Famine - Chapitre 15
"You didn't tell anyone?"
"Not yet. I don't want to tell Sanwen's father that losing a son in middle age is the greatest sorrow in life, and I don't want to rub salt into his wounds."
Indeed, losing a child or a spouse in middle age is one of the two greatest tragedies in life, and Zhao Sande suffered both.
Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13
Section 33: The Funeral and a Cold Afternoon
That motorcycle was a Christmas gift he gave to Sanwen, but it ended up leading to his son's tragic death.
Nono took out her bright red Samsung phone, read a text message, and showed it to Ahu.
"That afternoon, Sanwen sent me a message—'I received a strange text message and wanted to show it to you.' I didn't reply to him then because I was still sulking. Now, I really want to see what the message said."
Everything is packed, and the moving company's truck will arrive in an hour. The new tenants are expected to move in next week.
Zhao Sande sat on the sofa, silently facing Nuonuo.
When Nuonuo asked to keep Sanwen's phone as a souvenir, Zhao Sande gave it to her without hesitation.
It was a Nokia 7250 camera phone with a color resolution of 4096 colors, a step below the Sony Ericsson that Nono wanted.
Nuonuo put her phone in her bag, not in a hurry to open it, and sat with Zhao Sande for a while.
Biff lay quietly on the carpet, seemingly sensing that it was about to have a new owner.
Looking at the English hunting dog, Zhao Sande said, "It's a Biff. Sanwen has always kept it. Would you like to take it with you?"
Nono was slightly taken aback.
Although they don't keep dogs at home, dogs are Nono's favorite animals. Many girls are intimidated by this kind of large hunting dog, but Nono isn't. Ever since she saw it in Sanwen's apartment, she immediately became close to it and bought a bottle of flea-repellent shampoo to bathe it.
Now, besides his owner's scent, Biff is most familiar with Nono's scent. Every time Nono comes to Sanwen's apartment, as soon as she enters, Biff runs up and wags his tail to welcome her. He also goes out of his way to fetch Nono's slippers for her to change into, because Nono's scent is in the slippers.
Nono's concern is whether her mother, who is a germaphobe, will object to suddenly bringing a dog home.
Zhao Sande noticed Nuonuo's hesitation and said, "Originally, I should have taken it with me, but... to be honest, I'm currently living with a lady who has a Scottish Fold cat. I'm worried they might not get along if I suddenly bring a dog home. Besides, Biff looks quite fierce; she might be scared if she sees him..."
Zhao Sande was practically pleading. Clearly, if Nono refused, Biff would be left to roam the streets, becoming a stray dog.
Leaving Sanwen's house, Nono rushed to work. Biff was crammed into a pet carrier and temporarily placed in the staff break room at the back of the shop. The manager warned Nono that if he barked excessively, he would have to leave; this was a coffee shop, and dog barking clashed with the aroma of coffee. Biff was clever; realizing he had a new owner, he had to behave well and remained silent after entering the shop.
Ah Hu was already waiting at the gun barrel in the pistol-shaped shop, at the last small round table there.
With only six or seven minutes left before work, the two of them made the most of their time to examine Sanwen's phone.
There were only three text messages in my inbox.
"Sanwen, it's Peng Li. You haven't forgotten me, have you? When are you free? Let's have dinner together. There's a newly opened Chaozhou restaurant there, it's really good!"
"Open the door"
"zoe"
Nuonuo had no recollection of "Peng Li," but she understood that men would never reveal all the women they dated, just like they would hide their secret stash of money.
The first message was received at 11:30 PM, and the next two were received after midnight.
"Who is Zoe?" Ah Hu asked Nuonuo.
Nono stared wide-eyed at Ahu, and after a long pause, she said, "It's the woman in the painting."
Ah Hu felt as if he had been stung by a scorpion.
Around 12:30 a.m., Nono was awakened by a nightmare. She went to the bathroom to urinate and found that the canvas was completely white.
It seems that Zoe in the painting has temporarily left to find Sanwen and ask him to open the door. After Sanwen died in a car accident, she returned to the place she used to stay.
Woof woof woof!
Oh no, Biff couldn't stand being cooped up in his small cage and started squealing. Nono immediately ran back to the lounge. When she passed the counter, thankfully the manager wasn't there; he was probably busy with delivery services and had taken the new employee out to familiarize himself with the area.
Ah Hu stayed there and continued to study Sanwen's mobile phone.
There were also three text messages in the sent items folder.
"I received a strange text message and wanted to show it to you."
"Okay, let's decide next week."
"Who are you?"
When Sanwen sent the text message to Nuonuo, it was 4:45 PM. Judging from the time, that "strange text message" was no longer in her inbox and had probably been deleted. However, that was no longer important. The key issue was the last two text messages Sanwen received before he died.
"Open the door"
"zoe"
Just two Chinese characters and three English letters, yet they send chills down one's spine.
Either someone is playing a prank, or...
Ah Hu was unwilling to utter that word, because the word itself was filled with evil.
Fortunately, Ah Hu has new weapons.
This is a modified Omron electronic blood pressure monitor originally made in Japan. Its full name is "Demon Aura Index Measuring Instrument," and it is an upgraded version from 2003. Simply point the probe at the object to be measured, or place it in the space to be measured, press the operation button, and the relevant numbers will quickly appear on the LCD screen.
On an ordinary street, the ghostly aura index is 10.
On the same street, the ghost index is 15 at night and rises to 20 at midnight;
The ghostly aura index in morgues of different hospitals ranges from 24 to 30.
Larger cemeteries generally have a ghost index between 30 and 36.
In a room where someone had recently died, the ghost energy index remained around 32 for the first seven days, gradually dropping below 15 after several weeks.
When Ah Hu took the "Ghostly Aura Index Meter" into the bathroom on the second floor of Nuonuo's house, the index jumped to 50, which was an unprecedented high.
When he pointed the probe at the painting, the number displayed on the LCD screen reached an astonishing 70 or higher, fluctuating between 72 and 75. This speaks volumes.
Around noon, Nuonuo and Ahu sat on the edge of the jacuzzi, surrounded by a deathly silence.
Ah Hu had carefully studied the painting with a magnifying glass. The oil paint adhered to the white canvas, and the brushstrokes were clearly visible. It was certain that it was an ordinary oil painting on canvas, without any special processing to achieve an ambiguous viewing effect.
All that's left is to wait.
Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13
Section 34: The Woman in the Painting
The second, minute, and hour hands all come together at the 12 o'clock position, and noon arrives quietly.
Ah Hu's eyes never left the "fish bell," whether he was engrossed in looking at it or intentionally avoiding it, it was unclear.
"Ah Hu...you...you look!"
Nono's trembling voice rang in my ears.
Ah Hu gently turned his head away. Before that, a thought had crossed his mind:
I'd rather not watch it!
But in the end, he still turned his head to face the painting.
Nuonuo has already seen it, so I have no reason not to. I don't want to be a coward in front of her.
No, no, please don't mention the word "ghost"...
The light blue doctor's coat, like a snake shedding its skin, slowly fell off, out of the picture frame, and onto the bathroom floor tiles. Next, the pair of white flat leather shoes fell onto the clothes with a soft "thud".
That light blue face mask, like a withered leaf separated from its mother tree, drifted to the ground.
And just like that, Zoe wearing a mask became Zoe naked.
She remained seated on the windowsill, her legs slightly crossed, exuding a midday languor.
She was in her early thirties. She wasn't particularly beautiful, at least not the kind of beauty you see in advertisements, but she was the kind of woman who was pleasing to the eye over time. Her eyebrows, nose, and lips were all flawless.
Official job postings typically include the following three sentences: Bachelor's degree, presentable appearance, and upright conduct.
This woman meets at least the first two criteria, because a dentist is definitely a medical school graduate.
At this moment, facing the viewers—Nono and Ahu—her lips curled slightly upward, revealing a faint smile.
This kind of laughter was unusual. Ah Hu racked his brains for a long time before finding a word that could basically express it accurately: "mockery".
As their attention was focused on the painting, a strange sound suddenly rang out from their pockets, half music and half ringtone, forming a bizarre symphony. It turned out to be a cell phone notification tone; the two had received identical text messages:
"You have finally seen my naked body. From this moment on, you must publicly display your naked body for the next twelve hours, or you will face misfortune."
Both messages were sent from the same number: 13901673693
They stared at each other, their faces like cell phone screens, displaying messages of doubt and unease.
"Look!" This time it was Ah Hu's turn to shout.
The clothes, masks, and shoes that had fallen on the ground had all vanished.
The canvas returned to its original state. Zoe, wearing a mask, sat quietly on the windowsill, dressed in her light blue doctor's gown. Her feet, clad in white leather shoes, were slightly crossed. A mocking smile was hidden behind the light blue mask, with only her eyes visible, gazing intently at the two stunned young people.
Within minutes, the two reached an agreement on several points.
First of all, the "strange text message" that Sanwen deleted should be the one in front of us.
Secondly, it's difficult to determine whether Sanwen's death was indeed the "misfortune" mentioned in the text message, as he died in a car accident, and it could also be a coincidence. However, the time of Sanwen's death coincides exactly with the twelve hours specified in the text message, so it's better to believe it's true than not.
Finally, regarding "publicly displaying nudity," the last four words don't need further discussion; even children understand them. The difficulty lies in the word "public." What constitutes "public"? Does it necessarily mean running naked in the street? Does a public bathhouse count?
"Public bathrooms are separated for men and women, so they might not count..." Nono muttered.
According to her understanding, "public" means a public occasion where both men and women can enter; it does not count if there are only men or only women.
"There's a small island in Greece called Minoan, which has a famous nude beach. Every year during peak tourist season, people flock there, and as far as the eye can see, the beach is covered with naked people, like a school of fish surging onto the shore to commit mass suicide. They lie there completely naked, and because there are so many naked people, others might glance at you at most, but they won't look at you a second time..."
As soon as Ah Hu finished speaking, Nuonuo poured cold water on him.
"Only 12 hours left. If you have a private jet, you might still make it!"
Yeah, imagine rushing into a travel agency at breakneck speed and yelling at the staff, "Twelve hours from now, I have to be standing on that damn Knox beach!" The staff would definitely give you a disdainful look and say, "So impatient? Why don't you buy a porn magazine first?"
Paying tour fees, filling out forms, completing procedures, and then waiting for visas and plane tickets—it might take three to five days, let alone half a day, to actually make the trip happen. That said, even with ample time, a European tour would cost at least 10,000 RMB for airfare and accommodation. Just for the sake of finding a partner, isn't the cost too high?
A more rational approach would be to resolve this locally, in Shanghai.
Nuonuo and Ahu secretly glanced at each other, plotting how to meet the requirements in the text message without being seen by the other person, to avoid embarrassment later...