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Days passed without a reply to the text messages Lu Ziyi sent to Cheng Xiaorui. At first, he thought Cheng Xiaorui needed time to sort out his feelings - after all, his mother had just passed away and he had been through so much.
But when he found that Cheng Xiaorui had not even logged into the school's online courses, a sense of unease began to spread.
"Answer the phone." Lu Ziyi dialed Cheng Xiaorui's number for the tenth time, but the cold power-off tone still came from the receiver.
He then called Chen Zihan, and the result was equally shocking - the number was no longer in service.
"Impossible..." Lu Ziyi stared at his phone screen, a long-lost sense of panic rising from the bottom of his heart. He immediately contacted the front desk of Cheng Xiaorui's hotel.
"Mr. Cheng? He checked out the day after Christmas," the front desk clerk replied after checking. "He left with a young man named Chen."
A young man named Chen. Chen Zihan.
Lu Ziyi immediately drove to the hotel and retrieved the surveillance footage from the day he checked out. In the footage, Cheng Xiaorui, looking pale, was being half-supported, half-carried out of the hotel by Chen Zihan. It was clear that he was not in good condition.
"Where did they go?" Lu Ziyi's voice trembled with suppressed anger.
"This...we don't know." The receptionist was frightened by his gloomy face.
For the next three days, Lu Ziyi mobilized every available connection. Cheng Xiaorui had applied for long-term sick leave from school, completing all necessary paperwork, and listed Chen Zihan as the contact person. Contact records revealed that Chen Zihan's number had been completely deactivated after Christmas.
Traffic system: No travel records of Cheng Xiaorui could be found.
This person seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.
"Keep investigating!" Lu Ziyi roared at the other end of the phone, "Check all the properties under Chen Zihan's name and all the residences under his mother's name!"
Every minute of waiting for the results was torture. Lu Ziyi sat in the hotel room where Cheng Xiaorui had once stayed, watching the snowflakes falling outside the window, feeling completely powerless.
"Lu Xuhan..." He unconsciously recited this name that was forgotten by time, his fingertips sinking deeply into his palm.
The cell phone suddenly rang. It was the location information sent by the investigators - a high-end apartment in the suburbs, registered under the name of Chen Zihan's mother.
Lu Ziyi grabbed his car keys and rushed out the door, not even having time to put on his coat. The sports car's tires screeched in the snow as it shot towards the address like an arrow.
At this moment, he only knew that he had to find Cheng Xiaorui.
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Cheng Xiaorui's tears silently soaked the bedsheets. Chen Zihan's confession was like a rusty knife, repeatedly cutting into his heart. The timid boy who once needed his protection had now become his most exquisite prison.
"Eat something." Chen Zihan picked up the slightly cold porridge, scooped a spoonful and handed it to his lips.
Cheng Xiaorui suddenly raised his hand and knocked over the spoon, and the porcelain spoon shattered on the floor with a harsh sound.
"Don't touch me!"
Chen Zihan looked at the porridge stains on his hands, his eyes darkening, but surprisingly, he didn't get angry. He slowly stood up, walked to the window, and opened the curtains. The pale winter sun shone in, casting mottled shadows on Cheng Xiaorui's face.
"You know what," Chen Zihan said, his voice frighteningly calm, with his back to him, "I check the window locks every day. Three times—morning, noon, and night. I also sprinkle a thin layer of talcum powder on the edge of the windowsill so that if someone has touched it, I can tell at a glance."
Cheng Xiaorui's breathing stagnated.
"I've put away all the kitchen knives, even the table knives are plastic. I've changed the locks on the balcony door three times, and the keys are all here." Chen Zihan turned around, his expression blurred in the backlight. "I calculated that it would take seven seconds to run from this bedroom to the front door, while it only takes me three seconds to rush over from the living room."
He walked back to the bed step by step, and his shadow completely enveloped Cheng Xiaorui.
"Everything about you is under my control, Xiaorui. The water you drink, the medicine you take, the air you breathe—it's all within my plan." He leaned over, his fingertips lightly brushing against Xiaorui's collarbone. "Just like you protected me back then, now it's my turn to protect you. But this time, I'm going to protect you even more... thoroughly."
Cheng Xiaorui was shaking all over, not out of fear, but out of anger. He sat up suddenly and looked directly into Chen Zihan's eyes: "You call this protection? This is imprisonment!"
"Is there any difference?" Chen Zihan tilted his head, revealing an innocent yet cruel smile. "Whether it's protection or imprisonment, the result is the same - you will always be by my side."
After that day, Cheng Xiaorui began his resistance.
When he went on a hunger strike, Chen Zihan pinched his chin and force-fed him liquid food through a straw; when he threw things, Chen Zihan replaced them with unbreakable plastic items; when he tried to escape, Chen Zihan installed a sensor bell at the door.
The most intense one was when Cheng Xiaorui scratched Chen Zihan's arm with the sharpened handle of a toothbrush. Blood flowed down his white arm, but Chen Zihan smiled. He let the blood drip and gently wiped Cheng Xiaorui's cheek:
"Be more careful next time and don't scratch yourself."
Cheng Xiaorui understood at that moment that he was not facing a normal person, but a madman wrapped in affection.
Cheng Xiaorui's hunger strike lasted until the third day.
When Chen Zihan walked into the bedroom with the freshly cooked porridge, he found that Cheng Xiaorui was still facing away from him.
"Xiao Rui," Chen Zihan put the porridge on the bedside, his voice as gentle as if coaxing a child, "You know I can't bear to let you go hungry."
Cheng Xiaorui didn't move, as if he didn't hear anything.
Chen Zihan suddenly laughed, and there was a creepy doting in his laughter: "It's okay, if you don't want to eat it yourself, I can help you."
He picked up the bowl of porridge, stirred it gently with a spoon, then took a mouthful in his mouth and leaned closer to Cheng Xiaorui.
Cheng Xiaorui's eyes suddenly opened wide, but before he could react, Chen Zihan had already pinched his chin and forcefully pushed the warm porridge into his mouth. This action didn't seem like feeding, but more like a ritual of marking territory.
"Cough cough...you..." Cheng Xiaorui struggled to spit it out, but was held down by Chen Zihan.
"Swallow it." Chen Zihan's voice was still gentle, but his eyes were as cold as ice. "Unless you want me to keep feeding you like this."
Tears of humiliation finally fell from Cheng Xiaorui's eyes. He was forced to swallow, feeling that every mouthful was filled with Chen Zihan's obsessive love, so heavy that it suffocated him.
Since then, the surveillance of Chen Zihan has intensified.
Cheng Xiaorui discovered that the bedroom window had been reinforced with invisible guardrails and the bathroom door lock had been removed, making even basic privacy a luxury. Chen Zihan always found excuses to stay in the room, weaving an invisible net with his gentle gaze.
"Xiao Rui, how are you feeling today?"
"Xiao Rui, do you want me to read with you?"
"Xiao Rui..."
This call is no longer care, but a constant reminder - you can't escape, you belong to me.
Late one night, Cheng Xiaorui finally found his chance. Chen Zihan was fast asleep on the sofa, with his keys on the coffee table.
His heart was pounding, he slipped out of the bedroom like a thief, and picked up the key with trembling hands. Just as he was about to touch the door lock, the light in the living room suddenly turned on.
"Where are you going?"
Chen Zihan's voice came from behind, terrifyingly calm.
Cheng Xiaorui froze in place, and the key slipped from his hand with a crisp sound.
Chen Zihan slowly approached, picked up the key, and gently held Cheng Xiaorui's cold hand: "It's so dangerous outside, why do you want to go?"
His fingers stroked the deep and shallow bruises on Cheng Xiaorui's wrists, which were left from the struggle a few days ago.
"Look, you're injured." Chen Zihan's tone was full of heartache, "I said I would protect you, but you always disobey."
He suddenly tightened his fingers, and Cheng Xiaorui gasped in pain.
"Since ordinary supervision is not enough," Chen Zihan's voice was still gentle, "then let's try another method."
The next day, Cheng Xiaorui woke up to find himself moved to another room. This room had no windows, the walls were covered with soft soundproofing material, and the only door was a heavy security door.
The room was comfortably furnished, with a bed, bookshelves, and even a small bathroom, but it felt more like an elaborate prison cell.
Chen Zihan came in with breakfast, a satisfied smile on his face: "Do you like it here? I prepared it specially for you. This way you won't always want to leave."
Cheng Xiaorui looked at him and suddenly felt it was ridiculous. This person who claimed to love him was destroying him in the most cruel way.
"Chen Zihan," he looked directly into her eyes for the first time, "You said you loved me, but did you know that you are killing me?"
Chen Zihan's smile froze for a moment, then became gentler: "No, I'm saving you. Once you get used to this place, you'll understand my painstaking efforts."
The door closed behind him, and the sound of the lock was particularly clear.
Cheng Xiaorui looked around the windowless room and finally understood - this was not the end of his imprisonment, but the beginning of another nightmare.
In this cage in the name of love, he was deprived of even the right to see the snow.
Until a turning point appeared one snowy night. Cheng Xiaorui had a fever, and the thermometer showed 39.5 degrees.
Chen Zihan showed a panicked look for the first time. He searched the medicine box, but found that the antipyretic medicine was all used up.
"I'm going out to buy some medicine." He put on his coat, carefully checked all the doors and windows, and finally gave Cheng Xiaorui a deep look. "Be good, I'll be back soon."
The sound of the door being locked could be heard. Cheng Xiaorui forced his eyes open, his mind racing. This was his only chance.
He remembered a detail from Chen Zihan's daily window checks: the lock on the small window in the study seemed a little loose. Using all his strength, he stumbled into the study and pushed it upwards.
The window opened with a click, and the cold night wind, wrapped in snowflakes, blew in my face.
The second floor is not high. There is thick snow below.
There was no time to hesitate. Cheng Xiaorui climbed out of the window and jumped.
The soft snow embraced him. He ignored the pain, scrambling to his feet and running. His thin hospital gown was quickly soaked by the wind and snow. His fever blurred his vision, but he had only one thought: escape.
Just as he was about to run to the gate of the community, a familiar figure came from around the corner.
Chen Zihan was holding a medicine bag, standing in the drifting snow, looking at him quietly.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Cheng Xiaorui froze in place, watching Chen Zihan approach step by step. There was no anger, no questioning, and there was even a strange calmness on Chen Zihan's face.
"You still refuse to listen." Chen Zihan sighed softly and reached out to stroke Cheng Xiaorui's hair that was wet with snow.
The next second, Cheng Xiaorui felt a pain in the back of his neck. It seemed that the needle had injected something into him, and his consciousness quickly blurred. Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard Chen Zihan whisper in his ear:
"You forced me to do this, Xiao Rui."
When Cheng Xiaorui woke up again, he found himself back in the familiar bedroom. He tried to get up, but heard the crisp sound of metal friction.
A thin iron chain was attached to his left ankle, the other end of the chain securely locked to the heavy foot of the bed. The chain was just long enough for him to move around the room, but never enough to reach the door.
Chen Zihan was sitting on the edge of the bed, using sandpaper to carefully smooth out every burr on the inside of the chain that might scratch the skin.
"Awake?" He looked up and smiled gently. "I've measured it. This length won't affect your movements around the room. You can eat and wash, but you can't go to those dangerous places anymore."
His tone was as casual as if he was discussing the weather.
Cheng Xiaorui pulled the chain frantically, and the sound of metal colliding echoed in the room.
"Let me go! You lunatic!"
Chen Zihan watched him struggle in vain, his eyes filled with pity and doting: "Don't do this, you will hurt yourself."
He picked up the medicine and water on the bedside table and handed them to Cheng Xiaorui: "Here, take the antipyretic medicine. You still have a fever."
Cheng Xiaorui looked at the glass of water, the delicate iron chain, and Chen Zihan's gentle smile, and suddenly lost all the strength to resist.
The chain was just long enough for him to reach the window, allowing him to see the outside world, but he could never reach it.
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