Ghostly Figures in the Attic

Chapter 3

When Ah-Cai got home from school, he found that the spot where he used to sell cotton candy in the afternoon had been replaced by a stall selling spicy hot pot. The stall owner was a woman in her thirties.

As Ah Cai entered his house, he found someone home. It turned out to be Aunt Wu from the neighborhood committee, who had brought several people to distribute rat poison. With National Day approaching, the street officials were urging everyone to be clean and tidy for the holiday. What constituted "clean"? Eliminating the "Four Pests," with rats being the most harmful. Among the visitors was an auntie Ah Cai had never seen before, but she seemed to recognize him, giving him a slight smile upon meeting. This surprised Ah Cai, and he suddenly realized that he seemed to be receiving a lot of attention lately. He wondered why.

Ah-Cai noticed that his mother's eyes seemed to hold a hint of melancholy.

11

Sleeping alone in his small bed for the first night was particularly difficult for A-Cai. Although falling asleep was a bit difficult, he eventually succumbed to sleepiness. The afternoon's PE class had really drained his energy, and sleepiness finally prevailed. Perhaps it was an alarm clock in his head, because somehow he suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. In his hazy state, he seemed to hear a low moan. "Can you hear sounds in your dreams?" A-Cai had asked his neighbor, Jiang Wenzhu, who replied, "Usually not." A-Cai thought of the term "auditory hallucination." Wenzhu said, "That's mental illness." As she said this, Wenzhu touched A-Cai's forehead with her finger. A-Cai stared blankly for a moment, then angrily asked Wenzhu, "Are you insulting me?" Wenzhu was seven or eight years older than A-Cai and was already in high school. A-Cai often sought out Wenzhu for help with difficult matters; Wenzhu was also a part-time tutor at Heping Elementary School.

Ah Cai rubbed his eyes and then habitually reached for the space beside him. It was empty. When he came to his senses, he finally realized that he would officially start sleeping alone tonight.

Ah Cai felt his bladder was full. With the help of the faint moonlight coming through the window, Ah Cai walked to the door of the small bedroom to open it. He reached out and pulled, but the door loosened and then froze: the door was locked from the inside.

Ah Cai was a little scared and shook the door hard: "Mom, open the door!"

Again, no one answered. Ah Cai recalled his experience or dream in the middle of the night a few days ago, and an overwhelming sense of fear spread through his body, like a cold breeze dissipating.

But Ah-Cai soon heard his mother's footsteps.

With a snap, the iron lock on the door latch came loose. Ah-Cai asked his mother, his voice filled with grievance, "Why did you lock it? What if it caught fire? If I burned to death, you wouldn't have a son anymore!" Ah-Cai finished speaking angrily, trying to hold back his tears. Unexpectedly, his mother hugged him tightly, sobbing softly, "My child—"

The mother and son embraced and wept bitterly.

Ah-Cai stopped questioning his mother; he only asked her to never lock him in his room at night again.

“If any bad guys bully you, I’ll come out and protect you right away.” After saying that, Ah Cai pulled a pistol from under his pillow, which was a replica pistol that his father had made himself.

12

On the second day of school, Ah Cai saw the old man selling cotton candy again at noon. Was he going to set up his stall here permanently? Ah Cai wondered.

According to Sister Wenzhu, the old man who sells candy seems quite interested in his attic. Yesterday, when Sister Wenzhu was buying cotton candy from the old man, she overheard him asking Cao Yong, another of Acai's neighbors, about Acai's family.

Ah Cai thought about the strange things happening at home: the strange noises at night, his mother's unusual behavior, his own experience (if it wasn't sleepwalking), and the changes in the outside world in the past few days: the old man selling candy, the strange visitors, and the special attention that the new teacher, Teacher Tian, showed him. Suddenly, Ah Cai's doubts multiplied, like a thick fog spreading out, hazy and confusing, making him feel anxious.

Chapter 3 Mother's Privacy (1)

Ah-Cai instinctively acted as his father's eyes and ears, vigilantly monitoring his mother's interactions with the outside world. Although Ah-Cai didn't see anything directly, he vaguely sensed that his mother was hiding some secret... 13

Ah-Cai had heard that drinking tea at night could refresh the mind, so one evening he asked his mother, "Do we have any tea leaves at home?"

"What do you want? Nothing!" The mother became alert when her son suddenly asked about the tea.

Ah-Cai was disappointed when his mother said there was no tea, but then he found a tea canister in her room. His mother doesn't usually drink tea, and his father doesn't drink tea at home either.

Ah Cai picked up the tea canister, went to the living room, and asked Mei Fang, "Mom, is this tea? Why did you lie and say there wasn't any?"

Mei Fang's face suddenly turned grim. She stared at A Cai for several seconds, then suddenly snatched the tea canister from his hands and hugged it tightly. Seeing his mother's rough actions, A Cai's eyes reddened, and tears streamed down his face. His mother, seeing this, immediately felt remorse and quickly reached out an arm, apologetically pulling A Cai into her embrace.

Nestled in his mother's gentle embrace, Ah-Cai, filled with grievance, smelled a peculiar aroma of tea. He glimpsed the three characters "Tieguanyin" on the tea canister in his mother's other hand.

Tieguanyin? Could that be the name of that tea? Ah Cai pondered these words and suddenly felt that they were quite fitting for his mother. Tieguanyin, his mother's image was as gentle as Guanyin, but in her personality and temperament, there seemed to be something as cold and hard as iron.

Ah Cai suddenly realized that there seemed to be something like iron standing between his mother and father.

Father was away from home most of the year, rarely returning, like a traveler staying in a hotel. A-Cai's mother couldn't bear this constant separation and harbored resentment. Whenever her husband came home, she would nag and complain, urging him to change jobs and stay in the city for a stable life. A-Cai's father loved his geological work and couldn't bear to give up his career, resulting in every conversation ending in discord. After each long separation, Mei-Fang, like a child, would eagerly await their reunion. For the first few days, the couple would be inseparable, but after a few days, things would change, leading to a cold war and increasingly less communication.

Actually, Mei Fang has a somewhat strange personality. There are some things she doesn't want to say, so she tries to get her husband's attention by using the silent treatment. But the result is often the opposite. It's not because Ah Cai's father is confrontational with her, but because the more she sulks, the harder it is for her to accept her husband's gentle words.

Ah-Cai's father was actually very tolerant. He would often tell Ah-Cai in private, "You have to listen to your mother. She works very hard. When Dad finds a treasure, our family can be reunited." What his father meant was that when his geological team found an important mineral deposit and made a great contribution, he would apply to stay at the research institution to focus on research. That way, the family could live a relatively stable life.

From the day Ah-Cai was old enough to understand things, he hoped that his father would one day find a great treasure, like the place full of treasure discovered by Ali Baba in One Thousand and One Nights.

Despite his mother's disapproval of his father, Ah Cai genuinely admired him. He thought his father was an extraordinary man, someone who had spent long periods away from home, weathering storms and seeing the world, having hunted wolves and boars, and caught rabbits and birds of prey. His father had countless fantastical tales to tell, surely more than those in "One Thousand and One Nights." Ah Cai even harbored a dream: to grow up like his father, to travel across the vast land of China, visit famous mountains and rivers, brave all dangers and perilous situations, and cultivate a courageous and ambitious spirit.

Ah-Cai also loves his mother very much. Usually, he remembers his father's instructions and tries his best not to make his mother angry, worry her, or cause her trouble.

Whenever there was a slight disagreement between his parents, Ah-Cai would always try to get them to talk to each other. From a young age, Ah-Cai learned to be understanding.

14

Upon seeing the tea canister, Ah-Cai had already opened the lid, taken out a small handful of tea leaves, and put them in his pocket. Clever and quick-witted, he anticipated that his mother might not approve of him drinking tea, so he tentatively asked her, "Can I have tea tonight?"

Mei Fang said sternly, "No, children are not allowed to drink tea at night."

"What about during the day?"

"That won't work either."

Ah Cai thought to himself, "I already had it in my pocket."

Before going to bed, Ah Cai quietly made himself a cup of tea.

After taking a sip of strong tea, Ah Cai indeed felt exceptionally clear-headed. More than just clear-headed, he felt an uncontrollable excitement that he couldn't suppress or extinguish.

Oh no, I have class tomorrow, what am I going to do? Ah Cai started to worry.

"Whatever!" another voice muttered in Ah Cai's stomach, as if a monkey—maybe Sun Wukong—was hiding in his heart.

Ah Cai stared wide-eyed at the ceiling. Time and space continued to fall relentlessly into the dead of night. At this moment, he couldn't help but keep his eyes open, because his temples were throbbing excitedly, as if they were drumming. He was perfectly awake.

Shortly after getting into bed, he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep in front of his mother. "My child..." his mother seemed to be testing whether her son was asleep. Ah Cai kept his eyes tightly shut, pretending to be fast asleep. He clearly heard his mother tiptoe out of the room, closing the door slightly as usual. Then, he heard a faint noise, as if something had touched the outside of the wooden door that opened outwards.

Ah-Cai suddenly felt a sense of estrangement from his mother. This estrangement stemmed from his bias towards his father. Precisely because his father was rarely home, Ah-Cai felt a closer connection to him; longing acted like a magnet, drawing Ah-Cai and his father closer. Perhaps sons are naturally their fathers' best friends, instinctively acting as their fathers' eyes and ears, vigilant about their mothers' interactions with the outside world. Although Ah-Cai didn't see anything directly, he vaguely sensed that his mother was hiding some secret—for example, the footsteps at night, the noises in the attic.

Ah Cai's thoughts wandered aimlessly, drifting freely across the sky. That day, while Dr. Pei from the clinic was talking to his mother, he eavesdropped in his room. Good heavens! Dr. Pei actually said that sleepwalking children are very intelligent. This conclusion was completely different from his math teacher's assessment of him. He disliked his math teacher and therefore disliked his lectures. The math teacher said he was rather pedantic, always thinking things through multiple times. Damn it! Ah Cai had learned to swear, but he always swore in his heart. He really wanted to be able to swear aloud someday. He felt that swearing must be a very satisfying thing, like farting—it must feel so good. When you're feeling stifled, letting it out must feel so good. Lately, he always felt something was suffocating inside him, as if he had some unspeakable sorrow he couldn't find the words to express.

The thought of his mother always using sleepwalking to erase his memory of being gagged made Ah-Cai feel even more suffocated. No matter what, he had to find clues to prove that his feelings were real.

Goodness, he drank plenty of strong tea tonight; it'll keep him sober for eight lifetimes.

Time ticked by, the clock hands moving silently, like marching towards an enemy camp.

Ah-Cai listened carefully to the sounds coming from above the ceiling.

A soft, rustling sound, faint and indistinct, seemed to be the sound being made by something.

Ah Cai began to get excited, but also nervous. The movement he was waiting for seemed to be giving way to something, revealing its true nature. Ah Cai's ears seemed to grow a pair of nimble feet, adept at tracking, following the movement step by step.

Just as Ah Cai quietly changed his lying position, trying to adjust his hearing, the wooden bed creaked.

The commotion above the ceiling vanished like a group of easily startled little fish, disappearing silently and quickly hiding away, impossible to find.

A moment later, another creaking sound came from above the ceiling.

This time, Ah Cai's ears seemed to stand straight up to the ceiling.

He thought for a moment, then quietly and carefully adjusted his posture, getting out of bed as gently as possible without making any noise from the bed.

He stepped barefoot onto the ground, a cool sensation rising from his feet.

He strained to lift his weight off the ground as much as possible.

He finally reached the door, gently touched the door panel, and slowly pushed it open...

With a loud bang, a loud crash came from outside the door, startling Ah Cai so much he almost screamed. Moonlight streamed through the grid-like windowpanes, casting sparse, fragmented light on the floor, like a shattered mirror, gleaming coldly. A washboard lay askew on the floor by the doorway, resembling a corpse.

Ah-Cai clutched his heart with both hands, not knowing what to do.

Strangely enough, his mother ended up standing next to him.

"Child, what's wrong?"

"I...I need to pee."

15

When Ah-Cai went to school, he was still sleepy-eyed. Last night, he slept very restlessly. Later, his mother said she would sleep with him, and although Ah-Cai was scared, he was strong-willed and insisted on sleeping alone.

After the morning exercises, he ran into Teacher Tian on the playground. Seeing his listless appearance, Teacher Tian asked him, "Young man, what's wrong? Didn't you sleep well?"

How did you know?

"How come I didn't know!"

"You're just guessing!"

"First, admit that you didn't sleep well?"

“Yes, yes,” Ah Cai murmured, then suddenly let out a big yawn.

Upon seeing this, Teacher Tian covered his mouth, and he also yawned.

"Didn't you sleep well either?" Ah Cai asked excitedly, as if he had caught Teacher Tian by the nose, and his weariness vanished instantly.

Teacher Tian chuckled and patted his head: "Young man, let me tell you something common sense: yawning is contagious."

Is yawning a disease?

"No, it's a signal that the body is tired."

Ah Cai felt that Teacher Tian was more knowledgeable than his previous PE teacher. In just a few days, Ah Cai had developed a certain trust in Teacher Tian. "Teacher Tian, I want to tell you something." Ah Cai had been feeling a tightness in his chest lately, and now he suddenly had a strong urge to confide in her. Just then, a siren wailed in the sky, sharp and drawn-out, carrying a tense atmosphere. Ah Cai instinctively moved closer to Teacher Tian. In that instant, he smelled a strange scent, and a sense of security welled up inside him.

"It's a fire alarm," Teacher Tian reassured him. As she spoke, he raised his hand and pointed towards the sky.

Ah Cai looked up and, sure enough, saw a thick plume of black smoke rising into the sky. He felt that the smoke was rising from where his house was. Without saying a word, he ran to the large bamboo pole in the corner of the playground and climbed to the top in a flash, without even taking off his shoes.

Not long ago, a major fire broke out in Jiangbei, burning down a large area of residential buildings. It was said to have been set by secret agents.

The area around Ah Cai's home is full of wooden houses. When Ah Cai was young, he witnessed a fire, a scene he vividly remembers. That day, he was visiting relatives in Caiyuanba with his parents. At lunchtime, a nearby restaurant suddenly caught fire. Instantly, chaos erupted as people ran back and forth in the streets. Some rushed towards the fire with fire extinguishers, while others carried furniture and belongings to escape. Shouts, cries for help, and sobs mingled together. He still remembers a young woman wailing and beating her chest in the street; her child was trapped in the fire. It was said that the fire was set by bad people.

16

One early autumn day in 1964, the Ministry of Public Security received an urgent report from the Shenzhen border defense department: At the Luohu Bridge customs crossing near Hong Kong, border guard Zhu Tiemin noticed a middle-aged man with a black mole near his right eye acting suspiciously. He carried almost no luggage, only a leather bag slung over his shoulder. Driven by professional instinct and a sense of responsibility, Zhu Tiemin immediately brought the man to the office. During questioning, the man remained calm and composed, his words revealing no flaws. Perhaps it was this excessive calmness that aroused Zhu Tiemin and his comrades' suspicion; the border guards were exceptionally thorough in their inspection of the man's belongings. In a hidden compartment of his bag, they found a notebook containing a topographical map of Chongqing, with a distinctive mark next to the famous Liberation Monument.

Zhu Tiemin, suspicious, asked the middle-aged man what the mark meant. The man's face suddenly tensed, a subtle change that didn't escape Zhu's notice. Upon further questioning, the man, who had already drunk a glass of water, claimed he urgently needed to use the restroom. Zhu accompanied him. The restroom was at the end of the corridor, its glass windows sealed with iron bars, making escape impossible. Zhu let him enter alone while he waited outside. However, the man didn't emerge for a long time. Suspecting something was wrong, Zhu pushed the door, only to find it locked from the inside. In desperation, he kicked the door open. Just as he realized the man was gone, a scream came from the women's restroom next door. On the floor, a horrifying scene unfolded: the man lay on the ground, his body green, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

Upon closer examination of the deceased's notebook, several words were found to be particularly suspicious: "No. 13 Meishan Road".

According to forensic examination, the deceased was stabbed to death with a poisoned dart in the toilet.

This method of assassination is very unusual. According to relevant departments, it may have been carried out by the reactionary organization Plum Blossom Party.

Long Fei, a senior counter-espionage expert from the Ministry of Public Security, was ordered to go to Shenzhen to investigate the details. Based on clues left by the deceased, he secretly went to Chongqing to investigate.

Long Fei has clashed with the Plum Blossom Party many times and has a wealth of experience in struggle.

17

The Chongqing branch of the Plum Blossom Party is preparing to implement "Operation Sword of Restoration," a plan personally approved by Chiang Kai-shek. The plan involves simultaneous bombings and sabotage at key locations in Chongqing on October 1st (including the headquarters of our party and government organs, important buildings, and transportation hubs). At that time, the sky above the mountain city will be ablaze with fire, and explosions will resound continuously.

Before the Kuomintang regime fled Chongqing, a trusted confidant of Mao Renfeng secretly dispatched a small engineering detachment to dig tunnels and bury explosives and firearms in various places around Chongqing. Shortly after the mission was completed, all members of this detachment died in a barracks explosion.

The map showing the distribution of these small arsenals was drawn with invisible ink on the back of an anonymous ancient painting. This painting, titled "Drunkenness Under the Snow and Moon," later fell into the hands of Xie Hengshan, a Kuomintang general. In the early 1950s, the general suddenly left the military and went into seclusion in Hong Kong.

Within the Plum Blossom Party, two major factions, led by Huang Feihu and Bai Jingzhai respectively, were vying for power and profit, each wanting to execute the "Sword of Restoration" plan independently. In order to gain the initiative, they both secretly sent people to Hong Kong to find the former general in order to obtain the armory distribution map.