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墨書 Inktalez
In the story told by Song Bunan, Ming You is a remarkable girl who captures attention.
They met during the most painful years of Song Bunan's childhood, a suffering that stemmed from injuries caused by an accident, leaving him battered and bruised. He couldn't go outside, relying on the little sunlight that streamed onto the balcony for comfort each day.
Downstairs, many children would run around, screaming and laughing together, making those who had just come out of the hospital feel envious. He had asked his parents many times if he could go outside, but he always received a firm refusal.
One afternoon, while sitting on the balcony, feeling like a jealous lizard, someone knocked on his door. Trusting their child, his parents never locked the door when he was home alone. Song Bunan couldn’t see through the peephole and thought nothing of it as he opened the door to peek outside.
It was two kids he had seen before. Their first encounter was in the hospital, where he sat on a bench, crying softly due to pain from his wounds. The older boy among them had threatened him fiercely, warning that if he continued to cry endlessly, the doctor would sew his mouth shut. The threat worked well; Song Bunan shrank back into his seat, too scared to make a sound.
However, neither set of parents was upset about this incident; instead, they happily exchanged parenting tips and eventually discovered they lived in the same neighborhood. Bunan's mother generously invited both children to play at their home anytime, hoping it would distract her son from wanting to escape outside.
Ming Hua was relatively more mature from a young age, taking on the responsibility of caring for his sister and their neighbor boy with great diligence. He even learned how to change bandages from helping Song Bunan. His entire summer was filled with activities; he spent more time playing at Bunan's house than his father did at work.
Ming You also enjoyed having her younger brother around; finally, she had someone smaller than herself to look after and play with. Her first impression of Song Bunan was that he looked like a fragile paper doll that might be blown away by the wind, wrapped in bandages as if he had stepped out of an animated film. She wasn't particularly fond of such frail individuals.
Fortunately, Song Bunan proved through his actions that he could be a great friend. Although he had never attended school, he could find reference answers for them from test papers his older brother had completed when they did homework together. This was thanks to Song Buxian attending the same elementary school as them.
During playtime, Ming You was even more mischievous than Ming Hua; Song Bunan often spotted her climbing trees downstairs. She would appear in unexpected places and sometimes engage in fights with boys who tried to provoke her, never losing a single match.
On their way to school, the siblings always protected him. Their time apart during junior high and high school added up to less than two semesters. When it came time for university applications, they successfully encouraged Song Bunan to apply to the military academy they attended and even made a grand welcome for him when school started.
At school, Ming You became quite a prominent figure; she excelled in every subject and was used as a benchmark by teachers during training sessions. The combat scenes were played in high definition for everyone to see. Song Bunan received "special treatment" multiple times; being her sparring partner felt akin to being a punching bag—always on the receiving end of blows.
As outstanding graduates, Ming Hua and Ming You were forced by the school to stay an extra two years while participating in job recruitment activities after graduation alongside Song Bunan. The three of them happily became talents that various companies sought after, especially Ming You, who ranked first overall.
Mighty Falcon initially extended offers to all three of them; however, only Ming Hua accepted at that time. Xin Yi received materials from teammates that indeed listed all three names along with recruitment details. Ming Hua’s reason for declining was simple: the world was vast, and she wanted to explore it.
That exploration lasted over ten years; she changed jobs numerous times but never stayed long enough at any one place. A little pressure would prompt her to quit immediately, leaving her family sighing every time they discussed it. Ming Hua bore the brunt of this turmoil; whenever his sister resigned from a job, their parents would take out their frustrations on him—for instance, scolding him for stepping into the house with his left foot first.
"Back then, Brother Ming Hua cried to me about how Auntie and Uncle took most of his savings when Sister Youyou quit her job saying she wanted to rely on him," Song Bunan shared generously while playing a video she had recorded back then.
In the video, a man sitting in Bunan's small shop clutched a bottle and lamented about his parents' thievery while claiming that his money had barely been enough for a new car. "How many thousands of words do I have to write just to save up again..." The background echoed with Song Bunan's maniacal laughter.
Xin Yi was surprised by the strength of this girl. After all, according to the information, she scored full marks in every subject. The short hair she sported gave her a very capable appearance, and the combination of short boots with riding pants and a jacket made it hard to look away. Her way of speaking and walking carried a strong aura of authority; the initial gaze she directed at him was scrutinizing, not something an ordinary employee would possess.
Song Bunan answered his question, suggesting that Ming You's choice to work in finance here was likely just a whim, and she would probably resign soon for various reasons.
While they were talking, Song Bunan's phone pinged several times with incoming messages. Upon checking, he found a document sent by Ming You, along with a note saying she had been assigned to study elsewhere for a few days and would join them for dinner once she returned.
The document contained a duty schedule clearly labeled "New Life Hospital Fourth Floor East District Technical Department Duty Details," with dates covering the next seven days. From this schedule, they learned that the East District was the area of the hospital where surgeries were performed on patients.
But why would psychiatric patients need surgery? They all understood what that implied. The hospital's personnel arrangements were meticulously planned down to the minute, even including meal times. Song Bunan pointed to the duty timeline, indicating that there was a half-hour shift change period from seven to seven-thirty in the evening.
Amidst the tightly packed schedule, only that half-hour was marked as "break." However, they had no way of knowing how that break was utilized; after sending her message, Ming You had vanished without responding to any further inquiries from Song Bunan.
Xin Yi compared this timetable with the doctor’s duty roster he had received and discovered that during that half-hour, all duty personnel were scheduled for a meeting. This happened every day.
“Daily meetings are such a drag. Didn’t you go last night? What did they talk about?” Xiao Mei scoffed at the idea of daily meetings. As someone who valued her freedom, just hearing about meetings made her head hurt, let alone having to attend them every day.
The person being questioned shook his head gently, explaining that he hadn’t even arrived at the meeting room before being taken directly to his duty station. He was told that doctors coming to exchange information didn’t need to attend.
“I now think there’s something wrong with the people in this lab. They openly monitor us, and now they’re practically admitting they have something shady going on in their meetings,” Song Bunan said with a conflicted expression as he effortlessly took the cigarette Xin Yi had brought to his lips. “Don’t smoke; it’s bad for your health.”
For the first time being told not to smoke, Xin Yi turned to look at Song Bunan, feeling an odd sensation that left him unsure how to react. However, it seemed that Song Bunan wasn’t paying attention to him at all; tossing away the cigarette appeared to be an automatic response.
They stood outside the cafeteria chatting as darkness gradually fell. The bustling families and doctors around them began to thin out. Xiao Mei found their interaction amusing and exaggeratedly patted Song Bunan on the shoulder, teasing him about how quickly he had taken charge after just a few days of getting acquainted.
Song Bunan was serious as he reiterated that smoking truly is harmful; he had seen many people suffer from lung disease. “Their lungs turn black like coal—definitely unhealthy.”
Just as they were about to continue their discussion, they were interrupted by a ringtone coming from Shui Su’s phone. After answering an unfamiliar number, he heard an anxious voice on the other end: “Doctor Jiang, where are you? You’re on duty today; is it convenient for me to pick you up?”
It dawned on them that it was already nearly eight o'clock. Shui Su showed no sign of guilt as he calmly replied that he would return shortly and asked where they should meet. The other person’s tone relaxed significantly as they responded that he should come to the meeting room.
“Oh? Favoritism!” Once he hung up, Song Bunan couldn’t suppress his smile. Initially feeling somewhat disgruntled about being assigned to a nursing position himself, seeing Xin Yi also receiving preferential treatment brought him a sense of balance and schadenfreude.
Xin Yi thought it was quite normal, considering that among them in the lab, only Shui Su and Xiao Mei had more noticeable identities.
They parted ways with Shui Su and headed towards their dormitory. On the way, Xiao Mei asked Song Bunan about the arrival of someone named Copper Coin the next day, wondering if they should disguise themselves a bit to hide their identities.
“No need for that. We’re just going to ask about this during the day. The boss provided us with a talisman, so we can focus on our work,” Xin Yi replied. Just then, he saw Song Bunan pull out a small piece of paper from his pocket, folding it into a triangle as he walked and handing it to himself. “Don’t worry about what this is; it’s just for psychological comfort. You can stick it behind your phone case.”
Clearly, he was well aware of his own attitude towards these so-called “mystical arts.” His explanation was similar to the red string from before—more about comfort than anything else. Xin Yi didn’t refuse and handed his phone directly to Song Bunan, allowing him to handle it.
Xiao Mei rolled her eyes nearby, muttering about how she regretted not going on duty with Shui Su and having to endure this ordeal instead.
“It’s obviously not going to work out for us to investigate in the east tonight. Let’s look for an opportunity tomorrow at seven; I feel like we might find something good over there,” Song Bunan suggested.
He felt inexplicably tired, as if he hadn’t slept in days since standing at the door after dinner. At that moment, listening to Xin Yi ask him what they were going to do during the day, the voice coming from the adjacent bed felt like it was drifting up from downstairs. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind but ended up not hearing what Xin Yi said afterward.
It wasn’t until he noticed something was off and felt someone grip his shoulder that he jolted back to reality, startled by the sudden touch. Rubbing his temples, Song Bunan admitted he was very tired and asked Xin Yi if he could repeat what he had just said.
“Nothing important,” Xin Yi replied, using a damp towel to wipe his face. “Your cold will worsen at night; don’t move around too much. Just sleep.”
Those words hit him like a strong medicine. As he closed his eyes, he saw Xin Yi’s worried expression before he could even say that he was fine. Before he knew it, Song Bunan had fallen into a deep sleep.
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