Exorzismus - Kapitel 24
"Yes, you have been successfully hired. Please report to the company as soon as possible."
Before Chunyu could even say thank you, the other party had already hung up the phone.
She rubbed her eyes, finally fully awake. She clearly remembered that when she went for the job interview, the "sea turtle" boss completely ignored her, and she thought she had definitely failed. Unexpectedly, she got the job; it felt like a dream.
Unbelievable! Could it be the result of a wish she made last night? On the 10th level of hell, she chose to "make a wish"—to get the job she wanted.
Now that she has truly succeeded, is there some unseen force helping her?
Date added: 2005-02-18 12:40:00
Chunyu was utterly baffled. But the most important thing now was to get to the company and report for duty. She immediately climbed down from her bunk, took out her cosmetics, and carefully dressed herself. Although the items were all inexpensive, they somehow made Chunyu look elegant. Even she had to admit that what looks good in clothes ultimately depends on the person wearing them.
Finally, she was satisfied with herself in front of the mirror. Chunyu lowered her head and silently examined herself, trying to forget the fear from last night for the time being. She couldn't go out for her internship with such anxiety.
She rushed out of the school gate. The subway car was very crowded on Monday. After a grueling twenty minutes, she finally arrived at the company.
Upon entering, Chunyu saw a girl with curly hair. She had an English name and was the one who made the call to inform Chunyu. Chunyu introduced herself, looking slightly nervous. It turned out that the girl had been waiting for her and immediately led her to the general manager's office.
It was the same "sea turtle" from last time, sitting behind the table with his chin propped up on his hand, staring at Chunyu as if she were looking at something, making Chunyu feel very uncomfortable.
Yan Mingliang's face was ashen, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness. He pointed to a pile of materials on the table and said, "I'm sorry, I wasn't in a good mood the day you came for the interview and didn't look at your materials carefully. Later, I looked at them again and found that you were actually an alumnus of my school, and your qualifications are indeed quite good, so I hired you." "Thank you."
Chunyu felt incredibly lucky; she hadn't expected her boss to be a graduate of that university as well. "I know you want to intern here for a while. Actually, there have been many interns like you here before. Although their working hours were short, they all performed exceptionally well, and I hope you will too. Okay, start work officially tomorrow. You're an intern, so you don't need to work overtime. If you're free this afternoon, you can go home early, and I'll show you around the work environment."
Then, she signed an internship contract. The pay was low, but the working hours were short, since it was all for writing her graduation thesis.
Yan Mingliang spoke in Mandarin with an English accent, but Chunyu felt there was a hint of rusticity in his voice. He asked a few more questions about her, his eyes fixed on her as if trying to see right through her. She guessed all bosses were like that. However, Chunyu had heard warnings from her seniors that if a boss stared at a girl, she should be careful, which made her a little nervous.
After leaving the boss's office, I took Chunyu for a walk around the company. It was really just two rooms with only five or six people. Everyone was about her age, hunched over their computers, busy with something.
Chunyu was given a table and a computer. She was told to come to work tomorrow. Her daily job was to collect humorous and blessing text messages from the internet, then reorganize and edit them, input them into the company's server, and finally send them to the mobile phones of users who had subscribed to the text message service.
They chatted for a while longer. Chunyu thought about how no one paid attention to her at school, but only here was she treated like a normal person, so she became more talkative. She was a very enthusiastic girl, and Chunyu felt they had become friends. She quietly asked, "Is your company owned by the boss alone?" "Of course, otherwise why would it be called Mingliang Information Services Company?" "Is he a returnee from overseas?" "Yes, I heard he spent seven or eight years in Europe."
Before leaving, Chunyu glanced at the floor-to-ceiling window. The view was absolutely stunning; the city outside looked like something out of a futuristic world. Suddenly, she noticed the nearest pane of glass, where her reflection appeared, making her look like someone else.
It was another cold afternoon.
The first thing Chunyu did after returning to school was to explain the internship to her teacher, which she considered a social survey for her thesis. Then, she went back to her dorm to organize some things and prepare for work the next day.
Around three o'clock, my phone rang with a text message. I picked it up and saw that it was from Gao Xuan.
"Chunyu, I need to talk to you. Please come to the university library now."
Why is it the library again? Chunyu recalled the scene when she first met Gao Xuan, in the last row of bookshelves of the university library, the musty smell of old books, his hands like ancient Greek sculptures... She couldn't help but touch her heart.
She replied to Gao Xuan, "I'll be there soon," then looked at herself in the mirror. She was still wearing the same clothes she'd worn that morning, and she looked quite good. She ran briskly out of the dormitory and quickly arrived at the university library. The Soviet-style building looked increasingly dilapidated; in the cold north wind, the surrounding trees were all bare of leaves, making it look more like a horror movie set.
In the dimly lit entrance of the library, she saw Gao Xuan's tall and straight figure, but his face was still hidden in the shadows. As his double pupil-like eyes gradually appeared, Chunyu smiled slightly at him.
Gao Xuan seemed to have been waiting for a long time. He said softly to her, "I can see it on your face. Is there any good news?" "I got the job. I'll be interning at an information services company starting tomorrow." Then she told him the name of the company.
He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Is it for preparing your graduation thesis?" "You're so smart." Chunyu no longer regarded him as a teacher, and she was no longer nervous when she spoke. "Let's just call it social practice. It's mainly to investigate the current text messaging culture. After all, we're in the age of thumbs now."
Perhaps her voice was too loud, because Gao Xuan gestured for her to be quiet and said softly, "I invited you to the library today because I found something important—about Mazzolini in China." "Mazzolini?"
The name immediately brought Chunyu back to her sullen state. She covered her mouth, speechless for a long time. Gao Xuan led her up to the third floor of the library, a place not usually open to students. The wooden floorboards creaked underfoot. Chunyu thought to herself, "This place must be a paradise for rats at night."
After wandering around the narrow, dark corridor for a while, they entered a small storeroom where a pile of old newspapers was spread out on a table. Gao Xuan had Chunyu sit down next to the table and whispered, "This is the school's old newspaper and magazine storeroom, which contains many valuable Chinese and English newspaper and magazine materials."
"What does this have to do with Mazzolini?" "I mentioned last time that I would check the art history materials in the Fine Arts Department. I already checked this morning; Mazzolini did indeed come to China, from 1900 to 1903. An English-language newspaper in Shanghai at the time gave him a fairly detailed report; you should be able to find it here." "Which newspaper?" "The North China Daily News." Then he read out the newspaper's English title: "The North China Daily News is the oldest English-language newspaper in modern Chinese history; this warehouse has many copies." "These few on the table?" "Yes, I've already found reports about Mazzolini."
Gao Xuan unfolded rolls of moldy old newspapers, many edges already peeling off. A strange smell assaulted her nostrils, and Chunyu quickly held her breath. Sure enough, in the lower right corner of this copy of the *North China Daily News*, she saw the boldface characters “”. This was the first time she had ever seen a newspaper from a hundred years ago; it felt like a zombie that had slept in its grave for a century had finally risen and lay down on the table.
The dense English text on the newspaper was hard to read, so Chunyu could only hold her nose from a distance and ask, "What does it say?"
Gao Xuan had already read it once beforehand, and he read it aloud in translated Chinese: "On April 5, 1900, the famous Italian painter, Mr. Mazzolini, arrived in Shanghai aboard the mail ship 'Santa Maria.' Mazzolini's trip attracted the attention of art collectors in both foreign concessions. Our reporter interviewed Mr. Mazzolini at the dock, and Mr. Mazzolini stated that his arrival in Shanghai was not a short visit or trip, but rather a long-term residence. That evening, Mr. Kelly, a director of Jardine Matheson & Co., known for his passion for collecting art, hosted a banquet for Mr. Mazzolini at the Poseidon Hotel on Nanjing Road..."
Chunyu suddenly interrupted him: "Forget it, don't bother translating the original text anymore, it's too much work. Have you read all these newspapers?" "More or less." Gao Xuan finally showed some signs of fatigue. He looked up at the low ceiling and said, "I'll just give a brief overview based on the materials I just found."
Chunyu nodded quickly: "By the way, didn't you say last time that Mazzolini's works were criticized by European critics because they were too terrifying? Did he come all the way to Shanghai to escape the controversy surrounding him in Europe?"
“That was the initial guess. However, in 1900, no artists had ever come to the Shanghai concessions, so everyone welcomed him warmly. But, according to several people who later became acquainted with Mazzolini, his real purpose in coming to Shanghai was not to escape the criticism of European critics, but to explore China.” “Explore?” Upon hearing this word, Chunyu immediately thought of deserted villages. “Yes, Mazzolini once mentioned that he was coming to China to find a treasure in art history—a European missionary came to China in the mid-18th century, during the Qianlong era. It is said that the missionary discovered an ancient site in the deep mountains of southeastern China. Later, the missionary returned to Europe and wrote a travelogue manuscript. Mazzolini found this almost lost manuscript in a private museum in France. He was attracted by the place described in the manuscript and was determined to find that site to fulfill his greatest wish in life.”
Looking at the old newspapers on the table, seemingly unearthed from a tomb, Chunyu sighed softly, "Ancient Chinese ruins discovered by Europeans? Sounds like the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. Did Mazzolini find them?" "Yes. After arriving in Shanghai, Mazzolini diligently studied Chinese, even apprenticing under a Chinese painter to learn traditional Chinese painting techniques, quickly becoming a China expert. After much inquiry and contact, he finally located the approximate location and went alone. It's said the ruins are hidden in the mountains bordering Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. But Mazzolini disappeared shortly after leaving Shanghai, vanishing without a trace for a year." "Did something happen to him?" "Just when people had almost forgotten about Mazzolini, he suddenly appeared in Shanghai, accompanied by a beautiful Chinese woman, which surprised many. People asked him where he had been for a year, but he always remained silent." "With a beautiful Chinese woman?"
Girls are always interested in these kinds of things. Gao Xuan smiled ambiguously: "Europeans back then always liked to seek out women in China. Of course, he might have also experienced a real love affair in China." "Yes, Mazzolini in the photo is very handsome, like a star player in Serie A." Chunyu suddenly felt that this statement was silly, and immediately put on a serious expression and said, "Is there more?" "No, the North China Daily News in this collection stopped publishing in 1902."
Chunyu said disappointedly, "What a pity. It seems Mazzolini also had a legendary experience in China, one could even say it was..."
"So many mysteries. For example, what exactly is in that ancient ruin? Why did he disappear for a whole year? And that beautiful Chinese woman? Which of these mysteries is related to hell?" "Perhaps they're all related." Gao Xuan frowned, his double pupils making Chunyu increasingly unable to see him. He tidied the old newspapers on the table, saying, "I'll continue investigating. I'll definitely solve Mazzolini's mysteries, and maybe then I can solve the mystery of the hellish text message game." "Yes, Mazzolini is a key; we must find it."
Gao Xuan sorted through the old newspapers and magazines and put them back in the large iron cabinet at the back of the warehouse.
As they descended the rickety stairs, Gao Xuan suddenly asked her, "Do you still have time?"
Chunyu was a little nervous and gripped the stair railing tightly, saying, "Is there something you need?" "Nothing, I just wanted to invite you to my gallery." "Gallery? It's by the Suzhou River, isn't it? That's quite a distance, and it's almost dark." "No problem, I'll drive you there and then bring you back."
Chunyu then walked down the stairs and said softly, "Alright then, just don't stay out too late."
After leaving the tomb-like library, Gao Xuan led her quickly towards the parking lot, passing the wall surrounding the haunted building again. Chunyu didn't want to get close to that building again, so she just lowered her head and jogged over. Gao Xuan followed closely behind, saying, "Don't be so nervous. I pass by here almost every day." Gao Xuan's car was at the very back of the parking lot; it was a white Passat. Chunyu sat in the passenger seat, and Gao Xuan helped her fasten her seatbelt before quickly driving off.
As dusk settled over the road, the city's nightlife hadn't yet begun; the streets were filled with commuters rushing home. Looking out the window, Chunyu said, "Sometimes I feel so close to them, yet so far away." "You mean the people around you?" Gao Xuan stopped at a red light. "More or less. I always feel like I live in another world." "Why? Because of your past?" "The past..." Chunyu felt as if she'd been stabbed, immediately closing her eyes. That ugly figure resurfaced in her mind, making her tremble and unable to speak for a long time.
It was another red light. Gao Xuan stared at her with his penetrating gaze: "What's wrong with you?"