Exorzismus

Kapitel 25

She shook her head with a silly grin and changed the subject, saying, "Why did you take me to your gallery?"

"Because I'll give you a little surprise."

Half an hour later, Gao Xuan led her to a building on the banks of the Suzhou Creek, which looked like it belonged to the 1930s. Several art galleries lined the Suzhou Creek, and Gao Xuan's gallery was in the most inconspicuous location, with only a small storefront and a sign that read "Midnight Gallery." "Midnight Gallery? That's quite a unique name."

Gao Xuan smiled slightly and led her into the gallery. It was essentially a long, narrow corridor with various oil paintings hanging on the walls. In this corridor filled with the smell of paint, Chunyu felt as if she had stepped into another century. All the paintings were in the classical style, mostly copies of Renaissance works, and some were portraits of Chinese people.

As she looked through the paintings, she asked, "Did you paint all of these?" "No, only a small portion of them are my work. Actually, I didn't open the gallery to make money; I just feel that this lifestyle is very free." Gao Xuan walked to the stairwell at the end of the corridor and said, "Let's go take a look up to the second floor."

Chunyu followed the steep stairs to a spacious room upstairs. In the most prominent spot near the entrance, she saw a familiar face—her own.

She was immediately stunned, took a few steps back, and then believed that she had not seen wrong—the oil painting with her as the model was proudly hanging on the wall.

Chunyu would never forget that afternoon, in a studio in the art department, when she sat for hours in front of Gao Xuan, all to create this painting—she became the true "person in the painting," sitting quietly in the winter sunlight, the soft light caressing her skin, appearing like a saint against the backdrop of a dark background. Under Gao Xuan's brush, her eyes were so serene, almost as if she had forgotten the entire world.

After a long while, she came to her senses and said to Gao Xuan, "Is this the surprise you gave me?" "That's right. I hung this painting in the most prominent position in the gallery, but I've marked it as not for sale, for viewing only, not for buying or selling. Yesterday, a collector came here and immediately took a liking to this painting, willing to offer 100,000 yuan to buy it, but I said I wouldn't sell it even for a million." "You think this is the best painting in the gallery?" "Yes. Although it's just a small framed painting, not a truly large work, the artistic conception of this painting is very special, more touching than those large works. Look at the eyes in your painting, look at your lips and chin, a true masterpiece is not about size, but about soul—this is a painting with a soul."

Hearing so much praise, Chunyu felt a little embarrassed: "So what exactly is the soul of a painting?" "No one can say for sure, and that's precisely what makes it so precious—something many painters spend their entire lives searching for. Chunyu, I must thank you. You've helped me rediscover the soul of painting; I haven't felt this way for years." "You really don't need to thank me. I was just posing. The key is that you painted so well." "No, for a good work, the model is extremely important. I feel that this painting isn't just a creation of mine alone, but a collaborative effort between you and me." "It's the result of creation." "Don't say that, how can I be considered creating?" "Your posture, your gaze, your temperament, everything about you sitting in front of the easel—no one else can ever replicate that. Wouldn't you say that's a kind of creation?" Gao Xuan said excitedly, walking to the window. "The essence of creation is uniqueness, and Chunyu, you are a unique person." But Chunyu shook her head and said, "I think everyone is unique." "No, people are different. The vast majority of people are mediocre, and only a very few are perfect." "At least I'm not perfect. I feel I still have many... many imperfections."

She suddenly felt a pang of panic and quickly braced her hands on the windowsill. Looking out the window, she could see the Suzhou Creek flowing quietly. The sky was almost completely dark, but the brightly lit buildings across the river illuminated nearly half of the water's surface.

Gao Xuan simply opened the window, a gust of cold wind ruffled Chunyu's hair, and he stuck his head out the window, squinting as he said, "Every night, I look at this river, just like when I was studying in Europe and looked at the Thames every night." "You live here?"

"Is that right?"

Gao Xuan pointed to the ceiling and said, "Yes, I live in the room upstairs."

Chunyu smoothed her flowing hair and said, "You artists really know how to pick your accommodations." "Let's go out and get something to eat."

Gao Xuan glanced at the painting on the wall, then at Chunyu in front of him, and closed the window. Stepping out of the ground-floor gallery, Chunyu lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry, I think I should go back to school soon." "Aren't you hungry?" "No. I had lunch late today, so I'm not hungry at all." Chunyu looked at the building in front of her, her heart suddenly racing. "I can go back by myself."

Gao Xuan shook his head and said, "Chunyu, I don't know how to say it, you're so different from other girls." "They probably all wish they could have dinner with you."

These words made Gao Xuan a little embarrassed: "It's precisely because you're different that I've paid special attention to you. If you were like those other girls, you wouldn't have become the person in my 'painting'."

Then, Gao Xuan got into the car, waved to her, and said, "Didn't you want to go back early? I'll take you back to school."

At 7 p.m., they finally returned to school.

After Gao Xuan drove the car into the parking lot, he didn't let Chunyu get out of the car. Instead, he stared ahead and said, "These past few days, besides the mysterious Hell Game, I've been thinking about another issue."

Chunyu asked with a hint of unease, "What's the problem? Is it related to me?" "You're so smart. Yes, I've been thinking about this for the past few days. Why are you different from other girls?" "Maybe it's just innate."

Gao Xuan pulled out the car keys, but still didn't open the door: "No, a person's appearance can be innate, but their inner self is determined by their upbringing." "Then what do you think my inner self is like?" "I don't know." Gao Xuan's face was shrouded in shadow inside the car, and only his deep voice could be heard, "What about your family? Are they like you?" "Family?" Chunyu suddenly touched her chest. She knew Gao Xuan couldn't see her face, so she slowly closed her eyes and said in a very soft voice, "Please, don't ask that question."

Gao Xuan was provoked by her words and moved closer to her, asking, "What exactly happened to your family?"

"Leave me alone!"

Chunyu suddenly pushed open the car door and ran out quickly. Gao Xuan rushed out after her, but in the dark parking lot, she could no longer be seen.

Actually, she was hiding behind a bus, her eyes blurred with tears, motionless in the darkness, unable to see the moonlight when she looked up.

She heard Gao Xuan calling her name loudly, but she still didn't move. Then she heard a car start, and Gao Xuan drove away.

Chunyu finally came out. In the open space in the middle of the parking lot, she looked at the dark world around her and did not wipe away the tears on her face.

Chunyu didn't go straight back to her dorm because she was afraid of passing by the haunted building. After leaving the parking lot, she took a long detour before finally returning to the school.

The cafeteria was almost closing, so she could only eat the leftover noodles. Halfway through her meal, she received a text message from Gao Xuan: "Where are you now? I'm worried."

Chunyu thought for a moment and replied, "I'll be back in my dorm soon, don't worry, thank you for bringing me back."

When she returned to her dorm room, the first thing she did was look in the mirror. The tear tracks on her face had all dried, but a hint of sadness lingered in the corners of her eyes. Chunyu wiped her face with a towel, then took a framed picture from under the cabinet. The frame contained a black and white photograph of a young couple with a little girl of about ten years old sitting between them.

That was Chunyu's family of three. She reached out and touched her father's face in the photo, then her mother's, and finally her own—she felt that she was nothing like she was now when she was little. Back then, she was thin and small, and not at all endearing. Other little girls were always radiant, while she was often forgotten, left to hide alone in a dark corner. Only in her father's arms was she happy; she could stroke his stubble, smell the faint scent of tobacco on him, and gradually drift off to sleep…

Clutching the framed picture, Chunyu fell asleep on the table. It was as if her soul had left her body, transported back to many years ago. Until midnight, a text message alarm jolted Chunyu awake. She jerked her head up from the table, frantically scanning the entire dormitory, as if someone were screaming at her. After a long while, she picked up her phone. The screen still displayed the number from hell. She quickly opened the text message—"You have entered the 11th level of hell. You will choose: 1. The mystery you most want to solve; 2. The person you most want to see; 3. The person you most hate."

By this time, Chunyu had fully regained her senses. She put the picture frame back in the cabinet, looked at the notification on the text message, and thought: I've unknowingly reached the 11th level of hell. At this rate, I won't be far from that final secret, the "19th level of hell."

She read the three options again, her gaze focusing on "1: The mystery you most want to solve." There were so many mysteries she wanted to solve now; which one should she solve first? Suddenly, Chunyu thought of what was behind her—the quiet lower bunk. Was she still watching her?

Chunyu's thumb trembled as she finally pressed the "1" key to reply.

The reply came quickly: "Tell me the mystery you want to solve, and your wish will be granted."

Chunyu immediately typed a message on her phone: "I want to know why Qingyou died?"

After sending the reply, she suddenly turned off her phone. Perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of hope, she didn't want to receive any reply now; she just wanted to wait quietly.

Looking at the dark winter night outside, she wondered how she would get through it alone.

This was Chunyu's first day at work. She arrived at the company at nine o'clock, only to find that it was still early before work started, so she could only wait awkwardly at the door by herself.

At 9:50, she saw Yan Mingliang appear at the door. The boss stared at her intently, as if he had noticed something, but didn't say anything.

He simply took out his keys and opened the company door.

Like many female interns, Chunyu felt intimidated by her boss, especially when his gaze lingered on her. She could only try to distract Yan Mingliang by talking: "Manager, you already gave me instructions about my work yesterday. I'll complete my daily tasks." Yan Mingliang always seemed sickly, with bluish veins lurking beneath his ashen skin. His eye twitched nervously, startling Chunyu. But he smiled slightly and said, "I won't concern myself with the specifics. You're probably a 'thumb user,' right?" Actually, Chunyu wasn't really a 'thumb user,' but thinking about the hellish games she'd been playing these past few days, she blurted out, "I guess so." "When we recruited SMS editors, we always tested their mobile phone typing skills first." "But here, the job only requires sitting in front of a computer."

Yan Mingliang, still speaking in that strange, neither-here-nor-there accent, said, "Of course, but if you don't even enjoy using text messaging yourself, how can you do a good job as a text message editor?" "Well, then I need to adapt even better to the work and life of the thumb era."

It was time for work, and Chunyu followed the other girls into the office.

Once Yan Mingliang was out of sight, Chunyu whispered, "Isn't our boss a little strange?" "He's always been a bit of a weirdo, but he's harmless to women." She lowered her voice to the lowest possible level and made a shushing gesture, "Shh, don't tell anyone."

Next, she began her work. Chunyu turned on her own computer and noticed that the desktop wallpaper was quite unique—a small white orchid.

She tidied the drawers under the desk and found a lot of messy office supplies. At the very bottom of the drawer, she found a small tag, probably a small trinket for hanging on a phone, something many girls like. The tag also had the traditional Chinese character "兰" (lan) on it. Seeing this character, Chunyu seemed to remember something; it looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen it before.

The next day's work involved collecting the latest text messages, various MMS images, and ringtones online, then re-editing and categorizing them before inputting them into the company's server. Alternatively, they might create text messages using bird calls or excerpts from popular songs, along with accompanying images. The company also hired several text message writers who were required to write a dozen or so particularly funny original text messages daily and send them to the company's email address. Chunyu was responsible for contacting them.