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墨書 Inktalez
Wang Lijuan greeted her cousin briefly before rushing out. She hurried to the eastern entrance of the market, a place frequently visited by Wen Sheng, as Uncle Heng's restaurant was located there. Upon arriving, she found the area deserted, with not even a glimpse of Wen Sheng in sight.
Standing under the dim streetlight, Wang Lijuan scanned the surroundings, hoping to catch sight of Wen Sheng. Yet, despite the bustling crowd around her, he was nowhere to be found. A gust of wind blew, lifting her long hair. Her fair face bore no trace of a smile; her eyes widened as she anxiously scrutinized the people passing by.
She then dashed to the grove where she often chatted with Wen Sheng. The trees cast shadows that made the place feel somewhat eerie, and Wang Lijuan felt a twinge of fear. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that it was still quite warm for the lunar month of July. Dressed in a pink short-sleeve top and a beige long skirt, with white high-heeled sandals adorning her feet, she ventured deeper into the grove, her gaze fixed ahead. But there was nothing there—no sign of Wen Sheng.
Panic began to set in; she even wished that Wen Sheng would suddenly appear behind her to startle her, even if it meant she would jump in surprise. But he did not show up, and the grove remained empty of his presence. The bright moonlight filtered through the branches above, illuminating the ground beneath. Still, she continued walking slowly through the trees, hoping that he might be hiding behind one of them, ready to surprise her as she passed by. However, after crossing through the entire grove, there was still no sign of Wen Sheng.
Feeling increasingly anxious, Wang Lijuan rushed to a nearby public phone booth where several people were making calls. She stood there scanning the area desperately, wishing that a figure in the distance might be Wen Sheng. But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t him—Wen Sheng wasn’t that heavyset.
With no other option left, she hurried into Uncle Heng's restaurant and asked breathlessly upon entering, “Uncle Heng! Has Wen Sheng come here?”
Business was slow that day; Uncle Heng was busy balancing accounts when he looked up in surprise at Wang Lijuan’s arrival. “Wen Sheng? No! He hasn’t been here! Why hasn’t that boy come by to visit me?”
Wang Lijuan replied anxiously, “Uncle! Wen Sheng called me just now saying he needed something! But before I could finish asking what it was about, he hung up! I’ve been looking for him everywhere!”
“Did you notice any emotion in his voice when you spoke?” Uncle Heng asked uneasily.
“Not really! I’m not sure; he sounded calm when he spoke. It didn’t seem like anything was wrong!” Wang Lijuan pondered.
“My nephew! Does Gao Ming know anything?” Uncle Heng asked thoughtfully.
“I don’t think so; I’m not sure!” Wang Lijuan frowned.
“Let’s go check with Gao Ming! I’ll go with you!” Uncle Heng called for Aunt Heng to watch the restaurant and hurried off with Wang Lijuan toward Gao Ming’s house.
Upon arriving at Gao Ming's home, they ran into Gao Liang. Uncle Heng urgently asked, “Liangzi! Has Wen Sheng come looking for Gao Ming?”
Gao Liang was equally puzzled by the situation; seeing Uncle Heng’s worried expression made him realize something must be wrong. “What happened? Has something happened to Wen Sheng? He hasn’t been over in a while. My brother is inside watching TV!” He turned back and shouted for Gao Ming, “Gao Ming! Come out! It seems something has happened to Wen Sheng! Hurry and help Uncle Heng and them look for him!”
Gao Ming hurried out of the house and, seeing the anxious expressions on Uncle Heng and Wang Lijuan's faces, realized that something might have happened to Wen Sheng. He asked urgently, "What’s going on? Is it about me?"
Wang Lijuan finally spoke the truth, "Gao Ming! Wen Sheng just called me to meet up. My cousin happened to be at home, so I went with him. Now I can't get out. Then he hung up. I thought about it and ran out to find him. I searched many places but couldn't find him. Finally, I went to Uncle Heng's hotel, but he wasn't there either. Uncle Heng came with me; can you think of anywhere else Wen Sheng might go?"
Gao Ming pondered for a moment, "I don’t know! Have you checked the woods?"
"I did, but he wasn't there!" Wang Lijuan replied anxiously.
"Then where could he go? In his current state, he wouldn’t go to an arcade, a billiard hall, or an internet café!" Gao Ming analyzed. "Would he go drink alone? If so, he should have gone to Uncle Heng's place!" He slapped his forehead. "Is there a river nearby or something?"
"Of course! You've lived here for over ten years; how do you not know? There’s a river right here, and the water isn’t even waist-deep!" Wang Lijuan exclaimed. "You don’t think Wen Sheng would try to commit suicide, do you?" A chill ran down her spine at the thought.
"Look at your mouth! It’s all your fault! He wanted to see you; if you had just come out to meet him like a good girl, none of this would have happened!" Gao Ming complained irrationally.
"I-I didn’t know! If I had thought it was like this, I would have definitely come out to see him! But what do we do now?" Wang Lijuan was frantic.
Suddenly, Gao Ming laughed, startling both Uncle Heng and Wang Lijuan, and even Gao Liang beside them was taken aback. Gao Ming chuckled, "Alright! Wen Sheng, you want to play this game with me? You’ve got guts." But then he fell silent, standing there in a daze with a foolish expression on his face, his eyes looking unfocused.
After a while, Gao Ming calmed himself down. "Let’s keep looking but without alarming too many people. Uncle Heng, you're busy at home; you should head back! Wang Lijuan and I will search for him."
Uncle Heng was a bit agitated. "Gao Ming, what do you mean? Wen Sheng is my nephew; how can I not inquire about this? Should we call Wen Sheng's father?"
"No! Just mentioning Wen Sheng's father makes me angry!" Gao Ming replied firmly. "Let’s go look for him together! But first off, if we find Wen Sheng, you can't hit him!"
"Understood!" Uncle Heng agreed.
“I’ll do it!” Gao Ming bit his lip.
Wang Lijuan and Uncle Heng looked at Gao Ming, unsure of what to say. They felt that Gao Ming seemed on the verge of losing his mind. He couldn’t understand why Gao Ming’s concern for Wen Sheng surpassed his own; after all, Wen Sheng was his nephew, very close to him. Uncle Heng felt a twinge of guilt as he thought about Gao Ming.
With Gao Ming, Wang Lijuan, and Uncle Heng together again, they retraced their steps to the place Wang Lijuan had just searched, but still found nothing. “Let’s drive home. I’ll go with Wang Lijuan, and Uncle Heng can go his way. We’ll each check at Wen Sheng’s house and see if we can run into him on the way. It’s possible that Wen Sheng is walking home by himself,” Gao Ming suggested, holding onto a glimmer of hope.
There were two routes from the town to Wen Sheng’s house: one was the dirt road south of Reiko’s village, and the other was the road where Xiang Shu had his accident, which led directly to Wen Sheng’s village.
Gao Ming and Wang Lijuan chose the dirt road. Wang Lijuan didn’t drive home; instead, Gao Ming took her along. They believed there was a greater chance that Wen Sheng would take this route. As they traveled, both Gao Ming and Wang Lijuan kept a close watch, but there was no sign of Wen Sheng on the road. By this time, it was getting late, and the moonlight wasn’t as bright as it had been earlier.
When Gao Ming and Wang Lijuan arrived at Wen Sheng’s house, Uncle Heng was already there. He was talking with Wen Sheng's father. Upon seeing him, Gao Ming asked anxiously, “Uncle, has Wen Sheng come home?”
He desperately wanted to hear from Wen Sheng's father that Wen Sheng had returned!
But Uncle Heng sighed and replied, “I’ve asked; Wen Sheng hasn’t come home!”
Gao Ming pressed further, “Uncle, have you tried calling Wen Sheng?”
Wen Sheng's father looked puzzled. “Why would I call him? He hasn’t done anything wrong!”
“What on earth is going on?” Gao Ming exclaimed as he hit his head in frustration.
At that moment, Wen Xin ran over, grabbing Gao Ming’s arm. “Gao Ming! What happened to my brother? Where is he?”
With a helpless expression, Gao Ming replied, “I don’t know!” He turned to look at Wang Lijuan.
Wang Lijuan lowered her head and remained silent.
Wen Xin ran to Wang Lijuan, tugging at her skirt as she knelt down and cried, "Sister Lijuan! Please tell me! What happened to my brother? What happened to him?"
Wang Lijuan also looked up, tears streaming down her face. After a long moment, she lowered her head and embraced Wen Xin, saying, "We still don’t know. We just haven’t found him!"
"You’re lying to me! You’re all lying!" Wen Xin cried even harder. A sense of foreboding hung over everyone’s hearts.
Wen Sheng's Grandmother approached and asked, "Child! What has happened to Wen Sheng?" She looked at them with concern. After a while, she rushed over and struck Wen Sheng's Father, exclaiming, "It’s all your fault for not caring for the child! If anything happens to him, I won't live either!" Wen Sheng's Grandmother began to cry as well.
Wen Sheng's Mother was also in tears, and from the bed, Wen Hao shouted, "Gao Ming! You tell me! What has happened to my brother?"
At that moment, Gao Ming suddenly changed; he shouted at Wen Hao, "Stop howling! What are you howling about? If it weren’t for you—" He couldn’t finish his sentence.
He thought that Wen Sheng shouldn’t die; he shouldn’t die! At least in his and Wang Lijuan’s eyes, Wen Sheng was not a bad person.
Suddenly, Wen Xin stopped crying. With wide eyes, she thought for a moment and exclaimed, "I know! I know!"
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