Chapter 11: Liang Lihua (Part Two)

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Before long, Zhang Heng brought Liang Lahua to the aunt’s home.

Once they arrived, Zhang Heng closed the door behind them. The sudden action alarmed Liang Lahua, and she instinctively cried out in distress.

Although Liang Lahua had lost her mind, she had not lost her wariness of strangers. That much was already clear from the way she had insisted Zhang Heng eat some of the bread he had bought for her.

Seeing her shouting and waving in agitation, Zhang Heng relented. He went to the door and opened it just a crack.

As soon as she saw the narrow gap, Liang Lahua stopped calling out and gave Zhang Heng a smile. He returned it.

Then Liang Lahua turned and walked toward the bathroom.

In an ordinary apartment, the bathroom was used not only for the toilet and bathing, but also housed the washing machine.

When she reached the bathroom, she turned around and shouted at Zhang Heng again.

He immediately went over to her. Looking at him, she pointed to her clothes and gestured, indicating that he should find her something to change into because she wanted to bathe and put on fresh clothes.

Once he understood what she meant, Zhang Heng went at once to the bedroom the aunt had told him he could use and began searching for clothes.

After rummaging through this and that, he found two outfits in the wardrobe that appeared to belong to a woman. He took one of them down, left the room, and returned to the bathroom door, where he handed it to Liang Lahua.

She accepted the clothes and gave him a warm smile. Then she switched on the light, carried the clothes into the bathroom, and began to bathe.

After Liang Lahua entered the bathroom, Zhang Heng unconsciously took out his phone and glanced at it. It was already a little after six ten in the evening. By the routine he had followed while working at the Beijing police station, he would normally have finished dinner by now.

He went out onto the balcony and looked outside. Darkness had already settled over the sky. It was early spring, but as in winter, the days were still short and the nights long, so there was nothing unusual about it being dark already.

He returned to the living room and switched on all the lights one by one.

Now he was planning to cook dinner—enough for two.

He went into the kitchen.

Everything in the kitchen was arranged neatly. The bottles and jars of seasoning were lined up in perfect order, the counter was spotless, and even the trash bin was empty.

The aunt was clearly a woman who valued cleanliness and order.

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He went to the refrigerator and first opened the fresh-food compartment. It was packed with all kinds of vegetables, eggs, beans, and other ingredients.

Then he opened the freezer. Its separate compartments were likewise crammed with all sorts of food. The plastic-wrapped compartment on the top shelf caught his attention, so he pulled it open.

Inside were packets upon packets of various kinds of frozen dumplings and wontons.

Looking at the full compartment, Zhang Heng thought that they might as well have dumplings for dinner. Besides, it had been a long time since he had eaten them.

He took out two bags and closed the refrigerator.

Then he went to the gas stove, lit the burner, and heated the pot. Once it was dry, he added water and began cooking the dumplings.

...

By then, Liang Lahua had finished bathing and changed her clothes.

When she came out and saw Zhang Heng busy in the kitchen opposite, she went straight over.

At that moment, the water in the pot had begun to boil. Liang Lahua quickly tore open the two bags of dumplings, smiled at Zhang Heng, and handed them to him.

He accepted them, lifted the lid, and dropped the dumplings into the boiling water.

With the two of them working together, the dumplings were soon ready. They carried two plates into the living room and began eating at the coffee table.

...

After dinner, Liang Lahua noticed that the water dispenser beside the table was full. She took two disposable cups from the nearby stack, filled them with hot water, and brought them over, handing one to Zhang Heng. He immediately accepted it.

She placed her own cup on the table, then gathered the plates and dishes they had used and carried them into the kitchen, apparently to wash them.

Zhang Heng followed and found that Liang Lahua was indeed washing the plates and dishes.

When she saw him come in, she smiled at him again, and he answered with a smile of his own.

After washing the dishes and tidying the kitchen, she returned to the living room and sat down on the sofa where they had been sitting earlier. Zhang Heng followed and sat beside her.

Once they were seated, Liang Lahua began making hand gestures toward him.

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This time, however, Zhang Heng could not understand what she was trying to say.

When he failed to respond, Liang Lahua grew anxious.

Just then, Zhang Heng’s phone suddenly rang. He took it out and saw that the aunt was calling, so he answered in front of Liang Lahua.

Liang Lahua cooperated by stopping her gestures and remaining quiet.

The aunt explained that the train she had taken had arrived at Beijing South Railway Station, and that the person Zhang Heng had contacted had met her there. She expressed her heartfelt thanks.

Zhang Heng repeatedly replied, “You’re welcome. It was the least I could do,” and similar words.

Then he ended the call.

Afterward, Liang Lahua pointed at his phone and called out, accompanying her words with gestures.

Zhang Heng still did not understand exactly what she meant. But he grasped the general idea: she needed to use his phone for something.

So he handed it to her.

Liang Lahua immediately opened the Notes app. First, she created a title:

“Liang Lahua’s Account, Part One.”

Beneath it, she typed:

“Officer, I cannot speak. I am mute. From now on, I will use your phone to type and communicate with you. You ask the questions, and I will answer.”

When she finished, she handed the phone to Zhang Heng.

After reading what she had written, he nodded to her.

Seeing his confirmation, Liang Lahua felt, at that very moment, as though a clear stream had washed through her heart.

Then Zhang Heng and Liang Lahua began communicating: one asked questions aloud, while the other typed replies on the phone.

Their exchange proceeded, question by question and answer by answer.

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