Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 4: Memory Track
Witnessing everything, I felt a bit dazed.
The person I just saw was indeed a younger version of my grandfather. I had seen only one photo of him when he was young, but I didn’t know when he had burned it.
Ma Wu, a baby, and a baby born at the exact same time as me—my grandfather lied. I was abandoned at the door of the Funeral Home, but that wasn’t true; I was held in a hospital, a life discarded by my biological parents who were preparing to get rid of me.
I walked heavily, using my mind to block out the Demon Eyes, and everything before me returned to normal.
The emergency room, the ward—what was different was that I saw Fatty. He rushed towards me and said, “Master Nian is dead. His son is in intensive care. This is Chi Xinrong’s territory; should we alert her?”
“You call her; I’ll find her.”
The scene I had just witnessed lingered in my mind as I clumsily pulled out a cigarette box. Fatty, who was on the phone, saw me smoking and leaned over to take the box from me. “Brother Qi, I’ll keep this for you.”
Chi Xinrong hadn’t woken up yet when she answered the phone from bed.
Fatty didn’t say much to her before she asked him to hand the phone to me.
I took the call, pinching the cigarette butt between my fingers, and listened to her ramble on the other end: “Ma Qi, what’s up? Missing rice?”
“I need to talk to you; hurry up and come to the hospital.” After saying that, I hung up without waiting for her response. I figured she would bring rice with her anyway; asking about it was unnecessary.
When Chi Xinrong arrived at the hospital, the doctors and nurses hadn’t started their shifts yet. She wore a light yellow trench coat, her long hair flowing elegantly—she was beautiful and charming. True to form, she hadn’t brought any rice.
“Didn’t you bring any rice?”
“It seemed like you didn’t particularly want it, so I didn’t bring any. Besides, she’s still sleeping; I couldn’t just wake her up to come to a place like this!”
"That's true, Mi doesn't like places like hospitals. If she didn't come, then she didn't come! You should hurry and do one thing." I briefly recounted what happened at the Funeral Home and what I had seen in the hospital.
Not everyone in the various departments knew Chi Xinrong, but two-thirds of them were aware that she was the niece of Chi Ruiqiang. The hospital had shares under her name, so they treated her with great respect.
"What about the patient in the intensive care unit last night?" After I briefly explained the situation, Chi Xinrong went directly to find the doctor on duty from last night.
The doctor was young and didn’t know who Chi Xinrong was. He yawned and wore a disdainful expression as he asked, "Who are you? Why are you asking these questions?"
"This is my work ID and my identification card. Here, take a look and hurry up and show us the patient's condition."
Upon seeing Chi Xinrong's work ID, the doctor's expression froze instantly. He quickly regained a professional demeanor and said, "Hello, Director. Nian Fa suffered severe injuries from a heavy blow. His external wounds are serious, but after treatment, his condition is basically stable. He is currently in the intensive care unit."
"Hurry up! If we delay, it might be too late."
"Who are you?" The doctor glanced at me warily. Perhaps he was concerned about Chi Xinrong's presence; he forced a smile and explained, "The patient's condition is basically stable; nothing major should happen."
I wanted to say that if we were late, his father would come to take him away, but aside from Chi Xinrong and Fat Ming believing me, others would just think I was crazy.
A few people walked quickly down the corridor; their footsteps echoed uniformly. Each person's expression was serious, as if they were facing something significant that caught the attention of the cleaning lady and the nurses on duty.
Their discussions were loud: "Hey, that director seems to be involved in something serious?"
"Why weren't we notified? We were on duty last night..." One nurse began to feel uneasy, constantly checking all the monitoring devices in the patient rooms, including those in the intensive care unit. All the monitors showed normal readings.
The hospital now used infrared technology.
In the intensive care unit, an eerie green light emanated from somewhere unknown. The empty corridor felt like a dark night, with a wisp of smoke curling through the door cracks. In an instant, I reacted swiftly but it was too late.
A shadow emerged, followed by a tall, thin figure with its head bowed. The two shadows moved into a dark corner and waved goodbye to me; that bowed figure was enveloped in a mass of darkness and disappeared behind the hunched shadow.
I suddenly stood still, and both Chi Xinrong and the On-Duty Doctor found it strange.
"It's useless, we're too late."
"How is that possible? You're not a doctor, what do you know?" The On-Duty Doctor was quite rude to me, but considering Chi Xinrong was present, he softened his tone as much as possible.
I still didn't move.
"Come on." Chi Xinrong was the last one to enter the disinfection room; she waved at me.
"Fine, going there is pointless anyway." I followed Fat Yi into the disinfection room, changed into a new outfit, and entered the Intensive Care Unit, which was Nian Fa's ward.
The patient looked ashen, all medical equipment had stopped functioning, and the heart monitor displayed a straight line. This scene stunned the self-important On-Duty Doctor and made Chi Xinrong look at me in shock. I turned away expressionlessly and left.
Chi Xinrong chased after me and asked, "What on earth happened to Ma Qi?"
"You don't believe me? Just as we walked in, his father took him away."
"Ah..."
I let out a sigh. "He deserved to die; a worthless descendant like him only continues to harm others in this world. It's better for him to leave."
"What kind of nonsense is that?" The On-Duty Doctor came out and shouted angrily at me.
"Si Ma, if you think his fate is unjust, then please provide me with a detailed death report. Document how you operated last night. I'll call Director Ma to see if we need to hold a meeting to commend your glorious achievements."
"Director, let's skip that. The patient had several episodes of suffocation and shock last night, and despite our best efforts to save him, he died."
"Oh. Is that so? Well then, how do you want to handle it?"
"Who is this gentleman?"
"We are here on behalf of others to take the deceased away from the hospital."
Si Ma was taken aback and repeated, "Haven't his family already...?"
"Si Ma, just do as Ma Qi says. I will bear all the consequences."
With Chi Xinrong's words, things went much smoother for me and the fat guy. With Si Ma's assistance, we found Nian Fa's father parked at the Mortuary, that old man. Although the fat guy had an idea of what to expect, he was still terrified when he first saw the deceased.
We took Nian Fa and his father's body out of the hospital. I contacted the funeral home vehicle to transport the bodies of the Nian family to the funeral home for refrigeration, then hurried back home.
Originally, that was supposed to be the end of it, but unexpectedly, while waiting at Ma Wu Funeral Home, I saw a woman wearing a monk's hat and a gray robe made of coarse cloth standing hesitantly at the entrance of the Funeral Home, as if she wanted to enter but was reluctant to do so.
Comment 0 Comment Count