Geisterbestattung

Kapitel 17

Li Hui was quite understanding of Zhang Lili's unusual behavior tonight. For a woman of her age in such a turbulent era, to still be playing the game of "dating" with a man who had seen almost every woman in the world was really too much for her. She must be extremely upset.

Also, perhaps Mr. Yang said something he shouldn't have to Zhang Lili. Li Hui decided to wait until Zhang Lili calmed down before having a proper talk with her. She heard Zhang Lili tossing and turning on the sofa, but she didn't expose her worries and just pretended to be asleep.

When they woke up the next morning, they found that they had dark circles under their eyes. Both of them were preoccupied and went to work in silence.

downhill

"Guess what unexpected disaster will befall us today?"

After seeing the same unchanging message for several days in a row, and after two days without any serious incidents, Li Hui gradually realized that the conspirators had run out of tricks.

It seems that Da Dun'er has begun to waver in his plans. He is giving her a chance to catch her breath and also looking for a suitable way out for himself.

Da Dun'er's wife has not come to the hospital for a check-up yet, but Li Hui thinks she won't come. Da Dun'er must have moved the prenatal care to another hospital.

Now, she can only keep track of his movements through emails. But the emails still say things like, "What will happen within ten days?" Seven or eight days have passed, and aside from the fright she experienced at the hotel that night and Zhang Lili's unusual behavior after drinking, Li Hui has been able to maintain a normal work routine most days. It's just that she's still filled with anxiety when she gets home from work.

Zhang Lili has been too busy lately to visit her anymore; she seems to be having a close relationship with Mr. Yang and is very busy.

For safety reasons, Li Hui no longer takes the bus to and from get off work but instead takes a taxi. Every time she gets into the car, she locks the door tightly and doesn't dare to blink, keeping a watchful eye on the outside of the car the whole way.

Perhaps it was the experiences of these past few days that helped her grow stronger, as Li Hui's emotions gradually stabilized. In the last two days, she even performed two surgeries, and the results were excellent.

Director Chen's worried face finally showed relief again. Every day after work and before leaving get off work, he would hunch his back and make a special trip to Li Hui's office to see her and ask her a few words of concern.

But on this day, a patient gave Li Hui another painful shock.

That patient had uterine cancer, and it was already in its late stages when it was discovered, but she was only thirty years old! There are three areas of a woman's body that are most susceptible to this incurable disease: the uterus, ovaries, and breasts. It can be fatal if you're not careful.

Everyone may have various misfortunes following them like a shadow, but usually people can't know when that shadow will pounce and bite them. Now, Li Hui feels that she has never been able to get rid of this shadow, and it seems that she is waiting for that misfortune to pounce on her and tear her to pieces.

When she got home, Li Hui's mood became depressed again. She locked the door, went into the bathroom, took off her clothes, stood in front of the mirror, and held her two breasts in her hands, examining them inch by inch from top to bottom. She was startled every time she found a small lump, and then checked again. Oh, the activity was good, it was healthy tissue!

Then, she ran her hand over all the lymph nodes around her chest. Thankfully, she was fine. She hadn't even given birth yet, so how could she have gotten that kind of illness? She suddenly felt like a mental patient, like someone with hysteria or paranoia.

It was that damned "death timetable" again! It turned out that she had never forgotten that terrible thing in her heart for a moment. It had been deeply implanted in her nervous system, affecting her mental and physical health at all times.

That night, Li Hui had a terrible dream. She dreamt that a tumor the size of a fingernail had grown in her breast. When she touched it, it was motionless and firmly embedded in her ribs, like a poisonous spider burrowing under her skin. She told herself, "It's over. I'm only in my twenties, and I haven't even had my own child yet!"

But just then, she felt something move inside her belly, and realized that her stomach was already swollen high, and inside was a fetus at least seven or eight months pregnant! How could she have never noticed? After a moment of joy came deep sorrow: Oh God, what should she do? The baby was about to be born, and the mother had breast cancer!

She felt as if she had suddenly fallen into a bottomless abyss.

When Li Hui woke up, she was drenched in sweat, her heart aching as if it were being stabbed. She sat up in bed, stunned for a long time, before realizing it was a nightmare. But the bone-chilling fear still clung to her like cold sweat, refusing to go away.

These past few days, with nothing particularly noteworthy happening, she's felt increasingly anxious: nothing happening means something could happen at any moment, and a much bigger accident could occur at any time. She doesn't know when a huge disaster might strike, catching her completely off guard.

What's terrifying is that she feels her health is deteriorating, getting weaker day by day. She suffers from insomnia at night and dares not take tranquilizers. Once she falls asleep, she is always plagued by nightmares, either dreaming that she has an incurable disease or that she is pushed off a cliff.

This morning, she finally saw a notification in her email that was different from usual:

"Today is the [number]th day, and your time is running out!"

In ten days, this covert contest will be decided. However, after repeated setbacks, she has not made any progress.

No matter where Dadun is now, she should at least have some clue about him. But his wife has stopped coming to the maternity hospital, and she can't get any information from his hotel. It's been a week since he claimed to be "on a business trip." The remaining days might be their final showdown. He can't wait until the thirtieth day to confront her; that timeline is just a formality, a bargaining chip to put psychological pressure on her.

Li Hui felt the mental and physical pressure that had just eased for a few days crashing down on her, leaving her already exhausted and on the verge of collapse.

Strangely, starting this morning, Ning Kun came to her clinic twice, his annoying face plastered on, and said the same thing: a "friend's relative" was coming from the suburbs to see a doctor, and he asked Li Hui to make sure to see him. Less than half an hour later, he came back a second time to remind her that he had to go out for a bit and asked her to wait for the "friend's relative" at the door when the time came, as he was worried she wouldn't be able to find Li Hui.

Although Li Hui was disgusted with Ning Kun, he was still her colleague at the hospital. In front of the other doctors, she couldn't show any abnormal emotions, so she had to patiently receive him.

Although Ning Kun's connection to the "death timetable" seems to have been ruled out on the surface, who knows? She has already witnessed the vast difference between a person's appearance and reality with Da Dun'er, so she doesn't intend to trust anyone now.

Li Hui had just prescribed medication for a patient and scheduled their next visit to the hospital when the phone rang, as if it had been waiting for her. "Hello! Li Hui, are you free this afternoon?"

"Lili, what's up?"

"Great news! Come on up, come to the physiotherapy department, I'll tell you more!"

Li Hui was still a little resentful about Zhang Lili's behavior at her house that night when she was drunk, but now she couldn't detect anything unusual in Zhang Lili's tone; it seemed as if she had completely forgotten about those things.

Li Hui knew that Zhang Lili was completely focused on Mr. Yang, and calling her up would only mean Mr. Yang would again offer to treat her to something, which she really didn't want to get involved with anymore. So she lazily said, "I still have patients here."

"Forget it, forget it! I kindly invited you, but you're not coming. Fine, I'll go by myself!" The phone was hung up, and Li Hui was left standing there dumbfounded for a long time, not understanding what Zhang Lili was up to.

At 3 p.m., Li Hui had just finished a cesarean section. After washing her hands and changing out of her operating room clothes, she felt extremely tired.

"I really need to take some supplements lately, my health is terrible," Li Hui sighed. She had just sat down in the consultation room and drunk a glass of water when Zhang Lili walked in. Seeing other doctors in the room, she leaned close to Li Hui's ear, her breath hot and her whisper hitting her eardrums: "Hurry up, hurry up, don't ask where we're going, just come with me!"

Li Hui was pulled downstairs by Zhang Lili before she could even take off her white coat.

A gray old Santana sedan was parked on one side of the courtyard near the main gate. Zhang Lili opened the car door, put Li Hui in the passenger seat, and got into the driver's seat herself. The car hummed a few times and then slowly drove out of the hospital gate.

Li Hui saw Grandpa Zhou sticking his head out of the mailroom window, looking at them with concern.

"When did you learn to drive?" Li Hui, who had been listless just moments before, now watched Zhang Lili skillfully steer the car with great interest, and couldn't help but show a hint of envy.

"I haven't really learned this yet. We'll go to the driving range now and practice repeatedly." Suddenly, a fork in the road appeared ahead. Zhang Lili hesitated for a moment, then turned the steering wheel to the left, but it was too late; the red light was on. She gritted her teeth, stepped on the gas, and tried to rush through the checkpoint. A traffic policeman suddenly appeared out of nowhere, gesturing for them to pull over.

Li Hui sat in the car waiting for Zhang Lili to go out and receive her punishment. Her eyes kept darting between the dashboard, clutch, accelerator, and gearbox. She remembered what Wang Yang had said: as soon as he returned, he would buy her a new Sail microcar for commuting. She had seen that car at the car dealership; it was small, exquisite, and incredibly cute.

Now that's great! Quickly become Zhang Lili's apprentice and learn how to drive from her. As soon as you buy the new car, you can drive it on the road right away.

Li Hui was even more excited than a child who had just received a new toy.

At this moment, Zhang Lili, with a mischievous grin on her face, like a naughty student caught by the teacher, stuck out her tongue as she ran back to the car: "Oops! Goodness, this is the first time I've ever been fined... just a few cents! Not much, not much."

"Isn't it supposed to be a license suspension?"

"Now, as long as you pay the fine, you don't have to have your license suspended. Money talks."

"Oh my god, how much will we be fined along the way if we keep going like this?"

"Oh dear, what a jinx! Be careful next time, or you'll be unlucky and always get fined!"

"Hey! Slow down, slow down, there's someone!" The car started moving again. Now that she knew Zhang Lili hadn't finished her apprenticeship, Li Hui unconsciously got into character. She sat next to Zhang Lili, chattering away, shouting "Danger!" one minute and then dramatically reminding her to be careful the next. Not only did she scare herself half to death, but she also made the not-so-skilled Zhang Lili flustered and clumsy, making the journey a series of close calls.

When they arrived at the entrance of the driving range they were going to, both of them were soaked in sweat.

"My God! Riding in your car was terrifying!" Li Hui patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

"No problem, you can't learn to drive if you're too timid. I've only been learning for a few days, and I can already drive in the city center!"

"Whose car is this? They let you drive it out? They must be so worried about you!"

"Mr. Yang's company's beat-up car is insured, so even if it's damaged in an accident, we won't have to pay for it. Don't worry."

"Oh, I see. Now I understand why you were working like a workaholic the whole way."

"How was it? Was it fun coming out with me? I'll let you try it out later!"

This was exactly what Li Hui had been waiting for.

The so-called driving practice area was nothing more than an abandoned compound belonging to a former company that had moved away in the suburbs. A gray-yellow wall enclosed a row of long-abandoned buildings. In front of the buildings was a wide, flat square, except for a circular flower bed in the center. Behind the buildings were several rolling hills of varying sizes, with several white ribbon-like mountain paths winding up and down the slopes amidst lush greenery.

The hillside was covered with all sorts of trees and flowers, but due to a long period of neglect, they grew wildly alongside weeds, making it impossible to distinguish between flowers, trees, and grass.

There wasn't a soul in the entire courtyard. Some windows on the deserted buildings were broken, their panes gaping open like dark, gaping holes. All was quiet; because the courtyard was so large, even the sound of the Santana's engine seemed faint.

Zhang Lili told Li Hui to get out of the car first and wait on the side. She drove around the square a few times, increasing her speed, and finally screeched to a halt in front of Li Hui with a sharp "screech!" Then, she excitedly stuck her head out of the window: "Wait a little longer, I'm going to drive around the hill behind here, practice going up and down hills."

As he spoke, the car roared and sped off like a wild beast.

Li Hui stood in the courtyard, looking around for a while, and felt that there was an indescribable atmosphere in the courtyard.

She glanced at the empty building and had a feeling that someone inside was spying on her from behind one of the windows with ill intentions.

From where she was standing, she could no longer see Zhang Lili's car or hear its sound; perhaps she had driven it behind the hill.

Li Hui didn't know exactly how big the courtyard was, but she could guess its approximate size from the height of the hill behind it.

How could Zhang Lili know about such a place? Mr. Yang must have brought her here before, and this is where she learned to drive. Otherwise, how could she be so familiar with the hillside behind the building?

Driving on a winding mountain road? Li Hui couldn't imagine it; it was terrifying. But just then, she saw Zhang Lili drive out from behind the building, turning a corner.

To be honest, she was getting anxious, and she didn't want to be left alone in the empty square, so she hurriedly waved for the car to stop. But the car didn't slow down at all, and it wasn't until she couldn't stand it anymore and was about to jump out to avoid the oncoming car that Zhang Lili braked suddenly. The car jolted violently and stopped right in front of Li Hui, only a little over a meter away from her legs.

"My God, your skills are amazing! It's terrifying!" Li Hui complained.

"Wow, this is so much fun! Do you want to come up and try it?" Zhang Lili was still sitting in the car, showing no intention of getting off.

"Can I... do it?" Li Hui suddenly felt a little insecure. She hesitated, unsure whether she should go up.

"Come on, I'll let you have it first, so you can have your fun!" Zhang Lili got out of the car and opened the driver's side door. Li Hui, who had been hesitant just now, sat down without hesitation.

Zhang Lili sat in the passenger seat and gave Li Hui a brief "crash course":

"Look, the one under your left foot is the clutch, the one in the middle is the brake, and the one under your right foot is the accelerator. This is the gearbox; it has five gears, four from slow to fast, and one is reverse. Got it?"

"Hmm...more or less." Li Hui seemed to understand but not quite.

"To start the car, depress the clutch pedal fully with your left foot, shift to first gear with your right hand, then press the accelerator with your right foot, and slowly release the clutch with your left foot. The car will start moving. Come on, give it a try!"

"Which one is first gear?" Li Hui's eyes were blurry. She gestured for a long time before finally finding all four gears. Li Hui frantically pressed this and that, but after pressing them all, she couldn't find the gear anymore. When she finally found first gear, the movements of her left and right feet were not coordinated, and she suddenly lost control.

"Again!"

The fire died again.

"I'll do it, you watch!" Zhang Lili pushed Li Hui away from her seat, then shuffled over to the driver's seat on the right and started the car in no time. Li Hui watched how easily she operated the car and felt itchy to try it herself. But when she got in, it didn't work.

"Oh dear! How can you be so stupid?" Zhang Lili said impatiently.

"Let me try again." Li Hui's tone was almost pleading.

After a few more tries, suddenly, the car shot forward with a "whoosh!" "It's starting! It's starting!" Li Hui cheered, but then realized the car was just continuing to roll forward. Immediately afterward, she screamed, "Oh no! What do I do? What do I do?"

"Step on the brakes! Step on the brakes!" Zhang Lili sat next to her, wishing she could grow a foot to step on the brakes for her, but this car wasn't the kind of jeep used in driving schools, so she couldn't help.

Li Hui had long forgotten where the brakes were: "Where? Where is it?"

"Middle! Middle! Middle..."

Li Hui kicked down with all her might, and both of their foreheads hit the windshield at the same time, causing the car to screech to a stop.

"Wow! You're pretty daring, slamming on the gas without even knowing how to brake! Thank goodness you were in first gear!"

"What if it's in a different gear?"

"Anything else? Well... it's nothing." Zhang Lili didn't tell her the truth. If she told her the consequences of shifting into third and fourth gear, Li Hui would be so scared that she would never dare to touch the steering wheel again.

In less than half an hour, Li Hui had mastered the "starting and stopping" maneuvers, passing Zhang Lili's "instructor" test. Now, Li Hui's enthusiasm soared; she refused to let go of the steering wheel and started circling the square. Since she was driving in second gear, the speed was slow and safe, so Zhang Lili no longer followed along anxiously. She simply sat in the shade of a tree and watched Li Hui drive around as she pleased, neither arguing nor urging her, letting her do as she pleased.

As evening approached, Li Hui remained oblivious to the passage of time, her excitement at having unexpectedly conquered such a behemoth barely concealed. The car became increasingly smooth in her hands, though her coordination with the steering wheel and her feet was still somewhat lacking. As she continued to turn in circles, she thought smugly that she would give Wang Yang a wonderful surprise when he returned!