Chapter 10
The fox had a fox tail-shaped mark on its left ear, which Xu Qingzhou discovered on the very first day after he picked the fox up in the rain.
The mark is delicately shaped and fluid, dark blue, and looks somewhat like a tattoo.
Therefore, Xu Qingzhou always believed that Chi Jun had a real master, and the mark on its ear was specially tattooed on it by its master to prevent it from getting lost.
But in the end, it still got lost.
So the next day, Xu Qingzhou deliberately posted a notice on the tree next to the trash can where Chi Jun was found, asking for the fox to find its "owner". However, no one came to claim it for half a month, so Xu Qingzhou decided to keep the fox.
How could a very ordinary tattoo glow?
Xu Qingzhou found it unbelievable, rubbed his eyes, put down his pen, walked closer, and squatted down in front of the fox to look at it.
—Sure enough, she was seeing things.
She stared at it for a long time without blinking, until her eyes became sore and teary, but she still couldn't see any more signs of light.
Xu Qingzhou shook his head with amusement.
She was completely obsessed; she actually saw the fox's ears glowing and went on to believe that her fox was extraordinary.
Just then, a faint wind began to blow outside.
Xu Qingzhou turned his head and looked at the gray sky outside. He remembered that on Friday, the homeroom teacher reminded him that the weather forecast said there would be a typhoon on Sunday, and day students would not need to go to school for self-study on Sunday.
I just don't know when the typhoon will arrive.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Qingzhou decided to go to the corridor outside and cook lunch in advance. He then washed a bunch of things, including pots, pans, and spoons, and brought them all inside, closing the windows.
As it turned out, her proactive move was very wise.
Almost as soon as she finished tidying up, the dark clouds began to shed raindrops, and the wind picked up noticeably. The door was slammed against the wall with a loud bang and bounced back heavily.
Xu Qingzhou was startled and quickly stepped forward to close the wooden door as well.
Just as she was closing the door, she seemed to remember something and glanced twice in the direction of Zhang Pengfei's house diagonally across the street.
I haven't seen Sister Qinjia or the twins since this morning.
Xu Qingzhou didn't know what Qin Jia's attitude was towards what she had said last night. Perhaps she was scared, grateful? Or perhaps... she simply thought Qin Jia was trying to sow discord and meddling in other people's business...
Xu Qingzhou sighed softly and closed the door.
I really hope that she's just overthinking things.
*
After sleeping in a daze all morning, Chi Jun's strength has recovered somewhat.
At noon, he barely managed to get up and had lunch with Xu Qingzhou. After lunch, he continued to sleep in the cardboard box, while Xu Qingzhou sat at his small desk doing practice problems amidst the increasingly heavy wind and rain outside.
The typhoon is coming with great force, but morale is soaring.
The windows rattled loudly as the wind banged against them. Almost all the tenants stayed inside, and the entire rental compound was blurred by the rain. Every now and then, leaves and styrofoam boxes were blown into the air, their destinations unknown.
It was still afternoon, but the sky was darker and more gloomy than usual in the evening.
Xu Qingzhou turned on the light and spent half the day writing papers.
As evening fell, she looked out the back window and saw that many tall trees in the dense forest behind the house, where the fox often hid and slept, had broken branches, and the houses in the distance were so blurred by the rain that they could not be seen at all.
The hurricane was still roaring wildly.
Xu Qingzhou was glad that he had steamed some buns a couple of days ago, so he wouldn't have to go out to cook dinner for a few days and could fill his stomach.
That evening, she reheated four steamed buns in the rice cooker. She ate two herself first, and seeing that the fox was still asleep, she put the other two in the pot to keep them warm.
It wasn't until almost seven o'clock that Xu Qingzhou felt the fox needed to eat, so he took two steamed buns and handed them to the fox.
The fox looked like a wilted eggplant, listless. When it smelled the steamed buns, it only managed to lift its droopy eyelids to glance at her before closing them again.
Xu Qingzhou found it strange.
Shouldn't sleeping make you more energetic? Why is the fox's condition getting worse?
She put the buns aside and carefully touched the fox's body again. This time, Xu Qingzhou finally noticed something was wrong—the fox was trembling.
I wonder if it was because of the sudden drop in temperature that I caught a chill.
Xu Qingzhou looked at the raging wind and rain outside, frowned and thought for a moment. He first took out a small blanket and covered the fox with it, planning to take it to the vet after the wind and rain subsided.
But even though the decision was made, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease.
For the next hour, Xu Qingzhou checked the fox's body temperature repeatedly.
My mood grew increasingly anxious with each test.
Because in addition to trembling, the fox's body was also noticeably hot.
In this situation, going to a veterinary hospital is obviously not a practical option.
Even if you manage to reach your destination by braving the wind and wading through water, it's uncertain whether the hospital will be open in such severe weather.
Xu Qingzhou could only move the fox to the cold ground, wet a towel and cover it with water repeatedly to help it cool down physically.
However, it had no effect.
The fox's body temperature did not drop at all; on the contrary, it seemed to be rising.
Xu Qingzhou's eyes turned red with anxiety.
Once again, without much confidence, I wrung out the towel and laid it on the fox. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and half of the window was blown open and slammed against the wall.
A howling wind rushed in, and the things on the small dining table rolled to the ground with a bang, even the wet towel in Xu Qingzhou's hand was blown away.
Rain began pouring in immediately. Xu Qingzhou quickly got up and climbed onto the bed, struggling to close the window again. When the window handles wouldn't close properly, he hurriedly grabbed a towel and used it to secure the two handles, tying them into a tight knot.
Even so, the rainwater still poured down the window and kept pouring in through the bottom window cracks.
The bed against the wall was already one-third wet.
Xu Qingzhou finally managed to find some rags and towels, which he cut and tore into pieces to block the window cracks. He then used all his strength to push the bed half a meter towards the center of the room. He was soaked from head to toe. However, when he checked the fox's body, he found that it had a high fever and its breathing had become weak.
Even when she pried open its eyelids, the fox just rolled its eyes back and didn't react at all.
It was like a dead thing.
At this moment, anxiety and embarrassment finally intertwined and erupted.
Whether it was her imagination or not, Xu Qingzhou looked outside and felt that the wind and rain seemed to have lessened a little bit compared to before.
She looked outside, gritted her teeth, and finally lost her composure in her anxiety. She quickly changed her shoes, grabbed her keys and wallet, wrapped the fox in a small blanket, picked up her umbrella, and went out.
As soon as the wooden door was opened, the remaining wind, carrying rain, roared and rushed in.
Xu Qingzhou turned sideways to shield the fox in his arms and opened the umbrella.
Pushing open the security door, the umbrella was unexpectedly swept away by the wind.
Xu Qingzhou suddenly looked up, just as a bolt of lightning cleaved through the sky. She saw the yellow umbrella fly away in the dark corridor, and a man wearing a black raincoat and boots, soaking wet from head to toe, rudely slapping the umbrella behind him.
The corridor was pitch black, and the man stood there, his eyes fixed on her, like a demon that had just crawled out of hell amidst the lightning and thunder.
He exuded a sinister and malevolent aura.
It's Zhang Pengfei!
An overwhelming sense of danger surged in from all directions, and Xu Qingzhou instinctively turned and rushed into the house.
The moment he turned around and locked the door, Zhang Pengfei was already outside the security door.
Although Zhang Pengfei was considered thin for a man, as an adult male, he was much stronger than Xu Qingzhou. He gripped the doorpost and pried the door open, then pushed Xu Qingzhou inside.
Xu Qingzhou fell to the ground, and the fox rolled out of his arms.
She instinctively tried to find something to protect herself, and just as she was about to get up, Zhang Pengfei grabbed her arm and shoved her backward. Her back hit the ground, and Xu Qingzhou saw stars from the pain.
She watched helplessly as Zhang Pengfei quickly locked the door from the inside, then turned around and grabbed her collar tightly.
"Where are my wife and children?!"
Xu Qingzhou shook his head.
The lights were off inside, but the continuous flashes of lightning illuminated the room as bright as day, revealing Zhang Pengfei's狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious/hideous) and distorted face.
He gripped her collar tightly, making it hard for Xu Qingzhou to breathe. She tried to pry Zhang Pengfei's hand away, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably from intense fear.
This is a beautiful and delicate face; when she cries, her face is like a pear blossom in the rain, making her all the more pitiful.
In the past, Zhang Pengfei might have felt some pity, but now, facing that face, he felt only hatred.
Only hatred!
He couldn't understand how this seemingly weak and easily manipulated girl could be so stubborn that he hated her to the point of grinding his teeth.
If she hadn't been so stubborn, he would have already paid off his debts with the fox. Why would he have had to kneel down like a grandson and beg for a few more days, only to be beaten and injured all over? And why would he have accidentally hit someone and lost face while drowning his sorrows in alcohol, not only incurring medical expenses but also now being unable to hold his head up in front of his neighbors in the courtyard?
Finally...
He finally found a way to make some money by taking photos and videos of his two daughters and uploading them online. The traffic and tips were pretty good, and he was paying off his debts in installments. But then that brat came out of nowhere and ruined his plans!
How could he feel at ease making those videos of his daughters for those lewd men to watch online? It felt like his heart was being ripped out piece by piece, and he could only keep convincing himself: once the debt is paid off, I will never gamble again.
He wants to completely turn over a new leaf and live a good life with his wife and children from now on. He will find a job and work hard to save money to give his daughters a good life and make it up to them.
Just when he was about to see a glimmer of hope, his wife ran off with the children. His hopes for a peaceful and stable life vanished in an instant, and most importantly—he couldn't repay his debts.
He was once again dragged into that dark abyss of fear and helplessness.
He was afraid, he was angry, he was resentful, he hated!
Zhang Pengfei suddenly stood up and kicked Xu Qingzhou hard in the thigh: "Are you going to talk or not?! Are you going to talk or not?!"
Xu Qingzhou was in so much pain that he curled up, hugging his legs, and could only shake his head repeatedly.
"You fucking pretending!"
Zhang Pengfei grabbed Xu Qingzhou's long hair, forcing her to look up at him: "I've found out everything. When my wife came home from get off work last night, did you talk to her? I... only you saw her yesterday at noon! What a coincidence, you just finished talking to her last night, and she ran off with her in the middle of the night? And you still say you didn't know!"
"Stop pretending! Stop fucking pretending!"
After saying that, he flicked his hand and kicked Xu Qingzhou again.
Xu Qingzhou was in so much pain that he could barely breathe, and his face was filled with despair.
She did indeed remind Qin Jia about the matter, but she genuinely didn't know where Qin Jia had gone.
However, Zhang Pengfei knew just how stubborn she was and was convinced that Xu Qingzhou was just being defiant. His anger intensified. Using the flickering white light outside, Zhang Pengfei quickly scanned the room, then suddenly took two large strides to the bedside, grabbed the fox by the tail, and lifted it up.
The fox let him hold its tail and swing back and forth in mid-air, its eyes closed and lifeless.
Zhang Pengfei, holding the fox by the tail, turned around and sneered at Xu Qingzhou:
"You won't talk, huh? If you don't talk, you fox, you'll die in my hands today, you believe me?"
Xu Qingzhou lunged forward to grab it, but Zhang Pengfei kicked him back.
“You better behave yourself,” Zhang Pengfei pointed at her, “I’m asking you one last time, where did my wife and kids go?!”
His expression was ferocious, and his tone was so vicious it seemed to be laced with poison.
But Zhang Pengfei knew in his heart that this was just to scare Xu Qingzhou. After all, if he really couldn't find his wife and children, this fox was his only hope to pay off his debts.
However, amidst the lightning and roar, he suddenly sensed something was amiss.
The fox is usually very lively, so why is it so quiet and lifeless today, being held upside down in my hand?
Shake it again, and it's so limp, like it's dead!
Zhang Pengfei's heart skipped a beat. He immediately turned to face the back window and peered down. In the continuous flashes of white lightning, he could vaguely see that the fox's eyes were closed and its mouth was clenched tightly; it truly looked lifeless.
Zhang Pengfei panicked and reached out to check its breath.
Just then, a sharp pain suddenly shot through my back.
Zhang Pengfei cried out in pain, his vision went black and he almost fainted. He managed to shake his head and turned to see Xu Qingzhou had gotten up at some point, grabbing a small chair with both hands and smashing it against him.
After being hit several times, Zhang Pengfei felt a sharp pain in his collarbone, back, and face. Enraged, he threw away the fox and, risking being hit on the arm, forcibly took the chair away. He then grabbed Xu Qingzhou by the hair and dragged her onto the bed.
"Just because I haven't shown my teeth doesn't mean I'm a pushover!"
"You've cut off my livelihood, you fucking pay me back today!"
As he spoke, he pressed Xu Qingzhou down on the bed, restraining her with his legs and hands. Xu Qingzhou sensed what he was about to do and struggled desperately. Just as Zhang Pengfei freed one hand to reach into his pocket for his phone, she suddenly grabbed the alarm clock from the bedside table and smashed it in his face. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in strength, she kicked Zhang Pengfei hard in the groin.
Zhang Pengfei let out a howl, clutching his groin as his face turned ashen.
Xu Qingzhou seized the opportunity to roll off the bed, stumbled to the cupboard, grabbed a kitchen knife with both hands, and held it up in front of her to protect herself.
She was trembling violently, her face streaked with tears, yet her eyes shone brightly in the darkness, radiating a fierce intensity, like a cat driven to the brink of despair, its fur bristling and poised to retaliate.
Zhang Pengfei had finally calmed down a bit when he turned around and saw Xu Qingzhou holding a kitchen knife at him. A hint of fear immediately appeared in his eyes.
He raised one hand in a gesture of blocking, and said in a pretentious manner:
"Put it down."
Xu Qingzhou refused to let go.
"I told you to fucking put it down!"
Xu Qingzhou still wouldn't let go, even raising the knife slightly and taking another step closer.
Zhang Pengfei finally admitted defeat.
He raised both hands and said, "Okay, okay, I'm leaving. Don't make any rash moves. I'm leaving now."
As he spoke, he kept a close eye on Xu Qingzhou as he slowly walked towards the door. Just as he reached the door, he suddenly tripped over a chair, nearly falling to the ground. Zhang Pengfei quickly raised his hand to stop Xu Qingzhou from attacking, but with his other hand, while pretending to touch his ankle, he grabbed the chair leg and forcefully swung it at Xu Qingzhou—
The chair was stuck to my hand; I didn't throw it away.
Zhang Pengfei was stunned.
There was a crackling sound of electricity, and the light bulb flickered twice.
He looked up and thought Xu Qingzhou was playing tricks. Just as he was about to smash the chair at him again, his body suddenly stiffened and he couldn't move at all.
An unknown fear crept into his heart and spread rapidly. Zhang Pengfei tried desperately to speak but could not utter a sound. He stared wide-eyed in terror, his eyes appearing even more sinister and terrifying in the fleeting white light of the lightning.
Xu Qingzhou, unaware of his situation, still gripped the kitchen knife tightly, not daring to let her guard down.
After Zhang Pengfei remained frozen for a long time, he moved again.
The tension in her mind instantly snapped, and she focused all her strength on the kitchen knife. But then Zhang Pengfei suddenly screamed and, almost at the same time, opened the door and ran out without looking back.
The lightning was still flashing.
The air became eerily still at that moment.
Xu Qingzhou remained motionless, still holding the kitchen knife, maintaining his defensive posture.
After a long while, a crisp "clang" rang out.
The knife finally fell to the ground.
Xu Qingzhou struggled to the door, his hands trembling as he locked both doors from the inside. Only then did he collapse, sliding down the door panel and kneeling on the ground.
She rubbed her eyes hard, but the tears wouldn't stop and streamed down her face. In the end, she gave up and just let the tears flow freely, gasping for breath.
After a while, Xu Qingzhou suddenly thought of something, hurriedly turned around, and turned on the light.
With a "click".
The light came on for a fleeting moment, then went out again.
The small rented room was plunged into darkness again. Xu Qingzhou stared blankly in the direction of the light, and suddenly remembered Zhang Pengfei's series of strange actions before he left. An overwhelming fear belatedly swept over his whole body.
She quickly crawled towards the direction in which the fox had fallen, intending to take it away from the room. However, after crawling a few steps, her right hand suddenly touched a foreign object.
Its skin is rough, covered with a ring of coarse hair, and you can vaguely feel gaps like between fingers.
Like a huge, thick, and hard claw.
Xu Qingzhou was startled. At the same time, he felt two surging heat waves on his neck. In the darkness, he heard a sound from above that sounded like a huge beast rolling out of its throat.
Accompanied by a snorting sound, deep and resonant.
Extremely dangerous.
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