Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
When Chen Zhaochi was alone in the silence and fell into the bottom of the well, he thought about relying on the homeless man from the unfinished building to survive.
He could think of it, so there was no way Si Tingyan couldn’t.
Sure enough, the homeless man didn’t return.
Si Tingyan hadn’t left him a single chance to live.
The taxi driver on the side of the road was enthusiastically soliciting passengers. When he saw Chen Zhaochi get in with a steel pipe, his expression changed drastically, but he didn’t dare to make a sound.
He drove quickly to West Street. The driver didn’t dare to drive any further, so he hastily dropped them off and sped away.
The night sky enveloped the suburbs and climbed all over the town.
This area of West Street was closer to the villages and was a bit more backward. The lights in each house went out quickly at night, but the air in the streets and alleys was still thick with the smell of life.
Chen Zhaochi didn’t know where the Li Mei foot massage parlor was. He only knew it was in a hidden, deep alley.
After asking a passerby, he and Zheng Hongkai walked in the direction they were told.
Zheng Hongkai didn’t know what Chen Zhaochi was going to do.
He didn’t dare to ask in the car because of the low-pressure atmosphere around Chen Zhaochi.
Now that they were going to a foot massage parlor, Zheng Hongkai cautiously asked: “Brother Zhao, what are we going to do at the foot massage parlor?”
Chen Zhaochi replied with four words: “Settle a score.”
“Settle a score? With who?”
They turned into a dark, deep alley. Chen Zhaochi ignored him and didn’t answer his question.
Two seconds later, he told him: “Cheng Mi will go to the foot massage parlor. When we get there, you’ll wait for her.”
There was no smile on Chen Zhaochi’s face when he said this. He was very serious.
The hatred and disgust Zheng Hongkai had for Cheng Mi had been fanned by Chen Zhaochi at the bar last time. For the past few days, he had been actively thinking about getting revenge on Cheng Mi.
Now that Chen Zhaochi brought it up again, he said: “Damn it, seriously? She’ll go to a foot massage parlor?”
Si Tingyan must be near this foot massage parlor. If Cheng Mi knew he was here, she would definitely come looking for him.
Of course, Chen Zhaochi was baiting them more.
But Zheng Hongkai’s simple mind wouldn’t know Chen Zhaochi’s tricks. Just hearing the name Cheng Mi, which had trampled on his self-esteem, made his anger burn and override his rationality.
Zheng Hongkai said: “Damn it, that bitch has been hiding so well recently. I can’t even find her. I’m gonna get her tonight. That woman really thinks she’s on top of the world.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a voice rang out behind them.
“I’ve been following you for two blocks. When will you two finally notice?”
The voice was cold and calm.
The surroundings were very quiet. The voice was sudden and clear.
Zheng Hongkai turned around before Chen Zhaochi. Chen Zhaochi, however, turned around without much surprise.
It was as if he knew the person behind him would appear.
Chen Zhaochi was indeed using Cheng Mi to lure Si Tingyan out. If Si Tingyan was nearby and heard the two of them were going to mess with Cheng Mi, he wouldn’t let them off. And he wouldn’t wait until a later day.
But he really didn’t know that Si Tingyan had been following them for so long.
A few meters apart, Si Tingyan’s back was against the night of the alley entrance. His demeanor was a world apart from Chen Zhaochi’s.
But they had one thing in common: they both lived in the darkness.
The steel pipe in Chen Zhaochi’s hand hung at his side as he looked at Si Tingyan.
The person who secretly started this bloody storm tonight didn’t have a single drop of blood on him.
It was all because of the name Cheng Mi.
If he couldn’t kill him without getting blood on his hands, then he would drag him into hell and turn him into a ghost with him.
Si Tingyan’s eyes were cold as he looked at Chen Zhaochi. Chen Zhaochi was the same. His emotions were heavy in his eyes, and his expression was terrifyingly serious.
Zheng Hongkai on the side felt a little breathless.
One Chen Zhaochi was enough for him. Now there were two.
Chen Zhaochi had been like this for a while, his moods were erratic, and he was never in a good mood. Zheng Hongkai vaguely heard from his friends that it was because his mom was gone.
When Chen Zhaochi went crazy, all of them would die.
Zheng Hongkai glanced at Chen Zhaochi and saw that Chen Zhaochi had already made a move the first second he saw Si Tingyan.
Without any pleasantries, Chen Zhaochi dragged the steel pipe over, swung his hand, and brought it down, all while cursing at Zheng Hongkai: “Get the hell out of here and go wait for Cheng Mi!”
With that one hit, ribs would shatter.
The metal didn’t hit flesh. Si Tingyan moved to the side.
The steel pipe in Chen Zhaochi’s hand hit the alley wall, making a creepy sound of metal hitting the wall. The steel pipe left a harsh scratch on the plaster.
Chen Zhaochi reacted quickly. He missed that strike. He gripped the steel pipe and swung it down hard in Si Tingyan’s direction. It was obvious he had been in many fights.
But Si Tingyan’s reaction was equally calm and fast.
He dodged and also made a move.
The thin blade was cold and gleaming. There was no bright color in the alley. The whole world was gray, but a piercing red suddenly poured in.
The silver blade, stained with blood, pierced through Chen Zhaochi’s waist in the blink of an eye, then quickly retracted without any restraint.
Si Tingyan’s movements were extremely fast.
In just a few seconds, blood had already been shed between the two of them.
Zheng Hongkai was shocked on the side. He had no idea when Si Tingyan took out the knife, nor did he know how Si Tingyan was able to stab Chen Zhaochi so quickly.
But there was more anger. The so-called “brotherly loyalty” in his body flared up: “Damn it!”
When Chen Zhaochi swung another steel pipe at Si Tingyan, Zheng Hongkai rushed over with his fists.
Cheng Mi was sitting in the taxi. The streetlights flowed backward like a river.
As they passed a bar, the front of the bar was a mess. Two groups of people were fighting.
They were seventeen or eighteen years old. The sound of breaking bottles was reckless, and the curses filled the sky.
The driver shook his head repeatedly as he looked out the window: “These kids nowadays don’t learn anything good. They fight every day.”
The car window couldn’t block out every sound of the bloody commotion outside. They smashed into Cheng Mi’s ears, pulling her heart into a chaotic mess.
She looked away and asked the driver in front: “Sir, can you go a little faster?”
The driver’s voice came through: “Miss, don’t worry. I’m already going very fast.”
Zheng Hongkai’s right hand, which had three tendons cut, was once again cut by Si Tingyan’s blade. The blood soaked through the gauze.
The steel pipe from Chen Zhaochi barely grazed Si Tingyan’s ear.
The pain in Zheng Hongkai’s right hand shot up to his head. The gauze was stained with bright red blood. He was furious. Someone had thrown a cardboard box of beer bottles against the wall. He grabbed one of the bottles.
Chen Zhaochi’s eyes were about to pop out of his head. He swung the pipe down.
Si Tingyan blocked it. At the same time, Zheng Hongkai’s beer bottle came down and shattered on his forehead.
The taxi went from a bustling area to a sparsely populated one. The night followed the continuous mountains.
There was a light on the mountainside. It was a temple.
Cheng Mi never believed in gods, but at that moment, she was more devout than anyone else.
Buddha, please bless him to be safe from harm and for everything to go well.
Si Tingyan grabbed Zheng Hongkai’s hand and twisted it back. Chen Zhaochi swung a steel pipe at Si Tingyan’s back.
There was a muffled, heavy thud. Bones were shattering. Si Tingyan knelt on one knee to support his spine.
Blood flowed down from his forehead, running over his fair skin. There was no pain in his eyes. They became heavy, and Zheng Hongkai felt his scalp tingle from being stared at by him.
Chen Zhaochi’s eyes were bloodshot. He was about to strike again with enough force to kill Si Tingyan.
But he was stopped by Zheng Hongkai: “Brother Zhao, calm down. Murder is punishable by death. Just leave him alive.”
Chen Zhaochi was stopped and was very unhappy. He slowly looked at him: “You coward. You were sold and you’re still counting the money for them.”
“Do you know who cut the tendons in your hand?”
He raised his chin toward Si Tingyan: “Him.”
Zheng Hongkai: “How is that possible?! I fell down, and there was no one next to me.”
Chen Zhaochi said: “He also planned for me to fall into that well.”
Zheng Hongkai instantly realized the bizarre reason why his hand tendons were suddenly cut that day.
“Do you think if you make a move on Cheng Mi, he won’t make a move on you? You want to let him live, but he wants to kill you.”
“Your life today wasn’t ruined by him and Cheng Mi?”
Being kicked out of the house, going to a detention center, the rumors and curses at school, the reputation of being a pervert that he would never be able to get rid of.
Shame, indignation, and hatred.
Chen Zhaochi’s few words made Zheng Hongkai’s eyes bloodshot.
Finally, he added a lighthearted sentence: “Last night, Qi Yunmiao said you were not as good as him. Why keep him around?”
His self-esteem was trampled into the mud, and he shook off the dust, looking ferocious.
He, Zheng Hongkai, was like this today all because of them.
Zheng Hongkai’s angry hands gripped the broken beer bottle. His eyes were blood red.
Cheng Mi got out of the taxi and went to the hidden alley to find the Li Mei foot massage parlor.
She held up the photo on her phone and asked the woman standing outside the foot massage parlor if she had seen this guy nearby.
The photo on her phone was the first one Cheng Mi had taken of Si Tingyan from the school building. At that time, she had just moved into his house and was going to pursue him. She openly took photos of him from the school building.
The woman looked at the guy in the phone who was looking up at the camera. His features were so good-looking that he was unforgettable.
But she had never seen him. She shook her head.
Cheng Mi asked again: “Then have you seen someone with a scar on his right eye?”
The woman shook her head again. At this moment, a woman sitting inside painting her nails poked her head out.
“Are you talking about the guy with the crew cut?”
Cheng Mi: “Yes.”
The woman, whose fingers weren’t dry yet, pointed in a direction: “I just came back from that way and saw this person. He was holding a steel pipe.”
Cheng Mi’s heart sank.
“I don’t know if he’s still there. You can go check that way.”
Cheng Mi thanked her. Her long hair flew in the wind as she ran in that direction.
Cheng Mi hurried through the old streets and narrow alleys, one place after another.
But he wasn’t there.
He wasn’t in any of those places.
She couldn’t find Si Tingyan.
In the dead of night, the streets were silent. Zheng Hongkai’s angry, muffled roar came from somewhere.
At this moment, Cheng Mi ran through the alley. She saw sharp glass being plunged into flesh and blood.
She couldn’t see who was in the alley.
The unbroken spine.
The green shards of the beer bottle were covered in glistening blood flowers.
Every bone in Cheng Mi’s body was collapsing. All the strength was drained from her legs in that instant.
At that moment, Si Tingyan also looked up and saw her. Blood was red on the side of his pale face.
Grief and sorrow filled her heart. Cheng Mi walked over with heavy shackles. Her legs were weak. The last few steps were almost a stumble and a crawl to get to Si Tingyan’s side.
Chen Zhaochi’s arrogant laughter faded into the distance. The beer bottle in Zheng Hongkai’s hand shattered on the ground. His footsteps fled in terror.
Cheng Mi didn’t care about Si Tingyan’s bloodstains. She hugged him.
Over his shoulder, in her blurry, watery vision, was Zheng Hongkai’s figure escaping toward the alley entrance.
Si Tingyan was in her arms. His body didn’t weaken a bit. He was blocking her, standing in front of her as if he was protecting her.
Cheng Mi knew she had to hold back her breakdown. She bit her lip hard to stay calm. She held Si Tingyan with one hand and took out her phone from her trench coat pocket with the other.
She called for an ambulance.
Zheng Hongkai’s footsteps disappeared at the alley entrance. In that instant, Cheng Mi felt a weight on her shoulder.
Si Tingyan finally rested his chin on her shoulder. His entire weight was on her.
Cheng Mi held on tightly, but she only had one hand. Si Tingyan was falling.
Cheng Mi followed him down. She held Si Tingyan tightly, knelt down in the pool of blood, and held him in her arms.
The ambulance call was connected. She had memorized the route on the way over. She gave the address clearly and methodically.
Then she told the operator about Si Tingyan’s injuries.
A heart attack, a head injury, and a stab wound to the waist and abdomen causing blood loss.
Her speech was clear and calm, afraid that even a second more would delay things. But every word that came out of her mouth, the dull pain was dragging her down to hell.
Si Tingyan was watching her as she talked on the phone. Cheng Mi also stared intently into his eyes.
After calling for an ambulance, she called the police. By the time she hung up, her hand holding the phone was completely drained of strength.
Cheng Mi held Si Tingyan tightly. Her eyes were red and swollen. She wiped the blood off his face. She couldn’t bear to have a single drop of blood on him. She couldn’t bear for him to lose a single drop of blood.
But no matter how much she wiped, she couldn’t get it clean.
She couldn’t say a single word.
Si Tingyan’s face was pale. The red blood crawled on his brow bone and the side of his face. But his eyes were still the same as usual. They didn’t show any vulnerability. He didn’t look pitiful at all.
But Cheng Mi’s heart was so full of holes that it couldn’t hurt any more.
Si Tingyan’s thin lips were already without much strength, but he still said a sentence to her. His tone was cold and hard.
“You can only have me.”
With such a good opportunity to tie her down, there was no way Si Tingyan wouldn’t use it.
He wanted to tie Cheng Mi down, tie her tightly to his side. He wanted her to love him.
She had to love only him.
But Si Tingyan didn’t know that every single one of those five words was like a sharp knife plunging into Cheng Mi’s heart.
It hurt. It hurt so much that Cheng Mi couldn’t breathe.
She wanted to say something to Si Tingyan, but Si Tingyan was already almost one with the pool of blood.
After saying that sentence, Si Tingyan’s eyes were gradually dragged shut by the pain.
Cheng Mi lowered her forehead to touch Si Tingyan’s. Her nose tip was against his nose tip. His blood got all over her face.
Si Tingyan had fallen into a coma. The rising and falling of his heart became weaker and weaker.
Her body was trembling. Cheng Mi bit her lip hard, biting it until it bled. She suppressed the emotions that were gradually breaking through inside her.
She moved Si Tingyan away from her body. Covered in blood, she rolled up her sleeves to her arms and began to perform CPR on him.
Until the ambulance finally arrived.
The blue warning lights flashed on Si Tingyan’s fair face. The people in white coats frantically surrounded him.
Si Tingyan was lifted onto the stretcher. The blood instantly stained the pristine white.
________________________________________
This dawn was very long. The sky stayed dark for a long time.
Below the shanty town, it was silent, like a pool of stagnant water.
Chen Zhaochi leaned against the corridor of his rented room. His fingertips held a cigarette, and the red glow burned brightly.
His waist and abdomen were bleeding.
In just ten minutes, there were several cigarette butts on the ground.
Behind him was a broken window. The wall was covered in glass shards. He didn’t turn on the light. The inside of the window was a bottomless void.
After a long silence, footsteps came from downstairs.
Without turning around, Chen Zhaochi knew who the footsteps belonged to with his eyes closed.
They were black boots. The footsteps came from below to above, from far to near.
Finally, the black boots stepped onto the last flight of stairs and stopped diagonally behind him.
Chen Zhaochi didn’t even turn his head: “You’re back?”
After Cheng Mi left, Li Chu didn’t find Si Tingyan at the bar, so she went to West Street, but she didn’t find Cheng Mi and Si Tingyan either and couldn’t contact Cheng Mi, so she came back.
The person who would most likely have the answer was Chen Zhaochi, so she came to find him.
She didn’t respond to Chen Zhaochi’s “You’re back?” She only asked: “Where is Si Tingyan?”
Chen Zhaochi still had his back to her and answered with a non-sequitur: “If I were to jump from here, would you stop me?”
Li Chu looked at his back for a few seconds.
Chen Zhaochi didn’t turn around.
She said: “No.”
Chen Zhaochi smiled. He put out the cigarette on the corridor. He turned around, returning to his usual sloppy appearance, and said: “If I really die someday.”
He said: “It won’t be because of some goddamn despair. Guess why it will be?”
The words sounded nonsensical, but Li Chu knew he wouldn’t say them for no reason.
But she didn’t respond to Chen Zhaochi’s words.
Chen Zhaochi also didn’t want her to answer. He said himself: “It will only be because there’s nothing left for me to play with in this world. I’ve had enough of playing. It’s meaningless.”
There was nothing left for him to play with in this world. It was meaningless to stay. He felt that his life had come to a perfect end, and he could kill himself.
Chen Zhaochi had always been this crazy. Li Chu believed that it was something he would do.
But Chen Zhaochi’s two sentences seemed to be just something he casually thought of to chat with her. He had no desire to go into a deep conversation. He changed the topic and asked her: “Did Cheng Mi come and take you away? Did she break this window?”
Li Chu didn’t want to talk nonsense with him. She said: “I’m asking you where Si Tingyan is?”
After she spoke, Chen Zhaochi’s gaze fell on her eyes. Then he got up from the corridor and walked toward her.
Li Chu didn’t dodge.
Her arm was suddenly grabbed by Chen Zhaochi. Her back hit the door of his rented room, and then her chin was pinched by Chen Zhaochi.
Chen Zhaochi stared at her with an unfriendly look: “Li Chu, are you blind?”
“I was stabbed in the waist with a knife. Didn’t you see it? You’re still here asking me about another man?”
Li Chu looked at him stubbornly, refusing to soften.
Suddenly, it became dark in front of Li Chu. Chen Zhaochi abruptly leaned over, and her lips were pressed tightly by Chen Zhaochi’s.
It was a tumultuous, rough, tearing kiss.
Chen Zhaochi kissed her very hard, sucking and stirring.
Li Chu resisted. The door behind her made a lot of noise.
Li Chu suddenly bit down. Chen Zhaochi’s lips felt a sharp pain, but he didn’t let go of her. Instead, he kissed her even harder.
The smell of blood spread in their kiss.
Li Chu bit him again. Finally, with a strong push, she pushed Chen Zhaochi away.
Chen Zhaochi wiped the corner of his mouth. Blood stained his fingertips. He smiled and suddenly said: “Don’t you just think I won’t kill you?”
Li Chu knew that thinking it herself was one thing, but having Chen Zhaochi see it was another.
Chen Zhaochi hated being manipulated the most.
When he was manipulated, he did the opposite.
If she thought he wouldn’t make a move on her, he would kill her, kill her completely.
But this time Chen Zhaochi didn’t. He said: “Let’s go.”
He didn’t look at Li Chu again. He turned back to the side of the corridor, found his cigarette pack, and lit a cigarette.
He said another sentence: “That guy named Si was probably sent to the hospital by your good friend Cheng Mi. Go find him yourself.”
After saying that, he ignored her.
After Li Chu heard him say that, she looked at his back.
Two seconds later, she got up and left without lingering. She went downstairs.
Halfway down, Chen Zhaochi’s voice came from behind her: “Li Chu.”
Li Chu stopped.
After a brief silence, Chen Zhaochi asked: “Did you ever like me?”
Li Chu lowered her eyes. A few seconds later, she looked up.
She didn’t respond and just went downstairs.
________________________________________
The red light on the operating room was on.
At first, only Cheng Mi was outside the operating room. Later, Si Huiru and Li Yeheng also rushed over.
Yesterday, because something happened to Li Chu, Si Huiru was worried and called Li Yeheng. Li Yeheng was also worried about his daughter. He flew back to Fengxun overnight after work. He then received the news that Si Tingyan was in the hospital and went straight to the hospital after getting off the plane.
Si Huiru’s eyes were already red from crying. She was still crying and was held in Li Yeheng’s arms.
A nurse came out of the operating room.
Cheng Mi immediately went up. Si Huiru and Li Yeheng also did.
Si Huiru was Si Tingyan’s mother. The nurse informed her of Si Tingyan’s condition. The heart condition was more dangerous, and he needed immediate surgery and resuscitation. She also needed to be mentally prepared.
Being mentally prepared meant that his life was in extreme danger.
Si Huiru had always doted on Si Tingyan. She couldn’t handle the shock. In addition, she was exhausted from not sleeping all night. Her body immediately felt weak and she fainted, held in Li Yeheng’s arms.
Si Huiru was already weak. The shock was too great. After she fainted, she passed out. Li Yeheng called her name a few times to no avail and hurriedly carried her to the emergency room.
The area outside the operating room became quiet again.
The tiles were cold, the white walls were somber, and the air was filled with the smell of alcohol.
Cheng Mi sat on a chair in the outer row. She didn’t do anything. Her eyes were fixed on the red light of the operating room.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Chu also came.
She also had some mottled bloodstains on her body. It was unclear where they came from.
She glanced at the operating room and sat down next to Cheng Mi.
“I just went to the pet hospital,” she said.
Cheng Mi spoke to her in a very normal voice: “What happened?”
“I found a dog. It was injured. If I didn’t take it to the hospital, something bad would happen.”
She found it downstairs at Chen Zhaochi’s place. Li Chu had been hanging out with Chen Zhaochi for a while and knew that it was Zheng Hongkai’s dog.
When Li Chu saw the dog, it was already on its last breath. Its body and legs were covered in blood. If Li Chu hadn’t taken it, it definitely wouldn’t have survived the night.
Li Chu took it with her and sent it to the hospital.
Cheng Mi told Li Chu: “Uncle took Auntie to the emergency room.”
“Yeah, I know. I just came over and ran into Li Yeheng. Auntie Huiru is on an IV drip.”
Cheng Mi hummed and didn’t say anything else.
After a while, Li Chu said to her: “Aren’t you going to change your clothes?”
Cheng Mi’s clothes were covered in blood. She shook her head.
Li Chu understood Cheng Mi. This feeling was the same as when she was waiting outside the operating room for Jiang Xunzhi two years ago.
She didn’t say anything else and just sat in silence with Cheng Mi.
An hour passed. The red light of the operating room was still on.
Two hours later, it was still on.
Even until the sky gradually turned gray and white, the emergency light was still red.
The red marks on Cheng Mi’s palms kept getting fresher.
After a very long time, until nine in the morning, the operating room door opened.
A doctor came out from inside. Cheng Mi and Li Chu stood up.
The doctor said a few words concisely.
Cheng Mi knew that Si Tingyan was temporarily out of danger.
Cheng Mi’s nerves hadn’t relaxed all night. The tight tension in her nerves finally broke at this moment. She was completely exhausted.
Her legs went weak. She was by the window and held on to the windowsill.
Li Chu, who was next to her, reached out to support her.
Cheng Mi’s body trembled slightly. Her nails slowly tightened their grip.
Before Si Tingyan was out of danger, she had to stay calm. Si Tingyan still needed her. She couldn’t fall down.
In this moment after he was safe, Cheng Mi’s eyes quickly turned red. A gust of wind blew in from the window. Her hair brushed against her lips. Tears suddenly fell from her eyes, blocked by her hair.
But in the next second, another drop came. The hair couldn’t bear the weight and broke. The tears gathered on her chin.
They were silent, yet they were a tumultuous flood.
It had been a long time since Li Chu had seen Cheng Mi cry.
The last time she saw Cheng Mi cry was two years ago when she was picked up from the detention center and found out that her mother had gotten sick and died while she was in the detention center.
Cheng Mi stood by the window, and tears fell silently.
As the sun rose from the east, two pieces of news reached Cheng Mi and Li Chu.
In just one night, Chen Zhaochi died by suicide while drunk driving, and Zheng Hongkai turned himself in.
The sunlight was bright. All the darkness was over.
Google Sites
Report abuse