Nobody responded after ringing the doorbell a few more times, so Ning Xiaofei banged the door.
“Husband, Tianye … Mu Tianye … I know I was wrong, you can hit me and scold me, but please open the door … Mu Tianye …”
No matter how she shouted, there was no response inside the door.
She got tired knocking, and her throat was dry from shouting, but the door was still tightly closed.
“Fine, you're lionhearted, you won't open the door, yeah …” Ning Xiaofei sat on the steps panting heavily, “I don’t believe it. Come out if you have the guts.”
At the same time.
Mu Tianye returned to Lanting Apartment, entered the password, opened the code lock and rushed inside.
Scanning the empty living room, the man slammed the door heavily.
“Ning Xiaofei, get out of here!”
Silence.
He frowned and went upstairs into the master bedroom. The bed was folded neatly without traces of sleep.
In the study, the light was on but her computer was nowhere to be seen.
Second bedroom, nobody.
He turned downstairs, looked around, and found no trace of her. In the hallway, her slippers were neatly placed on the shoe rack.
Looking at the time on his wristwatch, Mu Tianye turned around and sat down on the sofa. He rummaged through his pockets only to remember that he forgot to take his phone. The man reached out and grabbed the landline, entered her phone number, but once the last digit was pressed, he slammed the phone back down then took it up again.
“Ning Xiaofei, you'd better come back obediently, otherwise … you're dead!”
Time slipped by.
At Lanting apartment, the man on the sofa repeatedly raised his wrist to look at his watch, turned his face in the direction of the door, and gritted his teeth inwardly.
“I’ll give you another hour. If you don’t come back before midnight, I will never forgive you!”
At Yayuan Villa, Ning Xiaofei raised her face and looked at the window still lit, “Mu Tianye, aren't you going to come out, let me tell you … I know you’re in there. It’s no use pretending you're dead. If you have the guts, get yourself out here, or else you'll rot inside for a lifetime.”
Leaning against the doorpost on the side, she couldn’t help yawning, retracting her exposed legs and hugging herself.
The guy said that he didn’t like her wearing jeans, and this time, he bought her dresses.
Meow, she'll be frozen to death!
“Mu Tianye, if you still don’t come out, I will freeze to death before your very eyes!”
“You have no conscience!”
"Ahchooooo!"
Raising her hands and rubbing her nose, she rubbed her cold calf and stood up and kicked the door heavily.
“Mu Tianye, are you a man, huh? I'm freezing to death!”
“If you still refuse to come out, I'll smash the window!”
“Your wife is going to freeze to death!”
…….
Biting her lip, she glanced around quickly, noticing the balcony on the second floor, her eyes suddenly brightened.
“You thought I couldn’t do anything without you, right?”
Standing up to the corner of the wall, Ning Xiaofei scanned the surroundings, put her backpack behind her, grabbed an ornament at the edge of the wall, and carefully climbed up the railing.
It took her tremendous efforts and lost one of her shoes, before finally managing to grab the railing of the balcony on the second floor.
Before her sigh of relief was exported, she heard rapid footsteps behind her, and then several flashlights hit her all together.
“What are you doing?”
“Come down this instant!”
……
Ning Xiaofei was startled. When she stepped on her heels on the brick railing, she slipped off and fell heavily on the lawn.
She squinted at the security guards who rushed at her, stood up with her little butt hurting, and attempted to explain with a brittle smile.
“Comrade Security, Uncle Security … Don’t get me wrong, I … I’m not a thief. This is my house. I live here, but I just forgot to bring my key.”