Chapter 06
Yìngyuè gladly accepted the offer from this man to stay temporarily in his house. The building’s custodian had called him Mister Duanmu. Naturally, she was afraid to be alone in a big, unfamiliar city. Somehow she felt that this man was someone she could trust. Mister Duanmu sounded too formal, but Yingyue thought it’s okay, although she preferred to call him Uncle Duanmu.
Before arriving home, he had already told Yìngyuè not to say anything when they arrived at home. He wanted Yìngyuè to let him explained to his friends first before she told them anything. Even though Yìngyuè had found it a little odd, she determined to obey him.
Unlike this man’s guesses, everyone was home. Once inside the house, their eyes fixed on Yìngyuè. This morning Yingyue had heard this trustworthy uncle’s words when he’d called home. He had said nothing about her.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” Duanmu greeted them and waving his right hand.
“Let me introduce her. This is Miss Luqiu. For a while, she will stay here with us. Later I tell you the full story. Now we have to clean up first.”
Without being asked, one of this man’s friends stepped forward toward them. Then that person stretched out his hand to grab the backpack that Yingyue had just put on the floor. That person then picked up the backpack and walked, following Duanmu and Yingyue. They walked towards Duanmu’s bedroom. After they were already inside the room, that person put the backpack in one corner of the room. After that, he sat on the chair in front of the study table.
Duānmù wanted to take a bath first and told Yìngyuè to wait inside Duānmù’s room. He asked his friend to stay in the room to help Yingyue until he finishes take shower.
While resting, Yìngyuè observed the situation in the room. There was nothing unusual in the room. A bed, a study table, a few chairs, a wardrobe, and a wooden chest were there. Also, there were plain room walls, with no decoration, except for a wall clock that was not too big.
On the table was an alarm clock that was the size of the palm of a grown man’s hand. There was a notebook next to the alarm with the name Duānmù Shànquán written on its cover.
She smiled when she read the name.
“What is wrong?” asked Duānmù’s friend.
“Never mind,” replied Yingyue. But soon she continued her words.
“The name Shànquán truly makes me thinking again about the rain I got yesterday.”
Duānmù’s friend just dumbfounded. He didn’t understand what Yingyue meant.
About twenty minutes later, Duānmù finished taking a shower. He got into the room, already dressed neatly, and told Yìngyuè to take a shower now.
Yìngyuè took a shower not for long. When she opened the bathroom door, she dressed neatly. After putting the dirty clothes into a plastic bag and putting them inside Duanmu’s bedroom, Yìngyuè directly joined Duanmu and his four friends in the living room. She stood before them. She said.
“Good afternoon, all. My name is Luqiu Yìngyuè. I just came to this city four days ago. In three days I will meet my relatives who live in this city to live with them. I think Uncle Duanmu told you about what happened. If you have questions, please ask.”
Soon after that, they all took a turn introducing themselves according to age order—Shanquan, Yixiong, Zhengyi, Yiren, and Xinxiu. Yiren was the friend who just helps Yingyue carry her backpack. Yingyue was busy memorizing their full names. Duanmu Shanquan, Ximen Yixiong, Dongfang Zhengyi, Nangong Yiren, and Beihai Xinxiu.
It turned out Duanmu Shanquan was the oldest occupant, also the boss here, therefore, his four friends called him Dàgē. Instead of Uncle Duanmu, he preferred Yingyue to call him Uncle Shanquan. Yingyue felt Shanquan sounded more casual and intimate than Duanmu, so maybe he was right. For now, she would address him as Shanquan.
For about half an hour, they were engaged in fluid questions and answers. Slowly but surely, their stiffness melts away. Those five were single middle-aged men who, at some point in their life, decided to live under one roof while living in this city.
Yìngyuè felt these five middle-aged men were unique. Very different from the usual middle-aged men. They looked so free. Unbounded by the prevailing norms. Society expected men their age to live stably and responsibly to the family. But they seemed to overturn this assumption. To fulfill their youth desires, they did not hesitate to leave their jobs and families.
Suppose Yìngyuè used the prevailing norms as a reference. In that case, people could not consider the five of them as good examples. But who cares? After all, their acts harmed no one. Achieving goals was not a bad thing. Their families didn’t seem to mind either. Yìngyuè felt her decision to stay here temporarily was the right thing.
While sitting in the living room with these five people, Yìngyuè did not feel awkward at all. A young girl among the middle-aged men usually would feel uncomfortable. But Yìngyuè felt nothing’s wrong. Sometimes Yìngyuè felt amazed at herself. Some things were awkward to others, were not a problem for her. On the other hand, some things that were not a problem for other people were painful for her.
The five of them started talking about Sōngfēi. He was a friend of these middle-aged men. On the way home, Shanquan had already told her a little about Sōngfēi. According to Shànquán, Sōngfēi was a very passionate young man. His love for detective stories and mysteries made him active in activities related to the field. He’d often held detective and mystery game shows. He’d often invited Shànquán and his friends to take part in these activities. Shànquán and his friends were not huge fans of detective stories and mysteries. They enjoyed that kind of story, but they didn’t get to the same level as those people who were joining the detective or mystery club.
According to Shànquán, when he was asking Shànquán to take and store his bag for a while, Sōngfēi sounded panicked. Hearing the conversation of those five people, Yìngyuè could conclude that Sōngfēi was in danger. The items inside the bag might contain clues about what happened to him.
Yìngyuè to all intents and purposes wanted to get involved further in the discussion. But she hesitated. She did not know who Sōngfēi was and what he had done. She was afraid her presence would even disrupt this seemingly critical discussion. Therefore, she planned to leave this room for a moment.
Yìngyuè suddenly stood up and said,
“Can I look at the plants in your backyard?”
The soil on the house where the men live was full of plants. There were a front yard and a backyard. Although the front yard was not big, the backyard was huge for a house in the middle of the city.
Earlier in the bathroom, Yìngyuè observed everything inside. There was a small window that led to the backyard. Therefore, Yìngyuè knew that there were plants in that backyard. And it just so happened that Yìngyuè was fond of plants. So she took this opportunity to have a look.
“Oh yes, please!” said Shànquán and his friends.
Right away, Yìngyuè came out to look at the backyard. For homes in urban areas, the backyard was very spacious. The size of the backyard was about 200 meters. It was 20 meters long and approximately 10 meters wide. It was rare for a house in such an area to be in the middle of a city. The location was very strategic.
“Oh, it’s overgrown with plants,” said Yìngyuè to herself when she looked at the backyard condition. The atmosphere seemed very lush. All kinds of plants grew there. Most of the plants there grew so well. Some plants grew in pots.
Most of the backyard was open without a roof. However, a narrow roof covered some parts. Yìngyuè could see the potted plants scattered throughout the backyard. There were potted plants placed in the open, but there were also potted plants placed in a part of the courtyard covered with a roof. Yìngyuè looked at the plants one by one. Some plants had slightly yellowing leaves. Most of those yellowing leaves plants were plants they placed in the backyard's part that under the roof. It’s obvious that these plants were getting less water.
Then Yìngyuè was looking for a water hose so she could water the plants. But after searching for a while, she couldn’t find it. Then she went back into the house to ask the residents of the house.
They were still sitting in the living room. Right on the table, there appeared to be items that had come from inside the bag that Shànquán had brought from Dàfēisī Tower. Yìngyuè speedily walked there. She stood near them and said,
“Looks like you guys forgot to water the plants. May I borrow a water hose? Let me water the plants for a while.”
Shànquán turned to Xìnxiù.
“Isn’t there a hose in the backyard?”
Xìnxiù seemed like he was awakening from something.
“Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you. Three days ago, our next-door neighbor borrowed our water hose. Until now, he hasn’t returned it. I’ll go there to ask.”
“Which one? The left-door neighbor or right-door neighbor?” asked Yìxióng.
“The right one. Yesterday we met and chatted with the left one. If he is the one who borrowed it, then he should talk about it at that moment,” Xìnxiù replied.
After saying that, Xìnxiù came out right away and went to the house next door to ask the neighbor to return their water hose.
While waiting for Xìnxiù to return, Yìngyuè sat in the living room. Her gaze swept over some of the items that were there. Then she leaned closer to the photo on the table. The image looked like an old photo, but the picture was still clear to see. In the photo, seven people were standing. Yìngyuè looked at the faces of the people in the picture. Shànquán was sitting beside her. He shifted his body closer to her. Yìngyuè realized Shanquan was waiting for her to give him another surprise.
“This person,” Yìngyuè said, pointing to a face in the photo.
Shànquán and friends followed Yìngyuè’s index finger toward one face there.
Yìngyuè continued her words.
“This is the woman who they kidnapped yesterday!”
Everyone present in the living room turned their heads toward Yìngyuè.
“Was she the woman in the car,” asked Shànquán to make Yìngyuè’s point clear.
“That’s right. This is the woman in the car,” Yìngyuè said confidently.
“Maybe we should go to Dàfēisī Tower to find other clues that Sōngfēi might have kept. He may not have realized that he has something important to hold. These notebooks, photographs, and maps are not enough for us to start an investigation,” Shànquán said.
“Moreover, the location shown on this map is most likely near to the Dàfēisī Tower,” said Yìxióng.
“When Sōngfēi called me yesterday, it seemed like he was in hiding. I mean, he didn’t have the freedom to go anywhere. So if he stays in hiding, I think nothing bad will happen to him soon,” said Shànquán.
“What if the criminals find his hiding place?” asked Yìxióng.
“We can only hope that the criminals don’t find him so soon,” Shànquán replied. Then he continued his words.
“Tomorrow morning we will go to Dàfēisī Tower to see if there are any other clues scattered inside the unit Sōngfēi has rented.”
Everyone present agreed with Shànquán’s decision.
About ten minutes later, Xìnxiù returned with a water hose. The hose, which had a length of about thirty meters, was dark blue. Then Xìnxiù and Yìngyuè went to the backyard to water the plants. Xìnxiù explained to Yìngyuè about the plants in the backyard. Yìngyuè looked thrilled. Then she watered the plants while singing. Xìnxiù then went back inside the house.
Nearly an hour, Yìngyuè was in the backyard. After being satisfied playing with water, she returned inside with light steps.
At the moment, there were only Shànquán, Yīrén, and Yìxióng inside the house. Just now, Xìnxiù and Zhèngyì left with some belongings placed on the backpack to store in lockers at the station. Including today, they only have seven days to pack and move things. Tomorrow they will bring more stuff to the station. They will put their belonging inside the locker before they go to the Dàfēisī Tower.
After washing her hands, Yìngyuè then sat in the living room to watch television. There Shànquán also sat while reading a magazine.
“Tomorrow morning, shall we all go to Dàfēisī Tower?” asked Yìngyuè.
After hearing Yìngyuè’s question, Shànquán stopped reading. Instead of answering the question, he called Yìxióng and Yīrén to sit together in the living room. As soon as they were all in the living room, Shànquán asked,
“Tomorrow, who is willing to stay to look after the house?”
In a difficult situation like this, of course, someone has to be on standby at home.
Yīrén and Yìxióng looked at each other. They realized Shànquán wanted one of them to stay at home. Shànquán would wish to take Zhèngyì who was the biggest, and Xìnxiù who was the youngest of them to Dàfēisī tower tomorrow morning.
After a few seconds of looking at each other, they finally do rock-paper-scissors because no one gave in. Yīrén lost, so tomorrow he would have to stay at home.
“Okay, then tomorrow, you will stay at home with Yìngyuè,” said Shànquán.
“I can’t go there?” asked Yìngyuè.
“It’s too dangerous for you. Those criminals maybe are still looking for you around that place. Besides, when you are here, then you are my responsibility. So for your own safety’s sake, I dare not take any chances,” said Shànquán.
“Hm .....,” mutters Yìngyuè, “all right. Tomorrow I’m just gardening in the backyard.”
“Ah,” suddenly Yīrén gasped. “I forgot to tell you something.”
“Oh, what is that?” asked Shànquán.
“Qiūzhēn called this morning. The company pulled him back to work at headquarters. So tomorrow morning he’s leaving for here. Probably arrives at our house after 10 pm.”
“Oh,” said Shànquán. “Does he already know about the Sōngfēi matter?”
“Not yet. I didn’t tell him anything yet. The call was only brief. Long-distance calls are expensive. Besides, this morning I didn’t know clearly about it yet,” said Yīrén.
Yìngyuè switched the television channel to a news program. The news currently being broadcast was an interview about the incident that happened yesterday. They interviewed several mall visitors who experienced a strange incident as an explosion of light. It turned out the incident injured several dozen people. No one was seriously injured. Despite that, they were victims of that incident.
They called it an explosion because it was like a bomb but only light, so they found no metal fragments, flakes, or anything in the blast. The burst of light itself did not appear to be any harm. Some people reported vision loss. However, it was only temporary because their vision had recovered as before, about ten or fifteen minutes later.
“Where’s this explosion of light happened?” asked Shànquán.
“Inside the mall near the subway station nearby,” said Yīrén.
“When did it happen?”
“Of course it’s yesterday. It happened as soon as you walked out of the mall?” said Yìxióng.
“What? Yesterday? When I left the mall, it was quiet. There were hardly any people. How could there be so many victims?”
“How come you call the situation quiet? The mall was full of visitors!” Yìxióng said.
“It’s true. When I walked in, it was full, but when I came out, the situation was quiet,” said Shànquán. Then he glares at Yìxióng.
“And how do you know I visited that mall yesterday?”
“Because yesterday he saw you entered the mall,” said Yìxióng, pointing at Yīrén.
Yīrén did not want to budge. He also said to Shànquán while pointing his index finger at Yìxióng.
“Yesterday he was there too. He said you were inside the mall looking for something or someone. After a while, you walked out of the mall. Right after that, he also came out of the mall, but failed to find you,” said Yīrén.
“What time did you see me?” asked Shànquán to Yìxióng.
Yìxióng replied, “I wasn’t inside the mall very long. So it’s still around ten in the morning.”
Shànquán straightened his back. He firmly said.
“That’s impossible. When I walked out of the mall, it was probably almost two o’clock.”
After that, Shànquán told them about what happened to him yesterday afternoon.
“It was still about ten in the morning when I entered the mall. After a few minutes inside, I want to pee. Then I headed to the restroom near the Food Court on the ground floor. Because there were so many people in the restroom, I went to the other restroom which is on the building’s right side. It’s on far behind. You know which restroom I am talking about.”
“You mean the hidden restroom,” said Yīrén.
“Right, that restroom. Then, because no water in the urinal was flowing, I entered one of the latrine stalls in the restroom. When I was about to get out, I suddenly felt weak and fell facing the door. After that, I passed out. I don’t know how long I was out. After regaining consciousness, I went straight home. I just realized that I passed out for a few hours after I got home. I saw all the clocks show at two o’clock in the afternoon.”
The three of them looked at each other in surprise.
Shànquán said to Yīrén, “I think it was me who you saw entering the mall.”
Then he turned to Yìxióng and said, “The person you saw looking for something or someone in the mall was probably me. But the person who you saw walked out of the mall was definitely not me. Because I was most likely still inside the restroom at the time of the incident.”
Yìngyuè had been listening to their conversation. The incident was bizarre.
“Not long after the incident occurred, didn’t the bomb squad and firefighters inspect the place. Didn’t they find uncle inside the restroom?” Yìngyuè asked Shànquán.
“I put an under repair sign on the doorknob of the restroom. So maybe they think there must be no one inside,” Shànquán replied.
“Even if they think that there isn’t anyone inside the restroom. But they have to go inside to check for explosives or something like that. And if they had gone into the restroom, it would be impossible for them not to find you,” Yīrén told Shànquán.
“What if this happened,” Yìxióng raised his right hand. Yīrén, Shànquán, and Yìngyuè waited for Yìxióng to continue.
“After Dàgē fainted. Then he got up, but still unconscious. It’s something like Sleepwalking. In that state, Dàgē walked out of the restroom, then walked out of the mall. After a few hours outside the mall, still in a deep sleep, he came back. Went into the mall, then went back into the restroom. On that occasion, he truly regained consciousness. He came out from the restroom and walked went home.”
The theory that Yìxióng had just put forward sounded strange and absurd. Shànquán was laughing out loud at that.
ns 15.158.61.5da2
