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墨書 Inktalez
Jiang He sat quietly, savoring the taste of the Fruit Hard Candy as he flipped through Beibei's Diary. The faint flavor of green apple melted in his mouth, stirring an indescribable feeling within him. After a while, he finally finished reading Beibei's Diary.
Jiang He understood what had happened and grasped the whole story.
"I have an unhappy family because my parents are always arguing. My mom and dad lack the ability to provide; at their age, they still work as cleaners and have no respect in society. Some of my mom's former classmates married successful bosses or government officials, all of whom earn more than my dad. But I don’t feel that way; I think my dad is the best dad in the world. He buys me big toy rabbits and takes me out to play."
"Today after school, Dad came to pick me up on his bicycle. He asked me why other friends went home by car while I rode a bike, and if it bothered me. I don’t want to take a car; riding with Dad on his bicycle is much better. I can see the blue sky, and it makes me happy, and Dad is happy too."
"Mom told me while we were going to sleep that if it weren't for me, she and Dad would have divorced long ago. Hearing Mom say that made me feel very sad. She thinks I don’t understand what divorce means, but I do. Divorce means two people no longer play together, just like when my classmate transferred schools; I never saw her again."
"Today Mom asked me who I would want to be with if they divorced. I didn’t know what to say; I could only cry. I don’t want to leave Dad or Mom, but Mom always wants to leave Dad. Today the teacher asked us what our wishes were when we grow up, and mine is to earn a lot of money. The teacher said my thinking was wrong. But if I earn a lot of money, Mom won’t leave us."
"Today Mom made Dad cry because she thought his cooking was terrible. But I think Dad's cooking is delicious; it's the best food I've ever had. When I ate at my friend’s house before, I thought it wasn’t as good as Dad's cooking. Mom is so picky; it’s clearly delicious already."
"Dad and Mom argued again, and I hid in my room, too scared to come out. I peeked through the crack in the door and saw Dad kneeling on the floor, crying again. Teachers say that children who cry are not brave; Dad must be a cowardly child. I want to grow up quickly so I can protect my dad from crying. I've never cried before; last time when I fell and hurt my leg, I didn’t cry at all. The teacher said I'm very brave."
"Mom packed her things and said she was leaving; she told me she would come back for me later. I was so scared; I didn’t want Mom to go. When Hui transferred from our class, she left like this too but said she would come back to see me. But since she left, she never returned. I don’t know if Mom will be like that too—leaving and never coming back."
"After Mom left, Dad was no longer the same dad he used to be. He used to take me out to play and buy me toys, making delicious meals for me. But after Mom left, he stopped taking me out and buying toys; his cooking became bitter. The teacher told us that food tastes good when there’s love in it, so we should thank our parents for cooking for us. But now I know my dad has lost that love."
"Today Mom finally came home; I've been counting down every day—it’s been fifteen days in total. I asked her where she had been, and she said she found a place for us to live and wanted to take me with her. I refused; I didn’t want Mom to leave—I wanted us all to live together. But Mom insisted on leaving, which made me very sad."
"When Dad came home and saw Mom, he was surprised. He begged her not to leave while I also pleaded with her not to go, but Mom acted like a temperamental friend who couldn’t be soothed no matter what we did. Dad told me to go back into my room and wouldn’t let me come out without saying anything."
"I heard noises outside the room that sounded familiar—the same kind of noise when a classmate broke a glass cup on the floor last time. The sound of Dad and Mom arguing was loud enough that even with my head buried under the covers, I could still hear them fighting. My parents are bad people; someone in class said that once, and the teacher scolded him harshly for it. My mom and dad are terrible people."
"I'm finally not hearing any noise outside. I wonder what happened. I secretly opened a crack in the door and saw my mother lying on the ground, completely still. My father was sitting beside her, looking as if he had just come from a school sports event, breathing heavily. I noticed a pool of red liquid on the floor, which looked like blood and was still flowing. When my father saw me, he came over and closed the door, telling me that if he didn't call for me, I couldn't come out.
I don't know how much time passed; it was dark outside, and I was so hungry. If it were this time yesterday, my father would have already let me out to eat. If my parents hadn't fought, my father would have come in to kiss me before calling me for dinner. It had been a long time since he had kissed me or seemed happy.
I fell asleep for a while, but my father still hadn't called for me. I felt scared; I was afraid that my parents didn't want me anymore. I stepped out of the room, but both my mother and father were gone. I heard noises coming from the bathroom and saw my mother lying naked in the bathtub while my father was washing her. I asked my mother what was wrong; she was hurt, and my father was trying to save her. I noticed a large wound on my mother's head, but it had stopped bleeding. It seemed that my father had helped her.
My father told me to go back to sleep in my room, but I had already woken up and didn't want to sleep anymore. He said he needed to go out for a bit and promised to bring back my favorite Spicy Mixed Noodles. My mother thought that food was dirty; before, my father would secretly buy it for me, but now she couldn't speak.
My father instructed me to keep the door closed and not open it for anyone except him. Teachers had taught us not to open the door for strangers, and I remembered that well. I stood by the bathtub, watching my mother lie there without moving. I gently touched her wound and asked if it hurt, but she didn't respond. I knew it must hurt a lot; when I hurt my leg before, it was very painful too. But I didn't cry, and neither did my mother.
Before I knew it, I fell asleep again. When I woke up, my father had finally returned with delicious Spicy Mixed Noodles and many other treats. There were so many things I'd never eaten before; my father was really good to me. I had never eaten at KFC before; I'd only heard about it from Fatty, but now I'd tried it too.
My father told me he had called the teacher and that I wouldn't have to go to school anymore. But I liked school; there were many friends there, and I wanted to learn so many interesting things. However, my father's face was dark, so I didn't dare say anything. Hui must feel the same way; she probably wanted to come see me, but my father wouldn't allow it.
My father told me that because of what happened to my mother, I couldn't go outside; otherwise, I'd lose both of them. I didn't want that; I wouldn't tell anyone anything. When he returned this time, he brought in a large freezer. He gave someone a lot of money—more than I'd ever seen before. I'd seen those kinds of freezers at the supermarket; they really cost that much money.
My father put my mother inside the freezer so that she could get better this way. He told me that from now on, I'd help him save her, which made me happy. Now we were together as a family of three again; my father's cooking became delicious once more—only now my mother wouldn't eat.
Today my father told me he knew how to save my mother. He took me to a place filled with corpses and told me to watch outside; if anyone came by, I should quietly let him know. I waited by the door for what felt like ages until finally my father came out with a travel bag filled with who-knows-what.
He cut open my mother's belly—he'd seen how to do this at the hospital before. My father is like a machine; if something inside is broken, you just replace it with something good. I helped him from the side as he replaced several things inside her belly, but she still didn't wake up.
He had replaced many things inside her already; I knew they were called Entrails—I had learned about them in school before. My father's Entrails were all bad now; without good ones, there was no way for her to wake up. My father asked if I wanted her to get better—I certainly did—and he said he could only use Entrails from living people.
Today he told me he had found some living Entrails already. Tonight he would bring them back so that my mother could wake up again. She had been lying in the freezer for quite some time now; every time I came here to see her, her appearance changed slightly each time. I wanted her to wake up; I missed her."
This is the last diary entry, dated five years ago.
A lot has happened since then.
As Jiang He closed the diary, the fruit candy in his mouth had nearly melted away. He didn’t throw away the candy wrapper; instead, he gently placed it in his pocket.
Outside the room, a voice called out—it was Xu Yiman: “Jiang He, have you found any clues? The body has already been placed in the body bag. We are heading back to the funeral home for an autopsy soon.”
Jiang He raised the notebook in his hand and said to everyone, “I know why Zhang Haitao did this, and I also know how Liao Fanmeng died.”
But where did Zhang Beibei go?
“The body will be taken back for an autopsy, but I need to go somewhere,” Jiang He said.
“Where to?” everyone asked.
“To the crematorium,” Jiang He replied.
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