Chapter 31: Late-Night Harassment

I am speechless. In this regard, only Zhengtai knows; a man who has just turned into Zhengtai, how would he understand women... Tomorrow is the weekend, so I have to ask: "How is your essay coming along?"

"I haven't written it. Every time I close my eyes, my head is filled with your image. I really want to marry you! Let's go somewhere and live a good life."

I disagree with this. As things stand, one cannot survive without money; talking about love without considering the economy seems rather helpless.

We spoke intermittently for a long time before hanging up. I checked my phone: 10:15 PM. I hadn't rested well to begin with, so I crawled into bed and under the covers, mind racing, drifting into a daze. Suddenly, my phone rang. I glanced at it, tapped it, and held it to my ear without saying a word. Suddenly, a strange man's voice came through: "Hello, Zhengtai; is that you?"

I flared up immediately. This number had called before, and the voice was still that of the same stranger. I stared wide-eyed and asked, "What exactly do you want?"

"What do I want? Don't you know? Have you forgotten our relationship?"

"What relationship do I have with you? If you dare make another harassing call and I catch you, see if I don't beat you to a pulp!"

"What? With that attitude, you dare try to beat me? I'd sooner flatten you! But I'm just joking; honestly, whenever I go to bed, I think of you!"

"Bullshit! Who exactly are you? State your dog-name; let's see how you'll die!"

"Stop messing around, okay? I want to meet you."

"Get lost! Are you overthinking things? I'm warning you! If this continues, I'm calling the police!"

"Hahaha, are you kidding me? You don't even recognize me? We've known each other for at least a year; who forgets so quickly? Can we stop playing games?"

"Go to hell! Don't call again!" After hanging up, I felt deeply unsettled and cursed, "Scum! Jerk! What are you thinking? Trying to pull this on me!"

Suddenly, the Zhengtai within my body spoke: "He is not a stranger; you don't understand. I had a relationship with him for a while, which is why he's calling."

I was furious and shouted, "Who is he?"

"I won't tell you now; you're in a bad mood. I'll tell you when you've calmed down."

My head felt like it was about to explode. How could she have been involved with someone like that? Who on earth is he? I desperately wanted to know, but the Zhengtai inside my body remained silent, leaving me helpless. I breathed heavily, fuming, wanting nothing more than to give the guy a sound beating, but where could I find him? Being angry for so long was useless; it took me a long time to calm down. I threw the phone on the nightstand and tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door. I listened closely, but it stopped. Just as I stopped paying attention, it sounded twice more...

This grabbed my attention. I felt instinctively uneasy and suspicious. I climbed out of bed, crept to the door to listen, and the moment it sounded again, I yanked it open...

"Bang!" A club struck my head heavily.

I felt a bit dizzy, but I had practiced Iron Head Kung Fu, so I shook it off and cleared my head. I saw Zhengtai's father holding the club high, bringing it down with all his might.

I was prepared. I dodged, and with a "thud," it struck the door frame, leaving a dent. I grabbed his hand firmly and hooked his leg with my foot...

He lost his balance and fell onto the door, clutching it tightly, exposing the back of his neck.

I brought my hand down in a chop. His head wobbled, his grip loosened, and he collapsed by the door, eyes closed, looking as if he were dead. My rage was boundless; I couldn't control myself and wanted to beat him to death.

But he wasn't moving, so I picked up the club and gave his backside a sound thrashing until he woke up. I threw the club into the small room, pushed him out, and locked the door. Out of sight, out of mind!

I lay in bed, feeling restless. Zhengtai's father had done this time and again, showing no fear of pain; it seemed he really didn't want to live anymore.

I wondered why there was a club in the house. We didn't need it to wash clothes by the river anymore. I couldn't understand why such a thing was kept at home. Was he on the floor? Would he try to enter the master bedroom?

I was worried but didn't want to look. Forced by circumstances, I called the lady of the house, but it went straight to voicemail. It was 5:45 AM. I put the phone by my pillow, my mind swirling with endless problems, like how to deal with Zhengtai's father.

As long as he was in this house, he remained a threat to me. Even after being beaten like that, he wouldn't give up.

There was no sound outside the door, as if everything were exactly as it had been after I pushed him out...

I decided to ignore it, got back into bed, and curled up under the covers. My thoughts were in chaos, and I drifted off to sleep unintentionally.

"Thump, thump, thump!" After a series of heavy knocks on the door, the lady's strange voice called out: "Zhengtai, Zhengtai!"

I didn't know what had happened. It startled me awake, and I asked, confused: "What's wrong?"

Hearing my voice, the lady finally sighed with relief: "Hurry and come out. What time is it, and you're still sleeping?"

I thought something terrible had happened! My tense heart slowly calmed down. I put on my school uniform and opened the door, only to be stunned: Zhengtai's father was still lying by the door. The lady was gripping his shoulders, trying to lift him up...

Niu Zhenqing was in agony, groaning, his legs dragging on the floor as if he couldn't stand.

I stood by the door, dumbfounded. I expected the lady to ask a lot of questions, but she seemed to understand everything...

After struggling for a long time without success, she looked at me and shouted: "Hurry and help!"

I considered it, then bent down to lift his legs. With great effort, I helped the lady carry him into the master bedroom and laid him by the bed...

He groaned in pain, his legs dragging helplessly...

Could they be broken? I hadn't even hit his legs; how could this happen?

The lady wasn't a doctor and knew nothing of what had transpired. Seeing the dried blood on his trousers, she couldn't help but ask: "What did you hit him with?"

I had to tell her what happened late last night, saying: "If it's always like this, no one can stand it!"

The lady wasn't stupid. She already favored me and was deeply disappointed in Niu Zhenqing. She took his clothes and trousers out of the wardrobe...

She carefully peeled away the layers of dried blood stuck to his mangled skin...

He groaned in pain, and even I couldn't bear to watch...

The lady looked at me and gestured with her finger: "Find a basin, get some water, and help him clean up!"

Seeing him in such a miserable state, I didn't want to argue. I took a plastic basin to the bathroom, filled it with water, and placed it by the bed. The lady began to wash him...

Niu Zhenqing was in unbearable pain. I couldn't stand it, so I stood by the door...

Soon, the water needed changing again, and all these tasks fell to me—the used water was a murky purple, which was nauseating...

If we had money, we should take him to the hospital, but the lady couldn't afford it, so we just had to make do...

After the tenth basin of water, the lady finally finished. She padded the bleeding areas with paper, changed him into a black casual outfit, and laid him on the bed. She threw the blood-stained clothes into the trash, bundled them up with the ones I had changed out of, and put them into the washing machine. Soon, it began to hum with a whirring sound...

"Mom, what is that club at home for?" I couldn't help but ask.

"That's not our club. Your grandmother brought it over, saying it was for killing rats. It's just been left there."

"Wouldn't getting a cat be easier?"

"Your grandmother thinks cats are too dirty, and I don't like them either."

There was no helping it; everyone in the family had their own ideas. Now, it had backfired—it hadn't killed any rats, but had become a tool for violence.

Suddenly, my phone played a pleasant song. The lady pulled it out of her handbag in the master bedroom, took a glance, answered it, and held it to her ear. She shut the door and hid inside the room to whisper...

I was curious and hid by the door to eavesdrop. Though the voice was quiet, I could hear it vaguely.

"Darling, what time is it? It's time to eat. My car is outside your apartment complex."

The lady said in a panic: "I still have laundry to do, can't you wait a while?"

"Darling, you might have forgotten one thing, we still need to..."

The voice was very low, and I could only make it out by straining, but the lady said: "Okay, I'll be down immediately." The call ended.

I tiptoed back into my room and pretended to be sitting on the bed...

The lady opened the door loudly and shouted: "Zhengtai, hurry! Let's go eat!"