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Autumn Wind sat in the taxi, her eyes fixed on the rapidly retreating barriers outside the window. Although it was approaching the noon rush hour, the route the driver was taking was unusually relaxed.
The phone in her hand vibrated with Qiu Hai's Number. Without hesitation, she hung up, only for it to ring again. She hung up once more, and after repeating this for Three Days Later, Autumn Wind was thoroughly annoyed.
Hmph, I'll turn my phone off! Just as this thought crossed her mind, the ringtone sounded again. How endless can this be? Biting her lip, she looked over helplessly. Ah, it's Huang Zihe. "Hello? Yes, I'm on my way to your house... Where am I? I don't know either. Driver, how long until we arrive..."
On the other end of the line, Huang Zihe asked about Autumn Wind's current location. She straightened up and gently tapped the driver's seat, asking quietly.
The Driver's deep voice came through, "We're almost at the intersection!"
"Oh, driver, there's still one more intersection..." Autumn Wind replied to Huang Zihe.
Huang Zihe cleared his throat lightly. "So, what are you wearing? I'm afraid my mom won't let you in... A yellow top and jeans? Okay!" He held the phone to his ear with one hand while tapping on the table with the other.
The car came to a screeching halt. "Thirty-two yuan!" The driver turned to look at Autumn Wind, announcing the fare.
Autumn Wind wedged her phone between her ear and shoulder, pulled out her wallet, and paid the driver. "Okay... I'm almost there; tell your aunt to wait for me..."
A strange smile appeared at the corner of Huang Zihe's mouth as he said lightly, "Good luck!"
Good luck? What does that mean? She pondered this in her mind but didn't delve deeper. Putting her wallet back into her bag, she walked toward the district entrance. This was still an old-fashioned area with worn walls and dimly lit buildings. Building 17, unit... Autumn Wind murmured to herself as she looked around for Huang Zihe's building.
Once Autumn Wind hung up, Huang Zihe eagerly dialed another number. "Hello? She's here; is your person there yet?"
A hoarse female voice answered on the other end of the line. "Don't worry; it's all arranged!"
"She might not be alone; tell your people to be careful!" Huang Zihe instructed.
"Don't worry! It's a pleasant cooperation, wait for the good news!" The woman's uncontrollable laughter came through the microphone.
Huang Zihe couldn't help but smile, closing his eyes. Li Gu, just wait for her to come and keep you company!
This was an old-fashioned area, with the number arrangement being irregular. Autumn Wind finally found Huang Zihe's building number 17, standing at the entrance of the unit, pressing a hand against her chest to calm her racing heart.
Stepping into the unit, she leaned against the worn wall and cautiously walked forward. The hallway was dirty, with dust covering the floor and clutter filling the corridor. Autumn Wind dodged left and right to avoid getting dirt on her clothes.
Finally reaching the door, she looked up at the faded character for "Fortune," bit her lip, and knocked on the door. "Excuse me, is this Huang Zihe's home? Is Huang Mama at home?"
"Bang bang," the door was opened.
"Excuse me, are you Huang..." Autumn Wind smiled, but stopped mid-sentence. A man's face peeked out from inside; he wore a black baseball cap pulled low over his brow, and there was a noticeable scar at the corner of his mouth. Clearly, he could not be Huang Zihe's mother.
"What do you want? Are you looking for Huang Zihe's mother?" His voice was quite cold.
Autumn Wind perked up her ears to listen carefully; this was a genuine Jinan dialect. Her heart calmed slightly. "Yes, is Huang Mama at home?"
"Yes... come in!" The man fully opened the door, gesturing for Autumn Wind to enter.
Peeking inside, she saw that the room was not large but fairly tidy. A huge black suitcase stood in the middle of the living room.
It seemed she was right; this should be Huang Mama's suitcase. Although it did seem a bit too big!
With a glance around, Autumn Wind stepped into the room as the man casually closed the door behind her. "Have a seat; she'll come out once she's done! Would you like some water?" His tone was surprisingly polite.
"No need, thank you!" Autumn Wind gently placed a third of her bottom on the sofa and looked up at the man, politely asking, "May I ask your name?"
The man had his hands behind his back, a sinister smile on his face. "Sister Qiufeng, there's no need for you to know my name!"
Hearing the man call her name, Autumn Wind was taken aback and jumped up from the sofa, alert. "Do you know me?"
The man stepped closer to Autumn Wind, his expression suddenly turning ferocious. "Not just know you! Everyone come out!" He waved his hand, and a burly man walked out from the back room, holding wooden sticks and ropes, wearing cold smiles. They stood straight at a distance of less than two meters from Autumn Wind.
"What do you want?!" Autumn Wind asked sharply, glaring at the person who had just come out. Through the crack of the open door, she saw a woman with slightly curly hair tied to a chair—Huang Zihe's mother! She had been tied up first!
"Sister Qiufeng, you'd better behave; otherwise, I can't guarantee you'll walk out of this house alive!" said the man in the baseball cap coldly. He pulled out a towel from behind him and held a bottle of liquid in his right hand. He opened the cap and poured it onto the towel. "If you listen well, maybe you'll be left with a whole corpse!"
A pungent smell wafted through as the man moved. The scent triggered a memory; it was the same smell that Shaolan used to knock her out that day. This is bad; it's ether. Autumn Wind realized the man's intentions—what should she do?
"We can talk this over..." Autumn Wind pretended to be scared. "I'll behave; please don't hurt me!" She moved her feet as if to approach Baseball Cap Man.
Seeing Autumn Wind walk towards him, the man smiled slightly. "Just listen!" He capped the bottle and placed it by his feet, glaring at Autumn Wind while shouting loudly, "Come here!"
"Okay!" she pretended to agree and slowly moved closer, looking up at the man's face before suddenly quickening her pace and rushing toward the door. If she wasn't mistaken, Baseball Cap Man had only lightly closed the door without locking it.
With a gentle twist, she opened the door and thought to herself that she would rush outside. However, as her head peeked out, her body felt as if it were stuck and couldn't move at all.
"You little brat! You want to die?!" Baseball Cap Man grabbed her clothes. The towel that had been in his hand fell to the ground due to Autumn Wind's sudden impact. At this moment, another man who had been standing behind Autumn Wind also moved closer. "Boss, let's tie her up first!"
A series of heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Fearing attention from neighbors, Baseball Cap Man lowered his voice. "What are you waiting for? Grab that towel on the ground; knock her out first!"
Someone has come up, what should I do? I don't want to die here. Struggling hard to get out, I shouted loudly for help, "Help! Help!" The footsteps downstairs grew closer and closer.
How could Autumn Wind compete with two big men? Soon, Autumn Wind was dragged back into the room, but she stubbornly held onto the door frame, preventing the man in the baseball cap from closing the door. With all her strength, she pressed her mouth against the crack of the door and cried out desperately, her voice getting weaker, "Is anyone there? Help me!"
"Wow, this girl has some strength... pry her hands off!" Baseball Cap Man stepped back a few paces and gestured for another man to come forward.
Nine fingers, eight fingers, seven fingers... one by one, her fingers were pried away from the door frame, and it looked like she was about to be dragged into the room.
No, I don't want to go in, I don't want to...
Her throat could no longer make a sound as she closed her eyes in despair.
At that moment, the door was suddenly kicked open with a loud bang. Autumn Wind fell to the ground. Ah, it hurt so much. Before she could react to what was happening, the two men who had just been violent towards her were now lying on the floor, howling in pain.
A huge hand pulled her up from the ground, gripping her tightly as they ran downstairs.
With a rush of energy, they ran down five flights of stairs. Autumn Wind felt completely weak; her eyes were so dazed that she couldn't open them at all. Yet her feet blindly followed this person's steps mechanically, somehow managing not to fall.
That person had a soft grip and thick palms; he must be a man and a good person.
They ran for a long time after exiting the hallway until finally stopping when Autumn Wind was nearly out of breath. She leaned weakly against the person who had saved her and stammered, "Thank you! Thank you!"
The man said nothing, his body stiff as he allowed Autumn Wind to lean against him completely.
Autumn Wind was taken aback by his reaction and moved away from him. "Hey, why aren't you talking? You..." She reached into her bag for a wet wipe but found she couldn't open it no matter how hard she tried.
A pair of hands reached out, one hand holding Autumn Wind's chin, warm breath slowly blowing onto Autumn Wind's eyes. A wet tissue moved to wipe away the powder at the corner of her eye, the action extremely slow, afraid of causing pain.
Autumn Wind's face flushed, "Th-thank you, I can do it myself!" She raised her hand to take the tissue from the man's hand and slowly opened her eyes. When she looked at the man's face in front of her, she recoiled as if pricked by a needle; standing before her was actually Liu Jian!
Staring wide-eyed at Liu Jian, she exclaimed, "How could it be you? How are you here? Are you following us?"
Liu Jian weakly lifted his head, a bitter smile on his face, without saying a word, just silently looking at Autumn Wind with tears in his eyes.
The sound of a police siren interrupted their gaze. Autumn Wind regained her composure and hurriedly turned to look at the dilapidated buildings behind her. She needed to leave quickly. She stepped back to the roadside and said in a low voice, "I'm leaving now, goodbye!"
In a taxi parked across the street, Qiu Hai rolled down the window and looked across. What he saw was Autumn Wind leaning against Liu Jian, who was lifting her chin to wipe away her tears.
A sudden pang of heartache struck him, and his hand resting on the car door unconsciously clenched into a fist.
"Sir, you've arrived at your destination! Will you be getting out?" The driver's anxious voice came through.
Rolling up the window, Qiu Hai's cold voice replied, "Take me directly to Spring City Square..."
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