Geisterbestattung

Kapitel 15

In a large hall, three or four times the size of her living room, sat a set of white sofas of varying lengths. To the left, against the wall, stood a large bookcase and a writing desk. On the other side was a wine cabinet and a stylish full-length mirror. Inside, a bedroom contained a double bed, with a pair of slippers neatly arranged in front of it.

The blanket on the bed was partially pulled back; everything had been prepared for her before she even entered. It seemed that once she lay down, all that remained for her was to have a good dream.

After so many days of being afraid at home every night, Li Hui felt a sense of relief when she could finally get a good night's sleep in a five-star hotel tonight.

As long as she doesn't go home, she can stop being bothered by that "death schedule" and temporarily forget about that unpleasant thing!

She settled comfortably into the sofa, taking in everything in the room with satisfaction.

Li Hui couldn't understand why Mr. Yang was spending so much money. Didn't he say he'd just get a hair wash and massage and then go home? Why was he checking into a hotel room? As if to answer her questions, the room phone rang just in time:

"Miss Li Hui! Have you moved in yet?" It was Mr. Yang's voice, sounding enthusiastic and showing no signs of fatigue.

"..." Li Hui didn't know what to say. She was really suspicious of all this, and even felt terrified. But she couldn't very well say, "Take me home now," could she? It was so late, and she didn't have the courage to take a taxi on the street by herself.

"What's wrong? Do you want me to come over and see you?" Mr. Yang asked again when he couldn't hear her voice.

"Ah, no, no!" Li Hui panicked upon hearing this. It was so late; she absolutely couldn't let anyone else into her room, not even a waitress! Who knew what kind of disaster might suddenly appear to target her?

"It's too late today, and I don't want to move. I'll take you home to change clothes early tomorrow morning, so it won't affect your work." Mr. Yang was very thoughtful, and Li Hui couldn't express her dissatisfaction. Besides, although she didn't really want to accept his arrangements, things had already come to this point, so what was the point of expressing her dissatisfaction?

"Okay, I'm too tired. See you tomorrow!" Li Hui promptly hung up the phone, then sat on the sofa and looked around. She needed to think carefully; could anything unexpected happen tonight in this unfamiliar place?

The hotel was impeccable, and the doors and windows were in perfect condition. She opened the wardrobe, the closet, and the refrigerator one by one, carefully inspected them, and then went into the bathroom.

Standing in front of the washbasin, Li Hui's mood immediately changed. The bathroom and toilet were located on opposite sides of a large room, with a large enough space in the middle for Li Hui to do aerobics after getting up in the morning!

She had only ever seen such comfortable places in TV dramas. Li Hui quickly took off her clothes and jumped into the bathtub, but less than a second later, she jumped out again. Her burns hadn't healed yet, and she was afraid of getting infected if she soaked in water.

Li Hui had no choice but to stand under the faucet and rinse herself off. As she turned around, she looked regretfully at the beautiful bathtub, feeling as if her trip to the hotel had been in vain.

Just as Li Hui finished washing up, the doorbell rang. She glanced at her watch; it was already past 2 a.m. Who could have gotten to the wrong room? As she reached the door, she heard a waitress softly knocking from outside: "Miss, could you open the door? It's for a late-night snack."

"Who's bringing the late-night snack?" Li Hui opened the door, puzzled. Behind a young lady carrying a tray stood a smiling Mr. Yang.

She froze, unsure whether she should let them in. But it was clear she had to; one was struggling to carry a huge pile of food, and the other had come specifically to bring it to her.

Li Hui's conflicted feelings at this moment were indescribable.

She remembered the hint: "Guess what disaster is coming today..." She felt as if she was getting closer and closer to that disaster, because ever since she went out with Mr. Yang that night, she had not been able to make her own decisions and had been held hostage by some dark force!

She glanced at Mr. Yang, who was looking at the books in the bookcase and seemed oblivious to her mood. So she pretended nothing was wrong and opened the boxes of late-night snacks one by one, keeping herself facing him directly as she did so; she didn't want to be hit hard on the back of the head.

"Are you hungry?" Li Hui was startled by Mr. Yang's sudden greeting. She gasped and realized that he had quietly stood in front of her without her noticing.

"Why are you so nervous?" He casually glanced around the room. "Is there anything wrong with this room?"

"No, no, I'm just a little tired."

"Okay, you should rest right away after you finish eating. I'm not sleepy at all after taking a shower, which is strange." Mr. Yang spoke softly to her as if he were talking to a woman he knew very well, while placing a piece of cake in front of her.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you today," Li Hui said, deliberately trying to create distance between them.

"Where? It's usually so hard to find an opportunity to flatter you, but Zhang Lili made it happen for me today."

"...You shouldn't talk like that." Li Hui's eyelids drooped, and she stopped looking at Mr. Yang's face. She knew that the contents written there were very complicated. Her heart was racing, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

"I'm telling the truth. When you compare people, you can see who's better. Zhang Lili has too many of the typical Shanghai woman's flaws. To be honest, the chances of us being together are slim."

"Mr. Yang!" Li Hui's face flushed red. She wanted to stop him, but she didn't want to lose her composure in front of him. She thought about getting up and leaving, but it was so late, where could she go?

"Miss Li Hui, please don't take offense. I'm just a very straightforward person; I say what I think." He patted her hand lightly, seemingly unintentionally. "The day I saw you, I was reminded of my university days. Do you know who I originally intended to give my copy of *Lady Chatterley's Lover* to?"

"Who?" Li Hui was startled. She shuddered and instinctively asked.

"It's you!" Mr. Yang lunged forward.

"You're talking nonsense!" Li Hui suddenly dodged away. "Don't do anything reckless! I'm going to call for help!"

Mr. Yang stopped talking. As if to conserve his energy, he simply stood up and grabbed Li Hui's arm. The two circled the sofa a few times like they were playing hide-and-seek, before Li Hui took off running towards the door.

"Forget it, you don't need to run anymore, just let me go." Mr. Yang said calmly behind her, and Li Hui stopped halfway.

She turned to look at Mr. Yang, only to see him slowly walking towards the door. As he passed by her, he suddenly grabbed her shoulder and kissed her fiercely on the lips. One of his hands trembled as he grabbed wildly at her chest.

Li Hui instinctively protected her sensitive areas and desperately pushed away Mr. Yang's hand, but to no avail. Compared to Mr. Yang, she seemed too weak.

As he ripped the buttons off her clothes, and a fair breast popped out of her bra, Li Hui's heart leaped into her throat.

Suddenly, she opened her teeth, which had been tightly closed to resist his hateful tongue, and bit his lips hard!

Mr. Yang's large, plier-like hand suddenly loosened its grip and covered his mouth. He stared at her in astonishment, as if he didn't recognize her.

The two stood facing each other for a full five seconds, then Mr. Yang angrily tossed his greasy black hair, opened the door, and walked out.

Damn Zhang Lili, how did she end up knowing such a despicable guy! Li Hui was still trembling violently, standing there, unable to move.

The luxurious evening she had enjoyed had now turned sour. She now only regretted being so foolish and not seeing through Mr. Yang's tricks sooner.

Li Hui, curled up on the high-end Simmons bed, didn't sleep well all night.

If she had been just a little weaker, or if that Mr. Yang had been just a little bit more of a scoundrel, her fate tonight would have been predictable.

The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, feeling that there was simply no safe place in the world where she could hide.

She felt noises coming from the bathroom, then from the closet, and even felt like something was hiding under the bed, making her feel completely unsafe.

Could this be the disaster that she had guessed but never anticipated?

If she were to encounter such an "unexpected" disaster every day from now on, she would be completely finished in less than ten days. The "death timetable" might even save ten days, allowing its planners to return victorious sooner.

As soon as Zhang Lili arrived at work in the morning, she rushed to Li Hui's office to find her. She had been calling Li Hui's home almost all night, but no one answered.

When Li Hui got up at the hotel at 6:30 in the morning, Mr. Yang was probably still having a sweet dream.

Li Hui secretly went out and hailed a taxi to go home.

She needed to figure out the contents of today's emails, then change her clothes and go to work as usual. She also had an important task: to guess what disaster might befall her today.

The thought of this made Li Hui feel a painful tightness in her chest.

She felt as if a large, dark rock was hanging above her head, ready to fall and crush her into a pulp at any moment. She had no idea when it would actually fall. She had to bear the weight of the rock suddenly crashing down on her, and also the terror of the moment it was about to hit, yet hadn't yet.

Just as Li Hui was sitting in her office, lost in thought with dark circles under her eyes, Zhang Lili walked in.

"You're going to get yourself killed! Why didn't you come home last night?" Zhang Lili's eyes, sharp as knives, swept across her face and body before settling on her eyes. "You spent the night out?"

"Um..." Li Hui didn't know how to answer her, so she stammered, "A friend came to visit, and I stayed with her at the hotel for one night." As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized that she was really bad at lying.

"Where's Mr. Yang? Wasn't he with you last night?"

"He went home after dinner."

"That guy still hasn't called me!"

Li Hui then remembered, "By the way, was there any emergency at your home last night? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted you to be alone for a while."

"What do you mean?" Li Hui's face flushed red. She angrily turned her head away, not wanting to pay any more attention to Zhang Lili. She felt that Zhang Lili had really become a different person, utterly boring.

"Are you angry? I was just kidding. Actually, I trust you completely, otherwise why would I have left you two alone last night?"

"You shouldn't make jokes like that; it's pointless."

"Hey! Tell me, that guy didn't bully you, did he?" she asked, staring at Li Hui's eyes with a half-smile.

"No." Li Hui recalled the scene at the hotel and didn't know how to tell Zhang Lili. She could only remain silent. But what did Zhang Lili mean by asking that? Did she already know that Mr. Yang had ulterior motives towards Li Hui?

Li Hui suddenly felt as if Zhang Lili and Mr. Yang had conspired to scheme against her last night. She felt that Zhang Lili seemed to know everything that happened in the hotel last night, and that she had even orchestrated it all.

Zhang Lili carefully observed her expression again before leaving with a grin, as if she had accomplished some important task and was quite satisfied. Li Hui watched her retreating figure, unable to fathom her intentions.

She thought of Da Dun'er again. The man she had once trusted so much was actually someone fully armed to deal with her, and this Zhang Lili and Mr. Yang were one eccentric and the other lustful.

Li Hui felt increasingly unable to trust the people around her, and she could no longer treat others with a peaceful mindset. When she realized this, terror suddenly overwhelmed her. Were all those around her either harboring ulterior motives or deliberately plotting against her? Was there not a single good person left in this world?

The email she received this morning reminded her of exactly what:

"Day 12, watch out for everyone around you!"

This "everyone around" means that she should stare intently at everyone. They could be Dadun, Mr. Yang, Zhang Lili, or even Ning Kun and Director Chen!

This is making her an enemy of everyone! That's a vicious move.

Her opponent wants to drive away those around her one by one, isolate her, deprive her of support, and then easily defeat her! So now he must be trying to create tension between her and Mr. Yang, because from yesterday to now, her contact with Mr. Yang has been the most frequent.

Could it be that Da Dun'er has been keeping an eye on her all along?

Li Hui was thrown into chaos again. She felt her torment was stretching on endlessly, with no end in sight. Just moments before, on her way to work, she had been confidently thinking that if she could just hold on for a few more days, her "death schedule" would be up soon. But now, she suddenly felt like running to the police station for protection! She was truly feeling powerless.

"Dr. Li, there's a surgery this morning, are you okay?" Director Chen appeared in front of her unexpectedly. "You don't look well, did you not sleep well last night?"

"It's alright," Li Hui said, trying to cover up her doubts. "What kind of surgery was it?"

"Cesarean section." Director Chen looked at her with concern. "How about this, I'll arrange for someone else to help you recover a bit more?"

Li Hui felt that Director Chen's overly cautious behavior towards her was completely unreasonable. She hadn't been able to work properly or diligently for so many days, so why wasn't he annoyed at all? Why was he still so subservient and watching her every whim? This was hardly the behavior of a director.

"Watch out for everyone around you!" Li Hui suddenly remembered the warning. Did Director Chen's appearance count as one of "everyone around him"? She stared at Director Chen's face, lost in thought. Director Chen was startled by her expression and coughed awkwardly, "Ahem...are you...alright?"

To be on the safe side, it would be best to stay away from him. But if he said something unfavorable to her to the dean, her associate professor title would probably be ruined! Thinking of this, her face immediately turned bright red.

"I see you still seem to have a fever. Take a rest. I'll go arrange some work first." Director Chen said, then left. Li Hui stared blankly at his slightly hunched back, unsure whether she should chase after him and say, "Director, I'm fine, let me do it."

Clearly, she's not up to it at all. In her current condition, something bad is bound to happen if she goes on the operating table.

She could endure all kinds of physical and mental torment, but if her work was in trouble and her future was affected, that was something Li Hui absolutely could not accept.

She could clearly feel that her image at the hospital was being negatively affected, and that her beloved career was about to be ruined by this incident...

Distraught, Li Hui paced around the office several times. She felt she couldn't stay there a minute longer; she had to go find Da Dun'er immediately. She needed to explain the matter of the dead baby to him in person and apologize to him and his entire family.

Then, expose his plot about the "death timetable" and make him stop immediately!

The murderer is away on a business trip.

Just as Li Hui rushed downstairs in a panic, about to run to Dadun'er's hotel to find him, Grandpa Zhou handed her another letter through the small window of the mailroom.

Li Hui's heart was racing. She felt a dense, itchy sensation all over her body hair, as if she was sweating but couldn't get out, and a wave of restlessness washed over her.

She rushed out of the hospital and opened the envelope, from which a note fell out.

The note was written by Dadun'er. He said he was going on a business trip for more than ten days and had entrusted his wife's affairs to her. He hoped she could give him a lot of guidance in life and that he would thank her when he returned.

Li Hui stared at the small note hastily written with a ballpoint pen, momentarily at a loss for what to do.