El primer libro de la serie El mago del oolong ¿Quién soy yo

Capítulo 3

"I came back late because I took a detour to Luohu to enjoy the night view when I was taking them back. You can ask He Se."

"What a shrew! How dare you mention her? Your sweetheart is here, and you're itching to get her. You can't wait to harm Cheng Hai, and next you'll kill me too. You'll have your way now," Wu Xiaoyuan sneered, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"Are you fucking done yet? What sweetheart, what perfect love, what are you trying to say?" Li Zu said angrily.

"Hmph, you think I don't know? Let me tell you, when we first came to Shenzhen, I was tidying up your things and found a picture of He Se that you had tucked into your diary, along with some love poems. I checked the dates on the diary; you hadn't even met me back then. Do you dare say she wasn't the one you loved?" Wu Xiaoyuan's words left Li Zu speechless. He suddenly felt weak all over and slumped onto the headboard.

Seeing Li Zu's expression, Wu Xiaoyuan was even more furious. "What, speechless now? I never thought you would be so heartless, betraying even your best friend for a woman!"

Upon hearing this, Li Zu stood up abruptly and shouted at Wu Xiaoyuan, "I admit I liked He Se, but I didn't harm Cheng Hai, absolutely not! How could I possibly harm him? He's my only friend! I'm your husband! Why don't you believe me?"

“Believe you? How can I believe you? You rushed up to hug He Se as soon as you saw her at the hospital. Do you think I’m blind?” Wu Xiaoyuan retorted without backing down.

"But... she needed comforting back then, I didn't think that much about it at all?" Li Zu argued. Indeed, he hadn't expected Wu Xiaoyuan to be jealous at the time; women are truly terrifying.

"Yes, if you harm Cheng Hai, you can comfort him. He'll be grateful to you, and then you'll have an opportunity to take advantage of him, right?" Wu Xiaoyuan pressed her advantage relentlessly.

"You fucking did it again! I told you I didn't hurt Cheng Hai. I never even thought about it. Even if I loved He Se, she was already with Cheng Hai. And then I got together with you too, didn't I? I gave up on her a long time ago." Li Zu was so angry with Wu Xiaoyuan that his whole body trembled.

"Great, great! You just said you liked them, and now you've changed it to love them. Your feelings are really deep," Wu Xiaoyuan's jealousy burned brighter and brighter, wishing she could burn Li Zu and He Se to ashes together.

"You're fucking unreasonable," Li Zu said angrily, then turned and grabbed a piece of clothing before leaving the room.

"Where are you going?" Wu Xiaoyuan asked sharply from behind.

"Go to work!" Li Zu slammed the door and left without looking back.

Wu Xiaoyuan's resentment hadn't been fully vented when Li Zu slammed the door and left, which only fueled her anger. In a fit of rage, she started to go crazy, repeatedly shouting, "Go, go, go find your sweetheart!" Her hands and feet were also busy, throwing all sorts of things around the room until she was completely exhausted.

Li Zu stormed out of the door in a rage and sped towards the company. He rolled down the car window, letting the cool morning breeze slap against his face. Wu Xiaoyuan was right; he had loved He Se. Her talent and temperament had etched themselves into his heart the moment he first saw her. That day, Cheng Hai had brought He Se to his dormitory and introduced her as He Se, a classmate from middle school and university. Back then, He Se was very thin, pale, and frail. Li Zu couldn't explain why, but when he saw He Se standing shyly at the door, his heart pounded uncontrollably, and his whole body felt weightless. After that, he often relived that scene in his dreams: He Se standing with her back to the sunlight, the gentle breeze behind her softly lifting her hair.

That photo was the only thing Li Zu felt guilty about towards Cheng Hai. While drinking in Cheng Hai's dorm, he pretended to want to see photos. Cheng Hai had a huge collection of He Se's pictures. Li Zu drank heavily as he looked at them. When he ran out of alcohol, knowing Cheng Hai would go downstairs to buy more, he secretly pulled out a photo and hid it. Deep down, Li Zu knew he and He Se had no chance of ever being together. Why? Because Cheng Hai was his good friend. Why hadn't he met He Se first? Fate plays tricks; being destined to meet doesn't guarantee a lasting relationship. Destiny requires many prerequisites, such as time and place. In most cases, love involves a matter of who comes first.

Later, Li Zu met Wu Xiaoyuan. Contrary to his usual behavior, he actively pursued her; before this, he had never proactively expressed love to a girl. He was confident in himself; he knew he would succeed. Later, when Wu Xiaoyuan officially entered their circle, the four of them often got together. Whenever the four of them gathered, Li Zu would always be particularly intimate with Wu Xiaoyuan. This intimacy wasn't intentional; he didn't know why, but he just did it that way. Subconsciously, he felt he desperately wanted to love Wu Xiaoyuan, to love her as much as he loved He Se. Li Zu did try very hard to do so; he wanted Wu Xiaoyuan to completely fill his heart. For a time, he thought he had succeeded, until one day, behind the campus library, he suddenly encountered He Se…

Li Zu had been sitting blankly in his office all morning, not answering his phone. He desperately wanted to sleep, but couldn't find the sleepiness he expected. His advertising company, which he'd started a year ago, had been doing very well. The business was running smoothly, requiring little intervention from him, especially these past few days when he'd delegated most of his work. He had originally planned to spend a few days with Cheng Hai and He Se, and Wu Xiaoyuan had even taken two days off; she had a relatively relaxed voice-over job at the TV station. But suddenly, all his plans were disrupted, yet nothing was as chaotic as his current state of mind. He absolutely had to go see Cheng Hai this afternoon. He Se probably wasn't in the mood to eat, so he needed to bring her some food. Oh, and he also needed to have a good talk with the attending physician to see if there were any better ways to treat Cheng Hai. He felt a pang of guilt towards Cheng Hai.

And the coat... Yes, where did the coat Wu Xiaoyuan gave him to wear last night go? Li Zu's gradually clearing thoughts reminded him of what Wu Xiaoyuan had said that morning. Where exactly had he thrown the coat? He needed to slowly recall his movements last night.

After dropping them off downstairs, he drove away. Not long after, then... then a car flashed out, its headlights blinding him... and then... that face?!

Li Zu jumped up from his executive chair in shock. Yes, that ghostly face—he'd seen the picture of that face last night, and it was smiling at him… And then? He heard heavy breathing… And then… And then… He was woken up by He Se's phone ringing…

Li Zu broke out in a cold sweat. He couldn't remember the time between seeing the ghost face last night and being woken up by a phone call when he got home to sleep. In other words, his memory of that period was completely blank, as if it had been ripped out.

Cheng Hai was murdered during that very period!

Li Zu grew increasingly frightened, feeling his back drenched in sweat. No matter how much he pulled at his hair, he couldn't remember anything after seeing the ghost face; he couldn't even recall how he got home. "What did I do? What did I do? Could it really be that I harmed Cheng Hai?"

Li Zu felt the air in the office growing increasingly oppressive; he couldn't stay a moment longer. He rushed out, walked to the parking lot, and was about to open the car door when his eyes suddenly fell on the trunk lid.

His eyes remained fixed on the rear cover of the car, vaguely sensing that there might be something inside. He slowly walked over, inserted the car key into the lock of the rear cover, and gently turned it. With a snap, the rear cover popped open, revealing some miscellaneous items inside, nothing unusual.

He swept the clutter aside and reached his hand to the side of the back panel of the truck. He knew that was where the spare tire was stored, but he wasn't thinking about it at the moment, or perhaps he wasn't thinking about anything at all. He just wanted to take a look. So, he suddenly pulled hard, and the back panel was torn open. At the same time, he opened his eyes wide and stared in horror at what was in front of him—his coat!

After a while, Li Zu calmed down. He took out his coat and shook it. Just as Wu Xiaoyuan had guessed, the coat was covered with specks of blood, as vivid and glaring as plum blossoms. Li Zu felt his heart was about to jump out of his throat, and his hands were trembling violently. He couldn't accept the reality before his eyes. Yes, he was indeed the one who had harmed Cheng Hai during the time he lost his memory.

Li Zu's mind went blank. Almost frantically, he drove to the mangrove forest by the sea, ran wildly along the seawall until he could no longer move. He collapsed onto the railing, gazing at the vast ocean, and with his last breath, let out a hoarse, desperate roar—

Perhaps physical exhaustion can quickly bring a person to a calmer state. As Li Zu slumped his exhausted body to the ground, his thoughts gradually began to refocus. He absolutely could not have harmed Cheng Hai, so why was there blood on his coat? And why was it so calmly folded and hidden under the carriage? Everything seemed so orderly; he hadn't felt anything at the time, so how could he have been so calm?

Could it be that someone is trying to frame me?

Thinking of this, a chill ran down Li Zu's spine. Who exactly was the murderer lurking in the darkness? How could he make him hallucinate without his knowledge? What was wrong? Why did he want to harm Cheng Hai? And why did he frame me?

With a series of questions in mind, Li Zu slowly regained his strength. He stood up. No matter what, he had to find out the answers. Since the murderer wanted to harm Cheng Hai and frame him, but he had failed to do so, the murderer would definitely show up again.

At this moment, he wanted to go to the hospital. Besides visiting Cheng Hai and He Se, he also had a premonition that if he was with Cheng Hai, the murderer would show up sooner.

Only then did Li Zu realize that he had been by the sea for too long. The sky was gradually darkening, and the golden afterglow of the setting sun still lingered at the horizon, burning the clouds on the horizon completely.

five

In just one day, He Se seemed to have shrunk, her expression withered as she curled up on the sofa in the ward. Li Zu suddenly felt a pang of sorrow. He didn't wake the sleeping He Se, but quietly walked to Cheng Hai's side, gazing at that face with even breathing. He couldn't describe what he felt; perhaps there was guilt, perhaps sympathy, perhaps something else, but they were all intertwined.

"Oh—you've come," He Se said as she woke up and saw Li Zu standing in front of Cheng Hai's bed.

"You're awake? Are you hungry?" Li Zu handed over the lunchbox in his hand, which he had specially ordered from the restaurant.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I really feel hungry. Thank you." He Se forced a smile.

Li Zu found a chair and sat down. The bright fluorescent light in the room stung his eyes, probably because he hadn't slept for two days and one night.

He Se was slowly eating with her head down, while Li Zu watched her silently from the side. Only the sound of He Se chewing echoed in the room.

He Se knew that Li Zu had been watching her, but she didn't dare to look up, as it would make them both feel awkward. The two men lying and sitting in the room were arguably the most important men in her life: one was her husband, and the other was the only man she had ever truly loved. Although they had never actually been together for even a second, the sweetness and longing that flowed gently from her heart when she saw him was something she had never experienced before, and something she would never forget.

He Se possessed a stubborn heart, the exact opposite of her gentle exterior. In college, many literary works taught her that love had to be fought for. However, reality was always far removed from literature, and the scenarios she meticulously planned in her mind repeatedly faded away. If it weren't for that one time, reading Li Zu's poem in the school magazine, she thought she would never have experienced that unforgettable wait behind the library.

He Se kept her head down. She ate her meal for a long time, but didn't eat much. She just kept chewing and grinding the food in her mouth until it became liquid and flowed into her stomach.

"He Se, the attending physician from yesterday is still on the night shift today. I'm thinking of visiting him later to ask about Cheng Hai's condition and inquire about any better treatment options. Do you want to come along?" Li Zu asked, seeing that He Se had almost finished eating.

"Go ahead, I just want to stay here. Tell me if there's good news, okay?" He Se stood up, pulled back the curtains, and pushed open the glass window. A slightly chilly autumn wind rushed up, making the curtains flutter loudly.

"Hmm... that's fine then," Li Zu pondered for a moment and said, "You also need to take care of yourself. Cheng Hai will be fine. I don't want to see both of you collapse, otherwise Cheng Hai will be unhappy when he wakes up and sees this."

He Se turned around and gave him a helpless smile. "I will." Just then, another evening breeze swept in, making her short hair flutter.

Li Zu's heart skipped a beat, as if it were the first time He Se appeared before him in college. He Se looked at the stunned Li Zu and said, "Will Xiao Yuan be here later?"

Li Zu immediately woke up and replied, "Not necessarily. I didn't sleep all night, and I might still be in bed." He didn't dare tell He Se about their argument that morning, and he wasn't sure if Wu Xiaoyuan would come to the hospital, so he just said it casually.

"He Se, you should rest a bit more. I'm going to check if the doctor has arrived yet." With that, he fled the ward.

The doctor was already at work, in the duty room. To Li Zu's surprise, the two policemen were also there. They greeted each other.

"Hello, we're here to investigate Cheng Hai's injuries," Xiao Chen said first.

"Oh," Li Zu nodded lightly, then turned to the doctor and said, "Doctor, I also want to know how serious Cheng Hai's condition is? What are his chances of recovery?"

The doctor looked at Li Zu and said, "The patient's main injury is to the brain. There is no trauma to other parts of his body. So, as long as he can wake up, it is equivalent to recovery."

"So, what are his chances of waking up?"

"That's hard to say. There's still no truly effective way in medicine to wake up a sleeping patient."

Li Zu fell silent. In fact, this answer was somewhat expected, as he had heard quite a few stories about people in a vegetative state.

Xiao Dong looked at Li Zu and said, "Don't worry, science is advancing by leaps and bounds these days. Maybe tomorrow someone will say they've invented a drug that can wake up patients immediately. Anything is possible in this world now."

Li Zu looked at him and gave a wry smile.

“However, I have a suggestion,” the doctor said. “You can try acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medicine treatment. Although we in Western medicine do not recognize this method because it lacks direct evidence to prove its scientific validity, as far as I know, there have been many such cases in China, and many have been clinically successful. Although we do not yet know whether it is due to acupuncture, many cases of recovery have involved acupuncture.”

Li Zu's eyes lit up, and he quickly stood up and walked to the doctor. "Doctor, are you telling the truth? Do you know where I can find a good acupuncturist? I'm willing to pay any price."

"Well, I'll have to think about it..." the doctor said. The atmosphere in the duty room became more lively after that, and even Xiao Dong and Xiao Chen joined in the discussion about traditional Chinese medicine. They talked about acupuncture and Li Shizhen, and even brought up the story of Cao Cao opening his skull. The more they talked about Li Zu, the more confident they became, as if the profound and omnipotent traditional Chinese medicine could wake Cheng Hai up right away.

Just then, a scream came from the corridor outside, "Ah—" The voice was shrill, as if someone had been frightened.

Xiao Dong and Xiao Chen were the first to react and quickly ran out.

Nurses also ran out of the corridor, and someone was calling out, "It's the sound from room 304."

"Ah—Cheng Hai!" Li Zu immediately realized that room 304 was Cheng Hai's ward.

At this moment, Xiao Dong and Xiao Chen rushed into the ward first, and Li Zu followed in. The scene in front of them shocked everyone. He Se was lying on his side on the ground, with blood streaming down his forehead. When he saw someone come in, he quickly pointed to the window and made a few noises but could not speak. He was obviously shocked and lost his voice.

Xiao Dong immediately rushed to the window and looked down. Li Zu's first reaction was to rush to He Se, pick her up, and shout, "Doctor—Doctor—save her, quick—"

Doctors and nurses immediately rushed He Se to the emergency room. Li Zu and Xiao Chen quickly turned around to check on Cheng Hai, who was lying on the hospital bed. They breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Cheng Hai's calm and peaceful breathing. Cheng Hai, fast asleep, was completely unaware of everything around him. Indeed, he had not been disturbed, and even the sheet covering him was still neatly arranged.

Xiao Dong turned around and said disappointedly, "I didn't even see a shadow of him. He got away."

Xiao Chen also went over and peeked out the window. When he pulled back down, he exclaimed in amazement, "Wow, that's amazing! It's so high, and he can still run so fast after jumping down."

"Is Cheng Hai alright?" Xiao Dong asked Li Zu.

Li Zu nodded.

"It's good that you're alright. Xiao Chen, you stay here with Mr. Li and watch over Cheng Hai. I'll go ask the nurses outside if anyone saw what the murderer looked like. He must have come in from outside."

Fortunately, He Se only suffered minor injuries. After a quick bandage, her emotions stabilized, and she returned to her ward shortly afterward. Xiao Dong followed closely behind.

"Ms. He, can you describe what the assailant looked like? Is it someone you know?" Xiao Dong asked, taking out a cigarette as he habitually did so. He then remembered that smoking was prohibited in the ward and simply left it in his hand to play with.

He Se sat steadily on the sofa, holding the hot tea that Li Zu had made for her in both hands. After thinking for a long time, she finally looked up at Xiao Dong and shook her head blankly. "I didn't see clearly. I was lying on the sofa with my eyes closed, and I was feeling sleepy when I heard a soft sound of the door opening. I thought it was Li Zu coming back, so I didn't pay attention. After a while, I vaguely heard a loud breathing sound, which seemed very close, so I woke up with a start. Before I could even open my eyes, I was hit hard on the head. Then I instinctively screamed and tried to grab him, but I saw a figure flash and disappear from the window. I think he jumped out of the window and ran away."

Xiao Dong paced back and forth in the room, head down, deep in thought. Xiao Chen stared intently at his captain, as if studying his gait. When Li Zu heard He Se describe the heavy breathing, the sound of the breathing he'd heard the previous night flashed through his mind—also heavy and labored. It must be the same person. But why hadn't he seen a trace of them last night? Who was this person, capable of appearing and disappearing so mysteriously?

Furthermore, he had seen that living ghost face last night. Did He Se see it too? "He Se, did you see what kind of face it was?" Li Zu suddenly asked.

He shook his head. Xiao Dong glanced at Li Zu, then continued his deep thought, paying no attention to Li Zu's silly question.

Li Zu remained silent. There was another thing that puzzled him: why did he hear breathing sounds last night, but the victim was Cheng Hai? Today, He Se also heard breathing sounds, but the victim was herself? However, he was still happy about one thing: what just happened at least proved that there really was another attacker, and that he wasn't the one who attacked Cheng Hai, as Wu Xiaoyuan had said.

"Officer Xiao, can I ask the police for a favor?" Li Zu asked.

"explain."

“As you can see, although Cheng Hai is in the hospital, the attacker doesn’t seem to have given up, so he’s still not safe. I’m asking the police to send people to protect Cheng Hai 24 hours a day until the murderer is caught or Cheng Hai wakes up.” After Li Zu finished speaking, he glanced worriedly at He Se, whose head was wrapped in gauze. He couldn’t tell whether he was more worried about Cheng Hai or He Se, or perhaps both.

“I’m also thinking about this,” Xiao Dong said. “I need to go back to the institute tomorrow to report, but it might not be possible tonight. Maybe I should stay here.”

“Thank you. Let me stay here tonight. With me here and the murderer just escaping, I think nothing will happen tonight,” Li Zu said.

“That’s good. I’ll talk to the hospital security and ask them to send more people to stand guard on the third floor. If anything happens, you can call me directly.” After saying that, Xiao Dong took out a business card and handed it to Li Zu, saying, “My mobile number is on it.”

After seeing Xiao Dong and Xiao Chen off, Li Zu went to the car to get his laptop. He had plenty of time left in the night and was worried he wouldn't be able to stay awake. He hadn't slept for over thirty hours that day, so he thought he would play games online if he couldn't stay awake.

After leaving the hospital, Xiao Dong and Xiao Chen turned back. It turned out that Xiao Dong suggested going to the place where the murderer jumped to see if there were any clues. In case the murderer dropped something from his clothes when he jumped, that could be an important clue to find.

They searched for a long time, but because the place was overgrown with weeds, they couldn't find any footprints. They only saw traces of being crushed by a heavy object, which they believed meant the murderer rolled a few times when he landed to offset the impact, so he was unharmed.

"It seems the murderer is quite experienced at jumping off buildings," Xiao Chen said.

“Yes,” Xiao Dong replied vaguely as he searched carefully.

"Captain Xiao, can we rule out Li Zu as a suspect?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I knew it! He didn't look like the murderer, and his motive was insufficient. Today's incident conveniently cleared him of suspicion, and the two of us have become his alibi witnesses, haha." Xiao Chen laughed after saying this.

“This is a good thing,” Xiao Dong looked up at Xiao Chen and said, “I’m happy every time a suspect is eliminated. I don’t want to see anyone commit a crime.”

"But people are still committing crimes, aren't they?"