Chapter 21 Swimming Pool
The conversation had not yet ended when two loud thunderclaps rolled in the distant night sky. The wind suddenly changed direction, and the leaves rustled as if enemies were lying in wait. The rain was approaching.
The aunties and uncles immediately dispersed, muttering, "Why did the situation suddenly change?"
The middle-aged aunt turned around and asked Tu Lanxun, "Little girl, do you want to go to my house and carry an umbrella?" Tu Lanxun smiled and declined. The aunt did not invite her again and walked into the unit door carrying her small leather bag and shopping bag.
Tu Lanxun and the ghost were the only ones left downstairs. They still relied on N's help to bypass the community gate and parked the car near the hotel. They quickly walked along the narrow road that was a five-minute walk away and got onto the main street. Finally, just before opening the door and getting into the car, a drop of rain hit Tu Lanxun's head, and the coolness seeped into his hair.
There was a loud "clatter" and the rain suddenly covered the sky and the earth. The silver-gray Jieda became a shelter where they could live. Tu Lanxun sent a message to his computer from his mobile phone: Sisters, check on Tang Pengan's wife. She is said to be missing. Her address is Unit 1, Building 9, Shangjingfucheng.
Putting down her phone, she suddenly slapped her forehead and said, "I forgot to pick up the food, it's still in the restaurant."
There was no umbrella in the car, so Tu Lanxun took off his coat and covered his head with it. As soon as he stepped one leg out of the car door, his clothes were torn off with a light and accurate technique. Not even a strand of hair was scratched by the zipper. When he turned around, he saw that the coat was in N's hand.
His expression was natural, not like he had snatched her "umbrella". He leaned over to help her sweep the dust off her head, as if doing her a favor. "Just go like this."
Tu Lanxun couldn't help but whisper, "You're a pervert. It's raining so hard outside."
It was so big that the windshield was covered with water and the car windows were fogged up. She stretched out her legs and her shoes were soaked within two seconds, and the chill of the autumn night seeped in.
What's your hobby? Do you like watching people get wet in the rain?
N looked back calmly and handed her the coat. "You can wear it, but you can't use it to keep out the rain."
He took it back mid-sentence, not caring that underneath the blue-painted Xun was a thin sweatshirt. "If you don't want to wear it, I have no objection. Or you can use it to hide your takeout bag."
In other words, she was doomed to get wet in the rain.
Sweet and sour pork tenderloin cannot be poured with water, but it can be painted with blue xun. Not only can it be painted with water, but it cannot be painted without water.
You’re a dog, no, a dog ghost. Tu Lanxun cursed N silently with her eyes, but was caught red-handed by him. His broken eyes swept over her with a cold smile. She was so angry that she dared not say anything. She grabbed her coat and threw it over her.
N: "You don't have to pay me back. I bought the mattress."
Tu Lanxun wanted to spit at him, but his expression brightened involuntarily and he even closed the door with less force.
What he got back from the restaurant was a big bag, which was filled with lunch boxes stacked up layer by layer, stretching the bag open. This store is following the trend of environmental protection, and the lunch boxes are actually made of paper. As soon as he walked out of the store, thousands of raindrops fell on his head. Tu Lanxun covered himself with his coat and ran to the car with the food in his arms.
The half-dry part turned completely wet. When she rushed into the car, her clothes were soaked, her hair stuck to her face in waves, and the last bit of her anger was extinguished, and she collapsed limply in the car seat.
Tu Lanxun was about to take a piece of paper to wipe his face, but N stopped him again, "Don't wipe it, let it dry naturally, it will retain some rain."
As he spoke, two long fingers extended from her face to behind her ear, gently tucking her hair in. Whether intentionally or not, N brushed her forehead as he withdrew his hand, leaving a trail of coolness colder than the rain.
She stared at the car roof, not having the energy to question or resist. He was a living father, so he could do whatever he wanted. "Can we go home now?"
N leaned against the corner of the car seat and door. He didn't know what was wrong. The window was half open, and raindrops splashed in, landing on the ghost's shoulders. After a long moment, he smiled and said, "No."
The cold wind made Tu Lanxun sneeze continuously. Her thin pullover sweatshirt was soaked through. After careful consideration, she put on her coat which was mostly wet. At least the lining was still a little dry. However, the moisture was transferred between the two parts, and the friction began to become sluggish. It was destined that this coat would never dry out completely.
Perhaps out of pity for the wet kid, N raised his eyelids and said, "It's getting dark. Let's go to the swimming pool. I'll drive."
After saying that, the ghost disappeared from the spot. Tu Lanxun dragged his wet body to the passenger seat. N appeared in the driver's seat in an instant and the car automatically ignited and started.
She also wanted to fight for her rights: "Hey, do you have skills like quick-drying and dehydrating? My clothes are still wet."
N was surprisingly patient, but also surprisingly infuriating: "Yes, but I can't give it to you."
The next second, the accelerator was stepped on, and the silver-gray old Jetta reversed and turned in a dangerous but smooth arc, almost brushing against the dust particles on the nearby temporary parking lot, drove out of the narrow parking space into the side road, and sped towards the swimming pool.
Tu Lanxun freed his hands in the passenger seat and just fastened his seat belt when his mobile phone sent a message back to the computer: Boss, we found it.
Tang Pengan’s wife is Liang Wei, the woman with a weak aura in the photo. She works in the logistics department of Lucheng Second Hospital and is in the same unit as Tang Pengan.
The couple has a son named Tang Guangming, who is nine years old. He is the boy with burns on his body and is Bai Xiaoju's cousin in terms of age.
Liang Wei "disappeared" two months ago. Actually, she didn't disappear. She left Lucheng for unknown reasons without saying goodbye or submitting her resignation. She gave up her job, husband, and children, and is now in her hometown.
The above is inferred from the chat records between Liang Wei and Tang Pengan. They mostly talked on the phone, and the few text and voice messages they exchanged were not very harmonious.
Tang Pengan: Weiwei, when will you go home?
Liang Wei: No more reply.
Tang Pengan: There's a lot of stuff to do at home, and I can't do it without you. You'd better come back. I'll buy you a plane ticket, and we can live a good life together.
Liang Wei: Don't you know why I didn't reply? Don't you feel guilty?
Tang Pengan: What are you talking about? Come back quickly. Do you have someone else outside?
Liang Wei didn't reply again.
Tu Lanxun's thoughts were drawn away by the sound of rain. The couple's conversation was oddly amusing, each accusing the other of infidelity. On the surface, it seemed like a conflict of lifestyles. But Tang Pengan's final words were deeply contradictory. If he suspected Liang Wei of having someone else and their relationship was broken, why was he urging her to return to Lucheng?
And it seemed that Liang Wei "not coming back" was more unacceptable to him than her "having someone else".
The computer ghost girl sent a message: This Tang Pengan is either really in love, or he was the one who cheated on her. He felt guilty and made Liang Wei angry and run away, and he couldn't coax her back, so he finally turned the blame and said that the woman was the one who cheated on him to save face.
Tu Lanxun didn't care whether the couple was on the right track in their marriage. She only had one question: why did they fight back and forth for several times without either of them mentioning their son Tang Guangming?
When separated couples want to reconcile, they usually like to bring up their children.
Before she could figure it out, the car slowed down. N was a skilled driver, and even if he slowed down suddenly, he wouldn't throw people forward or be pinched by the seatbelt. He braked so smoothly.
Next to it, the swimming pool looked like a shrunken beast in the dark night. There were no lights on, and only occasional lightning illuminated its outline.
The car was parked in an inconspicuous corner. N didn't rush to get out. He said to her, "Pick a place with water later and stay there. No matter what you hear or see, just ignore it. If there is anything special, call me and I will handle it."
Tu Lanxun shrank back. She was familiar with this rhetoric and was about to see a ghost again.
N took out a bottle of mineral water from the trunk and hooked it with three fingers, not knowing what it was for.
She had no choice but to accept the offer. She knew N wouldn't be dragging along a burden if he had the choice. Reluctantly getting out of the car, the two of them looked like two tiny ants, one of them a dead ant, overlooking the swimming pool.
The lock on the swimming pool door was useless, and there was still a cardboard figure hanging on the wall behind the counter, but the swimsuits on display had been removed. The whole space smelled of dust and the remnant of chlorine that had lingered for years.
We walked all the way to the swimming area, passing through a shower room in the middle. Several locker doors were open, and there were dark shadows all connected together. I couldn't look closely. The more I looked, the more I felt that there was someone hiding behind them, or something that was not a human.
Tu Lanxun's heart trembled, and he comforted himself that the thing walking in front was the least human, and the others were not scary either.
Tiptoeing past the disinfected foot soaking pool, the swimming area was a large space with a square glass dome overhead. At this moment, it was brighter outside than inside. The dim light of the night skimped in a little, outlining the constantly converging and dispersing rain flows.
The glass roof was leaking, and rain was dripping from several seams, drawing bright lines onto the ground, dripping non-stop.
"Go ahead." N stopped.
Tu Lanxun found a spot for herself under the lifeguard's viewing platform. It was raining next to her, so she squatted down holding the vertical pole and peeked out.
This place is too interconnected and has no shelter, so she can only find some psychological security in this way.
The swimming pool had long been dry, its rhythmic dripping rain beating like a drum. N stood in the middle of the cold, dark space. After a while, a pleasant, husky laugh rang out from outside: "You're here after all. It's been ages."
The visitor was a woman, about forty years old, with a tall and slender figure. She wore a narrow modified cheongsam skirt and a formal coat draped over her shoulders. She was not very young, but her charm was enhanced.
N turned to her, expressionless, his eyes barely visible in the dim light, "Teacher Nie."
Tu Lanxun wondered whether this Teacher Nie was a human or a ghost, and he seemed to be from a prominent background.
Only when Teacher Nie came closer did she see clearly that there was a spot of black blood on the side of her cheongsam skirt, crawling over her waist and entire back like rose embroidery. Teacher Nie's legs were entangled with irregular lines, of uneven thickness, just like the cracks of a Barbie doll's legs that were broken into several pieces and then straightened again.
It's a ghost.
And it seems like he died miserably.
Teacher Nie, carrying a bag, stopped not far from N. He tilted his head to look into his eyes, and gradually lost his smile. "Don't look at me. I was put in a box and thrown directly off the cliff."
"I initially thought you'd be able to escape, but I didn't expect you'd be gone before me. You useless thing. I'm saying, you didn't...never come to your senses until the end, did you?"
Teacher Nie giggled, her teeth showing, as if the deaths of the two were a funny joke. N's expression became even colder.
She changed the subject, "Hey, Xiaonan, tell Teacher Nie how they treated you back then? Did it hurt? Hahaha..."
Tu Lanxun thought Teacher Nie was very nice. The good thing was that during the time she had been here, she had only caught N attacking and had never glanced over here.
But is Xiaonan N's name? Then his parents are so simple and just named the child after the child.
N's face twitched, his words were crushed by his teeth, and he smiled softly: "Where is what I want?"
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