Chapter 6 Old Cell Phone "We're going home, Lianlian."...
Chapter 6
Under the dim street light, there stood a tall figure.
Under the evergreen tree a few steps away, half of Yu Peizhi's profile was softened by the fading evening light, while the other half was completely submerged in thick shadows.
He was wearing a white shirt and washed blue jeans, and a smile curved on his lips that looked very similar to Xunli's, but this time, Zhui Lian knew clearly that he was not Xunli.
"Lian Lian."
He called out again, his voice like water-soaked silk.
No matter how light or soft, every word becomes heavy after being touched by water.
A chill ran from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, and Zhui Lian felt as if his scalp exploded instantly.
She froze in place, watching Yu Peizhi take a step and walk towards her slowly.
The streets were very quiet in the evening, and the sound of footsteps was particularly obvious.
"Da da", "Da da", "Da da".
Yu Peizhi stood in front of her.
His eyes first swept across her pale cheek, then slowly moved down to the broken phone on the ground.
Yu Peizhi sighed softly, his tone filled with a hint of helpless doting: "Why are you so careless?"
Then he bent down and picked up the phone easily with his slender fingers.
"Baby, the screen seems to be cracked."
Yu Peizhi held up his phone and shook it at Zhui Lian. His tone was gentle and worried, but the cold light reflected from the screen showed his expressionless face.
At this moment, his wrist seemed to relax very naturally and slightly.
“Snap!”
There was a sharper cracking sound, and the phone fell from his hand again.
This time, it was the screen that slammed back onto the concrete floor.
The phone screen, which was already cracked like a spider web, went completely black, without a trace of light.
"Oops," Yu Peizhi let out a short, soft cry, a hint of just the right amount of regret visible between his slightly furrowed brows, "My hand slipped."
He spread out his empty palms, his tone as innocent as if he was stating a perfectly normal fact: "It seems that it is completely broken."
Zhui Lian was stunned for a moment.
She stared at the completely scrapped electronic wreckage on the ground for a long time, and after a while she looked up at Yu Peizhi.
The light from the street lamp fell into the other person's dark eyes.
A calmness spreads out.
No waves, no disturbance.
Suffocating, yet soaked.
A hint of teasing, a hint of playfulness, filling.
This is not an accident.
Absolutely not.
Zhui Lian bent down and wanted to pick up the broken phone, but Yu Peizhi got there first and picked up the phone again.
Then, he raised his hand and very lightly threw the phone into the trash can beside him.
"It's all broken, so let's not keep it." Yu Peizhi walked over quickly, put his arm around Zhui Lian's shoulders, and said gently, "Hubby will buy you a new one."
"I……"
Zhui Lian's movement to lean forward was restrained by Yu Peizhi. She opened her mouth, but could not utter a word.
"Who is this?" Yu Peizhi's gaze finally turned to Li Can, who was almost petrified.
He said, "Lianlian's friend? I'm her husband, Yu Peizhi."
A gentle and decent smile instantly appeared on Yu Peizhi's face. The other party was so polite, but the invisible pressure instantly submerged Li Can like a cold tide.
Like a thorn in the back, like a python pouncing on you.
"Li Can." He tried his best to hide his nervousness. "I'm a volunteer from the Animal Protection Association. I just sent...sent Sister Lianlian back."
"Oh, I see." Yu Peizhi nodded as if suddenly realizing something, and said, "Thank you for your hard work. You specially sent Lianlian back so late."
The smile on his lips deepened: "She is timid and easily frightened. I feel more at ease with you around."
Despite the other party's flawless and watertight words, Li Can felt the chill on his back deepen, and his own voice became drier: "It's not hard."
"Lianlian's phone is broken, so I'm afraid I won't be able to add you on WeChat for a while."
In front of him, Yu Peizhi's tone was still gentle, even with a hint of negotiation: "How about this, add my WeChat?"
Yu Peizhi: "I am Lianlian's husband. You can just inform me directly about the next event time and I will pass it on to her."
"It also saves her from worrying about these little things—"
Yu Peizhi raised his eyes and looked at him, his tone was very light and gentle, his dark eyes even contained some smile, "You are right, right?"
The more those eyes smiled, the more Li Can's body went against his will.
“Okay…Okay.”
He only heard a slight "beep" from his phone, and a verification message with the three words "Yu Peizhi" popped up on the screen.
"Thank you." Yu Peizhi put his phone away with satisfaction, his smile unchanged, and pointed at the bicycle, "Then I won't waste your time. Be careful on the road."
He reached out and held Zhui Lian's shoulders tighter: "Let's go home, Lian Lian."
Zhui Lian stood there, not moving, his eyes following Li Can's back as he was about to get on his bicycle.
Li Can plucked up his courage and turned back.
The moment their eyes met in mid-air, a powerful hand suddenly covered Zhui Lian's eyes.
Everything in front of my eyes went dark.
Yu Peizhi lowered his head, his lips almost touching Zhui Lian's earlobe.
The warm breath brushed past her, but it only caused goose bumps to form on her skin. He repeated, "We're going home, Lianlian."
Zhui Lian was half-hugged and half-pushed by him as she walked forward, her steps floating.
Yu Peizhi's hand was pressed on the vulnerable part of her neck, not too light or too heavy, but just enough to prevent her from looking back at Li Can.
＊
The way home is not long, but it seems infinitely long because of the silence.
The little light from the street lamp at dusk stretched, shortened, and distorted their cuddling figures, projecting them onto the road surface.
But everything was completely different from what Zhui Lian had expected.
Questioning? Taunting? Even her husband's rare outburst of anger—none of that happened.
Yu Peizhi's arms were still tightly wrapped around her shoulders. He just held her and walked, silently, calmly, and slowly.
"Watch out for the steps."
When they reached the door of the apartment building, Yu Peizhi even reached out his hand and lightly supported her waist, reminding her in a gentle voice as always.
But this abnormal calmness only makes people more creepy.
With a soft "beep", the door behind the fingerprint lock opened.
The cold winter air was kept out.
The room was as warm as spring, and a familiar scent filled the air.
"Are you tired, baby? Go take a hot bath first?"
Yu Peizhi turned his head to look at her, his curved eyebrows looking harmless and gentle, "Where's your hair? Do you need to wash it today? Let me help you wash it?"
He then raised his hand and began to take off Zhui Lian's white fleece coat, his movements meticulous and thoughtful. "...It's a bit cold, so I won't take it off."
Zhui Lian couldn't relax. She pinched her empty pockets and subconsciously took a step back.
Her cell phone should have been there.
Zhui Lian said, "My phone is broken."
Yu Peizhi was bending down to change his shoes and hummed when he heard this.
Zhui Lian continued, "I want to go to the mall now and buy a new one."
She paused and added, her tone a little unnaturally euphemistic: "Pei Zhi, you're tired after a day, just rest at home, I can go by myself."
Yu Peizhi paused as he was putting his shoes away.
He straightened up slowly and turned to face her.
The light fell, and the bright ceiling light in the living room shone on his face.
He tilted his head slightly, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards a little bit. The arc was impeccable, but it inexplicably made people feel cold.
"Now?"
Yu Peizhi asked softly, his voice like a feather falling, "Lianlian, look out the window."
A thin layer of mist has condensed on the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room.
Zhui Lian walked to the window and looked out.
Tiny white fluff was spinning and falling in the halo of the street lamp.
"The weather forecast says there will be heavy snow tonight."
A leisurely voice sounded behind Zhui Lian, "At this time, in this kind of weather, the mall will close soon.
"and……"
Yu Peizhi walked over to her side, and together they watched the increasingly dense snow outside the window, comforting her patiently and gently, "Lianlian, the neighborhood has been a bit uneasy lately, as you know."
Zhui Lian lowered her eyes and thought quietly.
Indeed, this unrest wasn't just Yu Pei's one-sided claim. Aunt Wang and Xiao Li's words at the Animal Protection Association that afternoon confirmed that there had been problems in the community recently.
but--
In the other person's tone, which was full of reasonable concerns, Zhui Lian inexplicably heard the certainty that he was in control of everything.
So she walked closer to the floor-to-ceiling window, hoping to see the situation outside more clearly.
The snow has not yet increased in intensity.
So Zhui Lian said, "It only takes ten minutes for me to get to the mall from home by taxi..."
But the TV in the living room was not turned off, and it was tuned to the local news channel. Before Zhui Lian could finish her words, she was interrupted by the clear voice of the female host.
She read: "There will be heavy snow tonight. Please pay attention, fellow citizens, and reduce travel."
Yu Peizhi glanced at the TV, then turned his head and locked his dark eyes on Zhui Lian.
"Lianlian, look, the report says so." He sighed softly, "How can your husband let you take risks alone?"
In this information age, living without a mobile phone is like surviving by cutting off one's limbs.
"But..." Zhui Lian wanted to struggle.
"Baby, let's not rush."
Yu Peizhi interrupted her, frowning slightly, and suddenly as if he suddenly remembered something, he said, "I remember...is there an old cell phone in the bottom drawer of your bedside table?"
Old phone?
That old phone in the bottom drawer of your nightstand?
That was the phone she used before she went to study in the UK during high school. That phone...carried her entire teenage years.
but--
When Yu Peizhi mentioned it at this time, she always felt... indescribably strange.
"That...has been unusable for a long time." Zhui Lian instinctively chose to refuse.
"Baby, give it a try."
Yu Peizhi naturally took her hand, his tone as relaxed as if he was discussing what to eat for dinner, but that action undoubtedly led her towards the bedroom.
"It's always okay for an emergency. When the snow stops tomorrow, your husband will go with you to buy new ones, okay?"
＊
The ten fingers are intertwined and fit together perfectly.
Zhui Lian tried to shake off the other person's hand, but was still half-dragged and half-pulled into the bedroom.
Cold fingers, slender fingers, grabbed up little by little, fingers clenched tightly, fingers that could not be freed.
Finally, his loosened fingers pushed her to the edge of the bed and sat her down.
A dim bedside lamp was turned on, and the light flickered unclearly.
Dark, vague and hazy darkness.
Yu Peizhi opened the drawer. There were some scattered items at the bottom, and in the corner, an old smartphone with some worn edges was lying quietly.
"Pei Zhi." Zhui Lian wanted to get up, "It's a little dark, I'll go turn on the headlights."
"No hurry, I'll open it later." Yu Peizhi turned around, put his backhand on her shoulder, handed the phone to her, and said softly, "Here, try it?"
Zhui Lian looked at the phone and was gripped by a strong sense of foreboding.
She turned her head away, the words of refusal just coming out of her throat: "No, I..."
But Yu Peizhi suddenly grabbed her fingertips, touched the power button, and pressed it in an instant.
The screen was pitch black at first, and after a few seconds, a dazzling white light suddenly lit up!
The light faded, and the screen saver image clearly jumped into my eyes—
The background of the photo is a luxuriously decorated classroom.
In the center of the photo, sixteen-year-old Zhui Lian, wearing her Xiting High School uniform, is sleeping on her desk in the classroom. Next to her sits a young man with dyed blond hair.
The blond boy leaned slightly to the side, one hand caressing her cheek affectionately while the other hand firmly gripped her wrist, his eyes locked on her possessively.
His eyebrows and eyes are delicate and beautiful.
His skin was a cold white from not seeing the sun for a long time.
And those thin lips were curled up in a satisfied yet cold arc.
But now, those deep black eyes seemed to still carry that bone-chilling smile through the screen, staring straight at Zhui Lian who was holding the mobile phone.
It's that dead man...
It was the madman who imprisoned her, tortured her, and ultimately died under the blade three years ago...
"ah--!"
An uncontrollable scream burst out from Zhui Lian's mouth.
She suddenly threw the old phone in her hand away.
The author has something to say:
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Private Marseille [burst into tears] is updated very slowly and it’s a bit slow for everyone. I will revise it when I have time tomorrow.
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