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Chapter 40: The Blood-Stained Photograph
Zhang Xian stood outside the clinic, knocking on the roll-up door, hoping for Li Mingliang to let her in.
After knocking for quite a while, the door remained shut, but then she saw Li Mingliang walking back from outside.
Zhang Xian was taken aback. She remembered that when she left, Li Mingliang had taken off his clothes and was getting ready for bed. Now, he had actually gotten up and gone somewhere, only to return looking a bit frantic.
Li Mingliang explained that he had lain down but suddenly remembered he forgot to lock the duty room door. The duty room door he referred to was, of course, the one in the hospital. Since she worked the morning shift at the hospital, it was a small space filled with various items, not meant for sleeping, which was why he had come to keep watch at Zhang Xian's clinic.
I found Li Mingliang's explanation reasonable; there didn't seem to be anything strange about it.
Yet Zhang Xian insisted, "There’s more to it than that."
What else could there be?
Zhang Xian had hidden something under Li Mingliang's bed.
I asked what it was.
Zhang Xian decided not to leave and urged me to return to the clinic immediately to check.
Going back to the clinic was fine since we hadn't walked far. I turned back with her. We passed through an alley crowded with people; it was a naturally formed vegetable market, bustling with vendors selling fresh produce but no meat.
Zhang Xian informed me that these vegetable sellers were local farmers. Beishi Road was a newly developed area on the outskirts of City A. Not only did it have fresh air, but also fresh vegetables, as farmers sold what they had just harvested. She particularly enjoyed the fresh produce.
As I walked along, something cold fell onto my face. I reached up to touch it and realized it was raindrops. The autumn rain brought a chill; no matter how cold it got here, we would never see heavy snow, and I particularly loved snow.
I adored its purity, and Mi also loved snow.
Zhang Xian seemed to have learned my woman's name was Mi from somewhere and casually asked me if Mi was beautiful.
"She's very beautiful," I replied. Her appearance was exactly what I enjoyed admiring.
Zhang Xian nodded, clearly envious of Mi.
In my heart, I thought, "Zhang Xian, you don't have a crush on this piece of fresh meat, do you? You like me, but I don't like you."
I wasn't fond of leftovers that others discarded.
Zhang Xian opened the clinic door, and the atmosphere grew increasingly gloomy and gray due to the rain. People were rushing down the street, and those who weren't running walked briskly.
"Hurry up! She gets off work at six and will be here."
Her "she" naturally referred to Li Mingliang.
I had no idea what had transpired between Li Mingliang and Zhang Xian. If nothing significant was happening on Zhang Xian's side, I needed to fulfill my promise to help Li Mingliang find the murderer of her daughter.
Li Mingliang's sleeping area had no windows; it was pitch black. This was a corner of a complete house that had been partitioned off. One-third of it was Li Mingliang's bedroom, while the remaining two-thirds served as Zhang Xian's treatment room, where he administered injections and conducted examinations.
In the pitch-black room, there was light. Only Zhang Xian knew how to turn it on, so when I entered, she had already switched it on.
The darkness was instantly replaced by brightness.
A simple single bed filled the space, and a small cardboard box contained all of Li Mingliang's belongings. To be honest, this place seemed even worse than Li Mingliang's house in the countryside.
Zhang Xian must have known Li Mingliang's secret for a long time, as she casually pulled back the straw mat on the bed. Beneath it lay a seemingly high-quality plastic bag. Inside the plastic bag was a stack of photographs, and I suddenly felt that Zhang Xian's actions were inappropriate.
This was an invasion of privacy.
I thought to myself that this was wrong, yet under her invitation, I stepped closer to see the photos she took out.
In the pictures was a beautiful girl with long hair—some were of her swinging, some dancing, and others giving a speech in a school auditorium. It was clear that Li Mingliang valued the person in these photos; I guessed that this must be his daughter.
In the quiet atmosphere, Zhang Xian suddenly remarked, "The woman who appears in my nightmares is this person in the photo."
"Do you know her?" I asked.
Zhang Xian replied confidently, "No, I've never seen her."
I said, "How can you say you've never seen her? You've seen her countless times."
My words weren't meant to scare her, but she shivered all over, and the photos slipped from her hands and scattered across the floor. Since these were Li Mingliang's belongings, to avoid being discovered for having looked at them, Zhang Xian and I instinctively crouched down to pick them up one by one.
I handed the photo to Zhang Xian, and she took it, her eyes seemingly enchanted as they fixed on me. Before I could ask her what was wrong, she suddenly threw herself into my arms. Fortunately, I was leaning against the bed; otherwise, her leap would have knocked me over.
Getting knocked over was one thing, but the real issue was that I was left utterly confused. What did this mean? Was it because she no longer had a man to protect her after the divorce, or was it simply the loneliness and coldness of being alone that drove her to seek comfort? I couldn't quite grasp what Zhang Xian meant at that moment. Just as I was about to help her up, she buried her head in the crook of my arm and softly asked, "Qii, can I call you that?"
I didn't mind; a name is just a label for a person, something to call them by.
Upon hearing my response, Zhang Xian awkwardly pulled away. In truth, I pushed her away; she left with an embarrassed expression.
Then, as she slipped the photo into a plastic bag, she lowered her head and explained that she had lost her balance and accidentally fallen into my arms.
I reassured her that it was nothing; in a place like this, bumps and scrapes were bound to happen.
Zhang Xian fell silent, and the small space suddenly became quiet. With us so close together and a bed in the room, I felt the atmosphere shift into something more ambiguous. Just as I was about to escape this charged environment, the door swung open from the outside, revealing an angry face at the threshold.
"What are you two doing?"
Li Mingliang had returned home from work and found me with Zhang Xian in her room. She looked furious, especially since it was clear that the bed had been disturbed.
Zhang Xian and I were at a loss for how to explain ourselves.
"How close are you two?" Li Mingliang suddenly asked, leaving me feeling overwhelmed.
Zhang Xian calmly brushed her bangs aside and replied, "Auntie, this is between him and me; can you please not interfere? Also, I was just looking for my things earlier, so don't think too much about it."
"I didn't think much of it; that was a photo of my daughter, and there's a set you haven't seen yet!"
Zhang Xian noticed Li Mingliang's pale complexion, realizing that the photo was indeed of Li Mingliang's daughter. Who was she, and why did she want to live with me? I sensed Zhang Xian's troubled thoughts; this felt like an invasion of privacy.
Li Mingliang paid no attention to Zhang Xian's state or my feelings. Instead, she walked straight to the bedside, bent down, and rummaged through the pillow until she pulled out a red cloth bag.
With great care, she opened the red bag, and both Zhang Xian and I saw that it contained about ten photos.
Ignoring our presence, Li Mingliang laid the photos out one by one on the single bed. The space was limited, so after arranging them, she stepped back first and gestured for Zhang Xian and me to take a look.
Zhang Xian trembled behind me, so I was the first to see this seemingly mysterious set of photos.
The photos were drenched in blood—not just the photos themselves, but the girl in them lay covered in blood amidst a pool of it. I nervously swallowed hard, completely unsure of what Li Mingliang meant by showing us these blood-soaked images.
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