Doce Torres de Jade

Capítulo 31

A hidden glass door on the pillar was opened, and Zhang Wen quickly retreated and closed the door.

Xu Haibing hesitated for a moment, then immediately sensed something was wrong. He took two steps to the pillar, forcefully pulled open the invisible glass door, and crawled inside.

He entered the hollow cylinder and saw that it contained a spiral staircase leading to the top. Looking up, he saw Zhang Wen running quickly upwards, so he hurried up the staircase to catch up.

Xu Haibing chased after him out of the skylight and stood on the circular rooftop. The night wind, carrying thick fog, rushed towards him. He blinked to adjust to the darkness and immediately saw Zhang Wen watching him as he retreated towards the rooftop.

"You, you don't come any closer! Don't, don't come any closer..." Zhang Wen shouted in fear as Xu Haibing tried to stride over.

Xu Haibing could only slowly move forward while gently comforting him: "...Don't get agitated, calm down, calm down...Listen to me, first, you don't need to be afraid of me, I have no intention of pursuing your responsibility for Shen Daxing's death; second, you don't need to blame yourself too much, because you had absolutely no motive or action to murder Shen Daxing...right? That night, you, who are always very wary and cautious of online friends, suddenly wanted to open your heart to 'Brother Erhei,' whom you had sincerely communicated with for a period of time and won your favor, and proposed to have a direct voice conversation with him. However, due to his lack of proficiency or other reasons, he did not respond in time. You mistakenly thought that he was intentionally harassing you and rejecting you, and you felt that your sincerity had been deceived and your feelings had been tainted. Then anger rose in your heart, and resentment arose from your gut. In a fit of anger, you used the methods you usually use to deal with those online thugs and sent him a horror webpage that you had created, in order to get revenge, or rather, to prank him..."

Zhang Wen murmured, "I...I just wanted to scare him, just a little bit..."

"Yes, I just wanted to scare him, that's all, that's all. Who would have thought that Shen Daxing, who had been malnourished since childhood and already had potential cardiovascular problems, would succumb to such a fright and die so suddenly... I believe this was entirely accidental and coincidental, not the outcome you hoped for, nor an outcome you could control..."

Zhang Wen continued to mutter, "...No, it's still my fault, my fault..."

"If it's really your fault, then it's because your computer editing skills are too superb, and the effects you created are too realistic..." Xu Haibing tried to shorten the distance between himself and Zhang Wen without letting her notice.

Zhang Wen, looking dazed, staggered back to the edge of the rooftop.

Xu Haibing suddenly realized that he was in a dilemma: taking another step forward would lead to adverse consequences, but the current distance made it impossible to catch up with Zhang Wen!

...

Suddenly, he heard a voice from the depths of his heart, almost like a lyrical recitation: "Calm down, calm down! Look at me, look into my eyes, I am gazing at you with sincerity and deep affection..."

Zhang Wen looked at Xu Haibing with a blank expression and stopped backing away.

Xu Haibing's voice grew increasingly affectionate: "I reached out and brushed aside your disheveled hair, gently lifting your pale face. Your bright eyes were shining with a burning light, a light that clearly yearned for true love, a light hoping for salvation..."

Zhang Wen listened intently.

"...Why seal yourself away? Why build a prison for yourself? Why sink deeper and deeper into the swamp of despair? Life shouldn't be incomplete because of unpleasant episodes. No matter what, there will always be a gentle breeze that caresses a little flower; there will always be a pastoral song that sings for a life... Come, put your hand in mine, press your heart against my chest, let us feel each other's heartbeats and breaths at zero distance..." Xu Haibing slowly approached her and extended his right hand to her.

QQ Lost, Chapter 43 (3)

Xu Haibing's heartfelt call was like heavenly music, possessing an irresistible penetrating and conquering power. Zhang Wen couldn't help but reach out her hand to him...

Xu Haibing rushed forward and pulled Zhang Wenruan into his arms!

QQ Lost 44(1)

The circular rooftop hangs high in the dark sky.

Xu Haibing helped Zhang Wen sit down in the center of the rooftop.

Zhang Wen gradually returned to normal, and seeing that her head was still resting on Xu Haibing's shoulder, she immediately moved away.

Xu Haibing cautiously inquired, "You...you feel that you have...something going on in terms of your mental state..."

Zhang Wen frankly admitted, "...I know I'm sick, and not just a little bit. Sometimes the symptoms are quite severe, especially on dark nights like tonight with a half-moon. I often tremble all over, feeling like I'm immersed in some kind of bubble, my mind goes blank, I suffer from insomnia, irritability, low mood, physical and mental exhaustion, and I feel aversion to everything... It's typical depression, I know it perfectly well, but I can't do anything about it, I'm powerless to pull myself out..."

Xu Haibing gently comforted her, "I've read articles in magazines about it. There are more and more people suffering from depression these days, but it's not scary. To put it mildly, it's just a mental 'cold,' an emotional 'fever.' The best way to treat it is to try to break free from self-isolation and self-repression, and to talk to family and friends to release psychological pressure. Because 95% of people with depression develop the condition because they can't properly express their emotions, or their negative emotions can't be released in time. Over time, these emotions accumulate and exceed normal psychological and physiological limits. Please trust me; whatever you say, I'm willing to listen. Whatever you're going through, I'll help you share your burdens…"

Zhang Wen raised his head, gazing at the vast sky and the hazy waning moon, and let out a heavy sigh before beginning his calm narration:

"...You might not be a simple, honest boy, but I was definitely a mischievous wild girl... In the early 1970s, when I was still quite young, my parents and I were sent down to a small town called Xitou. Half of my childhood and adolescence was spent in this remote mountain village at the junction of three provinces... It was far from the world, embraced by green mountains and surrounded by clear waters, with simple and honest people. For a clueless child like me, it was truly paradise. I could run wild and play to my heart's content, spending all day fighting with other boys, raiding bird nests and hunting rabbits in the mountains, catching fish and shrimp in the river and having water fights. I even dared to play hide-and-seek in the hospital morgue. I had no idea what worry, sorrow, or what girls shouldn't do..."

Xu Haibing asked, somewhat puzzled, "Shouldn't your family have returned to the city after only a few years of being sent down to the countryside, just as the Cultural Revolution ended?"

Zhang Wen smiled bitterly: "...Yes, after the 'Gang of Four' was smashed, almost all the people who had been sent down to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution returned to the cities, except for our family. Later I learned that the reason my father was sent down had little to do with politics; it wasn't a wrongful conviction. He was mainly sent down from the provincial hospital because of his conduct, being labeled a corrupt element who refused to change his ways. In that era, the seriousness of such an offense was second only to being a counter-revolutionary. But the reason my father wasn't imprisoned and wasn't sent down for so long was because he was the province's most renowned 'top surgeon,' having saved countless seriously ill patients with his superb medical skills. Many powerful figures in the provincial revolutionary committee at the time had their lives saved by his scalpel... What's worse, he also used the same superb methods to make countless women willingly throw themselves at him... My mother was one of them. She not only married him but also resolutely accompanied him to the remote countryside, even severing ties with my maternal grandparents for it..."

Xu Haibing said, "If this were today, your father's behavior might not seem like much, but back then it was an era that valued orthodoxy and was overly closed and conservative. It's not surprising that he was punished in the form of exile. I suppose he later realized his mistakes and repented?"

Zhang Wen gently shook his head: "...I heard that before our family settled in the countryside, my father swore to my mother that he would never touch another woman again, to repay her for her true love and support through thick and thin. My mother also thought that in this remote and impoverished place, she would only be surrounded by rustic peasant women and wouldn't be able to arouse her husband's interest. Little did she know that once they arrived, they would find that the place was beautiful, with clear waters and abundant fish and rice—it was practically a paradise that stirred the soul. The easily satisfied villagers, with little entertainment or pursuits after the busy farming season, naturally devoted a great deal of energy to lovemaking. Perhaps it was the pleasure of love, or perhaps it was the nourishing spring water, but in my memory, the women there were all full-figured, with white teeth and lips..." Hong was cheerful and open-minded, while the man, on the other hand, seemed thin and listless. It truly reflected the saying, "Sexual satisfaction makes women more radiant, and men more withered." The father, whose blood already surged with an extraordinary amount of eroticism, initially kept his promise to the mother, but ultimately succumbed to the burning gazes and firm, round buttocks of those mature, alluring peasant women. Not only did his old ailment relapse, but he became increasingly unable to extricate himself. Logically, a highly educated medical authority and a peasant woman with barely any literacy should be vastly different in every way, yet they united without any obstacles. It's truly inexplicable…

Xu Haibing forced a smile and explained, "Well...maybe it's because in his wild and unrestrained sexual encounters with the peasant women, he was able to release his purest, most primal, and most insane desires more intensely than with those shy and demure Jiangnan beauties he used to have..."

Zhang Wen continued, "...With the protection of the commune leaders, and given the local imbalance of females and males—most of the men were rather spineless and weak-willed—women from near and far seemed eager to try their luck with a refined, affectionate doctor from the provincial capital. So, my father indulged in a paradise of lust with almost complete freedom, until one night he went to a neighboring province to meet the wife of a local brigade secretary, where he was caught by the militia and thrown into jail..."

"Oh?! That must have been tough on your mother. What happened to her afterwards?"

"Not long after, my mother also had an accident..." Zhang Wen suddenly became emotional and choked up, unable to continue.

A thicker night fog rolled in...

Had something touched Zhang Wen's most sensitive spot deep inside? Xu Haibing had this premonition and encouraged her to speak boldly: "Don't worry, trust me. The longer and deeper you hold things in, the more you'll be able to release your emotions and ease your mind. Speak up, get it all out..."

QQ Lost 44(2)

After a long pause, Zhang Wen finally managed to speak with difficulty: "...My dad's arrest didn't affect my personality much. I was still as mischievous as before. It wasn't until I witnessed what happened to my mom that I gradually became gloomy under the relentless blow... As I mentioned earlier, most of the men in that area were very thin and weak, except for a young man named Da Lianzi who looked quite robust and strong. However, he was born mentally challenged, and some women often liked to tease and harass him. Their most common method was to expose his crotch. I've seen several of them in the fields or by the river, where a few of them would first pin Da Lianzi down, then quickly pull down his pants, expose his genitals, and make him chase after his pants like an angry lion, making everyone laugh. But what I never expected was that one night, I suddenly woke up and bumped into him, he..."

Zhang Wen lowered her head and incoherently recounted the scene, a cruel moment that undoubtedly inflicted an irreparable wound on her young heart.

A crescent moon hung high in the night sky, emitting a mesmerizing halo.

The little girl, who was asleep fully clothed, suddenly woke up, called out "Mama" twice, but received no answer. Feeling hungry, she went out into the dim moonlight and picked a cucumber from the small vegetable garden in front of the house to eat...

She seemed to hear a sound and curiously searched for its source. She tiptoed to a haystack next to the pigsty behind the house and quietly climbed up...

At the top of the grass hut, Xiao Zhangwen peeked his head out from below where the sound was coming from.

What she saw was her mother, who was leaning against a haystack and suddenly looking up at the sky and shouting!

A mother with wide, terrifying eyes!

A mother with her breasts exposed and bulging!

A mother whose lower body is pressed tightly against a large chinaberry tree!

The straw stack collapsed with a crash...

Xu Haibing was horrified upon hearing this, and shivered involuntarily. He repeatedly said, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought this up again and caused you to suffer once more. I didn't know things were so, so unbearable to recall... It seems your pain stems from this terrible, cursed nightmare deep in your heart, silently enduring such torment for so long. Anyone would find it unbearable, both mentally and emotionally..."

Zhang Wen rubbed his face dryly, trying to calm himself down: "...That day, when I fell backward from the haystack, I think I saw a moon in the sky that looked like a half-eaten pancake, and then I knew nothing more... I woke up in the evening and found myself lying in my neighbor's bed. Later, I vaguely learned that the commune militia somehow broke into our house that day, tied my mother and that big nephew together naked, paraded them through the streets, and took my mother to the county police station that night... After a while, my aunt, who had been sent down to Shanxi, received a letter from my mother saying that she had escaped to Lianjiang, but no longer wanted to live, and was going to commit suicide in the suburbs. Before she died, she entrusted her child to you, my elder sister... My aunt rushed back to Lianjiang and inquired around the suburbs. Finally, she heard that my mother had hanged herself on a crooked locust tree a few days earlier and had been hastily buried in a mass grave by the locals as an unclaimed corpse... Just like that, in less than half a year, I lost both my father and mother..."

As dawn approached, the sky grew even darker.

Xu Haibing sighed heavily, "Sigh, it seems that time can erase everything, but a hidden wound buried deep in one's heart since childhood can never be erased. Perhaps this is the tragedy of human nature..."

Reflecting on this, he then asked, "And then what happened?"

"No, don't move!" With a shout, a beam of flashlight shone towards them.

"Are you still going to raise your hands? Turn off the flashlight right now!" Xu Haibing recognized the fat security guard's threatening but cowardly voice.

"...Oh, it's you guys. I...I saw the lights flickering here in the middle of the night from downstairs, and I thought something bad had happened again...Oh, you guys are busy, I...I'll be going now..." The fat security guard smiled awkwardly and left.

Xu Haibing ignored him, preoccupied with Zhang Wen's family affairs and about to press for more details, when the chubby security guard suddenly returned: "Oh, have a smoke, take a break. I've already diverted attention once, how about another little diversion?"

"Do you think you're still selling watermelons? Buyers get freebies?!" Xu Haibing snapped at him, annoyed that he had no sense of propriety.

The chubby security guard said solemnly, "Seeing you reminded me of something important and urgent—"

Seeing his unusually serious demeanor, Xu Haibing couldn't help but stand up and listen quietly.

After a long pause, the chubby security guard finally managed to utter, "When are you going to return that rope you took from me?!"

"Hey, why did I say something had to be said in the dead of night? It's just a broken rope!"

"No, to be precise, it's a bundle, a bunch."

"Okay, okay, it's a whole bundle, no one's cheating you out of your weight. You don't expect me to return it to you right now, do you?" Xu Haibing retorted.

The chubby security guard chimed in, "Hey, it would be best if you could return it now. It belongs to my great-grandfather, and he's been urging me to pay it back. He's 102 this year, including the leap year, and he could just pass away any minute now. I hope he won't hold a grudge against me over there. What if one day…"

Xu Haibing interrupted him petulantly, "Fine, fine, I'll go get it for you now, so your grandfather won't..."

The chubby security guard quickly corrected him: "You've got the generations mixed up. He's my great-grandfather, my grandfather's grandfather, oh no, he's my grandfather's father. You've got me mixed up too. This is a matter of principle."

"...Alright, that'll save your great-grandfather from coming back as a ghost to haunt you later." Xu Haibing said, turning to leave. "Wait!" Zhang Wen suddenly called out to stop him.

Xu Haibing and the fat security guard both looked at her in confusion.

"...I'll go too..." Zhang Wen slowly stood up and made a quiet request.

Xu Haibing tried to dissuade him, saying, "Hey, it's too late. It'll be dawn soon. You should go back and rest. We can talk another day. Contact me when you have time."

Zhang Wen murmured, "I...I'm not...I really have to go."

...

Passing through the darkness before dawn, the three descended the rooftop, exited the laboratory building, and arrived at Room 407 in Building D.

QQ Lost 44(3)

Xu Haibing opened the door and turned on the lights, and Zhang Wen and the fat security guard followed him in.

Seeing Zhang Wen walk towards the table, Xu Haibing hurriedly swept the things scattered on the table onto the bed. Seeing Zhang Wen stroll to the bedside, he then swept the things scattered on the bed onto the chair. Seeing Zhang Wen approach the chair, he quickly gathered the things scattered on the chair into his arms: "Sit down, sit anywhere."

Zhang Wen sat down silently, looking at Xu Haibing who was standing with a bunch of random things in his arms.

Xu Haibing hesitated, wanting to put the things he was holding back on the table, then hesitated again, wanting to put them back on the bed. Seeing this, Zhang Wen stood up and offered him his chair.

Xu Haibing chuckled self-deprecatingly, "You sit down." He simply tossed the messy things onto the floor under the window.

Zhang Wen's gaze shifted from the objects on the ground to the window...

Seeing the portly security guard still standing, Xu Haibing said, "Hey, don't be so polite, sit down too."

The chubby security guard winked at him: "Why would I sit here? You'd better hurry up and move that..."

"Oh, I'll get it for you right away." Xu Haibing walked to the bed near the outer wall, bent down and reached under the bed to touch the bundle of rope. The more he touched, the further in he went, and the more he bent his back. Finally, he simply lay down and crawled his head inside to reach it.

He struggled to his feet, feeling the fat security guard's hands reach out to him. He instinctively reached out and offered them, brushing the dust from his head as he patted the guard's shoulder: "The rope's done, Fatty, you..."

He suddenly felt something was wrong, looked up and—

Standing before me was Zhang Wen! She was holding a rope, lost in thought!

Before Xu Haibing could recover, Zhang Wen suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the side!

Seeing Zhang Wen fall towards him, the chubby security guard tried to dodge but it was too late. He could only bravely catch her, then, as if she were a hot potato, push her into Xu Haibing's arms.

Xu Haibing didn't know whether to hug him or put him down...

QQ Lost (45(1))

The rooster crows at dawn, as the first rays of sunlight appear.

On the high slope, the village, nestled among a field of crops, is just beginning to awaken.

The chubby security guard, along with Xu Haibing and Zhang Wen, was climbing up the hill along the winding country path, which was wet with dew.

The three entered the farm, where they were greeted by a chorus of barking dogs.

A small dog barked fiercely as it approached Xu Haibing, causing him to instinctively back away. Just as the dog's nose was about to touch his feet, Zhang Wen gently called out from behind. The dog immediately stopped its attack and instead wagged its tail and fawned over Zhang Wen, who had followed behind.