The voice on the other end was so innocent that Gao Ming didn’t have the heart to trick the man. He played the role of a listener well. He allowed the man, who sounded mature, to keep on telling his story. Compared to Gao Ming’s nightmare experience, the man’s story was common and warm. Gao Ming couldn’t tell why, but he paid great attention.
After a long ti, Gao Ming said, “I’m not your big brother. Soone else gave this walkie-talkie.”
The chatter halted instantly. The man appeared to be stumped. After so ti, he apologised to Gao Ming for disturbing him. After the apology, the man spoke through tears, “My brother said I could contact him through this walkie-talkie. I can reach him no matter how far he is. He’s my own family. He will not lie to .”
“Don’t worry. What’s your brother’s na? Perhaps I can help you find him.” Gao Ming knew he had been dragged into a larger conspiracy. His suffering was rely the tip of the iceberg.
“His na… I can’t rember! But I will never forget it! My brain is just not recording it!” The man smacked his hands against his head heavily.
“Take it easy.”
“I will not forget him, but I can feel that whenever I wake up in the morning, my mory of him becos blurrier and blurrier like so kind of force is making forget him. I… I can’t even rember his na anymore.” The man was so agitated that he started to cry again. He was so sad.
Gao Ming felt that the man had Alzheir’s at first, but he suddenly realised that was wrong. The man knew the details of the zoo so well but had only forgotten about his brother. Gao Ming had a flash of lightning in his mind. A horrible taboo incident happened in Xin Lu several years ago. A lot of people were forced to undertake brain surgery.
“Could that incident be related to his brother?”
After consoling the man, Gao Ming asked directly, “Can you tell where you are now? Your brother gave the walkie-talkie. Perhaps we can work together to find him.”
“My ho is around Xin Lu Zoo. I want to go ho, but they insist on bringing to the old folk’s ho. It is so scary here.”
“Which ho?”
“Xin Lu Old City Sunshine Charity Old Folk’s Ho.” The man said with clear anticipation. “Can you really find my brother?”
“I’ll go there when the sun is up.” Before Gao Ming could say anything else, the voice disconnected. The bloody stains on the walkie-talkie turned back into normal stains. He looked out the window. The sun was peeking through.
“Can I only use this at night? This thing doesn’t feel like it belongs in the living world. Could the elder called Wang Pingan be a ghost?”
Soon, Liu Yi’s alarm rang. The forr-class beauty wiped away the saliva from her lips as she tried to wake up.
Gao Ming entered the kitchen to prepare their breakfast. After Liu Yi left for work, he got a cab to head to Sunshine Charity Centre.
Compared to the expensive private retirent hos, Sunshine Charity Centre was old and small. It wasn’t too bad, but it had a lot of room for improvent. Gao Ming walked through the gate and found the guard. The guard was large and looked around forty. His hat tilted on his head. He hid inside the guardroom as he watched a female livestrear dance on stream.
“Hello. I am Wang Pingan’s family. I’ve brought sothing for him.” Gao Ming knocked on the window.
“Wait a minute.” The guard put his phone away and dialled the volu down. He acted to be busy, “Let see… It shows here that Wang Pingan doesn’t have any family, and there is no booking that anyone is coming to see him.”
“I’m here on behalf of his friend. Tell I have just spoken to him on the phone. He will want to et .”
“It’s not whether he wants to et you or not. We are an enclosed centre.” The guard looked into Wang Pingan. “The old man you want to et is quite a troublemaker. He has escaped from the grounds several tis already. Don’t be fooled by him. He is physically fit. He hasn’t fallen ill since he has been accepted here.”
“Who admitted him here? He clearly wants to go ho.”
“Are you not listening to ? He is crazy.” The guard didn’t want to argue with Gao Ming. The guard notified the staff inside and shooed Gao Ming away. He grumbled as he picked his phone back up, “Youth nowadays sure are annoying.”
Gao Ming thought he could see Wang Pingan soon, but he was stopped at the reception. Two n in white coats led him to another room. After asking him a lot of questions, they rejected Gao Ming’s request to see Wang Pingan. Apparently, Wang Pingan needed to rest. The more they acted like this, the more suspicious Gao Ming beca. He beca forceful and threatened to report this to the dia.
In the end, it was a superior who ca. When he saw the Immortal Pharma band Gao Ming wore, he allowed Gao Ming entry.
“Is my guess true? Has Wang Pingan taken the brain surgery?”
Gao Ming headed to the sixth floor or the top floor at the centre. He saw a single room beside the director’s office. “After Wang Pingan’s many escapes, we arranged for him to stay here. We take care of his daily needs…”
Gao Ming ignored the staff. He stood beside the door. Every room there had a small window fitted to the door. One could directly look into the rooms.
“This is not a violation of the elders’ privacy. We just want to ensure that we can keep an eye on them for their safety.”
“All these sound like a cover-up.” Gao Ming knocked on the door. Soon, the wooden door swung open. An old man with toys hanging all over his body appeared.
He was shy around people. He didn’t speak. He acted like a wronged child.
Gao Ming scanned the binoculars around his neck, the kaleidoscope in his pocket, the water gun on the ground and the walkie-talkie the old man held. He smiled to himself. This old man was not as dumb as he appeared.
“Can we talk alone?” Gao Ming entered the room and closed the door. His sudden action frightened the old man. The old man appeared frightened of the living.
“Don’t panic. Haven’t we just chatted earlier?”
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