Chapter 3: 3

An elderly had passed away in the nursing home.

Jiang Man pushed Li Jiu Lu to her room and told her to not come out lest she was frightened.

Her room was located in the right wing of the nursing home, while the elderly resided in the other wing directly opposite. Her room probably used to be a storage room or a servant’s quarter, but appeared to be much more spacious than the average room after renovations. The wing was roughly eighty square meters wide; she lived on the second floor while Jiang Man and Zhou Ke lived on the first floor.

Her study table faced the windows, from which she managed to make out a body that was covered with a piece of white cloth. There was already a car waiting below, ready to send the deceased to the town’s morgue. The deceased’s son-in-law had came to make a huge reckus together with the daughter, both wailing uncontrollably as they fought for an explanation. The tears behind their eyes were probably mixed with half truths.

The deceased was called Xu Gui Min and she had hung herself on a tree in the nursing home. When they discovered her, her face was distorted eerily, her body lifeless. She was already 72 years old and her body was plagued with several illnesses. She had been transferred to the nursing home under the ‘Five Guaranteed Households1‘ governmental scheme from a nearby village. She also had a slow daughter that was unable to take care of herself and was later married to a man with a wry neck from the same village. However, neither visited whenever holidays came, and acted like that this mother of their hadn’t existed.

Li Jiu Lu held a deep impression of the deceased. She wasn’t in the best of states and always wore a long face. No one had seen her smile and even when she was greeted, she would ignore the person. Knowing that she had committed suicide, Jiu Lu was dumbfounded, but accepted it very quickly. Perhaps the elderly had no hopes left for life and was mulling over the decision all these while.

Every single lifeform on Earth has long had its course decided for them by God; it was impossible to change their fates once their time was up. Life was such, nothing exists forever, and death was sometimes closer than one might think of it to be.

Sometimes, Jiu Lu was terrified that she had accepted this since young.

The lights in her bedroom were switched off but there was a slim gap left between the windows and wall. The cries from outside had travelled into her room clearly, and she could hear Jiang Man with a few other social workers consoling them. She sat silently at her desk for a while and pulled out a drawer. There were a lot of long origami strips, and she took one out and folded it into the shape of a star. The finished star was then deposited into a tall glass bottle by the window, which was filled with all sorts of stars in different colours and sizes. Jiu Lu wasn’t one to care about details.

She folded a few more stars before she heard another commotion. The metal gates were pulled opened, and a car drove in. Zhou Ke, together with Chen Rui Cheng from the Civil Affairs Bureau, came out from the car. Zhou Ke had invited him for dinner but returned when he heard the news. Upon seeing the person-in-charge, the deceased’s family charged towards him.

Jiu Lu watched the entire thing hazily and her sight remained on him for a while before she retracted her eyes. She threw the wonky star into the bottle, closed the windows and blinds indifferently and headed for bed.

Jiu Lu couldn’t sleep soundly; she jolted awake in the middle of the night. There seemed to be a series of muted screams permeating throughout the nursing home, but when she focused, there seemed to be nothing. Jiu Lu’s sleepiness was gone in an instant. Her room was very dark, and the pale moonlight outside her window didn’t help much. She peered at her door, which when surrounded by the white walls of her bedroom, only made it seem like it was a retangular entrance for an endless cave. Disconcerted, it was difficult for Jiu Lu to sleep again.

She laid awake on her bed for a few minutes and got up. Using the dim moonlight as a light source, she took out a wooden box from her bed, used a dry cloth to wipe its contents inside for a half hour before finally going back to bed.

Word travelled fast, especially in a small town. When Jiu Lu went to school the next day, the huge classroom instantly piped down at the sight of her; their loud discussions now muted whispers.

There was still quite some time from the first lesson. A boy called Liang Xu, a classmate from middle school, sat beside Ma Xiao Ye, and his eyes lit up when Jiu Lu entered the class. He mumbled to himself for a while and came running towards Jiu Lu.

“Come back!” Ma Xiao Ye didn’t manage to stop him.

Liang Xu sat beside her and asked directly, “Jiu Lu, I heard that someone died at home yesterday?”

His voice wasn’t loud but it wasn’t soft either, but it successfully captured the attention of everyone in class, and they unconsciously leaned closer.

In an instant, the classroom grew silent; so much so that even a needle drop could be heard.

Jiu Lu was extremely uncomfortable. She glared discreetly at Liang Xu and didn’t speak a word.

Ever since middle school, Liang Xu has always been an annoyance for Jiu Lu. He seems to like appearing in front of Jiu Lu every now and frequently borrowed items; an eraser, tissues, even money, which he hadn’t bother to return. Even her water wasn’t spared. When needed, he would snatch away her bottle and drink from it directly. Frivolous, rambunctious, unaware of social cues, this person was seriously too vexing for his own good.

Of course, these comments were kept to Jiu Lu herself.

She took out her textbooks and opened the windows to allow for wind to enter.

Liang Xu however pressed on. “I heard that even the police were there, that the family had requested for an autopsy, saying that it might be foul play. But, an elderly, who would want to hurt her?” He pulled Jiu Lu’s ponytail and lowered his body slightly. “They say the nursing home is haunted, do you think……”

Jiu Lu didn’t say anything but scowled to warn him to stop.

He coughed. “Then, I’m guessing that they’re trying to extort money, what do you think?”

Jiu Lu was extremely irritated but Liang Xu continued. “You’re really going to allow them to make a scene? What did your Dad say?”

Li Jiu Lu frowned and replied in a slightly louder voice. “Stop talking nonsense.”

The girls in front of her turned to look at her and then leaned into each other as they whispered words. Li Jiu Lu had an inkling of what they were talking about; their family matters weren’t exactly a secret.

Liang Xu wanted to continue, but Ma Xiao Ye’s voice suddenly appeared above them as he felt a kick on his leg. “Stop talking nonsense and go back to your seat.”

Liang Xu whimpered. “The public has the right to know the truth.”

“Right my ass.”

Ma Xiao Ye was just about to deliver another kick when Liang Xu smiled weirdly and ran back to his seat.

Just then, the bell rang.

“Listen to class.” Ma Xiao Ye said.

He returned to his seat and patted Mo Ke Yan’s shoulder. “Move.”

The two seemingly had a grudge towards one another and didn’t see eye to eye on everything. They talked like they fought, and only felt comfortable after seeing each other at a loss for words.

Mo Ke Yan didn’t move. “Who’re you talking to? My name isn’t ‘Move’.”

“Move.” Ma Xiao Ye looked to the front and ‘Mediterranean Sea’2 was already walking to the podium with his books. “The teacher’s already here, quit playing around.”

“Who’s playing? If you want, you can always jump over.” She teased.

‘Mediterranean Sea’ knocked on the blackboard: “Ma Xiao Ye, what are you doing? Go back to your seat.” Ma Xiao Ye gritted his teeth in irritation, but smirked after he thought of something. He raised his legs……

and crossed over Mo Ke Yan’s thighs.

The space between Mo Ke Yan and her body was already small to begin with; when Ma Xiao Ye crossed over, the duo had to face one another, their positions as dubious as it seems.

When has Mo Ke Yan ever been put in such a compromising position? Instinctively, she reached for his thighs and pinched it as hard as she could.

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“Ah-“

The entire class erupted in laughter and it took awhile for them to focus in class.

With the class starting, the room was quiet as ‘Mediterranean Sea’ lectured.

Only after a while, Mo Ke Yan spoke up and asked Ma Xiao Ye a question out of the blue. “What’s your relationship with Li Jiu Lu?” Her eyes however, stared straight at the podium. Ma Xiao Ye froze briefly. He didn’t know why, but he answered unconsciously.

“We’re not together.” He then stared at her, “We were classmates since middle school. I treat her like my younger sister.”

“Siblings? In this day and age, how can siblings have a pure relationship?”

Ma Xiao Ye didn’t bother to reply but turned round and teased, “What about you? Aren’t you too aware of my business?”

Mo Ke Yan responded with a cold ‘hmph’.

He lowered his voice, “You’ll have to line up. Don’t think there’s space this term though.”

“There’s a line for me too, I don’t have the time.”

Mo Ke Yan retorted like so, but her lips lifted slightly upwards as she turned her head to the other side.

An unbearable day was finally over.

Li Jiu Lu packed her bag and waited for quite a while at the bicycle lot before seeing Ma Xiao Ye hurrying over. It has since been a month since school started, and the days started to become shorter, and grew darker faster too.

In the dark, a few of the classrooms were still lit up. The stadium was empty and the bicycles in the lot were scattered sparingly; there were only a few of them left.

Li Jiu Lu went up towards him to talk, but Ma Xiao Ye spoke first. “I’m going to play basketball with my tablemate, do you want to go?”

He lowered his head and his eyes met Li Jiu Lu’s distant stare. Even though he didn’t do anything, there was a weird sense of guilt. He scratched his head and added, “She’s been challenging me of late recently. Since there’s time, I’m going to play a little.”

She thought for a while. “Just the two of you?”

“Liang Xu, Huang Wei Guang and others will be there too.”

“Then I won’t be going. Don’t play too much, there’s class tomorrow.” Jiu Lu held the straps on her backpack, pulled her lips in the shape of a smile and left the bicycle lot with a turn of her body.

Just as she stepped forward, Ma Xiao Ye suddenly grabbed her wrist and brought her into an embrace. Then, seemingly hesitating, he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

This was, till now, the closest they have ever been but there wasn’t much changes in Li Jiu Lu’s emotions. The two separated, and she unconsciously scanned her surroundings before raising her head to look at him.

Ma Xiao Ye avoided her eyes and turned to unlock his bicycle. “Or, I can give you a ride home first before I look for them.”

“It’s okay.” Li Jiu Lu was scared that he had really wanted to send her home and waved him away before leaving.

“I’ll call you at night!” Ma Xiao Ye added loudly.

By the time Li Jiu Lu got home, it was already seven and the skies had darkened. The two streetlights towering at the sides of the door casted an orange yellow glow on the pavement.

The metal gates to the nursing home were however shut tightly but seemed especially eerie and desolate.

Jiu Lu took her keys and opened the door. The nursing home remained as it was; activities such as strolls, square dances and chess continued among the elderly. In fact, under the gazebo, two grandfathers argued; both believing that they had won at chess.

Ju Liu’s steps slowed and felt a hint of discomfort, as though someone’s gaze was on her. Her eyes, seemingly controlled by something, went over in the direction of the corridor.

Just then, Jiang Man called out to Ju Liu, and she stopped halfway. Dressed in a white robe, her mother came down carefully from the stairs.

“Lu Lu, why’re you so late today?”

Li Jiu Lu went up to her and helped her to carry the blankets. “The teacher made us stay behind. Where do you want the blankets to go?” She then turned back towards the corridor, where two figures, one old and short, the other young and tall, stood under the shadow. The figures didn’t seem familar to her.

“Take the blankets to dry.”

The mother and daughter duo talked as they walked. Like clockwork, Jiang Man nagged, “It’s been awhile since school reopened. How’s your studies? Can you catch up with the others? If there’s anything you don’t know, make sure to ask your classmates, alright? You can’t be like how you were in middle school…… Anyways, your Uncle Zhou had to pull favours and ask around just to get you into that class, don’t let the both of us down.”

“I know.”

The two worked together and hung up the blankets to dry. Jiang Man then smacked the blankets and mumbled to herself.

“How inauspicious……”

“This is Grandma Xu’s?”
“Yeah. Quite the trouble.”
“How did it go with the family the end?”
“Wanted to extort money probably.”
“You gave it to them?”

“They can dream on.” Sneering, Jiang Man added, “Didn’t they want an autopsy? Your Uncle Zhou said to let them go with it, there’s evidence, we didn’t do anything, there’s no need to worry.”

Li Jiu Lu’s hand rested on the blanket and wanted to say something when Jiang Man rushed her. “Let’s be quicker. After hanging this we’ll still need to tidy up the room. Someone’s waiting for it.”

“So fast?”

Jiang Man gave a short response, finished hanging the blankets and left Jiu Lu.

Jiang Man then scuttled in front and stepped on the stairs.

“Chi…… Jian, right? Please wait for a little while longer, the room will be ready soon.”

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