Женский труп, завернутый в ткань, лежал в шкафу

Глава 3

She glanced back at the village silhouettes far behind, finally letting out a sigh of relief and slowing her pace. She saw a very high mountain ahead, its peak shrouded in dark clouds, as if rain was falling, and heard the distant rumble of thunder. A wind blew from the other side of the mountain, pushing the heavy, dark clouds. At the foot of the cloud-covered mountain, she saw vast expanses of dark oleander...

She felt herself spinning in the wind and rain, and before she knew it, she was thrown into the middle of the woods, surrounded by hard tree trunks and large blossoms. Suddenly, the oleanders transformed into pale, blood-red faces, simultaneously stretching out their arms and legs to block her, constantly tripping her, entangled her, and scratching her face until it bled. She fell and got up again, so terrified that her voice became hoarse from crying. She ran back and forth among the bushes, but couldn't escape.

Just then, a cat scurried past her. She followed it, seemingly in a daze. Looking up, she saw a withered tree in front of her, and a man crouching among its branches, watching her. She retreated into the bushes, scrutinizing the bonsai-like withered tree and the man in the bright light. She saw that he was a man in his fifties, broad-shouldered, with a crew cut of gray hair, a wide face, thick eyebrows, and goldfish eyes. He wore a gray suit jacket, black trousers, and flat cloth shoes.

She had never seen this man before. But she resolutely went over to him, told him she was being chased, and begged him for help. He didn't respond for a long time. Then she realized he was dead, standing there with his neck clamped between two tree branches. Blood trickled from both sides of his ears, pooling on the ground. She screamed again and ran away.

Unexpectedly, she tripped and fell. When she got up, she found that everything around her had changed. In the blink of an eye, the world was desolate, the leaves had fallen, and the forest was bare, filled with withered trees. Beyond the withered forest, everything was white, a world covered in ice and snow. The distant mountain was still there, but it was surrounded by silver, as if it had been brought closer. She continued walking, her face stinging from the dry, cold wind, and the gleam of the snow making her head ache. Suddenly, she looked up and saw a wolf blocking her path.

The wolf had a fierce face, smoke rising from its split mouth, and its fangs gleamed coldly...

She ran back, and seeing a house at the foot of the mountain in the distance, she hurried towards it. When she got there, she felt as if she had been there before. A cat on the windowsill glared at her fiercely before slipping through a crack in the window and into the house. She saw a white figure moving behind the window, and heard a woman's somber voice: 'Damn it! Give me back my heart! Give me back my heart!—'

"Ah! ——" Wu Bingbing screamed and woke up. She found herself lying on the floor between the bed and the cabinet, covered in sweat.

She sat on the ground, panting for a long time, still feeling lingering fear from the terrifying dream she had just had.

She frowned and muttered to herself, "Her heart? What does that mean? —"

That day, on the way to the hospital, Wu Bingbing asked, "Mom, have you seen that girl?"

The mother was taken aback and asked, "Which girl?"

"The one—the one for my heart?"

Mom paused for a moment, then said, "I've never seen you before. What's wrong?"

Bingbing asked, "What does she look like?"

The mother didn't answer, gave her a puzzled look, and walked away on her own.

Bingbing said, "These past few days, every time I fall asleep, I have a dream. In my dreams, it's either night or a gray sky. There's always a woman chasing me, dressed in white, with her hair down, shouting and cursing as she chases me... I can only see her figure, but not her face, I don't know what she looks like..."

Mom suddenly shuddered and gripped her arm tightly.

She was about to continue when her mother said, "Stop talking nonsense. Are you trying to scare your mother again? What woman in white, with disheveled hair... there's no such thing. I don't want to hear it."

Seeing her mother's nervous expression, Bingbing quickly shut her mouth.

When they arrived at the hospital, the nurse on duty said that Dr. Meng was seeing guests and they should wait a while. But not long after, a tall, thin female doctor came and said that Dr. Meng wanted her to examine Bingbing.

The next checkup was also very simple. It mainly focused on her recovery after the surgery. The doctor gently touched the healing wound, tapped it a few times, listened to her heartbeat with a stethoscope, and finally did an electrocardiogram. The female doctor told her that she looked fine and everything was normal, and that she could go home without worry.

This made Wu Bingbing somewhat regretful—although she didn't want a male doctor to examine her, the fact that Dr. Meng wasn't examining her personally made her feel like she had lost an opportunity to verify—was her heart really afraid of Dr. Meng? So, after the examination, she didn't leave immediately, and her mother stayed with her, waiting for Dr. Meng.

Finally, Dr. Meng emerged from the doctor's office, accompanied by a slightly older man. It seemed Dr. Meng was seeing him off. They walked together towards the elevator. Wu Bingbing watched the man enter the elevator, then quickly ran to the nearby glass window to look down, waiting for them to emerge from below. She froze—a broad build, crew-cut gray hair, a wide face, thick eyebrows, and goldfish eyes—she had seen this man in her dream yesterday. In the dream, he was dead, trapped between two tree branches—she looked at the man below, his gray shirt and black trousers, and was utterly perplexed.

She watched Dr. Meng escort the man to the parking lot, watched the two shake hands and say goodbye, and watched the man turn around, get into his car, and drive away.

A short while later, Dr. Meng returned, and Wu Bingbing went up to him, eagerly asking, "Uncle Meng, who was that person—who was that person just now?"

Dr. Meng was startled and asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Wu Bingbing said, "I think I've seen him before. Where have I seen him? Who is he?"

Dr. Meng said, "Impossible, you've never seen him."

"Just asking, who is he?"

“I told you, you don’t know him.”

“I’ve seen him in my dreams,” Wu Bingbing blurted out in her haste.

Dr. Meng looked at her suspiciously: "What? You saw me in a dream?"

“Yes, I really did—have that dream,” Wu Bingbing stammered. “I saw this person in the dream. He was dead, murdered—do you believe me?”

Dr. Meng shook his head and laughed: "Kill him? You mean someone else killed him?"

"Yes, I don't know why—"

“That’s why it’s called sleep talking.” Dr. Meng nodded tolerantly at her. “Alright, I have things to do. You can go back if you don’t have anything else to do. Take care of yourself, don’t overthink things, and get plenty of rest.”

Dr. Meng walked quite a distance into the depths of the corridor before Wu Bingbing seemed to wake up and chased after him.

"Uncle Meng, I have something else I want to ask you. Could you tell me who donated my heart? Didn't you say it was a girl? What's her name? Where does she live?"

"Why are you asking this?" Dr. Meng said.

"I want to know, who is she?"

"It's unnecessary; you don't need to know."

"Shouldn't I at least remember who my benefactors are?"

"You only have a relationship with the hospital, and the hospital will take full responsibility for you."

"But I want to know, I want to remember them, please tell me?"

"No, the hospital is absolutely confidential regarding donors. You should go back!"

Dr. Meng entered his office, and Wu Bingbing followed him in, even sitting opposite him, repeatedly pressing him for answers. Dr. Meng, however, always gave her various excuses and evasive responses. She persisted relentlessly, until Dr. Meng gradually lost interest, his face hardening, and he refused to speak to her.

Wu Bingbing was baffled—this was outrageous! They were giving me a heart transplant, why didn't they let me know?

When she got home, she pressed her father for an answer, but he wouldn't tell her either. No matter how much she asked, he always said he didn't know. Her mother, on the other hand, wore an innocent expression as if she knew nothing, which made her anxious.

She thought, there must be a reason why they wouldn't tell me. What could they be worried about? Who else could they be worried about besides me? Could there be some secret? Or some hidden story? Even if there were, they wouldn't need to hide it from me, would they? She didn't care about any of that nonsense; she just wanted to figure out what was puzzling her…

Chapter Three

Doubts grew wildly like weeds—the resentment of the white-clad woman who frequently appeared among the vines perplexed and troubled her. She ran about seeking answers, only to be followed. Who was watching her intently from the shadows? Who was subtly playing with her hair?

Two days later, Wu Bingbing returned to the hospital. She didn't look for Dr. Meng, but went directly to the outpatient registration desk. She found a nurse named Xiao Ye and told her that a friend had asked her to come see her. Xiao Ye immediately greeted her warmly and said that her friend had mentioned the previous night that she was willing to help Wu Bingbing.

Wu Bingbing remembers that she came to the hospital on September 22nd, and then underwent anesthesia and hibernation.

Her parents later told her that the surgery was performed the following day. That was September 23rd!

She reasoned that since Dr. Meng had said the girl who donated her heart died in a car accident and suffered a brain hemorrhage, meaning she was brain dead and beyond saving according to the doctors, which was why the heart was transplanted to her in such a short time—reportedly within three hours—she would definitely need to come to the hospital for emergency treatment on September 23rd.

They retrieved all the emergency patient data registered on September 23 from the computer terminal and analyzed and verified each case one by one.

Her criteria were female, aged 16 to 30—although Dr. Meng said the girl was about the same age as her, or maybe a little older, she still felt the scope should be broadened.

Seventeen patients came to the hospital emergency room that day, and the reasons were recorded in the brief description of their condition.

Of these cases, 3 were acute gastroenteritis, 2 were injuries from falling buildings, 1 was a migrant worker falling into a tunnel, 2 were burns from fire, 2 were injuries from fights, 1 was a woman experiencing difficult childbirth, 1 was an elderly person suffering a stroke, 1 was a drowning victim being rescued, 1 was a person attempting suicide by poisoning being rescued, 1 was a child choking on fish, 1 was gored in the stomach by a mad bull, and 1 was injured in a traffic accident…

They were looking for information about traffic accident injuries. Excitedly, they read on. But after reading, they were puzzled. The emergency room patient was an elderly man, 65 years old. The attending physician's report was simple, but it explained the situation. He had only broken a leg, suffered a fractured pelvis, and was unconscious due to excessive bleeding. After initial treatment, he was transferred to the inpatient ward.

65 years old? An old man? That's far from the type of girl they're looking for. Besides, he's been to the emergency room.

Hospitalization means there is no danger to life, let alone failure to be resuscitated or brain death.

With their only lead ruled out, Wu Bingbing was at a loss. Xiao Ye's hand, holding the mouse, tapped aimlessly. The two stared at the computer screen, unable to come up with any ideas.

Could the timing be wrong? She's certain she came to the hospital on September 22nd. It's possible the surgery was performed that day, or it might have been postponed by a day or two…

Thinking this, she grabbed the mouse and clicked and scrolled through the computer screen. She first looked at September 22nd, but found no clues. Then she checked September 24th, finding two emergency room cases of traffic accident injuries.

The two traffic accident victims were a man and a woman. They didn't look closely at the man's details. They only knew he was a truck driver in his thirties who had been injured in a rollover accident on the highway and had died by the time he arrived at the hospital. The woman, however, matched their description of her age, injuries, and the time of the accident very closely. After reviewing the computer records, they ran to the emergency room to search for the original records.

Found it. The woman's emergency room record states:

Patient: Liu Dongmei, female, 21 years old, resident of Houliu Village, Xianglin Town, this city.

According to the patient's relatives, at approximately 2:15 PM today, the patient was riding a bicycle across an intersection when he was hit by an oncoming car. He was taken to the hospital at 2:50 PM.

Examination revealed: the patient had an impact injury to the upper left leg, obvious fractures of the left leg and left arm; skin lacerations on the right leg and ankle, suspected fracture of the right lower leg; fractures of the right ribs with penetrating external punctures; abrasions on the right cheek and temple; fundus hemorrhage, cyanosis of the forehead, blood streaks from the mouth and nose, and groaning sounds.

Diagnosis: Intracranial hemorrhage due to trauma, with three fractures.

Rescue efforts have been organized. There is no improvement.

The patient died at 3:55 PM.

After reading it, Wu Bingbing was quite certain that it was her—this girl named Liu Dongmei—who had saved her life. The emergency room report clearly stated that she hadn't died at the time; but it was too late to save her, which is why her heart was given to her more than an hour later. Yes, it was her. She had to find her…no, find her home. She wanted to understand her, to know her—this desire surged through her, driving her uncontrollably forward…

She needed to unravel the doubts entangled deep within her consciousness. These doubts, having taken root in her heart, had grown wildly like weeds for days, becoming a tangled mess, bringing her unspeakable confusion and distress—the haunting figure of the woman in white who repeatedly appeared in her dreams after the surgery. Who exactly was she? Why hadn't she dreamt of her before? Was she related to her recent heart surgery? And was she related to Liu Dongmei, the woman who had given her the heart?…

"Is that Houliu Village in Xianglin Town? It's over 50 kilometers away! Should we use the meter?"

Wu Bingbing hailed a taxi. The driver was a tall, thin man with a long face and hunched shoulders. He craned his neck out of the car like an ostrich, staring at her with red eyes, seemingly surprised by her black leather outfit. When she decided to go, the driver got out of the car, opened the back door for her, and stood waiting by it. She was puzzled—why did he want her to sit in the back? Why should she let him boss her around? She glared at him, opened the front door, and sat down in the front seat, urging him, "Turn on the meter. Let's go!"

The driver didn't seem to mind. He finally closed the back door, sat back in the driver's seat, and turned his head back to look at the empty back seat with apparent regret. He then gave her a fawning smile before starting the engine. But after revving the engine for a while, he was so flustered that the taxi finally started moving forward reluctantly after a few grumblings.

She glanced at the driver with displeasure and subconsciously pulled her leather miniskirt down a little.

The taxi left the city and drove for a while before exiting the flat highway and bumping along the undulating dirt road. She was annoyed by the driver's inattentiveness. He was either swaying his body and glancing at her sideways, or fiddling with the rearview mirror above the front, looking back from different angles, and glancing around inside the car.

Finally arriving at Houliu Village in the western suburbs, Wu Bingbing breathed a sigh of relief. She paid the fare and instructed the driver to park the car not far from the village and wait for her to return.

On both sides of the road leading into the village, there are rows of lush green vegetable fields, emitting a pleasant fragrance mixed with the pungent smell of farmyard manure...

At the edge of the village stood a small general store, owned by a plump woman in her fifties. Seeing her approach, the woman's round face beamed with a fawning smile. Although she had come with a bag full of groceries, she still bought a few cans of drinks and two pieces of chewing gum from the store, then took out her phone and pretended to make a call. She waved away the change the plump woman offered, saying she didn't want it.

"Hello, Lili? ...I'm out fishing with my parents and some friends...Yeah, in the western suburbs, in Xianglin Town, right in front of that reservoir we came to before...Yes, Houliu Village. Our classmate? Yes, you mean Liu Dongmei? I was just thinking of seeing her..."

As she hung up the phone, the fat woman was still staring at her in surprise.

"Young lady, how do you know Liu Dongmei?"

"She's my good friend, what's wrong?"

"A classmate from vocational school? Or someone you worked with at the food factory?"

"Yes, a classmate from vocational school. She works in a food factory..."

Are you looking for her?

"I wanted to visit her while I was at it."

"Play? You don't know what happened to her? She's been dead for over a month!"

Wu Bingbing looked shocked: "She's dead? How could that be?"

The fat woman recounted in detail how Liu Dongmei had died in a car accident.

"I really didn't expect that. Weren't they trying to save him? Maybe he could have been saved."

"His head's smashed flat, his body's broken, what's the point of trying to save him?"

Wu Bingbing sighed: "She's dead... Cremation or burial?"

"Just bury her. It's been forty-seven days already, do you still think she's alive?"

Wu Bingbing racked her brains to ask, "Her family...didn't do anything for her? After she died...nothing else happened? I haven't heard of her giving anything to anyone..."