Chapter 60: Love on the Rebound

Wei Jinglan shrieked, "There is a demonic aura around Zhengtai! Let's run away quickly!"

"Run from what?" Jiang Meiwei was unwilling to listen and retorted, "I've been with Zhengtai for a long time, and there is definitely no problem."

Only after calming down did Wei Jinglan ask, "Then how do you explain the light shooting out from his forehead?"

Minnie also felt that Wei Jinglan made sense and asked, "Zhengtai, you should explain this."

"The light on this jade bead bracelet shot out from my glabella, and it has happened twice now. Originally, there was no light on the bracelet, but after being struck by the beam once, it appeared. Now that it has happened again, the light is even stronger. Even I don't know what is going on."

"You should go ask someone to take a look. Could something be wrong with you?"

"Didn't my mother make an appointment with someone? Tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock, we're going to the temple to perform a ritual!"

Jiang Meiwei wore a hard-to-understand expression and said, "It really is your problem. I almost made a mistake!"

"If you're scared, don't come looking for me in the future!"

"No! You are my backing. Without you, what would we do if others bullied us? Although there is a problem, it will be gone once the ritual is done! I've heard of such things before; there are all sorts of evil spirits in the middle of the night, so you probably picked it up somewhere."

Minnie also agreed with this view and offered some unexpected thoughts: "Although we don't believe in superstition, many things cannot be explained by scientific logic. Therefore, performing a ritual is the only means of deliverance."

Wei Jinglan didn't say much else, only uttering: "Class monitor, I'm scared!"

Though Jiang Meiwei didn't say it out loud, she felt the same way inside. She grabbed Minnie and turned around to leave. My heart felt very depressed. Did Jiang Meiwei stop loving me? Otherwise, why would she leave without even saying goodbye? I was tired and returned home. Things were just as they had always been, with one difference: without Niu Zhengqing, there was no plague in the house.

The most eye-catching thing now was the meal I bought at noon. I devoured both portions all by myself, yet still felt hungry. I had no choice but to bear it and head to the kitchen, dumping the clothes from the large basin into a small one, and carrying them into the bathroom to learn how to do laundry. It seemed novel at first, but after scrubbing for a while, I grew tired! I left them there and went into the small room. Seeing the schoolbag on the desk reminded me that I still had a huge pile of homework left undone. I pulled out my books and notebooks, but didn't feel like moving; my mind was entirely filled with the traces left behind by Niu Zhengqing. Especially the jade bead bracelet on my wrist—the halo seemed to have multiplied tenfold, spinning around in circles without stopping, and it refused to dim.

Originally, Niu Zhengqing's disappearance didn't require me to worry, but it kept lingering in my mind, making my brain a complete mess so that I couldn't do anything. My phone rang. I picked it up, glanced at it, answered, and put it to my ear: "Hello?"

An anxious voice from Madam came through quickly: "Zhengtai, Mom doesn't know how to write articles. Can you use your phone to go online..."

This was a brilliant idea! Why hadn't I thought of it? I hurriedly replied, "Let me try."

Madam was full of anticipation, and her tone changed: "I'll leave this to you, Mom! The sooner the better!"

I nodded and agreed. The phone hung up, and the problem arose once more. I didn't know how to do it. After pondering for a long time without finding an answer, I had no choice but to dial Jiang Meiwei's number. After three rings, nobody answered. She was probably scared and didn't want to bother with me. People are just like that; when you run into trouble, the people closest to you are the least reliable. What could I say to her? I wanted to ask Minnie and Wei Jinglan, but I didn't have their phone numbers. Driven to frustration, I tapped randomly on the screen until a headline appeared on the internet: "What to do when you can't think of a solution?"

My brain reacted immediately: "Oh yeah? What should I do?"

After glancing at the contents, I understood everything. I typed the answer I wanted into the search bar. The internet speed was extremely slow, and the page refused to load, so I simply left it sitting there.

Waiting and waiting, that was how it went. Finally, a line of text popped up: Phone weight reduction. Press confirm. After a long time, it displayed that the cleanup was finished. I clicked it again, but it was still very slow. I entered a search, and it still wouldn't open...

I was utterly annoyed! Thinking it over, I actually thought of the person who taught me how to use the phone. Bracing myself, I dialed her number. It rang through once, but no one answered. Since I had never had any confidence in her to begin with, this situation was understandable, and I had no choice but to consider other options. Before I could figure out a solution, my phone chimed a pleasant song. I glanced at it, my hand trembling uncontrollably with excitement, and I answered, bringing it to my ear while waiting for the other person to speak...

"Darling, I love you! For so many nights I've thought of you. I shouldn't have distanced myself from you over one hundred thousand yuan! Come over if you want! Or, I can drive to pick you up!"

Such strange words—was she going crazy for a woman? Wait, I wasn't a woman, nor was she a man... wait, she wasn't a man, and I wasn't a woman? No, she was a woman, and I was a young man! How could she consider me? But since I needed a favor, I had no choice but to tell her my situation.

She was extremely astonished, and a woman's exclamation came through: "How can that be? That's too incredible!"

Actually, I had hidden a lot of details, especially the part about Madam hitting me with a wooden club... which was why she let out such a gasp of wonder.

Someone who needed a man couldn't wait that long and immediately told me she would use the car to pick me up, and that coming to her house would help me do what I wanted to do.

Anyway, Madam wasn't home, and there were many things about this broken phone I still didn't understand, so I had to bury my past grievances deep in my heart...

The phone hung up. I lay on the small bed, letting my mind wander. The phone still couldn't access the internet. Unexpectedly, it flashed, the screen lit up, and it chimed a joyful tune...

I glanced at it, answered, and put it to my ear. A disappointed voice came through: "Zhengtai, I tried really hard, but I still couldn't find it! I won't be coming back tonight. Go to sleep early. Tomorrow morning before 9:30, we must arrive at the temple; we can't miss it again!"

I never wanted to do that stupid ritual in the first place, and seeing Jiang Meiwei's attitude had shaken my resolve anyway. Besides, Madam was so obsessed; if it hadn't been for her demanding a paternity test, none of this would have happened. Since nobody ever listened to what I had to say, I simply replied, "Got it!"

Just as I hung up the phone, the ringtone sounded again. I brought it to my ear, and a woman's voice came through: "Hello! Zhengtai: I'm outside the residential compound's gate, hurry down!" Whenever a critical moment arrived, I could never make up my mind. Before I could reply, the voice came again: "Darling, I'm waiting, don't take too long!"

I casually looked down at my school uniform; it was short and ugly, and even if I wanted to change into a different set, I didn't have one. No wonder Madam always dressed herself up so prettily whenever she met men—so that was the reason.

The phone hung up. I looked at myself back and forth in front of the vanity mirror in the small room, but no matter how I looked, I was still the same. I combed my hair, rushed downstairs, passed the guard post, and saw the white BMW parked by the roadside in the distance.

The person inside was even more anxious than me, terrified of missing me. She scrambled out of the car and waved to me. Only after getting in did I realize she didn't care what I was wearing; the crucial thing was the person...

It was very dark, but the interior lights of the car were on. With nothing else to do, I checked the phone: it displayed 22:35.

The car started up and drove forward along the road. Not a single word was spoken. After pausing at a traffic light, it quickly arrived at the underground parking garage of the new district and came to a stop.

She and I got out of the car together to check the parking spot. Linking her arm through mine, she said, "Darling, what do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you!"

I didn't want any of that. With my phone unable to access the internet, I couldn't complete the task Madam had assigned me.

She stood on my left side, her head barely reaching my shoulder. At about one meter sixty-five, she was petite and dainty, looking as if she were only half my size. Suddenly, her hand brushed against the jade bead bracelet on my left wrist. Staring at it for a long time in the pitch darkness without seeing it clearly, she asked, "What is this?"

"Didn't you just touch it with your hand? It's a string of bracelets."

"Where did it come from?"

"Naturally, it's the exact string of bracelets you lost."

"How did you find it?"

"After you left, I wasn't willing to let it go, so I went back the next day and found the cleaning woman. After asking about the situation, she said she did pick up a string, but since there are many fake bracelets around, if it was mine, I should go to her house to retrieve it." I agreed, and after she finished her work, I went with her to her house to take back this string of bracelets. I originally wanted to call you to let you know, but I dialed N numbers and nobody answered...

"I'm sorry; was I cold to you? Do you know? Whenever night falls and silence descends, I think of you. But I rejected your call, and unable to take it back, I've been extremely regretful. If you hadn't called me, I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to call you either."

The matter with Niu Zhengqing had already passed, yet it remained unforgettable in my heart. As the saying goes, family shame should not be aired in public; naturally, I wouldn't tell her about it.

I followed closely behind her as we exited the elevator. She pressed a plastic card against a circular dot on the door, which flashed with a "beep" sound as the door swung open. It looked just like before, and was very pretty!

I remembered visiting this home twice before, so I was familiar with the layout. I walked straight into her bedroom and sat down on the double bed...

She removed the bracelet from my left wrist, stared at it left and right, and said, "This bracelet feels a bit strange; why is there a halo of light around it?"

I couldn't tell her the truth and could only say, "It was like this when I got it from the cleaning woman!"

"Zhengtai; this isn't my bracelet; it looks eerie and gives me the creeps!" Mo Liping looked at it from every angle, and actually became so frightened that she tossed it onto the bed, saying, "I don't dare wear this kind of thing; if you dare, I'll give it to you!"

"Didn't you say it was worth sixty million, and that you bought it back from an auction house?"

"Well, it is... but that bracelet didn't look like this! Who would dare wear it?" Summoning her courage, she picked it up from the bed, only to fling it back down in terror, saying, "You take it, you wear it; I'm giving it to you!"

"Aren't you going to regret it? This is worth sixty million!"

"I don't care! I don't dare want it! Who has ever seen a bracelet like this? It's too terrifying!"

"If you don't want it, fine!" I picked it up from the bed, fastened it around my left wrist, and said, "What's wrong with it? Isn't it just fine?"

She thought about it for a moment, then broke into a smile: "Zhengtai; Big Sister is giving you this jade bracelet as a gift! From now on, whenever you look at it, it will be just like seeing me!"

I couldn't help but doubt her words: "Am I really that important in your heart?"

"Stop being mad! It was Big Sister's fault before; how about that?"