He Jiaqing's Mouth

He Jiaqing's Mouth

Li Banfeng sat in the hospital room, looking at He Jiaqing on the bed.

After two full days of emergency treatment, He Jiaqing's life had been saved, but he had fallen into a deep coma. No one knew when he would wake up.

The cause of the coma was unknown, and the hospital had not drawn up a treatment plan for the next stage.

According to the hospital, the next stage of treatment would depend on He Jiaqing's physical condition, and on the thickness of Li Banfeng's and He Jiaqing's wallets.

Li Banfeng's meager living expenses had all been poured into it. Even after the portion covered by medical insurance was deducted, it was still a drop in the bucket.

There was some money saved on He Jiaqing's card, but without the password, it could not be withdrawn for the time being.

Li Banfeng tried to contact He Jiaqing's family. Though the two were close, Li Banfeng did not know how to reach his family. He did not even have Lu Xiaolan's contact information.

If this went on, Li Banfeng would not even know where his next meal was coming from, and He Jiaqing's oxygen tube probably would not last either.

Fortunately, on the third day, things took a turn. A man named He Haisheng appeared.

He claimed to be He Jiaqing's Third Uncle. Although Li Banfeng had never met this Third Uncle before, that did not matter. Third Uncle first paid the outstanding medical bills for He Jiaqing.

Someone willing to hand over money of his own accord was probably not a scammer. Of course, that was only if he actually gave it.

"You're Li Banfeng, right? The school said you've been looking after Jiaqing these past two days. You've worked hard." He Haisheng peeled an apple for Li Banfeng.

"Here's what happened..." Li Banfeng took a bite of the apple and was about to explain what had happened when He Haisheng interrupted him.

"We can talk about the rest later." He Haisheng took out his wallet, pulled out a stack of cash, and handed it to Li Banfeng. "This is just a small token. Don't think it's too little."

Li Banfeng desperately needed money, because he had no money left to eat.

But he did not want to accept it. "I'm not short on money. Jiaqing needs it most right now."

"It doesn't mean anything else, just a small token. If you won't take it, you think it's too little!" He Haisheng forcibly stuffed the cash into Li Banfeng's pocket.

After sitting in silence for a moment, He Haisheng sighed. "The school called the family and said something had happened to Jiaqing. I thought my second brother and sister-in-law would rush over, but neither of those two is worth a damn.

It's my fault for coming late and making you bear the burden, Ban Feng. Go back and rest. I can handle things here."

Li Banfeng left the hospital room. He had barely slept in three days, and he truly was exhausted. Even walking through the hospital corridor made his legs feel weak.

Just as he neared the elevator, his phone suddenly rang.

Click-clack~

It was a message. The number displayed was still He Jiaqing's.

Li Banfeng immediately frowned.

The message still contained those same four words: "Brother, save me."

Li Banfeng replied, "Who are you?"

"I'm He Jiaqing."

"Where did you get this phone?"

Li Banfeng had taken He Jiaqing to the Train Station. He Jiaqing had boarded the train, then suddenly appeared on his bed. Before that, Li Banfeng had called He Jiaqing, and afterward, He Jiaqing had sent Li Banfeng messages.

The whole thing was bizarre, so bizarre that Li Banfeng could not understand the logic behind it.

But no matter how bizarre the process had been, the result before his eyes would not change.

He Jiaqing was lying in the hospital. Though he had neither identification nor a phone on him, that was He Jiaqing. Li Banfeng would not mistake him.

So the question was—

Who had answered the phone earlier?

And who was sending these messages now?

The only reasonable explanation was that He Jiaqing had lost his phone. Whoever had found it had answered Li Banfeng's call that night, imitated He Jiaqing's voice, fooled Li Banfeng, and was now messaging him again.

He found the phone, so why is he still contacting me?

Isn't this a textbook scam?

This should be reported to the police.

Li Banfeng felt there had to be some connection between He Jiaqing's coma and this person.

The other side did not reply for a long while.

The elevator arrived.

Li Banfeng put away his phone and was about to head downstairs when a gaunt middle-aged man with a broad forehead, long cheeks, and a thin body blocked his path.

The man smiled at Li Banfeng and took an ID from his chest pocket. "I'm a police officer. You're Li Banfeng, right? There are a few matters related to He Jiaqing that I need to ask you about."

The man looked to be in his fifties. His voice was like a drake's, and when he spoke, it sounded as though he had a wad of Old Phlegm lodged in his throat.

I was just about to report this to the police, and the police came to me...

Li Banfeng wanted to take a closer look at the man's ID, but the middle-aged man put it back into his pocket and whispered a few words to a doctor in a white coat nearby.

The doctor seemed quite familiar with him. He led the middle-aged man and Li Banfeng into an empty hospital room.

The doctor shut the door outside. Only Li Banfeng and the middle-aged man remained in the room, seated opposite each other on two adjacent beds.

"Don't be nervous." The middle-aged man smiled. "My surname is Chen. Just call me Old Chen. I only have a few simple questions. You were the one who brought He Jiaqing to the hospital, right?"

"Yes." Li Banfeng nodded.

"How did you discover that something was wrong with him?"

"He was sleeping on my bed. His complexion and breathing were both abnormal, so I immediately called emergency services."

Old Chen nodded and looked Li Banfeng up and down. His gaze changed slightly.

He stared at Li Banfeng's face, but not at his eyes. He was staring at Li Banfeng's forehead.

"I heard you two drank together that day?"

"Yes." Li Banfeng nodded. "He was going home, so I saw him off."

"You saw him off?"

"Yes. I took him to the Train Station, then took the subway back by myself. When I got to the dormitory, I suddenly found him sleeping on my bed."

Li Banfeng's words made no sense at all.

He Jiaqing had gone to the Train Station. How could he have appeared in the dormitory again? And on Li Banfeng's bed, no less.

Old Chen was not surprised by this answer. His expression remained mild, and his gaze stayed fixed on Li Banfeng's forehead.

"Did you and He Jiaqing usually have any conflicts?"

Conflicts?

Li Banfeng thought carefully.

I looked at some pictures of his girlfriend. Does that count as a conflict?

That was clearly not the point.

The point was the implication behind the question.

Li Banfeng looked at Old Chen and calmly said, "You suspect me of harming He Jiaqing?"

Old Chen shook his head. "I wouldn't call it suspicion. I'm just asking. If I truly suspected you, I wouldn't be questioning you here. I heard you have some degree of mental illness?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "I have a bit of a problem, but I'm not crazy. You can check my medical records.

I saw He Jiaqing and Lu Xiaolan onto the train together. They went back to their hometown together. You can verify that with Lu Xiaolan."

"Lu Xiaolan..." Old Chen took out a cigarette, glanced at the hospital room, decided smoking was inappropriate, and put it back into the pack.

"Who is this Lu Xiaolan you just mentioned?" Old Chen continued questioning him.

"She's He Jiaqing's girlfriend, a fellow student at our school. I took both of them to the station. She boarded the train with He Jiaqing, and she can testify for me."

"If they both boarded the train, why did He Jiaqing end up back at your dormitory?"

"I don't know," Li Banfeng answered truthfully. "You should ask Lu Xiaolan about that too. The two of them were together the whole time."

"Do you have Lu Xiaolan's contact information?"

"I don't. The school should be able to find it, and the ticket information can definitely be checked too."

"Which train did they take?"

"How would I know..." Li Banfeng thought for a moment, and a string of numbers suddenly surfaced in his mind.

1160 Train.

"1160 Train. They took 1160 Train." Li Banfeng remembered the station announcer's voice.

Old Chen rubbed his lips with his fingers. With his thoughts at a dead end, he truly wanted a cigarette. "It seems Lu Xiaolan won't be easy to find either."

"Why wouldn't she be easy to find?" Li Banfeng did not understand what Old Chen meant.

Old Chen continued rubbing his stubbled upper lip and slowly said, "On the night He Jiaqing had his accident, 1160 Train derailed and plunged off a cliff. No survivors have been found on board so far."

Li Banfeng blinked. It felt as though thunder was rolling through his mind, and between the peals, He Jiaqing's voice repeated again and again.

"She sleeps better than I do. Sleeps like the dead, deader than a pig. Even if the train derails, she won't wake up!"

The train had really derailed.

Lu Xiaolan might really be dead.

Had He Jiaqing's mouth been blessed by the gods?

Or had he known something all along?

He seemed to have told me that Lu Xiaolan was deceiving him.

Could it have been about more than Teacher Song's peaches?

Why had he told me to go back to the dormitory and call him?

Old Chen continued staring at Li Banfeng's forehead and asked quietly, "What are you thinking about?"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just worried about Lu Xiaolan."

Old Chen found that very interesting. "What kind of relationship do you have with Lu Xiaolan? Between the two of you and He Jiaqing, is there perhaps something..."

"You mean a love triangle?" The corner of Li Banfeng's mouth curled up. He was a little angry.

PS: Dear readers, are you satisfied with the first day's update?

Not satisfied?

No problem, there's another chapter!

(End of this chapter)