Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

Han Fei examined himself in the glass window of the Shanghai-style bar. He was wearing a blue striped suit and stood even more upright than usual. The suit had been chosen by Zhang Ruiyi, and in his opinion, it fit him perfectly.

Someone pushed open the door and came out of the bar. Han Fei could hear music, loud men talking, and women giggling coming from inside. He checked his watch; Zhang Ruiyi had said she would arrive at 8:30.

He took a breath, stepped into the bar, and glanced around.

This is a modern bar—a spacious, high-ceilinged area with a central bar counter featuring a black marble top. Behind the bar is a full-height liquor cabinet. Scattered booths are upholstered in dark brown leather.

Several black-and-white photographs hung on the wall, all old pictures of the Bund. The viewfinders showed no people, only river mist and the blurry outlines of boats. Someone from the publishing house had led a team to redecorate the bar with balloons printed with the "Bluebird" and red tablecloths.

Most people seemed to have already drunk quite a bit. Lu Hai had informed him that a variety of celebratory drinks would be provided before the party began.

You look great in a suit!

Han Fei turned around and couldn't help but gasp. He almost didn't recognize the woman in front of him as Zhang Ruiyi. She was slender, wearing a pure white evening gown. Her eyes were bright and sparkling. Her skin was fair. Honey-colored hair framed her oval face. A smile played on her lips, and her eyes were full of laughter.

Han Fei knew she was beautiful, but he didn't know she could be so...charming. That was the only word he could think of to describe her at that moment: charming. He knew that her appearance before him should have left him speechless, but for some reason, he simply nodded and smiled in response.

"It's beautiful," he said.

"Are you really the president of the publishing house?"

"What's wrong?"

"I was wondering about your vocabulary..." Zhang Ruiyi laughed a few times, "Okay, I won't make it difficult for you. Don't you like Titanic?"

"uh-huh."

"Then you should know how a boy should treat his female companion at a party, right?" Zhang Ruiyi said with a smile, extending one hand and raising her wrist slightly.

Han Fei chuckled softly, walked over, and took her hand: "Please."

As they walked towards the bar, someone suddenly shouted, "The club president is here!"

"Welcome, President Han and Ms. Zhang!"

A burst of cheers and applause followed.

......

Wen Shuyan parked her car in the parking space in front of Fenglin Luyuan Community on Hongmei Road, took out her phone, and dialed Wen Jie's number again.

After the two men who claimed to be Wen Jie's former colleagues left in the morning, she immediately called Wen Jie, but no one answered. She called several more times in the afternoon, but couldn't get through each time.

After shopping with her friends that evening, she went straight to the Innovation and Intelligence Building. A young man in the common office area told her that the workstation by the window hadn't been used for two days.

She knew Wen Jie had always been an extremely focused person; once he got into a rhythm, even the most enthusiastic fanfare couldn't distract him. But she'd never seen him unreachable for an entire day like this before. Besides, he hadn't been to the Chuangzhi Building for two days. Could something have happened?

A dial tone came through the receiver, followed by that familiar mechanical female voice: "The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later. Sorry, subscriber..."

Wen Shuyan hung up the phone, opened the door, and got out of the car.

Wen Jie bought a house in this new neighborhood just six months ago. When he moved, he said he finally had his own space and didn't have to squeeze into his sister's place anymore to listen to her play those piano pieces she had practiced eight hundred times.

Wen Shuyan arrived at the foot of Building 16 and looked up. The occupancy rate of the community was not very high, and every window was dark, including the 8th floor where Wen Jie lived.

She swallowed hard, took the elevator to the 8th floor, pressed the doorbell for 802, waited a while, and then took out the spare key that Wen Jie had given her from her bag to open the door.

She stood in the darkness of the entryway and listened for a moment, when a strange smell, both bitter and sweet, wafted toward her.

"Xiao Jie," she called out.

No one responded.

Of course, no one responded.

Wen Shuyan turned on the light, took off her shoes, and walked into the living room. She saw that the balcony window was closed, and there was leftover rice, vegetable soup, and a rotten banana on the dining table, with several flies buzzing around it restlessly.

She hurried to the bedroom, found the light switch on the wall, and instantly the entire room was bathed in the light from the ceiling spotlight. The blankets on the bed were piled haphazardly, just as someone had hurriedly left. A pillow was askew, and a corner of the sheet dragged on the floor. At the foot of the bed was a computer desk, the monitor screen off, and a mug next to it.

She left the bedroom, quickly checked the rest of the rooms, and then returned to the bedroom.

Wen Shuyan picked up the mug on her computer desk. It was a birthday gift she had given to Wen Jie, with the words "The best younger brother in the world" printed on it. The mug still contained more than half a cup of coffee, a dried film forming on the surface, its color a deep, congealed blood. The edges of the coffee stains were cracked and peeling.

Wen Shuyan began to panic, breaking out in a sweat. She knew that at the current temperature, it would take at least two days for a cup of coffee left indoors to change from a liquid to this state.

Should we call the police?

Her mind was racing. She walked to the window, opened it, and let the evening breeze in.

On the windowsill sat a framed photo of her and Wen Jie. Wen Jie was seven years old then, and she was eleven. They stood in their grandmother's yard, with a pomegranate tree behind them. Wen Jie was wearing blue overalls, grinning, revealing two non-existent front teeth.

That summer, Wenjie also went missing once. She searched every corner of the house—under the bed, in the basement, in the attic piles of clutter. She ran to the street, asking shop after shop if anyone had seen a little boy with curly hair. As night quietly fell, she stood at the street corner, watching the passersby, and a sudden, unprecedented fear welled up inside her.

She ran home crying and told her mother that her younger brother was missing.

Mom put down the spatula, wiped her hands, and said, "Go look in his room again."

She ran into her brother's room, looked around, and finally remembered that she hadn't checked the closet. She opened the closet door and saw her brother curled up inside. She froze, then burst into tears and laughter.

Later she asked her brother why he hid it in the closet.

Wen Jie rubbed his eyes and said, "Sis, I'm on an adventure. I want to see if you'll come looking for me if I get kidnapped by bad guys."

Wen Shuyan turned around, walked to the wardrobe, grabbed the handle, and took a deep breath.

Although she thought the idea was utterly absurd, she also felt that it wasn't entirely impossible.