Immortality of the dead

Chapter 3

“But I live here,” I said urgently.

"No one is allowed to enter without permission," he emphasized again, leaving no room for compromise.

"What property management company are you from? Where are the original security guards here?" I raised my voice and asked.

He remained silent.

I panicked, strode inside, and reached out to push away the security guard who was blocking my way.

Another security guard came up, and the two of them sandwiched me between them.

I withdrew my hand from pushing them away.

What are those two men doing with bulging waists under their security uniforms?

That feel...

Thinking back to their perfectly upright posture just now...

"Are you soldiers?" I asked in a deep voice.

silence.

I gasped. So, it was the military that was sealing off Xinjingyuan, and their security measures were clearly intended to avoid attracting the attention of ordinary citizens.

"What happened? Can you tell me?"

"cannot."

I took my press pass out of my bag and handed it over: "I'm a reporter, could you...?"

Before I could finish speaking, a rough, large hand shoved the press pass back to me: "This is a restricted area; we do not accept any media interviews here."

Damn, he's completely stubborn!

There was no way I could force my way in when I saw the gun barrels hidden under their clothes.

"Then, could you tell me if anything happened in room 302 of building 16? My parents live there, and I can't reach them by phone or cell phone." I softened my tone, hoping to persuade him and get some information.

The soldier glanced at it and said, "It's normal that we can't get through. The residents' telephone lines in the control area have been cut, and the cell phone signals have been blocked."

"Ah." I was even more surprised. So, while it might not be something that happened in my family, taking such an extreme measure to cut off all contact with the outside world means that something big must have happened.

I left the community gate dejectedly and walked along the wall. My parents were trapped inside, and to put it bluntly, their fate was unknown. As their son, I usually prided myself on being all-powerful, but now I was utterly useless?

Looking at the wall beside me, I considered climbing over it a few times. The wall wasn't high; I should be able to get in after a few runs and a push. But in the end, I suppressed the idea. The neighborhood seemed to be under military control, and the guards inside were probably very tight. I also vaguely remembered that the neighborhood had an infrared anti-theft system. If I climbed over the wall, the surveillance system would detect me immediately, and judging from the attitude of the two guards, I definitely wouldn't get away with it.

I finally decided to go back to the newspaper office to contact various parties and gather information before taking any action. By this time, I had almost circled the neighborhood once, and the main gate was not far ahead, but two Audi cars parked on the sidewalk gave me a jolt.

Both have blue Shanghai A license plates; one has a single-digit number, and the other has a double-digit number.

In China, vehicles with license plates ending in "沪A00800" are usually official cars belonging to high-ranking government officials. In Shanghai, vehicles with license plates ending in "沪A00800" belong to officials at least at the bureau-level. These two vehicles, without a doubt, belong to officials at the vice-mayor level or above in Shanghai, especially the one with the single-digit license plate... Could it be...?

It seems that what happened here is far more serious than I imagined!

Back at the main gate, I glanced at the two disguised security guards, preparing to wave for a taxi back to the agency, when I saw an Audi A4 stop in front of the cordon. The license plate was Shanghai A006**.

Two men got out of the car, one of whom was a handsome foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes.

The two of them exchanged a few words with the soldier at the door, and then the soldier who had blocked my way earlier picked up the walkie-talkie and started making a call.

I immediately abandoned my plan to call a taxi. These two were clearly in the know; I'd wait and see.

The two were not allowed in, but stood in front of the cordon, as if waiting for something.

Four or five minutes later, a person walked out of the residential area. I was shocked by the person's attire.

From helmet to shoes, a complete set of sealed protective clothing!

What does this mean?

I was immediately reminded of the devastating infectious disease of 2003 that left a deep impression on all Chinese people.

SARS is over now, but what are the newspapers reporting on these past few days, and what is it that made our little sanitation worker run herself ragged and even win several bonuses for her good articles?

Bird flu!

I couldn't help but shiver.

Yesterday's official data showed two suspected cases in mainland China, one of whom died.

Doesn't Shanghai have it? Could it be...?

The man in protective gear exchanged a few pleasantries with the foreigner, then offered him a suit he had brought to change into. The man who had brought the foreigner then got back into his Audi and drove away.

I waited another ten minutes, and seeing nothing else noteworthy, I called a taxi to return to the newspaper office.

When I calmed down in the car, I realized that although my first thought was that bird flu had broken out in Shanghai, there were too many suspicious points when I thought about it carefully.

When SARS broke out in China in 2003, the government's initial handling of the epidemic was widely questioned and criticized, and most officials involved in concealing the outbreak were punished. Logically, a similar situation shouldn't occur today. However, the news I saw on S precisely illustrates that even if people contracted avian flu, the government had no intention of concealing it; instead, everything was transparent and open to public scrutiny. If the Shanghai government were to conceal an avian flu outbreak, aside from other factors, the relevant leaders would inevitably face enormous political risks. This seems highly unlikely.

Cutting the telephone lines and using special methods to block cell phone signals gave me a vague feeling that the secrets hidden behind them were more terrifying than bird flu!

Besides, if there really is an outbreak of bird flu, wouldn't a city health bureau chief be enough? What's with those two cars...?

When I returned to the newspaper office, there was a departmental meeting. For some reason, Lan Tou came over to sit in, making everyone from the department head, Zong Er, down to him, feel uncomfortable. As soon as I reported the situation, before Zong Er could even speak, Lan Tou became excited.

“Xiao Na has a strong news sense. This is a big lead, we must seize it. If the interview goes well, we’ll get a page in the newspaper and a bonus. I’m telling you.” Blue Head’s loud voice boomed in the small conference room, echoing softly.

Zong glanced at me, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. I understood that he was expressing a wry smile.

"President Lan, regarding what Na Duo just mentioned... it involves the military, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to conduct interviews. And what about the Municipal Party Committee's Propaganda Department..."

Blue Head waved his hand with great spirit: "Does the fact that there are difficulties mean we shouldn't do the interviews? If there are difficulties, we should step up; if there are no difficulties, we should... ah, it would be best if there were no difficulties."

"If there are no difficulties, we'll create them and still move forward," Su Shixun, who was chuckling to himself, quietly finished Lan Tou's sentence. The people around him were all struggling to maintain their facial expressions.

"Well, you're a veteran reporter, I know you have a lot of connections. Give it your all, make sure you find out the inside story. I want to hear the results tomorrow. I'll handle things with the publicity department." Blue Head patted his chest confidently.

Zong glanced at me again, indicating that he had done his best.

"Don't worry, Mr. Lan, I will do my best. It doesn't matter if the article can't be published."

My words immediately drew many puzzled looks.

I sighed and said, "There's something I didn't mention earlier: my parents live in that neighborhood, and I can't get in touch with them no matter what I do."

"Ah." Several low gasps rippled through the crowd.

After the meeting, Zong patted me on the shoulder as he passed by, without saying a word.

I smiled at him to show that I was alright.

We need to start thinking of a solution.

In exchange for making Hong Lingling a cup of tea, I inquired about the bird flu situation in Shanghai. Hong Lingling is a reporter in the social affairs department who covers health issues. She's petite, so we often call her "Little Girl." My previous article, "A Miracle at Ruijin Hospital: Deadly Illness Mysteriously Recovered!", really upset her; I guess her department head gave her a light slap. Luckily, this little girl is petite but generous, and doesn't hold grudges at all. Uh, that sounds a bit ambiguous…

Hong Lingling told me that although the relevant authorities in Shanghai were very nervous and on high alert, there had been no cases of infection, not even among poultry, let alone humans. I tentatively asked her if the outbreak might be being concealed, and she denied the possibility without hesitation.

My previous suspicion was correct; it's not bird flu.

"So, have any other high-risk infectious diseases occurred in Shanghai recently? Or have any infectious disease alerts been issued?"

"I haven't heard of it." The girl looked at me strangely and asked, "Why are you asking these questions?"

"Uh..." I hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell her anyway, since I needed her help.

"Is that so? I had no idea." The girl's eyes widened. Then she became excited.

"I'll go find out right away. If there's a top-secret outbreak, and they're trying to suppress the news, they couldn't possibly bring in doctors from other places. They must have been drawn from a major hospital. Hey, you need to give me some of the 'soup' from this article."

"Why drink soup? There's meat in the soup," I said with a smile.

When I returned to my seat, the forced smile I had given Hong Lingling was gone. To her, it was just big news, but to me, it concerned the safety of my family, and I couldn't feel at ease at all.

After thinking for a while, I dialed Liang Yingwu's number.

"Uh, you don't know either?" I said disappointedly.

"Even if you guess correctly and a dangerous infectious disease breaks out, it's only a medical issue, and it doesn't concern us in any way..."

"I know, I know," I sighed.

"How about this, I'll ask around for you."

"That would be perfect, you definitely have the channels to find out. Also, if it's convenient, could you do something to let me in as a reporter?"

“This…” Liang Yingwu hesitated for a moment: “This is completely outside the authority of Organization X.”

"The authority depends on how you put it. Don't try to fool me. Without considerable power, the X organization would find it extremely difficult to conduct these researches, given the constraints from all sides."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"I understand. I'll try my best, but I can't make any promises to you."

"Thanks."

After hanging up the phone, I took Guo Dong's business card out of my card holder, stared at it for a while, and then put it back in.

I'd better not trouble him. First, we haven't known each other for long; second, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau's Special Affairs Division—a unit directly under the Ministry of Public Security's Special Affairs Bureau—sounds impressive, but it's only recently established, and its connections are nowhere near as deep-rooted as those of the X agency. Asking him to help would only incur a favor.

Before going to bed that night, I called my parents again, but I still couldn't get through.

"If only I knew someone from the Shanghai Garrison Command, I could start by getting in touch with the troops that are sealing off the neighborhood. That would be one way to go," I thought to myself as I lay in bed.

The next day I arrived at the newspaper office early, but Hong Lingling didn't come in; she must be out doing interviews. My phone was within easy reach, and every time it rang, I eagerly checked to see if it was Liang Yingwu calling.

At 3 p.m., I received some disheartening news.

Bluehead strolled over, greeting many people kindly along the way. He lingered for a while before finally stopping in front of me.

"Oh, so many, cough cough, come with me for a moment." He coughed lightly twice, a strange smile spreading across his face.

He led me to his office.

"Sit down," he warmly invited me.

"Xiao Na, your passion and sensitivity to news are top-notch. Unlike those new reporters who can't even write a 300-word article properly."

I gave him a smile in response, then remained silent, waiting for what he would say next.

"I must say you were the first reporter in the city to discover what happened at Xinjingyuan. If we can report on it, it will definitely be a major news story."

If it could be reported? I'm pondering his words, it seems…

"But..." Blue Head sighed deeply and handed me a small piece of paper.

"Regarding the lockdown of Xinjingyuan residential area, no media outlet may report on it without the permission of the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department." The notice bears the official red seal of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department.