed capable subordinates.

Choosing a location for the clinic in Shanghai was quite a challenge. Zhu Chuan wasn't from Shanghai, so he urgently needed a capable assistant from the city. The assistant needed to be quick-witted, efficient, and skilled at navigating various relationships. There were too many bureaucratic hurdles to overcome in opening a clinic: banks, the Industry and Commerce Bureau, the Tax Bureau, the Health Bureau, the Public Security Bureau, the Labor and Personnel Bureau, and the Environmental Protection Bureau (which dealt with the discharge of medical wastewater). There were layers upon layers of bureaucratic hurdles, and he couldn't afford to offend any of them.

Through a friend's recommendation, Zhu Chuan found a man named Wu Laogan. Wu Laogan used to work in administration at a top-tier tertiary hospital in Shanghai (note: this is the highest level of hospital). Later, he switched jobs to work in sales for a medical device company, shuttling between various hospitals. In any case, he never left the medical industry because his brother-in-law was a leader in the health bureau.

Wu Laogan did not disappoint Zhu Chuan's expectations. He spent months traveling back and forth to finalize the clinic's location: the second floor of the current Aimei Plaza. This location was undeniably successful. Firstly, it's situated in the heart of Huaihai Road's business district, surrounded by numerous office buildings, including Shanghai Plaza, Hong Kong Plaza, Lippo Plaza, Admiralty Building, Lansheng Building, Pacific Department Store (owned by Taiwanese), Lane Crawford in Times Square (owned by Hong Kong), and the famous Xintiandi shopping mall. Furthermore, the 60-story New World Tower in Hong Kong was recently completed and is now open for leasing. In such a large central business district, only Lippo Plaza had one Ruier Dental Clinic, creating a significant supply-demand imbalance. Therefore, despite the annual rent of RMB 1.2 million (RMB 100,000 per month), the largest investment among all White Dental Clinics, the board of directors gritted their teeth and approved the plan. From the board to General Manager Li and Zhu Chuan, everyone agreed that the mainland's medical market was undergoing a transformation, opening its doors to private capital. Therefore, the most important thing now was to seize market share and build a brand; profitability was secondary. To this end, the board of directors devised a long-term plan to operate at a loss for the first two years, break even in the third year, and only start making a profit in the fourth year. In fact, the clinic in Shanghai started making a profit in less than a year after it opened, much to the delight of the board of directors.

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Section 54: After all, I am a stranger in a foreign land.

When opening a clinic, location and facilities are certainly important, but there is one more thing whose importance cannot be overstated: the doctor.

White's is a relatively large private clinic, with five treatment chairs, which means it needs at least five dentists.

Wu Laogan told Zhu Chuan that recruiting doctors should be done in two ways. On the one hand, they should publicly recruit to create a buzz. This is just a show. The real move is to focus on the Department of Stomatology at the Ninth People's Hospital. The dentists there are like martial monks from Shaolin Temple, respected by everyone in the martial arts world.

Among the dentists at the Ninth People's Hospital, some were confident in their abilities and were waiting for the best offer; others were hesitant, worried about the fluctuating business and unstable income of private clinics; still others were already successful and unwilling to leave; and of course, some were eager to try their luck. After frequent contact, several doctors who wanted to switch jobs accepted interviews. General Manager Li even flew in specifically to attend the interviews, because he knew that the future of the clinic depended on the quality of its doctors.

Wu Laogan made no secret of his desire to recruit a beautiful female doctor. He mentioned that at the Pacific Dental Hospital, which was invested in by the Japanese, the nurses all wore miniskirts. Zhu Chuan disagreed, saying, "We're a clinic, not a cosmetics counter. We need highly skilled doctors, not pretty beauty consultants." General Manager Li didn't comment, but laughed and said, "It doesn't matter if she's ugly. She can wear a mask. By the time the treatment is over and the doctor takes off the mask, and the patient discovers the doctor is ugly, it'll be too late; she'll still have to pay for the medical bills."

Mr. Li expressed his attitude in a joking manner.

When they interviewed Yu Linyin, Wu Laogan and Zhu Chuan were speechless, because Yu Linyin met both criteria: beautiful and skilled in medicine.

Yu Linyin is Zoe; Zoe is her English name.

Yu Linyin graduated from the Department of Stomatology at the Second Medical University. The Ninth People's Hospital is an affiliated hospital of the Second Medical University, and it's worth noting that only students with outstanding academic performance can enter affiliated hospitals. Yu Linyin, now 35 years old, has worked in the Department of Stomatology at the Ninth People's Hospital for a full twelve years. In terms of seniority and medical skills, she is quite accomplished, and she is also young and willing to accept challenges.

Of all the doctors who participated in the interview, General Manager Li gave her the highest score, 9 points. Wu Laogan gave her 8.5 points, and Zhu Chuan gave her 8 points.

Besides Yu Linyin, there was another male doctor named Tu Bonian, who specializes in dental restoration. He speaks fluent English and is forty years old.

After several weeks of negotiations, the terms of the employment contract were basically finalized. Yu Linyin was the first to sign the contract, then returned to the hospital to submit her resignation, declining the department head's offer to stay, and quickly completed all the formalities. Tu Bonian, on the other hand, bargained and negotiated for a while, until Zhu Chuan finally conceded and agreed to his conditions: a promotion to medical director and a raise after six months. Among the five joining doctors, he was the first to negotiate but the last to sign the contract, demonstrating his shrewdness in this game.

In Shanghai, private dental clinics consider it an honor to recruit doctors from the Ninth People's Hospital, and White Dental Clinic is no exception. In fact, they have a male and a female doctor, one specializing in endodontics and the other in prosthodontics. With these two foundational figures, Zhu Chuan and General Manager Li breathed a sigh of relief and immediately recruited three more male doctors: Dr. Teng from the Department of Stomatology at Luwan District Central Hospital, Dr. Han from Baoshan District Dental Disease Prevention and Treatment Institute, and Dr. Zhou, a master's student from a hospital in Hangzhou who is engaged in periodontal disease research. These five people form the backbone of White Dental Clinic's team.

Next, we're recruiting nurses. One is Mao Lifang, 39 years old, from the Department of Stomatology at Huashan Hospital. The other is An Ruohong, one year younger than Yu Linyin, who transferred from Shuguang Stomatological Hospital.

In addition to the two experienced nurses, four junior nurses were recruited from the nursing school.

In Starbucks, Xiao Yu took out a group photo from the clinic's opening ceremony and showed it to Du Yaofeng and the others.

The first row consists of General Manager Li, Zhu Chuan, Wu Laogan, and Tu Bonian.

The second row consists of Yu Linyin, Dr. Teng, Dr. Han, and Dr. Zhou. Next to Yu Linyin is An Ruohong.

The third row consists of head nurse Mao Lifang, and four nurses: Ye Xiaohui, Liu Wen, Andy, and Minnie.

The fourth row consists of Xiao Yu from the marketing department, Zhang Tiejing, the front desk supervisor, the accountant, and two front desk receptionists, Xiao Fei and Xiao Qian, all of whom are girls.

In the photo, Yu Linyin is standing on the left side of the second row. Because it's an opening ceremony, no one is wearing work uniforms; everyone is dressed formally. Yu Linyin has her coat aside and is wearing an apricot-yellow wool sweater. She is smiling at the camera, but it's not a mocking smile or a cold smile; it's a bright and sunny smile.

Xiao Yu said that initially, Yu Linyin's nurse was An Ruohong. Both of them had solid basic skills, so they worked together very well. Later, An Ruohong was promoted to head nurse and had more to do, so Yu Linyin's nurse was changed to Ye Xiaohui. These young women who had just graduated from nursing school had plenty of experience in dating, but zero work experience, so they needed experienced doctors like Yu Linyin to mentor them.

"Is An Ruohong Zoe's best friend at your clinic?" Nuonuo asked Xiao Yu, who nodded.

"Is she there?" Nuonuo pointed upstairs. Xiao Yu shook her head and said, "After Zoe passed away, An Ruohong resigned. You're right, An Ruohong was Zoe's closest friend at the clinic. I think she must have been unable to bear the blow. In fact, I was also in a daze for those few days, always feeling Zoe's shadow everywhere in the clinic, busy in that consultation room..."

Xiao Yu's eyes began to redden. Nuonuo took out a pack of tissues and handed it to her. Xiao Yu took one and gently wiped the corner of her eye.

"Do you know where I can find her?" Ah Hu couldn't help but ask.

"I haven't heard from her since she left the clinic, and I don't know where she is now..."

Just as she finished speaking, Xiao Yu's phone rang. She listened for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll be right there."

Xiao Yu put down her phone and said apologetically to everyone, "I'm sorry, I have to go back to work. Well, how about this..."

Xiao Yu reached into her wallet, pulled out several different business cards, and placed one on the coffee table.

"After Zoe passed away, two people left the clinic: An Ruohong and Ye Xiaohui. She now works for a company in Xujiahui. I have her business card; you might want to try and find her."

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Section 55: Confident in their talents, waiting for the right price to buy.

"Are you... really Zoe's relatives?"

This period of busy work has finally yielded a pleasant surprise. Not only did they find the clinic, but they also found the people around Zoe. Next, they will visit them one by one and continue along this path. As for when they will reach the end, Du Yaofeng has no idea, but she has a feeling that many unexpected things are waiting for them ahead.

Oh well, who cares about all that? The important thing is to eat well, sleep well, and oh yeah, watch some TV!

After a hot shower, Du Yaofeng settled comfortably into the sofa and started watching the popular TV drama "Snow White, Blood Red," starring Tang Guoqiang. Du Yaofeng felt that Tang Guoqiang's portrayal of the character "Ma Qi" even surpassed his own portrayal of Mao Zedong in "The Long March." Ma Qi is a Confucian businessman who started as a university professor. He quit his job to open a cleaning company, later went to Hainan to develop his business, speculating on land and reselling automotive steel, transforming himself into Hainan's new "Southern Tyrant." In the end, he was swindled out of everything by the villains around him, even having his Mercedes stolen and sold by his driver—essentially a personal chronicle of rise and fall. Two episodes aired every night, and Du Yaofeng watched with great interest, almost forgetting that her painting "Zoe on the Windowsill" was displayed in the storage room not far from her.