The medical variety show in which Liu Dawei was to participate in was a project of one of the production studios in Nanjing. It was a lovely morning and Liu Dawei was already in the makeup room getting his makeup done.
The makeup crew was majorly made of young women. They crowded around Liu Dawei in attempt to offer him the best services. His handsome face pulled them like a magnet. His gentle smile was even more inviting than his face. Unlike other celebrities,he didn't shoo them away like some group of noisy hornbills. He loved the attention they were giving him.
Suddenly his phone began ringing noisily and everyone became quiet. He picked it up and was surprised to see the caller's name which was displayed on the screen. Although they had embraced each other as brother-in-laws ,Liu Dawei and Ji Ling rarely interacted because of their busy schedules. Seeing him calling at such time,he was sure something important must have happened.
He apologized for the slight disturbance and excuse himself walking away a few centimeters away from the dressing table and received the call. The room was appropriately silent to give him ample time to talk over the phone. The next sound that was heard in the room was the sound of his phone falling on the hard floor. He stood there ,frozen ,his hand a few inches from his ear;the exact position where he had placed the phone earlier while talking.
The news of Ji Xian's death had hit him like a bombshell and in reaction he let his phone slip from his hand. The ladies rushed towards him to examine his state. Judging the situation,they were sure Liu Dawei had received shocking news. They held his hands gently and led him back to the dressing table settling him on the seat and moved away to let him calm down a bit and process what he had heard.
Ji Ling had received the news of his sister's death and saw the CCTV footage from the accident scene. The accident looked totally natural not even raising the least bit suspicions. But as a detective he definitely felt there was more to than accident than meets the eye.
*****
On Monday at the company,the place was no different from a mourning site. The place was strangely silent like a cemetery with employees offering their moments of silence in honour to their deceased colleague who occupied an important place both in their company and hearts. Su Mei was overly emotional. She locked herself in the washroom and wept bitterly. To her, Ji Xian was more than just her boss,she was her close friend,big sister and most importantly idol.
"The news has affected our employees very much,"Lu Shao commented after a while of studying the overall mood in the cafeteria. Very few employees showed up for lunch especially those from Team B didn't show up at all.
"Mm,"Yu Fusheng replied bluntly unbothered by the situation but still put on his poker face which people mistook him for being sad. His mind was brewing other thoughts imagining how Ji Xian was fairing while thinking how Yu Fusheng had managed to make her disappear from the world with just a snap of his finger. But he thought it was better that way because he knew his friends from the club wouldn't let her go scot-free after what she had just witnessed at the underground casino. She would either be killed mercilessly and dismembered or be recruited to slavery. He also knew his friends would follow up whether he had accomplished his task because their lives and filthy jobs were stake.
*****
When all the necessary arrangements were made,the funeral day was decided. Her skeleton body had been preserved and stored at Lotus Funeral House. The funeral house had a venue where many funeral sessions were held and Ji Xian was no exception. Her friends,family and colleagues gathered at the venue dressed in black. They each took turns to place wreaths and burning incense wishing her to rest in peace.
A few colleagues hummed elegies expressing their immense sorrow. The body viewing session was skipped because her body was disfigured and there was rarely anything to view. After the service her body was to be transported to her hometown Chengdu, Sichuan province where she would be laid to rest.
"She's not my daughter. My daughter couldn't die so early!" Ji Xian's mother Mrs Ji wept while holding on to the coffin violently threatening to shatter the coffin. She knew her daughter was no immortal but still she couldn't believe she had died. She had some innate feeling that her daughter was still alive somewhere and the one presented before her was a fake corpse. Mr Ji grabbed her and forcefully moved her away to give others access to carry the corpse.
Mr Ji got distracted a bit watching the boys lift the coffin and Mrs Ji slipped out of his hands and blocked the way.
"If I say she's not my daughter then she's not. I won't go back to Chengdu ever if you insist on taking that body there,"she yelled.
After some discussions were made Mr Ji and Ji Ling decided the body would be buried at the public cemetery outside the funeral house. After all most of her friends were in Beijing and it would be convenient for them to visit her during anniversaries.
The boys carried the coffin out and headed towards the cemetery and proceeded with the last step which was more painful seeing their loved one disappear six feet below the ground.
After that,the attendees started dispersing one by one their eyes red and puffy from crying too much. That afternoon,the slightly gray clouds released their content in form of a drizzle. Liu Dawei stood in the rain in front of the gravestone with tears flowing down his face uncontrollably. Yu Fusheng walked stealthily towards him holding his umbrella firmly. He stood beside Liu Dawei sheltering him with the umbrella and patted him gently soothing him while mentally uttering, "There there."
Little did the clueless Liu Dawei know that the person beside him pretending to be comforting him was actually behind his beloved wife's disappearance,a tiger disguising as a harmless kitten.
From there they left together. Yu Fusheng escorted Liu Dawei to take a taxi back home and only left when taxi drove away. The faint smirk on his face became more vivid as he walked away.
*****
When Yu Fusheng reached home, he went directly to check on the hostage hoping to have some fun teasing her.
"I'm back,"he announced proudly locking the door.
"What do you want?"
"Did you enjoy watching the video I sent you?"
He had sent her a video of the funeral session. She had vanished off the face of earth and soon people would move on and forget about her like she was just a fleeting moment in their busy lives.