Chapter 47: The Dummy's Smile

Chu Che has just finished a complicated cardiac surgery suturing procedure and removed his gear.

His phone vibrated once in the pocket of his lab coat.

He took out the phone, swiped the screen, and saw a message from Dr. Xiao Wang.

【Dr. Chu! The dinner time and venue are set! Director Li on Saturday at 5:30 pm, everyone in the department should go to "Cloud Top Restaurant" to celebrate his promotion to Vice President!】

At the end of the message was a confetti‑celebration emoji.

Chu Che nudged his gold‑rimmed glasses on his nose bridge, and his gaze behind the lenses remained calm and unruffled.

Cloud Top Restaurant, one of Jiang Hai City's top revolving restaurants, starts at 500 per person, and ordinary people have to book at least a day in advance to get a table.

Director Li really splashed the cash.

But......

Chu Che glanced at his schedule; tomorrow night, he has a date with Qin Zhixia.

He dialed Xiao Wang's number.

"Dr. Chu?" came Xiao Wang's voice on the other end.

"Xiao Wang, please convey my congratulations to Director Li on his promotion," Chu Che said in a gentle, habitually polite tone, "but I might not be able to attend tomorrow night's dinner; I have a personal matter."

"Huh?" Xiao Wang's voice dropped instantly, pleading, "Don't, Dr. Chu, Li… no, he's now Vice President Li. He specifically told me we must have you there. The whole department is going; if you don't come, I… I'll have a hard time explaining to the vice president."

"Just show your face, even ten minutes will do! Please, Dr. Chu!"

Listening to Xiao Wang's plea, Chu Che pondered briefly, "Alright, I'll try my best and get back to you later."

After hanging up, he dialed another number.

"Hello?"

On the other end, Qin Zhixia's cool, concise voice came through, accompanied by the rustle of papers being shuffled.

"Officer Qin, it's me, Chu Che."

"Hmm, what's up?"

"Sorry, tomorrow night's date may have to be postponed a little. Our department head got promoted, and a dinner was organized at the last minute; I need to show up for about ten minutes."

There was a two‑second silence on the line.

"The address?" Qin Zhixia replied succinctly.

"Cloud Top Restaurant."

"Okay. You go first; when it's over I'll come pick you up."

"The time after that is still ours, right?"

Chu Che let out a low laugh, "Of course, it's settled then."

After hanging up, he replied to Xiao Wang on the chat app, saying he would show up.

Meanwhile.

In the newly appointed vice‑president's office at Jiang Hai City First Hospital.

Vice President Wang, his face beaming, handed a cigar to the newly appointed Li—no, now he should be called Vice President Li.

"Congratulations, congratulations!" Vice President Wang laughed, "Now it's settled; our hospital will be run by us from now on!"

Vice President Li—Li Chengxian leaned back comfortably, an unmistakable smugness on his face, "That's true, we still have a director above us."

At that moment his phone buzzed; he glanced down and saw a message from Xiao Wang.

【Vice President Li, it's settled; Chu Che said he'll come tomorrow night.】

Seeing the message, Li Chengxian's face instantly broke into a smile.

"So Chu Che, he agreed to come?" Vice President Wang leaned in, asking sarcastically.

"He's coming!"

Li Chengxian took a puff of his cigar, his gaze turning deep.

"I have to say, this kid is a real eyesore!" he sighed, "He knows a lot and is powerful! People like him either get recruited or… get completely destroyed!"

Vice President Wang nodded in agreement, "Exactly! He's like a nail, always a threat, stuck there; we can't get anything done unless we pull it out!"

Li Chengxian sneered, "This time it's just the right opportunity."

He told Vice President Wang, "I've already made arrangements. During the dinner, have Xiao Wang spike his drink with some 'good stuff.' Once he's drunk, we'll set him up with a forced sexual assault on a woman."

Vice President Wang's eyes lit up, "Brilliant! If that charge sticks, his life is over!"

"And I've checked," Li Chengxian said, his face full of calculating shrewdness, "Chu Che has no real background. On the surface of Jiang Hai City, I know all the prominent second‑generation families, like the criminal investigation team's Qin Zhixia, who's the daughter of the Qin Bureau. He's just a soft target."

"Just set it in motion, and once he's in, no one will rescue him!"

"When he ends up in the bureau, his life will be ruined."

The two despicable men locked eyes, and the office instantly filled with a nauseating scent of conspiracy and raucous laughter.

They both believed they had the lofty doctor firmly in their grasp.

Thousands of miles away, in Dong Lin City.

In a luxurious high‑rise apartment, the heating was cranked up high.

A middle‑aged woman heavily made‑up and clad in a sable coat perched with one leg crossed, impatiently swiping her phone screen.

She was the biggest baby trafficker boss in Dong Lin City, Hua Jie.

In her inbox were photos of "new stock" just sent by a subordinate.

Several newborns only a few days old lay wrinkled in dirty swaddles, each tagged with a red‑letter price.

"Each one thinner than the last, like little monkeys."

Hua Jie spat contemptuously and casually replied, "If no one buys this batch, just dispose of it."

She closed the email and was about to open the next one.

Suddenly, an anonymous email appeared at the top of her inbox.

No title, no text.

Only a single image attachment.

Hua Jie frowned and clicked casually.

The next second.

A shockingly impactful horror close‑up instantly filled the entire phone screen!

It was a Plastic Dummy Model commonly seen in a clothing store.

But its face was smiling, and someone had painted an exaggeratedly extreme grin with coarse red paint, the corners of its mouth almost splitting to the ears.

Its pitch‑black eye sockets held nothing, yet exuded an indescribable Weirdness, as if staring straight at the person beyond the screen.

"What is that!"

Even Hua Jie, accustomed to bloodshed, had her heart jump at the sudden image, nearly dropping her phone.

She cursed, assuming it was a prank virus email from some lunatic, and without thinking she clicked Delete.

However, she didn't notice that at the moment she deleted the email, the grin on the dummy's mouth in the picture seemed to widen a bit.

Late night, male model club.

Hua Jie, tipsy, was helped out by two young handsome male models.

She brushed them aside, tossed a thick stack of cash, and got into the ride‑hailing car.

The car smoothly stopped beneath the upscale apartment building where she lived.

"Good evening, ma'am, we have arrived."

Hua Jie pushed open the door and staggered down.

On a winter night in Dong Lin City, the cold wind was bone‑piercing.

She tightened her fur coat, and after walking a short distance, a peripheral glance unintentionally caught something under the streetlamp across the road.

In the dim yellow light merging with darkness, a lone human‑shaped silhouette was poked out.

A clothing‑store dummy.

No one knew which shop had discarded it by the roadside.

Hua Jie paid it no mind and kept walking toward the apartment entrance.

But as she took her third step, her stride abruptly halted; looking again at the dummy, the alcohol in her system snapped awake halfway.

No, that's wrong!

That dummy......

That smiling curve......

Why......

It was exactly the same as the horror image she received in the email during the day!

An indescribable chill surged from the soles of her feet up her spine straight to the Heavenly Spirit Cover!

She dared not glance again, rushed into the brightly lit lobby, and frantically hammered the elevator button.

The moment the elevator doors closed, she finally exhaled.

"Coincidence... or perhaps a hallucination..."

The next night.

Same time, same place.

Hua Jie returned from the club again.

Having experienced last night, she deliberately drank less today.

When the black ride‑hailing car stopped downstairs and the driver drove away.

Hua Jie walked toward the apartment.

She deliberately glanced at yesterday's spot, and saw no dummy.

She let out a sigh,

However.

Just as she approached the apartment, about to turn into the entrance.

Her steps froze.

That smiling dummy.

At some point, it appeared ahead of her, blocking the apartment doorway.

It stood there straight, sideways toward her.

The plastic face painted with an exaggerated grin looked increasingly Weird and sinister in the dim light.

Hua Jie felt her blood beginning to coagulate.

But this time, she didn't run.

She stared fixedly at the dummy, trying to see clearly what kind of thing it really was.

And under Hua Jie's gaze.

That rigid, supposedly lifeless plastic dummy.

Its head suddenly twisted in a manner completely defying physics, "cackle... cackle..." intermittently, turning over.

The plastic joints scraped, emitting a sharp, teeth‑aching crack.

Finally.

Those hollow, pitch‑black eye sockets stared fixedly at the terrified Hua Jie.