Chapter 006 A Secluded Side Story - Half-Awake (Part 1)

#Main Characters: Yu Qingzhou, Shen Yun

At the time of the incident, Yu Qingzhou's mind went blank.

He saw the man lying there with a round bullet hole in his chest.

The blood that had soaked through the white shirt congealed into a deep black, and the half-open eyes of the deceased stared blankly into the void... What was there?

—Yu Qingzhou didn't know.

He felt a chill creeping down his spine, spreading throughout his body like venom.

His voice was stuck in his throat, like a sharp fishbone, each swallow accompanied by an indescribable sharp pain.

The doorbell suddenly rang, startling Yu Qingzhou so much that she trembled all over.

The phone kept ringing...

Finally, he took a deep breath and moved heavily to the door. Through the peephole, he saw a familiar face. After hesitating for a moment, he opened the door.

The man stood outside the door looking at him, his dark eyes appearing calm and gentle.

You don't look well.

The other person spoke softly, noticing the child's uncontrollable trembling, and naturally reached out to grasp the child's cold wrist: "Let's go."

He said.

But Yu Qingzhou didn't move. Instead, he turned his head to look at the man lying on the ground, his gaze drifting to a large wardrobe behind him. He was momentarily stunned.

Then he nodded and followed the man out the door.

It was an autumn evening many years ago. The gray sky remained dry, just like Yu Qingzhou's belated tears, which eventually dried up in her eyes.

...

Yu Qingzhou had a secret that she had kept for many years, and she hadn't even told Shen Yun.

Shen Yun is Yu Qingzhou's adoptive father.

The two were not related by blood, and their ages were not much different. Yu Qingzhou did not regard the other party as an elder, and always felt that Shen Yun's role as a godfather was somewhat one-sided.

During his rebellious phase, Yu Qingzhou would drink and fight, but in front of Shen Yun, he would be as obedient as a little white rabbit.

Those who know him well know that he never hits someone in the face, but if he does, he'll fight tooth and nail.

Some stubborn fools launched a sneak attack. A blade grazed Yu Qingzhou's face, and he felt a burning sensation on his cheek. His eyes immediately turned red, and he grabbed a wine bottle and smashed it over the bastard's forehead.

Yu Qingzhou wandered around outside for a long time late at night, and only after the lights in the house were turned off one by one did she dare to sneak inside.

As soon as I stepped into the living room, the lights snapped on.

Yu Qingzhou's heart skipped a beat, thinking that things were going to get bad.

Shen Yun walked over and stood in front of Yu Qingzhou. Seeing that the latter had her head hanging down, she softly commanded, "Raise your head."

Seeing that the latter hesitated and refused to move, he was not angry, but calmly asked, "Do you still need me to help you?"

Yu Qingzhou understood the meaning behind the question and hurriedly raised her face to smile at Shen Yun. However, halfway through the smile, she accidentally aggravated the pain at the corner of her mouth, freezing her in an awkward expression that was both funny and exasperating.

"Godfather," he murmured, knowing that showing weakness was the most appropriate course of action at this moment.

Sure enough, Shen Yun sighed: "If you don't have the ability, don't try to be strong."

"I'm not being stubborn, if it weren't for—" Yu Qingzhou stared at the man who was applying medicine to him, a hint of fascination in his eyes.

"Or what?"

Shen Yun glanced at him indifferently, and Yu Qingzhou immediately came to his senses: "I was wrong, I will never dare to do it again."

Shen Yun didn't speak, and began to fiddle with the bottles and jars.

"I don't need you to be a spineless coward who swallows his anger. But one thing is for sure: you're not allowed to hurt yourself in the future."

"Okay, I understand."

Yu Qingzhou responded softly, a warm feeling welling up in her heart.

His gaze was fixed intently on Shen Yun's slender, fair hands, savoring the warmth of their skin touching, and he unconsciously curved his lips into a smile.

Shen Yun packed up the medicine box and, as she returned to her room, instructed Yu Qingzhou to take a bath and get some rest.

Yu Qingzhou agreed to each and every one of them.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Shen Yun stopped. Yu Qingzhou stopped right behind him, her nose almost touching the back of his neck. Her nostrils were immediately filled with the cool fragrance of plum blossoms emanating from him, a scent so pleasant it made her dizzy.

"Your father's death anniversary is in two days."

A simple sentence easily pulled Yu Qingzhou back to reality from her previous fascination.

My heart sank sharply.

Noticing that Shen Yun's dark eyes were looking at her, Yu Qingzhou nodded subconsciously.

After saying goodnight, Yu Qingzhou went into the bedroom, closed the door, and then plopped down on the floor, resting her head on her knees.

The room was very quiet; he could hear his own breathing.

Faster and faster, shorter and shorter...

Suddenly, a faint clicking sound reached his ears, and he abruptly looked up at the large wardrobe against the wall—that was the direction from which the sound came.

The cabinet door was half-open, and the door seemed to be swaying slightly, as if it were being lifted by something.

Yu Qingzhou couldn't help but want to go over and close the door, but as soon as he stood up, he suddenly stumbled and subconsciously looked down.

The first thing that catches the eye is the white shirt, the bloodstains already dried, and a dark, round bullet hole embedded near the chest...

He looked at everything one by one, and finally his eyes met a pair of eyes that stared unblinkingly in death!

Yu Qingzhou gasped, stumbled back a few steps, and fell against the wardrobe beside her. The wardrobe door made a loud thud, and when she turned around, [that thing] was gone.

— Gone.

—Or has it never appeared at all?

Yu Qingzhou couldn't be sure... he had a secret he had never told anyone.

That is, he would occasionally see his biological father, even many years after the man's death, even though the man had long since become a corpse.

Yu Qingzhou hadn't even revealed this secret to Shen Yun.

It's not that I don't want to, it's that I dare not. (Excerpt from p1)