By the time Su Zimo and the others understood the situation, they were already sitting in the local areaâs relevant department. The uniformed police officer put Lin Hao and Lin Ren in the chairs and someone on the opposite side from them took notes and records.
Because Su Zimo and the others were witnesses, they could stay and listen to Lin Hao and Lin Renâs interrogation.
To be honest, when they first met Lin Hao and Lin Ren, nobody had good feelings for the odd siblings, including Su Zimo.
But after meeting them again and again, Su Zimo was able to feel the softness inside their hearts through their ugly, thorned appearances.
So when sitting with Lin Hao and Lin Ren in the police station, Su Zimo was conflicted. He felt that this ending was unexpected, and also unreasonable.
The efficiency of investigation in these relevant departments would not normally be so fast, but when the police arrived at the scene, Lin Ren-didi was obviously panicked and uncomfortable. He wanted to drag his sister to argue against the relevant department and flee, so he was immediately taken away by a group of investigators. There was no doubt about it.
Uncle Hongâs table was piled with a lot of delicious food that hadnât been unpacked. There was still braised pork and fish in the kitchen.
All of this was seen by the trainers.
When the relevant department sat them down for interrogation, Lin Hao and Lin Ren, who felt that everything had settled, slowly calmed down.
In the face of the calm and steady tone of the police officer across from them, they gradually explained the circumstances of the situation.
Su Zimo and the others were conflicted.
He and Cheng Yun already knew about Lin Hao and Lin Renâs experiences after inviting them to eat at the food stall repeatedly. They knew that the two siblings had poor life experiences. They were dependent on each other even since they were still in middle school. They walked a crooked path and protected themselves by walking in the streets with gangster friends that only knew how to eat, drink, and play.
But Lin Hao and Lin Ren had to do something ridiculous when they couldnât find good jobs while underage. They had to wait to become adults to find a job and live their lives. Because their identity was too deeply rooted with the hearts of the local people, they couldnât find any jobs in familiar places.
The Lin siblings who only had a small home, didnât dare go too far away. After being tactfully rejected by some hiring shops many times, the two of them remained gangsters on the street.
Once public security in the area improved, the leaders of the relevant departments cleaned up the streets. There were fewer debt collectors, and no one would pay for protection by gangsters. Lin Hao and Lin Ren didnât have meals when they were at their worst.
The two siblings also had themselves to blame. Even after reaching that point, they still didnât want to work hard to make money. They still wandered the streets everyday.
Just when the two siblings were starving, they met an old man in a restaurant. The old man saw they looked hungry and invited them to sit and eat together. There was no need for the siblings to order anything. The two of them just needed to accompany him and have a nice chat.
The two siblings saw this encounter as a âbusiness opportunity.â
They learned over time that there were many elderly people living alone on this street. They live alone in the old neighborhood because they had no children or their children went to more prosperous places. Most of those elderly people who lived alone didnât want to disturb their childrenâs lives. Along with the elderly like Uncle Hong who have no children, the elderly people were just walking alone, hoping their surroundings could be lively.
As long as they made the elderly happy, they could even get three meals a day. Even pocket money wasnât something unexpected.
After some trial and error, Lin Hao and Lin Ren formed their âbusiness opportunityâ and began to greet every old person on the street who they hadnât spoken to very much with a smile. They helped them for a while, and even talked about recent TV series that elderly people particularly enjoy watching.
âThey really trust people too easily. They only chat with us once and invite us to play at their homes.â Lin Hao lowered her head and said, âTheyâll prepare some expensive snacks that none of us would buy, or they would roast a delicious meal with meat that we donât usually buy. Sometimes didi and I play up our misery and wear ragged clothes, then they secretly give us a bit of money. Actually, even weâre a bit confused and donât know why they do it?â
âMaybe they really think weâre good people who respect the old and cherish the young?â Lin Hao gave a wry smile.
Su Zimo didnât think that all the old people Lin Hao and Lin Ren met were so easily deceived. Based on the previous food stall ownerâs hateful attitude toward the Lin siblings, others on the street may have taken notice of the Lin siblings and know what theyâre doing.
The food stall owner back them specially advised Madam Chen who invited the Lin siblings to play, but she didnât take him seriously, so he didnât continue discouraging her.
The same goes for those other old people. There should be many people who remind them that Lin Hao and Lin Ren donât have pure intentions, but they may have chosen not to care.
Lin Hao continued her statement.
They spent a lot of time on those old people and gradually became greedy and dissatisfied. Those boring snacks and meals with old people gradually made Lin Hao and Lin Ren tire of listening to the old peopleâs nagging, so she responded weakly.
The old people would also hand over some cash for the siblings from time to time, so Lin Hao and Lin Ren wanted to borrow more money from the old people. When they borrowed enough money, they would sell their small home and go to a strange big city to find jobs.
âIt was borrowing. We really just wanted to borrow it.â Lin Hao emphasized, but her tone showed that she didnât believe it herself.
Since yesterday they had made an appointment with Uncle Hong to go to his home, Lin Hao and Lin Ren were going to have lunch at Uncle Hongâs house after getting up.
Although Uncle Hong lived in a residential building that looked seedy, Lin Hao and Lin Ren, who were familiar with the street, knew that Uncle Hong was notoriously stingy. He had secretly saved a lot of money, so they planned to borrow money once he was happy.
But when Uncle Hong went to the kitchen to cook, Lin Ren-didi saw something wrapped in old newspapers in an open drawer of one of the cabinets. When he approached, he saw through the gap that it was a big bag of money!
Lin Ren was greedy at the time. He felt that the old man believed in the so much and that he definitely wouldnât suspect them. When they made enough money, they would come back to honor Uncle Hong.
But Lin Hao stopped her younger brotherâs actions. Regardless of whether or not they could repay the money in the future, borrowing money meant borrowing money. They would have to directly ask Uncle Hong and properly write a promissory note after he agrees!
Lin Ren had listened to his sister since they were children, so after being scolded by Lin Hao, he let go of his greed.
But before Lin Ren put the money back in place, Uncle Hong walked out of the kitchen and clearly saw the two siblings standing there with the money.
Lin Hao and Lin Ren panicked. Although they werenât bad at their cores, the two siblings had been messing around with riff raff for a long time. The wildness and bad habits lingered in their bodies. Watching Uncle Hong walk towards them in surprise, Lin Haoâs brain moved her hands and feet before she could react.
Lin Hao only said that her eyes only saw blackness. When she recovered, Uncle Hong had already fallen to the ground. She didnât even remember who used their hands. They only saw the metal picture frame with photos of Uncle Hong and his late wife fall to the ground, stained with red liquid.
That was all Lin Hao knew. The others fell silent.
âThat guy Old Rong really is stingy!â Madam Chen sighed. âBut every time you visit, Old Hong always buys the most expensive items out of all of us. When has he been stingy to you?â
Lin Hao and Lin Ren didnât speak. Even the surrounding police officers didnât stop Madam Chen from speaking, even though she was just supposed to be a witness.
âYou think we donât know anything? Of course we know. We know youâre hungry; we know you have nowhere to go; we know youâre so poor that you pick up other peopleâs cigarette butts.â Madam Chen looked at Lin Hao and Lin Ren with sorrow. âBut it isnât fake that youâve stayed with us for a long time. It isnât fake that we old men and old women are happy when we see you here. Even if our sons and daughters send us money, why arenât they willing to visit us? Why do you have a guilty conscience? What guilt? Youâre better than those criminals who sell our health care product at high prices, arenât you?!
âMy daughter called several times and asked me to ignore you.â Madam Chen shook her head. âBut they donât understand how us old men and old women feel.â
As soon as Madam Chen stopped speaking, Su Zimo and the other trainers saw that there was a transparent figure beside Lin Hao and Lin Ren. It was a thin old man with the same clothing as Uncle Hong had when he was lying there.
In other words, it was the ghost manifestation of Uncle Hong.
But⊠this uncle didnât look like a malicious spirit. At least to Su Zimo, the old man didnât have any resentment on his face. He looked helplessly at the Lin siblings who were sitting with their heads lowered.
âWe arenât human.â Lin Hao held her forehead. Her tone was calm, and it was no longer pedantic. âWhen we left the apartment, if that kid hadnât stopped us, maybe being hit by a truck like that would be a fitting end for us.â
After hearing Lin Haoâs words, Su Zimoâs inner doubt was resolved. Every time Lin Hao and Lin Ren had an accident, it was likely that a transparent ghost would appear shortly after.
But from the ghostsâ face, Su Zimo felt helpless. Relief or relaxation was completely different from how the two siblings appeared.
When the truck crashed, Lin Hao and Lin Ren subconsciously clutched Su Zimo. Later, when they encountered another speeding vehicle, Lin Hao rushed to use her body to save an old woman who was too slow to cross the road.
Maybe they wanted to redeem themselves?
It was a pity that they had done such an irreparable thing. Even in a nightmare world, they had to accept punishment, regardless of whether than punishment comes from a malicious spirit or a relevant department.
Compared to Su Zimoâs many thoughts, Cheng Yun and the others simply thought⊠Where was their task heading? Did they prevent Lin Hao and Lin Renâs deaths? What should they do next?
At that moment, Uncle Hong suddenly stretched out his arm and pointed out the window from where he was quietly standing beside Lin Hao and Lin Ren.
Su Zimo and the others followed Uncle Hongâs transparent fingers and found that Uncle Hongâs ghost had moved out of the window in an instant at some point. He stretched out his finger to point to the street like before.
âHe seems to be guiding us.â Dr. Jin said softly.
Since the witnessesâ work was almost complete, after Cheng Yun and Bai Man requested in hushed voices, the police officers agreed to their request to leave first. After signing their previous testimony, the trainers would leave together and walk towards the place where Uncle Hongâs ghost appeared.
After walking outside of the window to where they saw just now, Su Zimo and the others saw Uncle Hong appear a few meters away and one again point his fingers toward the street.
âUncle Hong, are you taking us back to that street?â Cheng Yun couldnât help but ask.
The transparent Uncle Hong didnât answer his words. He instead appeared again further away. Pedestrians on the sidewalk walked through Uncle Hong, but Su Zimo and the others clearly watched him outstretch his hand toward the street.