**Chapter 38: Tan Qiuming’s Story**
Although the two young ladies hugged each other affectionately, shocking He Laoye, he could actually understand it.
He was not an outdated old stick-in-the-mud.
There were some new things from the modern era that he might dislike, but he wouldn’t oppose them.
In his view, not liking something was his freedom, and as long as the young people weren’t breaking the law or engaging in misconduct, that was their freedom as well.
He and his former comrades had risked their lives in bloody battles for the sake of everyone having that freedom.
While quietly watching from the side, He Laoye slowly approached when Luxianbei and Jiang Li separated, pretending he hadn’t seen anything, waving to them.
“Come here, sit over here. I’ll slowly tell you my stories.”
Jiang Li glanced at Luxianbei, exchanged a look, and the two stepped forward together to sit beside He Laoye on a nearby bench.
The scene had a certain flavor, like bringing over a small stool to sit quietly, ready to listen to grandpa recount stories from the past.
And this story, like He Laoye’s “past stories,” would likely reveal cruel truths upon further examination.
He Laoye scanned the two with narrowed eyes, reminiscing slightly and began to speak about what he knew regarding Tan Qiuming, which was unexpected.
“Actually, that boy named Tan has been raised under my watch. They say you can tell a lot about a person from when they’re three years old. You say he was a good child when he was young, so how did he turn out like this?”
As he spoke, he suddenly felt the urge to light a cigarette, and in a daze, it seemed that a hand gently patted his shoulder, whispering in his ear, “It’s okay, this time doesn’t count; I’ll pretend I didn’t see it.”
He knew it wasn’t an illusion; the disease was truly speaking to him.
This kind of situation had started to appear after he had come into contact with Tan Qiuming’s paintings that time.
While He Laoye was in silence, Luxianbei looked over his shoulder and exchanged a glance with Jiang Li.
[I now understand why the old man gets so angry when Tan Qiuming is mentioned; he’s even angrier than the other patients in ward 202.]
Jiang Li nodded, [Yes, pity his misfortune, but angry at his lack of struggle.]
“Old man, you should relax; it’s not your fault,” Luxianbei consoled, “People can change.
They can not only turn bad but can even become urban legends!” Luxianbei added silently in her heart.
Then, her gaze inadvertently swept past Jiang Li, only to find Jiang Li looking back at her, clearly signaling, “And can also change from a boy to a girl.”
Hearing Luxianbei’s words, He Laoye shook his head noncommittally. “Forget it, you probably don’t want to hear about these trivial matters. Let me just tell you directly what he has done.
“No need, no need,” Luxianbei said, “If possible, we would also like to hear about his childhood, the more detailed, the better.”
Some people say that a person’s present state is an accumulation of all their past experiences; the process of Tan Qiuming transforming from a “good boy” into a brutal figure with multiple identities might hide much useful information.
He Laoye used to be Tan Qiuming’s neighbor, living in different units of the same townhouse, which means he watched Tan Qiuming grow up.
However, Tan Qiuming’s family initially did not live in Qixinggang Xia; they moved in when he was four, along with his mother.
In those days, neighborhood relationships were much closer than now. The arrival of new neighbors was considered a major event, and He Laoye even helped move some things. It was then that he first met Tan Qiuming.
He was a very quiet little boy. While the adults were busy, he quietly sat in the passenger seat of a small truck, flipping through an album, not causing any trouble. Except for looking a bit strange, he left a good first impression.
“His skin was very fair, with slightly curled chestnut-colored short hair, and silver-gray eyes…” Luxianbei queried, “Are you saying Tan Qiuming is a foreigner?”
Important information; this just came up!
“I only thought that when I first saw him,” He Laoye explained, “I thought he was some foreign kid!
“But his mother said he had some illness, which made him look a bit abnormal. Later, I don’t know when he got better; anyway, he grew up to look just like us.”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei looked at Jiang Li and exchanged a glance.
[Do you think Tan Qiuming was ill, or…]
[Hard to say, but at least what Old Man said is true.]
Luxianbei concluded,
That is to say, Tan Qiuming looked very strange as a child, and over time, he gradually became “normal”; that indeed happened in reality.
Could it have been caused by some kind of urban legend power?
Or perhaps Nightfall Syndrome?
Even though this name arose after the nights grew long and the number of people succumbing to night erosion exploded, it doesn’t mean people didn’t suffer from Nightfall Syndrome before; it was just that the numbers were so few that even in hospitals, they would name the diseases based on the patients’ names—
The arrival of new neighbors was merely a small episode in the lives of the residents of Qixinggang Xia; after the excitement, life went on as usual.
In Qixinggang Xia, there were both European-style buildings built during the Republic era and Su Sui Zong’s “townhouses,” where various architectural styles from different eras clustered on the undulating terrain, hidden under the lush yellow cassia trees, resembling an ancient maze where time seemed to stand still, and the world remained unchanged.
Although He Laoye often ran into that neighbor boy who had just moved in downstairs and occasionally invited him for dinner, he only knew that his mother was often not home, and he was always alone going to and from school, eating at a noodle shop at the mouth of the alley, and playing by himself, giving off a very calm impression.
In that era, quiet, non-naughty children were often regarded as good kids.
“Wait a minute, Old Man, what about Tan Qiuming’s father? You seem to have never mentioned his father?” Halfway through, Jiang Li couldn’t help but interrupt.
“Look at my memory!” He Laoye lightly slapped his forehead and explained, “I forgot to tell you, his father passed away long ago; it was just the two of them when they moved in.”
“Passed away?” Luxianbei probed, “Do you know how he passed away?”
“How would I know?” He Laoye shrugged, “I’m not one of those gossipy old women who like to speculate on rumors.
“However, I did hear my wife mention some gossip occasionally; some say his father was a foreigner, got his mother pregnant, and then ran away; others say he died in an accident; and some say he was involved in illegal activities and got arrested.”
“In short, there were all sorts of claims, nothing certain; I just heard and didn’t care about other people’s business.”
“Illegal activities?” Jiang Li tilted her head, “How would they know?”
He Laoye pouted, “Isn’t it because some strange people kept appearing at their doorstep?”
Tan Qiuming’s mother not only left home early and returned late, often leaving the child alone at home but also frequently brought strange people to their home.
Moreover, not only locals with accents from Z Country but also many foreigners of various ages; some came with suspicious activities.
They often gathered at Tan Qiuming’s house for several days. During those days, not only were the doors closed tightly, but there would also be strange sounds coming from inside.
Those sounds resembled sharp noises caused by the wind penetrating through the window gaps, mixed with faint sounds similar to people screaming.
This situation, coupled with a single mother and child, easily led to associations with illegal activities, and before long, a good Samaritan contacted the relevant authorities to report Tan Qiuming’s mother.
However, after the police knocked down the door, they didn’t find anything suspicious at Tan Qiuming’s home.
“Do you know what Tan Qiuming’s mother actually did?” Luxianbei interrupted.
He Laoye thought for a moment and said, “I think she practiced Qigong? Or she was a small leader of some Qigong school! Wasn’t that a trend back then? A lot of people were practicing.
“But I don’t believe in that; it’s better to learn some martial arts taught in the army, which is also good for building health!”
Luxianbei,
Wow! I didn’t expect his mother had such a background?
So, scamming patients was probably a part of their family “tradition”?!
While nowadays, when people mention “Qigong,” their first reaction is often “fraud” or “feudal superstition,” in the 1980s and 1990s, there indeed was a surge of “Qigong enthusiasm,” with at least a hundred million people practicing, making those like He Laoye who practiced “military boxing” quite the outliers.
Many people believed that practicing Qigong could strengthen the body, cure diseases, and even develop special abilities; at that time, not only were there countless related books circulating in the market, but also Qigong medical institutes and performance events were abundantly visible.
And then it all vanished.
This was a matter that not only fostered criminal activity but could also become a breeding ground for urban legends, a tool for spiritual ability users to profit— a harmful endeavor without any benefit— even the Siye Society could endure for a short while, but the authorities wouldn’t tolerate it.
However, combined with He Laoye’s words, and considering that someone heard strange sounds coming from Tan Qiuming’s house and his current actions, it was likely that what his mother was engaged in was far more complex than mere scams.
After Tan Qiuming’s mother was reported once, she spent even less time at home; apart from regularly providing living expenses to Tan Qiuming, she was often absent for days or even weeks.
Yet, Tan Qiuming still took good care of himself, not causing any trouble at school, maintaining excellent grades; aside from being slightly anti-social, he had no faults, completely being the “ideal child.”
From that time on, his solitary time increased, and he began to develop an interest in drawing—at first just like all kids who liked to draw, doodling, then he began systematic learning with sketches, watercolors, and later even became an art student and got into an art college.
“Oh! Right!” He Laoye seemingly remembered something important, suddenly slapped his thigh and added, “I almost slipped up.
“You don’t know that boy’s mother initially supported his drawing, but when she heard he got into some art university, who knows what triggered her, but she suddenly got into a row with him; I heard her cursing him from a few floors away in the adjoining unit.”
“And she even took all his acceptance letters and drawings into the yard, found an iron barrel, set it on fire, and burned everything clean.
Saying this, He Laoye paused, then shook his head, “That woman is quite strange; she usually neglects her child, doesn’t attend parent-teacher meetings, and after her child worked hard to get into university, she runs back acting crazy; I don’t know what to say.”
“And Tan Qiuming? “Jiang Li frowned and asked, “What was he doing at that time?”
He Laoye glanced at Jiang Li, recalled seriously for a while, and his expression slightly changed, “He didn’t do anything, just laughed on the side; that laugh… was eerie enough to scare me, it seemed like he had lost his mind.
For an old man who had experienced war to feel scared, you can imagine how strange Tan Qiuming’s laugh was at that time.
“At that time, I thought that boy must have been driven insane by his mother, then looking at what he’s done now, perhaps he was already abnormal.”
“From then on, until I moved away, I never saw that boy again; I heard he eventually did go to that art university, but his mother passed away, and he never returned; what a reckless child.”
“His mother passed away? How did she d*e?” Jiang Li asked.
Upon hearing this, He Laoye’s expression suddenly became a bit complex, and after holding back for a while, he managed to say two words, “Lung cancer.”
Luxianbei, ““
Jiang Li,
They had vaguely guessed before that Tan Qiuming could somehow cause a healthy person to develop cancer in a short amount of time, but…
Using that ability on his own mother is simply too insane, isn’t it?
After a brief silence, Luxianbei felt she had learned enough about Tan Qiuming’s past; it was time to return to the main topic. After exchanging a glance with Jiang Li and seeing her nod, she asked, “Old Man, what happened next?”
“Do you know when he returned to Shancheng? After he came back, what happened between you and him…?”
“How I met him again?” He Laoye waved his hand, “Feel free to ask without being coy. Since I promised to tell you, I won’t mind these things.
“In fact, I haven’t even met him; it was my wife who met him.”
Halfway through his words, he fell silent, glancing at Luxianbei and Jiang Li, and said solemnly, “What I’m about to say might sound unbelievable.
“As long as it’s you saying it, we believe!” Luxianbei replied.
Jiang Li glanced at Luxianbei out of the corner of her eye and nodded along.
Seeing this, He Laoye sighed, “Actually, I wasn’t the one who got sick first; it was my wife. The day she was diagnosed, she ran into that boy Tan at the hospital entrance, and then secretly bought a bizarre painting from him without letting the family know, hanging it up at home every day to look at, and then…
“Later, as you can see, she inexplicably got better, and I suddenly fell ill!”
“If it were just this, it wouldn’t be a big deal. If I could suffer in her place, I would happily do so, even being quite pleased; you don’t know my wife is most afraid of needles, just…”
As the old man spoke, he glanced toward the direction of ward 202, his gaze deepening.
“Do you know? The patients in our ward were all healthy at first; only one person was sick, but after they came into contact with that boy, they suddenly started showing problems; do you think this is a coincidence?”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei’s pupils slightly trembled as she suddenly looked at Jiang Li, seeing the same answer in her eyes.
[This is definitely not a coincidence!]
What about healing and saving people, what about making people sick; it’s all a facade!
Tan Qiuming was just using a certain method to transfer diseases to healthy individuals.
Previously encountered in Qixinggang Xia, Tan Qiuming’s former assistant, the woman filled with tumors in her body, could very well have been the pre-selected “vessel,” an unfortunate sacrifice!
