Chapter 7
Chi Jun hasn't been sleeping well lately.
He is often woken up in the middle of the night by a sudden itch on his body, so his sleep is intermittent and not very restful. As a result, he has been spending half of his daytime sleeping these past few days.
When Zhang Pengfei kicked the door, Chi Jun had just entered a light sleep, drifting in and out of sleep, unable to distinguish between reality and dreams.
He was suddenly awakened by a loud bang. It took him two seconds to react before he groggily opened his eyes.
Xu Qingzhou stood a meter away from him, separated by two tightly closed doors, looking at something.
He vaguely remembered that he was half asleep when he heard someone yelling outside the door. The tone was unfriendly, like someone was cursing or arguing.
However, upon closer listening, all that could be heard outside the door was quiet, with only the sound of footsteps fading into the distance.
His head felt heavy and sluggish, and his veins were throbbing with pain. Chi Jun impatiently scratched his forehead with his paw, thinking that it might just be a hallucination.
Thinking of this, he looked up at Xu Qingzhou again—
The little girl was squatting by the wall, putting the vegetables she had bought away against the wall one by one. Occasionally she would turn her head to the side, but her expression did not seem unusual.
Okay, it was just auditory hallucination.
Chi Jun didn't think much of it and put his head back down to continue sleeping.
*
However, by evening, Chi Jun realized that things might not be so simple.
Unlike before when he only locked the security door and left the wooden door open for ventilation when he was at home, Xu Qingzhou began to tirelessly lock both doors one by one as he entered and exited the room.
Aside from cooking, which must be done in the hallway, she moved the washing and dishwashing areas inside the house. She even moved all the tables, chairs, benches, and heavy objects within sight to the back of the door to block them before going to bed at night.
It's as if they're afraid someone might force their way in in the middle of the night.
Recalling the auditory hallucinations he had experienced that morning, Chi Jun quickly realized:
The kicking of the door and the howling were real, and it's highly likely that Xu Qingzhou had a conflict with Zhang Pengfei.
Zhang Pengfei, he's desperate.
Chi Jun frowned.
He had considered that Zhang Pengfei might steal or rob when cornered, and he would cooperate with him then. However, Zhang Pengfei repeatedly lowered his expectations of Zhang Pengfei's stupidity with his actions—he dared to openly enrage Xu Qingzhou and cut off his own escape route before anything was even started.
Ultimately, Xu Qingzhou was still kind to him.
Chi Jun did want to leave, but he never intended to sacrifice Xu Qingzhou's personal safety.
After thinking for a while, Chi Jun shook the bell in the tattered cardboard box and summoned the male ghost.
"Brother Jun, is there something you need?"
Chi Jun: "Keep an eye on Xu Qingzhou for me."
"Huh? Why are you looking at her?"
The male ghost didn't understand what was so special about the mute girl's monotonous life, which revolved around just three points.
But Chi Jun said that if he wanted to leave, he had to find an opportunity in the details of Xu Qingzhou's life, especially the often-overlooked route to and from school.
The male ghost thought about it and felt that it made some sense.
Furthermore, since Chi Jun hadn't asked him for any favors, the male ghost's self-assurance kicked in, and he confidently patted his chest: "Don't worry, I have a network of ghostly connections throughout the town. I guarantee that not a single clue about the little mute will escape my grasp!"
The male ghost swaggered away, full of arrogance and pride.
In order not to fail Chi Jun's trust, he mustered all his strength and went to Xu Qingzhou's classroom to spy on him. He didn't even dare to doze off, for fear of missing any important information.
Unfortunately, aside from attending classes, going to the toilet, and getting water during class, Xu Qingzhou's campus life consisted mostly of sleeping on his desk, which was quite unremarkable.
The male ghost stared intently for a whole day, but found nothing.
That evening, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and report to Chi Jun—
"Um, that... the little mute boy sleeps during breaks, is distracted in class and gets called on by the teacher to stand up and listen, and his test papers are mostly blank, so he must be a poor student."
Chi Jun: "..."
Chi Jun didn't care about Xu Qingzhou's academic performance; he was only concerned about whether Zhang Pengfei would pose a safety hazard to her on her way to and from school.
Fortunately, the male ghost kept watch for several days, and Zhang Pengfei did not appear.
Furthermore, according to Chi Jun's unusual hearing, Zhang Pengfei did not seem to be in the rented courtyard either. Over the past few days, he had not heard any sound from Zhang Pengfei.
Chi Jun felt something was strange, so he made an excuse to have the male ghost visit Zhang Pengfei's house twice in the middle of the night. The news he got was that there were only two children and a woman in the house, and he didn't see any men.
Could it be that Zhang Pengfei ran away to avoid his debts?
Chi Jun's expression was serious, his claws unconsciously scratching his body until—
My butt was suddenly poked.
Chi Jun suddenly snapped back to his senses and instinctively called out to Xu Qingzhou.
Xu Qingzhou pursed his lips, still smiling.
Chi Jun: "..."
He didn't know how this seemingly quiet girl could have such a perverted habit. Ever since the chicken strip incident, she always liked to poke his butt out of the blue when he was lost in thought, to bring him back to his senses.
Originally, Chi Jun wanted to yell at her a few more times to let her know that not only tigers, but also foxes like him shouldn't be touched.
But when Chi Jun saw Xu Qingzhou's face, which was usually filled with sorrow and now showed a rare smile, he hesitated for a moment and decided not to argue with her.
Sure enough, the smile only lasted until she lifted Chi Jun onto the small chair.
From the moment the rice was served, Xu Qingzhou seemed absent-minded again, staring in the direction of Zhang Pengfei's house and frequently drifting off into thought.
Several times, before even picking up any food, I stuffed the bare chopsticks into my mouth and chewed for a few seconds before belatedly realizing what I had done.
Chi Jun knew that she was worried about Zhang Pengfei.
And that is indeed the case.
Ever since Zhang Pengfei angrily kicked down the door that day, Xu Qingzhou has been shrouded in a layer of anxiety and unease.
On the surface, she didn't show anything unusual, but in reality, she was closely monitoring Zhang Pengfei's movements, and naturally, she noticed that Zhang Pengfei hadn't been in the rented courtyard for the past few days.
She didn't know if Zhang Pengfei was on a short trip or if he was away for a long time and wouldn't be coming back.
To put his mind at ease and to be mentally prepared, Xu Qingzhou kept thinking about what excuse to find out the truth during the meal.
So after the meal, she stared at a small jar of pickled radishes that had been fermenting for a week for a while, then mustered up her courage and took it to Zhang Pengfei's house.
The reason she needed to "muster up her courage" was that since Zhang Pengfei came to the rental compound, Xu Qinjia, who had originally had a good relationship with Xu Qingzhou, had clearly distanced herself from her.
Chi Jun knew that Xu Qinjia was well aware that her husband was unreliable, and after failing to persuade Zhang Pengfei to stay away from Xu Qingzhou, she decided to keep her distance from her herself.
But this distance, in the eyes of Xu Qingzhou who was unaware of the situation, meant that he might have done something wrong to make Xu Qinjia dislike him, which was why she was keeping her distance.
Xu Qingzhou wasn't the kind of person who had the courage to bring everything to the forefront. She silently accepted the fact that she was "despicable" and never contacted Xu Qinjia again, fearing that hovering around under her nose would only annoy her more.
Fortunately, this time, her "courage" didn't earn her disdain or a cold shoulder, but rather a very friendly response from Xu Qinjia:
"He went to work in the southwest region."
As she spoke, Xu Qinjia reached into the jar, picked up a small pickled radish, and put it in her mouth.
"Qingzhou, you're so skillful! This is delicious."
Seeing that the other person was still smiling at her, Xu Qingzhou smiled back, and her heart finally settled down.
work to earn a living……
In that case, it will probably take at least a few months to come back.
If he returns after a few months, all feelings and hatred should have faded considerably with time. Perhaps Zhang Pengfei will no longer have any feelings for the fox by then.
Xu Qingzhou thought silently, and his anxious heart, which had been pounding for days, finally relaxed a lot at this moment.
Turning back to my small rented room, even my steps felt lighter.
After washing the dishes and tidying up, Xu Qingzhou noticed that Chi Jun kept scratching his body, so he carried him to the pharmacy and bought some animal anti-itch ointment to apply to him.
Unfortunately, the ointment wasn't very effective.
By 8 p.m., the itching had intensified.
Chi Jun could clearly feel that the itch was getting more and more intense each time. Before, it would only appear unexpectedly at night, but now it was suddenly appearing during the day.
It wasn't lice, nor did it resemble a rash; it came out of nowhere, leaving no trace and no solution.
Adding to his frustration, Zhang Pengfei had disrupted his previously hard-won plan, causing Chi Jun to become even more irritable, and his scratching became more aggressive than before.
The dull, dense sounds attracted Xu Qingzhou's attention.
She put down her pen and walked over, squatted down in front of Chi Jun, frowned and carefully observed him for a while, then got up, took the ointment, unscrewed the cap and was about to apply it for him.
That's true, it's not a miracle cure that only needs to be applied once.
Chi Jun suppressed his displeasure and let Xu Qingzhou squeeze some ointment onto his finger to help him apply it.
Just as the ointment touched the hair, there was a loud bang at the door!
Xu Qingzhou's hand trembled, and he was so frightened that he almost dropped the ointment.
She turned her head and saw the security door being smashed and slammed repeatedly, making a loud banging noise. Even the windows were shaking. At the same time, she heard Zhang Pengfei's slurred cursing coming from outside the door.
"Go to hell! You're so ungrateful!"
"Open the door! You son of a bitch, open the door for me!"
"Fuck! Fuck!"
Xu Qingzhou turned pale with fright, quickly rushed forward and turned off the light. Then she hugged Chi Jun, who had just been woken up, and huddled him in the dark corner furthest from the door.
Turning off the lights didn't have much of an effect.
Drunk, Zhang Pengfei had no rationality to check if anyone was in the house. After cursing and kicking for a while, he stumbled to the lattice window of the corridor, reached his fist through the gap in the security window, and pounded on the window while grabbing the window handle and shaking it desperately.
Held tightly in Xu Qingzhou's arms, Chi Jun could clearly feel her trembling.
She must have been terrified, not understanding why Zhang Pengfei, who was working in another city, would suddenly appear.
However, Chi Jun was fully aware of this.
Because Zhang Pengfei was a compulsive gambler, there was no longer any affection between Xu Qinjia and him; they were even less than strangers.
In Xu Qinjia's eyes, her gambling husband's sudden departure was most likely because he realized he couldn't get money from her, so he ran away before the debt repayment date approached. This kind of thing had happened before.
As for whether she was escaping debts or looking for some other way to make money, Xu Qinjia didn't know and didn't want to know.
So when Xu Qingzhou questioned her, not wanting to air her dirty laundry in public, she casually made up an excuse that "her husband went out to work."
Little did she know that her husband and Xu Qingzhou had a falling out. Her evasive words were tantamount to lifting Xu Qingzhou to the clouds, only to kick her into an abyss of despair just as she was floating on air.
"Clang—"
It was the sound of a spatula hitting the ground.
Zhang Pengfei seemed to have started working on the things on the stove. After a series of chaotic clanging and banging sounds, the windowpane suddenly made a "thud," accompanied by Zhang Pengfei's hysterical cursing.
He gripped the pot handle in his hand, reached through the gap in the security window, and began frantically smashing the glass. After several loud bangs, the glass finally gave way, and with a crisp "crash," shards scattered all over the floor.
Almost at the same time, Chi Jun heard Xu Qingzhou let out a hoarse scream, and his grip on him tightened so much that his fur was almost ripped off.
The pain was so intense that even Chi Jun's itch was temporarily overwhelmed.
Fortunately, other sounds came from inside the courtyard at that moment.
"Who is it? Why are you yelling so late at night?"
As if someone had finally taken the lead, other voices followed suit.
"Are you drunk?"
"Let's go take a look."
As they were talking, a flurry of footsteps approached, and the noise outside the door quickly became cacophony.
"Oh, isn't this Xiao Zhang?"
"How much did he drink? Quick, quick, call Xiao Xu to take him back."
"Breaking on a young girl's door so late at night, it's bound to scare her."
Amidst the cacophony of voices, Zhang Pengfei's voice was barely audible, but then a gasp rippled through the crowd, followed by cursing and swearing, as if Zhang Pengfei had gotten into a fight with someone in the chaos.
The noise gradually subsided only after Xu Qinjia arrived and took Zhang Pengfei away. The crowd gathered under the eaves also gradually dispersed, and soon only a few blurry figures remained, still peering through the windows.
Is anyone inside?
"There shouldn't be anyone there, otherwise how could they not hear such a loud noise?"
"If we were at home, we would have been terrified tonight. That Zhang guy..."
Raindrops pattered on the leaves and rubble, their sound growing clearer in the pitch-black night.
The chatter faded into the distance, and the doorway fell completely silent. Xu Qingzhou, however, remained holding Chi Jun, huddled motionless in the corner.
Chi Jun waited patiently for a while, but the little girl still showed no sign of moving.
He felt numb all over, stiff and itchy, and couldn't help but crawl out of Xu Qingzhou's arms. The moment he broke free, the little girl seemed to come back to her senses. Her blurry black shadow trembled violently, and then she slowly buried her head in his arms.
Chi Jun didn't say anything, he just stood there watching her.
In the dimly lit rented room, he couldn't see Xu Qingzhou's expression or even her movements clearly. He could only vaguely see her maintaining her head-down posture, still sitting there.
A cold wind rushed in through the broken glass, making a sharp whistling sound.
Xu Qing sat there motionless.
Like a sculpture.
Hidden in the darkness.
After a long while, just as Chi Jun was about to doubt whether Xu Qingzhou had fallen asleep hugging her knees, the little girl's blurry figure finally moved in the dim light.
She supported herself with her hands on the ground and slowly stood up.
The lights were not on.
He didn't go to bed to sleep either.
Instead, he got up and went to the small desk, groping around inside.
With a series of clattering sounds, Xu Qingzhou finally felt as if he had touched something.
Click—
A beam of flashlight light shone into the room.
In the flickering light, Chi Jun saw that Xu Qingzhou's face was deathly pale and his eyes were red-rimmed.
She rummaged through the drawer of the table with her flashlight on, and soon pulled out an old English newspaper and a roll of tape.
Xu Qingzhou walked to the window.
The whistling wind hit her face, making her hair look disheveled.
Chi Jun saw the little girl stare at the tear for a long, long time, and then she lowered her head and began to tear off the tape and stick the newspaper on it.
Sizzle—
Sizzle————
The sound of tape being slapped on continued.
The newspaper was almost entirely covered in tape, but Xu Qingzhou's hands didn't stop.
The sound of tape being taped grew louder and louder.
In the raging wind, it seemed to be exerting force, or perhaps it was venting its anger.
Finally, a muffled "thud" was heard.
Chi Jun saw that Xu Qingzhou's forehead was pressed against the window glass, and his shoulders were drooping limply.
Then, she slowly raised her hand and covered her eyes.
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