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The first thing Rong Si did upon leaving the competition grounds was to turn on his cell phone, which the competition rules had required him to shut off. He didn’t think that Li Erqin would take the initiative to text him. Rather, she would definitely be waiting for his text.
He pressed the ‘power’ button, the screen flickered to life, and it took a brief moment for the network symbol to be displayed in the upper right hand corner.
Rong Si opened his contacts list and found Li Erqin’s name. He was just about to press it when he received three consecutive notifications of texts from Peng Zige.
First text.
[Why did you turn off your cell phone? When you read this text, please reply so we know you’re ok!]
Second text.
[Someone spread rumours about Li Erqin again, and this time it’s really too much. Li Erqin doesn’t look very happy.]
Third text.
[Li Erqin got into a fight and has gone home.]
Rong Si blanked the screen and hailed a taxi.
Half-way through the 4-hour car journey on the highway, the teacher-in-charge called Rong Si as she was unable to locate him. Rong Si simply stated that he would return to school by himself and hung up.
His finger rested atop Li Erqin’s name. He thought for a bit and then pressed the ‘call’ button.
The phone was off.
Rong Si’s temple throbbed.
He had only been to Li Erqin’s place once, but her address had been firmly etched in his mind at first glance. It was late at night when he finally reached the outskirts of her gated community. A few summer cicadas chirped softly in the deep night, while the wind, carrying with it the cool hint of autumn, blew against his back. The gate to the gated community was tightly shut. A sign next to the door proclaimed, ‘Visitors, please register’. It looked like the security here was strict, but the lights were fortunately still on in the guard post.
He walked to the guard post and called out to attract the attention of the security guard, who was reading a newspaper. “Hello, I am looking for Mr. Li Zhengwen’s daughter, Li Erqin.”
The security guard looked up, saw a young man who looked upright and of excellent temperament, and relaxed his vigilant attitude considerably. “Are you Li Erqin’s friend?”
Rong Si looked down as he replied, “Classmate.”
“Did you tell her you were coming?”
“No.”
The security officer said awkwardly, “At this time of night, without the owner’s permission, we cannot let you go in.”
Rong Si glanced back at the dark night and continued to ask, “Could I trouble you to contact them for me?”
The security officer thought for a second and said, “How about this? I’ll call the owners on your behalf and see.”
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
As for Li Erqin, she was at the present moment sitting at her desk in a yellow, short-sleeved nightgown and reading a book with a completely unconcerned look on her face. Her left hand, elbow and calf were exposed and covered in gauze.
She picked up a small mirror that was on her desk, looked at her reflection and patted her face happily.
Good thing there were no scars! Otherwise, what kind of face would she have shown him when he returned?
It was just that…
She sighed and touched the screen of her phone, which had been completely shattered.
The phone was broken and could not be turned on. There was no way to contact Rong Si.
— Despair!
— Let’s drink some water and collect myself.
She put on her slippers, opened the door and came face to face with Li Zhengwen, who had just knocked on the door. She took two steps back in shock.
Li Zhengwen had also been startled by Li Erqin suddenly opening the door. “Your friends are outside at the security gate waiting for you.”
“It’s probably Peng Zige and the others.”
She put her cup back on the table and draped a jacket over herself. “I’ll go bring them in.”
Li Zhengwen stopped her. “I’ll go with you.”
“It’s alright,” Li Erqin said as she walked, “In any case, the security guard will be there.”
Li Zhengwen was still uneasy. “You just had your wounds dressed in the hospital this afternoon. If there really are bad guys out there, you can’t even run away.”
Li Erqin looked at her own dad. “I wouldn’t have been able to run away regardless.”
“This is true.”
Looking at his obedient little girl sitting in the foyer and putting on her shoes, he could not resist offering again, “Let Dad go with you?”
“Father.” Li Erqin had her shoes on and stood up. “Go keep mom company.”
“Yes.”
In their family of three, Li Zhengwen had the lowest standing. It was an especially hard cross to bear at the moment.
The street lamps in the gated community were very bright, and even if one were walking the paths alone, one did not feel scared at all. On the contrary, the breeze from the cool night air was very refreshing and effectively blew away the knot of tension she had been harboring all night.
The events of the afternoon began to replay in her mind like a movie.
In the corridor on the way to the broadcast room, Li Erqin had run into a group of girls who were huddled together and talking loudly. When they saw her, they leered at her and asked, “Does it feel good to f*ck with people in school?”
All Li Erqin could feel was her mind exploding with a boom and all her logic and reasoning burnt to a crisp.
The girls continued to ask, “Is this how you seduced Rong Si?”
The hands that were at Li Erqin’s side balled up into fists.
“Are you angry?”
Li Erqin recognized the leader of the pack. It was Shi Meng.
“I don’t care what you do. It doesn’t matter to me. Just don’t drag Rong Si into it.” Shi Meng’s face was all ferocity. “You’ve been doing this innocent vixen act for too long. We’ve always felt that Rong Si should know just what kind of person you are.”
Li Erqin heard herself ask back in a cold voice, “What kind of person am I?”
Shi Meng put on an exaggerated expression of surprise and blinked her eyes. “You don’t know what kind of a person you are?”
The other girls in the group laughed out loud. “Drop the act. It’s so annoying. There aren’t any guys around anyway.”
Li Erqin looked down and bit her lower lip. She reminded herself over and over again in her heart not to rise to their bait and argue with them. They were in the wrong, not her. They were the ones with ugly expressions on, not her.
She raised her head anew and looked straight at Shi Meng with a cool expression. “Do you know how ugly you are?”
“What did you say?!!”
“A person like you isn’t even fit to like Rong Si.”
Shi Meng shrieked in fury. “You took advantage of Rong Si not being in school to seduce an upperclassmen and were doing….”
Shi Meng’s words were interrupted by Li Erqin’s cell phone, which she had hurled over. Shi Meng put her hand to her forehead in pain and picked up Li Erqin’s cell phone, which had landed on the floor nearby. She smashed it onto the floor in anger and then raised her foot and gave a big stomp. “Today, on behalf of all the girls in this school, I am going to give you a lesson!!”
Thinking back to the intensity and violence of the beating she had today, Li Erqin sucked in a breath of cold air to dispel some of the residual aftershocks she still felt.
It was a good thing she had immediately protected her face.
The security gate was just in front. Compared to the well-lit paths inside the community, the light around the security office was dim and hazy. She couldn’t see well and could only make out a ramrod straight figure by the gate that was slender, lithe and tall.
Li Erqin suddenly felt her heart skip a beat.
All her senses completely left her body, and the only thing she could feel acutely was the throbbing of her heart. There was also the one question that kept repeating in her mind.
— It can’t be?
It can’t be?
It can’t be??!!
She held her breath and quickened her steps as she walked forward. She had only taken two steps before she couldn’t help herself and started running.
She ran towards that hazy silhouette standing in the dimly lit patch.