Geisterbestattung

Kapitel 7

She did her best to control herself and managed not to lose her composure. Then, without saying a word, she walked into the office.

What bad luck! She'd completely forgotten about the "timetable," but Ning Kun's sudden appearance had rekindled her worries. She felt that something unexpected was probably going to happen to her again today! Now she regretted not checking her email this morning…

The office was empty. Li Hui breathed a sigh of relief, looked around; it was a bit messy. During the days she hadn't been at work, others must have been affected. With fewer staff, but the workload was still the same, Li Hui felt she owed everyone a debt of gratitude. She put down her bag and quickly took out a towel to wipe her desk, then diligently scrubbed the floor.

But she still felt a sense of unease and resentment. How did Ning Kun know she was at work today? And why was he waiting for her near her office door? Perhaps… because she was off work, he hadn't been able to keep track of her situation these past few days, which was why he was in such a hurry to come and check on her personally: Had she already been defeated by that damned "death schedule"?

If it was indeed Ning Kun who did it, then what would he have said in the emails he sent her these past few days?

Li Hui's mind started to race again.

She carefully recalled Ning Kun's expression just now, his eyes, and his somewhat affected kindness and benevolence. She tried to find a trace of hatred on his face and a sense of smugness about his entire revenge plan, but she felt completely lost.

Ning Kun doesn't seem like a very logical person at all, so why is it him, and not someone else, who is deliberately waiting at the office door at this time? Is it simply because of that kind of twisted crush on a woman?

At that moment, Zhang Lili swayed gracefully as she entered the room: "Li Hui, you're here? How's your recovery going?"

"Thankfully, it doesn't hurt so much anymore."

"Let me see your face." Zhang Lili pulled Li Hui over, examined the scars on her forehead and cheekbones, and said regretfully, "Tsk tsk! You've got scars. It'll take at least a summer for the color to fade."

"Ugh! What bad luck." Li Hui became listless at the mention of this.

These days, her biggest worry is her face. This accident has ruined her usually beautiful appearance, which has been her most prized asset for over twenty years. And whoever created the "death timetable" is probably secretly gloating over her current state!

"It's okay, Wang Yang will still like you. If I became like this, I'd never be able to get married." It was meant to be a lighthearted remark, but Zhang Lili looked strangely expressionless when she said it.

Li Hui knew she was a little sentimental, so she comforted her, saying, "You're a lucky person, you're always blessed. How could you be as unlucky as me?"

"Oh, right! I'm not busy today. It's your first day at work, so don't do anything. Come upstairs, I'll give you some physical therapy to help you recover faster." Zhang Lili said, pulling Li Hui away before she could react.

The physiotherapy department is located on the fourth floor of the hospital, on the right side. Go upstairs, turn right, and walk all the way to the end of the corridor; you'll see the sign for the physiotherapy department.

Upon entering, you'll find a large consultation room with six tables where all the doctors sit to see patients and write medical records. Three small doors are located on the three walls of the consultation room, each labeled "Ultrasound Room," "Infrared Room," and "Acupuncture Room."

Currently, several patients are having ultrasounds inside. Because ultrasounds are effective for common gynecological conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease and endometritis, patients usually have to wait in line.

In contrast, there were far fewer people in the infrared room. There was only one patient lying under a large lampshade. Above her lower abdomen was a bright red infrared therapy device, like a large light bulb, which looked like a giant furnace, roasting the frightening scar left by her cesarean section.

When Li Hui came in, the woman discreetly pulled up her pants below her stomach.

"Just use infrared radiation; it can reduce inflammation and promote muscle growth," Zhang Lili said, pulling Li Hui to a hospital bedside. "Take off your clothes."

"My whole body is covered in wounds, where should I heat up first?" Li Hui was terrified and a little lost as she looked at the hot, burning "light bulb".

"Let's warm your knees first; weren't they badly injured?"

As Li Hui took off her pants, she said, "Actually, my butt hurt the most. When I sat down on the steps, I almost dropped my tail!"

"Then let's heat your butt first! Lie down." Zhang Lili flipped Li Hui over forcefully, like she was handling a naughty child, and quickly placed the infrared therapy device in the right position, adjusting it to the preset temperature. "Is it hot?"

"It's not too hot." Li Hui wanted to turn her head to look, but her spine was still a little sore, so she didn't dare to make any big movements.

"Don't move!" Zhang Lili pressed her down, then adjusted the temperature again. "How about this?"

"It's a little hot, but... Ah, it feels so good!" Li Hui buried her face in the pillow, relaxed her whole body, and fully enjoyed the infrared heat radiation.

When the patient next to her had their scheduled treatment time, the timer went off. Zhang Lili went over to turn off the "light bulb" and then went with the patient to the outer room to write the medical record.

Li Hui lay comfortably under the infrared lamp, feeling very warm. She drifted off to sleep, dreaming that she was changing her email address on the computer, excitedly thinking, "Now, that guy can't send me those scary emails anymore!"

Strangely, the newly modified mailbox immediately received an email signed "SW"!

She hurriedly revised it again, and just as she finished, she received another letter.

Li Hui kept revising and revising as if she were under a spell, but she couldn't escape that damned "SW" letter! She felt like she was about to be exhausted and scared to death.

Then she saw the following sentence on the email she had just received: "Don't ignore emails, or you'll face the consequences! Today is the eighth day, watch out for your butt!"

She was jolted awake, realizing her entire buttocks were burning hot. She yelled for Zhang Lili, but no one answered her calls. In a moment of quick thinking, Li Hui rolled off the bed and discovered that, over time, the infrared therapy device suspended on the lamp stand had slowly lowered its height, now quite close to her body.

If it had been any later, I would have ended up with burnt skin and mangled flesh!

Li Hui's heart raced, and she didn't understand what was happening. She hurriedly turned off the infrared therapy device, feeling a dull pain in her back. Alas, Zhang Lili meant well, but she had only made things worse!

By the time Zhang Lili returned, Li Hui had already left the physiotherapy department. As she walked, she kept thinking about the strange dream she'd just had, the one that told her to "be careful with her bottom," and how it had actually burned her bottom. She knew it was because the pain from the burning had triggered a reaction in her central nervous system, creating a dream that mirrored reality, and in turn, the dream itself reminded her of something.

Li Hui had just settled into her office when Zhang Lili rushed downstairs. The moment she entered, she scrutinized Li Hui's face: "Damn it! I went to the inpatient ward, and when I came back, you'd left early? Were you feeling unwell from the heat?"

Li Hui didn't dare bring up the infrared lamp again, afraid that Zhang Lili would feel guilty and uneasy. She only said that a patient had come to see her and she had to come back first.

"Are you sure everything's alright?" Zhang Lili was still worried and said to her, "Okay, come up and bake whenever you have time! If I'm not here, just ask someone else to do it for you, okay?"

"Okay." Li Hui felt warm inside and very grateful. She escorted Zhang Lili all the way to the corridor.

"Oh, right," Zhang Lili suddenly turned around and hugged her, whispering, "I recently met someone, can you give me your opinion tonight?"

During this extraordinary time, Li Hui originally did not want to see strangers.

Not only were the scars on his face unsightly, but he also had a burning, scalding buttock.

But this is a matter concerning my good friend Zhang Lili, and it's such a big deal that the whole unit is worried about. How could she not go?

Zhang Lili accompanied Li Hui to the agreed location, only to find that it was actually at the hotel in Dadun'er. For some reason, even though she had only been there once, Li Hui felt a strange familiarity with everything there, an inexplicable sense of warmth.

In a private room upstairs, a young man in a suit was already seated. His face was a bit dark, but his hair was very shiny. When he stood up, Li Hui noticed that he was about the same height as Da Dun, just a little thinner, and had a hawk-like nose. He looked much younger than Zhang Lili.

"This is Mr. Yang," Zhang Lili introduced. "This is my good friend, Li Hui."

"Oh! You've brought your family and friends!" Mr. Yang was quite witty.

"Yes, let me give you a score!" Zhang Lili spoke in a very familiar tone, as if they had known each other for quite some time and had already reached a certain level of familiarity. Moreover, it seemed that there was no need for Li Hui to "give advice."

Li Hui was offered a seat. She tried to compare Zhang Lili and Mr. Yang in her mind, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. "It seems Lili is really getting old and anxious!" Li Hui couldn't help but sigh.

Mr. Yang was originally an official in the district health bureau, but later he went into business and contracted a pharmaceutical factory, specializing in the production of health supplements. During our conversation, I learned that Mr. Yang was also an alumnus of Zhang Lili's class, majoring in pharmacy.

During the meal, Mr. Yang was exceptionally warm and courteous to Li Hui, while somewhat neglecting Zhang Lili who was sitting to the side.

But Zhang Lili was in a particularly good mood tonight, constantly urging Li Hui and Mr. Yang to drink and eat, as if she were the one inviting them to dinner.

Li Hui was absentmindedly entertaining the guests. Her buttocks, which had been "overheated" by the infrared rays, were still throbbing with pain. Moreover, her mind was preoccupied with the computer at home. She wondered if she could control herself and refrain from touching that email account when she got back tonight.

She understood that, whether she liked it or not, the three unread emails would become four by midnight tonight!

Li Hui was particularly curious about the contents of those emails from the past few days. She suddenly realized that not checking her emails regularly was as foolish as changing her email address. How could she effectively deal with someone without understanding their activities?

Remembering the last time Da Dun and his wife treated her to dinner here, Li Hui felt that the food tonight held no appeal for her. Before the meal was even finished, Mr. Yang seemed quite familiar with Li Hui. He suggested that after dinner he would treat her to a medical massage. Li Hui didn't want to be a "third wheel" anymore, so she politely declined, but Zhang Lili insisted that a massage would help with recovery after a fall.

Just as the three of them reached the hotel entrance, Li Hui was struggling to come up with a suitable reason to get rid of the enthusiastic Zhang Lili and Mr. Yang when she saw Da Dun'er walk in from outside.

Li Hui felt a little like she hadn't seen Dadun for two days. She thought of everything Dadun had done for her while she was recovering from her injury a few days ago, and her heart felt warm.

So when Dadun greeted her with a smile, Li Hui's mind raced. She immediately turned to Zhang Lili and told her that she had something to discuss with Dadun. Then, pretending not to see the disappointed expressions on Zhang Lili and Mr. Yang's faces, she followed Dadun upstairs.

"Already back at work?" Da Dun looked at Li Hui's face as if she were a child. "Why didn't you rest a few more days?"

"I don't want to stay at home."

"Is it because you're too bored being alone?"

"...Li Hui's face darkened. She had made up her mind that she couldn't tell anyone about the "death timetable" right now. Besides, it couldn't be explained in just a few words. She glanced at Da Dun'er's short buzz cut, then looked away, her gaze sweeping blankly across the ceiling and walls of the room. Then she made a helpless expression: "Lately... I've been a little afraid of being home alone."

Da Dun'er clearly misunderstood her meaning. He glanced at Li Hui, whose face was pale and whose forehead bore a scar, then downed his tea in one gulp: "Come on, I'll take you out tonight!"

Shanghai's nightlife, seemingly overnight, has somehow reverted to the "adventurer's paradise" of the 1930s. Li Hui lives alone, her social circle is very narrow, and she rarely goes out at night. She feels she simply cannot adapt to the noisy atmosphere outside.

The two drove around the streets for a long time, passing by hotels like the Portman Hotel, Hilton Hotel, and International Grand Hotel. Li Hui sat in the car, looking at their uniformly luxurious entrances, but remained unmoved.

Finally, she had no choice but to go to the quiet Julu Road, which intersects with Changshu Road, and find a small shop. After sitting for a while and drinking some beverages, Li Hui's eyelids started to droop.

"You're tired," Da Dun said, looking at her.

"Not tired." She forced a smile. "I've been idle at home these past few days, and my immune system has completely weakened. I'll feel better in a few days."

"You haven't fully recovered yet. Come on, I'd better take you home as soon as possible." Da Dun'er stood up as soon as he finished speaking.

Li Hui felt too embarrassed to keep him company any longer; after all, he had a pregnant wife at home, what was she supposed to do? She could only force a smile and say, "Okay, let's go home!"

It was lit at night.

After leaving the small shop, the car drove onto the bustling Changshu Road, where the streets were still brightly lit.

At this moment, no one knew what Li Hui was feeling. She was so afraid of the home that had given her so much warmth and romance, as if she was going back not to a home, but to a hellish place where she didn't know if she could ever come out again.

A story that shouldn't have happened

When the car arrived at the dormitory building, Dadun got out first to open the car door for Li Hui, but he found that Li Hui was sitting in the back seat in a daze, showing no intention of getting out of the car at all.

He hesitated, seemingly unsure whether he should ask her to get out of the car and then drive away. He bent down and peered over.

He went in and looked at her questioningly: "Are you alright?"

Li Hui suddenly woke up: "Oh! Have we arrived?"

"We're here. Do you need me to come upstairs with you?"

"No."

"Okay. You should get some rest too."

Li Hui slowly got out of the car, but didn't go inside. She stood there, watching Da Dun'er turn around and drive the car towards the street corner. As the car's red taillights gradually disappeared into the distance, she suddenly felt like a drowning person, looking around at no one, not knowing who to call for help.

Many of the residents inside the building had already turned off their lights, leaving the entrance completely dark.

Li Hui really didn't want to go back to the home that made her feel extremely uneasy right away. She thought she should go to the teahouse at the entrance of the alley next door for a while and think it over before making a decision.

Just as she turned to walk towards the alley, she suddenly noticed two blinding white lights approaching her from behind, and a dark shadow was rapidly closing in on her from behind the white lights.

It was a car rapidly reversing towards her! A thought flashed through her mind:

Could it be that one of the plots in the "death timeline" to kill her has been activated again?

Li Hui was terrified and was about to scream when the dark figure stopped just beside her. She saw Da Dun'er's face emerge from behind the falling glass: "Where are you going?"

She felt her legs go weak and she leaned against the car.

Li Hui's legs were like noodles, unresponsive to her commands. This time, Da Dun carried her upstairs.

"Why aren't you going home? It's so late, where are you going all by yourself?" Da Dun'er panted as she climbed the steps. She leaned against his back and could hear the resonance of his voice in his chest, a soft, pleasant "humming" sound.

She didn't answer him, feeling it was difficult to do so. She was thinking, this big, clumsy guy, she'd been putting him through a lot these past few days, all for his wife's childbirth, having to fawn over a complete stranger, a female doctor—didn't he find it annoying?

The lights in the room were all on, shining brightly on Li Hui's bloodless face. She sat on the sofa, her eyes involuntarily peering through the bedroom door at the computer she hadn't touched for days.

While she was outside, she had no idea that the mysterious contents of that email inbox, which was probably overflowing with emails, would so strongly attract her!