Volume 3 Chapter 4 Death of Shen Bing's Parents
We didn't buy the tickets together, so the four seats were not together. Although we were in the same carriage, there were four rows between us, which was just what I wanted. I'm not as good at speaking as Wang Zijun, so I don't have to listen to him speaking alone in front of the beautiful woman, leaving me to stare blankly at the side.
But not long after I sat with Shen Bing, she stood up and said she wanted to sit with Qu Mo, two women chatting, let the two country bumpkins chat. I thought to myself, how can this be possible? Not to mention Wang Zijun is unhappy, I am not happy either. Finally, we have a chance to be alone after a long separation. If you don't comfort my heart that is full of longing and let me sit with Wang Zijun, you might as well kill me.
I pulled her to sit down. A young couple across from me stared at us, which made me feel a little embarrassed. I whispered in her ear, "I have something to tell you."
"Go ahead." She leaned back.
I wanted to confess to her, but I couldn't open my mouth to the two people sitting opposite me, for fear that even if I spoke softly, they would hear me. I held it in for a long time before asking her, "How did you get the day off this time?"
"I didn't even take my annual leave last year. I finally got a chance to travel, so how could I let it go? I called my team leader and he agreed right away."
I was happy. She cared so much about this trip, which meant she missed me and wanted to go out with me. I smiled and said, "Actually, I miss you too, but I just haven't had the chance to ask you out. This mission must have affected my mood. Next time, let's go to the uninhabited area of Tibet. I heard that there are real natural beauties there."
She frowned, looked at me with a wary look, and whispered, "What are you thinking about? My going to Huangshan has nothing to do with you."
I was stunned. What are you talking about? It has nothing to do with me. Why did you rush over when I called you? But I know that this girl may seem straightforward sometimes, but when it comes to emotional issues, she will say one thing and mean another. After all, girls are thin-skinned. I mocked her and said, "Yes, it doesn't matter. Then you can take the train directly from the provincial capital to Huangshan. Why do you have to go with me?"
Her face suddenly turned red, and she stammered, "I was planning to go to Huangshan these few days, and I felt lonely on the road alone. I rushed here because I heard you were going there. Don't get the wrong idea."
Oh, how could I not think of something wrong? I asked her, "Are you planning to go to Huangshan these days? It's still cold, and it's not the tourist season yet. Why do you want to go these days?"
Her face suddenly darkened, and she bit her lip and said, "In a few days it will be the anniversary of my parents' death."
I was stunned. I didn't understand. What does your parents' memorial day have to do with going to Huangshan? I whispered to her, "Do you want to go to Huangshan to pray for the peace of your parents' souls?"
She shook her head and said dejectedly, "My parents unfortunately fell to their death while traveling in Huangshan ten years ago."
Oh, so that's how it is. Then her going to Huangshan really has nothing to do with me. She went with me just to keep each other company. I felt lost all of a sudden, and the happiness I had at the beginning disappeared by a large margin. I thought she wanted to see me and go out with me to play, but it seems that I was just being too sentimental!
Since it was a long-distance bus and it was running at night, most of the passengers fell asleep with their heads tilted on the backrest, including the couple opposite us. They were very happy, the two of them leaning against each other, looking very warm. But Shen Bing and I couldn't sleep, each with our own thoughts. She looked up at the ceiling of the car without saying anything, and I felt empty inside, and didn't want to speak for a while, the atmosphere was very dull.
Later, the conductor came over with a dining car to sell midnight snacks. I bought two buckets of instant noodles and two cups of hot milk and asked her to eat with me. Shen Bing smiled and ate the instant noodles. I think her personality is good and doesn't make people feel depressed. She knows my life story very well, but I know nothing about her family background. While eating, I asked her about her parents.
Shen Bing was in a much better mood now, and she was not so sad when she talked about her parents. Her parents were both police officers, and Long Shaohui was still under her father's command at that time. I thought to myself, no wonder she was so reckless, and Long Shaohui could tolerate it. It turned out that he was just thinking about the old friendship of the older generation.
Ten years ago, she was still in junior high school. She was originally a happy family of three. But that spring, the police station leaders were out of their minds and organized advanced workers to travel to Huangshan. Shen Bing didn't go because she had to go to school and it took too much time to go to Huangshan. Five days later, the bad news came that her parents fell off the mountain and their bodies were not found.
Speaking of the cause of her parents' death, it was a bit strange. She said that Long Shaohui also went there that time. Since entering the mountain, her parents have lost contact with everyone and no one knows where they went. Later, they came down from the mountain and left the scenic area. There were only a few people missing, except for the two of them. They waited outside the scenic area for a long time, but did not see the two people appear. It is said that before entering the mountain, a time was set to gather at the entrance of the scenic area. Shen Bing's parents are people with a strong sense of time and will not be late.
The leader of the team felt that something was wrong and contacted the police station in the scenic area to ask them to help find the people. After reporting the case, the police in the police station immediately told them that someone called the police last night and found two people falling from the mountain and screaming. The place was very dangerous and tourists were prohibited from entering. The people who found this situation were all adventure lovers who were walking through a canyon and vaguely saw this scene.
Shen Bing also took out a Huangshan tourist map from ten years ago and pointed to the place where my parents died. I saw that it was very close to the place where Tang Xiaohan and his friends died. I also took out the route map I drew with a pen according to Tang Xiaohan's description. When I compared the two maps, they were basically the same.
I thought to myself, her parents wouldn't have the same fate as Tang Xiaohan, killed by evil spirits ten years ago? But I thought this was unlikely, because there were hikers exploring the nearby canyon, and they all left the scenic area safely. They probably didn't encounter evil spirits, and they probably fell down the mountain during a nighttime exploration.
Shen Bing sighed and said that she had wanted to go to Huangshan for a long time. Since her parents' bodies were never found after their death, she had always wanted to go there to pay tribute to her parents' souls. Another idea was to find their bodies and bring them home.
I thought that this wish might be difficult to fulfill. The reason why the body could not be found was probably because the valley was too deep and people could not get to the bottom. Otherwise, given the capabilities of that group of police officers at the time, how could they allow the body of their colleague to be left in the wilderness in a foreign land?
Shen Bing talked about what happened after her parents died. She finished high school with the help of the police station's pension and her parents' friends. Long Shaohui took into consideration that she was a single girl and looked like a bad guy, so he asked her to apply for the police academy. This way she could learn some kung fu to protect herself, and with the advantage of her parents' relationship, she could smoothly get a job in the police station.
I couldn't help but sigh in my heart. A girl who lost her parents must have experienced ten times more pain and hardship than other children of the same age in the past ten years. Without the love of her parents, she would easily become autistic. However, ten years later, she is a cheerful and open-minded girl. There is no trace of the shadow of an orphan in her. What I see is a kind of strength. At this moment, I swear that I will protect her well in the future and let her live a safe and happy life.
