51 Thank you, goodbye!
Zhang Chenling randomly found a hotel to stay in.
When I didn't want to check in, the girl at the front desk recognized me at a glance and called me affectionately, "Sister Ling, the first pride of our Quanshui Village!"
She smiled expressionlessly.
Her sister helped her upgrade to a business suite for free, but when she opened the door, she was almost fainted by the musty smell that hit her in the face.
The economy in my hometown is poor and there is not much tourism industry. The room has probably not been occupied by anyone for a long time.
Seeing that the bedding didn't look very clean, she thought that the rooms in this hotel were just the same, so she didn't bother to turn around and negotiate. She just went to bed with her clothes on without even taking a shower.
Her mind was in a mess, with many kinds of emotions mixed together, boiling like a hot pot. Zhang Chenling tried to sort them out, but unexpectedly found that among these emotions that came one after another, there was not what she had imagined - grief.
She wanted to force herself to cry, but her throat seemed to be stuck and she couldn't cry at all. She could only stare blankly in the darkness. It was not until the second half of the night that she began to drowsily feel sleepy.
As soon as my eyelids closed, I was startled by a strange noise and immediately sat up in bed.
She held her breath and listened again. There were two more sounds, like someone talking. To be more precise, the voice sounded very much like Chen Hongmei's voice when she was a child, calling her to get up: "Lingling! Lingling!"
She stared around in the darkness with wide eyes, and finally her gaze locked on a pair of blue eyes on the wall. She thought, could it be... Chen Hongmei came to see me?
"Mom, I'm sorry, you have to go first. I haven't lived enough!" She muttered to the air conditioner with her face up, "I'll heat up a bathtub for you later, and you can take a good bath there. Oh, and I'll heat up a big triangular bathtub so you can take a bath with my dad..."
I chattered on and on, not knowing how long. I lay back on the bed, closed my eyes, and opened them again. It was already the next morning.
I got up and opened the curtains, but was caught off guard and was dazzled by the warm morning light and couldn't open my eyes.
It took him a while to see clearly outside the window. The third floor of a dilapidated old public housing unit not far away was the home where he used to live and where Chen Hongmei had a sudden heart attack.
Last night, Zhang Chenling had just walked out of the hospital gate when she received a call from Zhang Chenguang. The brother and sister had blocked each other's main number. He called from an unfamiliar second number and said, "The day after tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock! Longfeng Funeral Home!"
Zhang Chenling's nose felt sore, and she choked up and asked, "Do you need my help preparing anything?"
This sentence somehow ignited Zhang Chenguang's temper, and he shouted at the other end of the phone, "Who the hell dares to ask you for help? Where were you when we needed you the most? You blocked our entire family, and now that Mom is gone, you're trying to be so hypocritical?"
"...Zhang Chenguang, Mom is gone. What's the point of saying all this? Can she ever come back?"
"Now that everyone has left, is your hypocritical behavior still useful?"
"Don't be so hypocritical. Chen Hongmei is also my mother. Of course I feel sad when she passes away..."
"Just shut up! Stop fucking pretending! Are you sad?... Are you sad because you didn't help us when we were in the most difficult time? Are you sad?... You insisted on moving from Shanghai to Hainan, with tens of millions in your pocket to restart your life with a boyfriend, and did you leave us a penny? Are you sad?... Do you think I don't know that you were scammed out of all the money you started a business with in Hainan? You didn't want to give that two-digit money to your family, but you gave it generously to outsiders. And you still have the nerve to say you're sad?"
Zhang Chenguang took a breath and, before Zhang Chenling could retort, continued firing, "...you're like a dog seeing shit when you see a man. You'd rather spend tens of millions on him than give him anything back to your family. If you hadn't moved to Hainan and shown off that time, your whole family would have everything they want, and Mom wouldn't have died!"
Zhang Chenling felt a tightness in her chest, and she answered in a sobbing voice that was very unfamiliar to her:
"It's my money, I can spend it however I want. I'll admit the loss on my investment. Why should I be morally blackmailed into spending it for you? Besides, have I spent less on you all these years? Wasn't it because I wanted you to live a good life with me that your family was able to move from your hometown to Shanghai? But what about you? You're a hopeless case! I made you an executive at the company, and you ruined it! You and your wife colluded to commit favoritism and fraud, enriching yourselves! The salary I paid you over the years, plus the money I spent on you, is at least 10 million! You just forgot about it after you spent it, right?! Besides, I did lose all my money, but did I ever borrow a penny from you? I'm working hard to make a comeback. Have you ever given me any help or support besides asking me for money?"
"...make a comeback? Ha, you make me even angrier when you say that! Who doesn't know what you did in Shanghai? Giving old men a bath every day, you think you can make a comeback? You love baths so much, why haven't you bathed Mom? Huh? Did you bathe Mom? Where were you when Mom died? Where were you?"
Zhang Chenling rubbed her tearful eyes, turned around and picked up the mobile phone on the bedside table. She didn't want to be disturbed by anyone or anything last night, so she turned off the phone early.
I clicked into WeChat and found a bunch of unread messages.
Ni Yue, who had pinned the post, sent me a message last night: "Cousin, are you okay? I get it, don't be too sad. My condolences."
Zhang Chenling replied: It's okay, don't worry.
Ni Yue happened to be checking WeChat and replied immediately: When will you be back?
Zhang Chenling: The first seven days should be burned.
Ni Yue sent a string of crying and hugging emojis, which said it all.
Pulling my thumb down, I saw Xu Zhiqian had also sent a WeChat message last night, like Xianglin Sao: I don't know why you're in such a hurry to go back home. I wish you all the best! When you come back, we'll have a good chat. Well, I have a lot to say to you. I and Ni Yue are here, so you can rest assured. Sister Shuang works very efficiently, and Xiao Ma Ge will be back soon... I don't know when you'll be back, but if there's anything I can help you with, I can rush over to help you!
Zhang Chenling sighed: Thank you, no need to come over, Shan Ruoshui needs you more than I do.
Scrolling down again, I saw a message from Zhang Chenguang's wife Zhao Na. Before, she had only blocked Chen Hongmei and Zhang Chenguang, and had forgotten about this mischievous sister-in-law.
Zhao Na said: I will pay 10,800 yuan for ICU hospitalization and 20,000 yuan for the funeral home deposit. Please transfer this money to me. Your family has no money, so I borrowed it from my parents' home.
Zhang Chenling had no choice but to transfer 31,000 yuan to Zhao Na. She received it immediately and said: Chen Guang told you that the funeral will be held at Longfeng Funeral Home at 8 o'clock the day after tomorrow morning. Remember to ask me for the deposit slip from the funeral home then.
Zhang Chenling: Okay, thank you for your concern, sister-in-law.
The system automatically replied: The beautiful stupid woman has enabled friend verification, you are not his (her) friend yet...
Zhao Na deleted her.
The second time he came to Miss Zhuang's house in Room 403, Ni Yue found that this woman was still the same as last time, with delicate makeup on her face and wearing a wig as usual. She was much more elegant than himself who just washed his face casually and went out in the morning.
Being stared at by Ni Yue's admiring eyes, Miss Zhuang felt a little shy and took the initiative to explain: "Usually when outsiders come, I will dress up. Otherwise, my neck will be like a bald boiled egg without a single hair, and I am afraid it will scare people."
As he spoke and laughed, his thin shoulders trembled.
Ni Yue also smiled, then looked around and found that Miss Zhuang's house was basically empty, even the dining table and chairs where they sat and ate lychees last time, and the refrigerator in the kitchen had been moved away.
Like Uncle Qian's house next door, Miss Zhuang's house also has a compact layout of two bedrooms and a living room, but once the furniture is gone, it looks empty, lifeless, and even more desolate.
The three of them assembled the bathtub in the middle of the living room, placed the bathing device neatly on the inner wall of the bathtub, and then filled the bathtub halfway with water.
"The water shouldn't be too hot! It can be a little cooler, like the water temperature in a swimming pool, but not more than 30 degrees!" Miss Zhuang said to Xu Zhiqian who was adjusting the water temperature.
"That won't do. The minimum temperature cannot be lower than 38 degrees. Not even one degree difference is allowed. Our operating manual has regulations!" Xu Zhiqian winked at her.
"So you don't need our service at all, not even a body scrub, right?" Ni Yue confirmed with Miss Zhuang again.
"No, I shower regularly at home, and when I'm not showering I just wipe myself with a hot towel, so I'm not dirty. I just want to soak in the water for a while!"
"I understand," Ni Yue nodded, "You want to regain the feeling you had in the swimming pool before."
When talking about swimming, Ms. Zhuang beamed. "Don't be fooled by my small stature. When I was young, I led a team to a youth friendly competition in Singapore!" Her lips curled up. "I took silver in the 200-meter freestyle, finishing just 0.01 seconds behind the champion. But I was a full ten centimeters shorter! My coach said if I had grown even one centimeter taller, the championship would have been mine!"
While we were talking, the water temperature was adjusted.
"Then I..." Xu Zhiqian scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.
Miss Zhuang saw that he wanted to avoid her, and she certainly didn't want several people watching her bathing, so she suggested that Ni Yue stay alone with her and let Xu Zhiqian and Sister Shuang go back to the car downstairs to rest. "Wait until I finish my bath before coming upstairs to move the bathtub, okay?"
It was a rare opportunity to take a break from their busy schedule, so Xu Zhiqian and Sister Shuang naturally had no objections.
After sending his two teammates out of the door, Ni Yue turned around and saw that Miss Zhuang had taken off her home clothes. She was as skinny as he had imagined, with only a few pounds more flesh on her body than the young master.
However, seeing her wearing a blue and white striped one-piece swimsuit, Ni Yue was surprised: "Why, you're taking a bath in a swimsuit?!"
"What else? Are we still going to take a bath naked?" Miss Zhuang smiled. "Let's do the whole act. This is my old battle robe!"
Ni Yue observed her more closely and noticed the plastic wrap and waterproof stickers showing under her swimsuit's armpits. "So... you waterproofed the incision yourself. You don't need my help?"
"No, I did it myself after the surgery so I could shower," Ms. Zhuang said with a wry smile. "I had bilateral axillary lymph node dissections. At first, it was horrible every time I lifted my arms, and I wasn't very skilled at it, so it took me over an hour to do it. Now I'm used to the pain, and I've gotten used to the movements, so it's done in ten minutes!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Miss Zhuang couldn't wait to step one of her slender legs into the bathtub. Ni Yue hurried forward to support her and helped her sit down slowly.
Leaning her body back against the bathing device, her neck supported as if she were sitting in a massage chair, Ms. Zhuang slowly exhaled from her chest and murmured, "Oh my God, it feels so good to be in the water. So comfortable. I feel like a dead fish coming back to life! If only I could stay in the water forever..."
His eyes narrowed unconsciously, and after a moment he opened them, staring at Ni Yue and begging her, "Can you help me add some more water?"
"Huh?" Ni Yue hesitated, then took a closer look. Miss Zhuang was not very heavy, so the water level in the bathtub hadn't risen too much, just below her chest. Seeing her pitiful appearance, Ni Yue had no choice but to agree: "Then I'll add a little more for you! But it can't be above your chest!"
"Okay, add some cold water!" Miss Zhuang pleaded again.
"That won't do!" Although Ni Yue's mind was full of wild ideas, she would never dare to disobey the operating manual.
Miss Zhuang curled her lips.
The water was added, and Ni Yue, who was wearing jeans today, simply sat down on the floor not far away, with his hands behind his back, watching Miss Zhuang taking a bath. The latter had a mushroom head sticking out above the bathtub, with a childlike innocence on her face.
She kept splashing water on herself, then turned her head and asked, "By the way, how much is this bathing device? It's so soft and comfortable to sit on!"
"Hmm..." Ni Yue snorted, "It's not much money!"
"It's not much money, it's not much money, there has to be a number, right?"
"Well... forty-nine with free shipping!" Ni Yue was helpless after being pressed by her, so he just gave her a 50% discount.
"Then I'll transfer it to you now! My phone is on the windowsill, can you get it for me?"
"No need to transfer it to me! Really! Our customers will use it in the future too!"
"I guess you won't have a weird client like me anymore. This magical tool can only be used once!"
"Use it just this once?" Ni Yue's eyes widened, expressing his disagreement. "If you go to a nursing home in the future and they don't have a bathtub there, won't you still have to come to us?"
"..." Miss Zhuang was silent for half a second, but still insisted, "We'll talk about it later. Now, hand me the phone, or I'll crawl out and get it myself!"
Ni Yue couldn't persuade Miss Zhuang, so he had to get up and take the phone and hand it to her.
"Oh, right!" Miss Zhuang had just transferred the money when she said, "It suddenly occurred to me that you know the password to the gate across the street, right? I've prepared a gift for Uncle Qian. Could you please deliver it to him for me?"
"Okay, after you take a bath I'll go give him the gift and see how he's doing."
"No, you go now!" Miss Zhuang's tone suddenly became tough.
"Why???" Ni Yue was confused.
"Oh, I'm afraid everyone will be so busy that they'll forget," Miss Zhuang said with an embarrassed smile, her attitude softening as she explained, "Besides, I want to stay here a little longer. Why don't you go over now, chat with Uncle Qian, sing some songs, and then come back. We won't be late!"
Ni Yue thought that Miss Zhuang probably needed some private space, and that being here would disturb her to some extent, so he respectfully obeyed.
Seeing Ni Yue's agreement, Miss Zhuang smiled and said, "I'll put the gift on the kitchen counter. The password to my front door is 760713."
When Ni Yue came to the kitchen, he saw a brown paper bag stuffed full of things. Inside were neck and shoulder massagers for the elderly, infrared heating knee pads, smart bracelets, and mini microphones that could be connected to mobile phones...all brand new and unopened.
How can this be a gift? It's clearly a gift package!
She walked out the door holding the paper bag, a smile of joy on her face as she welcomed the harvest. She heard Miss Zhuang meowing behind her, "Thank you, goodbye!"
The next second, the door closed with a click.
I suddenly had a bad feeling in my heart.
Then I changed my mind and laughed at my own sensitivity and suspicion. Well, it’s okay, don’t think too much.
When Ni Yue opened the door of Uncle Qian's house, he found the room was quiet and silent. He thought Uncle Qian was sleeping, so he put the paper bag on the floor of the living room, closed the door gently, and turned back to press the password of Miss Zhuang's door. But he heard a crisp "
——“Wrong password!”
Press it again, still wrong!
Press it for the third time, still wrong!
"No way..." She knocked on the door and shouted, "Miss Zhuang, the password is wrong. Could you please help me open the door?"
There was no movement at all inside.
She panicked and pounded on the door with her fists clenched. "Miss Zhuang! Miss Zhuang! Come and help me open the door!"
Her answer was still silence.
Suddenly her scalp went numb, cold sweats broke out all over her body, and her brain began to replay the scenes just now like a movie. She suddenly realized that some of Miss Zhuang's words had a deeper meaning. Could it be that she was deliberately sending her away and then...
——He committed suicide in the bathtub?!
Right now, Shangshanruoshui has just survived the most difficult early days of its entrepreneurship and has seen a glimmer of hope. If it drowns a customer, it will definitely be on the headlines today, forwarded across the entire network, and flooded with bad reviews!
By then, the reputation of being a good person, the hard work of my cousin, the efforts of the team... everything will be destroyed!
My cousin had just lost a loved one and was suffering a huge blow. Now another blow was added to the wound, and her life was completely ruined!
No! I can't allow this to happen!
Tears flowed unconsciously, Ni Yue was filled with grief and anger, banging on the door with his hands and feet, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"Ms. Zhuang! Open the door! You can't be so selfish! If you want to die, jump into the Huangpu River, don't die in our bathtub! If you die, we're all finished! You can't just think about yourself and ignore the lives of others, Miss Zhuang! If you don't open the door, I'll call the police! Open the door for me! Open the door!..."
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