Chapter 9
Chapter Summary: "Silly child, how could a rich family only have one garage?"
That was a face I will never forget.
In some places, the skin was clumped together, and in others, it was so smooth that it reflected a white light. Combined with the shapeless eye sockets, although she shouldn't think of it this way, she couldn't find a more fitting adjective than "horrible".
What's even more terrifying is that the person's face, neck, and arms were also covered in deep furrows, and their fingers appeared to be missing.
Ni Zhenzhen wasn't unaware of how she should behave in this situation so as not to upset the other party.
But she failed.
The helplessness and "I knew it" frustration in the man's eyes made her feel very guilty.
"I..." Any words of comfort seemed so pale, and an apology without reason felt more like an irony.
Fortunately, the elderly woman's family seemed to be used to such scenes and did not let the awkward atmosphere continue.
The old lady apologized to her, "I'm so sorry, I scared you..."
"No." As Ni Zhenzhen smiled, her nose tingled and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Honestly, she didn't want to cry, but she just couldn't control herself.
Ni Zhenzhen turned her back, and it took her a while to calm down. She took out her phone and called Xu Tianzhou, "Could you come over for a moment?"
That face also had a significant impact on Xu Tianzhou.
No explanation is needed; with just one glance, the questions that were previously met with mockery are answered.
No wonder the old lady went begging, no wonder the person inside drew the curtains and closed the door, and it's not hard to understand why he became addicted to games and virtual worlds.
Xu Tianzhou said nothing and asked nothing. Instead, he blamed Ni Zhenzhen for speaking vaguely and with a sobbing voice on the phone, saying, "I thought something had happened and scared me half to death."
Apart from that, Xu Tianzhou did not reveal any further emotions.
He nodded to the man, then turned to the old woman, his demeanor relaxed and his tone unhurried, "The dumplings were delicious, and she even found peanuts in them, right?"
Xu Tianzhou gave Ni Zhenzhen a look.
Before she could even be shocked that Xu Tianzhou had actually eaten the old lady's dumplings instead of throwing them away, Ni Zhenzhen immediately realized, "Yes, they were especially delicious. Looks like we're about to have good luck."
She smiled sweetly, like spring flowers in full bloom.
The others laughed too.
The old lady said with satisfaction, "It's good that it's delicious. I have some more here, you can take some more."
“Okay.” Ni Zhenzhen did not refuse, and explained to the old lady’s son, “These days, it’s not easy to get handmade dumplings.”
"That's true."
The two heard the old lady's son speak for the first time; although it was only a few words, they had a comforting power.
It's somewhat ironic that two able-bodied people need comfort from someone who is severely disfigured.
After taking the dumplings, the two said goodbye to the old lady.
As the elevator doors closed, Ni Zhenzhen and Xu Tianzhou, who had been cheerful just moments before, simultaneously lost their enthusiasm.
Along the way, Ni Zhenzhen held the dumplings, and Xu Tianzhou carried Ni Zhenzhen's bag; neither of them spoke.
The rain stopped, the ground was wet, and the white light from the streetlights looked like a handful of shattered diamonds.
Ni Zhenzhen kept her head down, "How could this happen..."
Last night, Ni Zhenzhen tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She had initially worried that the old woman would be homeless, but it turned out the old woman was doing well. However, she still felt something was amiss; the old woman's son was behaving very strangely. Was there some unspeakable reason behind his behavior?
Determined to find out the truth, Ni Zhenzhen went there after get off work, and the result was even more shocking than she had imagined.
It turned out that the old lady's son saw others making money by running a transport business and wanted to try it too. He not only invested his own savings but also borrowed money from others. As a result, he was involved in a serious car accident on his first trip and suffered burns all over his body. It was a great stroke of luck that he survived.
Over the years, medical expenses have amounted to two or three million yuan, but the scars on her face are still very noticeable. As a result, the old woman's son is too afraid to go out. Later, in order to make a living, he tried to find work, but people rejected him as soon as they saw his appearance.
Although she hadn't experienced it firsthand, Ni Zhenzhen could imagine how difficult it must have been. The more she thought about it, the sadder she became, and she couldn't help but sob softly.
"Don't cry." Xu Tianzhou handed her a piece of paper.
For a considerable period of time, Xu Tianzhou constantly complained about the unfairness of fate.
He came from a humble background and lived a hard life, but everyone around him was in similar circumstances. He was also favored by his teachers because of his good grades, so he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with it.
Everything changed when I transferred to an international school.
The fact that he lived in the underground parking garage quickly spread throughout the school, and the remaining speculations about his identity vanished.
"He is indeed a student from a very poor family. You didn't see that place, tsk tsk, there isn't even a toilet..."
His classmates, who had previously mistakenly believed he was the illegitimate son of some important figure, held a grudge and cursed Xu Tianzhou as a liar.
It's a good thing he told everyone about his "discovery" so they would be more discreet and not offend Xu Tianzhou easily. Now that the truth has come out, he's been thoroughly ridiculed as well.
In an attempt to save face, he grabbed Xu Tianzhou by the collar in full view of everyone. Had others not intervened, he would have beaten Xu Tianzhou.
Ni Zhenzhen also found out.
Although she didn't say a word, her eyes suddenly showed a lot of sympathy, which made him very disgusted.
Little did they know this was just the beginning.
One evening, he had just stepped out of the elevator when he saw a group of people standing at the garage entrance in the distance.
Xu Tianzhou rushed over and found that the family's belongings had been thrown out and piled up messily on the floor, with his mother sitting in the middle, crying helplessly.
The people were very polite, explaining to her again and again, "No one can live in the underground parking garage. This is for your own good. Please leave now."
Actually, this wasn't the first time their family had been kicked out; when Xu Tianzhou first arrived, they lived on the rooftop.
Yes, not the top floor, but the rooftop.
It was a prefabricated house built on the roof by the top-floor owner. Xu Tianzhou later learned that it was an "illegal structure".
Prefabricated houses are cold in winter and hot in summer, and are drafty on all sides.
One night, he had just fallen asleep when he was startled awake by a clap of thunder. Raindrops fell on the roof and pattered all night.
The most terrifying days are windy days; that's a fear I still can't shake off. You never know when the wind will stop, and just when you finally breathe a sigh of relief, an even stronger gust comes.
At that time, Xu Tianzhou was always worried about how to get through the winter, but before winter even arrived, they were reported, and the family had to find another place to live.
Actually, his family didn't need to be so poor, it's just that sending him to an international school was too expensive.
Although the school waived his tuition, there were still many other expenses, such as school uniform fees, meal fees, and exam fees. But even if those were the main expenses, the key issue was that they still needed to set aside money for studying abroad, so they could only try their best to save money.
When the family where the mother worked as a part-time cleaner heard that they had nowhere to live, they agreed to let them stay in their underground garage.
"They already felt bad enough for letting you enroll, and now they're even providing you with accommodation."
Xu Tianzhou was a little worried: "We live in an underground parking garage, where will they park their cars?"
The mother chuckled: "Silly child, how could a wealthy family only have one garage?"
Xu Tianzhou laughed at himself for being foolish. No wonder his classmates laughed at him; he really was ignorant.
It was at that time that Xu Tianzhou truly felt the gap between himself and his classmates.
Rich people don't just own a garage, they don't even own a home.
Because the incident happened so suddenly that day, the family couldn't find a place to live after moving out of the underground garage, so they had to sleep in the van that the father used to haul goods for the night.
The only good thing was that the weather was nice that day; there was no wind or rain, and it wasn't scorching hot or freezing cold. It was arguably the best season in the city.
Xu Tianzhou still remembers that night: there were familiar sounds of insects chirping and birds singing, as well as his father's sighs and his mother's sobs.
Forced into a corner, the parents had no choice but to steel themselves and rent a house in a nearby village.
Only then did his family finally live a relatively stable life. Later, as graduation approached, there were rumors of a crackdown, but fortunately, nothing came of it, and Xu Tianzhou stayed there until graduation.
From transferring to an international school to graduating with a master's degree, Xu Tianzhou's life over the past few years can be described as turbulent, yet despite this, he has never truly despaired.
But for the old woman's son, his nightmare would never end.
When the two returned home, the lights came on, and the dilapidated little house was bathed in a warm glow.
The old house has poor sound insulation, and it gets noisy at night.
The old man next door has hearing problems and turns the TV on loudly, so Ni Zhenzhen doesn't have time to watch dramas, but she does know what the TV station has been showing recently.
On the other side, there was the sound of a piano. The young pianist was still at the stage of playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and from time to time, one could hear the mother's desperate shouts and the little girl's cries.
It was quiet here, but there.
In the bedroom, Ni Zhenzhen had a face mask on and was ironing her clothes with an electric iron, giving off a rather petit-bourgeois vibe.
Xu Tianzhou found it funny.
Everyone says Ni Zhenzhen is kind, but in his eyes she's nothing special.
She cares so much about other people's suffering, but why doesn't she actually act like a bodhisattva and solve other people's real problems?
It's someone else's life, after all. It's like watching a movie meant to kill time. You watch it, you cry, and then it's over when the lights come on.
Perhaps you'll think of it occasionally and feel a pang of sadness, but what good does it do for the real sufferers?
As Xu Tianzhou was thinking, Ni Zhenzhen suddenly exclaimed, "Ah..." and then quickly jumped a few steps away.
"What's wrong?" Xu Tianzhou immediately threw the book aside and asked with concern.
Ni Zhenzhen sighed, "It's leaking again." Luckily, she dodged quickly and wasn't burned by the water leaking from the iron.
Xu Tianzhou said, "You should buy a new one."
Ni Zhenzhen sighed again, "It's not to the point where it's unusable."
A few days later, several senior executives of Cinda Group gathered again in the conference room on the 58th floor of Huijing Center.
Everyone had arrived, except for Xu Tianzhou.
Su Wenjin sat with his legs crossed, relaxed, his suit and tie impeccably tailored, and his wristwatch gleaming. He placed his phone on the table and said to everyone, "Mr. Xu said he might be a little late."
Hearing that Xu Tianzhou would be arriving later, it was like hearing that their most dreaded exam had been postponed; the group couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The tense atmosphere dissipated, and everyone began chatting casually.
At this moment, the secretary was pouring water for Su Wenjin. The emerald green tea leaves tumbled up and down, and the refreshing aroma filled every corner.
As the cup gently fell, a dark, unfathomable glint appeared in Su Wenjin's eyes.
"Nice clothes," Su Wenjin said quietly. When his secretary turned around, he added, "They suit you very well."
The secretary was slightly taken aback, with only one thought in her mind.
He noticed it.
A few days ago, Su Wenjin suddenly stopped her and said that she was not old, so why did she dress so seriously every day?
The secretary was at a loss for what to do.
She liked pink and often wore pink clothes when she was in school. Later, her mother said that working people should be more mature, so she learned from the people in the company and bought clothes suitable for commuting. She didn't dare to choose anything too flashy, and she always dressed in the safest way.
Unexpectedly, she was scolded by her boss for this issue.
A few days later, the secretary found an extra sum of money in her salary. She asked the finance department if there was a mistake, and the finance department said there was no mistake, "The extra money is for clothing expenses."
The secretary then realized that Su Wenjin was not just saying it casually.
Since Su Wenjin had made the request, she had to show some results, so she specially took the time to go to the mall to buy clothes and get her hair done.
Actually, she had changed her outfit a few days ago, and her colleagues in the office had already noticed. It wasn't until today that Su Wenjin realized it.
Because of Su Wenjin's praise, everyone looked over. Being a girl, the secretary was shy and seemed a little embarrassed.
A middle-aged man joked, "These days, you don't compliment young girls on their looks anymore; you should say they're smart and independent."
Another person said, "Yes, what do you call that, what kind of gaze?"
The finance manager, a woman, was replying to emails on her computer at the time. When she heard the man's words, she looked up, her eyes behind her glasses revealing a hint of disdain. Although she was clearly reminding him, it was as if she was deliberately emphasizing something. She said, word by word, "It's a male gaze."
"Yes, the male gaze."
Everyone else was smiling maliciously, but Su Wenjin looked helpless: "Do you really think I'm that kind of shallow person?"
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