Fortunately, Fu Yusheng merely shifted his shoulders and did not wake.
Zhou Xing'er patted her chest, then quickly picked up her clothes from the floor.
She pulled them on with utmost care. As she buttoned up, her fingers trembled incessantly, causing her to fasten several buttons in the wrong holes. Once dressed, she didn't even have time to tie her laces; carrying her cloth shoes, she crept toward the door on bare feet.
The door had an old-fashioned iron lock that creaked shrilly whenever it turned.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Xing'er turned the lock as slowly as humanly possible, millimeter by millimeter.
Click.
The faint sound rang out with startling clarity in the quiet room.
Terrified, Zhou Xing'er squeezed her eyes shut and froze in place. Only after waiting for a good while and hearing no movement behind her did she dare open them again. She looked back, saw that Fu Yusheng was still lying on the bed, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She eased the door open a crack, slipped out like a shadow, and gently clicked it shut.
Standing in the guesthouse hallway, Zhou Xing'er realized her back was drenched in cold sweat. She slipped on her shoes at once and jogged all the way down the stairs.
There were barely any people on the streets in the early morning. The air was cool, and as the breeze brushed against her face, her mind cleared considerably.
Stopping at a street corner, she gasped for air in large gulps.
The most urgent task right now was to buy medicine.
She absolutely could not get pregnant!
Zhou Xing'er felt around in her pocket; there were still two yuan left by the original owner. Gritting her teeth, she walked down the street, intent on finding a pharmacy.
…
Not long after Zhou Xing'er left, in the room on the second floor of the guesthouse.
Fu Yusheng snapped his eyes open.
He sat up, his head throbbing with agonizing pain as fragmented memories of the previous night came rushing back.
Tea, burning heat, and a woman.
Fu Yusheng's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
He turned his head to look at the empty space beside him, and then at the glaring splash of red on the bedsheet.
He had actually been trapped by a woman last night.
In all of his twenty-five years, when had he, Fu Yusheng, ever suffered such a loss?
That damned woman actually dared to drug him!
Fu Yusheng threw back the quilt and stood up. Snatching his clothes off the floor, he swiftly put them on. His movements were rapid and crisp, every gesture bristling with suppressed fury.
Once dressed, he didn't even bother washing his face. With a dark scowl, he strode out of the room and headed down the stairs to the ground-floor lobby.
Behind the front desk, a young female receptionist was dozing off against the counter. Startled by the heavy footsteps, she quickly rubbed her eyes and stood up.
Looking up, she was met with Fu Yusheng's face—so frigid it seemed capable of shedding icicles.
"Comrade, can I help you with something?" Shrinking back in fright, the receptionist asked in a small voice.
"Who was the woman who entered my room last night?" Fu Yusheng's voice was deep, devoid of emotion, yet chilling enough to send shivers down one's spine.
The receptionist froze, looking at him in utter confusion. "Huh? Last night? There were so many people coming and going last night. I… I don't know which one you're talking about."
"A woman wearing a red blouse," Fu Yusheng said. His memory was hazy—she must have drugged him last night—but the vibrant color of her clothes had left an impression.
Scratching her head, the receptionist said with an awkward look, "Comrade, I'm really sorry. There was a big country fair in town yesterday, so we had an overwhelming number of guests checking in. I was the only one on duty and couldn't even keep up with the registrations. Plus, there was a power outage that lasted over half an hour last night. It was pitch-black; I truly can't remember so many faces. Besides, so many people came looking for others that there was no way I could stop and question each of them."
Hearing this, Fu Yusheng furrowed his brows tightly. "Don't you have a guest registry here?"
"We do, but… but it was such a mess yesterday. Some people went in without registering. I… I really don't know." The receptionist looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Seeing how frightened she was, Fu Yusheng knew he wouldn't get anything more out of her.
He took a deep breath, forcing down the rage churning inside him.
That damned woman!
She slept with him and just ran off!
What other hidden motive did she have?
Fu Yusheng clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking loudly.
"You'd better pray I never catch you," Fu Yusheng muttered through gritted teeth. Then, he turned on his heel and strode out of the guesthouse.
…
On the other side of town, Zhou Xing'er walked along the streets for a long time before finally spotting a small pharmacy marked with a red cross at the mouth of an alley.
The shop was tiny and rather dim inside. Behind the counter sat a young girl cracking sunflower seeds.
Zhou Xing'er walked in nervously, her palms slick with sweat.
In this era, a young unmarried girl buying this sort of medication would inevitably be subjected to strange, judgmental looks. But Zhou Xing'er couldn't care less. Compared to suffering a gruesome death, what was a little embarrassment?
"Comrade, excuse me, do you have contraceptive pills?" Zhou Xing'er asked softly as she approached the counter.
The girl paused her seed-cracking and looked up at Zhou Xing'er.
Seeing how pretty and neatly dressed she was, a peculiar look flashed in the girl's eyes. She curled her lips and asked impatiently, "Which kind do you want? Morning-after or regular daily ones?"
"Morning-after," Zhou Xing'er replied, her face blushing as red as an apple, her voice as quiet as a mosquito's hum.
The clerk rolled her eyes, turned around, and rummaged through the medicine cabinet behind her. Pulling out a small cardboard box, she tossed it directly onto the counter.
"One yuan and twenty cents," the clerk said flatly.
Zhou Xing'er hurriedly fished out one yuan and twenty cents from her pocket and handed it over.
"Comrade, could you spare a cup of water? I want to take it right now," Zhou Xing'er asked anxiously.
Taking the money, the clerk begrudgingly poured a cup of warm water from a nearby thermos and handed it to her.
Zhou Xing'er quickly tore open the box, revealing two pills inside. She popped one out, put it into her mouth, and gulped down a large mouthful of water to swallow it.
"Thank you, Comrade." Zhou Xing'er returned the cup, tucked the remaining pill into her pocket, and hurried out of the pharmacy.
Having taken the medicine, Zhou Xing'er finally felt a huge weight lift off her chest.
As long as she didn't get pregnant, none of the tragedies from the original novel would come to pass. She wouldn't have to marry that terrifying man Fu Yusheng, nor would she give birth to a pitiful child meant only to serve as a foil.
Back in the pharmacy, the young clerk watched Zhou Xing'er leave and curled her lips again. She picked up the discarded medicine box from the counter, intending to toss it into the trash can.
Just as she was about to throw it away, her eyes caught the production date printed on the back of the box.
October 1988.
It was now June 1991.
The shelf life for this medicine was two years.
In other words, this box of pills had already expired over half a year ago?