After only two days in bed, Qiwen ran out of the hospital early.
Wu Hui was not the first to get the news. She came to the office late today, but saw a half-drunk water glass on Qiwen's desk. A colleague told her that Qiwen was tinkering with photos in the darkroom, so Wuhui knew that his boy had gotten the film back.
What a great skill.
Developing photos is a big job. After lunch, Qiwen was nowhere to be seen, so Wu Hui decided to go to the darkroom to have a look. The place where the photos were developed was in the backyard of the newspaper office, where a hut was built specifically. When you open the door and go in, there are only windows on one wall. The sunlight at noon can only illuminate a limited area. Without turning on the lights, you can't see clearly where everything is placed. There was a large shelf in a dark place, specifically for hanging photos, and Wu Hui vaguely saw that there were already two rows there. The door next to it leads to the darkroom, where half of the windows are gone.
She knocked on the door, and when she heard Qiwen say "Come in," she opened the door with confidence. There is also a heavy curtain inside the door. She closed the door, making sure no light leaked in, and then opened the curtain. Qi Wen could probably tell who it was by the way he knocked on the door. He felt relieved and didn't ask any questions. He didn't even raise his head and said directly to the visitor, "Hand me the stopping agent."
Wu Hui knew the location of the thing, handed it over in the dark, and asked him again: "Have your injuries healed? Why are you back now?"
"The main thing is to observe for a few days to see if there is any damage to the head. Can I not know if there is anything wrong with my body? Doctor Mo said there is no big problem after seeing it. I am still looking for film in a hurry. Fortunately, I was lucky. An acquaintance helped me secretly store it, and I didn’t run away in vain and didn’t get into trouble. I took a lot of photos before, and I saved them until today. By the way, the new photos are about to be finished. Can you please help me put them here? Do you want to move out first? I can’t hang anymore.”
Wu Hui turned around and, with the help of the dim red light, saw a row of newly developed photos hanging on the wall in the back row. Her eyes slowly adapted to the brightness of the room, and then she felt free to move in the dim space without bumping into anything. She carefully took them off, held them in her hands and walked out the door.
While helping in the darkroom, she looked through the photos one by one. There were a few familiar faces that she often saw in newspapers, and there were a few others that she had a vague impression of. She moved sideways and stopped when she suddenly saw something.
Starting from the photos here...it should be what happened in Feiye Bay two days ago. Some of the photos are blurry and probably cannot be used. She saw that in these photos, there were only two important characters. They record the process of the crowd fleeing, the struggle between a woman holding a sharp weapon and a strong man, and...
There is also the process of Qu Luosheng joining the dispute.
That must be Qu Luosheng, that's right. Even though most of them are from behind, the low ponytail is tied up with a black and white intertwined ribbon, which is very eye-catching. Presumably the woman he was trying to stop from assassinating her. Every picture is not clear enough, and the shooting angle is also very poor, maybe because Qiwen took the pictures while hiding. But the cutoff point in the photo obviously means that the photographer has been implicated. But the camera was too close, and it seemed impossible to escape completely.
"Can you, can you come here?" She tried to raise her voice, trembling a little.
Qiwen poked his head out of the darkroom curiously, with the door curtain hanging over his head.
"...Can you see this?"
"Which one?" Qiwen walked over directly, "Ah. I can't take this one, it's too vague."
"That's not the reason, it's, uh - can you see? There's this one on his shoulder, back..."
Seeing that her behavior was unusual, Qiwen took the photo and carefully observed the place she was talking about in the dim natural light.
"Hmm...are you talking about these blurry black patches?" Qiwen touched his chin and said to the photo, "I have noticed this before. At first I thought it was scratches on the film, but if that's the case, There should be linear traces. These blurred black spots may be due to dust on the film. However, I have always been careful, and I wonder why this happens... I guess there are other reasons."
"No, no, I know...it does exist."
In the darkness, Qiwen could also see that her face was pale.
He began to feel that something was wrong. After all, he is indeed a reporter who travels around and has seen the world. He had vaguely realized that what Wu Hui said was something "unclean".
"Don't be afraid. Are you saying that these blurry black blocks exist in reality? If you say so... look carefully, there is the same person in the photos in question, and the spots are only on him."
"Can the camera... take pictures of these?"
"Generally speaking, it's not possible. But... I bought the lens from Shopkeeper Shi. This lens has high transparency and is very cheap. He often has some very cost-effective or exaggeratedly expensive things. When the price does not match common sense, Sometimes, smart customers will not ask for the source. But you also know that I threw away the lens after it broke. But what you said is indeed very concerning..."
"Who is this guy from?"
"Qu Luosheng is a popular person around Master Jiu, but I don't know any more information. As you know, we graduated together. I have never been back home before, so I don't know anything about this. I am in college I had never heard of this person’s name before. Maybe he hadn’t followed Master Jiu at that time, or I didn’t have the chance to get in touch with him, or maybe he wasn’t as famous as he is now.”
Wu Hui has not yet recovered. Qiwen said tentatively:
"Could it be that you...have seen him?"
The memories that had finally been relaxed resurfaced, and the uncomfortable dizziness dominated her brain again. It was difficult for her to explain to Qiwen what exactly happened that day. Looking back, she even wanted to pull Mo Weiming out and tell him. She didn't know whether or how to say it. Maybe it would be better not to tell Qiwen for the time being, but to discuss it with Mo Weiming.
Or maybe no one should say it?
But Mo Weiming already knew.
And why should she see that?
My thinking is too confusing.
She didn't know how she managed to get off work in such a daze. During the whole process, Qiwen wisely did not ask any further questions. He was definitely curious, but at least he had to wait until her condition eased before he could continue to ask questions. She vaguely remembered Qiwen telling her to go to Xiguang again to ask Shopkeeper Shi if necessary.
As for those photos, Qiwen gave them to her directly and asked her to bring them with her when the time came. Carrying these terrible things around her, Wu Hui felt that the straps of her bag were getting hot, and only her hands were stiff and cold.
When she returned to the apartment, she stood at the door of her house, not having the courage to open her bag and look for her keys. She really regretted accepting these.
"..."
Mo Weiming happened to see her when he went upstairs.
"Why are you so dazed?" He walked over and waved his hand in front of Wu Hui, "You didn't bring your key, did you?"
Wu Hui came to her senses.
"Huh? Why do you think so? How is it possible?"
"It wouldn't be surprising if it was you."
"ah?"
Who do you think I am? Wu Hui became angry but regained her composure. With a living person by her side, she dared to open her bag and look for the keys. Mo Weiming remained silent appropriately as she opened the door with a jingle.
The door opened and he asked Wu Hui: "Do you work overtime?"
"No."
"But according to normal time, it's equivalent to... you stood at the door for a full hour."
"……Yeah?"
"Isn't it?"
Wu Hui raised her hand and glanced at her watch and realized that Mo Weiming was really not joking with her. As if she thought of something, she suddenly grabbed Mo Weiming's arm, yanked him into the room, and slammed the door.
"It hurts, it hurts..."
Mo Weiming withdrew his hand, wondering why she had so much strength.
"Don't scream!"
"What should I do if I have a muscle strain? I finally managed to hold the knife steady this week. If I can't go to the operating table anymore, the director will have to cut me off."
"Look at these." She stuffed a stack of photos into Mo Weiming's arms and said, "It's best to take them back and look at them slowly."
Speaking of this, Mo Weiming turned over the photos in confusion. He soon realizes why Oh Hye's behavior is so unusual.
"...Where did it come from?"
"This was taken by Ouyang Qiwen. He was with us at Feiye Bay that day, separated by a wall... He stayed until late at night."
"Are you saying that there were other conflicts that day? Other newspapers reported it, but they were very vague, with no specific or valuable information. Was it about someone being killed that day? I thought at the time... …”
"Me too……"
Wu Hui told Mo Weiming exactly what Qi Wen asked him to do. Just as she thought, Mo Weiming started to frown as soon as he heard that place. Wu Hui didn't know whether he had a problem with that place or the shopkeeper there.
"Don't you want to go? I don't care. I'll go find him with these on the weekend. But, uh, you keep it for me first."
Mo Weiming didn't seem to be very taboo about these ominous photos, and he didn't show any resistance when he took them. However, his usual smile was much lighter, as if he was weighing the current matter more deeply.
"I don't really like the environment there, but if you feel the need, it doesn't hurt to go again."
He was out of character, which surprised Wu Hui.
"So you...believe this?"
"Isn't it convenient for you to tell me what you saw? That day?"
Wu Hui thought for a while and whispered:
"I don't want to repeat it...can we talk about it when we get there?"
Mo Weiming didn't mind just waiting for one more day. Now that she has decided to say it, she might as well do it at her own pace. So he took the photos and put them back into their original order while walking towards the door.
"Then I'll go up first. You can come to me directly then. Is there anything else?"
"No, bye. Um...wait a minute."
Mo Weiming just opened the door and turned to look at her doubtfully.
"I went to the hospital to see Qiwen this Monday. Yushu said that you weren't here, so he took a leave and left. You just said that it was difficult to hold the knife securely... Were you injured too?"
Mo Weiming was a little surprised. He didn't expect that she would remember this and ask these questions.
"No."
"Is this so..."
The two did not speak for a while, but Mo Weiming did not leave behind closed doors.
"I went to see my brother." He said suddenly. "I bought a piece of land for him in the cemetery in Yaozhou and built a tomb for him. Before he died, I was not able to accompany him; after he died, I also I have never seen him. That day happened to be his festival day on the lunar calendar."
Wu Hui regretted asking such a question.
