Chapter 212: I Will Keep Climbing to the Highest

Beep beep beep, the phone call was hung up.

The aged woman walked slowly to the bedroom, rummaging out a photo album from under the trunk; her withered fingers, covered in the traces of time, gently flipped through the items in the box, finally stopping before an old photo album.

On the flyleaf of the photo album, a young couple and an infant in their arms came into view.

The aged woman stared blankly for a moment; a moment later, she gathered her train of thought, gently set down the photo album, then fished out a thin property deed from the bottom of the album.

She did not open the property deed, but held it, walking with trembling steps to the living room, placing it on an entryway table, inside a cloth grocery tote bag.

Thinking for a bit, she suddenly smacked her head, swaying as she walked back into the room, found a bankbook as well, and stuffed it into the bag together.

She sat in the house for a while, her gaze dull as she stared at the wall clock on the wall.

The second hand jumped tick by tick, emitting a regular dripping sound.

Not until the wall clock rang out the hourly chime did she slowly stand up, carrying the tote bag, just like usual, at this fixed time point, pushing open the door and stepping out the front door.

She walked very slowly, but also very steadily, going to the bank first to handle some business.

The woman behind the counter had exquisite makeup, prettier than her own photos from when she was young; she thought: "It would be nice if my son could marry a daughter-in-law this pretty."

The exquisite woman behind the counter, looking at this aged woman who spoke slowly, had a flash of impatience in her eyes, and explained in a cold voice:

"This house of yours has been around for a very long time; it cannot be calculated at current market price, it must undergo depreciation calculation before it can be mortgaged."

While speaking, the exquisite woman rapidly tapped on the calculator with her slender fingers, then turned the displayed number toward the old person.

The aged woman leaned her face over, her face full of wrinkles and turbid eyes almost pressing against the wiped-clean bright glass: "Just this little?"

A trace of faint disgust appeared in the teller's eyes, and she replied:

"Auntie, it's all like this; whether it's a house or anything else, once it gets on in years, it's not worth much money, so, do you still want to mortgage it?"

"Right, once you're old you're not worth money." The aged woman sighed, slowly pushing the property deed through that narrow slit into the glass.

The exquisite woman completed this business that was quite profitable for her; a satisfied smile appeared on her face, and she asked: "After the mortgage succeeds, which account should the funds be transferred to?"

The aged woman picked up a pen, wrote a string of numbers and a name on the paper, and said with a smile: "Wang Cong, my son is called Wang Cong, he's a prison guard in the prison, just transfer the money to my son's account."

The teller completely did not understand why this old woman was introducing her son to her; who cares what her son does for work, is an ordinary prison guard really something to be proud of?

Inexplicable!

She just mechanically tapped the keyboard, inputting that string of numbers and name into the system; she routinely had the old woman sign and press her fingerprint, completing all the procedures.

The aged woman left the bank empty-handed; the exquisite woman waved her hand, a young security guard walked over, and swept the tote bag left on the counter into the trash can.

The aged woman walked even slower, but still walked very steadily.

She arrived at the hospital, walked through the crowded corridor, and entered the lifeless ward.

Inside the ward, four patients lay quietly on their respective hospital beds, tubes inserted all over their bodies; their eyes were tightly shut, sleeping very quietly, appearing completely out of place with the noisy bustling world outside.

She slowly walked to the innermost hospital bed, gently sat on the bed corner, her hand gently holding that same withered and shriveled hand under the blanket.

She did not speak, just sat there quietly, lost in her own train of thought, until a certain moment when she reluctantly let go of the hand, slowly walking to the bedside.

Her hand trembling slightly, she pinched the tube inserted into the man's nostril, murmuring:

"I know you don't blame me, the two of us can't hold our son back, our son will definitely have prospects in the future."

Her hand trembled and shook, yet incomparably steadily pulled the tube out, her voice hoarse yet as if speaking loving words to a beloved:

"Don't be afraid, wherever you go, I'll accompany you; our son said he'll buy a plot later, and bury the two of us together."

Letting go of the tube, the aged woman sat back at the foot of the bed again, one hand tightly holding the man's calm hand, the other hand taking out a handful of white pills from her pocket, slowly putting them into her mouth, slowly swallowing them down.

Ten-odd minutes later.

Two belated nurses pushed open the door and entered.

The young nurse couldn't help covering her mouth, hurriedly walking to the bedside, while the older nurse's face was calm, as if already accustomed to such scenes.

The young nurse asked: "Both dead, how to handle?"

The older nurse calmly replied: "Check first, whether the patient's account still has a balance."

The young nurse nodded, operated the tablet in her hand, and replied: "There's still some money in the account, should be enough to last until month-end."

The older nurse let out a soft "Oh", then walked to the bedside, gently re-inserting the previously pulled-out tube back into the man's nostril, her voice carrying a trace of compassion:

"Since there's money, the bed will continue to be reserved for him; remember, our hospital doesn't take advantage of dead people."

The young nurse looked at the older nurse with admiration, then turned her gaze to the aged woman lying on the bed, and asked with some worry:

"But, there's only one bed, what about her then?"

The older nurse contemplated for a moment, then said:

"Send her to the morgue first, place her for 24 hours. Afterwards notify the family to come claim the body as soon as possible; if the time is exceeded, have the incineration plant handle it. The cost can be deducted from her husband's bed fees."

While speaking, the older nurse bent down, and forcibly pried apart the two withered hands tightly clasped under the blanket.

Inside the prison.

Time slowly turned to afternoon.

In the corridor, Wang Cong answered "Mother's" phone call, but strangely, the voice coming from the other end was a strange young woman's voice.

"Hello, may I ask if you are the son of Wang Ping'an and Liu Xiujuan? This is the Fourth Hospital; sorry to inform you, your parents passed away this afternoon....."

Wang Cong's ears seemed to be swallowed by sudden silence; he could not hear a single bit of sound from the phone.

His whole person was like a statue leaning against the corridor side; his eyes were hollow and lifeless, the blood vessels in his eyeballs seemingly frozen into a cold red.

"Hello, hello, are you listening?"

"Please come to the hospital to claim your mother's body within 24 hours, otherwise, our hospital will have to follow regulations....."

Wang Cong came to with a start, urgently saying into the phone: "I can't get away these two days, can I....."

"Sorry, sir, the hospital has regulations; the morgue beds are mostly already reserved by other patients' families; being able to free up a room to keep your mother for 24 hours is already our hospital's humanitarian care, so, please cooperate with the hospital's work."

Beep beep beep.....

The phone was hung up and turned into a busy tone.

Feng Mu stood not far to the side, his ears capturing the sound from the phone; he looked at the distraught Wang Cong, his eyes narrowing slightly into slits.

"What happened? You look terrible." Feng Mu walked over and asked with concern.

Wang Cong gripped his phone tightly, shoved it back into his Pocket, took several deep breaths, his eyes nearly devoid of whites, bloodshot to a frightening degree.

He looked at Feng Mu, his voice hoarse as he said:

"Nothing. I've just completely figured it out. My life has no way back. I will never be afraid of anyone or anything again. I will never have any hesitation or struggle. I will, must, absolutely will, at any cost, climb up, keep climbing, until I reach the highest point of this Prison."

End of Chapter