"What?! Why did you just get here?!"
"I can't reach you by phone!"A wave of pain surged in my heart as I said, "Enough talking, where is your brother now?""He is at the Third Hospital in the City North."I quickly dragged Chen Ying out and we took a cab to the hospital. The waiting area was crowded with people, including Chen Kai's girlfriend, his parents, and his uncles. Just as I was about to run over to see him, two police officers nearby stopped me and asked, "Are you Shengli?""Yes, I am. Just let me through to see him!""It's fine. But what is your relationship with Chen Kai?""He's my best friend!"At this moment, Chen Kai's mother approached the police in tears, pleading, "Please don't make it hard for this child; they've been friends since childhood. Just let him through and see first." The police agreed and moved aside.As soon as I walked into the room, tears began to flow down my cheeks. Chen Kai usually looks quite attractive, but in this moment, half of his face was nearly unrecognizable due to the injuries. His face was covered in blood, and the blanket covering him was almost soaked with blood.I cried out in anguish, calling out for Chen Kai. He looked at me with his one remaining eye, as if he wanted to speak, but then a look of terror crossed his face. His body twitched a few times, and his hand seemed to attempt to rise. A gurgling noise came from his throat, and as he gazed at me, it felt like he was trying to express his fear.Chen Kai is dead. I was brought to the police station by law enforcement, where I learned the entire situation. Chen Kai was discovered on the road beside a construction site around noon, and the construction workers called the police. It was found that he had been violently struck and run over by a larger vehicle. On a phone placed near Chen Kai, there were contacts labeled "Dad" and "Home," prompting the police to inform his family while transporting him to the hospital. In the ambulance, Chen Kai made an effort to write my name with his blood. That's why I was taken to the police station, as I was the first suspect in the case. Miraculously, Chen Kai managed to hold on to life until I arrived; otherwise, he would have died long ago.After multiple confirmations, I indeed have no suspicion of committing a crime. As I left the police station, I couldn't shake off the image of Chen Kai's gaze and his expression, which seemed to convey a message. Was he trying to tell me something? What did he want to say, fear? Did he want to express that he was scared of dying? No, he shouldn't be expressing fear at that moment. This thought resonated in my mind, and suddenly a word came to me, "flee"!"Flee," Chen Kai seemed to be urging me to flee. But why should I? What reason do I have to run? I pondered this repeatedly in my mind, realizing that it wasn't just the word "flee" he was conveying, but rather his look and expression - what else could they possibly imply if not the urge to "flee"?For the first time ever, I felt panic. As I witnessed the death of my closest friend, I felt as if I had fallen into a huge conspiracy, a massive death trap. I consider myself an average, decent, and honest person. I got into a fight in elementary school and lost, and I once stole a melon in college, but I haven't wronged anyone since then. The people I have interacted with were all ordinary and unexceptional.Only... only the commander of the army! Only he is the one who has been completely out of place in my life. He is in a high position and mighty, with immense power. Commander? What commander? Commander of whom? I'm merely a project manager without the authority or status to inquire about a soldier's unit. The only person who might have any information is my boss!I took out my phone and hurriedly looked for my boss's number. The phone slipped from my hands twice, but I eventually found it. I pressed the call button, but it wouldn't go through. I kept pressing, but it still wouldn't connect. I then called a colleague, and the call connected. He picked up and asked, "Shengli, are you alright? Just now,many of us got calls from the police asking about your situation this morning and noon."I said, "It's okay. Do you know anything about the military in the project I worked on last week?""No idea. Although I work in contract management, I don't know what military unit those people belong to, and there is no contract. Are you sure you're okay?"I ended the call without responding. It appears that, aside from the boss, no one in our company is aware of which military district these soldiers are from. All we know is that they are soldiers who requested us to develop a communication system for them, which is a typical internal information processing system for managing communication signal documents. They have paid all the fees in full, but beyond that, we have no additional information.I feel overwhelmed and confused. I realize that I live in a world where my knowledge is limited to my salary, my friends, the nonsense shared by the media, and the actions of national leaders. Beyond that, I know very little; I am unaware of the people around me, I don't know the identities of my clients, and I don't know what really happened in the incident of Chen Kai's death.I walked alone on the empty streets at night, with only cabs slowing down to see if I need a ride. I felt like a person who was isolated and cut off, as everything around seemed unrelated to me.The phone suddenly rang.It was Xiaoyun. As I glanced at the note on my phone screen, I found myself inexplicably hesitated to hit the answer button. Xiaoyun? A troubling thought crossed my mind, making me wonder: Did Xiaoyun murder Chen Kai? It was a question I couldn't allow myself to ponder any further."Hey honey, are you OK?" Xiaoyun asked with a tone full of concern.All my doubts disappeared in a moment. Hearing Xiaoyun's voice, I felt both excited and sad. "Xiaoyun, Chen Kai is dead. It was due to a car accident; he was so badly injured that he was beyond recognition.""...At around 9 o'clock, your colleague called me and said you were taken away by the police, and he didn't know what had happened!" Xiaoyun paused for a moment before continuing."It's about Chen Kai's death; Chen Kai wrote my name. So...""Honey, don't be sad. Your voice sounds so down; please don't do anything foolish.""I won't do that. I'm just really down. It feels like I'm all alone in Beijing.""Darling, I will visit you in Beijing as soon as I can. You need to stay positive, let go of everything, and keep moving forward with life.""I will. Xiaoyun, I'm not sure why, but at this moment, I'm feeling quite lost and unsure. It seems like I know nothing.""You have me, baby, cheer up.""Okay. I'm fine now, thank you for calling, I feel much better.""What about your body...""Nothing special." After answering this, I suddenly shivered! What is wrong with my body? Why has it become a source of concern for everyone? I've been through so much, including military examining, growing a blue mole; Chen Kai knew my mole, Xiaoyun Knew my mole...The mole? So many things are related to my body!"Return home early. Take a shower there and try not to overthink." Xiaoyun's tone remained soft and soothing."Alright. You should get some rest as well. I'm hanging up." That's how I ended the call.I suddenly started to hate myself. Am I losing my mind? Just because others are worried, I feel compelled to connect all of this to my body, even to that mole? That can't be right; it's merely a coincidence. I just happened to notice it, and I've wrongly made these connections on my own.I suddenly smiled and shook my head, feeling like I might have a bit of a fever.When I arrived home, I didn't have any thoughts and simply fell onto the bed, surprisingly drifting off to sleep right away. I didn't wake up until after 10 in the morning.After taking a shower, I got to the company. A few colleagues glanced at me with curiosity, likely aware that I had been taken by the police the previous night, though they probably didn't know it was related to Chen Kai's death.Sitting in the office, I opened my computer, and the screen was filled with files from the military project that I hadn't managed to sort out. I gazed at the screen aimlessly until 11:30, when I abruptly got up and headed to my boss's office.At this moment, the boss is typically present. I knocked on the door, and he invited me in. Upon seeing me, he quickly adopted a worried look and said, "I got a call from the police. They informed me about your situation, and I conveyed my sympathy and condolences. Try not to let it weigh you down too much."I hummed and said, "Boss, I have a question. Who are the military members associated with the project I was involved in?"The boss said, "It should be the PLA near Beijing, but I'm not very sure. They came to us themselves.""So, you don't know the unit number either, correct?""Indeed, they said nothing about the unit they belong to. If they don't say, I won't ask. What matters most is that the payment is processed without any issues.""Are you truly unaware of anything? Honestly, boss, I'm eager to find out.""Li Shengli, I know what you're thinking. Do you believe that your friend's death is related to the military?""Yes... no, I just want to know, I definitely don't think it's like that.""This could simply be a coincidence. You've been under a lot of stress recently, and you might be overthinking things.""Okay..." I suddenly felt that the boss's words made a lot of sense; it was merely a coincidence, just a coincidence, and there are countless coincidences in the world."Alright, if you really want to know, I'll ask around. I don't believe what they're doing is that confidential.""Thank you!""If you're not feeling well, I'm okay with you taking a few days off. The project recently wrapped up, so it's a good time for you to rest.""Thanks."As I opened the door of my boss's office, I was unexpectedly hit by a sense of relief, likely due to the fact that my long-time work experience has made me more of a follower and doer. I found my boss's words very reasonable. These could simply be my personal reflections only.Life has settled down once more. All the troubling issues have vanished, my phone is functioning properly again, everything is going well, and even that annoying mole has disappeared. I've reverted to being that carefree person without many ambitions. Xiaoyun also took some time off to come visit me for a few days, bringing a touch of romance to my small room.It feels as though everything has settled down.However, three months later, my peaceful life was interrupted again over the weekend.The person who appeared is once again Chen Kai's sister, Chen Ying.