DDT - Chapter 92
Chapter 92: Female Ghost × Little Pitiful One (Side Story)
Time has a way of slipping by when you're not paying attention. The people of the small county town had long forgotten the mother and daughter who had chosen to leave years ago under the pressure of public opinion.
And in the long years that had passed, netizens had completely forgotten the serial murder case and the case of the abusive stepfather that had once shocked the entire nation.
Too much time had gone by.
So much time that Yi Shuhan was beginning to forget whether the female ghost who had kept her company for a year in Chang City Third Hospital had ever truly existed.
It was a sunny afternoon, but Yi Shuhan wasn't particularly fond of it. She stayed home, quietly sipping the afternoon tea she had brewed herself. On the blue-black glass coffee table before her, a sandalwood stand held a silver-framed picture. The drawing depicted two very young girls. The taller, prettier girl was leaning on the back of the slightly shorter one, their hair intertwined. Delicate pencil lines rendered the girls' eyes with incredible life.
It was a pencil sketch on ordinary notebook paper, yet its owner had framed it with meticulous care, as if it were some priceless treasure. Judging by the exquisite frame, the piece was indeed quite valuable.
Yi Shuhan gazed silently at the taller girl in the drawing, then took another gentle sip of her tea. It was somewhat bitter, but upon savoring it, a sweet aftertaste emerged.
It was just like her life all those years ago. Though difficult and painful, having that "person" by her side had made it all seem less unbearable.
Too much time had passed. She was now successful in her career and had bought a villa in a city in the south with a pleasant climate. The pace of life in this city was slower, well-suited for a slow-paced person like her, and it was also a nice place to retire.
She had her mother close the small restaurant she had run for many years in Chang City and brought her south by plane.
Her mother had toiled for her for most of her life; it was time for her to enjoy a life of leisure.
Since moving here, Yi Shuhan's mother had made many friends her own age. The group of old ladies often got together to play cards, go for beauty treatments, and even dance in the evenings. Their lives were happy, free from the terrible past, filled only with warmth.
"Miss Yi, dinner is almost ready. You can call the old madam back to eat," said Auntie Wang, whom Yi Shuhan had hired a few years ago.
Yi Shuhan had hired both Auntie Wang and another helper to cook and clean. The house was large, and though her mother loved to tidy up, doing so would leave her exhausted. Hiring them for help didn't cost much.
Yi Shuhan set down her teacup and picked up her phone to call her mother.
After her mother returned home, the two of them and Auntie Wang had a simple dinner together. Yi Shuhan carefully reminded her mother of a few things, then told her she would be returning to Chang City for a few days. Her mother nodded, promising to take good care of herself. She knew that at this time every year, no matter where her daughter was, she would always return to Chang City to visit her friend.
Before leaving, Yi Shuhan went to the art studio on the third floor. She never allowed anyone else inside. The entire studio was filled, hung with portraits of a single beautiful girl.
Yi Shuhan selected a framed portrait, wrapped it in cloth, and left.
After a two-hour flight, Yi Shuhan landed in Chang City around 8 p.m. At the arrivals gate, a handsome man in a sharp suit stood quietly, his powerful presence attracting many furtive glances.
As Yi Shuhan walked out of the gate, she saw the familiar man.
"Sister Shuhan!" The man waved. Yi Shuhan nodded at him and walked over. "Long time no see, Shi Qi. Sorry to trouble you to come all this way to pick me up so late."
Shi Qi habitually took the cloth-wrapped painting from her hands and led her toward the parking lot.
Shi Qi's driver was waiting ramrod straight by the car. Seeing his boss approach with Miss Yi Shuhan, he proactively opened the car doors for them. Only after the two important figures were seated did he return to the driver's seat, start the car, and head toward the Shi family home.
Every year when Yi Shuhan came to Chang City, she would stay at the Shi residence for a few nights. At first, the Shi family thought their young master, Shi Qi, had brought a girlfriend home. They were surprised to find that the two were truly just friends, with only occasional business dealings between them.
The next morning, after breakfast, the two of them drove to the cemetery on the west side of the city.
About seven years ago, when Yi Shuhan had already accumulated some capital, she hired someone to investigate everything that had happened in Room No. 1 of the inpatient ward at Chang City Third Hospital all those years ago. It turned out there had indeed been a serious medical accident at the hospital. Not only did a patient burn to death on the spot, but a young intern was later made to take the blame. Crushed by the immense public pressure and compensation fees, the young doctor had committed suicide by jumping off a building.
But neither the patient who died that year nor any of the other patients in that batch was named Chi Junluo. The patient who burned to death was named Chi Xiangxiang.
Upon arriving at the cemetery, they walked toward the top. This was a high-end cemetery where each plot had its own independent space, not at all crowded, and was regularly maintained by the management staff.
They finally stopped before two tombstones, not far from each other. One was inscribed with the three large characters for Chi Xiangxiang, along with her dates of birth and death. The other tombstone was blank.
They paused before their respective graves. Yi Shuhan unwrapped the cloth, took out the portrait of the young woman, and carefully placed it in the custom-made display case next to the tombstone. Inside, there were already several other portraits of various sizes. Without exception, they were all of this same beautiful girl.
Seven years ago, Yi Shuhan had negotiated a price with the Third Hospital. She had the grassy area below the building cordoned off with construction barriers and hired people to excavate the skeletal remains of Chi Xiangxiang, which had been buried for nearly two decades. She then contacted a funeral home to have her cremated. Finally, she and Shi Qi bought this plot in the west-side cemetery together. Yi Shuhan buried Chi Xiangxiang here, while Shi Qi erected a cenotaph on the adjacent plot for the ghost brother he could never find again. The two of them came to pay their respects every year.
Placing the wine and fruit she had brought before the tombstone, Yi Shuhan sat down on the ground. She opened a cup of pine nut wine and began to drink by herself. Over the years, all the words that needed to be said had been said. She understood that a person who was gone, or rather, a ghost who had dissipated into the world, would likely never return.
At least, in this short lifetime, there was no possibility of seeing her again.
Beside her, Shi Qi also opened a can of wine and sat silently before the tombstone, drinking without a word.
Yi Shuhan's eyes grew a little red. For so many years, she had grown accustomed to lying alone in her large bed, the warmth behind her long gone. How many times had she woken from a dream in the middle of the night, only to see her solitary reflection in the mirror?
From the day she left the hospital, she had thrown herself into learning how to draw, all to preserve the face of that girl, so that with the passage of time, the memory wouldn't blur into an indistinct face she could no longer recall.
Since then, she had painted that face thousands upon thousands of times, but she never again got to see that person smile for her in person.
No matter how slowly one drank, the wine would eventually run out. Yi Shuhan put away the empty cup from the pine nut wine, extended her left hand, and rolled up her sleeve. Three exquisite patterns were tattooed around her wrist. The golden tattoo was identical to the pattern on that person's hand all those years ago.
In the second year after leaving the hospital, against her mother's objections, she had personally drawn a design identical to that person's pattern and had it tattooed and colored in a single session. The process wasn't as painful as she had imagined. On the contrary, she felt that this tattoo had etched all her longing and memories of that person onto her very skin.
That night, Yi Shuhan lay quietly in her bed at home. And that night, she had the same nightmare she used to have in Chang City Third Hospital years ago.
In the dream, the woman with the golden pattern on her left wrist jumped from a dilapidated city tower. The scene shifted, and the woman fell from a school building. Then, with another dizzying turn, it was the same, somewhat familiar face. She was clad in a general's battle armor, her chest pierced by a sharp weapon, blood flowing down her dark armor. She leaned back, pulling the man she was fighting with, and plunged from the high ancient city wall.
Yi Shuhan stood not far from the woman. She wanted to stop it all from happening, but she couldn't move her feet an inch. In the end, all she could hear was her own heart-wrenching scream:
"No!!!"
She woke with a jolt, the heart-wrenching anguish lingering long after. She forced herself to sit up. After so many years, she had had the dream again, and this time, she had finally seen the dreamer's face clearly!
Yi Shuhan switched on the light and stumbled toward her art studio. She had to paint her while she still remembered what she looked like!
The one she had been waiting for was never the long-dead Chi Xiangxiang, but the woman who had burst into her life under that name, the one who had stirred her soul across three lifetimes!
The studio was brilliantly lit. Before a massive canvas, Yi Shuhan, her eyes bloodshot and looking almost possessed, sketched the face from her dream, faintly muttering, "Wait for me."
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