Tales of Aegiceras: Cave in

1. The Night Watchman (1)

Translator: Superbomb

If it weren’t for the breaking of his front tooth a few days ago, Sun Zheng wouldn’t have visited Xieji Hospital, a private hospital on Aegiceras Middle Road.
Xieji Hospital was previously a depressed public hospital, Aegiceras Hospital. After losing money for eight years in a row, it was sold to someone whose surname was Lu. Five months later, the reconstruction of the hospital was finished and it was once again put into operation with a new name-Xieji Private Hospital.
Until the hospital changed hands, Sun Zheng had never visited it. He really hated those small, poorly managed public hospitals. He had a feeling that the air in such places was contaminated as if every particle was a super-explosive virus, which posed a grave threat to his sensitive nose.
The construction of this new hospital was finished at the end of last year. It took up more than 30,000 square meters and had three buildings. The oldest six-storey building in front was the main building. Behind it were two five-storey buildings. On the right was the Inpatient Department of Internal Medicine that had been reconstructed. And on the left was the Surgery Department, a brand new pink building.
Sun Zheng walked into the dim main building.
I can imagine the poor lighting inside! He frowned.
It was true. Because of its orientation, Aegiceras Middle Road presented a peculiar picture: On the left side of the road, the only unit in operation was the hospital. On the left side of the hospital was a seafood processing plant. After its collapse five years ago, no new businesses were stationed, leaving only the dilapidated factory buildings. On the right side of the hospital was an empty space that was used as the temporary parking lot of two restaurants across the road. Compared with the depression here, business on the right side of the road was prosperous and lively with people bustling around.
After scanning around, Sun Zheng gave a brief evaluation of the old main building of the hospital: Its style was outdated. It was too dark inside, but kind of neat.
He was a very picky person.
He waited in line for a while on the first floor and then registered.
The Stomatology Department was on the top floor, the 6th floor.
There seemed to be a lot of people going in and out of the elevator on each floor. It was rare for a small private hospital to be so lively!
The elevator was probably the one that had been installed years ago. A small part of the green paint outside had been peeled off, revealing the silver inside. The buttons did not work well. As they had been pressed so many times, the protective transparent plastic had already broken and caved into the centre. Sun Zheng pressed the button hard several times and finally saw the upward arrow on the screen. It seemed that the screen was still functioning normally.
The elevator finally stopped on the first floor. It had long been in disrepair, and the doors were opening quite slowly as if they could only be separated inch by inch.
After what felt like decades, a grey-haired old lady walked out with her walking stick.
Sun Zheng came to another conclusion: Everything was moving slowly, even the closing of the elevator doors!
Obviously, Mr. Lu, the owner of the new hospital was not a billionaire. Otherwise, why hadn’t he had the shabby main building completely renovated?
While pondering, Sun Zheng reached the 6th floor.
The doors slid open inch by inch again.
There was a mirror facing the entrance of the elevator! Through the slowly parting doors, Sun Zhen saw the reflection of his own stiff face in the mirror.
It was most likely intended for patients wanting to check their own teeth! Sun Zheng thought grumpily.
He then walked out of the elevator and saw the doors gradually closing behind him in the reflection of the mirror.
When he turned his head, he saw a long corridor with light blue glass doors on both sides. Several doctors in white uniform were working in the rooms.
After walking along the winding corridor for a while, Sun Zheng finally found the dental room. A dentist was drilling a patient’s tooth.
Sun Zheng walked out and decided to go in a moment later.
Next, he suddenly felt a warm hand resting on his shoulder.
“Ha! It is you!” The young man, who had a deep dimple on one of his cheeks and a shallow one on the other, laughed exaggeratedly. Seeing that Sun Zheng was confused, he stopped laughing and said with a solemn look, “Hey! Don’t you remember me?”
Sun Zheng shrugged. The exaggerated but not annoying smile on the face of this guy in an ill-fitting black suit didn’t ring any bells.
“Hey, hey! The lecture on pop-classical music and modernist drama at C University!” The young man reminded, gently tapping Sun Zheng on the shoulder.
“Lu… Lu Xia?” Sun Zheng called out his name tentatively.
With a smile, the young man punched Sun Zheng on the shoulder, which caused Sun Zheng to take a step back.
“So you haven’t forgotten me! It’s said you’re a screenwriter now? Is it because you were inspired by the lecture at C University?”
“No, I decided to be a scriptwriter after I failed to get a job in an insurance company,” Sun Zheng corrected him.
Lu Xia threw back his head to show his understanding, and then he straightened his neck and asked, “Did you make any movies? If there’s any, I think it will certainly have the same classical temperament as yours… ”
“Darkness’s Redemption. But I only worked on part of the screenplay for it.”
Lu Xia leaned back again as if he had suddenly wised up. “Wow! You’re awesome!”
“Speaking of which, I have a question,” Lu Xia reached out his left hand and rested it on Sun Zheng’s shoulder. “Did you use a stunt double for those scary scenes, like the rush of cars or something?”
Sun Zheng tapped on his own head with his index finger and answered, “Of course. The scene of the car racing was done by a stunt double. You know, actresses tend to be too delicate.”
“Then, she…” Lu Xia was about to continue asking but was interrupted when a miserable shriek suddenly rang in the dental room.
“Looks like it’s not my turn yet,” Sun Zheng shrugged, showing his helplessness towards the pain.
Lu Xia glanced at the dentist. “He started working here before the hospital changed hands, but he never seems to have learnt how to treat patients properly!”
Hearing that, Sun Zheng seemed to have remembered something. He poked Lu Xia on the shoulder and continued, “Your surname is also Lu, so the director of this hospital…”
“Is my uncle. He is the director here, whose decision to acquire this hospital is way beyond me!” Lu Xia couldn’t help but gloat.
His poor taste is beyond me. Sun Zheng thought.
“This main building is a little old. The Inpatient Department of Internal Medicine over there looks very shabby, but everything is new inside. We can hardly see it clearly from here.” Lu Xia did not know what was on Sun Zheng’s mind, so he continued to explain.
With a smile, Sun Zheng took out his cell phone from his pocket, flipped up its lid, and pointed the small camera at the top of the metal cover at the opposite inpatient building.
“It’s quite convenient to look at the distance with it. But I guess the pixels are not high, right?” Lu Xia watched as the scenery swayed on the phone screen. As Sun Zheng pressed the button, the scene of the inpatient department became clearer and clearer. “It’s not bad!” Lu Xia continued, sticking his tongue out.
He then took Sun Zheng’s phone and turned on the camera excitedly.
Suddenly, the scene on the screen darkened and like a mirror, it reflected Lu Xia’s blurry profile. He looked around, but only found themselves surrounded by darkness.
“What’s going on?” Lu Xia looked up in confusion while Sun Zheng was scanning around as well.
“The power is off?” Sun Zheng turned to him.