Chapter 22 Chapter 22 The Last Letter

"Raise a glass to cast away sorrow and make sorrow worse."In fact, after drinking this wine, you can't taste the ups and downs at all.It's just that every time a small Gu is swallowed, the consciousness becomes more unconscious.Now I like this unconsciousness.In just a few hours today, I seem to see through the ups and downs of the world.This kind of violent friction and explosion of thinking makes the brain less burdened. At this time, alcohol anesthesia is the best way to relieve. Director Sun's drinking was also getting better, and he breathed out alcohol and said, "Old Chen, I don't know something. Now that the cases of bald man, scarred face and Xiao Hong have been solved, is there any clue about Accountant Xu's case?" , did she really scare herself to death?"

Captain Chen looked around and saw no one else except us, and whispered to Director Sun: "It doesn't matter much now, but I'm still thinking about how to tell the parties tactfully. You can also help me figure out a way." These two sentences made me half sober, is there any shocking secret hidden behind it? Captain Chen glanced at the crowd and said: "Accountant Xu was indeed scared to death. And the person who scared her to death is none other than Teacher Guan." Everyone whispered "ah", except for me, my voice was two sizes louder than everyone else's.Everyone's eyes moved to me involuntarily.

"It's okay, Captain Chen, go on. I just remembered a dream I had a few days ago." Captain Chen continued what he said just now: "Don't be surprised, we have investigated for a long time to confirm this conclusion. What I said is absolutely true." "What?" We were all dumbfounded.I even regretted that I didn't dig a hole where the corpse grass was in the dream to see if there was really that hand inside. "Don't get excited, just listen to me." Captain Chen lowered his voice, "Teacher Guan..." Those frightening words were about to be exported.I guessed that the last two words Captain Chen wanted to say must be: "Yes—ghost—"

But I guessed wrong, Captain Chen said: "Teacher Guan is a sleepwalker." Sleepwalking?Listening to the familiar and unfamiliar words, everyone pricked up their ears to listen to Captain Chen telling this weird and bizarre story. "We carefully checked everyone in the cemetery. As the informant and the first witness, Mr. Guan is also the first suspect. After long-term follow-up, we found that Mr. Guan behaved very strangely. We investigated his family and consulted doctors , I also consulted a lot of books on this topic, and finally confirmed that Teacher Guan is an out-and-out sleepwalker."

Looking at our expressions, Captain Chen was very puzzled and continued: "Sleepwalking is called 'mystery' in the folks. It refers to getting up suddenly to perform activities during sleep, and then falling asleep again. After waking up, you don't know anything about the activities during sleep Medical practitioners say that sleepwalking is usually triggered by stress, and that it affects 0.5 percent of adults. Usually, sleepwalkers have few symptoms other than walking around regularly. But there are exceptions. Yes, some very special sleepwalkers can even leave their homes, drive cars, or do things that they wouldn't normally try. There are records of this in the materials I checked, in 1987, A man named Ken Parker drove twenty-three kilometers from his home in Pickering, Ontario, to his father-in-law's house, and without realizing it, he strangled his father-in-law, and Assassinated his mother-in-law."

Our expressions were even more surprised, such a bizarre thing is really unheard of.Could Teacher Guan also kill people while sleepwalking?I suddenly remembered something: "Captain Chen, once I vaguely remembered that I went to the cemetery by mistake at night-I can't confirm whether it was a dream or real. I saw Teacher Guan carrying a lamp to the middle of the snow to take pictures Something. I called him from the side, but he didn't answer, as if he couldn't see me at all. Could it be that he was sleepwalking?" Captain Chen said after listening to my narration: "That's right, you may have met him sleepwalking. Ordinary people have a prejudice that they can't wake up a sleepwalker casually, because sleepwalkers will go crazy when they wake up suddenly. In fact, A sleepwalker is very difficult to be awakened by ordinary calls, and even if he is awakened, he will not go crazy, but just bewildered."

"Oh." Because of the effect of alcohol, I was dizzy at this time, and I couldn't think about things. "Don't interrupt Taozi, let's talk about Teacher Guan quickly." Director Sun was a little impatient, he wanted to hear what Captain Chen had to say. Captain Chen took another sip of his wine and said, "Don't worry, listen to me slowly." "At 5:30 p.m. on Ching Ming Festival this year, accountant Xu hurriedly said goodbye to Teacher Guan with her handbag, saying that her husband would find a car to pick her up, and then walk down the mountain road. After passing the hillside, look around to see if there is no one there. , she turned into the pine forest on the west side. At this time, a figure followed Accountant Xu far away. This person was none other than Teacher Guan who had entered a sleepwalking state. He followed Accountant Xu into the pine forest, and Then he pretended to be a ghost and threw himself at Accountant Xu. Coincidentally, it was known that Accountant Xu often had hallucinations and became suspicious during that time. In addition, it was getting late and the place was desolate. He was so frightened by the sudden attack that he died of fright on the spot. Before he died, Accountant Xu exhausted all his strength to let out a scream that resounded through the sky, which just woke up Teacher Guan who was sleepwalking. He saw Accountant Xu's eyes widened and his expression ferocious. He was so frightened that he passed out. Therefore, Mr. Guan followed up in the woods and scared Accountant Xu to death, all of which were his unconscious actions after sleepwalking."

"Captain Chen, do you have any basis for your analysis?" Director Sui was dubious about Captain Chen's reasoning.Usually, I don't think there is anything wrong with Mr. Guan, and I haven't heard that he still has the problem of sleepwalking. "We have made a very clear investigation. According to people who know Mr. Guan, he also had the habit of sleepwalking before, but not as frequently as recently. Director Sun, do you remember that I ordered the doors and windows of the cemetery to be anti-theft? ? And dismissed Mr. Wang and let Mr. Guan be on duty here alone. At that time, it is not convenient for me to tell you the reason. It was all because Mr. Guan suffered from severe sleepwalking in the past six months. We did this to ensure the safety of him and others Considering that Mr. Guan is a good person and is getting old, we really dare not tell him the truth, for fear of causing too much psychological blow to him."

We all felt that the story Captain Chen told was like a fantasy.Captain Chen glanced at the hut where the three old people were chatting, and there was a lot of snoring inside, maybe the old people were sleeping after drinking two extra drinks.He then said in a low voice: "What happened next is even more unbelievable. He actually sleepwalked and killed his own son." "what!" "How is this possible? Teacher Guan's son died at his home in Harbin, and the cause of death is unknown. How can this have anything to do with him." Director Sun has a better say in this matter, because he was accompanying Teacher Guan at the time When I went to Harbin, I witnessed Teacher Guan's distraught at that time.How could he kill his own son?

"Hehe, the unknown cause of death was just a statement that the police gave to the outside world before they found out the truth. In order not to startle the snake, the words released by our police after investigating the scene may not be true. Sometimes we need to give criminals a false appearance, only when they The most negligent is the time when it is possible to fall into the trap. The police in Harbin found out that Mr. Guan’s son was poisoned to death. The poisoner mixed the poison directly into the tea he drank. Later, the local police checked all links No one who might have poisoned was found, because no one had entered their home except the deceased and his wife, and it was impossible for anyone to touch his tea. Later investigations found that the bag of tea that the deceased drank on the day of his death was from It was sent from my hometown in Jixi. The police in Harbin began to contact us to solve the case together, and after the investigation, even we couldn’t believe the result.”

"How?" We asked in unison. "We didn't dare to mention the poisoned tea leaves. We just went to his home with the doctor in casual clothes to learn about Teacher Guan's sleepwalking condition. Teacher Guan's wife told us something she saw." "One time, Mr. Guan got a big bag of green tea and insisted on posting it to his son. He said that his son worked hard, and often worked overtime and stayed up late and had no time to exercise. Drinking some green tea was good for his health. And this bag of green tea was from Fujian. The fresh buds of the tea leaves picked in the tea garden are fragrant, and they are the best top grade. My wife said it was good, and the couple sewed a cloth bag to mail the tea leaves. That night, after my wife fell asleep, I felt movement in the kitchen , and saw that Teacher Guan was gone. She quietly followed to the kitchen, and found that Teacher Guan was standing there alone, with a dull expression, sewing the cloth bag stitch by stitch. What he said specifically, I only heard him talking about retribution and enemies sporadically." "After we heard about it, we felt that something was wrong. We went to the kitchen of his house to check and found a small bottle of poison, which was exactly the same as the poison found when the deceased was poisoned. We learned that Mr. Guan liked this son the most. To say that he killed his son really lacks a motive for committing the crime. It is certain that he poisoned his son while sleepwalking." Brother Meng, who hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly interjected: "If it was the poison he put into the tea leaves while sleepwalking, when did he buy the poison? It couldn't be that he went out to buy poison while sleepwalking." It was the question in our hearts, and all of us looked at Captain Chen. "Don't forget, Mr. Guan was a chemistry teacher before he retired. He already had some chemicals in his home. The poison he used was a colorless, odorless and highly toxic chemical preparation." It dawned on us. I suddenly had a thought: two lives, is Mr. Guan going to be sentenced?To kill is to pay for life.If Teacher Guan's life is not guaranteed, then the seventh person in my dream... Do I have a sixth sense?There was no sound of rain outside, but it was already too dark.No one in the room spoke anymore, and everyone's minds were thinking about what they had seen and heard that day in rapid dizziness.Only the sound of beating chess pieces and snoring came from the room. A woman's scream pierced the night sky and came from the direction of the cemetery, and it was extremely mournful on this ghost festival night. Captain Chen drew his gun and stood up first and rushed out the door. We also put down our wine and chopsticks and followed behind. Even the two chess players in the office and the old men sleeping in the back room turned over and followed out. Originally, more people are more courageous, and with Captain Chen and his gun and Wuliangye in each person's stomach, everyone has become an adventurer, and they all want to find out what the sound is. At this time, you can't see your fingers outside the house, and the water mist is filled. It has just rained, and the feet are very muddy.With the light of two or three flashlights, we can only see the rows of white tombstones. "The sound came from above." The director was a soldier before, and his ability to distinguish the position by listening was better than everyone else. He pointed to the top of the cemetery.Captain Chen rushed over immediately, and everyone followed. As soon as he got to the two cemeteries, Captain Chen made a stop gesture.The group of people behind us didn't pay attention to his gestures and almost bumped into him.Looking intently into the distance, a woman in white was standing in the distance. "Ghost, ghost." On the night of Ghost Festival, in the cemetery, the mist filled the air. A woman was not a ghost, but something.Everyone is half sober. Isn't that Zhang Shuqing? Why did she choose to visit her husband at night?I guess her scream must be because she saw another name on her husband's monument.This poor woman. "Captain Chen, I recognize this woman, Zhang Shuqing, from Chaoyang Village. She is mentally ill, and her husband's monument is in front." I gave a brief introduction to Captain Chen in a low voice. The others calmed down a little when they heard my words.Captain Chen walked up to Zhang Shuqing and shouted at her, "What are you doing here at night? You were the one who screamed just now?" Zhang Shuqing didn't speak, and her facial expression didn't change, she was as pale as a piece of paper.She just stretched out a hand and pointed to the big cypress tree behind her.Her fingers were as thin and white as bones. Several flashlight beams hit the big cypress tree at the same time, and everyone screamed. A man is hanging from a tree. This kind of fright is only in the blink of an eye.Captain Chen immediately reacted: "Help save people." Everyone hurriedly helped Captain Chen to put him down from the tree, and when they got closer, everyone realized that it was Mr. Guan who was hanging from the tree.When we felt for the pulse, our bodies were cold and motionless.He just left, so suddenly.Teacher Guan left us on this Ghost Festival. I hugged Teacher Guan's body, shouted his name, and cried bitterly.Director Sun also knelt down, crying like rain while calling the teacher.The people around stood in a circle, all moved. Such a good teacher and elder, how can he just leave?If there was something he couldn't think about, he had to hang himself.By the way, he must have overheard our conversation in the back room. "Mr. Guan, why is it so hard to think about Fei hanging himself?" "It must be that he knew that he killed two people, and he couldn't accept it." "Is he afraid of killing people for his life, and thinks that if he is sentenced to death, he might as well kill himself?" Captain Chen shook his head and sighed: "It's useless to say anything now. It's all my fault that I forgot the importance of secrecy after drinking some wine just now. I really didn't expect that walls have ears. Teacher Guan, you are so stupid, you didn't break the law at all. ah." "Didn't break the law, why?" Director Sui didn't understand, obviously it wasn't a lawsuit of two lives? Captain Chen said sadly: "Although we have clearly investigated these two cases, it does not mean that we want to arrest him. From a legal point of view, he has no motive for killing the victim subjectively. bear legal responsibility." "Teacher Guan committed suicide not because he was afraid of legal responsibility, but because he couldn't accept that he killed his own son." "How did he get out?" "We've been drinking in the outhouse just now, obviously the three old people came into the hut to chat." People chatted about this matter. We looked back and found that among the people following behind were Old Wang Tou and Mr. Sun. The old Wang rubbed his bald forehead: "Oh, just now I drank a few more drinks and fell asleep after chatting a few words." Mr. Sun beat his chest even more: "Oh, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it. Today is the 'Lei Shui Jie Gua'. There should be many problems to be solved. I came to the cemetery to stabilize the situation and prevent problems before they happen. Who knows, it will be too late." I took half a step. Ashamed, I fell asleep after I went back to the hut just now because I couldn't drink too much." The fog on the night of Ghost Festival lasted for a long time before it cleared.I hugged Teacher Guan's body and refused to let go for a moment, until I cried out my tears and hoarse my throat.I didn't expect it to end like this, nor did I expect the seventh person in my dream to finally become a reality.I failed to protect him, and I failed to save his life. I know that Mr. Guan is a very upright and noble person, and within less than a year of dating with me, his principles of life have also deeply influenced me.But even such a person can't escape the common customs. At the moment when he faced his son's begging, he was still defeated by emotion, and he got back his lifelong regret from then on.This kind of regret piled up and exploded in the subconscious, making him a murderer that he didn't even think of.His expression at the moment of his death was very peaceful, as if he was having a sweet dream.Maybe he can finally exchange his own life for the fairness and detachment he has been pursuing, and maybe his suicide itself is also the last sleepwalking.After we went back, we found that the fence lock of the window of the cemetery hut was opened by a key. After hearing our conversation, Mr. Guan jumped from that window to the backyard of the management office.He doesn't want to bother us, he just wants to be alone. That moment in 1996 will remain in my memory forever, and it became such a scene: on the night of Ghost Festival, a huge black curtain was drawn in the sky, and under the big cypress tree, I hugged the sleeping teacher Guan in my arms and kept crying. cry.A few beams of lightning hit me, surrounded by clouds of fog and looming cemeteries.And those people standing silently around, Captain Chen, Director Sun, Director Sui, Brother Meng, Xiao Jing, Accountant Shi, Xiao Wang, Old Wang Tou, Mr. Sun, Zhang Shuqing... In the year of working in the cemetery, there are too many things that cannot be forgotten and cannot be forgotten, and even some mysteries have not been solved in the end.Who is the person looking for Zheng Xinyuan on a rainy night?Is it Zhang Shuqing?Most likely it was her, but why did the old Wangtou say it was a man's voice.Why is there a pair of footprints in the snow? Captain Chen explained that it was just Teacher Guan’s hallucination while sleepwalking, but I saw it too. Could it be that I was sleepwalking with him too?Where did the "Border Town Newspaper" in my home come from, and where did it go together with Xiaojing's photo?My parents insisted that my things have not been touched. Could it be that they were taken away by my guests?Forget it, let the past pass, people cannot always live in the past.It was as if Jingjing, whom I thought about day and night, gradually drifted away in my life as the cemetery went away. Within a few days, the personnel arrangement decision of the funeral home came down.Brother Meng and Zhang Da were fired, I voluntarily resigned, Director Sui was dismissed from his position as director, and was transferred back to work in the funeral home.The cemetery introduced a computer stele engraving machine, and I heard that a fresh graduate was recruited to control the computer. Since then, there has been no calligraphy art on the stele in the cemetery, and there has been no knocking sound.The old man who played the watch changed two more, I don't know each other, let alone their surnames.Xiaojing quit her job in the nightclub, and with my encouragement, she took the adult college entrance examination, and later got admitted to the medical school with good grades.I also went to Beijing according to the agreed time. One can imagine the excitement of being so far away from home for the first time in such an adult.After sitting on the train for two days, people are exhausted, and there are many things to do next.Finding a place to live, buying a second-hand bicycle, printing resumes, interviewing, going to work... Fortunately, the days in Beijing were difficult, but I found the long-lost fulfillment. Unknowingly, cold comes, summer goes, autumn harvests and winter hides, another four seasons change.I am already familiar with life in Beijing's hutongs, flying like a bird in this huge jungle of steel and concrete every day. Ding ding... Accompanied by a series of loud bicycle bells, I was wearing a winter coat and a small woolen hat and rode a bicycle quickly into the alley.From the side, the eldest sister of the food store shouted: "Taozi, don't ride so fast, there are two letters from you." I slammed on the brakes.The brakes of a broken second-hand bicycle are not working well, and the soles of the shoes have to be added to complete the entire braking process. "Thank you, sister." He took the letter and looked at the cover.The handwriting of the two letters is similar, but the styles of the envelopes are very different, and the sender is not listed below.Who is this letter from?It was too cold outside, and all the breath I exhaled turned into smoke rings.I decided to go home and watch it again. When I got home, I couldn't wait to open the first envelope and open the letter paper, and the beautiful handwriting rushed to my face, which seemed familiar.I didn't read the content, and my eyes fell directly on the signature below: Yu Jingjing. It was beyond my expectation.For more than a year, there has been no news of her. For more than a year, I have been thinking about her all the time.I tried to tell myself that she was gone and traveled to a place far, far away, where she lived a good life, so I don't need to worry about it.But whenever people miss home in the dead of night, her frowns and smiles appear in front of my eyes again. Now, her letter is in front of me, how can I not be excited and excited.Suppressing my joy, I carefully read line by line: Dear Peaches: How are you?I never thought I would write to you, hehe.Are you curious to know how I have your address?I won't tell you. I am sorry that I left medical school, Jixi, and you so quietly.That incident was as indelible as a nightmare.Because I was in such a bad mood at the time, I thought about dying.But before I die, I want to be able to confess my love to you and get even a little love from you. In the end, you accepted me so magnanimously, which ignited my belief in living.But I can't stay in that city anymore, where I seem to be always shrouded in the shadow of that incident.I can always think of those two dirty faces, and the sad story that happened in the girls' dormitory.I can no longer bring myself to be like the protagonists of those two stories.I swear to live on, for myself and for you. In this strange city, I have worked hard to create a world of my own, and I began to look for you, to find the life that belongs to us.Would you like to come to me? love you Jingjing December 3, 1997 On the back of the letter is an address she left for me: Changchun City, Jilin Province... I couldn't suppress the joy in my heart, and sat down on the bed.Gangzi, who was sleeping on my upper bunk, poked his head out: "Rotten peach, what's the fuss about!" I left him alone and opened the second letter, the handwriting was the same as the previous one.Hehe, this Jingjing, it's not satisfying to write one, so I want to write another one.This is also good, the more the better, I will never get tired of reading her letters. Happy to stay in the sky, The back and forth is over. Where is the savior now? I want to spend the spring and autumn in peace. Jingjing December 3, 1997 The postmark address on this letter is Yantai City, Shandong Province, and the postmark date is exactly the same as the previous one.How come there are two Jingjing?I was stunned, not knowing what to do for a while. Life is like this, always wandering in one way or another.My experience is that as long as you choose what you think is correct and does not violate principles and morals, you will be fine. (full text)