Tang Tang hadn't been back here for several months. Since Tang Gu's accident, she had never returned. Now that she was back, the furnishings in the house were still the same as before.
She even remembered the way Tang Gu had told her things on the sofa before he left.
She put down her schoolbag, went to the kitchen to fill a kettle with water and put it on to boil. Out of habit, she reached for the wet wipes on the coffee table before she remembered that this wasn't Zuo Mu's place.
The thought made her want to laugh. Habit was truly a magical thing.
Tang Gu's study was closed. Tang Gu had never had any special requirements regarding the study.
Tang Tang still remembered that when she was a child, Tang Gu was quite busy, and her mother was also busy with writing and signing things. Tang Gu would take her with him. When he worked in the study, she would huddle in a corner reading and drawing. When she got a bit older, she would do her homework beside him.
But most of the time, she would get scolded.
Either her handwriting was ugly or her pen - holding posture was incorrect.
So when Tang Tang was in fifth or sixth grade, she asked to have a small desk added to her room. But when she was free, she still liked to stay in the study.
There was a small collection of books in this study that belonged to her.
Tang Tang walked into the study and turned on Tang Gu's computer. Tang Gu used it mostly for work. She wondered if she could find something from this computer.
She rummaged through it but found nothing except for some daily hospital records and some documents.
Tang Tang reached out and tapped the keyboard, her eyes fixed on the email icon on the computer.
She hesitated for a while. Just as she was about to click it, her phone suddenly rang.
It was Zuo Mu.
"Brother?"
Zuo Mu gave a low grunt on the other end and said with a soft laugh, "What are you doing? Your voice is as quiet as if you're stealing something."
After saying this, he thought of where Tang Tang was standing and suddenly laughed, "Sorry, I forgot. You are stealing something."
How could someone be like this?
They had only been together for less than a day, and he was already calling his girlfriend a thief.
Sure enough, people didn't know how to cherish once they were in a relationship.
"Why aren't you talking?"
Tang Tang let out an "ah" sound. "Brother, are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm downstairs," Zuo Mu said as he closed the car door and looked at Zhang Kai waiting at the door. "Zhang Kai is here."
Tang Tang naturally understood what Zuo Mu meant and couldn't help but laugh. "He's probably afraid you'll run away."
Before she could finish this sentence, she heard a voice coming from the other end of the phone, "Good heavens! You still have time to make a phone call. Our team has already prepared instant noodles and ham sausages for an all - nighter, and you're still on the phone here!"
Zuo Mu laughed. "What's the conflict here? I'm not in your team."
"You..." Zhang Kai said half of the sentence and glanced at Zuo Mu's phone, then swallowed the rest of the words. "Hurry up. They're waiting over there."
Zuo Mu gave a soft laugh. "Okay, wait a minute."
"Wait, wait, wait. What are you waiting for? Hurry up, hurry up," Zhang Kai said as he walked towards the door. "Everyone's waiting for you."
"Alright, I'm coming," Zuo Mu said into the phone. Tang Tang nodded. Looking at the auto - login on the computer, she suddenly realized that Zuo Mu probably couldn't see it, so she quickly said "Okay."
She hadn't expected that the email on the computer was set to auto - login.
When she clicked on it just now, she had already prepared herself for the possibility of not being able to log in. But unexpectedly, she got in.
It was Tang Gu's regular email account.
Once she logged in, she saw a newly received email.
"Something's wrong at the hospital."
It was from an unknown contact. Tang Gu hadn't made any notes on it.
She scrolled down and saw all the previous emails. She wanted to find the emails from those shareholders, but she couldn't find them after scrolling through the inbox from top to bottom.
This shouldn't be. Tang Tang rummaged through the recycle bin and forwarded the newly received email to Zuo Mu. He was at the hospital right now.
"Received an unknown email dated this morning. There's only this one email exchange with this contact."
Zuo Mu quickly replied, "Wait for me. I'll be done soon."
Tang Tang stopped paying attention to the email and carefully rummaged through the recycle bin.
The last item in the recycle bin, which was about to expire in a day, was a photo.
Tang Tang opened it and almost dropped the mouse in her hand.
This photo was the one she had seen in the cave, a photo of Tang Tang and Shen Tian.
Tang Gu must have known something. Tang Tang was in a bit of a mess. Looking at the photo, she didn't know what to do for a moment.
In the photo, Tang Tang had short, neat hair and was looking straight through the screen.
Tang Tang frowned tightly. For some reason, she felt a bit irritated.
She closed the recycle bin and planned to look elsewhere to see if there was anything else. Suddenly, a news article popped up on the computer.
"The four - character mysterious case was solved in City C yesterday, and several children were rescued."
Just as Tang Tang was about to close the news, a video at the top suddenly opened on its own. The female journalist holding the microphone said, "This morning, a resident in our city found human tissues in a trash can. After discovery, the resident immediately called the police. According to the forensic identification, the human tissues didn't belong to a single person."
Tang Tang's hand holding the mouse froze. She turned to turn up the volume and clicked on the news. The news was short and it was about something that had happened in County D this morning.
Since the location was close to a rural area, the trash cans here were usually emptied once every two or three days.
The person who found the tissues was scavenging for trash and found a mass wrapped in a black plastic bag. It was red meat with something white on it.
According to the forensic identification, it was tissue from a heart.
"The police in City D have been fully mobilized. According to the forensic identification, this heart had been removed from the body for a week, and it completely lost its vitality yesterday."
Tang Tang stared at the news and didn't say a word for a long time. She opened her phone to search for keywords related to this news, but she couldn't find anything.
Tang Tang's heart tightened. Just as she was about to take a screenshot of the news on the computer, the news suddenly disappeared.
Tang Tang, "???"
She quickly looked for the refresh button, but everything was gone.
Tang Tang frowned and stared at the computer. It took her a long time to pick up her phone and send a message to Zuo Mu.
"Something's wrong with my dad's computer."
After sending this message, Tang Tang thought Zuo Mu would call her soon. But she waited until she had almost rummaged through everything in the computer, and Zuo Mu's call still hadn't come.
It was almost one o'clock. He had said he would come back soon, but he hadn't returned.
Tang Tang frowned. Just as she was about to call him, her phone suddenly rang. Excitedly, without looking at the caller ID, she answered directly, "Brother?"
There was no sound on the phone for a long time. Just as Tang Tang was starting to get suspicious and was about to look at the caller ID, the other side suddenly let out a soft laugh. "Logically speaking, you should call me uncle. I really can't take this 'brother'."
Tang Tang stiffened. It was Shen Tian.