Facultad de Humanidades

Capítulo 7

Hearing him say that, I vaguely remembered that I did often go to play on the hill behind the school back then. There was Bai Ge, Xue Hui, and... him? It seems like that really happened.

“Look at me…it’s been over ten years. I actually seem to remember playing with you!” I was amused by my rudeness, but also excited to meet an old friend I hadn’t seen for many years.

Seeing that I remembered, Feng Li smiled, revealing his pearly white teeth: "The main reason is that I stopped studying here before graduating from elementary school. It's normal that you forgot me. I heard about Bai Ge's tragic death when I came back this time... It's really, sigh! My childhood brother actually suffered such a misfortune."

Feng Li sighed deeply.

"Please accept my condolences. Everyone has to go through this day..." I comforted Feng Li, and also myself.

"Oh, by the way, let's exchange phone numbers. I'll be staying home for quite a while this time. Let's have dinner sometime!"

"OK!"

I exchanged phone numbers with him and then went home.

When I got home, I felt something was off. After thinking about it carefully, I realized that I hadn't shed a single tear at the memorial service today.

I don't know why, even though Bai Ge is my best friend, I just can't feel sad today. It's like something else is bothering me.

It felt like something was about to explode inside me, so much so that everything else fell silent.

After returning from the memorial service, I started having that dream again about being buried alive. I know it's a manifestation of my inner unease and insecurity.

But it cannot be contained.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I seem to hear the rustling sound of mice gnawing at the cartilage of my ear, and the itchy feeling of ants crawling back and forth on my sweaty back, neck, and cheeks... Moreover, my hair loss has become more severe recently, and I always see strands of long hair on my pillow when I wake up in the morning.

Could it be—alopecia areata?

I'm always worried about my hair, and this time it's finally in trouble.

Around 2 a.m., I woke up suddenly without having a nightmare. For some reason, I couldn't fall back asleep. Without turning on the light, I groped my way into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water.

The moonlight is beautiful tonight, bright and pure white. So much so that I can see everything in the room even without turning on the lights.

A dark figure was walking towards me from the kitchen doorway. I thought it was my dad and was about to greet him. Unexpectedly, he made a "shh" gesture to silence me. When he got closer, I realized it was Bai Ge.

Bai Ge's appearance remained as serene and elegant as ever. He smiled at me, a smile so sweet. My heart fluttered, and I just wanted to rush forward and hug him, to tell him how much I missed him.

Before I could even walk over, he had already made a move.

I saw him reach into his clothes, tear open his stomach, and pull out a dark, menacing clump of hair... It wasn't a clump of hair at all; it looked more like Medusa's head!

He kept muttering, "Sweet...sweet..."

Then I remembered that he was already dead.

"ah……!!!"

I woke up screaming. My parents came running and turned on the light.

I just realized that when I got up to get a drink of water, I had fallen asleep on the kitchen table!

I find it somewhat incomprehensible, but I can't find a reasonable explanation.

I've been trying to call Xue Hui's mobile phone for the past few days, but I can't get through. Either his phone is off, or it's busy.

Are you still angry with me? That's so petty.

I angrily sent a few text messages, the gist of which was something like, "If you don't reply to me, I'm breaking up with you."

But there was no response. If I weren't so busy with my project these past few days, I would have gone straight to his workplace.

If it's dark in the east, it's bright in the west.

Xue Hui ignored me, but Feng Li contacted me several times, showing concern and asking how I was doing. I felt very cared for.

Unexpectedly, Xue Hui called me that evening. He asked me to meet him at "Listening to the Rain" café at No. 18 Longgang Road at 8 pm for coffee and a chat.

No. 18 Longgang Road? Isn't that on the section of Panshan Road? The Municipal People's Hospital is just up the road.

Why did I find a place like this to have coffee? The guy said he was going to visit a friend at the hospital, so he chose a nearby place and asked me to wait for him at the coffee shop at 8 o'clock. He drove out of the hospital, had coffee with me, and then took me home.

It's already 6:30, and I don't have much time. So I quickly washed up, put on makeup, and went out. To make sure I didn't break our appointment, I even took a taxi.

When I arrived, I discovered something that infuriated me—"Listening to the Rain" coffee shop had closed down! And judging by its appearance, it had been closed for at least two or three months; there were even cobwebs growing on it.

This guy didn't even bother to investigate properly before inviting me over!

I called him to confront him, but his phone was off. I was getting annoyed. Waiting wasn't an option, and leaving wasn't an option either.

For some reason, as I stood at the entrance of the coffee shop gazing into the distance, I realized I could see the meadow behind the school. A strange feeling welled up inside me, and I couldn't help but shiver.

I thought about it and decided to head up the mountain. He said he was at the hospital, so if I went up and contacted him, I could ride in his car down the mountain. Even if I didn't find him, it would be easy to get a taxi from the hospital.

The hike up the mountain was already tiring, and to make matters worse, I was wearing high heels. I didn't get to the hospital until almost eight o'clock.

My phone rang just as I arrived at the hospital entrance.

"Xiao Le, have you arrived at the coffee shop yet?"

"You idiot, that coffee shop is closed!" I took my anger out on him, venting my frustration over my aching foot. "I'm at the hospital now. Which room is your friend in? I'm coming to find you; I'm buying some fruit at the door..."

"..." There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

"Hey! Xue Hui, are you listening? Are you at the hospital or not?"

He seemed to have made a great decision before saying, "Yes, come on. I..."

Beep, beep, beep...

He hung up before he could finish speaking.

What's going on? I have a bad feeling.

The phone rang again. It was Zhang Wei, my high school class monitor, calling.

"Hello! Xu Lele? This is Zhang Wei... I need to tell you something... Um... Where are you? What... People's Hospital... Then come to inpatient ward 9-27... Um, I'm here too... waiting for you..."

He sounded very anxious, but hesitated to speak.

I looked up and saw someone waving at me from the window on the ninth floor; it was Zhang Wei.

I took the fruit up the elevator.

Upon entering the ward, fruit was scattered all over the floor.

Xue Hui is dead.

His parents were in tears, wailing and crying. Zhang Wei also walked towards me with tears in his eyes. Two other girls I didn't know were also sobbing uncontrollably while clutching the white cloth covering Xue Hui's body, trying to comfort his parents.

"When did this happen?" Tears welled up in my eyes instantly. "How could this happen? He just called me..."

Zhang Wei seemed not to have heard me clearly: "At noon, he was drinking with me when he suddenly complained of stomach pain, so we took him to the hospital. After the doctor examined him, he was immediately admitted to the ICU. He remained in a deep coma. The doctor suspected intestinal adhesions, but when they cut open his abdomen, they found no adhesions in his intestines. However, there was a foreign object inside. He was taken out of the surgery, but he didn't last long before he passed away. It was only about ten minutes ago, and he didn't leave a single word before he died."

Then, Zhang Wei whispered in my ear, "The foreign object in his stomach is a piece of a doll's arm... The doctor said that his intestines were punctured by this piece of arm, which caused his death."

That tiny whisper struck me like a bolt from the blue, making me stumble and lean against the doorframe.

If he had already fallen into a coma by noon, then who were the people who called me twice?

I suppressed my grief and resolved to find the answer to my questions. So I dialed Xue Hui's number on my cell phone.

The phone didn't ring in the ward. But the call went through.

The voice on the other end of the phone was so familiar yet I couldn't believe it: "Xiao Le, be careful of Tian Tian and..."

beep……

The call was forcibly disconnected again.

I was terrified, but I had no mind to analyze it carefully.

I numbly walked to Xue Hui's bedside. Only then did I notice that Xue Hui's phone was on his bedside table. No one had answered the phone!

I was so shocked and scared that I collapsed onto the ground.

The doctor and nurses quickly helped me up and took me out of the ward, letting me sit on a bench in the aisle to rest.

By then, more and more people were arriving at the hospital. Some I knew, some I didn't. Most of my classmates greeted me briefly and then went straight into the ward to comfort Xue Hui's parents. Only one person sat beside me and offered a few words of comfort.

It's Feng Li.

He was still smiling, his white teeth gleaming. I didn't know what this untimely smile meant, but it made me feel at ease and relaxed. I leaned on his shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

I don't remember how much time had passed, but he shook me awake and said, "Lele, let me take you home. There's nothing we can do to help if we stay here."

Feng Li's Audi A6 shows that he's doing quite well, especially in a small city like ours.

On the way down the mountain, I was first covered in cold sweat, then my heart was burning and I felt unbearably hot. Staring out the window, I saw some red light flashing in the distance.

It looks like the hill behind the school.

Strangely enough, I didn't have a single nightmare during the two weeks that Xue Hui was gone.

During this time, Feng Li has been picking me up and keeping me company. Perhaps it's because I have someone to rely on that I've stopped overthinking.

That afternoon, Feng Li mysteriously told me that he was going to pay respects to two good friends later.

I thought about it, and it makes sense. Bai Ge and Xue Hui left so suddenly, and I never got a chance to properly talk to them. I need to say goodbye.

When Feng Li came to pick me up, I saw some incense, candles, and paper money on the back seat.

Where are we going?

Feng Li said that a cemetery is not a good place to confide in someone, because after death, people always like to wander to the places they cherished in life.

"Let's go to the place we loved to go when we were kids, they'll definitely be able to hear us..."

Seeing Feng Li's confident demeanor, I didn't argue.

Anyway, the deceased are gone, and the living can only find peace of mind.

However, I didn't expect Feng Li to bring me to the back hill of the school.

He quickly spotted a spot on the barren hillside: "This is it. This is where we used to play all the time!"

When I went over to take a look, I saw traces of something burned on the ground. It seemed to be incense, candles, paper money, or paper carts.

Could it be that Feng Li has already come once?

"Lele, do you remember what games we played when we were little?"

I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head.

"Back then, the four of us loved playing parent-child games here. You were the mother, Tian Tian was the daughter, and Xue Hui was the son. Bai Ge and I often argued over who would be the father..."

He gazed into the distance, seemingly lost in memories.