News from Taiwan

Chapter 26 The Missing Letter
Before the two could recover from their silence...

"Bang bang bang!" The rapid knocking on the door was deafening.

"Open the door, open the door."

"Open the door."

"Shen Xiangyun, Jiang Wumei, open the door."

The shouts outside woke up the other tenants living in the shikumen house. One light after another turned on and then quickly went out.

It was so quiet it was as if no one was there.

Everyone knows that someone who comes knocking on the door so late and so arrogantly must be a difficult person to get along with.

Shen Xiangyun and Jiang Wumei got up in unison, looked at the burned letters on the ground, and tried to find a way to cover them up.

Jiang Wumei spotted it immediately. On the shelf by the door were the two days' worth of the Shen Bao newspaper. She rushed to the door as fast as she could and, before the door was pushed open, threw the rolled-up newspaper onto the letter.

The flame of the kerosene lamp reignited the newspaper.

This time, the flames burned even faster.

At this point, the flimsy door could no longer hold up.

With a loud crash, the door was pushed open from the outside. The fragile threshold broke and fell to the ground. It had been smashed open from the outside with extremely rough force, and the door panel slammed heavily against the wall.

Shen Xiangyun and Jiang Wumei supported each other as they looked towards the door.

Shen Xiangyun's hand gripped Jiang Wumei's arm tightly, whether for support or to grab onto something, it was unclear.
Jiang Wumei's face was tense, as hard as the moss-covered stone at the doorway.

Those people still came looking for us!
Just as my mother said, we've been targeted!

But why, after keeping such a low profile all these years, are they still targeting us?

Several people dressed in dark blue uniforms with red armbands walked in. The middle-aged man at the head of the group was dressed neatly, with a serious expression and sharp eyes that seemed to see through everything. He coldly swept his gaze over the mother and daughter who were supporting each other as soon as he entered the room.

"Someone has reported that you have engaged in misconduct, possess suspicious letters, and have close ties with hostile foreign forces." The middle-aged man's voice was not loud, but it was cold and serious.

Every word he uttered felt like falling into an ice cellar, to the point of being utterly suffocating.

Before they could speak, Shen Xiangyun and Jiang Wumei began to talk.

The men following behind him filed in, ready to begin a rough inspection.

"Report, they're burning something."

Upon entering the house, one sees an overturned table and burnt ashes on the floor.

The middle-aged man who was standing at the doorway grew increasingly gloomy. He strode into the house, squatted down, glanced at the burnt ashes, and hesitated to ask any questions.

What are you burning?

"It's...some newspapers."

"newspaper?"

"We were arguing just now, and I accidentally knocked over the kerosene lamp," Jiang Wumei quickly answered before Shen Xiangyun could.

"Heh... Do you think you can escape like this?" The middle-aged man waved his hand, and the intensity of the search suddenly changed.

"Bang, bang, bang." The drawer of the table was roughly pulled open, and everything inside crashed to the ground. The neatly arranged bookshelf was also thrown down one by one.

The clothes in the wardrobe were shaken out and searched one by one.

The dull thumping sounds, the clatter of things falling to the ground, the brief commands, and the chaotic footsteps all felt like an invisible pressure.

Jiang Wumei stood ramrod straight, pressed tightly against the cold wall, as if trying to draw the last bit of strength from that solid support.

Her gaze was fixed on the middle-aged man in the lead, her eyes devoid of fear, only filled with an almost burning, icy hatred. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides, her nails digging deep into her palms, leaving crescent-shaped bloodstains. Her body trembled slightly from the excessive force, as if she were forcibly suppressing the beast within her that was about to pounce and tear her apart.

Actually, he was mostly suppressing his inner fear.

Her gaze swept over the mess on the ground, past her mother's distraught face, and finally settled on the searchers, hoping they would hurry up and end this tacitly agreed-upon search as soon as possible.

Her gaze fell on the ashes on the ground, and she began to feel grateful that she had just burned the letters.

Otherwise, I would definitely not have escaped today.

The searchers apparently found nothing.

Their movements began to carry a hint of barely perceptible irritation. The middle-aged man frowned, his hawk-like gaze sweeping across every corner of the living room before finally settling on the inside of the tightly closed door.

There, several newspapers delivered that morning lay scattered haphazardly. A young search team member walked over and, in a fit of pique, nudged the stack of newspapers with his toe.

With a soft "whoosh," a newspaper was kicked aside. Just then, a thin letter with snow-white edges slipped out from between the unfolded pages and lay quietly on the cold floor.

The brand-new envelope, against the backdrop of the old and messy room, was glaringly white, so white it made one's heart race.

Time seemed to freeze.

Jiang Wumei's heart jumped into her throat instantly; that letter was the one she had sent before leaving home.

Why are you here?

She turned to look at her mother in disbelief.

Shen Xiangyun's pupils contracted slightly, and her face became increasingly frank.

The moment she saw the letter fall out, she suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness and absurdity.

Eventually, it will be discovered.

What about those letters that were burned?
"Look what this is." The middle-aged man bent down and picked up the letter, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the mother and daughter.

Jiang Wumei was overwhelmed by a sense of absurdity.

The middle-aged man didn't hear the expected pleas for mercy. He sneered, "Do you think burning it will prevent further evidence? If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place."

"Go!" came a short, sharp command.

The search party came like a tide and left like a receding tide.

If it weren't for the mess on the ground, it wouldn't be proof that they had been here.

No one knows what the letter that was taken away contained, nor how to deal with it...

What awaits them next?

(End of this chapter)