El misterio del periódico K

Capítulo 5

At 2 a.m. this morning, just two hours after I fell asleep, I suddenly felt a chill beside me, with gusts of wind blowing. My mind instantly cleared, and I opened my eyes to see a figure standing by the bed. The door behind me had been opened sometime earlier. I clutched the blanket tightly, my voice trembling as I asked, "Who...who are you?"

The figure moved slightly, then moved closer, reaching out towards the headboard. I was so startled that my teeth chattered, and I closed my eyes. Suddenly, I heard a click, and even with my eyes closed, I sensed the light from outside. I cautiously opened them and saw Gu Ming standing at the headboard, his hand still on the lamp switch.

"Ah! You're crazy, you scared me to death." I breathed a sigh of relief, then realized something was off. "Right, what are you doing in my room in the middle of the night? Didn't you know to knock if you needed anything?"

Gu Ming still looked at me with that innocent look, and then said lightly, "Xiao Mo, my hands hurt from knocking on the door, and when I came in, I found you sleeping like a log."

"You...you, what are you doing knocking on the door in the middle of the night?"

"Of course it's work. Get up quickly, we need to go out." Gu Ming said as he walked towards the door. "Overtime pay is two hundred per hour."

I sat on the bed, thinking for a long time, before finally jumping up to change my clothes. I admit I was tempted by that two hundred yuan...

When I went out, it was pitch black, the air was damp, and it was drizzling.

I got into Gu Ming's car, turned on some music, and he tossed me a box of milk tea, saying, "Going to the hospital to get some things checked."

"Didn't you go during the day?" I asked while drinking. Gu Ming had already started the car and we were on the main road in the blink of an eye.

"I'll explain it to you once I figure it out. Just follow me." The charlatan drove with one hand while making a strange hand gesture with the other. He only saw a flash of red light in front of the car, and the night outside the window was no longer so dark. He peacefully drank his milk tea and dozed off until the sound of brakes came. When he looked up, he realized they were back at Hospital A.

"Get out of the car," Gu Ming said quietly, then tossed me the bag he had been carrying during the day, and I followed closely behind him.

The hospital was unusually quiet at night. All the strange hospital tales I'd heard since childhood rushed to my mind in an instant. I quickened my pace, and my hand unconsciously grabbed Gu Ming's sleeve. He turned to look at me, then pulled me around to a side entrance of the hospital. All we could hear was the light rain and the rustling of our feet. The shadows of trees and buildings were mottled. We walked quite a distance, and my palms were already wet.

"Give me the bag," Gu Ming said. Only then did I realize that we had reached the garage. He walked around the garage, took out a talisman from the bag, and stuck it on the ambulance. The talisman suddenly vibrated violently and then made a whistling sound. Gu Ming stood next to him, his right hand forming a strange gesture. A flash of red light appeared, and the talisman burst into flames, turning into a golden flame, just like the one I had seen during the day.

"Let's go." Gu Ming pulled me away from the hospital. After getting in the car, we noticed the golden line swaying in front of us, leading the way. We started the car and followed the line closely in the dark night. The rain outside the window was getting heavier, and the raindrops were hitting the window and turning into small streams. The CD player was playing "Night Prayer," but the atmosphere was somewhat eerie.

After about an hour's drive, Gu Ming finally spoke, asking, "Xiao Mo, what's your view on money?"

"Money, of course, the more the better! With money, you can buy so many things: houses, clothes, cars..."

"If I didn't have a single penny, would you still come out to work overtime in the middle of the night?"

"Yes... I will."

"Why? Isn't money important?"

"It is important, but some things are more important than money."

Gu Ming laughed, then patted my head and said, "Sometimes, in an environment where humanity is distorted, people can't find their own value except for money."

We didn't speak again. The car drove for another ten minutes or so before stopping. After I got out, I found that we were in another hospital. I turned to look at Gu Ming, who was frowning as he went inside. The smell of disinfectant filled my nostrils. Gu Ming stopped at the information desk and smiled at the nurse, saying, "Miss, could you please check if a patient named Wang Weize was hospitalized more than a month ago?"

The nurse, without even looking up, said, "No, how can patient admission records be leaked so easily?"

Gu Ming took out another large bill from his wallet and placed it in front of the nurse. "Miss, please help us. We heard that our friend had an accident and we want to visit him, but we don't know which hospital it is."

The young nurse deftly stuffed the money into her clothes, looked up and smiled, saying, "Oh, I see. Then I'll help you check. Please wait a moment... Wang Weize, ah, this person was transferred to another hospital the day he was brought in."

"Why were you transferred to another hospital? Which hospital did you go to?"

"Car accident, broken leg, internal organ compression and bleeding. Oh, we don't have the facilities to treat him, so he was transferred to Hospital A," the nurse said. Then, glancing at us thoughtfully, she lowered her voice and said, "You should go to Hospital A quickly. I remember this person didn't seem to have any money on him when he was brought in; I don't know if they've treated him there..."

Gu Ming nodded, smiled politely, and pulled me outside. I was completely confused.

As soon as we stepped out of the hospital, I sensed an unusual atmosphere in the air. It was chilly and the rain was particularly cold. Gu Ming looked towards the north gate of the hospital, then opened the car door and got in. I hurriedly asked him what was wrong, and he said, "Wang Weize is over there."

I thought of that rotting corpse, and goosebumps rose on my arms. I looked at my watch; it was almost four o'clock.

As the moon rose, before he could even sit down properly, he heard the wind chimes by the door ring. He looked up and was terrified. The rotting corpse was back. It screamed and jumped behind Gu Ming.

"They're from Hospital A," Gu Ming said, repeating his previous statement.

“Ugh…” The rotting corpse made an incomprehensible sound from its throat.

"You were indeed taken to Z Hospital after you fell into a coma, but they transferred you to A Hospital on the same day. It was their people who did it."

"Why...why..." the rotting corpse began to scream.

Gu Ming lowered his head and remained silent for a long time before saying calmly, "If you trust me, leave all these matters to me, and I will give you a satisfactory explanation."

The rotting corpse began to whimper again, then shook its head and cried out, "Why, why..."

I happened to look up and saw the rotting pieces of flesh fall to the ground as he shook, revealing the white bones even more, and a pungent stench wafted over.

"There is cause and effect in this world. Heaven will not let those who do evil deeds go unpunished. You are of pure nature, otherwise you would not have come to me. I will naturally do what I promised. The choice is yours," Gu Ming said.

The corpse howled for a while, then finally calmed down, staring intently at Gu Ming. It then stretched out a clenched hand and placed it in front of Gu Ming's eyes. I was so frightened that I tried to pull Gu Ming away, but unexpectedly, he also stretched out a hand. The corpse then placed something in his palm and walked away without looking back.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Gu Ming clenched the things in his hand, then said in a muffled voice, "Xiao Mo, go and rest. I'll tell you about this later."

I'm sleepy too. I've been busy all day, doing all sorts of random things, and I don't even know what I've been busy with. I blinked and decided to go to sleep first...

I woke up in the afternoon. Gu Ming wasn't there. I went to the kitchen, grabbed something to eat, and turned on the TV to watch something casually. Then I saw the news report. The pretty anchorwoman was saying with a serious face, "We have found the body of migrant worker Wang Weize in the suburbs of this city. According to the police investigation and clues provided by the public, the suspect has been arrested. After an afternoon of intense investigation, the suspect has confessed to the crime. It turns out that after the seriously injured Wang Weize was sent to Z Hospital, the hospital was unable to contact his relatives for a long time. No one could pay the huge medical expenses, so Z Hospital transferred him to A Hospital on the grounds that the treatment conditions were not met. However, A Hospital also refused to treat the patient because no one could pay the medical expenses. The next day, the head of surgery, xxx, and doctor xx instructed the ambulance driver to abandon him in the suburbs under the pretext of transferring him to another hospital. According to the driver, although Wang Weize was seriously injured, he was not dead at the time... According to statistics, there have been many similar cases in recent years, and the medical problems of migrant workers and some poor residents have not been resolved for a long time..."

The food in my hand had gone cold. I remembered what Gu Ming had said last night. He said that sometimes, in an environment where humanity is distorted, people can no longer find their own value except for money.

"Isn't treating and saving lives the duty of doctors?" I asked, trembling, looking at Gu Ming who had just entered the room.

"You knew all along?"

"news."

“After Wang Weize was injured, he only knew that he was sent to Z Hospital, and he didn’t know anything after that, so he asked me to help him find out.” Gu Ming paused and continued, “In some people’s eyes, money is more important than life.”

"Won't those people get their comeuppance?"

"kindness."

"What about Wang Weize? The news said they found his body. Wasn't he a decomposing corpse?"

"I sent him to reincarnation; there's only a corpse left there." Gu Ming smiled, taking some red stones from his pocket. "Last night..."

"kindness."

"What about Wang Weize? The news said they found his body. Wasn't he a decomposing corpse?"

“I sent him to reincarnation; there’s only a corpse there now.” Gu Ming smiled and took out some red stones from his pocket. “He gave them to me last night.”

"Why should I give you this?" I took it and looked at it; it was a transparent red stone.

"The reward? A red diamond seems to be worth quite a bit of money."

"Diamonds...?" My hand trembled, and I stared wide-eyed at the small stones.

“I will donate all of these to Project Hope, and he hopes to do the same,” Gu Ming said with a smile.

"ah?"

"When Wang Weize left, he said that he had wanted to go to school since he was a child, but his family was too poor. In the end, he could only do manual labor to make a living. Then, those guys who claimed to be doctors with the heart of parents refused to treat him because he was a poor migrant worker. After he became a corpse, he unintentionally obtained those red diamonds and donated them to Project Hope, just to fulfill his childhood wish."

"Poverty of material goods and knowledge is truly terrible."

“The poverty of humanity and morality is even more terrible.”

"Those rotting corpses are far more noble than those bastard doctors. If it were me, I would have already slaughtered them and torn them to pieces, then cursed them to go to the hundredth level of hell..."

"I've heard that there are eighteen levels of hell."

"..."

"..."

The light rain stopped in the evening. That filthy, stinking corpse would never come again. A strange feeling settled over me. I leaned on the bar counter and read. The book said that the value of life depends on ourselves; no one but ourselves can devalue us. Those who look down on others may not know that some impoverished bodies harbor souls a thousand times nobler than theirs…

I yawned and suddenly remembered that Gu Ming hadn't paid me my overtime pay for this morning. I still need to get that money!

Light rain on March 15, 2005

Sleeping well is bliss.

I woke up at noon; the sky was gloomy with a light drizzle. Gu Ming drove me back to school. I remarked on the car's nice appearance, implying the owner must be handsome and wealthy. Gu Ming nodded repeatedly in agreement. I then asked him when he would return the car, and Gu Ming laughed, saying it was actually his. I thought I must have misheard.

When I arrived at school, I saw Deng Fei and Cuihua. Deng Fei greeted Gu Ming with a sour face. Cuihua blinked and asked who the handsome guy driving was. I thought for a moment and told her that Gu Ming was actually just a charlatan.

We went to a Korean restaurant for lunch. I thought the stir-fried rice cakes were too spicy and the pollack soup was too salty. Deng Fei and Cuihua thought I was being too nosy, and then they started chatting. Cuihua said that Lin Chi-ling's breasts are actually fake. Deng Fei said that our principal has recently had an ambiguous relationship with the dean of academic affairs. Cuihua said that the school heartthrob almost committed suicide in the women's restroom of Building 1 because he failed his CET-4 (College English Test Band 4). Deng Fei said that the department beauty married an octogenarian Taiwanese man. I suggested that the department beauty take the old man to climb the Great Wall on the first day of the wedding, take him to climb Mount Tai on the second day, and then directly claim the inheritance on the third day. Cuihua clapped in agreement...

The light rain hadn't stopped by evening. I went to work at Moonlight, but Gu Ming wasn't waiting for me at the station. I wandered around for ages and still got lost. Just as my hands and feet were freezing, Gu Ming finally appeared. He apologized, saying that the big yellow dog in the alley next door had diarrhea and its barking was too soft for him to hear...

March 16, 2005, Sunny

This afternoon, the sun was shining brightly. Deng Fei said he had found a nice resort and asked Xiao Bi and me to go there together. I called Gu Ming to ask if I could take a day off, and he readily agreed, but he would deduct a day's wages from my pay. I checked my overtime pay and thought it was reasonable, so I nodded in agreement.

Around 4 PM, after Xiao Bi and I finished getting ready, we found Deng Fei waiting for us downstairs in a really cool car. I couldn't help but marvel at how many wealthy people were around us. I asked Xiao Bi when I could get a car to drive, and she looked at me with disdain. She said, "What do you need a car for? You can't even find your way around, let alone drive! Pshaw!"

I find Xiao Bi annoying and secretly curse her so she'll never be able to afford a car.

The journey took about an hour. When Deng Fei called us to get off the car, I saw those large, gleaming golden characters in the night – “Yi Ju Shan Zhuang” (One Sentence Villa). It was a very peculiar name; I wondered what its meaning was. Just as I was about to ask Deng Fei, I was startled by a face that appeared in front of me out of nowhere. The owner of this face was a woman in her forties, heavily made up, laughing as she greeted us, “Oh my god, look how well-behaved these three children are! Da Lanzi… Da Lanzi, hurry up and come out to greet the guests… Da Lanzi…”

I stared wide-eyed, silently questioning Deng Fei. He deliberately avoided my gaze, looking up at the sky, still admiring the distant stars. Looking at Xiao Bi's twitching lips, I felt a deep resonance with him.

Clutching her bag tightly, she looked at the woman with suspicion. The woman laughed and said, "I'm Manager Gao Yanli. Welcome to our 'Ergou Manor'."

Er Gou Manor? Looking up again at those gleaming golden characters, I realized some of the light bulbs were broken...

Once inside the resort, I discovered a hidden gem. In mid-March in the north, it was rare to see a courtyard full of flowers and plants. In the darkness, I couldn't distinguish the species, but I could smell their unique fragrance, which was so pleasant and refreshing. The corridors were winding and turned, unlike the vulgarity of ordinary resorts. Instead, it was quiet and elegant. Even someone like me, who has no architectural background and not very sophisticated, could feel the uniqueness of this place.

Along the way, Manager Gao chatted as they walked, and unintentionally learned that Deng Fei's mother's hometown was actually the same county as hers. So, they were especially warm to each other, and we even changed our address to Aunt Gao. In the end, Aunt Gao was incredibly kind and charged us the lowest price while giving us the best room and service. Xiao Bi and I instantly forgot that the resort's name was "Er Gou" (meaning "Second Dog").

Xiao Bi was unusually excited at dinner time. Because there were too few tourists, we only managed to fill two tables, including all the staff. But this did not stop the hearty northerners from creating a lively atmosphere. Aunt Gao and Xiao Bi drank one cup after another, their laughter deafening. I, on the other hand, was completely absorbed in the delicious food. Deng Fei would stand up and drink with Xiao Bi and the others, and then come over and poke my stomach, saying that I had accumulated enough fat over the years to last a lifetime.

During the meal, Aunt Gao told us that the resort was called Er Gou (Second Dog) because the previous owner had two very cute dogs. These two dogs were very intelligent and perceptive. One was a Shar Pei with a wrinkled face, named "Yi Mou" (One Eye), and the other was a chubby white dog that looked like a steamed bun, named "Kai Ge" (Brother Kai). After the previous owner sold the resort to Aunt Gao, he disappeared, and the two very intelligent dogs starved themselves to death.

I asked Aunt Gao what kind of person the previous owner was and why she had disappeared. After taking a sip of her drink, Aunt Gao sighed and said, "She was a very nice girl. Although she wasn't particularly beautiful, she was very pretty. I heard that there were hardly any people left in her family, and I don't know why she just disappeared. It's such a pity..."