Chapter 53: The Lover's Call

Leaving the school gates, Jiang Meili's mother was riding an electric scooter, dressed in an extremely flamboyant and provocative manner. Her gossamer dress was translucent and see-through, leaving little to the imagination except for her undergarments underneath.

My primary concern, however, was her hands. I took a sidelong glance and found no sign of the jade bracelet. That bracelet had been troublesome from the start. If it hadn't felt too heavy for Madam to wear, it wouldn't have ended up in my hands. My goal was still to return it to Mo Liping, since it belonged to someone else.

The other students did not dare to look for long. Jiang Meili sat behind her mother, waving at me repeatedly. As their figures gradually faded into the distance...

A sense of loss welled up in my heart. Madam hadn't come. She must still be at the hospital. I had intended to call and check on her...

Mi Nini and Wei Jinglan walked over and said, "Zhengtai, let's walk together. We'd love to visit your place."

"There's nobody home anyway, so come if you want!"

We arrived at the bus stop, waited for a while, and squeezed onto a bus. I pulled out twelve yuan and dropped ten into the fare box. Seeing others do the same, I asked for four yuan in change and successfully made it to the iron-mesh door on the fourth floor of the residential building. Unlocking and stepping inside, we were utterly stunned!

Madam and Niu Zhenqing were sitting on the shabby sofa. As soon as she saw me, Madam said, "Dad was discharged from the hospital, but he's only in this state now."

His mouth bore the traces of stitches, and a piece of gauze was plastered across the bridge of his nose. His face was pale, yet he looked alert. Unsure if he was even able to speak, I asked, "Are you still making that groaning sound?"

Niu Zhenqing insisted on speaking for himself: "My voice doesn't groan anymore, but my tongue feels like it's wrapped in a lump of dough, making my speech slurred."

Seeing someone else at home, Mi Nini consulted with Wei Jinglan about leaving...

Since they had already come, I led the two of them to take a look at my small room. Madam didn't say anything, but Niu Zhenqing seemed displeased. Unable to articulate his thoughts clearly, he simply acted as if he hadn't heard.

Upon entering the small room and seeing the double-door plywood wardrobe and a single bed two meters long and one and a half meters wide, Mi Nini squealed with excitement: "Zhengtai, you even have a desk?"

It sounded as if Mi Nini's family was poorer than mine. Recalling what she had previously mentioned about her family having a very large house, I couldn't help asking, "Is it rented?"

She hesitated for quite a while before answering, "Yes! A family of four living in a three-bedroom apartment. The rent is over a thousand yuan a month, and since my mom doesn't work, life is pretty tight."

Mi Nini's words brought genuine comfort to me. At the very least, my family still owned a shabby place, whereas many families didn't even have a home. It truly felt like we were worse off than the best, but better than the worst.

After they looked around for a bit—with adults present, anything we did would feel awkward—they wandered out. I saw them off, watching as they descended the stairs from the fourth floor...

As soon as I stepped back into the living room, Niu Zhenqing gestured and muttered incoherently for a long time, but I couldn't understand a single word.

Madam, however, understood: "Dad says not to bring your classmates home in the future; some people's hands aren't clean."

Hearing that instantly infuriated me. What was even left in this home? It was on the verge of falling apart entirely! I had expected Niu Zhenqing's attitude to change after taking a beating, but I never imagined he would remain the same. How did that saying go? A leopard never changes its spots; it proved entirely true. Since he didn't welcome them, why should I treat him well? Out of sight, out of mind, I turned and made to walk into my small room.

Madam's cell phone rang. She pulled it out from her shoulder bag, glanced at the screen, and walked out to the balcony to answer it...

I suspected the call was from the Scarface man. To my surprise, Niu Zhenqing was even more nervous than I was. In his anxiety, a groan slipped past his lips, and he leaped off the sofa, intending to charge over. Finding his ugly expression repulsive, I gave him a two-handed shove. He staggered backward and crashed down onto the sofa. Clenching my right fist, I shook it in front of him and threatened, "Meddle in my business again and see if I don't beat you to a pulp!"

Niu Zhenqing knew what was good for him; nursing injuries on his mouth and nose, he scrambled back up and sat motionlessly on the sofa.

I kept a close eye on him while trying to overhear who Madam was talking to.

The voice on the other end was inaudible; only Madam's voice could be heard: "Zhengtai has already been discharged. We don't have a single penny left at home. Can you arrange a lighter job for him?"

I couldn't hear the reply. Niu Zhenqing sat on the sofa, straining his ears to eavesdrop, looking as though he understood yet remained undecided...

I felt the same way, and Madam didn't know anyone else anyway.

The conversation continued. This was Madam's voice: "He only has some minor injuries on his mouth and nose; the rest of him is completely fine and he can still work. It won't affect our relationship either. What do you think?"

Unwilling to listen any further, I retreated into my small room. With the family in such a state, my studies were directly affected. Remembering the assignment given by my politics teacher, I picked up the cell phone hanging around my neck, dialed, and held it to my ear...

After a short while, Jiang Meili's voice came through: "Darling, is something wrong?"

I shared my earlier thoughts with her. Moments later, she sent over a few pictures. Zooming in, I could clearly see some clumsy, scrawled characters that read: "Received, hanging up!"

"I want to come over to your house. Tomorrow is Saturday, no classes," Jiang Meili's gentle voice came over the line again.

"Did you find the jade bracelet?" I asked by the way.

"Not yet! We have guests at home, so I haven't had time to ask my mom."

"Have you checked the bed?" I clung to one last shred of hope.

"It's not on the bed. If it were, wouldn't I have found it already?"

"You know, if the jade bracelet is lost, it might seriously affect our relationship!"

"No, don't say that! I'll think of a way to look for it, I'll definitely find it!"

"I'll wait for your good news then!" Though I said this, I felt completely unconfident.

She brought up coming over to do homework again, so I had no choice but to brief her on the situation at home. Reluctantly, she hung up. I placed my schoolbag on the desk and prepared to copy my notes...

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the living room, followed by the shattering of glass and the sound of something breaking on the floor—it was terrifying!

Panicking, I rushed out to find Niu Zhenqing and Madam locked in a tight embrace, rolling around on the living room floor. The wooden coffee table had been knocked askew, and the window glass on the left had been smashed by a heavy wooden club...

Niu Zhenqing possessed immense strength. Pinning Madam down with both hands, he raised his fist to smash it directly onto her head...

Seeing red, I leaped forward and kicked him squarely in the back. The sheer force flipped him over completely, causing his head to slam against the wall and wobble unnaturally...

Madam scrambled up from the floor, lunged forward, and grabbed Niu Zhenqing's clothes, pushing him back and forth, though she didn't know how to strike back...

Niu Zhenqing whirled around, shoved Madam back onto the sofa, and raised his hands to deal a lethal blow...

Unable to take it any longer, I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Let go! Or I'll beat you to death!"

Niu Zhenqing ignored me entirely, wearing a ferocious expression as he brought his fist down hard on Madam's head. It was moments away from becoming fatal.

Madam could only weep and shriek loudly, completely helpless...

She was my only pillar of support; she could not fall. With a powerful kick, I knocked Niu Zhenqing over, grabbed him by the collar to haul him up, and delivered two heavy punches to his abdomen...

Overwhelmed with agony, Niu Zhenqing clutched his stomach tightly and doubled over beside the sofa, losing all ability to fight.

Madam's face was distorted with rage. Scrambling to her feet in a frenzy, she rushed to the window, picked up the wooden club, and charged back, striking Niu Zhenqing twice over the head with heavy thuds...

I was dumbfounded! Madam didn't know which areas were fatal to strike, but she hit him anyway, hammering him as if she were slaughtering a pig...

Niu Zhenqing was reduced to a mindless fool. His body listed to one side, slumping limply beneath the sofa with his eyes tightly closed, looking precisely like a corpse...

Madam was the most terrified of all. Panic-stricken, she flung the club away, her gaze scattered and unanchored as she looked up at my face in utter bewilderment. "H-he... he was beaten to death by me! Wh-what should we do?"

My mind went blank as well. Would he actually die? My master had once told me that the human skull is very thin, with the brain matter lying right beneath it, making head injuries easily fatal.

Madam had lost her mind with fury, unaware of where one shouldn't strike—especially terrified of bleeding, which could contaminate the brain and lead to immediate death.

I had no choice but to rely on myself for Madam's sake. I pulled her into a tight embrace and comforted her: "Mom, don't be afraid; he won't die!"

Knowing that I practiced martial arts and possessed some extraordinary capabilities, Madam looked up with a glimmer of skeptical hope and asked, "Then why isn't he waking up?"