Chapter 3
Fang Yu drank water strategically.
It's not that he was stingy with the money. Fifty buns sounded exaggerated, but in fact it was only seventy-five yuan.
And compared to the job I almost lost, it’s really nothing.
He was simply surprised that Rong Jing, a seemingly thin young man, could eat so much. Especially, looking at Rong Jing's expression at the moment, it seemed that he still felt a little unsatisfied.
Fang Yu coughed lightly and asked tentatively, "Master Rong, are you full?"
Rong Jing smiled shyly at him and nodded gratefully.
Fang Yu was silent for a moment, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Don't be polite to me——"
As soon as the words fell, Rong Jing became even more embarrassed: "...It's indeed almost there."
Fang Yu: "...Come on, I'll take you to eat something else."
Boss Liu just came over and said that the store was out of stock, and the last vegetable bun with the filling leaked out went into Rong Jing's stomach.
Fang Yu took Rong Jing to a nearby restaurant, intending to order a few signature dishes for Master Rong to sample the specialties of Changxi County. But between delicious food and a full stomach, Rong Jing clearly chose the latter. With a flourish, he ordered ten generous portions of egg fried rice, finally filling his empty stomach.
He stretched lazily with satisfaction and thanked Fang Yu sincerely.
Fang Yu was flattered again and quickly waved his hand to indicate that you're welcome.
After dinner, Fang Yu wanted to take Rong Jing back to Boss Liu's bun shop, but Rong Jing swore he knew the way, so Fang Yu didn't force him. As they parted, since Rong Jing didn't have a phone, Fang Yu offered to give him his contact information, repeatedly reminding him, "Master Rong, when you buy a phone, remember to add me on WeChat. I'll help you find some business."
Rong Jing put the note with Fang Yu's contact information into his pocket, waved to him, and returned to the bun shop.
At about one o'clock in the afternoon, Boss Liu drove his black car with four circles around it, taking his wife, children and the little zombie who had hitched a ride to Sui County.
Along the way, Rong Jing's heart beat very fast whenever she thought that she would meet Xie Changshi soon.
Although the hexagram indicates that good times will come after bad times, and the outcome is destined to be good, Rong Jing still worries that twelve years is too long, and that by then, Xie Changshi will have a good friend who can replace him.
He pressed his face against the window, looking a little worried.
…
After driving for more than an hour, Rong Jing and his party finally arrived in Sui County.
Boss Liu was from Heshui Village in Sui County and was well-versed in the surrounding villages and the county seat. When Rong Jing mentioned the tube-shaped building, he immediately understood and said, "I know that place. I heard there's a wealthy family there."
"A rich family?" Rong Jing blinked in surprise.
He had lived with Xie Changshi in the tube-shaped building for almost a year. Initially, Xie Changshi, concerned about his status as a little zombie, didn't intend for him to interact with the other residents. It wasn't until Xie Changshi realized that he wasn't like the zombies he'd imagined: he wasn't afraid of sunlight, didn't want to bite people, and at most, his teeth would sometimes itch.
Therefore, in order to help him better integrate into human society, Xie Changshi stuffed the information of most of the residents of the tube building into his brain.
Rong Jing thought about it and remembered that Xie Changshi seemed to have mentioned that the bad-tempered old man on the third floor had a grandson who was very good at studying and was booked by a big company right after graduation.
However, when talking about this, the bad-tempered old man was very modest and said: "If we talk about being great, Ah Shi is the best. He will definitely be the most successful in the future."
Rong Jing also felt so.
The year he and Xie Changshi first met, Xie Changshi was sixteen years old, just the right age to go to high school, and he always got first place in every exam.
So that was the only time Rong Jing felt that although the old man was fierce, he was still quite pleasing to the eye.
Rong Jing, lost in memories, was brought back to reality by Boss Liu's words: "Yes, they are said to be big bosses now, but I'm not sure about the details. I opened a breakfast shop ten years ago. Although I'm from here, I can't come back very often throughout the year. It's just that... I heard that this tube building is going to be demolished. Master Rong, the person you are looking for has not moved away, right?"
Rong Jing frowned uncertainly and muttered softly, "I don't think so."
Having said that, his expression became even more worried.
After getting off the car, Rong Jing originally planned to say goodbye to Boss Liu, but unexpectedly, Boss Liu was quite thoughtful. He learned from Fang Yu that Rong Jing had just come down the mountain and had no means of communication on him, so he simply parked the car and waited downstairs of the tube building.
If Rong Jing couldn't find the person, Boss Liu would take him back to the village to have a feast.
Rong Jing looked up at the tube-shaped building in front of him. Twelve years had passed, and the walls of the building had become extremely mottled. In addition, it was about to be demolished, and the number of residents had decreased. The building seemed to be getting older and more dilapidated.
Rong Jing walked up the stairs, and the gray and white wall paint fell to the ground. He panted to the eighth floor, followed the house number in his memory, and walked to 803. When he looked up, his eyes suddenly lit up.
The entrance of Room 803 looks no different from twelve years ago. Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters are pasted on the old door. There is a shoe cabinet at the door, but there are no shoes on the cabinet. Instead, there is a green potted plant and several animal dolls sitting upright.
Rong Jing picked up the rabbit doll's ears and looked at it carefully. It was still the rabbit in his memory, but this rabbit had obviously looked much older.
He knocked on the door impatiently.
Beep beep beep.
No one answered.
Rong Jing continued to knock without giving up.
Beep beep beep.
Finally, footsteps were heard, followed by a click. The door of 803 in front of Rong Jing remained motionless, while the door of 801 on the side was pushed open from the inside, revealing an elderly face.
The owner of that face squinted his eyes and stared at the mirror for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Small mirror?"
…
Yancheng.
The corridor of the VIP inpatient department of the private hospital under the Xie family.
Song Qing answered the phone with a frown. When he heard the person in charge say, "There is a hole on the ground, and there is an open coffin in the hole," several huge question marks popped up on his forehead.
He couldn't help but ask, "Are you kidding me now?"
The person in charge of the South City Cemetery also looked like he wanted to cry but had no tears. God knows how horrified the security guard was when he patrolled the northwest corner of the cemetery this morning and saw the erected tent and a coffin.
But the most terrifying thing was not at this moment, but after checking the surveillance.
"I'm not kidding. After receiving a call from the security guard, I checked the surveillance footage. It showed five boys climbing over the wall into the cemetery around midnight last night. They were all carrying backpacks. If nothing goes wrong, the tent in the northwest corner must be theirs. But before two o'clock, the surveillance footage caught them again, running faster than rabbits as if they were being chased by ghosts, all the way out of the cemetery."
"I called the police, and they found those boys. They all gave the same testimony, saying they weren't the ones who placed the coffin there. And they were drinking and chatting when a voice that didn't belong to them interrupted... As for the owner of that voice, they were so scared that they just ran forward and no one looked back."
Song Qing: “…”
He rubbed his eyebrows, said he understood, and hung up the phone.
But when I turned around, ripples began to form in my heart.
He was the special assistant of Xie Changshi, the head of the Xie family. From the day he followed Xie Changshi, he knew that Xie Changshi was particularly concerned about the news of Nancheng Cemetery and Sui County in Changxi County.
Song Qing was somewhat confused and could only speculate that perhaps someone very important to Mr. Xie was buried in the Nancheng Cemetery. However, Mr. Xie had lived with his mother in Sui County, and his mother had also been buried in the Sui County cemetery after her death, so this speculation seemed illogical.
Until now... a not very rational idea suddenly popped up in Song Qing's mind. Could it be that Mr. Xie has been paying attention to the South City Cemetery and knew in advance that there was a coffin hidden there?
Song Qing shook his body, feeling that his imagination was a bit too wild, and hurried back to the ward.
A bed sat in the center of the spacious ward. Sunlight filtered through the curtains onto the bed, illuminating the young man's features. A month ago, Xie Changshi had suddenly and without warning fallen into a coma. He was rushed to the hospital, and despite numerous tests, nothing had been found. With no known cause, and no chance of awakening, he could only lie quietly in bed, as he did now.
But there was good news this morning.
When the nurse was making her night rounds, she noticed that Xie Changshi's fingers moved.
Although the test results were no different from before, everyone believed that this was a sign that Xie Changshi was about to wake up.
Song Qing exhaled and was about to bend down to pull up the quilt for Xie Changshi, but the moment he lowered his head, he was caught off guard by a pair of open dark eyes.
Song Qing was stunned. Before he could express his surprise, the noisy and piercing ringtone interrupted him.
Between Mr. Xie waking up and the incoming call, Song Qing knew with a simple thought that he should choose the former. However, when he glanced at the incoming call message, he uttered a "hmm" and subconsciously clicked the answer button.
A strange but pleasant voice came out: "Hello, I'm Rong Jing. Grandma said that she could contact you to find Xie Changshi, right?"
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