They had just come in, and right on their heels came another group of young women. Duan Mingyi couldn’t manage them all, and Hongdou was suddenly called over to help out.
This immediately kept her extremely busy — she had no time at all to attend to He Yunqin. He Ningzheng, seeing Hongdou so busy and bustling about, genuinely felt bad, and once the others had left, said to Hongdou with a smile, “You’ve worked hard, sister-in-law.”
The article in the papers hadn’t mentioned Hongdou at all; the outside world all believed this tea party had been organized by Mingyi alone. He worried his sister-in-law might take offense, and privately had some reservations about his wife’s approach — never expecting that Hongdou wouldn’t mind at all, and had even come early to help. This made his wife’s approach seem rather narrow-minded by comparison.
Hongdou said in surprise, “We’re all family — why so formal, Eldest Brother?” Having married into the He family these past few months, she’d come to understand this eldest son of the He family somewhat — knew him to be serious and upright, cold on the outside but warm within.
Seeing his sister-in-law’s open-hearted attitude, clearly not taking the matter to heart at all, and seeing his wife making a point of deferring to and praising Hongdou in front of the guests — evidently also feeling a bit ashamed of herself — He Ningzheng finally relaxed, nodded at Hongdou, and went in to help his wife entertain the guests.
Truly, an assembly of notables gathered at today’s banquet, the whole hall resplendent with elegance. Once the guests had all arrived, Duan Mingyi invited today’s honored guest, Editor-in-Chief Guan of the Hong Bao, to deliver the opening remarks.
The moment Editor Guan took the stage, his first words were: “Gentlemen all know that a matter shaking the entire nation has occurred recently. Though I am unworthy, I too received a family education in my youth — ‘the rise and fall of the nation is the responsibility of every common man,’ ‘though lowly in status, I dare not forget to worry for the country’ — such simple principles even a small child could grasp. Yet lately our nation has suffered the encroachment of the Quan Rong barbarians, and though the flames of war have not yet spread, there are those who would actively sign treaties that humiliate the nation and forfeit its sovereignty. One can see that, since ancient times, the ruin of families and nations has never failed to be caused by petty men.”
Among those present today, aside from patriots and students, there were also more than a few of Wu Ruhai’s lackeys. Editor Guan, however, paid this no mind at all, scolding away to his heart’s content on stage. Bai Haili lit a cigar and smiled as he looked at Editor Guan again and again — this speech cut straight to the heart with every word, and scolding Mr. Wu wasn’t enough; it had swept him up in the condemnation too, curse after curse, scolding him thoroughly. Unfortunately, he had other matters to attend to today and couldn’t spare the time to deal with this old fool now — otherwise, he’d have found some suitable pretext to haul the man in for questioning later.
To display his magnanimity, he flicked off some ash and, with an utterly relaxed manner, chatted and joked in low tones with the other guests beside him. Just then, his most trusted subordinate, Huang Zhong, returned from the back and stood in the corridor, gesturing urgently at him. He excused himself on the pretext of using the washroom and walked toward the corridor.
Huang Zhong said, “He Yunqin, Pan Yuyuan, and Yu Hongdou — all three matters are ready, Commissioner. Rest assured, there’ll be quite a show for us to enjoy shortly.”
Bai Haili smiled, glancing at the dazzlingly beautiful Hongdou, thinking of how he’d soon get to watch this woman lose face and be disgraced. Feeling pleased with himself, he said sincerely, “Understood.”
He then pointed toward Editor Guan lecturing on stage and instructed in a low voice, “Keep a close eye on this one.”
Huang Zhong said in surprise, “Commissioner.”
Without turning back, Bai Haili waved the hand holding the cigar toward the back. “Going to the toilet. Don’t want to miss the show later.”
Huang Zhong grinned and went back into the hall to find his other colleagues.
After Editor Guan finished his speech, many people felt a lingering resonance, a surge of fervor churning in their chests that wouldn’t settle. The hall buzzed with continuous discussion; the waiters served tea and refreshments to the guests, and a female student from the Education Department, skilled at piano, played in a corner.
Hongdou finally had a free moment and quietly looked around the hall for He Yunqin. He was in the middle of discussing something with President Johnson, Editor Guan, and others. Though there were many people, he stood in a spot that made him quite conspicuous — visible the moment she glanced up.
Meanwhile, Gu Yun, Yuyuan, and the others had already grown familiar with Yu Rui. He had fine, upright features to begin with and sharp conversation besides; since there weren’t many male students present, the conversation gradually centered around him. Someone brought up the various schools’ autumn outings — by rights, this season each school should have already finished its autumn trips, but with troubled times upon them, the students had grown less inclined toward such amusements. Someone remarked that if war really broke out, there’d be no chance to play at all, so they might as well steel themselves and go have a proper outing while they could.
Yuyuan said, “There’s a hill behind our school, lush with trees and plants — by rights, a fine spot for an outing. But there’ve long been rumors it’s haunted, and even though it’s right there, few dare go.”
Xiao Xichun of the Education Department said, “That’s nothing. Have you all heard of someone being scared to death by a haunted house? I heard from a servant at my house once — she had a distant relative who was a nurse, working in a Western-style house, and got scared to death by a ghost. I told her there’s no such thing as ghosts in this world, but she absolutely refused to believe it, saying that relative had mentioned it several times before she died, describing it so vividly it even scared me a little.”
Hongdou exchanged a look with Gu Yun and hurriedly asked Xiao Xichun, “What was that relative’s surname?”
But several of the female students there were especially timid, and even in such a bright, bustling place, they grew frightened just hearing this. “Oh dear, please stop talking about it.”
Mei Lizhen clapped her hands. “Look how timid you all are. Actually, there’s a haunted house right near our own St. John’s — didn’t you all know?”
Everyone looked at each other in astonishment. “We really didn’t know.”
“It’s this very mansion we’re in right now. Miss Duan doesn’t believe in ghost stories, and seeing this house’s front and back gardens going to waste, she took it over for the tea party venue.”
Yu Rui asked curiously, “This house is haunted too? What happened here?”
“Yes, someone died. Afterward, the tenants all said it was haunted, and gradually no one lived here anymore. It’s been empty for three or five years now.”
The faces of those few female students grew paler and paler as they listened, huddling together timidly. Eager to change the subject, just at that moment, an extremely muffled “bang” sounded from somewhere unknown, and everything went dark — the lights in the house had gone out.
The buzz of discussion in the hall seemed cut off by some invisible force, falling suddenly silent.
“Ah—” one particularly timid female student let out a frightened scream. Hongdou hurried to comfort her. “It must be some problem with the power supply. There are so many of us here, don’t be afraid, the electricity will be back soon.”
Sure enough, the next moment someone said, “Everyone, don’t panic. It’s likely the circuit tripped. Someone’s already gone to check the utility room, just wait a moment and the light will return.”
Someone made a pun and laughed, “Clearly, darkness is only temporary. Light will soon arrive. Come, everyone, let us raise our glasses to this brief darkness, and also to the lasting light not far away.”
This person was optimistic and quick-witted; the moment the words left his mouth, the surprise and unease surging through the crowd vanished at once. Many people echoed, “To light, to our people.”
Before the words had even faded, everything brightened — the power had returned in an instant.
But before everyone could exchange smiles, a waiter came stumbling from the corridor at the back, shouting in terror as he ran, “Something’s wrong! Someone’s dead! Someone’s died in the washroom!”
Everyone was greatly startled; someone’s tall glass slipped from their hand, shattering on the smooth, mirror-like marble floor with a sharp, piercing crash.
Hongdou froze for a moment, her heart pounding, and hurriedly looked around for He Yunqin. Just as she moved, someone approached from behind and grabbed her hand firmly. She caught the clean, cool scent of his person, and her wildly pounding heart quickly settled. Turning back, she saw He Yunqin looking at her. Though neither of them spoke, his palm was dry and warm, carrying a steadying strength.
The waiter, legs weak with fright, stood trembling in place, unable to take a single step. “It’s — it’s Commissioner Bai from the police department. His head’s stuck in the toilet bowl, not moving at all — no telling how long he’s been dead.”
It was indeed Bai Haili.
Huang Zhong and the others went pale with shock, cursed viciously under their breath, and dashed off toward the depths of the corridor.
Someone covered their mouth. “Ah, dead in the toilet bowl? There’s such a way to die?”
Hongdou glanced quietly at He Yunqin. His expression was utterly calm, yet on closer inspection there was a trace of confusion beneath it.