Chapter 90: Expired Candy
“Hello, are you Wang Siyao? I’m Gu Baixue’s elementary school classmate. I just accidentally learned today that Gu Baixue has passed away. May I ask where her grave is? I’d like to go pay my respects.”
Bai Cha sent the text message.
She had memorized the phone number in the game. She didn’t have any other special talents, just a slightly better memory than average people.
Generally speaking, people don’t easily change their phone numbers after starting work.
Soon, Bai Cha received a call.
“Hello, this is Wang Siyao.”
The voice of the girl on the other end sounded exactly the same as the voice in the instance.
“Hello, I’m Gu Baixue’s elementary school classmate. My family and theirs were quite close when I was little, but then we moved away… I just came back this year and originally wanted to contact her to see if she was still there, but I heard she had passed away.”
Bai Cha’s tone was low and filled with disbelief. “How could she pass away at such a young age?”
Wang Siyao was silent for two seconds on the other end before sighing. “It was homicide, but the killer has never been found.”
“Do you want to go pay your respects to her? Then just go to her house. The password lock on their door is set to her birthday. The ashes of their whole family are placed in the house; they didn’t buy a cemetery plot.”
Bai Cha was stunned. “Why? No, is there no one left in their family?”
“Well… her mother passed away many years ago, and her father died unexpectedly seven days before she did…”
Mentioning this, Wang Siyao’s tone became even lower. Tragedy had befallen this family, as if it had specifically targeted them.
“But how should I put it? It’s actually very strange. There are many eerie things. Before she died, she might have had a premonition of something. She sent us a message at the time saying she hoped their family’s ashes could all be placed at home, since no one would be living there anyway…”
Wang Siyao sighed again. “Her father left some money. We checked, and they only have a few distant relatives left. So in the end, a few of us roommates helped her establish a notarization, and that money was put into a fund for her. A portion of it is taken out each month to hire someone to help clean their house, including house repairs and so on.”
“Anyway, they have a separate courtyard. If you want to go, just go directly to their house. You know where their house is, right?”
Bai Cha certainly didn’t know.
But this was reality, and she wouldn’t be as cautious as she was in the game.
“I can’t quite remember. Can you send it to me again? I remember her birthday was around December 28th?”
“Yes, I’ll send the address to you directly via text message.” Wang Siyao indeed didn’t suspect anything. After all, the person had been dead for over a year, and it was a female voice, so she naturally wouldn’t overthink it.
Even though the other party had never revealed her name from beginning to end.
After hanging up the phone, Bai Cha packed her luggage.
Gu Baixue’s home was in a county-level city in City C. Actually, she had wanted to say this in the game.
It was quite close to her own home. Her family lived in City D, which also had high-speed rail. It only took 20 minutes by high-speed rail between the two cities. If she remembered correctly, her mother was from City C.
Bai Cha’s hand packing her luggage paused slightly.
So were these coincidences?
Unlikely.
But the truth could wait; the road ahead was long, and there was no rush.
After putting everything away, Bai Cha carefully preserved the hawthorn branch, got some soil and water, and specially found a box to put it in, poking holes for ventilation.
Hawthorn branches can be directly propagated by cuttings. Although it was already summer, not the best time for cuttings. But since the game’s description of this hawthorn branch clearly stated that it would wither more slowly than ordinary hawthorn branches in reality, it should be able to live.
If it couldn’t, she had tried her best.
She didn’t like owing anyone favors. Father Gu had given her all his power, perhaps only seeing her as a vessel. However, in any case, she was the biggest beneficiary.
So she didn’t plan to keep this A-level item.
Gu Baixue’s house had a detached courtyard, which was better for her, meaning there was a place to plant the hawthorn tree.
At first, she had just thought about finding a vase and some water until the hawthorn branch withered on its own.
After all, she had tried her best to bring him back.
After buying a ticket, Bai Cha went out.
She went to university in City B, which was also close to City C, both in the same province.
According to the address Wang Siyao sent, Bai Cha arrived at Gu Baixue’s house a little after two in the afternoon.
The password lock on the door was indeed her birthday.
The courtyard was very clean, showing that someone did come to clean it, and there were no weeds.
On the left was a tree, she didn’t know what kind, but it was already dead.
There was also a water tap in the courtyard. Bai Cha went to get some water and found an open space beside the dead tree to plant the hawthorn branch.
She didn’t know much about this, so she followed the methods she found on Baidu.
The weather was quite hot, but she specifically chose an angle so that the shadow of the dead tree next to it could cast over it during the hottest part of the day.
As for the future… she wouldn’t worry about it.
Bai Cha got up and looked down at the ground. The white petals of the hawthorn branch swayed slightly in the sunlight and wind.
It was indeed different from ordinary hawthorn trees. In such hot weather, and after she brought it from another city, the flower hadn’t wilted at all.
And it wasn’t even the flowering season right now.
Hopefully, it would grow.
Bai Cha glanced at the house but didn’t plan to go in. She wanted to leave after planting the hawthorn branch.
However, a sudden noise came from inside the house, like something falling to the ground.
In the middle of summer, it felt as if a cold wind had sprung up out of nowhere.
Bai Cha turned back, looked at the two-story building in the courtyard, hesitated for a moment, and then walked over.
The self-built bungalows in the nearby cities had similar styles.
Pushing open the door of the main room, the living room was inside. Against the wall was a row of cabinets, and in the center were three portraits.
The one on the left was Gu Baixue. That should have been from her university days. At that time, she looked very good, smiling very brightly, and much prettier than her later image as a debt-ridden office worker.
It was just in black and white.
The one on the right was Gu’s mother, who looked like a very gentle person. The curve of her smile was the same as Gu Baixue’s.
But Gu Baixue’s eyes and brows looked more like her father’s.
The photo of Father Gu in the middle was a picture of him when he was younger.
He hadn’t drowned in that rainy day, and his face wasn’t swollen and pale.
Bai Cha withdrew her gaze from the three photos and scanned the room.
The things in the room were covered with white cloth, to prevent dust.
And the thing that had just fallen was a plate on the coffee table that had overturned.
There was also a cloth covering the coffee table. She didn’t know how it had fallen.
Bai Cha walked forward and picked up the plate from the ground.
Under the overturned plate, lying on the cold cement floor, was a peppermint candy.
Bai Cha froze.
After a long while, she carefully placed the plate back under the cloth and picked up the peppermint candy.
This was reality, not a prop.
This was someone else’s home, not hers.
But she held the peppermint candy for a while before carefully tearing it open.
The peppermint candy was a bit melted in the summer heat and a little sticky to the wrapper.
Bai Cha expressionlessly put the peppermint candy in her mouth.
Hmm… it was expired… it had a strange taste.
But it was still sweet and cool.
She finally took one last deep look at the three photos on the table, turned around, and left.
