“They’re at work, they don’t know. Either ways, there is no one who saw the office’s people.” The fat man and thin man both sighed together.
“I actually have a clue.” I said to the two.
“Ah!” The two were surprised and then unconvinced.
“Didn’t you get the files from there? It has their clients’ name and contact information and the names of the people they have contacted. You guys can start looking from there.” I opened the file and turned it to the first page. Fang Guoying’s contact details was clearly printed on the top.
“That’s great!” The fat one jumped in happiness and the whole place shook from his jump.
“Call him, call him!” The thin man urged.
“Wait, this person already died.” I stopped.
All three were looking at me. The fat one and thin one looked bitter and Guo Yujie looked like a fool.
“But he has a wife.” I went on to say. “His wife probably knows the people.”
“Why don’t you ask the police station to look for the person?” The thin man instructed as the fat man went to dial his phone.
After lunch, the police station called us back and fatty picked up the call. After the call finished, his face fell.
“What happened?” The thin man asked.
“His wife and daughter both have gone abroad. After, he died, they left the country. He doesn’t have any other relatives, either.” Fatty sighed.
“There should be one that’s alive, right?” I muttered as I went through the other files.
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Event No. 23 Event Name: Ghost Child
Client: Yu Meng
Gender: Female
Age: 27 years old
Occupation: Zhangheng Logistics Co., Ltd Accounting
Family relationship: Married
Address: Room XXX, No. XX, City Garden, Lin’an Road, Minqing City
Contact Number: 187XXXXXXXX
Event Process: On March 9, 2004, the client visited for the first time. Audio file 02320040309.wav
“Miss. Yu, can you tell us about what you encountered? Online communications is limited and cannot allow us to fully understand your situation.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Please talk.”
“On New Year’s Day this year, me and my husband decided to celebrate at a pub. I told you guys this online. That Junli Inn, room 809. On New Year’s they offer these special couple suites.”
“Uh huh.”
“That day, he just so happened to work overtime. I went to visit both of our parents and at night, around dinnertime, I went to the inn. Before I arrived at the inn, I called my husband, but he didn’t pick up. When I arrived, I called again, but he still didn’t pick up. Then, I waited for around half an hour and I received his text saying that he was in a meeting and it was late and told me to go eat dinner first. The suite included dinner, a candlelit dinner, and I ended up eating it alone on New Year’s. I was in a bad mood and drank some wine. I… I probably drank a little too much, I was dizzy and a bit dazed.”
“Relax, Miss. Yu.”
“Um, *hu*...I heard the sound of the door opening. The suite was booked with both of our IDs. With our two ID cards, we can get two access cards at the front desk. I thought my husband came. I wasn’t very clear at that time, it seemed like I had just read his message, but it also seemed like it had been a long time. I really thought it was him.”
“Did you not see the face of the person coming in?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember it right now. Anyways, at that time, I thought that the person was my husband and I even complained to him that he let me eat dinner alone. I think he said something or not...I don’t remember.”
“Miss. Yu, you can drink some tea. Rest for awhile.”
“Thank you…”
“Can you continue?”
“Yes, I can. When I was awake, it was already the next morning. I was laying on the bed, but he wasn’t there. After, I brushed my teeth, washed my face, my phone rang. It was my husband’s number. I picked it up and I heard him apologizing and that he still needed to work and cannot come home today. When he said that, I thought he apologized for leaving me alone to eat dinner thing...After that, everything was normal. He is very busy at work and often works overtime as if there is a project. I didn’t question much about it. At the end of the last month, my body began to feel uncomfortable and it was a pregnancy symptom. I brought a pregnancy test stick and I found out that I was pregnant. *whimpers*.”
“Did you get pregnant on New Year’s?”
“It can only be that day! My husband has been working overtime these days. He was working overtime around New Year’s. It has to be on New Year’s! I didn’t doubt anything and just wanted to tell my husband about it. We have always as husband and wife been prepared to have children and now we finally have good news...I even thought that it was good news...It must be a coincidence. He has worked overtime for so long and suddenly invited me to go out and eat and even booked a suite. I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell him. He spoke first and sent me a diamond necklace and apologized to me, saying that these days he has been ignoring me and on New Year’s even pushed my limit...I was blank when I heard that. Really, I am stupid! My mind was completely blank and asked him what he was saying and he thought I was still angry and apologized again and praised me. He said that I was more and more like a good wife and he pushed my limits on New Year’s and that I didn’t answer my phone that night, but I answered the next day. I didn’t even make a fuss about it with him...I really...I...I don’t even know how I went home with him…”
“He called you on New Year’s?”
“That’s what he said. I checked it the next day and there was no record on my phone, but I...I always just felt something was wrong and went to the business office to pull out a list…”
“And the results?”
“11 times...that night, from 8:00 to 12:00, he called me 11 times.”
“You have no impression of it?”
“No, there was no history on my phone.”
“Before you said that on the 2nd day, when you woke up, you received a call, was the phone always on?”
“Yes, the phone was on, but there was no record...I thought that it was the work of that person. I thought I was raped. I was holding a list of phones, shaking all over. When I got out of the office, I rushed to the inn and saw the front desk. I calmed down and asked about New Year’s Day. The front desk told me...The front desk told me that I exchanged the access to room 809.”
“There should also be a access card in the inn.”
“Yes,I also thought that, too! I asked to see the monitor, but there was no one on the monitor! That day, there was only me who entered the room and I was alone in the room. I...I didn’t think there would be ghosts or anything. There was no one on the monitor. Maybe the inn did something to it, but I couldn’t call the police. How can I report this to the police? I had no evidence at all...I had no choice, but to recognize this dumb loss. But this child cannot stay, it definitely cannot stay.”
“You said online that when you were thinking about having an abortion, strange things began to happen?”
“My mom that day, fell off the stairs. I rushed to see her and that day we couldn’t go to the hospital. The next day, all the computers in my unit crashed and the work had to be redone. Everyone worked overtime and I still couldn’t go to the hospital. On the third day, I took a day off and went to the hospital during the morning. The bus I took crashed and was stopped halfway. I got off the bus and called for a taxi, but there was no empty one. I walked all the way to the next station and waited for the bus, but every bus was full and I literally cannot get on. It was like that for 3 days, on the 4th day during the morning, I had a dream.”
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start of a new story, y'all.
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