Chapter 53 When the siren stopped, he…
They only stopped running into the alley after the sirens stopped.
He had already released her wrist; the lingering warmth vanished like flowing water in an instant. Inadvertently, their eyes met. The sounds of fireworks were still fading from the bricks and tiles of Yucheng. She saw Li Xingzhou smile and say, "Sorry, I originally wanted to invite you to watch the fireworks, but I didn't expect it to backfire."
The moment he let go, the streetlights in the alley suddenly turned on. The white light was a bit dazzling. Huang Shiyu squinted slightly: "It's nothing. You came to see me so late at night. It can't be that simple, right?"
"I..." He suddenly stopped speaking. Before he could finish, his body stiffened for a moment. He glanced at Huang Shiyu, who had suddenly appeared behind him, seemingly puzzled by her action. Huang Shiyu put her index finger to her lips and shook her head slightly at him, but her gaze was not on him, but on the slope below.
Li Xingzhou then realized that they were standing at the corner of a street lamp, which is also a blind spot that drivers hate the most.
Suddenly, he looked up and saw a man walking up below. He seemed to be in a daze, swaying a few steps after each one. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was nonchalant and carefree. He was wearing a thin plaid jacket, carrying something in both hands. His hair was a messy, straw-like ball of hair. However, his face had a certain star quality. The only flaw was the large bruises on the corners of his mouth and eyes.
Approaching slowly.
The man seemed to have just noticed someone standing around the corner. He looked up and stared at Yang Hengyu for several seconds before Yang Hengyu abruptly looked away and walked on in silence.
But his eyes secretly glanced behind him, and in his eyes, the dim streetlights silently outlined two overlapping figures, thick as water, indistinguishable from one another.
Isn't that him? He used to see his sister walking with this guy every time he walked this way. His sister would hide behind him, thinking she was hiding well so he couldn't see her.
Is his 5.0 vision just for show?
He was afraid that the two people behind him, especially someone, wouldn't hear him, so he deliberately dragged out the last syllable, which made him look really irritating.
Li Xingzhou had already guessed who the person was. He was hesitating whether to nod and greet the person, but seeing that the person left quickly, he turned around and said to Huang Shiyu behind him, "The person has left. They can't see this place after they turn the corner."
He also specifically emphasized the word "corner," meaning to remind her that once people are far away, they won't notice you're there.
Huang Shiyu remained silent and did not respond.
No, why did her first reaction upon seeing Yang Hengyu make her instinctively hide, just like a similar situation a few years ago?
She and Li Xingzhou went home together after evening self-study, and then they ran into Yang Hengyu, who had just finished a fight and was coming up from the corner. Just like now, she was hiding in the corner, and Li Xingzhou would always ignore her and stand in front of her the next second, no matter how much they were talking or how excited they were.
At that moment, the instant Yang Hengyu turned the corner, Huang Shiyu felt as if there was some unspeakable, shameful relationship between them. She didn't know why, but she just didn't want Yang Hengyu to see it. She attributed this to her fear that if Yang Hengyu saw it, he would go back and exaggerate it to Ms. Tong, saying that she was living under someone else's roof and was afraid of causing trouble. At that time, she just wanted to study hard, get into a good university, and no longer have to live such a dependent life, having to be careful and read people's expressions.
But now, she is no longer the penniless Huang Shiyu she once was. She doesn't know if this is a reaction of her body's instinct or something else.
She had no idea and didn't want to think about it anymore.
To ease the rather awkward atmosphere, she asked, "What were you trying to tell me?"
Li Xingzhou said, "You don't really like plum blossoms, so these are plum blossom seeds I got for Ruixi. They're a new variety she just cultivated. She calls this flower 'Resurrection from the Dead,' which means that even the most ruthless person can grow it well without any sense of responsibility."
The bright streetlights seemed to be bright and clear for only a moment when they were first turned on. After that, they seemed to have used up all their strength and became dim and lifeless, illuminating the small bag of seeds in Huang Shiyu's hand.
These are plum blossom seeds that Li Xingzhou just gave her; under the lamp, they are surrounded by a fuzzy halo.
She looked down and murmured, "Resurrection from the dead, a sense of responsibility."
"Um."
"I wish there really was such a thing as coming back to life." She tossed the plum blossom seeds back to Li Xingzhou.
"Don't you like this flower?" Li Xingzhou looked at the seeds that had returned to his hand, clearly somewhat taken aback and at a loss.
"I don't know either, but thank you."
She truly didn't know, because she already had a plum blossom tree. No matter how many more beautiful or wonderful plum blossoms there were in the world, none could compare to the one her grandparents had planted.
But she was also truly grateful to Li Xingzhou for traveling all the way to Yucheng on New Year's Eve just to bring her a plum blossom seed.
"You came all this way just for me," she murmured, then, unsure what else to say, turned away. "Um... it's getting late, I'll head back now."
The moment she turned around, Huang Shiyu heard her own heart pounding wildly, as if it were about to leap out of her throat. She clearly realized that she seemed to have fallen for Li Xingzhou, but she wouldn't say it out loud.
For adults, the ability to resist temptation is the ability to stop the bleeding in time.
Watching Huang Shiyu's retreating figure, he said, "Let me see you off."
Huang Shiyu didn't turn around: "No need, it's just a short distance."
"Alright."
After saying this, he looked at the sky and watched Huang Shiyu's figure disappear around the corner.
But he remained where he was, probably waiting for the fireworks in the sky to end.
He received a message from Huang Shiyu the instant the fireworks faded away.
Get some rest.
The melancholy and sadness that had been creeping into Li Xingzhou's heart suddenly vanished.
Okay, you too.
Huang Shiyu walked alone on the empty street. The houses on both sides of the street were all dark. The lively atmosphere of New Year's Eve had been interrupted here, and it was obvious that no one lived in the houses.
She walked past one pitch-black house after another, becoming part of the landscape herself, as black as the landscape.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
The night was as black and thick as black sesame paste. This long, pitch-black street was only illuminated by the faint moonlight overhead. Trees of varying heights were planted on both sides of the street.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
The sound was restrained, unlike the rustling of leaves in the wind, but more like the sound of a person walking on tiptoe and scraping the ground.
Huang Shiyu's alarm bells went off. She had initially thought that a cat had come out to hunt, but she had not heard a single meow from now on.
She forced herself to remain calm and continued walking, subtly shifting her body to the side and glancing behind her out of the corner of her eye.
But then I saw a shadow reflected on the road.
Huang Shiyu paused in his steps.
In that instant, she felt as if all the oxygen in her body had been sucked away. Even her breathing became rhythmic and regular, rising and falling, as if afraid of disturbing the people following behind her.
Her first reaction was to call the police, but judging from the shadow she had just seen, it was both near and far. If she called the police, the call would first be handled by the local area where the number was registered, and then transferred to her area. This process could take a long time or a short time.
She was suddenly faced with a difficult choice.
If we go by her analysis, she glanced down at her phone and turned the brightness down to the lowest setting. The time was 9:05, five minutes after she and Li Xingzhou parted ways. In five minutes, Li Xingzhou couldn't have walked very far, and he must have driven himself, since this parking spot was close by.
Huang Shiyu held his phone, repeatedly observing his surroundings, when the strange noise behind him disappeared again.
She dared not breathe too loudly, for fear of disturbing the wandering ghosts behind her.
The trees on both sides were imposing, their huge black shadows looming overhead, resembling menacing monsters.
She forced herself to calm down, her hearing becoming exceptionally sensitive at that moment, the sound of her heart pounding against her eardrums.
For a moment, she almost couldn't control herself and wanted to run away, but the thought only lasted a second before she strangled it back to the spot.
Even in such a tense, life-or-death situation, Huang Shiyu's mind remained unusually calm and clear. Although fear is a psychological instinct, she still made the most advantageous choice for herself under such urgent pressure on her nerves.
She began to examine the road she was on. The terrain of Yucheng had created a network of roads that led in all directions. As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. And that's how it was. Even if you wandered around on the main roads and side roads, you could still reach your destination.
The road she was walking on was a highway, the closest to Ms. Tong's house. She could vaguely see the house's silhouette. Even at that distance, it would take her at least twenty minutes to walk, and at the fastest, fifteen minutes to run. So she immediately ruled out running. Regardless of whether the other party was young or old, weak or disabled, or whether they were carrying weapons, she had previously injured her leg and undergone surgery. She was still in the observation period and needed to go for regular check-ups every year. Obviously, this method wouldn't work, and having Yang Hengyu come over was also clearly not feasible.
She could only place her hopes on that person.
After thinking it through, she decided to go all in and sent Li Xingzhou a distress message.
She typed with trepidation, making a lot of typos, but at that moment she couldn't care less; after all, typos were nothing compared to her life.
For a moment, she felt as if she were walking on a muddy road, and she could hardly move an inch. Suddenly, a hand patted her shoulder a few times and pressed down on her right shoulder. The force was so strong that she almost screamed.
She was clearly startled.
Huang Shiyu was also stopped in her tracks by the other party's action. In those few seconds, she made a decisive decision and was about to raise her leg to strike the other party's vital point. But the moment she raised her leg, the person holding her shoulder saw through her little trick and forcefully pulled her back.
Before Huang Shiyu could make any further defensive moves, she turned around and saw the person holding her arm. Huang Shiyu's eyes nearly flew to the sky.
Halfway there, Li Xingzhou turned back the way he came.
I typed while walking.
Keep walking until you reach a place where there are people.
[You know this road well, so just go straight and keep going until you see a big banyan tree. Turn left and you'll find a theater. There are a lot of people watching plays at this time. Remember to take the main road, not the side roads.]
He wasn't done after sending the message; he kept checking the message bar to see if the other party had replied. After seeing that there was still no reply after most of the day, he hurriedly ran down the street.
There were no lights or people on the street, only the whistling wind and the deadly ringing of bells.
He knew who was calling; it wasn't Huang Shiyu. Knowing Huang Shiyu as he did, he knew she would never call at a time like this, as it would alert her.
As soon as the call connected, Xiang Zhinan's voice came through the phone: "Wait, buddy, why did you put an 'X' on that racing club proposal? Is that all?"
Despite the urgent matter at hand, his voice remained calm, and his words were methodical: "Doesn't marking it with an X make it clear to you? The proposal you gave me is all empty rhetoric and grandiose. Only you could pull off such a thing as making empty promises to investors."
"No, how am I making empty promises? I've worked on this proposal for three whole days!" Xiang Zhinan on the other end clearly disagreed with the verdict and protested.
The cold wind cut through him, obscuring his face, but not his voice, which was strong and clear: "So what? If you were my employee, this proposal would never have reached my hands."
Xiang Zhinan remained silent.
Fearing he might not understand, Li Xingzhou added, "Your proposal doesn't specifically demonstrate your racing club's advantages in this field, nor does it provide basic market forecasts or marketing strategies. It's all empty talk and nothing. This kind of business won't last long. If you continue to do things your own way, your proposal won't be implemented."
"Hey, if Huang Shiyu had sent you this proposal today, would you still be so heartless?"
What he said was quite profound.
Is there any need to connect the two? Li Xingzhou thought to himself, no wonder Xiang Zhinan is bad at managing projects, he's too sentimental.
Li Xingzhou took a deep breath of the harsh wind: "For investors, time is money. Even if the other party is Huang Shiyu, I won't waste time with an unsuitable proposal."
He inhaled rapidly, and a cold wind carrying the smell of dust rushed into his trachea, forcing him to swallow a mouthful of the mixed smell of the cold wind: "Since I have invested in your project, the only thing I care about is what kind of returns it can bring me. I hope you remember that."
Xiang Zhinan exclaimed "Oh dear," and said, "I understand, President Li. Do you have some time lately? I'll see when I can go back to China and return this little glutton to its rightful owner."
Li Xingzhou paused when he mentioned the cat, about to remind Xiang Zhinan not to feed it too many snacks, otherwise it would get too fat and it wouldn't be good for its health, when his eyes suddenly caught a dark shadow. He fixed his gaze on the shadow and said to Xiang Zhinan on the other end, "Okay, we'll talk about it later. I'll hang up now, I have something to do here."
At the time, Li Xingzhou never imagined that this phone call would be the last one between him and Xiang Zhinan.
If he had known then, he certainly wouldn't have died. But alas, there are no "what ifs."
He called out to the furtive Huang Guodong, "What are you doing here? What do you want with Huang Shiyu?"
Li Xingzhou knew perfectly well that Huang Guodong would be here, and he believed that the person following Huang Shiyu was Huang Guodong.
Startled by the sudden sound, Huang Guodong trembled slightly. He turned around, and upon seeing Li Xingzhou's face, he returned to normal: "No, it was just a coincidence, ha, a coincidence."
Huang Guodong said excitedly, "Oh my, Mr. Golden Turtle, I am Shiyu's biological father. I didn't know she was back in Yucheng. My daughter and I haven't seen each other for a long time. I missed her quite a bit, so I came to see her. You two just finished your date, huh? It's been so long since I've seen Shiyu. She's grown so tall."
"Is that so?" Li Xingzhou smiled coldly.
The streets were unlit, with only a pitiful sliver of moonlight overhead. Huang Guodong didn't notice Li Xingzhou's displeasure at all, and instead beamed with delight, thinking that this person in front of him was his long-term meal ticket.
"Uncle," he said slowly, "I just helped you pay off a million last time, and now you're in debt again, so you've come to see Shiyu?"
His hidden thoughts were so bluntly exposed that he choked up immediately: "This..."
Li Xingzhou suddenly realized that this was not a solution at all. Even if he helped him pay it back this time, so what? There would definitely be a next time. Last time it was one million, this time it was two million, so what about next time?
Huang Guodong is a bloodsucker. He won't stop until he's drained Huang Shiyu dry. As long as he lives, Huang Shiyu will never have a moment's peace.
You shouldn't be the one to hold her back, Li Xingzhou thought to himself.
He glanced at the sky over Yucheng. In a few hours, the moon would set and the sun would rise. A smile played in his eyes. He then turned his gaze to Huang Guodong's greedy face and said meaningfully, "Uncle, you want two million, right? I'll give it to you."
Huang Guodong, unaware that disaster was about to befall him, smiled broadly and said, "This is wonderful, wonderful!"
[It's okay. I was probably just stressed and nervous lately, and I misread the numbers. I'm home now. You didn't call the police, did you?]
After Huang Shiyu finished typing this message and clicked send, he looked up and frowned at Yang Hengyu, who should have been home.
Yang Hengyu met Huang Shiyu's gaze, a smirk playing on his bruised lips: "What's your relationship with that guy? Are you dating someone?"
Huang Shiyu seemed not to hear Yang Hengyu's probing, looking down at her phone without sparing the man any attention.
She was already being lenient by not beating up Yang Hengyu, but instead he followed behind her and scared her, making her think that some criminal was targeting her. She wondered who she could have made an enemy of; it turned out to be this brat.
"Is that man your boyfriend?" Yang Hengyu persisted in asking.
"What man? You've had too much to drink and your eyes are playing tricks on you." Huang Shiyu still didn't have a good look on her face.
Yang Hengyu said firmly, "I saw it all clearly. Do you think my 5.0 vision is just for show? And the perfume you're wearing is exactly the same as the one I smelled when I walked past that guy."
He spoke with such conviction, but Huang Shiyu remained completely unfazed: "It was a coincidence."
"What coincidence? Do you think I don't know anything about things? That guy's perfume smelled expensive, and you don't like wearing perfume, so I've never seen you wear any." He finished this long-winded speech in one breath, his eyes sparkling with the same joy as when he finally solved a dreadful math problem.
Huang Shiyu's reaction was very calm, and his voice was also flat: "People change. Just because I didn't like it before doesn't mean I don't like it now. Do you have a problem with that?"
“You’re my sister, how could I dare to have a problem with that? You were only out for a short while, how could you smell so strongly?” he said. “Unless…”
Before he could finish speaking, Huang Shiyu unexpectedly kicked him with a powerful kick, which was clearly not without its full force.
"You fucking want to die?" Huang Shiyu said through gritted teeth.
"Why did you hit me? Can't we talk this out? If I get injured, it's your responsibility." Yang Hengyu hunched over, gasped, and clutched the spot where Huang Shiyu had kicked him.
Huang Shiyu pointed at Yang Hengyu with his finger, his eyes full of warning, glanced at him, and then turned and left.
Watching Huang Shiyu's departing figure, he finally managed to squeeze out a few words after a long while: "Really..."
As soon as she entered the bedroom, she received a call from Li Xingzhou, who she assumed was calling to confirm that she was truly safe and sound.
"What's wrong?" Huang Shiyu asked.
"It's good that you got home safely. Get some rest. I saw in the weather forecast that it will rain tomorrow."
Rain on the first day of the Lunar New Year is not a good omen.
Huang Shiyu: "Mm."
Li Xingzhou: "Good night and sweet dreams."
Huang Shiyu put down her phone, the words "Goodnight and sweet dreams" still echoing in her mind.
Nighttime often makes people easily fall into inappropriate emotions. In the past, she would have looked at some news or the company's financial statements. Today, she suddenly had the idea to open Qidian, wanting to say something or ask something.
She paused for a long time, wanting to speak but not knowing how to say it, feeling her throat dry. Just as the green light of the singularity was about to go out, she asked the question that had been on her mind all along: "My heart is beating very fast today, do you know why?"
The singularity that simulated Zhang Jingyan's voice quickly provided the answer.
"Did you encounter someone?"
It's Li Xingzhou, there's probably no one else like him.
"Since you have not replied for two minutes, we have found the following reasons for your rapid heartbeat:"
"..."
Huang Shiyu was overwhelmed by the long string of medical explanations about pathology.
Finally, Singularity concluded by saying, "Please seek medical attention promptly to prevent your condition from worsening."
Huang Shiyu: "..."
What kind of nonsense is this? They even came up with an answer about heart disease.
Huang Shiyu's facial muscles stiffened for a rare moment: "I'm not sick, but it feels very different, like being on the shore and the waves are crashing on me."
"This is just the behavior of a young girl in love, commonly known as 'heart fluttering.' As long as you're together, everything will be fine," he said seriously.
Huang Shiyu: "..."
Is this reasonable? It must be running out of power to spout such nonsense and unrealistic things.
Huang Shiyu turned off Qidian, tidied up, and lay down on the bed, ready to have a good night's sleep. However, she found that the night passed very slowly, and even the warm blankets could not help her fall asleep quickly.
She tossed and turned in bed, her mind replaying Li Xingzhou's "Goodnight, sweet dreams," and the events that had happened in Toronto and Dongjia County. Qi Dian's words were like a torch; once lit, the bond between them slowly burned from one end to the other. These thoughts kept tugging at her nerves. She was already a light sleeper and slept very little, and now she simply couldn't fall asleep.
She figured she wasn't sleepy anyway, so she glanced at the alarm clock on the wall. The hour hand was pointing towards midnight. She promptly pulled out her phone and saw a message from an anonymous user on TikTok that had been sent a few tens of minutes earlier.
[Anonymous user: Are you asleep?]
She suddenly realized that she hadn't checked in or done her tasks for the day.
[It's a lucky cat: Almost done, I'll make it right away.]
After sending the message, Huang Shiyu completed her daily check-in just before the clock struck twelve.
[Anonymous user: I'm doing it too.]
Didn't he finish his task today?
[Is it a lucky cat? ?]
[Anonymous user: I'm learning to cook now. I have a friend who's an amazing cook, and she's teaching me.]
Upon seeing this reply, Huang Shiyu recalled the story the anonymous user had told her about almost blowing up the kitchen, and a smile unconsciously curved her lips.
[It's a lucky cat: You haven't even figured out how to make breakfast yet, and you're already starting to make the main course? It's true that the early bird catches the worm, but that doesn't mean you should try to reach the sky in one leap. Shouldn't we lay a solid foundation first?]
[Anonymous User: Oh, so was that my first time doing it before? I wasn't very good at controlling the heat, but it's different now. With a master instructor, I'm sure I can do it.]
[It's a lucky cat: Then send me a picture of a piece guided by a renowned teacher.]
[Anonymous user: Why don't you trust me at all?]
[Anonymous User: Image: jpg]
Huang Shiyu clicked on the photo and found that the content was quite spectacular, a visual feast, or in other words, an eyesore.
[It's a lucky cat: Is it burning charcoal?]
[Anonymous User: This is sweet and sour pork ribs!]
[Anonymous user: The expert said to pick out the burnt, black bits and not eat them, but the rest are fine.]
Huang Shiyu's lips twitched. If the anonymous user hadn't told her it was sweet and sour pork ribs, she really wouldn't have been able to tell. Sometimes she wondered if it was because of her nearsightedness, or because of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures?
This is actually a plate of sweet and sour pork ribs?!
[It's a lucky cat: Won't eating this cause gastroenteritis?]
[Anonymous user: No way, I tried it, it's sweet and sour and quite delicious.]
[It's a lucky cat: What kind of famous teacher are you? Are you just taking advantage of your gullibility and wealth?]
It was Lucky Cat that retracted a message.
[It's a lucky cat: It shows you're rich and powerful.]
[Anonymous user: I saw it!]
Upon seeing this reply, Huang Shiyu pursed her lips to suppress a laugh. Although the house was well soundproofed, she immediately tried to keep her lips pursed, only revealing a slight upward curve of her lips.
[It's a lucky cat: How about you turn on your camera and I'll teach you? It's free.]
She didn't know if the anonymous user had gone to cook the moment they sent her the message, but the chat remained silent for a long time. Just as Huang Shiyu was about to turn off her phone and try to fall asleep, the message arrived.
[Anonymous user: Actually, I was thinking of doing that, but my friend has severe social anxiety and gets a reaction whenever he sees a stranger. Sorry, thank you for your kind offer.]
[It's a lucky cat: Okay.]
After replying to the message, Huang Shiyu turned off her phone and planned to go to sleep. But for some reason, she was experiencing insomnia, a rare occurrence for her. She tossed and turned for over half an hour, unable to fall asleep at all. In fact, the more she tossed and turned, the more awake she became, to the point that her mind started racing. As she thought about it, she remembered what Qi Dian had said earlier, and then Li Xingzhou's face filled her mind, making her even more agitated.
So, she had no choice but to open her eyes resignedly and turn on her phone again in the pitch-black night. The instant she saw the anonymous user online, she typed out a message and sent it without thinking.
[It's a lucky cat: Do you know what it feels like to like someone?]
The moment Huang Shiyu sent the message, she regretted it. She felt that she had just been desperate and grasped at straws. Before she could even retract the message, the other party sent another one.
[Anonymous user: Why are you suddenly asking this?]
[Anonymous user: Could it be that you have a crush on someone?]
Huang Shiyu stared at the anonymous user's words, unconsciously gripping her phone tighter. She could have immediately replied that it wasn't true, but instead of refuting it right away, she sent an ambiguous message.
[It's a lucky cat: I just wanted to know because I saw you cooking for love.]
[It's a lucky cat: You can interpret this as me lacking imagination.]
[Anonymous User: Liking someone means your heart is connected to theirs. You share their joys and sorrows, even if you know there's an abyss ahead, you're prepared for utter ruin because you can't control yourself. You lose your reason, your composure, and become a fool.]
When Huang Shiyu saw this message, his heart skipped a beat.
Huang Shiyu thought about it seriously: becoming a fool, losing her rationality, losing her composure—she didn't seem to have any of these qualities.
But why did she have this strange, inexplicable feeling? Huang Shiyu could only comfort herself, perhaps it was because Li Xingzhou was quite good to her. Although Lu Xiao was also good to her, there was a difference. Li Xingzhou's kindness was the kind that went around in circles under a pretext, like a shadow in a sunny day, quiet and unassuming, but you just knew it was there. So, anyone would inevitably be touched by such things, it was just a perfectly normal feeling.
Before Huang Shiyu could continue to ponder, another message came from the anonymous user.
[Anonymous user: What kind of person do you think I am?]
[It's a lucky cat: Hey, why are you suddenly asking this?]
[Anonymous user: You asked me, so I should ask you too. That's fair.]
[It's a lucky cat: Although we're complete strangers online, that doesn't stop me from thinking you're an exceptionally good person.]
She genuinely felt that the anonymous user was a nice person. As she said, although they were complete strangers online, the anonymous user was willing to guide her in stock trading. After all, there's a saying that goes, "Guiding others in stock trading is just a way of making yourself suffer because you think your life is too comfortable."
[Anonymous user: If she's as good as you say, then why doesn't she like me?]
[It's a lucky cat: Then I take back that sentence.]
Anonymous user: Oh.
[It's a lucky cat: Don't be too stressed or anxious. If you feel too tired, take a good rest. Tomorrow will be better.]
[Anonymous user: I'm not too anxious, after all, I've gotten used to it day in and day out for ten years.]
Looking at the message, Huang Shiyu was unsure how to reply. Indeed, matters of the heart have always been a perennial problem, especially for someone like her who was an outsider. She really didn't know how to comfort her, so she decisively changed the subject.
[It's a lucky cat: Do you celebrate Chinese New Year where you are? By the way, we've been chatting online for so long, but I still don't know if you're of Chinese descent or an overseas Chinese?]
[Anonymous user: I've been to some places and left my mark.]
[It's a lucky cat: Won't you miss home if you don't go home for Chinese New Year?]
[Anonymous user: That's not my real home.]
[Anonymous user: The main issue is that I'm not their biological child either.]
Not his biological child.
Huang Shiyu's grip on his phone tightened involuntarily.
[Is it a lucky cat?: Are they abusing you, or do they have a child?]
[Anonymous user: No, do you want to hear it? I'll only tell you.]
[It's a lucky cat: You speak, I'm listening.]
Huang Shiyu stared intently at the chat box. The soft light reflected from the screen in the darkness fell into her eyes like the cold glint of a gun barrel, clear and sharp.
[Anonymous user: Because my adoptive parents' child died of illness when they were very young, I was just a substitute, but my adoptive mother didn't know that.]
Faced with this sudden bombshell news, Huang Shiyu was momentarily at a loss for words. She had considered that the anonymous user was making up a story to deceive her, but her intuition told her that this person wasn't that bored. From the time she added him as a friend until now, this person had never liked to make such pointless jokes with her.
[It's a lucky cat: Huh? How could Mom not recognize her own child? Although children's appearances haven't fully developed when they're very young, there are still quite a few differences, right?]
[Anonymous user: Because I look very much like his child, the adoptive mother didn't notice.]
[It's a lucky cat: But its behavior and habits might be different, right?]
[Anonymous user: Isn't it normal for people recovering from a serious illness to experience a significant personality change? So everything seems reasonable and logical.]
Although they were just online friends, Huang Shiyu couldn't help but feel sorry for him after what he had gone through.
[It's a lucky cat: It must have been tiring keeping such a big secret all this time. Will you feel better now that you've told me?]
Anonymous user: Hmm.
[Anonymous user: It's getting late where you are. Goodnight.]
[It's a lucky cat: Goodnight and sweet dreams.]
[Anonymous user: We're in a six-hour time difference, you should go to sleep. I'll continue honing my culinary skills; my master chef said he'd teach me how to make desserts.]
[Anonymous user: I'll send you some to try when I learn how.]
[It's a lucky cat: Please send me a picture before you send it, then I'll consider whether or not to try it.]
[Anonymous user: With one-on-one guidance from a top teacher, what are you afraid of? Just open your stomach and eat as much as you want.]
[It's a lucky cat: Okay, I'm going to sleep now, you go ahead and do your work.]
She thought that after chatting for so long, she would be able to fall asleep easily once she closed her eyes, but it didn't work out much. She tossed and turned until dawn before finally feeling a little sleepy. But before she could completely drift off to sleep, a phone call woke her up.
"Daughter, come to Renxin Hospital quickly, or you'll only see your father's corpse if you wait any longer."
With that heart-wrenching wail, Huang Shiyu's last bit of sleepiness vanished.
She grabbed a piece of clothing and put it on, then dashed out of the room at her 100-meter sprint speed. As soon as she went downstairs, Yang Hengyu and Ms. Tong were having breakfast at the dining table.
Seeing Huang Shiyu up so early, Ms. Tong, who was drinking porridge, was a little stunned: "Why are you getting up so early on the first day of the Lunar New Year? You don't need to visit relatives today."
She said succinctly, "I have to go out for a bit."
"Then have breakfast before you leave."
"It's too late, I'm not eating." Thinking of Huang Guodong's phone call, she walked even faster.
All that remained for the two people at the table was the gust of wind that had swept in, a testament to Huang Shiyu's recent passage through the area.
Yang Hengyu, who was eating a fried dough stick, just watched without saying a word, maintaining an attitude of indifference.
"Oh, this child..." Ms. Tong grumbled, "Stop eating and hurry up and catch up with your sister to see what she's doing in such a hurry."
"Wow, the sun must have risen in the west today. You actually care what she's going to do?" Yang Hengyu clicked his tongue.
“Just go when I tell you to. You’ve got food all over your mouth. What kind of behavior is this?” Ms. Tong took out a tissue to wipe the grease from his mouth. “Wipe it off before you go.”
Yang Hengyu tilted his head, stood up instantly, and dodged Ms. Tong's clutches: "I'll do it myself."
After saying that, he ran towards the door, prompting Ms. Tong to complain while holding a tissue, "You haven't wiped it yet!"
Just as Huang Shiyu stepped out of her house, she happened to run into Li Xingzhou, who had parked his car in front of her.
Huang Shiyu paused for a moment.
My first thought was that this person had changed cars again; it was a Ferrari 488, so red it looked like a devil ready to devour people.
Li Xingzhou sat in the driver's seat, the window half-rolled down, winked at her, and said with a smile, "Did you sleep well last night?"
Huang Shiyu didn't care why he was there at this time; she just felt that he had come at the perfect time: "You've come at the right time. Please take me to the nearest Renxin Hospital."
Then, thinking about the road conditions here, he said, "Never mind, give me the keys, I'll drive it."
Yang Hengyu followed the lingering wind and saw his sister, Huang Shiyu, grab the keys thrown out by the man in the driver's seat. The two quickly switched places, and the flashy red sports car sped off with a roar of the engine.
It's that person again.
There's no need for him to go; he's not going to be a third wheel.
He's a gossip, but not that gossipy.
Yang Hengyu whistled at the departing car exhaust: "Let's go to an internet cafe and play a game."
Meanwhile, just as the car arrived at its destination, Li Xingzhou felt for a moment that he was going to die. If Huang Shiyu hadn't been aware that he shouldn't run a red light, he would have felt that the car he was in was a flight to death. Before he could recover, he saw Huang Shiyu stop the car, immediately open the door and get out, and then rush towards the long-abandoned hospital.
He had just put his hand on the seatbelt, leaving Li Xingzhou in the car speechless.
When he arrived at the scene, there were several people standing in the open space. They seemed to be residents living nearby, gathered together and whispering about someone who was going to jump off the building. People tend to be gossipy, not really worried about whether the person would actually jump, but more like they were watching a show.
Everyone has a dark side. Rather than seeing you doing well, people are more interested in seeing your painful and ridiculous side.
He watched as Huang Shiyu stood in the open space in the middle of the abandoned hospital building, looking up at Huang Guodong, who was near the top floor. One had a look down, the other a hard look. All sounds seemed to fall silent at that moment, and the whole world seemed to be quiet, as if declaring that no one could break into the space between the two.
Huang Shiyu calmly looked at Huang Guodong standing on the ninth floor: "What are you doing standing up there?"
Upon seeing Huang Shiyu, Huang Guodong's eyes lit up as if he had seen the dawn: "Daughter, you have to help me! You can't abandon your father! I have no other choice. Tomorrow is the deadline for repaying the money..."
"How much?" Huang Shiyu asked.
“Not much, not much.” Huang Guodong gestured with his fingers, “Just two…two million.”
"Do I look like I have two million?!" Huang Shiyu's gaze suddenly sharpened. "How much did I just help you pay off? Tell me!"
Huang Guodong was shameless and felt no remorse whatsoever. He said without changing his expression, "Daughter, you own a company, Dad knows you're very rich. Please help Dad this one more time. There will never be a next time, I promise! Please help Dad this one more time."
They spoke as if it were the truth, practically begging Huang Shiyu to kneel down.
"This building is so tall, Dad's legs are shaking a little."
She even shook her legs a couple of times as if it were part of the occasion, but it could also be because she was standing at a high place. Normal people's legs would go weak if they stood on the fifth floor and looked down, let alone the ninth floor.
Huang Shiyu was lying if she said she wasn't angry; she was so angry she was practically fuming: "Did you go gambling again? Last time I helped you pay off your debts, you promised me you'd never do it again. And now look at you!"
Upon hearing this, Huang Guodong shook his head repeatedly, afraid that Huang Shiyu would abandon him. "It's not gambling, it's not gambling this time. Dad bought some shares in Shenzhen-Hong Kong Group. Who knew such a big group would have such a problem? Dad is innocent too."
"Your promise is bullshit! I have no money!" Huang Shiyu turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
She yelled at the people upstairs.
"You only ever use moral blackmail against me! Have you ever truly cared about me?! You only remember me, your dispensable daughter whom you abandoned, when you're in debt and being chased by creditors."
"Am I your ATM?!"
As she spoke, her eyes suddenly reddened, and she stared blankly at the person upstairs shouting that he was going to jump.
After watching for so long, Li Xingzhou finally spoke his first words since arriving: "Uncle, call the police. The high-interest loans you owe don't even meet the legal requirements for interest rates."
"No..." Hearing Li Xingzhou say this, he suddenly thought of the methods of those loan sharks, and his voice almost cracked, "Then they will definitely not let me go, absolutely not..."
He seemed to remember something, then opened his eyes wide and looked at Li Xingzhou: "And it wasn't you who said it..."
A faint smile played on Li Xingzhou's lips, unnoticed even by Huang Guodong, who was staring at him in astonishment, because they were too far apart.
He calmly interrupted Huang Guodong before he could finish speaking: "Uncle, are you confused? One minute you're worried about being chased by loan sharks, the next you want Shiyu to pay you back." He then changed the subject, "When you gave her information to those loan sharks, did you think about what would happen to her?"
Huang Guodong cursed under his breath at Li Xingzhou for bringing up such a sore subject. What if Huang Shiyu ignored him later? "Ah... this... Shiyu..." he quickly stopped himself and changed the subject, "I've raised you all these years, are you really going to be so heartless as to watch your father be chased by those loan sharks?"
"You raised me all these years? You really have the nerve to say that. That's the funniest joke I've heard all day." Huang Shiyu thought for a moment and recalled the past. "Back in junior high, you remarried and had a child. You kicked me out to live in the attic. It was full of clutter, and in the summer, rats would run around. Even dogs couldn't live there. I lived in the attic like that for two years."
"Is this what you mean by raising me? I feel like I've lived worse than a dog. I have no self-respect, and I have to beg and grovel to get even a tiny bit of so-called family affection. It's laughable. Raising me?" "Don't you think you're joking? It's more like I've been cleaning up your messes all this time." She looked at Huang Guodong, pointed at Li Xingzhou, and gave a cold laugh, more like a self-mockery. "If it weren't for paying off your debts, would I have taken his mother's 500,000 yuan!" She pointed at Huang Guodong again, her smile more like a grimace. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have taken that money at all. If those debt collectors hadn't come to our house every few days, I wouldn't have taken that money at all. I know your true nature too well. If you can't pay back the money, you'll definitely use me to pay it off. I didn't want to take that money, but I wanted to go to university back then."
Huang Shiyu rarely speaks at such a long pace, and she rarely speaks so frankly. Today, she has poured out everything at once, which must be because she is extremely aggrieved and distressed to the extreme. That is why she disregards her usual public image. In the past, no matter how unsatisfactory or bitter her life was, she would never open her mouth to complain to others.
Only now has Huang Shiyu realized that she is not so good at forgetting pain.
Li Xingzhou, who was standing to the side, looked at her in shock.
Only he himself knows whether he was shocked by the injustices Huang Shiyu experienced in her youth or by the fact that she took 500,000 yuan from Li Mansu back then; perhaps both are true.
After venting all her frustrations, Huang Shiyu returned to her cold demeanor, looking at him and saying, "Besides, I've never heard of someone who's been to the gambling table ever leaving empty-handed. Last time it was gambling, this time it's stock trading, what about next time? This has become your addiction. As soon as there's even the slightest hint of trouble, you'll come back again. People without integrity don't deserve to make any promises to me."
She knew Huang Guodong's thoughts perfectly well; he wouldn't change, never, there would always be a next time.
Huang Shiyu's questioning and accusations left Huang Guodong's head spinning, while the onlookers below chattered incessantly, asking those around them for details and commenting on the man. This was the typical character of the residents living here; it seemed that seeing people grieved was their greatest pleasure.
These voices, without exception, transformed into sharp blades, piercing Huang Guodong's nerves.
Huang Shiyu moved his lips, his face expressionless, his voice terrifyingly cold: "Then you can just die..."
Seeing this, Huang Guodong was so angry that he opened his mouth to curse: "You ungrateful wretch, I..."
In that instant, not only Huang Shiyu but also Li Xingzhou sensed something. He glanced up and saw Huang Guodong suddenly lean forward, as if he had lost his balance, staggering a few steps, and it looked like things were about to get out of control.
In a flash, Li Xingzhou raised a hand and gently covered Huang Shiyu's eyes, whispering, "Don't look."
At that moment, all around was quiet. She could only hear Li Xingzhou's breathing. With a thud, the heavy object hit the ground, and the screams of the onlookers were like a sharp arrow, forcibly piercing through the dark and gloomy world. And that sharp arrow was stuck tightly in her throat.
Huang Shiyu remained silent and obedient, letting Li Xingzhou raise his hand to cover her eyes without moving. She wanted to open her mouth to say something, but she couldn't speak. She could only move her lips and make empty sounds.
Seeing this, Li Xingzhou felt as if his heart was being torn apart. He felt that Huang Shiyu would shatter at the slightest touch.
He glanced at where Huang Guodong had landed, then silently looked away.
The wind on the first day of the Lunar New Year was anything but gentle and tender; it lashed against his face with a fierce and aggressive force, almost like thunder and lightning, which weighed heavily on Li Xingzhou's heart.
"Who jumped off that building?!"
"Wow, how desperate must one be to jump from up there?"
No one knows what these words will mean to Huang Shiyu, that they mean she is the murderer, the executioner with the butcher's knife.
Huang Shiyu swayed slightly, panting, "It was my dad who jumped off the building..."
She clung to Li Xingzhou's hands, which were covering her eyes, like a cub struggling for its life, and whispered weakly, "It's raining..."
This time, the familiar piano piece did not play in her ears.
Because she heard the sound of rain.
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