Chapter 2: Fude Hospital

  Time flies so fast, in my feeling it's just like closing eyes and then opening them again.

  It's almost time for my appointment with Da Zhuang, I tried to sneak out quietly, but still bumped into Father. He looked at me suspiciously and said, "Xiao Ke, where are you going? It's already nighttime, why aren't you going to bed?"

  Listening to Father Wen's nagging words, I couldn't help but feel extremely painful. These nagging words have already become a familiar tune. This isn't ancient times, after all! "Alright, Dad, my friend found me a job, it's pretty good, underground worker, I'll take off first, see you tomorrow morning." With that, I quickly slipped away with a whoosh.

  After I left, my mother came out and leaned on my father "I think Xiaoke must have had thoughts about it, now he's 23 or 24 years old, but what's the point of going out so late at night." But I didn't know these words, if I knew them, I would definitely be wronged to death.

  The street corner is not far from my home, which is located in the middle section of this street and is also one of the more prosperous areas in Shenyang City. Every night is very lively, with night markets selling all kinds of things, and the atmosphere is great.

  I walked along the night market street towards the intersection, looking at the things sold in the night market as I walked, and soon arrived at the intersection. Da Zhuang was already waiting for me there, wearing a white outfit that looked like mourning attire, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable. When he saw me arrive, Da Zhuang smiled and said, "Huh? I thought you weren't coming! I've been waiting for you for half a day!"

  When I heard Da Zhuang's words, I touched my nose and said, "I, when I came out, didn't my dad block the door and interrogate me for a while? I said, 'What's with your outfit, are you going to guard a spirit or something?' Don't tell me that where we're going today is the morgue and not the hospital. If it really is like that, you'd better tell me now. If we get there later and it really is the morgue, don't blame me for cutting ties with you."

  At once, Da Zhuang hugged my arm and said, "Cough~ Little Ke comrade, what I'm wearing is just a clean robe, we're going to the hospital, not the morgue on this dark night. Besides, the people who work there are quite fierce, it's said that they earn a lot, many people want to go and do that job."

  When I heard Da Zhuang's words, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If it were really the case that the mortuary was haunted, I wouldn't be afraid. The main problem with that place is that it's inauspicious. My grandfather used to say that places like mortuaries and burial grounds are where ghosts and monsters appear most frequently, because the yin energy there is more abundant than human energy. In such places, the yin energy constantly assimilates human energy. If a person's energy is strong, those ghosts and monsters wouldn't dare to bother them, because humans have three yang energies on their body, located on both shoulders and the top of the head. However, if the yin energy is stronger than human energy, those three yang energies would slowly disappear, like fire being extinguished by water. At that time, a person would be at their weakest, so ghosts and monsters wouldn't let them off.

  "Let's go now, didn't you say that place starts duty at 10 o'clock? I came out when it was already 9:15." As he spoke, Da Zhuang and I walked towards the Furi Hospital.

  Foh Day Hospital is located on the boundary of our district. There are few residents in that area, after all, it belongs to the suburbs and no one likes to live in the suburbs.

  "Comrade Xiao Ke, how come there's not a single person around here at night? Last time I came to ask about work, although there weren't many people, it wasn't as deserted as this." Da Zhuang looked around and couldn't help but complain.

  I looked down on Da Zhuang, "When you came here during the day, can daytime be the same as now? If the suburbs at night were the same as during the day, could it still be called the suburbs?" After hearing my words, Da Zhuang coughed awkwardly and said, "Little Ke comrade, I was just sighing, you don't have to mock me like that. Alright, let's hurry up, if we're late, it won't look good when explaining to others." Seeing me wanting to retort again, Da Zhuang stopped arguing about this matter and changed the subject.

  Before long, they arrived at the entrance of Furi Hospital. The hospital was not very large, only four stories high, and did not have any luxurious exterior decorations. At this time, the surrounding area of the hospital seemed to be extremely quiet, which is also a characteristic of being in the suburbs, with few people around.

  Before I came, I also heard some comments from people around me about Fuday Hospital. Fuday Hospital is a medical institution specializing in the treatment of brain neurological diseases, which has been established for decades since the Anti-Japanese War. As for this hospital, I only know so much, and others don't know anything else, ask others and they also don't know.

  Dazhuang pushed open the hospital's large door, and walking towards him was an old man with a somewhat waxy yellow complexion, looking to be around fifty or nearly sixty years old.

  "Are you two here for the shift work today?" The middle-aged man asked, with a hint of excitement and a tinge of what seemed to be relief in his eyes, which made me, who liked to observe, feel curious.

  Upon hearing the middle-aged man's words, Da Zhuang nodded "Right, right, I visited Director Chen here two days ago, and Director Chen told me and my brother to start coming to work today. And you are?" As he spoke, Da Zhuang pulled out a cigarette and handed it to the old man.

  The old man smiled and said, "Come on, let's go to the duty room for a smoke." He then led us two into the duty room.

  The old man and Da Zhuang lit the cigarettes in their hands. "I'll hand over this set of keys to you two first," he said, putting the set of keys on the table into Da Zhuang's hand.

  As for cigarettes, I have always maintained a "die rather than smoke" stance. It's not that I'm annoyed by smoking; in the past, I even tried to learn how to smoke. Perhaps I was just born unsuitable for smoking - every time I inhaled, I would be choked by the smoke and cough until my life was in danger. Ah, yes, it was precisely this big strong comrade next to me who taught me how to smoke back then, teaching me multiple times, but no matter how many times I practiced, I still got choked by the smoke until tears came out of my eyes. In the end, even Big Strong, the most patient teacher, gave up on me. Looking at the two people in front of me, surrounded by swirling smoke, as if they were intoxicated and dreaming, I really don't know what kind of magic cigarettes have that can make two people ascend to heaven like this.

  The old man let out a sigh of relief after handing over the keys to us, and both I and Da Zhuang heard the sound. "Hey, old man, why does it seem like you've accomplished something by handing these over to us?" Da Zhuang asked bluntly, unable to hide his thoughts.

  The old man fell silent for a moment, sighed and said "I think you're not bad, so I'll tell you... this hospital..." He paused here, seeing the inquiring look in our eyes, and then uttered two words that anyone would find unpleasant to hear: "has ghosts..."

  After hearing the old man's words, Da Zhuang burst out laughing "I'm telling you, old man, how can there be ghosts in this world? Don't joke around, I've never seen what a ghost looks like from childhood to adulthood."

  But I looked thoughtful, when I was a child, I also heard my grandfather tell many ghost stories, and I deeply believed them, because for me, what my grandfather said was absolutely true. However, at this moment, hearing the old man's words in front of me, a strange feeling rose from the bottom of my heart, not that I didn't believe it, but before I had heard my grandfather say so many things that I hadn't seen, and now hearing the old man say that there were ghosts in the hospital, and starting from now, I would be working in this hospital, which made me feel a mix of emotions.

  "Listen, kid, I'm telling you the truth. Don't be skeptical. I've been working night shifts at this hospital for three years now. Before, I was always on day shift and would guard the door, while the people who worked night shifts kept changing. But just this month, when I switched to night shifts, I finally figured out why they're always changing." The old man took a long drag on his cigarette.