The voice on the other end was so innocent that Gao Ming didn’t have the heart to trick the man. He played the role of a listener well. He allowed the man, who sounded mature, to keep on telling his story. Compared to Gao Ming’s nightmare experience, the man’s story was common and warm. Gao Ming couldn’t tell why, but he paid great attention.
After a long time, Gao Ming said, “I’m not your big brother. Someone else gave me this walkie-talkie.”
The chatter halted instantly. The man appeared to be stumped. After some time, he apologised to Gao Ming for disturbing him. After the apology, the man spoke through tears, “My brother said I could contact him through this walkie-talkie. I can reach him no matter how far he is. He’s my own family. He will not lie to me.”
“Don’t worry. What’s your brother’s name? Perhaps I can help you find him.” Gao Ming knew he had been dragged into a larger conspiracy. His suffering was merely the tip of the iceberg.
“His name… I can’t remember! But I will never forget it! My brain is just not recording it!” The man smacked his hands against his head heavily.
“I will not forget him, but I can feel that whenever I wake up in the morning, my memory of him becomes blurrier and blurrier like some kind of force is making me forget him. I… I can’t even remember his name anymore.” The man was so agitated that he started to cry again. He was so sad.
Gao Ming felt that the man had Alzheimer’s at first, but he suddenly realised that was wrong. The man knew the details of the zoo so well but had only forgotten about his brother. Gao Ming had a flash of lightning in his mind. A horrible taboo incident happened in Xin Lu several years ago. A lot of people were forced to undertake brain surgery.
“Could that incident be related to his brother?”
“My home is around Xin Lu Zoo. I want to go home, but they insist on bringing me to the old folk’s home. It is so scary here.”
“Xin Lu Old City Sunshine Charity Old Folk’s Home.” The man said with clear anticipation. “Can you really find my brother?”
“I’ll go there when the sun is up.” Before Gao Ming could say anything else, the voice disconnected. The bloody stains on the walkie-talkie turned back into normal stains. He looked out the window. The sun was peeking through.
“Can I only use this at night? This thing doesn’t feel like it belongs in the living world. Could the elder called Wang Pingan be a ghost?”
Soon, Liu Yi’s alarm rang. The former-class beauty wiped away the saliva from her lips as she tried to wake up.
Gao Ming entered the kitchen to prepare their breakfast. After Liu Yi left for work, he got a cab to head to Sunshine Charity Centre.
Compared to the expensive private retirement homes, Sunshine Charity Centre was old and small. It wasn’t too bad, but it had a lot of room for improvement. Gao Ming walked through the gate and found the guard. The guard was large and looked around forty. His hat tilted on his head. He hid inside the guardroom as he watched a female livestreamer dance on stream.
“Hello. I am Wang Pingan’s family. I’ve brought something for him.” Gao Ming knocked on the window.
“Wait a minute.” The guard put his phone away and dialled the volume down. He acted to be busy, “Let me see… It shows here that Wang Pingan doesn’t have any family, and there is no booking that anyone is coming to see him.”
“I’m here on behalf of his friend. Tell me I have just spoken to him on the phone. He will want to meet me.”
“It’s not whether he wants to meet you or not. We are an enclosed centre.” The guard looked into Wang Pingan. “The old man you want to meet is quite a troublemaker. He has escaped from the grounds several times already. Don’t be fooled by him. He is physically fit. He hasn’t fallen ill since he has been accepted here.”
“Who admitted him here? He clearly wants to go home.”
“Are you not listening to me? He is crazy.” The guard didn’t want to argue with Gao Ming. The guard notified the staff inside and shooed Gao Ming away. He grumbled as he picked his phone back up, “Youth nowadays sure are annoying.”
Gao Ming thought he could see Wang Pingan soon, but he was stopped at the reception. Two men in white coats led him to another room. After asking him a lot of questions, they rejected Gao Ming’s request to see Wang Pingan. Apparently, Wang Pingan needed to rest. The more they acted , the more suspicious Gao Ming became. He became forceful and threatened to report this to the media.
In the end, it was a superior who came. When he saw the Immortal Pharma band Gao Ming wore, he allowed Gao Ming entry.
“Is my guess true? Has Wang Pingan taken the brain surgery?”
Gao Ming headed to the sixth floor or the top floor at the centre. He saw a single room beside the director’s office. “After Wang Pingan’s many escapes, we arranged for him to stay here. We take care of his daily needs…”
Gao Ming ignored the staff. He stood beside the door. Every room there had a small window fitted to the door. One could directly look into the rooms.
“This is not a violation of the elders’ privacy. We just want to ensure that we can keep an eye on them for their safety.”
“All these sound like a cover-up.” Gao Ming knocked on the door. Soon, the wooden door swung open. An old man with toys hanging all over his body appeared.
He was shy around people. He didn’t speak. He acted like a wronged child.
Gao Ming scanned the binoculars around his neck, the kaleidoscope in his pocket, the water gun on the ground and the walkie-talkie the old man held. He smiled to himself. This old man was not as dumb as he appeared.
“Can we talk alone?” Gao Ming entered the room and closed the door. His sudden action frightened the old man. The old man appeared frightened of the living.
“Don’t panic. Haven’t we just chatted earlier?”