A touch of sweetness amidst bitterness
As dusk fell and the playground gradually emptied, she walked listlessly to the study room. In an instant, memories flooded back, bringing with them an indescribable bitterness.
When Duan Peng found her, she was sitting on the ground, stuffing candy into her mouth, with scattered candy wrappers all around her.
"Sister Qi, are you alright?"
Nanqi's lips trembled as she said, "It's too bitter... I want to eat candy... but they're all too bitter, not sweet at all..."
Duan Peng couldn't understand what she was saying, but he heard that she wanted to eat candy, and she wanted something sweet.
About half an hour later, Duan Peng came running back, panting, carrying candy and a box of chocolate cake.
There are no cake shops near the school. The nearest one is four kilometers away, which is eight kilometers round trip. Even by bike, it's very inconvenient.
"Sis, try these. If they're not sweet, I'll go buy some others," Duan Peng said, leaning over and sweating profusely.
Nanqi looked at him blankly, seemingly quite surprised.
Duan Peng opened the cake box and laid out the forks. "Try it."
Nanqi took the cake, scooped out a spoonful, put it in her mouth, and tears quickly fell. She looked at Duan Peng, slightly curled the corners of her lips, and whispered, "Sweet."
That night, Duan Peng talked to the dormitory manager and helped Nan Qi find a dormitory room. The other people in the dormitory were not familiar with Nan Qi, but they had all heard that she liked to fight and was a troublemaker, so no one paid any attention to her.
For Nanqi, having a place to stay was enough. She was too tired after a long day and needed to rest. She wanted to pretend that this was a dream she hadn't woken up from, and that it didn't matter if she woke up and was still in that cage.
The next day, I woke up, and nothing from yesterday had changed.
Nanqi was forced to accept reality, and then went to class, ate, and studied on her own. All the teachers ignored her, and her classmates isolated her. Even her former deskmate Guo Chao deliberately pulled the table away from her, treating her like a plague. Occasionally, there were some sarcastic and mean voices saying that she was someone who had been taken away by the police station, so why did she have the face to come back? One day, the words "murderer" were even carved on her desk.
In contrast, Nanqi was like a soulless, painless shell. She accepted everything without showing any discomfort, only becoming less talkative.
Duan Peng was very worried about her appearance, so he stayed with her as much as possible, afraid that she would do something foolish.
During the meal, Nanqi suddenly asked, "How is Jiajia?"
Duan Peng shook his head and said, "She's not answering my calls, her brother..."
Nanqi paused for a moment, then continued chewing, "It's okay, go ahead and say it."
"He should have been discharged from the hospital. Jia-jie should be taking care of him at home."
"Um."
"Sister Qi, are you still in contact with Sister Meiren...?"
Nanqi's heart suddenly ached, and she frowned in discomfort.
"I won't ask you if you're unhappy. It's my fault for choosing the wrong topic." Duan Peng tapped his head. "What nonsense am I talking about?"
"She must have something she can't tell me, and I'll find out someday."
"Huh? What do you know?"
"nothing."
Friday arrived in the blink of an eye. Nanqi rode her bicycle to find Li Jia. These past few days, she had been thinking about it. She realized that Song Zhao couldn't possibly not have gone to find Li Jia after what happened to her. He must have negotiated something with Li Jia's family.
She rode her bicycle very fast, eager to find out the truth. When she arrived at the Li family's house, Li Jia was sweeping the yard. Nanqi walked over and immediately noticed the scratches on her face and the faint old wounds on her neck.
"Daqi? You're out?" Li Jia asked, both happy and worried.
"Jiajia, your face?"
Li Jia turned her face to the side and subconsciously covered her face, saying, "I scratched myself by accident."
"You should leave now, don't let my parents see you," Li Jia advised.
Nanqi asked, "After I was locked up, did Song Zhao ever look for you?"
"..."
Nanqi keenly noticed Li Jia's slightly startled expression. "Did she say something to you?"
Just then, Wang Suping happened to go out to empty the water from washing her feet and bumped into the two of them.
"Zhang Nanqi!" Wang Suping said through gritted teeth.
Hearing Wang Suping's voice, Li Yanzhang also pulled back the curtain and came out.
"How dare you come to my house!" Li Yanzhang grabbed a large broom and smacked Nanqi.
Nanqi snatched the large broom from her and threw it aside. "Did Song Zhao come to you? What did you say to her? Did you force her to agree to something?!" Nanqi's tone grew louder and more agitated.
"If you want to know, don't run away. I've avenged my son, so I'll tell you."
Li Yanzhang picked up another sheep whip, and Nanqi instinctively turned to the side. The whip struck her hard on the back with a sharp sound, and the unexpected blow made her cry out.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Li Jia grabbed Li Yanzhang's hand and questioned him.
"Get up!" Li Yanzhang flung Li Jia aside and began to lash Nan Qi's back, arms, and legs with all his might. Each lash was a wide swing of his arm, as if he were beating not a person, but a lost animal.
Wang Suping quickly closed the door. Seeing that Li Jia was about to go up and cause more trouble, she forcefully pulled her back into the house, saying, "You brat, don't interfere!"
Li Jia struggled, crying out, "Let me go, Daqi! My dad's gone mad! He'll beat you to death! Run away!!!"
I owe Li Cheng a leg anyway, so a beating wouldn't be unjust...
Except for the first uncontrollable cry, she gritted her teeth and endured the subsequent lashes, going from standing straight to hunching over, and then kneeling on the ground. She was in so much pain that she was drenched in sweat and her clothes were soaked with blood.
It hurts a lot, but compared to the pain of losing Song Zhao, it's nothing.
"Give me back my son's legs! Give me back my son's legs!!..."
When Li Yanzhang fights, he is completely different from his usual appearance, smoking and sporting large eye bags. The dark muscle lines on his arms reveal his strength as a farmer.
"You're quite resilient, aren't you? You've got a tough bone to stick with!"
“You…you keep your word…” Nanqi’s voice was laced with pain as she braced herself on the ground, veins bulging on her temples.
She opened her eyes, trying to wipe the sweat that was about to drip into them, but as soon as she withdrew one hand, tears welled up in her eyes and fell into her palm. She realized that she was crying, and that she had been beaten. She scoffed to herself: "How pathetic."
Li Yanzhang spat, and soon a new wave of slaps followed.
Suddenly, the door was kicked open, followed by a loud bang, "Fuck you! Stop!"
The voice was powerful and clear, almost piercing Li Yanzhang's eardrums. He couldn't help but tremble and turned around to see a tall boy who was 1.9 meters tall.
"Duan Peng?" Li Yanzhang asked curiously.
Upon hearing Duan Peng's voice, Nan Qi tensed up immediately, "Don't come any closer... you should leave quickly."
Duan Peng yelled at Li Yanzhang, "You dare hit my sister Qi? I'll fucking fight you to the death!"
Duan Peng shouted and charged forward. Li Yanzhang was startled by his momentum and dodged. Duan Peng charged too hard and couldn't stop, so his head hit the balcony hard, making him wince in pain.
"Dapeng..." Nanqi called out weakly.
Hearing Nanqi's call, Duan Peng covered his head and walked to Nanqi's side. Seeing her covered in blood, he supported her and cried like a child.
Nanqi's lips were almost drained of color from the pain. She frowned, covered Duan Peng's eyes, and said, "Don't look, don't look..."
As they were talking, Duan Peng suddenly collapsed into Nan Qi's arms. Li Yanzhang was terrified when he saw this, and he stammered, "I...I didn't touch him, he fell down by himself."
Nanqi raised her eyelids and glared at him fiercely.
"roll!"
"roll!!!"
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