Chapter 2: Trust, Collapsed
“Ning Ning, you’re discharged already?”
“Yeah, Deputy Director Xu, why didn’t you let Ning Yatou stay a few more days in the hospital? The situation back then was so scary!”
“Yeah, yeah, hey~ I heard when she was rescued, she wasn’t even breathing.”
The father and daughter had just walked into the family courtyard when they were immediately surrounded by a group of idle old men and women basking in the sun and chatting.
Xu Zixin was carrying things in both hands, with his signature elegant and amiable smile on his face, showing no sign of irritation even as people blocked him and asked all sorts of questions.
“Yeah, Aunt Liu, the doctor said there’s nothing serious, but the girl insisted on coming home. With the Gaokao just days away, she’s anxious about it.”
“Uncle Li, rest assured, our Ning Ning is fine.”
“Hey, thanks everyone for your care! Ning Ning still needs to rest for a few days, so I’ll take her home first.”
Su Ning pursed her lips tightly and followed behind him, smiling shyly and reservedly as usual when asked.
Looking at her father, who handled everything with ease and always maintained a gentle and good-tempered appearance, her heart felt weighed down by a massive boulder, a suffocating dull pain.
How skilled at disguise must a person be, how deep their scheming and deep-mindedness, to play the assigned role flawlessly for decades without a single flaw.
Chilling upon careful thought!
“Ning Ning, Ning Ning?”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Dad?”
She lifted her head and, as expected, met those eyes full of care mixed with obvious worry.
With just one glance, Su Ning quickly looked away from his face and pretended to be puzzled, murmuring softly, “Why haven’t I seen Yueyue?”
She knew she was no match for this old fox right now, and understood that to prevent the foreseen events from happening early and suffering persecution again, she had to be extremely careful not to let him notice any changes.
She pinched the soft flesh of her palm hard, the bursts of stinging pain finally allowing her to stay calm.
“Dad, I want to go find Yueyue first.”
“Right now?”
“Mm, ask her about some school things, and pick up the things she brought back for me.”
Glancing at the sky, Xu Zixin nodded and instructed, “Don’t stay too long, come home right after getting the things to eat. Even though you’re out of the hospital, we still need to follow the doctor’s orders and rest well, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll come home after getting the things.”
“Go ahead.”
One second they were the picture of filial piety and fatherly love, the next, as they turned away, both simultaneously dropped their smiles.
Xu Zixin stopped and turned to look at her back again: This girl has seemed off since the first moment she saw him at the hospital.
But strangely, what exactly was off?
……
Su Ning was unaware of his doubts and confusion. At this moment, she had only one idea: go find Yueyue!
She had so many words pent up inside; if she didn’t find someone she trusted to talk to, she feared she wouldn’t last a few days before going mad.
Although the Xu and He families were in the same family courtyard, one was south and the other north, a ten-minute walk between the buildings.
Afraid of drawing excessive concern from nosy neighbors again, Su Ning jogged along, avoiding crowds as much as possible. She had just reached the building downstairs when she bumped right into He Yue.
“Ning Ning? You’re out of the hospital already? It’s a holiday today, and I was just about to go visit you.”
“I just got back, Yueyue…”
Before she could finish, as she excitedly gripped her best friend’s hand, the scene before her eyes suddenly shifted again without warning.
……
[In a cold and damp room.
She saw herself covered in blood, barely breathing on the ground, while He Yue cried like a tearful mess beside her, hands trembling wanting to touch but unsure if she could, completely at a loss.
“Yueyue, promise me to protect it well… don’t give it to anyone…”
“Okay, I won’t give it, not to anyone, wuu wuu wuu~ Ning Ning, what to do? Don’t die!”
“Ning Ning, hold on just a bit longer, I’ll get someone to save you right away! I will get someone! Wait for me, you have to wait for me!”
Suddenly snapping awake, He Yue gripped the thing she handed over and stumbled out.
Just as she left the dilapidated and desolate yard, the gate was opened from outside, startling He Yue into instinctively dropping to the ground, hiding in waist-high weeds, not daring to move.
Time passed for a long, long while.
So long that no more sounds came from the room not far behind; so long that the sun set and the moon climbed over the wall…
……
The scene shifted again to a funeral hall filled with wailing, her beaming black and white photo hanging there, while He Yue was cornered by Xu Zixin at the door to her bedroom.
“So, Yueyue, have you thought it over?”
Xu Zixin’s smile unchanged, but his eyes bloodshot red, like they hid a bloodthirsty demon.
“Give me the thing, and everything in Ning Ning’s room is yours. See those two boxes of jewelry? See those two full wardrobes of nearly new clothes for all seasons?”
“Not to mention that frugal girl Ning Ning has always been disciplined and thrifty; all the New Year’s money red envelopes from past years are still sitting nicely in that drawer. That must be several thousand, right?”
“Uncle Xu, I…”
In just one round of confrontation, merely verbal probing, He Yue had already made the choice most favorable to herself.
……
Watching her things fill up He Yue’s room, watching He Yue hold the jade pendant she had always said she liked, which she had also promised to give her after the coming-of-age ceremony, with a smile that was half cry half laugh.
Whether from guilt or something else, her long nails dug into her flesh, blood soon flowing out.
Strangely, the blood didn’t drip but was absorbed by the jade pendant. He Yue stared blankly for a long time before suddenly exclaiming joyfully to herself, “Such a treasure really exists in the world!”
“Ning Ning, I’m sorry, I was really too scared at the time, I didn’t dare… sorry…”
“Every man for himself or heaven will condemn; this thing is better in my hands than benefiting that wicked Xu Shanshan, that J woman, right?”
“You’re so kind, you’ll understand me, right?”
“If I hadn’t made the right choice today, Uncle Xu would have killed me too. You wouldn’t want to see me hurt again, would you?”
“Ning Ning, don’t blame me.”]
……
“Ning Ning! Ning Ning! What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
Her hand gripped so painfully, He Yue couldn’t help crying out, “Let go first so I can support you.”
“Huff~ huff~”
Panting heavily, Su Ning clutched her chest, unable to say exactly where it hurt, only knowing the pain bent her waist, tears streaming down and shattering on the ground.
“Ning Ning, don’t scare me, I, I… I’ll go call someone to help right now, wait…”
—Wait until the last breath, until the final moment, that thread of expectation rising and falling repeatedly, only to turn into deep despair?
Wiping away tears with the back of her hand, Su Ning straightened up and looked at her more seriously than ever before. “Yueyue, how long have we known each other?”
“Ten… twelve years. Wh-what?”
Wet eyes, reddened corners, sweet little dimple.
The person was still the same, with an innocent and harmless face, but why did her eyes feel so chilling?
He Yue stepped back a bit fearfully, her ending tone unconsciously trembling. “Ning Ning, what’s really wrong? You know I’m timid, don’t scare me, okay~”
“The thing you helped bring back from school the other day, please give it back to me. Also, I’m not feeling well these days and will be resting and reviewing at home, so don’t come find me for anything.”
“Okay, alright. I’ll go get it for you right away, wait…”
Heh~ what did this mean?
Couldn’t wait even a moment?
“Right now, immediately!”
Patting her startled little heart, He Yue quickly turned and dashed home: What’s wrong with Su Ning? That look in her eyes was too terrifying!!
