The 99th Divorce

The last number was simply saved as an emoticon. It was the emoticon of a house.

Yu Lili recognized the emoticon straightaway. It meant “home.” She flipped the phone open and made the call. Based on the calling code, the number came from a small city in the Kang Province.

Kang Province wasn’t very far from Kingstown. Yu Lili had stayed there for a period of time when she was vacationing. It was a pleasant little city.

The call was answered quickly by an old lady. As though very agitated, the woman had a tremor in her voice as she yelled over the phone, “Hello? Laowu? It’s you, Mi Laowu? Are you home?”

She was speaking in Cantonese. Yu Lili could understand it.

Laowu*? Was Wen Fenglin the fifth son in his family?

Yu Lili cleared her throat and raised her voice to be heard through the line. “Hello. Do you know someone by the name of Wen Fenglin?”

“Who’s speaking? Why are you using my fifth son’s phone to call the house?” the old woman asked.

“Eh… I’m Yu Lili, a friend of Uncle Wen. May I ask how you’re related to Uncle Wen?” Yu Lili asked.

“Hold on. I’ll get my grandson to speak to you,” the old lady said. She hollered in the background, “Ajiu! Come and pick up the phone! It’s your fifth uncle calling!”

Yu Lili could hear footsteps coming through the phone, followed by a young man’s voice. “Hello, Fifth Uncle?”

The voice sounded like it belonged to a man who was around 25.

“I’m not Fifth Uncle. May I ask if you know Wen Fenglin?” Yu Lili asked.

“He’s my fifth uncle,” the young man said.

“This is the situation. We’re currently in Kingstown,” Yu Lili said. “He’s in the hospital due to a coronary heart attack. Can you come over?”

There was silence on the other side of the line. The old lady’s voice could be heard in the background asking, “Who’s that?”

The voice of the young man came through the phone again. “Was it my uncle to told you to make this call?”

“No. He’s currently in the Emergency Room. I felt that it was only right for me to notify his family, so I…”

“I understand. Which hospital is it? I’ll come right away,” the young man said. “What’s your relationship with my uncle?”

Yu Lili paused a moment and said, “I guess we’re friends…”

“Alright. Thank you for notifying us. Can you give me the address? I’ll write it down,” the young man said.

Yu Lili read out the address. The call quickly ended.

It was approximately 20 or 30 minutes before the doors to the Emergency Room opened. The doctor and nurses walked out.

Yu Lili rushed up to them and asked, “How is it?”

“He’s still hanging in there. It was a close shave, but he’s out of danger. He’ll need to be under observation and admitted into the Intensive Care Unit,” the doctor said. “Please settle the payment.”

Yu Lili gave a sigh of relief and nodded her head.

After settling the payment, Wen Fenglin’s phone began to vibrate. This time, the caller was an unsaved number.

Yu Lili picked up the phone. It was the same young man from before.

“Hello, Miss. I’m Wen Hejiu. What’s your cell phone number? Let me jot it down,” he said. “Let’s not use my uncle’s phone to communicate anymore. I’m afraid he’ll blame you later.”

“Why?” Yu Lili was astonished, but then something came to mind. “Uncle Wen was saved in time. The doctor said that it was a close shave, but he’s out of danger.”

Wen Hejiu seemed to heave a sigh of relief and replied, “That’s good to hear. I’ll be there in about an hour. Don’t tell my uncle I’m coming. And, please erase the call log. Thank you.”

A clueless expression appeared on Yu Lili’s face. They both had the family name of Wen. That meant Wen Hejiu was probably Wen Fenglin’s nephew, didn’t it? If so, why was he being so secretive? Furthermore, the call she made previously was clearly to his home.

–

*Laowu literally means “ol number five.”