Lu Yumo’s eyes were red. Even though he tried his best to hold his tears back because of his pride as a man, it was a wasted effort. Tears slowly welled out of his eyes and streamed down his cheeks.
Xu Wei looked at him worriedly and asked, “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
Lu Yumo did not reply. Seeing that her brother was fighting back tears, Fu Zhi chimed in, “He’s fine. I guess he’s just got bricks in his eyes.”
What a reasonable and logical answer.
Thanks to Fu Zhi, Lu Yumo allowed two more tears to fall from his eyes, and Lu Jingqing nearly laughed.
At night, before he went to bed, he pulled Xu Wei aside and handed her a gaming console. Then, he said, “Go check on him and comfort him. I don’t want him to keep thinking about it, or he might get depressed later.”
*
It was 10 o’clock at night by the time Zhou Tingting came out of the operation room. She had lost her baby, but the silver lining was that she was going to survive.
That said, she was still plagued by a deep feeling of resentment. Even a bad person like Fu Zhi could have a bright future. Why did she have to get the short end of the stick and get plunged into the miserable mess she was in right now? She knew her life was over, but she did not condone going down just like this. Therefore, she went to the toilet by making an excuse and escaped through the window.
The moon was bright and the air was cold.
While walking in the alley behind the hospital, Zhou Tingting called her colleague. “I need your help. Please help me get a knife. Don’t ask me why. Just help me get it. I promise you I will remember your generosity.”
Her colleague did not know what she wanted to do with the knife, nor did she want to know. She told Zhou Tingting that her phone was running out of battery and then swiftly hung up the call.
There were not many pedestrians in the alley right now, and it took her roughly 10 minutes to walk to the main downtown street.
Zhou Tingting sniffled. She was on the verge of crying when she saw that there was only 10 yuan in her savings account.
Just as she was about to curse the world for being unfair to her, she heard a series of footfalls behind her. She jerked her head back, but other than the gloomy streetlight at the other end of the street, she could not see anything.
She thought her ears were playing tricks on her, so she paid no attention. However, as soon as she resumed walking, the footsteps rang out again. This time, the sound was clearer, and she could even hear the susurration of clothes in the air.
Zhou Tingting froze, her feet cemented on the ground as her heartbeat picked up its pace. She spun her head around once more, but there was no one behind her.
The moon disappeared suddenly, the darkness deepened, and the wind began to howl. Leaves fluttered about in the air, and Zhou Tingting felt her blood turning cold. She gulped a mouthful of saliva and asked in a faltering voice, “Who... Who’s there? Come on out now. I’m not scared of you!”
Suddenly, a silhouette blitzed past her. Before she could even do anything, she felt a strike on the back of her head and she slowly fell to the ground.
Before she completely passed out, she squinted her eyes, making one last effort, and looked at the face of the assailant with the help of the dim light.
It was a face that bore a great resemblance to Fu Zhi’s. It was so delicate it seemed like a masterpiece created by God. There was nothing but pure darkness in the depths of her eyes, and the mole at the corner of her eyes was the last thing Zhou Tingting saw before she was consumed by darkness.
*
The next day, the results of the national Physics competition would be published on the government’s website at 1 o’clock sharp.
All the students that had participated in the competition were exceptionally excited save for Fu Zhi.
She was not playing with her phone. Instead, she was reading a historical book.
Su Xing, who was sitting beside her, felt as restless as if there were ants in her pants. She pushed a cup of bubble tea toward Fu Zhi and asked, “Zhizhi, how do you think you did in this exam?”
“I think I did pretty well,” Fu Zhi replied as she snapped a few photos of the relics in the book. After doing that, she sent them to Fu Zhao and added, “I’m expecting a full score, but who knows...”
The other three students were talking with Zhou Zihuai about the competition. When they overheard the conversation between Fu Zhi and Su Xing, one of them couldn’t help chiming in, “Sister Zhi, I know you’re very good at guessing questions, but can you please stop beating around the bush and answer Su Xing’s question?”
“...”
Fu Zhi did not know what to say and was too lazy to explain everything. Instead of wasting her time talking to them, she figured that it would be better for her to make use of that time to earn money.