Chapter 32
The faint light brought by the choir rehearsals could not dispel all the gloom that shrouded Xu Nianlei's life. It was like a lone lamp in the dark night, illuminating the small space beneath her feet, but unable to change the boundless darkness around her.
On Saturday evening, Lu Baiyan came out of the library; it was already dark. He pushed his bicycle, habitually taking a detour, passing the street near Xu Nianlei's house. In the distance, he saw a small circle of people gathered under the old building, and he could vaguely hear a woman's shrill cries and a man's rude roars.
Lu Baiyan's heart sank suddenly, a strong sense of foreboding gripping him. He quickened his pace, casually leaned his bicycle against the wall, and squeezed into the crowd.
The sight before him made his blood almost freeze instantly.
Wang Xiuqin sat on the ground, her hair disheveled, pounding the ground and wailing, "Xu Jianguo, you're not human! Do you even want my daughter and me to live?! Give me back my money! That's what I saved to pay for Nianlei's tuition next semester!"
Xu Jianguo, the man, his face flushed and reeking of alcohol, was roughly rummaging through Wang Xiuqin's tattered handbag, throwing its contents haphazardly on the ground—coins, keys, and crumpled receipts scattered everywhere.
"Get out of here, you bitch! What's wrong with me taking some money? What's the point of this brat studying? What a waste of money! She should just get married already!" Xu Jianguo cursed and kicked Wang Xiuqin away as she tried to snatch the money.
Beside them, Xu Nianlei stood there like a soulless statue, her face deathly pale, her lips bitten so hard they were almost bleeding. She stared blankly at the grotesque scene before her, her eyes vacant, as if the people fighting weren't her parents, but complete strangers. Only her tightly clenched fists, nails digging deep into her palms, betrayed the overwhelming pain and despair within her.
The neighbors pointed and whispered among themselves, some shaking their heads and sighing, others looking disdainful, but no one actually stepped forward to stop them.
Lu Baiyan felt a rush of blood to his head, and his vision blurred. He knew Xu Jianguo was a scoundrel, but he never imagined he could be so shameless as to openly steal his daughter's tuition fees!
He almost lost control and rushed forward to beat that scumbag to a pulp. But his remaining rationality told him that violence wouldn't solve the problem; it would only make the situation more chaotic and embarrass Xu Nianlei even more.
Just as he was forcibly suppressing his anger and thinking about how to deal with it, Xu Jianguo seemed to have found something in Wang Xiuqin's bag, cursed, threw the empty bag on the ground, and staggered away.
"You can't leave! Give me back my money!" Wang Xiuqin rushed forward like a madwoman, clinging tightly to Xu Jianguo's leg.
"Get out of here!" Xu Jianguo kicked him impatiently.
Wang Xiuqin screamed and was kicked to the ground.
At that very moment, Xu Nianlei, who had been as still as a stone statue, suddenly moved. Like a small beast driven to the brink of despair, she let out a shrill, inhuman scream and charged towards Xu Jianguo!
"You're not allowed to hit my mom!"
She used all her strength to ram into Xu Jianguo. But she was too thin and weak; Xu Jianguo only staggered slightly before slapping Xu Nianlei hard across the face!
"Smack!"
The crisp sound, like a thunderclap, exploded in the silent air.
Xu Nianlei's head was turned to the side by the blow, and clear red marks from five fingers instantly appeared on her fair cheek, with a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. She swayed, but did not fall down. Instead, she raised her head and stared intently at Xu Jianguo with her terrifyingly empty eyes.
There was no fear or tears in those eyes, only a kind of almost insane, cold hatred.
Xu Jianguo felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze, cursed her as a "madwoman," pushed through the crowd, and hurriedly slipped away.
One of the main characters in the farce left, and the crowd gradually dispersed, leaving behind only a mess on the ground and Wang Xiuqin, who was slumped on the ground crying, and Xu Nianlei, whose cheeks were red and swollen, whose eyes were empty, and who was standing still.
Lu Baiyan stood rooted to the spot, his feet seemingly nailed to the ground. He stared at the glaring red marks on Xu Nianlei's face, at the bloodstains at the corner of her mouth, at her eyes that had lost all their luster, leaving only death and hatred. His heart felt as if it were being pierced by countless needles, the pain almost suffocating him.
He had never seen Xu Nianlei like this before. Before, she was reserved, fearful, and humble. But now, she was like a string that had been completely crushed and then forcibly tightened, filled with an aura of destruction.
Wang Xiuqin cried for a while before seemingly realizing her daughter's abnormality. She struggled to get up and was startled when she saw the injuries on Xu Nianlei's face and that terrifying look in her eyes. Her voice was filled with lingering fear and displaced anger: "Why...why did you rush up there? Could you have beaten him? Look at your face! You're so shameful!"
Xu Nianlei showed no reaction, her eyes still fixed on the direction Xu Jianguo had left in.
Wang Xiuqin picked up her things from the ground, cursing, and pulled at Xu Nianlei: "What are you still standing there for? Aren't you embarrassed enough? Go back!"
Xu Nianlei, like a soulless puppet, was half-dragged and half-pulled back behind the dark red iron gate by her mother.
"Bang!"
The door closed. It shut out the outside world, and it seemed to shut out all hope as well.
Lu Baiyan stood there, the night wind brushing against his cold cheeks. The air seemed to still carry the smell of alcohol, the sound of crying and cursing, and the echo of that slap.
He slowly raised his hand, looking at his slightly trembling fingertips. An unprecedented sense of powerlessness and anger almost consumed him. He thought he could slowly change things, could gradually pull her out of the mire. But reality told him in the cruelest way that some abysses are bottomless, and some hurts are etched into the depths of one's heart.
Her tuition fees were stolen, she was publicly humiliated, and for the first time, she even showed that desperate and hateful look in her eyes… Lu Baiyan couldn't imagine what kind of torment she was going through behind the door at this moment. Would that taut string snap completely in the next moment?
He looked up at the night sky above the city, which was dyed dark red by neon lights and where no stars could be seen, and felt as if something was tightly blocking his throat.
Leilei... I'm sorry... I was too slow and did too little.
He knew he couldn't continue like this. Conventional, mild methods were useless against someone as utterly shameless as Xu Jianguo. He had to take a more direct and effective approach, even if it meant taking some risks.
He turned around, pushed his bicycle, and his figure disappeared into the deep night, his eyes becoming colder and more determined than ever before.
Xu Jianguo, this is your own doing. You messed with the person you shouldn't have, and now you have to pay the heaviest price.
This time, he will not merely protect her. He will take the initiative and sever the poisonous hand that is constantly dragging her into the abyss.
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