Chapter 61 Memories

  Cooperating with Hou Da Yong may not be the right decision, but under the circumstances where we can't find Lao Jie and Lao He, it's an inevitable choice. At least he can lead us to Lao Jie's whereabouts.

  I nodded in agreement. Hou Dayong smiled easily and slightly, slanted his shoulder, opened a door beside the refrigerator, and gestured for us to follow him inside.

  He walked in front, I walked behind, and Wang Jue followed me. Wang Jue's help to me has already exceeded the category of great kindness, and even "haven't forgotten for a long time" cannot describe it.

  This door led to a corridor, which was as long, dark and quiet as all the corridors in funeral homes. Walking into it felt like entering another world. The three of them walked down the corridor with heavy footsteps, not saying a word, making the corridor seem even more profound. The lighting here was not only dim but also yellowish, a type of old-fashioned illumination that could only be seen in air-raid shelters in memory.

  I remember when I was in elementary school, every year the school would organize a tomb-sweeping activity. The most impressive thing about sweeping tombs was that everyone had to pass through a three-kilometer-long air-raid shelter to reach the Martyrs' Forest Park. That air-raid shelter was tall and empty, dark and long, with dim yellow lights inside that made it impossible to see around. Before one tomb-sweeping activity, I made a small flashlight using batteries and electric beads, and brought it to school to show off to my classmates. Everyone thought I was amazing, easily solving the lighting problem in the air-raid shelter.

  Then, I took out the small flashlight that wasn't turned on, carried my backpack, and set off with everyone. When we arrived at the air raid shelter, the mischievous kids started making ghostly calls, some even pretended to be ghosts and scared people, the timid kids were frightened and cried loudly, some tightly grasped their companions' hands, and others shouted desperately: "Ming Xiao Yu, quickly take out your flashlight and shine it for everyone."

  The moment I've been waiting for has finally arrived! I proudly took out my homemade flashlight, connected the batteries, wound up the copper wire and turned on the circuit... Good heavens! Something unexpected happened! The light emitted by the small bulb was not even comparable to a matchstick!

  That incident had a great impact on my reputation, and from then on I got the nickname "Blow King".

  Childhood is happy, but growing up is full of bitterness. If the adult world were as humorous as a child's, it would be great, but unfortunately, the path we are about to take is not an air raid shelter, and the people in front of us are not playmates. The cost of making mistakes cannot simply be being given the nickname "braggart", and the danger of losing one's life can happen at any time.

  Wang Jue walked behind me, occasionally pulling at my sleeve, and when I turned back, he made eyes at me, telling me to be more careful.

  This corridor is the longest one I've walked in my memory. Tap tap... I don't know how long I've been walking, it might be half a century, and suddenly a door appeared in front of me. When I reached the door, Hou Da Yong turned around and looked at me, saying quietly: "You must be very familiar with this place." He stretched out his hand to open the door, and a clear lake appeared before my eyes.

  What he said was right, gazing at the rippling lake water, villas, antique old flower mirrors, black and white old photos, brown picture frames, green flower-edged curtains, study rooms, beautiful young men, these dusty memories, in an instant like a flood rushing into my mind. We returned to that place where the accident happened, where all the misfortunes began, the place that was once identified by the police as an illusion. No mistake, everything really happened, not a bit of fantasy.