Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 353 That Era

The location and size of the doorway on the second floor are the same as on the first floor, but the ceiling height is lower, more than a meter lower than the first floor.

Walking through the doorway, there was another room running horizontally, but there was no longer a hall; instead, there was a row of rooms. At the very back, a staircase led downstairs, and opposite the staircase was a bathroom with a small room that looked like a storage room. Only one of the room doors was open; the rest were locked. There were windows, though. Shining a flashlight inside, you could see scattered documents, overturned filing cabinets, and an old-fashioned desk.

Two rooms had curtains drawn, obscuring the view inside. Then there was the room with the door open; it was empty, small, only about ten square meters. One wall was covered with newspapers from that period, and on top of them were eight red characters written in white paper: "Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely." The other two walls were mottled and covered with handprints, footprints, and other stains. Angkor shone his flashlight on them and said, "This is blood."

There are also some on the ground, which gives you an idea of ​​how horrific the scene was. This must have been an interrogation room or detention cell at the time.

There was another floor up the stairs, so the woman had indeed come up before. However, there was only one step up the stairs, which was different from the first floor to the second floor because there was no landing. There was a small platform and a locked door right at the top.

Angkor shone his flashlight around and turned to Xiaowei, asking, "Should we break it open?"

Xiao Wei recalled what the older woman had said; she seemed to have mentioned there was another floor upstairs, no smaller than the one downstairs, but she hadn't mentioned a door. That must have been added later. Hearing Brother Wu's question, Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "Never mind, let's leave it at that for today. Just knowing the general layout is enough, right?"

Angkor said, "We've come all this way, aren't we going to take a look? I feel like it could be quite big inside."

Mu Qiqing also said, "Let's smash it open, bro. We've already demolished this far, it feels like something's missing if we don't take a look."

Xiao Wei looked at the door and thought for a moment before saying, "Then let's smash it and see." He felt a little uneasy; he really didn't want to open the door, though he couldn't explain why.

Angkor took a nail and pried off the large iron lock with a few strokes. He tried to pry it open with the nail but couldn't budge it. He then applied more force, and the door shook slightly before slowly creaking open.

The flashlight beam shone inside, revealing tables and chairs arranged to resemble a meeting room. At the far end was the stage, with several tables crookedly placed on it, along with an old-fashioned metal microphone. Behind the stage, a red curtain covered the wall, upon which hung two huge photographs of the great leader and his successor.

A red silk cloth was stretched horizontally above the stage, with white paper pasted on it. On the white paper, written in red calligraphy, was the words "Antong City Revitalization Revolutionary Army's Oath-Taking Rally." The windows inside the room were all bricked up and covered with newspaper instead of plaster.

Next to the stage were several huge signs covered with white paper and newspaper, with names written in black calligraphy and marked with a big red X. Beside them was a pointed hat made of newspaper, like the kind worn by foreign clowns.

On the wall, large revolutionary slogans were written in Song typeface, along with a huge image of a righteous man raising his fist and knocking over an ugly little figure. Angkor said, "This is a meeting room, used for criticism meetings. How come I don't remember having this space here?"

Xiao Wei asked, "You were here before?"

Wu Ge shook his head and said, "I was only seven or eight years old then, and they wouldn't let me in there, so I don't remember. I do know about this place with torn cloth. There was a time when they were fighting over five dou (a type of ancient Chinese latrine), and both sides used weapons. It was right here. I guess they blocked all the windows up and down here to prevent people from being shot at. It was quite a big commotion back then, and a lot of people died."

Xiao Wei said, "Alright, let's talk outside. It's too gloomy and cold in here." The group retreated to the restaurant and went down the stairs to the first floor. Brother Wu said, "Xiao Zhang, right? You really got a great deal! This house is a steal; it's bigger inside than outside."

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "What advantage? The property certificate says 920 square meters. I was wondering why it wasn't that big."

Angkor was taken aback for a moment and said, "Really?"

Xiao Wei got into the car, took out the property certificate, and handed it to Brother Wu, saying, "Look, this is the size shown in the original file, but later people really don't know what it looks like inside." Brother Wu took the property certificate, looked at it, and then enviously handed it back to Xiao Wei, saying, "It really is. I was telling you to find someone to help you avoid being criticized."

Xiao Wei distributed cigarettes to everyone. After basking in the sun for a while, the chilly feeling on his body disappeared, but the unease in his heart remained. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Brother Wu, I'll go to your shop and make another call."

Angkor nodded and said, "Alright, go ahead and fight. Take these two hammers and shovel with you. They're useless to you. I'll give you your money back."

Xiao Wei followed Brother Wu back to the supply store, carrying the hammer and shovel. Brother Wu went behind the counter, took out the phone, and handed the money for the hammer and shovel back to Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei picked up the phone and called Liu Sui. After ringing for a while, the other end answered: "Feed?"

Xiao Wei said, "Brother Liu, it's me, Xiao Wei. Are you free right now?"

Liu Sui said, "Everything's fine right now. What's up? Where are you?"

Xiao Wei said, "I'm in the hotel. There are two walls inside that were later boarded up. I had someone open them. Inside was the original shredded cloth, with a lot of documents, books, and magazines. There are interrogation rooms on the second floor. Several rooms were locked, so I didn't open them. There's also a conference room on the third floor. Now the size of the house matches up. It's that big."

Liu Sui paused for a moment and said, "Oh, I see? Oh dear, it seems even Lao Che doesn't know about this. What did you mean by making that call?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and lowered his voice, saying, "Brother Liu, I felt really uneasy as soon as I went in. My hair stood on end. The walls and floor of that room were covered in blood. There was blood on the pickaxe handles and bayonets on the first floor too. I have a feeling there's something in those rooms. Could you call Director Qin? Have them come and take a look. If there's anything you can't talk about, they'll be there to help."

Liu Sui asked, "Are you sure it's the torn scraps from back then? Exactly as it was?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's confirmed. Everything is exactly as it was. No one has been inside since. This side is completely sealed off, and the door to the back yard is also bricked up. All the windows are also bricked up. You can't see anything from the outside at all."

Liu Sui said, "You wait there." Xiao Wei agreed, hung up the phone, said goodbye to Brother Wu, and returned to the hotel.

Mu Lijuan said, "Is there anything else? My child is at the neighbor's house. We'll go back if there's nothing else."

Xiao Wei took out 100 yuan and handed it to her, saying, "It's okay, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning. Just get ready."

Mu Lijuan said, "It didn't cost any money, and we didn't do anything."

Xiao Wei said, "Take it. Treat these two brothers to a meal. It's not like they've made a wasted trip." He forced the money into Mu Lijuan's hand.

(End of this chapter)