Chapter 115: Missing You

(1)

The major murder case in the small city was causing quite a stir.

There were noticeably more police cars on the roads than usual, and those idle delinquents who normally loitered in the alleys had disappeared.

After all, even the flashy, over-the-top punk kids were being stopped and questioned by the police.

Because of this, Small City No. 2 Middle School was ordered to dismiss on time without any teachers holding extra classes.

Originally, it was considered good to leave by 5:30, but now, by 5 o’clock, most of the students had already left the school.

“Zhang Qiqi, make sure they finish cleaning quickly and go home. No loitering on the streets these days.”

The homeroom teacher, holding a stack of documents, spoke quickly to Zhang Qiqi, the class monitor.

“I have a meeting to attend. After you lock up, make sure you get home early.”

“Okay.”

Zhang Qiqi nodded, then turned to shout at Sun Wei, who was slacking off, “Sun Wei, why are you so slow sweeping? Are your feet nailed down or what?”

“What’s the rush? Take your time.”

“You’re usually the most impatient one, aren’t you?”

“Cough, don’t rush me…”

“Ah Wei, I’m off!”

Fang Qiang hurried out to do some part-time work.

Lately, he hadn’t even been taking his schoolbag home.

Pocketing his house key, he dashed out of the classroom.

“Huh? Hey…”

“What are you doing?”

Zhou Chao had already packed up his bag and looked at the slow-moving Sun Wei with the broom in hand.

“Not feeling like going home today?”

“Damn, no… I offended someone online earlier, and when he found out I’m from Small City No. 2 Middle School, he said he’d wait at the gate to beat me up.”

“He has your photo?”

“He dug it up from my social media…”

“Haha, what did you say to him?”

“Damn, I didn’t say anything, just said his girlfriend looks like a fat pig…”

“Tsk tsk, begging for a beating.”

“Man, Chao, what should I do?”

“Then you should definitely go home early. There are lots of people at the school gate, so he wouldn’t dare to make a move. Are you stupid? And you don’t need to worry too much. There are cops patrolling everywhere recently. What’s there to be afraid of?”

“Cough, but I take the alleys going home. What if he follows me and gives me a beating…”

“Damn, I really don’t get you.”

Zhou Chao shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his head helplessly.

“Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

“Heh, thanks, Chao. While you’re at it, wanna help me clean?”

“You’re so greedy!”

“What do you mean greedy? I’m just shameless, okay!”

“You win.”

Zhou Chao set his bag on the desk and, seeing Zhu Ying passing by, called out, “Zhu Ying, any news from Anjing?”

“No idea, but her cousin agreed to meet me at KFC tonight… so there should be news.”

“Oh! Let me know if there’s anything.”

“Mm-hmm… I gotta go!”

Zhu Ying looked anxious and didn’t wait for Zhou Chao’s reply before quickly leaving the classroom.

Her footsteps echoed and then faded away within seconds.

“Zhou Chao, Zhou Chao, friend’s wife…”

“Shut your damn mouth, do you think I’m that kind of guy?”

Zhou Chao turned with a grin, scolding, “If I don’t take you home later, don’t blame me.”

“Fine, fine, but seriously, I know you change girlfriends a lot, but I hope you don’t drag any of us down. Look at what happened with Qiang last time…”

“Damn, hurry up and sweep. What kind of person do you think I am?”

“Some womanizer who can’t control himself around pretty girls?”

“You wait! If you’re so capable, then don’t get a girlfriend.”

“Damn!!”

Near the greenhouse commercial street, two police cars were parked head-to-tail.

One was an old model Volkswagen Passat; the other was a slightly newer jeep.

Although the crime scene reported in the news was nearby, there was no panic.

The street was still busy and bustling with people coming and going.

Zhu Ying, with her schoolbag on her back, stretched her legs straight and stood on tiptoe, trying to see ahead.

A crowd was blocking the way, and she had no idea what they were lining up for.

Unfortunately, the crowd was too dense.

Even on tiptoes, she couldn’t see clearly, so she squeezed into the crowd using her small stature, “Excuse me, please make way… Uncle, please let me through…”

After finally pushing through, Zhu Ying took a deep breath.

She felt like she was drowning in that sea of people just moments ago.

At the back of the long line was a newly opened imported goods store doing a promotion.

Today, every shopper would receive a 100-yuan voucher with no minimum spend, and they claimed the cheapest product could be had for just 5 yuan.

Zhu Ying glanced inside.

The small store was packed like sardines, and the shelves were buried beneath the crowd.

She shook her head and headed straight to the nearby KFC.

Though Small City was small, quite a few people came to eat KFC, mostly couples.

Some were parents with kids, and others were groups of students — mostly high schoolers.

After all, middle schoolers didn’t have enough money for KFC, and college students had many other places to go…

She wasn’t sure if the heating was on inside, but when Zhu Ying pushed open the glass door, a wave of warmth washed over her.

The air was heavy with greasy smells, which made Zhu Ying hold her breath.

She hadn’t had much appetite lately because of her period.

Near the stairs upstairs, a cleaning lady had just mopped the floor, and a yellow plastic “Caution: Wet Floor” sign stood on the steps, making Zhu Ying instinctively hold the handrail tighter.

Compared to the lively first floor, the second floor was much quieter.

The spacious area only had one family of four sitting near the restroom and a couple in the corner.

Yu Mingfei sat by the window facing the stairs, resting her chin on her hand, bored, sipping her Coke.

“Feifei-jie.”

Zhu Ying sat down quietly and put her bag aside.

“Hm? You’re here? Hungry? I didn’t order much because I was worried about the cold. Eat a bit first.”

“I’m fine, not very hungry yet.”

Zhu Ying glanced at the box of mashed potatoes on the table and gently shook her head.

Yu Mingfei pulled her gaze from the window and stretched her body, “There’s a letter from that little guy for you. Read it yourself first, I’ll go downstairs to get some food. What do you want? Fries, burger? Chicken nuggets?”

“Hmm… I don’t really feel like eating meat.”

“Then just fries and egg tarts!”

“Okay, thanks Feifei-jie.”

“Don’t be so polite!”

Yu Mingfei hobbled downstairs wearing her broken high heel with the left heel half snapped off.

Zhu Ying eagerly picked up the letter on the table.

The envelope was dark yellow with a very ‘80s style.

In the top left corner, there was a line of small red print: ‘Small City Post Office.’

The three large characters ‘For Zhu Ying’ were written on the front, still seeming warm from when they were written.

Zhu Ying carefully tore open the envelope and slowly pulled out the pale yellow letter inside.

Each character was neat and tidy, much more meticulous than her usual homework handwriting.

Perhaps she was just too bored there…

“Zhu Ying, reading this is like seeing me in person… She even wrote my full name so formally…”

(Part Two)

“Although we’re both in Small City, it feels like there’s an ocean separating us.

Although the island and the mainland are separated by only a short stretch of sea, I still can’t see the mainland from here.

Don’t worry, although I’m here as a test subject, I’m not treated like a lab rat.

It’s just that my hearing still hasn’t recovered. I can’t hear a thing…

But I think it will come back.

It must be a side effect from using my powers that day.

By the way, I haven’t been able to use my powers lately.

Nothing comes out.

They’ve made me take all kinds of tests, but I’m like an ordinary person.

Do you think powers can disappear?

Or maybe wishes have limits?

Though it’s very boring here, time seems to move slowly.

It feels like I haven’t seen you for a whole year…”

The letter was quiet and disjointed, as if not written all at once but over half a day, stopping and starting frequently.

For example, after this paragraph, the next sentence jumped drastically.

Normally, you’d expect some words like “I miss you,” but what Zhu Ying read next was him talking about a game he played today.

“Fei-jie had someone send me some clothes — all women’s clothes.

I haven’t had my own clothes to wear these days.

It’s all skirts, skirts, skirts.

Even though it’s warm here, I still want to wear pants…

Xiaoying, don’t you have these worries?

Aren’t you afraid of flashing something when you wear skirts?”

Pfft…

“Hmm, sounds like something Xiaojing would worry about.”

Zhu Ying propped her chin and chuckled to herself, “What styles of skirts did you get? You have to have her try each one on for me next time…”

The letter had several pages.

Though the handwriting was large and neat, there was still plenty of content.

Most of it was fragmented “nonsense,” but it still conveyed his state of mind — which didn’t seem too bad.

That alone was enough to comfort Zhu Ying.

“…Written off and on for half a day, I actually wrote so much. I wonder if it’s enough.

If it’s too little, I’m afraid you’ll think I’m being perfunctory.

Of course not! I’m not writing to you just to be perfunctory!

It’s just that when I write, I feel like I don’t really know what to say because it feels like all these words can be summed up in a few characters…”

“Let’s stop here! Just wait outside and wait for me to come out.

You’ll see me again very soon!”

The letter was signed properly with the two characters ‘Anjing’ (Quiet).

Zhu Ying was slightly disappointed but not surprised.

After all, that was just like Anjing.

“Missing you makes the days drag on so slowly…”

Zhu Ying smiled faintly at her blurred reflection in the glass.

“Every day feels like a year…”

“Phew, so many people at this time. Finally got it — large fries, a few Portuguese egg tarts, and a burger. Let’s eat!”

“Feifei-jie, what do you think… what is Xiaojing doing right now?”

“Probably eating too, I guess?”