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墨書 Inktalez
After hearing my story, Da Zhuang trembled slightly, likely thinking of that female ghost, which made him feel scared. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, thinking, "He looks so strong, yet he's afraid of ghosts." With that in mind, I asked him, "What do you think of my story?"
Da Zhuang forced a smile and replied, "It's... a bit scary..." I patted his shoulder and said, "I didn't expect you to be so afraid of ghosts. Now it's your turn to tell a story."
He pointed to the road sign ahead. "Not yet; we're almost in Changde. It's getting dark, so why don't we stop in Changde for the night and continue our journey in the morning?"
I glanced at my watch; it was nearly eight o'clock. I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and we should find something to eat too. It's not safe to keep driving at night."
Before long, the car entered the city of Changde. Since we were unfamiliar with the area, we drove around several times before finally finding a parking lot with available spaces.
After parking the car, Da Zhuang and I grabbed a quick bite to eat before looking for a hotel to book a double room. Unfortunately, only single rooms were left, so we had no choice but to book two separate rooms.
That night, I lay on my bed watching TV. Since Da Zhuang's room was next door and the soundproofing wasn't great, I kept the volume low.
Just as I was about to turn off the TV and go to sleep, I heard some impatient sounds coming from Da Zhuang's room. Listening closely, it seemed he was on the phone with someone.
"I know, I know, but this could be dangerous... I understand everyone is doing it for the money; if it weren't for that much money, who would take this risk..."
My heart tightened at that moment. I thought, "Could Da Zhuang be planning to secretly take Lao Liu's goods? No wonder Lao Liu is worried; it turns out there's a traitor in their company."
With this thought in mind, I picked up the phone intending to notify Lao Liu immediately. But then I reconsidered. "I don't have any evidence right now; even if I inform him, what can be done? And if Da Zhuang finds out I'm onto him while we're out here together... who knows where he might drive me and what could happen..."
I touched my neck thoughtfully and decided it would be better to find evidence first. At the same time, I felt more wary of Da Zhuang.
After that, I turned off the TV and pretended to sleep, hoping to catch any other clues. Around midnight, I heard clear sounds of a door opening and closing from his room. If someone wasn't visiting him, then he must have gone out.
However, after that point, there was no further noise for several hours. If someone had come into his room, they hadn't left all night. If it was Da Zhuang who went out, he might not return until morning. Alternatively, maybe he ordered some late-night snacks?
I lay in bed, pondering, my eyelids growing heavier until I gradually fell asleep. The next morning, as soon as I woke up, I felt utterly drained and fatigued, as if I hadn't rested at all.
"Was I really that tired yesterday? Even if I slept a few hours less, it shouldn't be this bad," I muttered to myself as I climbed out of bed. Just then, a rapid ringing of the doorbell echoed through the room.
I opened the door to find Da Zhuang standing there with breakfast in hand, smiling at me. "Good morning, Shen! I brought you breakfast; hurry up and eat it while it's hot." Rubbing my eyes, I took the breakfast from him. "Thanks! Why don't you come in and eat with me?"
Da Zhuang waved his hand dismissively. "I've already eaten. You go ahead; I'll head downstairs to check out. Once you're done, we can leave directly." I nodded in agreement and closed the door to eat my breakfast.
After finishing my meal, I pulled out my phone to check the time—it was already past nine in the morning. Just as I was about to put my phone away, something struck me, and I quickly took it out again.
To my surprise, I noticed that my phone's time was fast. We had set off yesterday, which was the thirteenth, but now it showed the fifteenth. "What happened to the fourteenth? Did I lose my memory?" At the same time, I recalled hearing Da Zhuang's phone call last night and the sounds of doors opening and closing.
A voice inside me whispered that this trip to help out was definitely not just a simple favor; there had to be some hidden secrets involved.
At that moment, a hotel staff member opened the door and stood at the threshold. "Excuse me, sir, your room has been checked out. I'm here to inspect it. Are you preparing to leave?"
I hurriedly stood up. "Yes, I'm about to leave; you can check now." With that, I exited the room and made my way down to the lobby. There, I saw Da Zhuang had already completed the checkout process and was sitting alone on a sofa in the lobby, smoking while waiting for me.
I approached him. "Alright, let's go." Seeing me come down, Da Zhuang quickly stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and stood up. "Yeah, let's go." Together we walked out of the lobby.
Since the parking area wasn't too far from where we were, we decided to walk there directly. On the way, I asked Da Zhuang, "By the way, where are we delivering this cargo? How long will it take to get there?" Da Zhuang glanced at me and asked, "Didn't Liu tell you?"
I shook my head. He continued, "This cargo is going to Beijing. Based on our current schedule, it should take at least another one or two days." I thought to myself that if I'd known things would be so complicated and we'd have to travel such a long distance, I wouldn't have come at all...
Noticing my silence, Da Zhuang pressed further. "What's wrong, Shen? Is there an issue?" I quickly snapped back to reality. "Oh, no problem at all; just curious."
As we arrived at the parking lot, I sat down in the car and immediately felt something poking me from the seat. I quickly lifted myself up and reached down to feel what it was. To my surprise, it was a water bottle. "I remember neither of us drank any water while we were in the car. Where did this bottle come from..."
Da Zhuang organized his position and, seeing the empty water bottle in my hand, said, "It must have been left by someone else. After all, this car isn't mine..." He took the bottle from my hand and tossed it into the back seat.
His action only deepened my suspicion. I didn't even ask him about it, yet he was eager to explain. There was definitely something off about Da Zhuang... I thought to myself, but to hide my thoughts, I replied, "Yeah, you're right. Let's get going."
With that, Da Zhuang drove out of the parking lot and soon merged onto the highway. We traveled in silence as I gazed out at the rapidly passing scenery, gradually feeling drowsy and eventually dozing off.
I don't know how long I slept, but Da Zhuang nudged me awake. "Shen, it's noon. Let's grab something to eat before we continue."
Still groggy, I looked around and realized we had stopped at a rest area. Stretching and yawning, I said, "I'm not hungry yet. You go eat; I'll just sleep a bit more in the car."
Seeing that I could barely keep my eyes open, he said, "Alright then. You stay here and rest; I'll be back soon." With that, he got out of the car and closed the door behind him.
I half-opened one eye as I watched him walk away toward the restaurant in the rest area. Quickly unbuckling my seatbelt, I crawled into the back seat and began searching.
My mind was focused on one thought: this car might not be the same one we took when we left. I needed to find evidence, and now was my chance. I rummaged through the back seat.
Before long, I discovered a booklet tucked away in an inconspicuous corner under the back seat. It was titled "Wing Xiang Responsibility Limited." To my shock, I found a photo of Da Zhuang attached inside. His real name turned out to be Meng Zhuang, but he wasn't someone from the company Liu Zhong and I operated.
"Why would Liu Zhong hire an outsider for something so important?" Another question arose in my mind. So far, everything seemed to point toward this Meng Zhuang person and that Wing Xiang company.
"It’s likely Liu Zhong doesn’t know about this. If he did, with what I know of him, he would never allow such a thing to happen. If he’s unaware, then Meng Zhuang might have infiltrated the company and seized this opportunity to steal all the gold for himself—making a fortune? If that's true, then my disappearance and this mysterious empty bottle in the car could be explained."
"First, Meng Zhuang somehow knocked me out to make me unconscious. Then he drove away with the vehicle carrying gold and immediately switched it for another identical car before changing its license plates to hit the road without raising suspicion. But how would he escape afterward? Wouldn't opening the trunk reveal everything?"
Thinking of this, although everything seemed reasonable, I still had no solid evidence to prove that all of this was plotted by Meng Zhuang. I could only sit back in my seat, fasten my seatbelt, and continue pretending to sleep.
At that moment, Meng Zhuang had also finished his meal and came out of the restaurant, holding his stomach. He had bought two bottles of water. As soon as he got into the car, he shook me and said, "Shen, have some water." He handed me a bottle of mineral water.
I pretended to just wake up and took the water from him, cautiously checking it. The bottle cap was unopened, and there were no pinholes on the bottle. Only then did I feel relieved enough to take a couple of sips.
After drinking the water, we continued on our way. Seeing that I was awake, Meng Zhuang said, "Shen, since you're awake now and we're just sitting here doing nothing, why don't we continue telling stories?"
I chuckled lightly and replied, "Sure, but this time it should be your turn to tell a story."
He scratched his head and said, "My stories aren't as interesting as yours. But since you asked me to, I'll give it a try."
I took another sip of water and looked at him. "It's fine; after all, we're just passing the time. It doesn't matter if it's good or not."
Meng Zhuang thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll tell you about something that happened to me when I was in college."
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