Chapter Ten: The Stolen Peaceful Room

  All I saw was that her hands were quite fair, and her thumb flew quickly as she sent text messages. Girls who do this business, are their typing speeds all so fast? Maybe... they have a lot of words bottled up in their hearts and want to pour them out to others, but every man who comes to the door is busy doing the deed, so they can only change identities and chat with others on mobile QQ. She finished sending the text message and handed the phone back to me. I casually took it and put it in my pocket.

  I put my arm around her waist, walked out of the alley and continued for a while, then stopped and handed her 200 yuan.

  She was stunned: "Big brother, what kind of nonsense is this? Just half an hour ago. Two hours for only two hundred, do you think I don't know how to count?"

  I smiled and said, "Let's take a rest tonight, no more work. This is my thank you for chatting with me."

  She burst out laughing and took the money with a big smile, saying: "Alright, I'll listen to you. Big brother, what's your name?"

  "Lin You. How about you?"

  "Didn't I tell you?!" She said with a mischievous look, raising an eyebrow and winking.

  I couldn't help but laugh too. I took off my hat and mask, stuffed the mask into the hat, and said, "I'm asking for your real name."

  Hualing saw my appearance and burst out laughing: "You look so honest, no wonder... Oh, your real name is, guess what?"

  I took out my phone and waved it around: "It's probably in here somewhere?"

  Her face turned red instantly, and her small fist swung up and hit my arm.

  Maybe someone will ask: how did you know she left her phone number? In fact, whether it's a rich beauty or a street girl, a girl's thoughts are not difficult to guess. Before borrowing the phone, she had already told me that the message she wanted to send was "to tell her roommate to leave the door open for me", but when sending the text message, she deliberately didn't let me see the content. Since she had already told me the content, why did she have such an inconsistent behavior? The most likely answer is: what she inputted and what she said were inconsistent, and what she inputted would make her embarrassed if I saw it in person.

  Relying on subtle clues, one step ahead of others, guessing what's on their mind.

  The two of us walked for a while and arrived at Zhonghua Street. I bought a pack of Shanghai cigarettes (now renamed "Red Double Happiness", but the golden box remains unchanged) for 10 yuan, a lighter, a bottle of Coke, and an LD small flashlight from a convenience store. I opened the pack of cigarettes, and Ling asked me to give her one. I lit it up for her, she took a deep drag, and exhaled the smoke out of her nostrils.

  I hailed a taxi for her to take home, but she shook her head and said it wasn't necessary. Her home was very close by, so walking back would be fine. Seeing that she insisted, I could only nod my head and say that it was almost eleven o'clock, so be careful walking alone. She nodded and left.

  I opened my phone and clicked on "Sent Messages".

  The latest message was sent to a strange number. The message read: "This is my number, I'm Hu Haoling."

  "Where are you going, sir?" the taxi driver asked politely.

  "Light Rail Line 3, Hongqiao Road Station." I said, taking out a cigarette from my pocket and asking, "Driver, can I smoke?"

  "Go ahead, suit yourself."

  I saved Hu Hao Ling's phone number in my address book. As soon as I finished saving it, my phone flashed twice and ran out of battery.

  Forget it, anyway I'll be going to the mortuary at night and will have to switch off my phone then too.

  I pulled out the lighter, lit a cigarette. The car was speeding, and the wind blew so hard that I couldn't open my eyes. I could only squint, staring at the high-rise buildings whizzing by beside me, lost in thought. After finishing the cigarette, I twisted open the Coke, glug glug, and downed it all in just a few gulps.

  Coca-Cola contains caffeine and has a high sugar content, not only can it replenish energy and refresh the mind, but also due to the release of carbon dioxide when drinking this carbonated beverage in one gulp, it will cause continuous belching, thereby lowering body temperature and keeping calm.

  Some people might laugh at me: "You silly fool, drinking Coke, aren't you afraid of killing sperm? Aren't you afraid of sterilization?" In fact, the idea that Coke kills sperm is a load of nonsense. Coke can indeed kill sperm, but only in America, where some women who don't like using condoms would grab a bottle of Coke after doing it, shake it vigorously, open the cap, and insert the bottle into themselves to let the Coke fill their bodies. When the Coke encounters the man's little swimmers, they would die tragically due to the high sugar concentration. This is the real principle behind Coke killing sperm. Just drinking it doesn't do anything. Because some American women have this method, American forensic experts even once judged that a female corpse with Coke flowing out of her lower body was killed after being intimate with an acquaintance, because if it were a stranger's rape and murder, there wouldn't be a chance to use Coke to kill sperm.

  But somehow, some clever Chinese person who had experienced "exotic customs" in the US and seen this special contraceptive method after that, passed it on to China, and through a game of telephone, it became the claim that drinking Coke kills sperm.

  In fact, the talk of ghosts and gods is also passed down in this way. Think about it: a group of people sitting together telling tall tales, each one trying to outdo the others with more and more bizarre stories. The more absurd the story, the more attractive it becomes, so everyone tries their best to make their story sound as mysterious and impressive as possible. Those who are shocked and convinced by these stories then spread them around, adding their own embellishments and exaggerations along the way, until they become outlandish tales with no basis in reality.

  It's just that, if after many years, I were to tell the story of encountering moving corpses, absorbing yang energy, controlling spirits with belly bands, and summoning souls with spells, which are all unbelievable yet ultimately proven to be extremely ridiculous, I wonder what expression others would have. Would it be one of disdain or adoration? I dare not say. However, I believe that everything unreasonable will eventually have a reasonable explanation. Perhaps when I find the answer, it will also be the day I save Xiao Luqi.

  Arrived at the destination, I gathered my scattered thoughts and paid the fare. The driver wanted to give me some coins as change, but I didn't take them. This thing jingling in my pocket isn't the rhythm of crime. To do something, you have to be fully prepared, right? Just like a cat, it's originally stealthy with its paw pads, catching mice silently. Some people's homes are infested with mice, yet they insist on putting a bell on the cat's neck, and the mice dance at the sound of the bell. The cat is exhausted from chasing but catches nothing. This person blames the cat for not catching the mice, haven't you seen the cat giving them a disdainful look?

  The hospital gate is just nearby. I put on my mask and hat again, pretending to cough as I walk into the hospital gate.

  The security guard who I once bribed with a pack of cigarettes stopped me and said, "Sir, where are you going?"

  I was afraid he would recognize my voice, so I coughed violently a few times and spoke in a deliberately hoarse tone: "I'm staying in the hospital here, something came up at home today so I went back for a bit and just got back." As I spoke, I pulled out a cigarette and handed it to him.

  The gatekeeper took the cigarette, nodded: "Sorry, you can go in."

  I paid attention. Generally speaking, security guards and cleaners are most familiar with the events that occur in their workplaces. Hearing his tone was strange, I asked: "What's going on? You usually don't ask questions, but today you're being very strict. Has something happened?"

  The gatekeeper nodded again: "Don't mention it, the police came this afternoon. A corpse mysteriously disappeared. You say this is scary?"

  Scary! Of course it's frightening, especially for me!

  Could it be that I was found out for stealing Xiao Luqi's things after all?

  I hastily pulled out a lighter to light the guard's cigarette, taking this opportunity to take a few deep breaths and calm my nerves. I pretended to be calm and said: "It is a bit scary. But... how could it just disappear without any reason? I don't believe in such things. Most likely someone stole it. In these times, dead people are worth more than live ones. Even corpses get stolen."

  The gatekeeper took a deep drag on his cigarette and said, "It's true! I've heard that the body parts of dead people are selling for a high price now. In some cases, prisoners who were executed by firing squad and had no family members to claim their bodies would be sold off quickly while they're still fresh."

  "Hmm, I've heard of this before. But corpses are hard to come by, I reckon medical students must use them for class, but who'd be willing to hand over their relative's body for someone else to dissect? By the way, have they caught the corpse thief yet?" I asked casually, while preparing an excuse to slip away at any moment.

  "No idea, don't know how they were taken out!" The gate guard shook his head.

  "Isn't there any camera footage?" I asked slowly.

  "The deceased in the mourning hall are all dead, what's with the camera? I checked the cameras in the hall and courtyard, but didn't find anyone carrying bags or large packages walking out. You say it's strange, right? We heard about this and were scared to death. Could it be a fake resurrection?" The security guard finished his cigarette and casually tossed the butt outside the gate.

  I immediately took out another one and handed it over, saying: "This matter will not end well. The deceased's family members must make a fuss."

  The gatekeeper thought for a moment and said, "That's strange, no family members have come to make trouble before, probably an outsider."

  I roughly had a number in my mind, and while bidding farewell to the security guard, I stuffed the cigarette box that had just been lit three times into his hand and said: "I just bought it, smoked one, and got over the addiction. But recently, my lungs are really bad, so I don't dare smoke anymore. Here you go. It's hard enough working the night shift, take it."

  The guard didn't say much and handed it over to me. I then quickly walked into the hospital lobby.