The Phone Rings

Lin Feng hung up the phone and turned to go back inside. The security door closed behind him with an old creak, shutting out the last bit of light from the motion-activated lights in the hallway.

The atmosphere in the living room was even more oppressive than before, like the low, suffocating clouds hanging before a storm.

All eyes were fixed on him. The worry and confusion in those eyes had now fermented into something more straightforward.

My third aunt was the first to lose her temper. She jumped up from the small stool, hands on her hips, her foundation looking slightly uneven in the dim light because of her excitement. Her voice was high-pitched and rapid, like beans pouring from a bamboo tube:

"Xiao Feng! What... what were you doing just now?! Are you crazy?! How could you talk to people like that? And say 'I'm waiting'? You're just adding fuel to the fire! Who are those kidnappers? They're desperate criminals! If you anger them, how can Xiaohui possibly be safe?! You're not saving him, you're... you're killing him!"

Her words acted as a fuse, igniting the suppressed emotions of the others.

Uncle-in-law also got up from the ground, his face still streaked with tears, but now replaced by a look of fury. He looked at Lin Feng, his lips trembling, "Xiao Feng, you... your aunt is in such a state, and you still... you still dared to say such hurtful things to her? Is that person reasonable? Now look what's happened, a million! And they want to chop off her fingers! What... what are we going to do!" His voice was filled with desperate resentment.

Even the usually composed eldest uncle frowned. He looked at Lin Feng and said in a heavy tone, "Xiao Feng, your mother said you work at a big law firm and have seen the world. But this kind of thing... you can't just act on impulse. In those places, the emperor is far away, and we ordinary people have no way to confront them head-on. If we say something so definitive now, aren't we just pushing Xiaohui to his death?"

My third uncle squatted in the corner, lit another cigarette, and his face behind the smoke was full of disapproval, but he was not good with words, so he just sighed heavily.

Aunt Wang Guifang had cried until she was exhausted. She leaned against Zhang Fen's Zhang Fen, her eyes red and swollen like peaches. Her gaze towards Lin Feng was filled with fear and a hint of barely perceptible resentment. She dared not say it, but with her son's life hanging by a thread, Lin Feng's phone call sounded like a death knell to her.

Zhang Fen held her younger sister, feeling both heartache and anxiety. She looked at her son, wanting to say something in his defense, but then realized the relatives were right. Tears welled in her eyes again. "Xiao Feng, what... what are you thinking? Do you really have a solution? You can't gamble with your brother's life..."

Lin Jianguo squatted beside his wife, silently smoking, but the lines between his brows were so deep they could trap a mosquito. He felt his son had acted too impulsively; how could he speak like that in that situation?

For a moment, the living room was filled with hushed complaints, anxious questions, and heavy sighs. The relatives chimed in, and although there were no more vicious words, the distrust and veiled accusations clung to them like an invisible spiderweb.

Lin Feng stood at the doorway, calmly accepting the gazes and words. He neither explained nor refuted, his face expressionless. He simply walked to the coffee table, picked up his glass of water, which had gone cold, and took a sip.

The cool liquid slid down my throat, bringing a sense of clarity.

His silence was seen by some as an indication that he knew he was in the wrong, while others saw it as stubbornness and a lack of communication.

His aunt, seeing that he didn't speak, became even angrier and raised her voice further. "Say something! You just keep saying your friend will save you, but who is your friend? Where is he? Does he have such great abilities that he can get someone out of that place in one night? Do you even know where that is? That's Northern Myanmar! Not our county's bus station!"

Her doubts also represented the sentiments of most of her relatives. Yes, Lin Feng is a young man who has just graduated from school. Even if he works in a law firm, what kind of important friends could he possibly have? Could he possibly have connections overseas? It sounds like a fantasy, more like unrealistic boasts made by a young man to save face or comfort his family.

Just as the atmosphere of doubt and complaint was about to reach its peak --

A shrill, old-fashioned cell phone ringtone suddenly came from the pocket of my second aunt's husband's old jacket.

The ringtone was the most primitive "ding-a-ling" sound, which seemed particularly abrupt and shrill in the dull and oppressive living room.

Everyone was stunned.

My aunt's husband instinctively reached into his pocket, but when his fingers touched the old-fashioned cell phone with its shattered screen—the one Wang Hu had just hung up on—he trembled violently, all color draining from his face, his eyes filled with utter terror. He dared not answer, as if it were a burning hot iron that would bring even worse news.

"Answer... answer it! The kidnappers might be calling again!" Auntie urged, her voice trembling with tension.

Auntie suddenly grabbed Zhang Fen's arm, her nails digging painfully into Zhang Fen, making her hold her breath.

Lin Jianguo also raised his head, staring intently at the incessantly ringing phone.

Amidst the horrified, anxious, and desperate gazes of the crowd, my second aunt's husband shakily pulled out his phone. The screen, as expected, still displayed that unnumbered one from overseas.

He took a deep breath, as if heading to his execution, and with trembling fingers swiped to answer the call, then subconsciously pressed the speakerphone button.

"Hello... hello?" My second aunt's husband's voice was trembling uncontrollably.

There was no harsh shouting or cold threat on the other end of the phone, as I had expected.

First came a somewhat noisy background sound, like the wind noise of a car, mixed with some indistinct human voices, but soon, a young man's voice, thick with sobs yet filled with immense joy and disbelief, came through clearly:

"Dad! Dad! It's me! Xiaohui! I... I'm out! I'm alright!"

The sound was like a bolt of lightning, cleaving through all the gloom and arguments in the living room.

Everyone froze.

My aunt's husband's eyes widened suddenly, and his hand holding the phone trembled even more violently, almost dropping it. "Xiao... Xiaohui?! Is it really you?! You... how are you? Where are you?!"

"Dad! I... I'm really out!" Sun Penghui's voice was filled with the excitement and lingering fear of surviving a disaster. "It's... it's Lin Feng! Lin Feng's friends! They... they drove in and took me away! So many people, and guns... Brother Hu and the others were all arrested! I'm in the car now, they said they're taking me... taking me to a safe place! Dad! Mom! I'm okay! I'm really okay!"

His words were fragmented, yet contained an immense amount of information.

They drove right in? Lots of people? And guns? Brother Hu got arrested?

Each word was like a boulder crashing into the hearts of every relative in the living room, stirring up a stormy sea.

Aunt Wang Guifang suddenly broke free from Zhang Fen, rushed to the phone, and cried incoherently into the receiver, "Xiaohui! Xiaohui! My son! Are you really alright? You're really out?! Don't lie to your mother!"

"Mom! I'm really out! I'm not lying to you! It was Lin Feng's friend! Lin Feng's friend saved me!" Sun Penghui cried on the other end of the phone, repeatedly emphasizing this.

In the background noise of the phone call, a calm male voice seemed to be saying something in a low voice, probably reminding Sun Penghui to watch his words or the time. Sun Penghui quickly shouted into the phone again, "Dad, Mom, I have to go now, someone here... someone here told me to stop talking for now. Don't worry! I... I'll be home soon!"

The call was disconnected.

The busy signal sounded again.

But this time, the living room was no longer filled with deathly silence and despair.

My aunt's husband was still holding his phone, his expression slowly shifting from extreme fear to blank bewilderment, then to overwhelming surprise and... disbelief.

Second Aunt Wang Guifang collapsed to the ground, covering her face. This time, she let out a long-suppressed wail, a mixture of lingering fear and ecstatic joy, but this time, her tears were scalding hot.

Auntie San's mouth dropped open. Her hands, which had been on her hips, had somehow fallen down. The carefully maintained shrewdness and cunning on her face shattered, leaving her speechless with disbelief. She glanced at her still-crying second aunt, then at the now-silent phone, and finally, her gaze involuntarily and slowly shifted to Lin Feng, who stood by the coffee table, still expressionless.

The cigarette in his uncle's hand burned to the very end, scalding his fingers before he suddenly realized what was happening and quickly threw it away. He looked at Lin Feng, his eyes filled with shock and a renewed sense of unease.

Third Uncle stood up from the corner, his dark face full of astonishment.

All the complaints, doubts, and sarcastic remarks were shattered by this short phone call.

The relatives who had just been accusing Lin Feng of "adding fuel to the fire," "harming people," and "talking big" were now speechless, their faces burning with embarrassment.

All eyes turned to Lin Feng once again.

But this time, the emotion in his eyes had completely changed.

Shock, disbelief, bewilderment, awe... and a touch of indescribable alienation and unfamiliarity with the "unknown" and the "powerful".

He really did it.

One phone call was made, and less than an hour later...

The person was indeed rescued from that foreign den of iniquity, which sounded like a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.

They used the kind of armed raids you only see in movies.

This young man, who is usually quiet and seems somewhat aloof, what kind of "friends" does he actually talk about?

Under the extremely complex gazes of the crowd, Lin Feng remained calmly standing there. He picked up his phone, seemed to glance at the time, and then said to his still-crying aunt and uncle in a very ordinary tone:

"It's good that he's alright. We'll contact him again once he's in a safe place. Let's wait for news."

After saying that, he walked towards his room, seemingly wanting to temporarily leave the living room filled with immense emotional turmoil.

The moment he turned around, almost all of his relatives subconsciously took a small step back or looked away, no longer daring to stare at him directly with suspicion as before.

That calm figure, at this moment, seemed to be shrouded in a mysterious and unsettling mist in their eyes.