Secret Past (6)
Jiang Yingying didn't sleep all night and kept her eyes open until dawn. When Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi got up, they saw her curled up in bed alone. The bruises under her eyes scared them both.
The two sat down beside Jiang Yingying's bed, and Qu Qing patted her.
"Yingying, what's wrong with you? Didn't you sleep well last night?"
Zhu Zhi squatted beside her bed and asked.
"Sister Yingying, what's wrong with you?"
The two girls' glaring eyes made Jiang Yingying feel even more confused. She didn't know whether she should tell them what she heard last night.
What if it's fake? What if I'm dreaming?
However, if it is true, then Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi are likely to be killed by Li Ming, and his own life will be in danger.
If Uncle Li really wanted to die, Li Ming's love for him could only delay his death.
What should I do? What should I do?
Seeing that Jiang Yingying didn't say anything and her lips were bitten white, Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi's expressions became even more confused.
"What's wrong with you?"
Jiang Yingying hesitated for a long time, but finally decided to tell what she heard last night.
She clutched the quilt and lowered her head, her voice intermittent.
"I, last night..."
"What last night?"
Qu Qing was asking questions following Jiang Yingying's words when the conversation between the three was interrupted by an impatient knock on the door. Li Ying's voice came from outside the door, which scared Jiang Yingying so much that her face turned pale and she pursed her lips even tighter.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
"Why aren't you three coming out yet? What time is it?"
"Come out quickly, it's time to eat!"
Seeing Jiang Yingying like this, Qu Qing knew that he couldn't get anything out of her, so he had to pull her out of bed, intending to go out and ask her some more questions.
"Come on, Yingying, shall we go out first?"
"...Um."
Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi sandwiched Jiang Yingying out of the dormitory, trying their best not to let anyone notice her abnormality. Zhu Zhi stood behind Jiang Yingying and silently held her hand.
Everyone living in the orphanage eats at the same table, and Uncle Li doesn't allow anyone to leave.
Jiang Yingying went to wash up first, washed her face in front of the mirror, and only returned to the dining table after her complexion looked a little more normal.
From the moment Jiang Yingying entered, Li Ming's eyes were always on her. Although she was very uneasy, she didn't show it on her face. Jiang Yingying looked up and met Li Ming's eyes, forced a smile at him, and then sat between Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi.
The meal was no different from usual, but Jiang Yingying had no appetite at all.
Who knows if they'll put something in the food?
Jiang Yingying glanced at the crowd inconspicuously. There were only eight children left in the orphanage, plus Uncle Li and his two sons, there were a total of eleven people present.
Jiang Yingying began to sweat coldly. She didn't dare to think about how many people these three people had killed.
Li Ming noticed that something was wrong with her, put down his chopsticks and stared at her.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Jiang Yingying was startled by Li Ming's sudden voice. Her eyes wandered for a while before she lowered her head and replied:
"I, my stomach hurts, I don't feel like eating."
Jiang Yingying lowered her head and didn't see Li Ming's expression. She just caught a glimpse of him pausing for a moment, putting down his chopsticks and leaving, not knowing where he went.
Upon hearing this, Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi turned their heads and asked her.
"Yingying, are you having menstrual cramps?"
Jiang Yingying's mind was in a mess and she nodded randomly.
Uncle Li didn't allow the children to leave during the meal. Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi looked at each other and decided to think of a solution after they finished eating.
The dinner table returned to its usual silence. Everyone was eating the food on their plates silently, only Jiang Yingying was staring at the porridge in front of her in a daze.
Jiang Yingying stirred the porridge in the bowl with a spoon, thinking about how to get away with it, when a ringtone rang. It was Uncle Li's cell phone.
Uncle Li took out his cell phone, glanced at it, frowned and walked out. Jiang Yingying watched secretly, intending to take this opportunity to slip away.
As luck would have it, Li Ming came back and put a cup of red hot water and two capsules in front of Jiang Yingying.
"...What's this?"
"Brown sugar water and painkillers."
"Drink it, then take the medicine. If you don't want to eat breakfast, don't eat it."
Li Ming stared at her, and Jiang Yingying swallowed the food under pressure. After drinking, Jiang Yingying took advantage of this gap to pull away Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi who had finished eating, and the three of them went to the bathroom in the girls' dormitory.
Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi surrounded her, speaking in anxious tones.
"Yingying, are you okay? Why didn't you tell me you were having your period?"
"Yeah, I was shocked to see you look so pale this morning."
Jiang Yingying did not respond to the two people's concern, but just looked around the bathroom, thinking about how to escape from this place.
The bathroom was very shabby, with old-fashioned floral tiles on the walls. The windows were very high and had been sealed with wire from the outside. Jiang Yingying's plan was immediately shattered.
Seeing this, Zhu Zhi tugged at her sleeve and asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing, just follow me."
Jiang Yingying took the two of them to the compartment and, in a voice that only the three of them could hear, told them everything she had heard last night.
As expected, the two people's faces turned pale after hearing this.
"They...killed people in the basement?"
Zhu Zhi was both afraid and unconvinced. She asked, "No, it can't be... Uncle Li asked me about my homework a few days ago. Besides, doesn't Li Ming like you? Will he really kill us?"
"Are you having a nightmare?"
Jiang Yingying was anxious and hurriedly explained:
"It's true! I was really awake at the time, and I hadn't slept all night. I wanted to tell you this in the morning..."
Qu Qing paused for a moment. She didn't think Jiang Yingying was talking in her sleep. Thinking back to the way Jiang Yingying curled up in bed in the morning, it couldn't be an act.
Qu Qing touched his chin and said:
"So, if we are the next to die, are we going to just sit there and wait for death?"
Jiang Yingying shook her head with a pale face. She didn't know what to do.
Zhu Zhi still didn't believe it, so he simply asked the question in his heart: "But if they wanted to kill us, why didn't they do it before?"
Jiang Yingying calculated the age based on the boy who disappeared before.
"The boy who disappeared just turned eighteen not long ago. And if you think about it, don't many children who grew up here disappear after they become adults?"
Zhu Zhi understood, and his expression changed from hesitation to shock.
"Do they have to wait until everyone is an adult before taking action?"
Qu Qingying said: "It's possible, and I remember that when the three of them came, they renovated the basement and didn't allow us to go in. Is there something in there that we don't know about?"
"No, we have to find a chance to escape."
Qu Qing held the two men's hands together, and the three of them held their hands tightly. The warmth from the palms of their hands calmed the three of them down a lot.
The orphanage does not restrict personal freedom, and the children go to school in the next town. The three decided to find an excuse to go out and then call the police.
The three girls came out of the bathroom and planned to go back to the room to get the pocket money they had secretly saved as travel expenses, but when they came out, they were face to face with Li Ming who entered the room.
The three girls' expressions changed instantly. Fortunately, Qu Qing maintained her expression relatively well. She was the first to ask Li Ming what happened.
Li Ming was panting and said to the three girls:
"Hurry, pack up and send your things, we have to move out!"
The three girls responded in unison:
"Move away?!"
Li Ming's forehead was covered with sweat. He didn't explain anything anymore. He just asked them to pack up quickly and everyone had to leave before noon, and then he left in a hurry.
Jiang Yingying didn't know why, but when she thought of the phone call Uncle Li suddenly received at the dinner table this morning, she had a bad feeling in her heart.
She told the other two girls this information. Qu Qing pondered for a moment and decided to hold off for now, so as not to alert the enemy. She would follow Li Ming first and then find a chance to escape along the way.
"If we run now, they will definitely get suspicious. Let's just follow them and don't alert them."
"Besides, we don't know if the other kids know about this. Leaving suddenly would draw too much attention. If these three people team up with the other kids to look for us, we'd be dead."
Qu Qing's analysis and explanation were very reasonable. Jiang Yingying and Zhu Zhi agreed, and the three of them began to pack up. During this time, Li Ming came over from time to time to urge them.
"Don't take too much stuff! We'll talk about it when we get over there!"
They actually had very little stuff, just some clothes and personal belongings, and all important documents were left with Uncle Li.
While cleaning up, Jiang Yingying opened the drawer and found the pink hairpin inside had turned yellow and the bow on it was about to fall off.
Li Ming's urging voice outside the house continued. Jiang Yingying picked up the hairpin, her eyes flickered for a moment, and finally put it back in the drawer, picked up the mechanical watch next to it, and went out with Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi.
That mechanical watch was also given to her by Li Ming one day, but it looked very expensive, so Jiang Yingying didn't wear it often.
Li Ming's urging was too urgent, and most of the people in the yard were just carrying bags. Jiang Yingying looked around and felt that this was not about moving, but more like escaping.
There were ten people in the group, led by two adults, Li Ming and Li Ying. There were only three girls, including Jiang Yingying, and the remaining five were boys, chatting in groups of two or three.
Moreover, she noticed that Uncle Li was not in the crowd.
Seeing that everyone was gathered, Li Ming led everyone out. Jiang Yingying and the other two girls held hands and planned to walk behind the group, hoping to take advantage of the chaos to find a chance to escape.
Jiang Yingying was a little nervous, her palms were sweating, but her expression remained normal. Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi noticed something was wrong with her and pinched her palms.
The three girls looked at each other in the crowd, and they all thought of the same thing tacitly.
You must survive!
But what they didn't expect was that before the team set off, Li Ming, who had been walking in front with Li Ying, suddenly came up behind them and became the last person in the team. Li Ying and Li Ming, one in front and one behind, blocked the three people's way.
The three girls' eyes met again, but no one spoke.
Jiang Yingying felt a little flustered, as she felt like Li Ming had discovered something. Qu Qing followed the group, secretly scanning the surroundings, looking for a way out. Zhu Zhi, the youngest, became nervous and trembled.
A group of people came out of the orphanage and walked in the woods. Few people came to this forest, and the nearest village was far away. It was impossible for them to call for help. They had no communication equipment, so calling the police was even more impossible.
The trees were very close together, with only a small path in the middle. Jiang Yingying didn't know where this path led to.
After walking for a while, Jiang Yingying saw that Zhu Zhi was becoming more and more nervous, and Li Ming was looking at them from time to time. She thought about it, let go of her hand and walked to Li Ming's side.
Jiang Yingying pulled at the shoulder straps of her schoolbag with both hands, pursed her lips, and looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Seeing this, Li Ming turned his gaze back to Jiang Yingying.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Yingying raised her eyes to look at him, then lowered them after a few seconds and asked:
"Why are we moving out so suddenly? And where's Uncle Li?"
"Why didn't Uncle Li come?"
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