CH 51

The old man in the black and white photo frame had a meaningful smile, and it gave me a shiver down my spine.

“Was there originally a photo frame in that basin?”

As the No. 14 bus slowly started, the windows on both sides were not tightly closed, and the cold wind blew into the bus, brushing fjpast passengers who were either humans or ghosts.

“Jianbang, move over there a bit. Your brother needs to lie down and rest. Wake me up when we get there.” A construction worker, who reeked of alcohol, propped his feet up on the seat and winked at the young companion next to him.

The two young men accompanying him understood his gesture and took off their helmets, sitting in front of a young woman with wavy hair to block the view of the other passengers.

The older foreman chuckled and curled up in the last row of seats.

It looked like he was sleeping, but his dangling hand was not behaving properly. Every time the bus shook, it would lightly touch the woman with wavy hair sitting next to him.

“Can’t this guy see the woman in the red clothing?” I captured everything on my phone’s camera. The reality of the last row of the bus was that the foreman was lying in the arms of the woman in the red clothing. Half of his face was covered by her long hair, which was quite disturbing.

Noticing that the woman with wavy hair wasn’t resisting and was engrossed in her phone, the foreman’s courage grew stronger. The young man sitting in front swallowed his saliva and unconsciously reached his hand back.

“Hey, can I sleep too, bro?” The young man named Jianbang, said enviously.

“You’re still a kid. You haven’t even grown all your hair. Why sleep?” the foreman  retorted.

Through their conversation, I roughly understood that the three of them were from the same hometown. The oldest was the foreman, Wang Chunfu, and the other two young men were Jianbang and Jianye, both of whom Wang Chunfu had brought from their hometown.

The three men had been drinking quite a bit, and with no one saying a word, their actions became increasingly bold. 

Perhaps unable to bear the harassment any longer, the woman with wavy hair sitting in the back row screamed and slapped away the large hand of Wang Chunfu that had been constantly reaching towards her. 

“What are you doing?!” She stood up holding her small bag, her slender legs making Wang Chunfu’s eyes light up as he reluctantly moved his hand away. 

“Beauty, I’m sorry, I must have been too drunk, didn’t touch you, did I?” Wang Chunfu slurred his words, knowingly asking the question. 

With a cold snort, the woman with wavy hair knew that she had encountered a rogue. Without hesitation, she stood up and strode towards the front door, eventually taking a seat opposite Liu Yiyi. 

What was strange was that the woman in the red dress followed closely behind her, like her shadow, sitting behind her, and now facing me. 

Separated only by a narrow aisle, I finally had the chance to observe closely. The woman in red wore a long dress that covered her ankles, and her hair completely obscured her face from every angle. I wondered to myself, “Does this woman even have a face?” 

As I imagined some chilling scenarios, I turned to the woman with wavy hair. Her anger had not yet subsided, and she was texting someone who had not replied. Looking somewhat forlorn, she made a phone call on the bus. 

“Rongrong, what do you want? Haven’t I told you not to call my home phone?” A man’s voice deliberately lowered came from the other end of the line. 

“I’ve sent you so many messages, and you haven’t replied to a single one. I even called your company phone, but nobody answered. Do you want me to die before you’ll be satisfied?” 

“Rongrong, we’re in the process of getting a divorce, and dividing our assets is complicated. You have to give me some time,” the man explained. 

“You always say that every time. It’s been dragging on for weeks already! If you don’t give me an explanation soon, I’ll go to your house with my pregnant belly!”

“Nonsense! Don’t do anything foolish, you have to trust me,” 

“Honey, who are you talking to at this late hour? Don’t wake up the child,” another woman’s voice came from the other end of the line. 

“Wifey, why are you awake? It’s nothing, just some company business. That group of idiots can’t do anything without me…” The man trailed off before he hung up the phone. 

“Hello! Hello! You bastard Li Zijian!” The woman with wavy hair angrily threw her phone and pounded her slightly swollen belly. No one in the car came out to stop her, and the driver ignored her, silently driving while wiping the sweat off his forehead from time to time. 

“Beauty, how can a scumbag like him be worthy of you? He’s not planning to divorce at all, he just doesn’t want to take responsibility for you. All of his excuses are just a cover-up,” Wang Chunfu stumbled from the back of the car, picked up the dropped phone, and remarked, “Oh, it’s actually an Apple phone. Did that jerk give it to you?”

“Give me back my phone!” 

“Oh, wow, listen to that voice, like a little female leopard. If he doesn’t want you, we do, right guys?” With that, he reached out to grab the shoulder of the woman with wavy hair. 

“Stop it!” Finally, someone in the silent carriage stood up, the voice coming from my direction, but it wasn’t me, it was Liu Yiyi, who was less than 1.5 meters tall. 

The little girl clutched her school bag and timidly stood up from her seat. 

“What are you meddling in?” I sighed. 

“Wandering around outside at one or two in the morning, probably not from a decent family, but she looks so cute,” Wang Chunfu stared at Yiyi’s face, feeling more and more itchy in his heart, “come here, come to uncle and teach him how to stop.” 

The situation had developed to a point where I had to step forward and say, “What do you want? I am her family. If there’s a problem, let’s discuss it!”

“You’re pretty bold, aren’t you?” Wang Chunfu and his friends, Jianbang and Jianye, came over, their demeanor fierce. I also clenched my fists, preparing for a potential fight.

“Ding dong! We have arrived at station grace village. Please gather your belongings and exit through the back door. Thank you for riding with us,” the announcement came over the car’s intercom. It turned out the bus had arrived at its first station.

As the bus came to a stop, its front and back doors swung open, revealing a somber scene. A line of mourners, all dressed in funeral attire and sporting solemn expressions, stood patiently at the entrance.

I could see the driver’s face filled with fear, with beads of sweat pouring down his face and his hands trembling as he held tightly onto the steering wheel.

“Such bad luck,” Wang Chunfu muttered as he noticed the funeral attendees boarding the bus. He tossed the phone to the woman with wavy hair before he sat down next to the patient in a hospital gown.

As soon as he sat down, the patient immediately hugged his legs, pressed his body tightly against the window, and kept muttering, “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t see anything. Please don’t kill me. I don’t know anything!”

Wang Chunfu spat on the ground in front of him, scowling, “Are you crazy? You scared me.” 

I didn’t catch their conversation as I had my complete attention on the funeral attendees.

“This is all so strange.”

What’s the point of wandering around wearing mourning clothes and armbands and keeping watch at the wake in the middle of the night?

At this stop, five mourners got on the bus—men and women with pale faces who didn’t remove their mourning clothes upon boarding. It seemed they were used to wearing them, and all five of them sat in the last row.

“Are they people or ghosts?” As they passed by me, they brought a chill with them, and the bus fell silent again. “The bus is departing. Please hold on tight and welcome aboard No.14 bus. Please prepare your change before boarding. Passengers boarding the bus, please move to the back door. The next stop is一Station Chrysanthemum Garden.”

The scenery on both sides gradually receded, and darkness engulfed everything. The No.14 bus drifted in the vast night like a lonely boat.

The atmosphere inside the bus was extremely oppressive, and I stole a glance at the five people in the back. They were all dressed in white from head to toe, with no seams on their clothes, a hemp rope tied around their waists. Their facial muscles were stiff, as if they had been crying for so long that they had briefly lost consciousness.

“There is a certain etiquette to wearing mourning clothes with hemp, but their attire seems haphazard and ill-fitting.” I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was wrong with them, but I had a nagging feeling that something was off.

“Uncle, thank you for earlier,” Liu Yiyi whispered, patting me secretly, still shaken from the recent events.

“Stay quiet, don’t move, and get to your destination quickly. I’ll say it again; this is not a joke.” I scowled at the girl, the only person in the bus who seemed normal to me. Unconsciously, I felt a strong urge to protect her.

Liu Yiyi pouted and nodded her head, “Okay, I understand.”

No one spoke, and the only sound in the car was the roar of the old engine, which sounded like an elderly person struggling to breathe their last breath, every moment feeling like an eternity.

Time seemed to slow down when under intense pressure, and I had no idea how long it had been since the bus started running.

“Ding dong! We have arrived at Station Chrysanthemum Garden. Please take your personal belongings and exit through the back door. Thank you for riding with us.”

Both the front and rear doors of the bus opened, but no one got on through the front. My attention shifted to the back door.

The seemingly unhappy couple stood up as the man urged the woman to hurry. Reluctantly, she grabbed her handbag, and both of them exited the bus.

“The bus is now departing. Please remain seated and hold on tight. Thank you for riding the No. 14 autonomous ticketing bus. If you are boarding, please have exact change ready, as the fare is one yuan. Passengers getting on should proceed to the back door. Next stop is Station Martyrs Street,” 

The vehicle had just started moving when the middle-aged woman sitting behind me suddenly sprang up and exclaimed, “Wait!” 

She grabbed my neck as if possessed and accused me loudly. “You stole my things! Get off the bus with me! Come with me to the police station and explain yourself! Come with me now!”