Chapter 21 021. Narrow Path She was covered in blood.
Soon, Xia Chan asked A Jiang, "Did you hire a new singer?"
"Hmm." Ah Jiang chuckled, his gaze drifting towards the stage. "How was it? Handsome, right?"
Xia Chan's attention, however, remained fixed on the guitar. It was a classic wooden guitar, painted a light sea blue, and its tone was ethereal and melodious, like the wind blowing across the waves under the moon, far superior to the one used on the sunken boat that day.
He chuckled softly and said, "It's alright."
Ajiang assumed she was interested in people, but Xia Chan had never been interested in any boy. His gossipy nature got the better of him, and after the singer finished performing, he took Xia Chan to a bar and then called him over to introduce her, saying, "My sister is interested in you."
"..." Xia Chan glanced at A Jiang speechlessly.
The singer, still carrying the wooden guitar, bowed respectfully to her upon hearing this, saying, "Hello, little sister."
Xia Chan paused for a moment, then said, "Just call me Xia Chan."
"Hello, Sister Xia Chan."
Xia Chanmo stopped talking, silently shaking her head inwardly before turning her gaze back to his guitar and smiling, "Your guitar is pretty good!"
"Not bad, right?" The boy seemed to really love his guitar, and upon hearing this, he gently plucked the strings with his pick. A clear and airy sound suddenly filled the air, seemingly resonating in one's chest. The boy smiled and said, "What do you want to hear? I'll sing it for you."
She is beautiful and has a unique charm, so boys are willing to talk to her.
Xia Chan shook her head upon hearing this, still staring at the guitar. "Your guitar must be quite expensive, right? Where did you buy it? It really enhances your singing."
"It's alright, a little over four thousand, bought in Tianjin!" He said, naming a brand, and then strummed a string with a hint of pride. "It's the latest model! It's absolutely unique in Qixian!"
Xia Chan paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded, "Not bad."
Xia Chan claimed she had other things to do, so she didn't stay at the bar for long. She chatted with A Jiang and the singer for a while before saying goodbye.
After going outside, Xia Chan took out her phone and first searched for the brand online.
Several classic models immediately popped up on Baidu Encyclopedia, with the cheapest starting at three thousand yuan.
Xia Chan pursed her lips, remained silent for a moment, then turned off the screen and walked into a small alley to the side.
She borrowed the electric tricycle today but didn't bring the lock. Just now, in order to talk to the singer, she parked the vehicle in a relatively secluded and sparsely populated place.
After getting there, she first reinforced the two remaining cabinets in the back of the convertible, then put her phone in her pocket and got in the car.
"Chanchan".
Suddenly a sound came from behind.
Upon hearing that voice, Xia Chan's back stiffened slightly, and she slowly turned her head, almost in disbelief.
Then, Xia Chan was stunned the moment she saw the person behind her.
My whole body felt ice-cold, as if I had fallen into an ice cellar.
-
As dusk settled, Shen Zhoudu and Siyi set up a small dining table in the courtyard of "Du". Grandma had prepared a large table of dishes to prepare for Xia Chan and Shen Zhoudu's first day of school tomorrow.
When Huang Mao returned, he was covered in sawdust and dust. His motorcycle rumbled to a stop at the gate. As soon as he entered, he saw a large table of delicious food. He exclaimed, "Eh?" and picked up a shredded potato from the plate to eat.
"Go away!" Siyi wanted nothing more than to grab a broom and beat him up. "Go back and change your clothes and wash your hands before you eat! Whose stray dog is this... it's filthy!"
The blond-haired man pinched a handful of dust off her nose, and amidst her screaming and chasing, he laughed and ran into the house.
After Huang Mao took a shower and changed into clean clothes, he was served. Si Yi still wouldn't let him move because Xia Chan hadn't returned yet.
"Ugh, I'm starving... I've been working all day." The blond guy rubbed his stomach. "Can I grab something to eat first?"
"No way! It's because Sister Xiaochan hasn't come back yet, and it's because you made her deliver the goods instead of going yourself!" Siyi wouldn't allow it. "We'll wait!"
Chen Zhoudu sat opposite Xia Chan, wiping her usual chopsticks. Hearing the two laughing and joking, he couldn't help but smirk at Huang Mao.
They waited and waited until it got dark.
It was past 7:30 p.m. and Xia Chan still hadn't returned, so Huang Mao got impatient and called her.
But the phone was turned off.
The group looked around suspiciously, then the blond-haired man pursed his lips, got up, and called Ah Jiang.
Ajiang said that Xia Chan had left the bar an hour and a half ago. Although Qixian is a bit far from Qingshui, it should only take a little over an hour to get there by electric scooter, so it's impossible that she hasn't returned yet.
"She's gone? Are you sure? You watched her leave?"
“Yeah! She left a while ago, over an hour ago! She even chatted with the singer here for a bit, and we watched her leave together… Hey?” A-Jiang was walking towards the alley while on the phone, but suddenly stopped. “Why is her car still here? But it overturned… Holy crap, why is there blood?!”
Huang Mao felt a rush of blood to his head and sensed something was wrong. At that moment, a possibility suddenly occurred to him. He cursed and told A Jiang to find someone first. He got up, went outside the courtyard, got on his motorcycle, and was about to leave.
"Yellow Hair!" The people in the yard were also puzzled and immediately chased after him outside. Grandma asked in confusion, "Where are you going? Are you going to eat something before you go? What's wrong with Chan'er?"
"Grandma, it's alright, I'll just go take a look." Yellow Hair patted her hand reassuringly. Shen Zhoudu, seeing he was trying to calm her down, immediately said, "Take me there!"
The blond-haired man glanced at him in surprise, his eyes slightly annoyed.
Chen Zhoudu stared at him intently, his attitude unusually firm at this moment. Huang Mao frowned and stared back at him for a while, as if he had given up, and tilted his head towards the back seat as if he had agreed.
Chenzhou immediately climbed onto the back seat and put on his helmet.
The motorcycle roared away and sped off. Grandma waved from behind, calling out, "Be careful! Call us anytime if anything happens!"
-
In a dead-end alley in Qixian County filled with clutter, a man punched Xia Chan hard in the face. Xia Chan's body slumped to the side, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Just as she tried to get up, her throat was firmly pressed down by two hands.
The owner of the hands gripping her was a man, about forty years old. He was thin, tall, but strong, and his arms, which were gripping her tightly, were bulging with blood.
He was wearing a pair of glasses that made him look refined and scholarly, but at this moment he seemed like a mad beast.
“Zhang Guozhong…” Xia Chan’s face was flushed red as she gripped his wrists tightly with both hands and said, “If you have the guts, strangle me to death today… otherwise I will definitely kill you! This time I will not only stab you three times… I will stab you thirty times… three hundred times! I will make you suffer the death of a thousand cuts!”
...
Just now, in the alley where the car was parked, Xia Chan turned around and felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
Zhang Guozhong.
Her biological father, the man she stabbed three times, was Zhang Guozhong.
In that instant, she instinctively tried to start the electric scooter and run away, but the scooter bounced forward and then flipped over.
She then realized that he had locked the wheels of the car at some point, and the huge convertible was pressing down on her, causing her pain and rendering her unable to move.
At this moment, Zhang Guozhong slowly stepped forward, dragged her out, pressed her to the ground, and said, "Chanchan."
His voice was soft and gentle, but his hands gripped her like enormous pincers, seemingly with a sigh in them, "Why didn't you greet your father when you saw him?"
"Pah!" Xia Chan spat into his glasses. "You beast!"
His face darkened, and then he raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face.
Xia Chan turned her head away and a bloody taste immediately filled her mouth. She also experienced a ringing in her ears. It took her a while to calm down before she could hear his voice, which seemed to echo.
"Chanchan, Daddy doesn't mean to make things difficult for you."
"Dad is a little short on cash lately and wanted to borrow some money from you."
"You stabbed me three times back then, and Dad didn't blame you because you're my daughter. How could Dad bear to blame you? But shouldn't you compensate me for what happened back then? After all, the wound from when you stabbed me still hurts on cloudy or rainy days! Dad doesn't need too much, just 100,000 yuan, 100,000 yuan will do! I promise I'll never look for you again, and we'll go our separate ways and consider this a settled matter, okay?"
Xia Chan was held down tightly by him, her face gradually turning red. Her upper body was completely immobilized, and she could only reach silently for her phone in her work pants pocket, barely managing to say, "I have no money..."
She glared at him so fiercely that she wished her gaze could turn into a sharp knife and stab him to death. "If you want money... I'll burn it for you!"
Zhang Guozhong's face trembled. This time, he was truly furious and raised his fist to strike her head.
Xia Chan's mind went blank again from the punch, but his grip on her loosened for half a second. Taking advantage of the moment, Xia Chan suddenly kicked him hard in the groin with her knee, then scrambled up and ran with all her might towards the other end of the alley.
"ah!"
Zhang Guozhong collapsed to the ground in pain. Xia Chan was dizzy and staggered, but she ran towards A Jiang's bar with all her might, dialing 110 on her phone as she ran.
"Ah Jiang! Ah Jiang—"
The bar is now more crowded and the atmosphere is more lively.
Ajiang was greeting guests at the door and didn't hear it for a moment. Zhang Guozhong gritted his teeth, got up, picked up a trash can from the side of the road, and threw it at Xia Chan. The trash can hit Xia Chan on the back, and she fell forward and her phone flew out and shattered.
"Ah Jiang—!"
She shouted again with all her might. Zhang Guozhong stepped forward, grabbed her mouth, and pulled her back.
Ah Jiang vaguely heard some noise, but when he turned around, there was no one there.
...
After passing through the "Gong" shaped alley into a remote and desolate dead-end alley, Zhang Guozhong threw Xia Chan onto a pile of junk. Xia Chan's back was hit by the corner of the table, but she endured the pain and did not get up. Zhang Guozhong's fist had already landed on her again.
She turned her body to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood, but her throat was pressed down tightly by two hands.
"Zhang Guozhong..." Xia Chan gripped his wrist tightly, "If you have the guts, strangle me to death today... otherwise I will definitely kill you! This time I will not only stab you three times... I will stab you thirty times... three hundred times! I will make you suffer the death of a thousand cuts!"
"Damn it!" Zhang Guozhong was completely enraged. His once refined face was now as fierce as a wild beast, and he threw punch after punch while cursing:
"I really spoiled you rotten! I should have beaten you to death back then! And your bitch mother too, I should have beaten her to death too!"
"You dare stab me... I haven't even gotten revenge for what happened back then! You little brat, you think you can kill me? You bitch!"
"And your surname... Zhang Chan, have you forgotten what your original name was? You think you can get away with it just because you changed your surname? You're covered in my blood, you're my child no matter where you are, you think you can escape! You worthless bastard, I'm going to beat you to death today!"
He threw punch after punch, each one almost with full force. Xia Chan's consciousness became hazy, and for a moment she almost had the illusion that she was really going to die here today.
In her hazy state, she suddenly vaguely heard an angry voice, "Zhang Guozhong—!"
I thought it was a hallucination, but I actually saw several figures rushing towards me from afar.
When the blond-haired man arrived, he was filled with rage, holding a thick, long stick in his hand. His entire face was flushed with fury, and his eyes seemed to be filled with tears. He shouted with his eyes blazing, "I'll kill you!"
"ah--!"
He rushed forward, raised his stick, and began to beat Zhang Guozhong relentlessly until Zhang Guozhong ran to the side, clutching his head and begging for mercy. Yet, the blows continued, each one almost violently striking Zhang Guozhong.
"ah--!!"
"Yellow Hair, Yellow Hair... Brother Huang!"
"Take it easy, take it easy... don't actually cause a death!"
Ajiang and several bar thugs struggled to hold him down and pleaded with him to stop. Chen Zhoudu arrived at Xia Chan's side immediately and was stunned the moment he saw her.
She was almost entirely covered in blood.
Her face was so swollen it was unrecognizable, blood was dripping from the corners of her lips, and blood kept flowing down her forehead, staining her white T-shirt red.
Even in the darkness of night, it was extremely shocking.
Her eyes seemed swollen shut, and she could barely open one eye when she sensed someone approaching. In her blood-red vision, she vaguely saw a shadow.
The person wore a snow-white hoodie and jeans, always as clean as a snowflake.
But how could the purest, whitest snow possibly exist in a dusty, autumn town? She paused, then looked away as if she hadn't seen it.
Chen Zhoudu swallowed hard and immediately stepped forward, taking off his coat and draping it over her. He could hardly bear to look at her like this. He took out a tissue and gently wiped the blood from her face, his hands trembling slightly.
Xia Chan suddenly shrank to the side, avoiding his hand.
Chen Zhoudu paused for a moment, then reached out again. She mustered all her strength to grasp his wrist and whispered, "Chen Zhoudu..."
"I am here."
Her throat was filled with blood bubbles, making her speech indistinct. Chen Zhoudu listened intently for a while but still couldn't understand, so he leaned slightly closer to her.
Then, in a moment, he vaguely heard it.
He glanced at her in surprise.
Xia Chan stubbornly turned her eyes away from him and closed them with a sour expression.
You are too clean.
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