Chapter 14: Suspension Day "Lianlian, where are you going?"...
Xiao Li's call ended quickly.
"I think I slipped... and fell?" Li Can tried to recall. "After that... I don't remember anything! When I woke up, I was on the mountain."
"On the mountain?" Zhui Lian repeated his words.
"Yes, yes... uh... I don't know what happened either." Xiao Li said, "But I'm fine now. Sister Lianlian, are you okay too?"
After receiving Zhui Lian's affirmative answer, he said a few more words of concern to her and hurriedly wanted to hang up the phone.
"Xiao Li." Zhui Lian stopped him and asked, "Where are you now? Are you home?"
"Ah... well, my counselor called me this morning."
Xiao Li on the other end seemed to scratch his head, a little embarrassed. "He said that the department has a very important winter vacation project going on, which will be very helpful for postgraduate admission, but he needs to return to school immediately, and asked if I would like to participate."
Li Can: "So I'm already at the airport."
There seemed to be a broadcast urging passengers to board the plane.
Xiao Li said to Zhui Lian, "Sister Lian Lian, I have to get on the plane. The project at S University is urgent, so I probably won't be going back to X City this winter break... That's it, I'm hanging up now!"
Before Zhui Lian could ask another question, the phone was hastily hung up, leaving only a busy tone.
She lowered her eyes to the absinthe bottle cap in her hand.
She heard it.
In Li Can's tone, besides the haste of wanting to get out of trouble, there was also... fear.
A fear that is hidden deep but very real.
On the other side, Li Can, who had just gotten off the plane, was following his counselor to the dean's office.
The project contract was placed on the table. The dean, who was about 40 years old and wearing a royal blue shirt, was drinking tea from a cup. When he saw him coming, he raised his chin and motioned him to sign.
"Director, is this contract really legitimate? I'm a little... a little..."
Faced with this great project that seemed like a godsend, Xiao Li couldn't help but ask the questions in his heart when he came out of the dean's office.
"You can't believe it, can you?"
The instructor interrupted him, quickly glanced at the empty corridor, and lowered his voice, "Xiao Can, don't ask. There are some things... you don't want to know too much."
"This kind of opportunity..." He patted Li Can's shoulder and said earnestly, "You may only have one chance in your life, and it's best if it only comes once."
Perhaps the force on his shoulders was too heavy, Li Can trembled inexplicably.
Under the scorching sun, he felt an extreme chill.
When he was in a coma, Li Can was not completely unconscious.
His thoughts were on the edge of chaos, and he was briefly awakened by the same extreme coldness.
The voice was filled with sticky malice and was as low as a gust of cold wind.
The words, close to his ears, drilled into his brain:
"Do you know how much I want to kill you?"
The voice paused and chuckled, almost sighing: "But she likes good people... good people..."
Then came an even more sinister tone, as if a demon from hell was demanding his life: "You bitch, how dare you...how dare you...be so close to her?"
The breath of death, decayed and gloomy.
Very close, very close, just a stone's throw away from him.
The instinct for survival overwhelmed all curiosity and anger.
Forget it.
Leave immediately.
Never come close again.
This is the only way to survive.
*
Zhui Lian began to have trouble sleeping all night.
The sticky feeling in her lower body disappeared, but the golden nightmare continued to entangle every inch of her bones and blood.
This weekend, Wen Xu came to see Zhui Lian.
Zhui Lian asked her if the police had found anything unusual in the secret passage.
Xiao Xu said, "I heard there wasn't anything there."
She gestured to Zhui Lian and said, "Sister Lian Lian, you may not know that this side of ours is close to the border and is an old war-ready area. This kind of passage is quite common."
The same answer as Yu Peizhi.
She asked Yu Peizhi whether the police had found any problems with the secret passage.
"Baby, the police said that it was a former war preparedness passage." Yu Peizhi cut the washed fruit into small pieces, forked them, and handed them to Zhui Lian, answering her like this.
"Really?"
Zhui Lian looked up at him, but the hand holding the fork unconsciously tightened.
"Really." Yu Peizhi paused, as if recalling what the police had said. "It was probably built in the 1960s or 1970s, used for evacuation and transfer of personnel."
Zhui Lian: "What about Xiao Li? Why is he on the mountain?"
"Ah..." Yu Peizhi sighed and said sadly, "My wife talked to Xiao Li on the phone."
Zhui Lian felt a chill down her spine when she heard the tone, but fortunately Yu Peizhi quickly followed up with an explanation in a normal tone.
"Because that secret passage connects to the mountain behind."
He said, "Xiao Li happened to fall into the forest in the mountains. It was too dark at night, so we couldn't find him that day."
Zhui Lian didn't stop and immediately asked, "What about the storage room?"
Yu Peizhi blinked slowly: "What storage room?"
Zhui Lian used both hands and gestured rapidly: "It's the storage room at the end of the passage! The police didn't see it? Impossible... Impossible..."
She gestured faster and faster, her words becoming somewhat incoherent: "It's very dark, very black, with a tiny light flickering inside, and there's a..."
Having said this, Zhui Lian suddenly stopped talking and couldn't continue.
"Baby, don't get excited."
His cold fingertips pinched the back of Zhui Lian's neck, as if to comfort her, but also to control her. "Are you talking about those small compartments for storing supplies that are often found in these passages?"
“They didn’t seem to see it.”
Yu Peizhi patiently asked her, "What exactly is it like? Baby, can you tell me? I'll ask the police."
Zhui Lian had no way to recall anymore.
As long as she felt and thought, the golden color would suddenly appear in front of her eyes again.
Everything had a reasonable explanation, but that night, Zhui Lian's nightmare was more severe than any other night.
There was heavy breathing, with the afterglow of passion.
In nightmares, in the senses.
The wet hair tips and sticky eyelashes blurred the way to sleep into the sound of getting out of bed.
Zhui Lian knocked on Yu Peizhi's door with trembling shoulders.
Yu Peizhi seemed to have fallen asleep and came to open the door after a while.
He held Zhui Lian's trembling shoulders and brushed her hair in front of her forehead, saying gently but with a hint of doubt: "Baby, what's wrong? Why did you come to me all of a sudden?"
Zhui Lian said nothing.
But the next second, she suddenly grabbed Yu Peizhi's arm, her nails almost digging into his flesh.
Zhui Lian's face was paler than paper, and her whole body was so thin that she seemed to be able to blend into the dim light of the corridor.
"Pei Zhi, let's go back to S City and leave tomorrow!"
"No...no, leave now!"
Yu Peizhi was surprised: "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
"Don't ask, don't ask."
Zhui Lian's hands trembled slightly, and he kept repeating, "Let's get out of here, get out of here, please..."
Yu Peizhi immediately held her trembling hand.
He held her in his arms with his other hand and patted her lovingly: "Okay, okay, I won't ask anymore, let's go, let's go right away, baby, don't be afraid."
He took out his cell phone and swiped his fingers across the screen quickly to check flight information.
But Yu Peizhi's brows soon furrowed again, with a hint of genuine embarrassment: "Baby...all the tickets for these few days are sold out."
"The earliest flight I can rebook is this Sunday."
"I'll change the flight right away. Let's leave on Sunday, okay? I won't go anywhere these days. I'll just stay home with you."
He turned his phone screen towards her.
It clearly shows the confirmation information of the successful rebooking - two tickets to S City this Sunday.
Zhui Lian stared at the line of confirmation information, as if grabbing the last straw, and nodded vigorously.
"Okay." Yu Peizhi touched Zhui Lian's long hair and said, "Baby, go back to sleep."
Zhui Lian didn't say anything or move.
"Do you want me to take you home?" Yu Peizhi tilted his head slightly and asked her.
Zhui Lian still didn't say anything, but her hand tightly grasped Yu Peizhi's sleeve.
"Okay, hubby got it."
He smiled, took Zhui Lian's hand and walked her to the door.
"Come in, wife."
Zhui Lian stood at the door of the master bedroom, but did not move.
"What's wrong?"
He looked at her with tenderness in his eyes: "Come in quickly, baby, it's very late now."
As Zhui Lian stepped into the room, darkness surged in like a real tide.
Swallow her up, devour her.
A little bit of light is swallowed up and cannot be dispelled.
"Yu Peizhi!"
The sound of the wind outside the window and the gentle sound of the heating pipes were like the scent of absinthe, which permeated Zhui Lian's nerves.
She turned around suddenly, walked and ran, and threw herself on Yu Peizhi, wrapped her arms around his waist, and tightly grasped the ties of his nightgown.
"Hmm?" Yu Peizhi looked back at her
"I want...I want..."
Zhui Lian was panting, and her words were intermittent. She didn't know whether she was speaking incompletely or she didn't have the courage to finish it.
“You…you…”
"What about me?" Yu Peizhi lowered his head and looked at her tenderly, "Tell me, baby."
I can't speak.
Zhui Lian: "Forget it, no need."
As soon as she turned around and wanted to go back to her room, she was hugged by Yu Peizhi.
"Bad boy." Yu Peizhi chuckled softly, "Always like this, never saying what you want."
His chin gently rubbed her sweaty forehead, and his arms tightened, almost rubbing her into his body.
"Okay, okay." Yu Peizhi half-carried and half-carried Zhui Lian into the room, watched her lie down, and tucked in the corners of the quilt for her.
"Go to sleep."
Yu Peizhi sat down beside her bed and comforted her softly, "Don't be afraid, your husband is here. He will stay with you and won't go anywhere."
But in the second half of the night, they finally slept in the same bed again.
Zhui Lian curled up in Yu Peizhi's arms, snuggling tightly to this only source of warmth.
In extreme fatigue and fear, her consciousness finally sank into an uneasy chaos.
The man who was hugging her kept his eyes open silently in the darkness.
Yu Peizhi felt the gradually calming breathing of the person in his arms, and his eyes fell heavily on the back of Zhui Lian's neck.
Pale and fragile.
The slender lines present a fragile beauty in the dim light.
The corners of his mouth curved up into a barely perceptible curve of satisfaction.
The birds...finally returned to their nests.
*
"Sister Lianlian? Sister Lianlian?"
Wen Xu's cry pulled Zhui Lian out of her memories, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay, it's okay."
Zhui Lian finally came to her senses. She forced a smile and looked at Xiao Xu, saying, "Xiao Xu, is Lulu home recently? I'm leaving tomorrow and want to go play with it one last time."
"Okay, it just so happens that Lulu hasn't been out for the past two days."
Wen Xu walked towards the door happily and called her, "Sister Lianlian, hurry up, let's go to my house!"
But just as the two of them walked out of the elevator, Xiaoxu, who was browsing on her phone, suddenly exclaimed, and Zhui Lian had a bad premonition in her heart.
"Why--"
Wen Xu turned around, held up her phone in front of Zhui Lian, and showed her the news.
The citizen notice above shows that due to abnormal weather tomorrow, flights to City S will be cancelled.
Xiao Xu acted as if she was not surprised at all and said, "The weather here is often like this. In the winter, flights are often cancelled."
Seeing Zhui Lian’s face pale and speechless, Wen Xu hurriedly continued: “Sister Lian Lian, don’t worry.”
She said, "Transportation is so advanced nowadays, you don't have to take a plane to go back to S City."
yes.
Zhui Lian looked down at her phone, and suddenly, she seemed to realize something.
That night, when Yu Peizhi came back and told Zhui Lian the news, she was unusually calm.
She pretended to be stunned for a while, as if she couldn't accept this huge blow. After a long time, she said sullenly: "It's okay, forget it."
Then they rebooked their tickets for a week later.
The next morning, Yu Peizhi frowned slightly and told Zhui Lian that he couldn't find a drawing.
Zhui Lian thought about it and said, maybe it fell in a small shop near the reed marsh?
Yu Peizhi sighed and said, "I hope so. Anyway, the manuscript is due soon, and he might need to go back and take a look. He can't accompany Zhui Lian today."
"Baby, why don't you come with me?" Yu Peizhi asked her, "Just go out and relax."
Zhui Lian exclaimed, "I made an appointment with Xiao Xu today to go see Lulu."
"Aren't we leaving next week?" she said. "I was just thinking about going and playing with Lulu again."
Unexpectedly, Yu Peizhi didn't insist any further, but just nodded. He said gently that being with Xiaoxu would make her feel better.
The door closed gently, isolating her husband from view.
The footsteps outside the door gradually faded away until they disappeared completely, and the pounding sound of Zhui Lian's heart finally disappeared along with them.
Time is running out.
She pulled out the backpack that she had secretly packed long ago, moving quickly and gently, as if she was afraid of disturbing something invisible.
The phone screen lit up and stopped at the dialog box between Zhui Lian and Xiao Xu, spanning yesterday to today.
Here’s what happened yesterday:
Zhui Lian: [Xiao Xu, can you do me a favor? Don't tell anyone, but ask if there's a private car willing to go long distance tomorrow afternoon? The price is negotiable.]
Buzz——
The phone vibrates.
Jump out of today’s content:
Xiaoxu: [Sister Lianlian, I asked! ]
Xiaoxu: [There's a man who often runs from our area to City S, but today he has to go to City W to pick up some goods. If it's on the way, he could give you a ride, but it's a bit of a detour, and the price might be a little higher. Is that okay?]
W City.
That's her hometown.
Zhui Lian quickly replied: "Sure! W City! Send me the driver's phone number and license plate number. Thanks, Xiaoxu! Don't tell anyone else!"
As soon as the message was successfully sent, Zhui Lian grabbed her backpack and stood up. She took a last look around.
The broken mirror under the sofa was still there, reflecting her pure and peaceful face and her thin and weak figure.
No one dealt with it.
But she couldn't stay any longer.
＊
The street scene of City X in the rearview mirror kept shrinking.
The car drove smoothly out of the city and merged into the suburban highway.
The scenery outside the window changed from buildings to withered fields, and then to rolling hills.
With every kilometer away from the small town, Zhui Lian's tense nerves relaxed a little.
Maybe... maybe I can really escape?
She didn't even dare to think deeply about the word "escape", as if as soon as she thought about it, she would be captured by something invisible.
The driver was a half-old black car. He was a middle-aged man with a simple face. He occasionally spoke to her, but Zhui Lian's answers were mostly absent-minded.
Apart from--
"Little girl, where is your home in W City? We are from the same hometown. If it is on the way, I can send it directly to you."
"Thank you, but no thanks."
Zhui Lian leaned against the car window and replied, "That place is too remote. It will be difficult for you to find it."
"Biased? Which one, Nansu or Jiulong?" The driver was obviously interested and insisted on getting to the bottom of it.
“Neither.”
"Ah?" The driver was also a little surprised. "Could it be... Qingjiang?"
His voice sounded a little uncertain.
Zhui Lian hummed.
The driver glanced at her quickly through the rearview mirror, his eyes complicated, and said nothing more.
The car fell into a subtle silence, with only the dull roar of the engine.
But the green sign was getting closer and closer. The entrance to the highway was right in front of us. As long as we got on the highway, as long as...
But life doesn’t have so many needs.
As the car was about to turn into the ramp, a dazzling high beam suddenly came from behind without warning.
The scene in the rearview mirror was swallowed up in an instant.
The light that was about to fall into Zhui Lian's hands was swallowed up in his eyes.
Silently, the black SUV approached rapidly, overtook without slowing down, then suddenly turned the steering wheel and blocked the front of the car!
“Squeak—!”
The sound of brakes ripped the air.
The car was forced to stop suddenly, and Zhui Lian rushed forward due to inertia, almost hitting his forehead on the front seat.
The dust and smoke dissipated slightly.
The driver's door of the ghostly SUV opened.
A pair of slender legs stepped out and stepped on the rough road.
Yu Peizhi leaned against the car, still wearing the light gray windbreaker he wore when he went out.
But at this moment, the collar, which was always meticulously done, was slightly open, revealing the taut lines of the neck.
There was no expression on his face, he could even be described as calm.
But those eyes were so dark that not a ripple could appear.
He walked over step by step.
Knock, knock, knock.
There was a knock on the car window.
Yu Peizhi stood outside the car window, motionless.
His face slammed against the cold car window, his forehead almost touching it.
On the glass, the breath turned into a small white mist.
Hazy.
But those deep black eyes pierced through the white mist and stared straight at her.
"Lian Lian."
He smiled, the kind of smile that twitched at the corners of his mouth: "Where are you going?"
The author has something to say:
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Tomorrow is v, thank you for following me~ Let me study how to draw the lottery TAT
I'm very rustic. I just like this kind of drama where she runs away and he chases her but she can't escape even if she has wings.
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