Public security in Lingcheng was chaotic. In the early years, Xiwang Street, this slum, was even more of a gathering place for all kinds of shady characters. Fortunately, in recent years, the government had increased control efforts, allowing this area to regain some measure of peace.
That night, Xu Fangfei lay down under the covers, her mind filled entirely with the bloodstains on the door handle of 3206.
She recalled some things her mother had told her before.
Like most border cities around the world, the backward small city of Lingcheng was filled with all kinds of illegal migrants. Among these people, there were men and women, the old and the young. Some had smuggled themselves into China from Southeast Asia, while others had smuggled themselves out of China to the other side. Almost without exception, they were all pitiful people who could not survive in their own countries and therefore took desperate risks, trying to change locations in search of a way to live.
When people were poor, they valued money over life.
Such a naturally advantaged gray zone inevitably became fertile ground for nurturing crime. Drug dealers, arms traffickers, human traffickers, and illegal merchants smuggling jade or pharmaceuticals… all kinds of criminal forces drew nourishment here, growing with tangled roots and branches, attracting wave after wave of desperadoes to fall into the abyss.
As she thought about it, Xu Fangfei suddenly felt a slight tightness in her chest.
A gust of night wind rose outside the window, rustling through the few aged old trees in No. 9 Courtyard and blowing thick clouds to cover the moon. In an instant, the moonlight vanished completely.
Xu Fangfei’s eyes were wide open, staring at the pitch-black ceiling above her. A sudden sense of fear rose for no apparent reason.
In the dead silence, she clenched the quilt. She could hear her own heart pounding rapidly. She could hear the wild cats in the courtyard chasing and playing, meowing. She could even hear her grandfather’s faint snoring from the neighboring room…
So quiet.
But how could it be this quiet?
Two seconds later, Xu Fangfei’s gaze shifted slightly as she realized that this kind of quiet had indeed been absent for many days.
Downstairs, there were no longer waves of obscene words and lewd talk, nor was there the creaking sound of a wooden bed overwhelmed by strain.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
The man in 3206 was injured. Judging from those bloodstains, he was not lightly hurt. No wonder he was showing mercy tonight and granting her some peace and quiet. With such a serious injury, even if he still wanted to do those things… he was probably powerless to do so?
Such a thought suddenly popped into her mind. Xu Fangfei’s cheeks instantly burned hot, both embarrassed and ashamed. Afraid to think any further, she swiftly pulled the quilt up over her head and forced herself to sleep obediently.
She tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep well.
Early the next morning, Xu Fangfei could only drag herself out of bed unwillingly under the urging of the alarm clock, going to school with dark circles under her eyes. The entire morning passed in a haze of nonstop yawning. By lunchtime, she truly experienced what it meant to have misfortune never come alone.
Xu Fangfei tragically discovered that her campus card was missing.
“What? Your campus card is missing?”
At the entrance of Lingcheng Middle School’s cafeteria, Xu Fangfei rummaged back and forth through the pockets of her school uniform jacket and pants, turning them inside out, yet still did not see a trace of the campus card. Yang Lu stood beside her, anxiously worried as well, frowning as she said, “Think carefully again. Could it be in your backpack?”
Xu Fangfei shook her head. “I always keep my campus card together with my house keys. I remember it very clearly. It was stuffed in the pocket of my school uniform pants.”
“Could it have been stolen?” As soon as Yang Lu said it, she immediately denied her own guess.
Xu Fangfei was very well known at school. Her grades were famously good, her looks were famously pretty, and her family conditions were also famously poor. Even the most shameless thief should not go so far as to steal from a classmate as impoverished as Xu Fangfei, right?
“Maybe it fell somewhere. But where did it fall?” Yang Lu rubbed her chin, then asked her, “When was the last time you saw your campus card?”
Xu Fangfei thought carefully and said, “Last night I used my campus card to buy a bun… I don’t know when it fell or where it fell.”
Yang Lu asked, “How much money is still on your card?”
Xu Fangfei pressed her lips together and replied dejectedly, “Two hundred.” Those two hundred yuan had just been topped up by her mother so she would not go hungry during evening self-study. Her mother had told her to go to the cafeteria to eat a little before evening self-study every day.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Let’s eat first. Later, I’ll go with you to the Academic Affairs Office to report it lost and get a replacement. The money inside won’t be lost. Maybe some classmate picked it up and already turned it in to the Academic Affairs Office?” Yang Lu comforted Xu Fangfei as she spoke, while taking out her own campus card and smiling cheerfully. “Come on, let’s eat. I’ll swipe my card.”
Xu Fangfei was very grateful and thanked her repeatedly. “Thank you. I’ll give you the money later.”
Yang Lu waved her hand carelessly. “Ah. No need! We’re friends. Why be so polite?”
*
Thanks to Yang Lu’s kindness, Xu Fangfei’s lunch was settled smoothly.
The prices at Lingcheng Middle School’s cafeteria were not high. A tomato and scrambled eggs rice bowl costs six yuan.
Beep. Yang Lu held her campus card against the card reader.
Xu Fangfei quietly noted the deducted amount. After Yang Lu bought her meal, the two of them found a quiet seat in the cafeteria and sat down to eat.
Yang Lu had bought a ribs set meal. She glanced at Xu Fangfei’s rice bowl and picked up a piece of rib, placing it inside.
“Ah.” Xu Fangfei froze for a moment. After coming back to her senses, her expression turned slightly embarrassed, and she said softly, “Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for?” Yang Lu then picked a piece of egg from Xu Fangfei’s plate and put it into her mouth, chewing and swallowing. “I wanted to eat egg. It’s just an exchange.”
Xu Fangfei felt warmth rise in her heart and could not help but curve her lips into a smile as well.
The two girls chatted while eating.
At that moment, several tall boys came in from the cafeteria entrance, laughing loudly as they discussed an adult action movie they had watched together the night before. Lewd laughter continued, filthy language spilling out. Thanks to their arrival, the previously noisy cafeteria instantly fell silent.
When the students noticed the group, their expressions changed. They lowered their heads and ate in silence, not daring to look too much.
Seeing that Yang Lu’s smile across from her had stiffened slightly, Xu Fangfei cast her a puzzled look.
Just as she was about to turn her head, Yang Lu pressed down on the back of her hand.
“It’s Zhao Yimin and his group,” Yang Lu said in a lowered voice. “Don’t look.”
Xu Fangfei paused, then nodded and continued eating.
Yang Lu also withdrew her gaze and quietly gnawed on her ribs, but out of the corner of her eye, she watched the movements of those tall boys, her eyes full of vigilance and disdain.
Zhao Yimin’s group was notorious at Lingcheng Middle School. To put it nicely, they were called “school bullies.” To put it bluntly, they were a local thug gang. Relying on the fact that their parents had some influence in Lingcheng, they practically walked sideways at school. Today they would harass one female classmate, tomorrow extort another male classmate. After committing bad deeds, they stank to high heaven.
The atmosphere in the cafeteria turned strange, deathly quiet.
After a while, Zhao Yimin and the others finally finished getting their food and sat down. Only then did the other students quietly let out a breath and relax a little.
Yang Lu patted her chest and said in a hushed voice, “Let’s eat quickly. After we’re done, let’s hurry back to the classroom.”
Xu Fangfei nodded. “Mm.” She shoveled a big mouthful of tomato and scrambled eggs into her mouth, her cheeks puffed as she chewed.
A few meters away.
Zhao Yimin chewed gum, his gaze ill-intentionally sizing up the girl eating not far away.
Seeing this, a lackey beside him followed Zhao Yimin’s line of sight and glanced over a few times, teasingly joking, “Yo, brother, your taste has changed? I remember you didn’t like this type before.”
Zhao Yimin wiped his shaved, gleaming scalp and tried to recall. “I remember that girl’s name is something… something Fei?”
“Xu Fangfei!” The second lackey leaned in close to his ear and snickered, his tone vulgar. “Brother, you finally noticed this hidden gem! Tsk, tsk, tsk, that girl is really something. Forget everything else. Just that skin of hers makes me drool. How do those idioms go again… frost-defying, snow-matching, so tender you could break it with a blow, so white it looks like it could reflect light.”
Zhao Yimin stared at Xu Fangfei for a while, then narrowed his eyes.
Seeing the boss’s hesitation, the second lackey continued, “And her family conditions are bad. I heard it’s just her mom. There isn’t even a man in the family who can stand up for them. No background, no power. There won’t be any trouble.”
After hearing this, Zhao Yimin tilted his head and casually spat the gum he had chewed to the point of tastelessness onto the ground.
One lackey pointed with his hand and asked probingly, “Brother, what do you say?”
“Tonight, find a chance to corner her.”
“Corner her and then what?”
Zhao Yimin did not answer. He exchanged looks with the other boys, then revealed a lewd smile of mutual understanding.
*
That day, it happened to be Xu Fangfei’s turn to do cleaning duty. After evening self-study, Yang Lu left early because something came up at home. By the time Xu Fangfei finished cleaning, it was already close to nine o’clock.
Seeing this, the homeroom teacher arranged for a male classmate who was also on cleaning duty that day to walk Xu Fangfei home.
The male classmate was gentle and refined, the class’s study committee member, named Peng Yu.
Xu Fangfei and Peng Yu walked out of the school gate side by side. Neither of them was talkative. For several minutes along the way, they walked quietly, without saying a single word to each other.
On a midsummer night, a strong wind rose out of nowhere across the flat terrain of the border town, slightly dispersing the stifling heat. Immediately after, raindrops began to fall from the sky.
“It’s raining.” Peng Yu raised his hand to shield his eyes. After thinking for a moment, he said to Xu Fangfei, “Your home is on Xiwang Street, right?”
Xu Fangfei nodded.
“I know a shortcut. It only takes a few minutes to get to Xiwang Street,” Peng Yu said.
Xu Fangfei did not speak, feeling somewhat hesitant.
Of course, she knew the shortcut Peng Yu was talking about. It was just that…
“We didn’t bring umbrellas. Let’s take the shortcut,” Peng Yu spoke again. “And there are two of us together. Nothing will happen.”
Hearing this, Xu Fangfei finally chose to nod. “Alright. Sorry to trouble you.” Then she pulled open her backpack zipper and took out a small spray bottle, gripping it tightly in her hand.
Peng Yu asked curiously, “What is this?”
Xu Fangfei smiled lightly. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
The shortcut was a narrow alley. No one knew which year or month it had been built. It had been forcibly carved straight through layers of weathered buildings of all kinds, and by sheer coincidence, it connected Xiwang Street with the street where Lingcheng Middle School was located.
Xu Fangfei and Peng Yu entered the alley one after the other.
The passage was cramped, long, and dim. The only streetlight was like a lone butterfly in the wind, swaying precariously amid the raging summer wind and rain, struggling to cast down a tiny bit of light.
Halfway through the alley, the sound of footsteps came from nearby.
Xu Fangfei’s heart sank. She looked up and saw several dark figures already blocking their way.
Another gust of strong wind swept through. The old lamp was blown higher, illuminating the group’s appearance. They were all teenagers. Some held iron rods, others clutched beer bottles broken in half. They stood sloppily, with no proper posture. The one in front had a shaved head like a reformed prisoner and was chewing bubble gum.
“Zhao Yimin?” Even though he tried hard to stay calm, Peng Yu’s voice still trembled uncontrollably. He swallowed and stammered, “You… what do you want to do? Don’t mess around.”
Zhao Yimin raised the iron rod and pointed it over, snarling. “I’m here for her. It has nothing to do with you. If you don’t want to die, get lost.”
Rain mixed with sweat slid down Peng Yu’s forehead. His legs had already begun to shake, but he still forced himself to stand in place without moving.
One of the boys sneered and made a show of swinging his stick, about to hit him.
Seeing this, Peng Yu was frightened out of his wits. He glanced guiltily at Xu Fangfei. In the end, he clenched his teeth, steeled his heart, turned around, and ran.
The rain grew heavier.
Xu Fangfei wiped the rain off her face, doing her best to stay calm and trying to keep her body from trembling. Then she steadied her voice and said, “Classmates, I don’t have any money on me to give you.”
Zhao Yimin burst out laughing and asked in dialect, “What, beauty? You think we blocked you just to scrape some money off you?”
In just a few seconds, Xu Fangfei had already grasped their vile intentions. In an instant, it was as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. She bit her lip and glanced at Zhao Yimin, who was closest to her.
Then, suddenly, she raised the spray bottle and sprayed it straight at his face.
A miserable, ghostlike scream tore through the rainy night.
Taking advantage of the moment when the others froze in shock, Xu Fangfei turned and bolted.
“Fuck! It’s pepper spray! It hurts like hell!”
“Catch her!”
……
Her clothes on her back were soaked through with rain and sweat, plastered coldly against her skin.
Xu Fangfei did not dare look back. She used every bit of strength she had and ran madly forward. However, the evil spirits behind her chased relentlessly. Her stamina failed, and with the slippery ground from the rain, she tripped over a brick. After stumbling two steps, she fell heavily to the ground.
“Bitch! You dare spray me with pepper spray! Let’s see how I deal with you!” Zhao Yimin covered his left eye with one hand, furious with humiliation, and lifted his foot to kick the girl on the ground as he spoke.
Xu Fangfei curled into a ball, instinctively drawing her arms up to shield her head.
A few seconds passed.
Instead of Zhao Yimin’s outburst of violence, a completely unfamiliar voice reached her ears. It was low and pleasant, spoken lightly, with a faint trace of amusement, yet not friendly in the least. It only made one feel a chilling gloom, lazy yet ruthless.
“Ganging up to bully a little girl. Are punks these days really that spineless?”
The wind around them seemed to stop all at once.
Cowering in the corner, Xu Fangfei was filled with shock and uncertainty. Slowly, tentatively, she lowered the arms blocking her view and lifted her head.
Under the dying, dim streetlight, a man had appeared at some point.
A very young man.
Simple dark clothing outlined a tall, long-limbed figure with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and especially long legs. Standing against the light, his posture was casual. On his feet were a pair of blue house slippers. With that getup, he looked like an old man who had just woken up and came out for a stroll, lazy and unhurried, as if nothing mattered.
Xu Fangfei froze.
Was it an illusion?
That back view… seemed a little familiar.
Before she could think further, Zhao Yimin spat viciously, raised the iron rod, and pointed it at the man blocking her, snarling. “You little shit, who the fuck are you calling spineless? You dare talk tough to me? Where did you crawl out from? Never been beaten before? Don’t know pain?”
As soon as Zhao Yimin finished cursing, he swung the rod down.
In the span of a single breath, the man did not say a word. He reached back, seized Zhao Yimin’s arm, and twisted it violently. A dull crack of bone and flesh breaking sounded. With a clang, the iron rod fell to the ground, and a painful howl spilled from Zhao Yimin’s throat.
In the very next second, the man casually grabbed Zhao Yimin by the back of the collar.
A burly student athlete over one point eight meters tall was lifted like a chicken and smashed viciously against the opposite wall. Zhao Yimin’s head split open, blood pouring out, and he slid weakly down the wall to the ground, immediately beginning to beg for mercy.
The remaining boys, who usually acted as his accomplices, were instantly struck with terror. This man’s movements were too sharp and his strikes too brutal. One look was enough to know he was no ordinary person.
In short, he was absolutely not someone they could afford to provoke.
Over here, Xu Fangfei was also stunned by the excessively bloody scene before her.
What horrified her even more was that in the lightning-fast moment just now, she had clearly seen that on the back of the man’s left hand, there was unmistakably a bullet-hole scar.
The night rain was thin.
Not far away, the young man bent down unhurriedly, squatted in front of Zhao Yimin, who was begging incessantly, stretched out his hand, and lightly patted his face with the back of his hand.
“Listen carefully.”
The shifting light and shadow cut out the firm, cold contours of his side profile. His features were strikingly handsome, like a roguish young master from an old Republican-era pictorial. His long, narrow eyes were beautiful to the point of sharpness, dark and profound, unrestrained and fearless.
It was an intense sense of collision, poised between decadent laziness and ruthless ferocity.
He tilted his head slightly and spat out a few cold words.
“I usually don’t fight. I just collect bodies.”