Hot water pattered down over her. The harsh white light of the incandescent bulb fell upon her supple, slender form, its flawless curves tapering all the way to her ankles. The steam had flushed her snow-white skin pink, like red plum blossoms against snow—richly beautiful.
When she finished washing, she realized she hadn’t brought a towel. Just as she was about to go outside barefoot to get one, she saw a clean towel hanging from the doorknob.
Ning Shao froze for a second, then belatedly reached out and picked it up. It was the towel she’d brought, all right—but when had she hung it on the doorknob?
“Could it have been when I got my pajamas?”
Thinking this, she dried herself, changed into her pajamas, and went out.
Ning Shao could tell something was wrong with her body. She seemed to be coming down with a fever. Maybe she was simply exhausted, or maybe it was because she’d gotten soaked on the way home after getting off the bus.
She’d packed medicine in her luggage. After taking some cold and fever medicine, she lay down on the bed. Almost the instant her eyes closed, sleep swept over her.
Ning Shao dreamed of Lin Yan.
…
…
From her classmates, she learned about Lin Yan’s circumstances. His father was the richest man in Jiangcheng, a first-tier city[1]Chinese cities are often described using informal economic and commercial “tiers.” “First-tier” generally suggests a major, highly developed city; it is not an official administrative rank. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733353_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733353_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, and his family’s main business was real estate. Most of the land in Jiangcheng belonged to the Lin family. The newly built high-rises, the commercial districts where every inch was worth a fortune—
Lin Yan had ended up at such an ordinary high school because he’d gotten into trouble. Father Lin had funded a building for the school, and only then had Lin Yan been able to transfer there.
Lin Yan had a strange temperament, but he’d studied at a military academy and was strong and sturdy. No one dared provoke him. Some people, after hearing about his family’s wealth, tried every way they could to get close to him, but none succeeded.
Ning Shao had a weekend part-time job. Back then, she was desperately short of money. After she finished middle school, her parents stopped giving her any. She paid her high school tuition with what she earned from working, and her teacher had helped her apply for financial aid.
Ning Shao wanted to go to university. She’d asked about the costs, and they were high. She had to earn enough to pay for it while she still could.
But working during summer and winter breaks and on weekends wasn’t enough to save what she needed.
So when Lin Yan asked her to date him, Ning Shao fell silent.
It was a dream. From a third-person perspective, Ning Shao watched herself waver, hesitate, and anxiously try to stop what was happening—
But she couldn’t. This had happened in real life. She heard herself agree with her own ears, unaware then of what being with Lin Yan would lead to.
Whether in her memories or in her dreams, this was a nightmare for Ning Shao.
She couldn’t escape it. No matter what, she couldn’t escape.
…
…
“Ring, ring—”
The phone’s ringtone woke Ning Shao from the nightmare. She struggled to steady her ragged breathing. Cold sweat dampened the strands of hair clinging to her forehead. With one hand pressed to her chest, she felt as if she’d just survived a catastrophe; through her palm and rib cage, she could feel her heart pounding violently.
Ning Shao rarely dreamed about Lin Yan anymore, and that made her anxious.
She picked up the vibrating, ringing phone. The number was unfamiliar.
Frowning, she answered. Before she could ask who was calling, an urgent voice came through the receiver.
“Are you a family member of Lin Chunhua?”
Lin Chunhua was Grandma Lin.
“I am,” Ning Shao replied quickly.
“Ms. Lin Chunhua collapsed at the market. She’s been taken to the emergency department at Jiangcheng First Affiliated Hospital. Please come as soon as you can.”
The caller hung up as soon as they’d finished speaking.
Ning Shao threw on a coat and ran out.
*
The examination results lay spread across her palm.
Grandma Lin had been diagnosed with cancer. It was already at a late stage, and she had less than a month to live.
“Plip.”
A tear fell onto the report. Ning Shao quickly wiped it away, then looked through the glass at Grandma Lin lying in the intensive care unit. Her vision gradually blurred.
…
Grandma Lin was in the intensive care unit, deep in a coma. The person she cared about most was her own grandson, Lin Yan. But Lin Yan was lying in a refrigerated coffin, and his funeral still had to be taken care of.
Ning Shao had planned to book a ticket and leave that very day. Instead, she returned to the familiar residential complex and stood for a long time in the stairwell. Light from the corridor window stretched her shadow out across the floor.
Ning Shao’s head felt heavy. She’d had a high fever the night before; the medicine had brought it down, but the discomfort from her cold hadn’t eased at all. If anything, it had grown worse.
She hadn’t eaten much the day before, and had thrown up everything that evening. She’d rushed to the hospital early that morning on an empty stomach. Now that she’d stopped moving, hunger, a blocked nose, and dizziness swept over her like a tsunami. She nearly lost her balance.
“Hey, are you all right?” a concerned voice asked from behind her. Before Ning Shao could turn around, the person strode up in front of her, examining her face to see how she was doing.
When he saw her complexion, he sucked in a sharp breath.
Ning Shao looked terribly pale, almost translucent. Her lips had no trace of color, and her lovely features had taken on a frail, sickly cast that made her look as if she might collapse at any moment.
“Are you sick? You should see a doctor. The hospital isn’t far from here. Don’t wait—”
Ning Shao cut him off before he could finish.
“I’m… fine.” Knowing he meant well, she still politely thanked him, then started up the stairs.
He looked very young, a student, full of youthful energy. He was tall, warm, and friendly. When she turned him down, he didn’t press her. Instead, he took a notebook from his bag, wrote down a number, and handed it to her.
“If you need any help, you can call me. I live here too, and I’m on vacation right now, so I’m free anytime.”
Ning Shao lifted her eyelids slightly and looked at the young man beside her. He couldn’t hide what he was thinking; every thought showed plainly on his face.
When he met her gaze, he nervously lowered his eyes. His whole face, even his neck, turned red.
It reminded her of what had happened in high school.
Even after she started dating Lin Yan, boys still slipped love letters into her desk. Some even waited until Lin Yan wasn’t beside her, blocked her way, and confessed to her…
But before long, the boys who sent her letters or stopped her to confess disappeared.
Yes, disappeared. In a school that big, no one could find them. When asked, the teachers only said they’d dropped out for personal reasons. It wasn’t until later that Ning Shao learned that Lin Yan had dealt with every boy who tried to get close to her.
Throughout their senior year, apart from Lin Yan, no one in her class—or even in the entire school—dared speak to her. It was as if everyone had shut her out.
Whenever she tried to talk to someone, they reacted as though she were concentrated sulfuric acid or a poisonous scorpion, avoiding her at all costs.
Ning Shao had confronted Lin Yan about it.
His eyes, dark and fervent, clung to her without a hint of restraint, like a snake’s tongue sliding over every inch of her. His gaze was sticky and burning.
“In the primeval jungle, when a male beast faces another of its kind trying to take his female, it rips open the other’s belly, pulls out his entrails, then bites off his head and hangs it high in a tree to warn off any others coveting his mate.”
“I’ve already shown restraint, Ning Shao.”
At the time, hearing those words had chilled Ning Shao to the bone.
Lin Yan had never been normal. He was a madman—a terrifying madman.
References[+]