Chapter 108
Words:988Update:22/06/29 08:41:38
The sky was still dark. Chief Lv had woken up and heard the phone ringing in the outer room.
Ring ring ring ring —
Ring ring ring ring —
He knew who was calling.
As if he had done it a thousand times, he rolled out of bed and stepped on the cold tiles with his swollen bare feet. Outside the window, the black wind of the twelfth lunar month howled and whistled, drowning out the sound of his footsteps. He pushed the door open and heard the long screech of the unlubricated doorknob.
Ring ring ring ring —
Ring ring ring ring —
The phone glowed red in the dark, blinking.
He stood in front of the jumping red dot and stared at the phone. He felt as if his fat body was about to melt into the cold winter night and turn into nothingness.
"Pick it up," he heard a shrill voice say. "Pick it up —"
Ring ring ring ring —
Ring ring ring ring —
Chief Lv picked up the phone with a click.
Just like an old-fashioned tape recorder, the tape began to spin. As if it had been repeated a thousand times, a cry that sounded like both laughter and crying came from the other side of the phone. Countless sharp hooks scrambled to reach into his ears and dig at his eardrums.
"I've let them down. I've let Jiang Stops down. Old Lv —"
"I've killed him. I've killed them. Old Lv —"
Chief Lv stood in front of the phone. He wanted to say something, but his throat felt like it was blocked. He heard a snake-like movement behind him. The cold breath came closer and closer. Then, a decaying hand rested on his flabby shoulder. The crying on the phone suddenly sounded clearly behind his ear.
"Why did you stamp me with the national flag?"
Chief Lv stared in front of him. His hand loosened, and the phone fell to the ground like a dying head after being hanged.
"Didn't I tell you before?"
"Didn't I tell you?"
"Why did you stamp me with the national flag? Why? Why — "
Don't look back, he thought. Don't look back. However, an irresistible force in the dark forced him to turn his neck inch by inch. He saw the purple face that was bleeding from its seven orifices behind him. Its purple lips were still opening and closing as it let out a mournful cry.
"Why did you stamp me with the national flag —"
"Ah!"
Director Lu suddenly woke up, his chest heaving up and down violently. In that instant, he couldn't tell whether he was in a dream or reality.
The office was empty, but the phone on the desk was still ringing relentlessly. The caller ID showed that it was Secretary Zhang.
"..." Chief Lu picked up the phone, his voice hoarse and hard to distinguish. "Hello?"
"Hey, Director Lu, Deputy Qin needs to seek your opinion and confirmation on some routine reports within the detachment. Is that okay?"
The chubby old director closed his eyes and felt that his eardrums were still buzzing. Cold sweat had already soaked through the hurdle vest under his white shirt. After more than ten seconds, he finally tried his best to stabilize his breathing. His heart was still beating in his throat, and there was a faint needle-like pain in his chest.
"Sure." Director Lu finally spoke up. "Let Qin Chuan in."
He hung up the phone.
·
"Room 301, Block A, Block 701, Billow Garden District," Yan Ji slammed the car door with his hand and used his hand to block the sun. He looked up and carefully sized up the gray residential building. He narrowed his eyes and said, "The place where Yue Guangping lives is not very good."
The old-fashioned residential building only had six floors. The balconies above the third floor were all open. Looking up, one could see colorful bedsheets, quilt covers, shorts, diapers, flowers, birds, fish, insects, and cardboard boxes. The air-conditioner box of every household was hung outside the wall. The rain had rusted the air-conditioner bracket, and a few yellow rust stains were neatly hung under the balcony of every household.
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