Dream Guide

"Where did your kidney go?" The man's voice echoed in the bathroom.

"Where did my kidney go?" Zhao Pengcheng murmured this question repeatedly, his mind going blank.

"Where did your kidney go?"

"I don't know, I don't know..." Zhao Pengcheng didn't know why he wanted to answer. He seemed to have no obligation to answer, but he couldn't refuse.

"Don't be anxious, think about it slowly, and then you can get your kidney back."

"Yeah, I'm not in a hurry, I'll remember it."

Zhao Pengcheng looked in pain, and his violent panting lungs pushed out waves of water in the bathtub.

"Were you sold?"

"Sold by me? It seems... yes."

"Who did you sell it to?"

"Who did I sell it to?" Zhao Pengcheng was stunned for a moment and looked up at the person who asked him.

The man was standing at the bathroom door, very close to him, but he suddenly couldn't see the man's face clearly, leaving only a hazy outline, like a ghost.

The crow outside the window cawing twice more.

Zhao Pengcheng trembled with fright: "I sold it to a kidney collector."

“Who is the kidney recipient?”

…

Hu Xing opened her mouth in surprise through the glass. She saw Aoki standing there motionless after putting down the popsicles, and then casually chatted with the suspect. The guy who had been silent for more than thirty hours and seemed to be asleep actually Speak.

…

"I don't know the person who received the kidney. It was Lao Yu who pulled the string."

"Who is Lao Yu?"

"Yu Jianguo from the security department of our hospital."

"How many kidneys have you sold in total?"

"A total of...a total of...seven or eight."

Shi Dazhuang, who was sitting behind the interrogation table, gritted his teeth and cursed, "Fuck!"

…

Zhao Pengcheng lay in the bathtub, no longer as cramped and nervous as before, and began to tell his story endlessly.

The old man is my fellow countryman, from the same village. He is the same generation as my father. I used to call him Uncle Yu. After he came to work in our hospital, I called him Lao Yu.

When we were young, we were poor in the mountains and could not afford to go to school. I have a younger sister who is beautiful, smart, and has good academic performance. Everyone says she is the golden phoenix in Shanwowo.

In order for my sister to go to school, I followed Uncle Yu to work in the city after graduating from junior high school. After playing for a year, my father asked me to go back and said that my sister would not go to school and asked me to go to school.

It was only when I got back that I found out that my sister was sick.

At that time, I didn’t know what the disease was, and the village health center couldn’t detect it. I didn’t have the money to go to a big hospital, so I just took care of myself at home.

When I was in school, I felt very uncomfortable and felt very sorry for my sister.

My sister told me: "Brother, if you study hard, go to college, and become a doctor in the future, you can cure my disease."

I secretly vowed to go to medical school and become a doctor.

I worked very hard. I finished high school in three years in only two years. But my sister's health is getting worse and worse.

I felt I couldn't wait any longer, so I went to the city to ask for help from Uncle Yu. Uncle Yu was very generous and helped us contact the hospital and paid the hospitalization fee in advance.

The doctor said it was too late and he had developed chronic renal failure and needed a kidney transplant.

At that time, our whole family, including several of my relatives’ families, all came for a checkup, and it turned out that I was the only one who met the matching conditions.

The day the matching results came out, my university admission notice also arrived. I was admitted to medical university.

I remember clearly that day, my dad sat on the steps of the back door of the hospital and cried all night. He said, "My baby is a college student. I can't live without my waist when I go to college!"

Uncle Yu secretly told my dad that if he could contact a kidney source, he might as well buy one. My dad asked how much it cost, and Uncle Yu said it was fifty thousand. At that time, fifty thousand was an astronomical figure to us. Uncle Yu patted his chest and said he would find a solution regarding money.

Later, Uncle Yu and several uncles in our village pooled the money together and contacted a kidney source, so my dad let me go to college.

When I left, my sister was lying on the hospital bed and told me with a smile that when she recovered from her illness, she would also take the medical school exam. I said I will go to you first and I will wait for you.

At that time, communication conditions were not as developed as they are now, so I could only communicate with my family by writing letters at school. Occasionally, I would call a public phone in the village, and someone would call my dad, but I would hang up. Twenty minutes later, when I called again, my dad was waiting on the other end of the phone.

My dad always says that things are going well at home, and your sister is doing well too. The school is so far away, so don’t come back during the holidays. It’s a waste of money.

I knew that my family owed a lot of debt, so I worked part-time during the holidays to pay for my tuition and living expenses.

When I was a senior in college, I was recommended for postgraduate study and received a special scholarship.

I took the money I saved from my scholarship and part-time job to go home for the New Year. I wanted to give my family and fellow villagers a big surprise. I also want to cheer my sister on, as she is about to take the college entrance examination.

When I got home, I realized that my sister was gone. The letters he wrote to me were all written by my father by asking the children who studied in the village to imitate my sister's handwriting.

It turns out that my sister never received a kidney transplant. Something happened to the kidney source that Uncle Yu had contacted.

The man had a gambling debt, so he thought of selling his kidney. He took Uncle Yu's deposit and then regretted it, asking for a higher price, saying he wanted to enjoy it while his kidney was still there.

He took the money to go whoring, but he happened to be caught by the police during the anti-pornography campaign. The police uncovered the kidney-selling gang, and Uncle Yu was also implicated and sentenced to three years.

Originally, if I had rushed back in time, I might have been able to save my sister. But my dad kept it secret from me in order to let me study with peace of mind. Everyone hid it from me. They all said that it is not easy to be a college student in the mountains and they could not let me lose my money to study.

I had a big fight with my family over this matter. I know my dad is doing it for my own good. I also know that after Uncle Yu was arrested, the family really couldn’t afford the surgery. But when I think of my sister, I can't help it.

Later, my father fell ill and passed away within two years.

After Uncle Yu was released from prison, he spent several years in the society, but his life was not very satisfactory. At that time, I was already working in the city hospital. He came to me and said, "Baby, don't blame your uncle or your father for what happened to your sister."

I don't blame him. Uncle Yu is a good man. I don’t blame my dad either, he’s gone. I only have myself to blame. If I had insisted on using my own kidney, my sister would not have died. And that person who sold his kidney and then regretted it, this kind of person deserves to die.

I asked the leader for help and placed Uncle Yu in the security department of the hospital.

We often drank together and talked about the past, about my dad, about my sister, and about his scandals and feats in prison. Sometimes when I drink too much, I will hold my head and cry loudly.

Once, he said: "Eldest nephew, don't call me uncle anymore, call me Lao Yu. Whenever you call me uncle, I want to cry."

From then on, I called him Lao Yu.

…

Zhao Pengcheng closed his eyes and talked as if talking in his sleep. From the surveillance video, Hu Xing clearly saw two lines of clear tears flowing from the corners of his eyes, falling down his cheeks and into his collar.

Shi Dazhuang's face was heavy and he was writing down notes in his notebook. As the person in charge of the case, he had a lot to ask the suspect. But at this time, he could only watch Aoki perform without exerting any effort himself.

"What happened next?" Aoki asked.

"later……"

"About two years ago," Zhao Pengcheng murmured, "Old Yu said he saw the guy who promised to sell his kidneys to us and then regretted it. He was wearing a big gold chain and looked like a dog. He was seeing a doctor in our hospital. "