Chapter 31
Yan Qing wanted to get up early to visit Hu Ruoting, who was still in the hospital, but she was too tired and overslept. When she woke up, it was already past ten o'clock.
She was sleeping so soundly that she didn't hear the WeChat notification on her phone—a long message from Huang Qian:
“Girl, I’m useless now, I can’t hold on any longer, please forgive me for deserting. I’ve handed over the household affairs to the nanny, she’ll take care of Lao Gong and Huang Feihong’s daily lives. If you have time, go and keep an eye on them for me, if not, that’s fine too. Now, I can finally openly admit my cowardice, it doesn’t matter anyway. The only thing I’m worried about is Huang Feihong, I hope she can get out of the shadow cast by her incompetent mother soon. Quietly, I’m leaving, waving my sleeves, without taking away a single cloud.”
In addition to this ominous WeChat message, Yan Qing also received a text message from her mobile banking app, in which Huang Qian transferred 10,000 yuan to her with the note: "Huang Feihong wants to eat a hamburger, but I can't take her. Thank you for your help."
Upon seeing this, Yan Qing practically jumped out of bed: "Where are you??" As soon as she sent the text message, she immediately felt foolish and quickly dialed the number on the other end, but the message indicated that the phone was switched off.
Yan Qing took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, but her hand holding the phone still trembled uncontrollably.
She wanted to call the police, but Huang Qian's last message was sent 30 minutes earlier, and common sense told her that it would be difficult to file a missing person case in such a short time.
Finally, we decided to go to Huang Qian's house first.
She rushed to Huang Qian's house anxiously, suppressing the urge to bang on the door, and rang the doorbell.
The door opened, and the nanny, wearing an apron and with flour-covered hands, greeted Yan Qing warmly: "You're here."
Just as Yan Qing was about to ask if Teacher Huang was there, Gong Meiping, who had already seen her inside, called out, "Xiao Yan, come in."
As Yan Qing entered, Gong Meiping placed an old book on her lap and looked at Yan Qing through the top of her reading glasses: "Looking for your teacher? She's not here. I haven't seen her since I opened my eyes today. I don't know where she's gone again. You've come at the right time. Let's have dumplings together for lunch."
"Has Xiangxiang gotten better?" Yan Qing asked.
"I got up early and have been typing away in there the whole time, clattering away. I have neurasthenia, and it's giving me a headache," Gong Meiping complained while rubbing her temples.
At this moment, Yan Qing received a WeChat message from Gu Feimeng: "Looking at the BBS, it's lively."
Yan Qing opened her phone and logged into L University's campus BBS. The top post was very eye-catching, with the title in bold: "Reward for the capture of the weasel mother and daughter."
Without even clicking, you can tell that the content is a denunciation of Huang Qian.
The discussion surrounding Huang Qian and Wu Chuan's incident on the BBS remained consistently high, becoming one of the few hot topics during the long and dull summer vacation. Yan Qing knew that when someone was embroiled in a major scandal, everyone except the person involved could benefit from it. They could gain a sense of fulfillment and happiness far beyond imagination through schadenfreude and gossip, even though the matter had absolutely nothing to do with them.
Yan Qing was already desensitized to such gossip posts, but this one was slightly different, with much stronger and more explicit wording:
"The mother weasel is yin-dominant and yang-deficient, so she specializes in stealing men who are already in relationships to replenish her yin. The baby weasel has no father, but it inherits its mother's style and steals other people's fathers."
"Mother Weasel" and "Little Weasel"—these are offensive and clearly targeted nicknames, revealing the poster's deep hatred for Huang Qian and her daughter.
Most of the comments were from people who were just watching the show, gossiping, or simply sharing hearsay. Only one user, "Yellow Peach," engaged in a heated online argument with the original poster. The back-and-forth escalated into a full-blown war of words.
Yan Qing noticed that both people's IDs had a small green dot next to them, indicating they were actively online. Refreshing the page every few minutes revealed that one of them had updated their reply.
The latest update shows that their verbal sparring has escalated into a fight.
The poster wrote: "What kind of hero shouts online? If you've got the guts, let's fight face to face, and I'll teach you a lesson!"
ID: Yellow Peach: "3 PM, Fengqing Park Amusement Park, if you don't come, you're a noob!"
Yan Qing became increasingly uneasy and made up an excuse to knock on Huang Yanxiang's bedroom door.
In the bedroom, with the curtains drawn, Huang Yanxiang rushed back to her computer as soon as she opened the door, put on her wireless headphones, and began typing rapidly on the keyboard, muttering to herself, "You'll get what's coming to you!"
Yan Qing glanced at the computer screen and was surprised to find that it was the L University BBS page.
Huang Yanxiang suddenly yelled, "You stinky moderator, delete my post!"
Yan Qing refreshed the page again, and sure enough, the post offering a reward for the capture of the mother and daughter weasels was gone.
During lunch, Huang Yanxiang was typing on her phone while eating, which displeased Gong Meiping, who said several times, "My dear granddaughter, playing on your phone while eating is not a good habit!"
Huang Yanxiang acted as if she hadn't heard at all.
Yan Qing's phone rang again. Huang Qian sent a photo: a stemmed glass filled with pale yellow liquid, with a lemon slice stuck in the rim, against a backdrop of coconut trees, blue sky, and the sea.
"I booked the Hilton Haikou to give myself a break and relax for a few days."
Yan Qing was stunned and speechless. She really couldn't understand how someone could write a holiday notice like they were making their final arrangements. But it did seem like something Huang Qian would do.
Seeing that she was staring blankly at her phone, and Huang Yanxiang beside her was also engrossed in her phone, Gong Meiping said unhappily, "Young people these days are addicted to their phones."
Yan Qing quickly put her phone away: "It's a message from Teacher Huang."
Gong Meiping asked coldly, "What kind of trouble has she caused this time? She can't even give us peace and quiet when she's out!"
Yan Qing smiled.
Huang Yanxiang ate a few bites and then retreated to her room, talking on the phone mysteriously. Yan Qing was afraid she really had arranged a fight, so she went in to deliver fruit and tried to subtly probe her. But the girl was tight-lipped, and she couldn't get anything out of her.
Leaving Huang Qian's house, Yan Qing couldn't stop thinking about it. She comforted herself, saying the post had been deleted and the challenge was probably just talk.
It was getting closer to three o'clock. She called Huang Qian's house, and the nanny said that Huang Yanxiang had just left. Now, Yan Qing was 100% certain that one of the people replying to each other in the post was Huang Yanxiang. Afraid of causing trouble, she hurriedly rushed to Fengqing Park.
Fengqing Park is an old park in S City that has existed for more than 30 years. The children's playground occupies the southwesternmost part of the park. It is not very large and is usually a place for local residents to take their children.
It was 3 p.m., the hottest time of day, and the amusement park was completely deserted. Yan Qing searched along the winding paths between the rides, and only after confirming that no one was there did her anxious heart finally settle down.
A scream shattered the afternoon silence: "Huang Yanxiang!"
Yan Qing looked around but couldn't find the source of the sound. Just as she was wondering, her forehead suddenly twitched. She froze for three seconds, then felt something slippery and itchy flowing down her cheek from her brow bone.
She touched it; it was blood.
Then I noticed a stone that had rolled down beside my feet, its sharp edges still stained with blood.
As the footsteps sounded, Yan Qing saw two figures running away quickly, one of whom even looked back a few times.
She didn't know if it was the tears that blurred her vision, but their running figures became distorted in her eyes, like two strokes of ink randomly splashed into boiling water.
The pain came late, but it was very clear. She took out the last two napkins and pressed them against the bleeding wound.
Her first thought was to call Zhuge Xiaoxiang. But she called several times and no one answered.
She thought, "I'll go back to my dorm first."
The amusement park's paths seemed to have melted and been reforged in the furnace-like air, becoming difficult to discern. She wandered around in a daze for several times before finally finding the exit.
The scorching sun was rapidly drying her body, and she was thirsty. A trace of blood stained the corner of her mouth, and she tasted its metallic sweetness.
She inexplicably recalled a phrase: "Laughing and talking about drinking the blood of the Huns." In other words, blood could be used to quench thirst. She gave a strange smile because of this thought.
If there were a second person nearby, seeing that beautiful, bloodstained, and mysteriously smiling face, it's hard to say whether they would be frightened or fascinated.
The phone rang, but it wasn't a call back from Zhuge Xiaoxiang.
Despite her current disheveled state, she remained surprisingly calm and readily accepted the call.
"Where?" Shen Hanyang's distinctively deep, magnetic voice came through the phone.
"Let's go for a walk in the park," she said, continuing her walk towards the park entrance.
"I'll come find you later, okay?"
"inconvenient."
"You don't want to see me." His voice was slightly low.
Yan Qing sighed, "President Shen, if you have a strong need for this, go to a place that specializes in this kind of service. I really can't help you."
Are you belittling me, or belittling yourself by saying that?
Yan Qing chuckled but didn't reply.
"Girl, why are you bleeding so much?!" The old man's booming voice startled the dozing pigeons, causing a cacophony of flapping wings.
Before Yan Qing could speak, the old man strode over, his worn red armband reading: Patrol.
"Did you fall and hurt yourself? Let's call 120!"
"No, thank you..." she said softly.
"Why not use it? You have such a big gash on your head, you need to go to the hospital to get it bandaged!"
The old man's kindness moved Yan Qing, but she also felt helpless. Even covering her phone, she couldn't stop his loud voice from coming through the microphone.
"Are you injured?" Shen Hanyang's tone immediately became tense.
"fine."
"Where are you?"
"It's none of your business, okay?" Yan Qing suddenly felt a surge of anger.
The experienced and intuitive patrolman immediately assessed the situation and shouted into the phone, "Fengqing Park, this girl has a head injury! Boyfriend/husband, come pick her up quickly! Oh dear, she's pale!"
"The closest hospital to Fengqing Park is Fuxing Hospital. Take a taxi there immediately. I'll be right there!" Shen Hanyang's voice was stern, brooking no refusal.
Yan Qing said weakly, "I understand. Please don't come. I can handle it myself."
"Now is not the time to be stubborn with me. Listen to me, call a taxi right now. No, I'll call one for you! Which gate of the park is closest to you?"
Yan Qing forgot to charge her phone before leaving home. The old phone was burning hot in the sweltering heat, and the battery was draining like water from a colander. The last three percent of battery power was barely keeping the signal strong; the sound from the earpiece was intermittent.
"Where...are you...at...the...door...I'm calling...a car...you...wait..."
Shen Hanyang was still saying something on the other end, but the fragmented words were finally swallowed up by a shutdown notification sound on the black phone screen.
Yan Qing thought about it and decided it didn't matter, so she continued walking towards the door.
Once outside, she realized she had no cash, her phone was dead, and Fengqing Park was two subway stops away from L University. She was hot, thirsty, her wound was throbbing, and she was dizzy; she simply lacked the courage to walk back to school in one go.
She found a pitiful shady spot under a row of immature magnolia trees outside the park and sat down in the shade. After resting for a while, she was amazed to find that the blood from the oozing spots was gradually congealing. A kind passerby left her a pack of tissues, which she used to wipe the dried and sweat-soaked bloodstains from her face.
A black Maybach came to an emergency stop on the side of the road.
A person got out from the driver's side, glanced at her, and without saying a word shoved her into the back seat.
She watched blankly as he cleaned his wound. He carelessly tossed the iodine-soaked cotton ball onto the carpet, and didn't seem to care that the yellowish-brown medicine dripped onto the light-colored leather chair. His wrist hung before her eyes, the fine lines of his skin and the purple veins beneath clearly visible.
"Tell me if it hurts." He stared at her wound, each movement gentle and careful. For a moment, his dark eyes met hers for two seconds before returning to her forehead.
“It doesn’t hurt,” she said.
She guessed that no vital organs had been injured, but for some reason, her reactions were always a beat slower from the moment she noticed the bleeding.
After treating the wound, he examined the area protected by sterile gauze for a while and said calmly, "It's disfigured."
Yan Qing's eyelids twitched involuntarily.
He sighed. She didn't know what this meant, but suspected that her wound was indeed serious, and her heart sank.
To my surprise, he suddenly laughed: "Even with scars, you'll still be beautiful."
As expected, old habits die hard; he's not being serious even at this moment.
Yan Qing moved to the side, deliberately creating some distance, but still didn't forget basic manners.
"Thank you, thank you for your help," she said.
"How did this happen?" Shen Hanyang put away his first-aid kit before slowly asking.
"I fell accidentally..."
"Coming to the park on such a hot day?" He sounded clearly skeptical.
"Yeah, I had nothing to do on holiday, so I came to browse around," she replied casually.
He gave an "oh," his tone ambiguous, seemingly both believing and disbelieving.
"You got injured but didn't go to the hospital, you just sat on the side of the road?"
"I plan to go back to my dorm later; there are band-aids there."
Shen Hanyang chuckled: "Should I praise your carefree attitude, or say you have a big heart?"
Yan Qing remained silent.
Shen Hanyang took a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her: "Your lips are so dry."
She unconsciously pursed her lips, but did not reach out to take it.
“Huang Yanxiang and Cheng Jiaming went swimming. She’s not as dumb as you,” he suddenly said.
Yan Qing's surprised expression immediately betrayed her self-deception.
"Huang Yanxiang arranged to meet Wu Chuan's child here at three o'clock in the afternoon, but she was just playing them, making them wait in the sun and come all this way for nothing. Who knew there would be such a fool as to be so brave as to show up alone without a word?" He smiled sarcastically, his words carrying a hint of praise.
Yan Qing couldn't help but explain herself: "Children this young sometimes don't know their own strength, so it's impossible not to worry..."
“Children’s fighting ability is indeed not to be underestimated.” Shen Hanyang stared at her forehead. “There are surveillance cameras in the park. You have the right to hold the perpetrator accountable.”
"No need," she said softly.
Shen Hanyang didn't continue to persuade her, as if her forbearance was entirely expected. He shoved a bottle of mineral water into her hand, turned, and got out of the car. She followed him toward the car door, but he stopped her: "Don't move."
Shen Hanyang returned to the driver's seat, fastened his seatbelt, and the car slowly drove away from Fengqing Park.
The temperature inside the carriage was just right. The familiar scent of cedar lingered around her nose, seeping into every pore of her skin with the cool air. Yan Qing had the illusion that she was in a forest.
She stole a glance at his cold, handsome features and the peak of his nose in the rearview mirror. Just the upper half of his face gave the impression of absolute aloofness and unapproachability. But for some reason, Yan Qing couldn't stop thinking about his smiling face. Yan Qing thought, surely that frivolous, lecherous smile was hidden in the unseen lower half of his face?
As Shen Hanyang was driving, his eyes darted around casually, and suddenly, their gazes met in the rearview mirror. Yan Qing didn't have time to look away, and he smiled.
He laughed, and his thick, dark eyelashes fluttered.
Yan Qing had a sudden, inexplicable thought: those eyelashes must be very prickly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
