Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“How often do people decide to strike up a conversation with you here at your stall?”
Zhou Xufang picked up the phone which Jiang Zhi had left on her mini table.
“What type are you looking for?”
“Give me the most expensive one you’ve got.” She should be able to pocket more cash that way.
Zhou Xufang retrieved an extra-strong protector from the bag behind her. Tearing open its packaging, she got to working on Jiang Zhi’s phone.
“No conversations were struck up,” she said while focusing most of her attention on the phone in front of her. “A lot of people are scared of me, after all.”
Zhou Xufang lowered her head the entire time she spoke to Jiang Zhi. Loosening up his facial expression, his eyes continued to be locked onto her. “And why is that?”
“They said I look like a ghost,” Zhou Xufang replied dismissively.
She was wearing all-black today as usual with the addition of a bucket hat on her head. From head to toe, she was fully clothed. The only bit of skin exposed was her child-like face, and even that was partially covered by her hat. Her expression was the same as always, devoid of any emotion whatsoever. Her lips were always sealed, making her seem like an impenetrable fortress that stood out from the noisy crowd around her.
Jiang Zhi’s eyes scanned across her body. He was feeling very bitter despite having no idea who this feeling was directed to. “Who said such a thing?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
‘Where on Earth would one find a ghost so enchanting?’
Zhou Xufang looked up at him. She then proceeded to shine a desk lamp on her face. “Do I not look like one?”
Underneath the bucket hat, her palm-sized face reflected most of the table lamp’s white light which made it seem as though her face was glowing.
Yep, he had finally seen her face up close. There was a barely noticeable mole located right where her eyebrow ended, which was further hidden by a layer of her messy hair. It was small, and in Jiang Zhi’s eyes, seemed cute. Her eyelashes were long and dense, like the decorative frills on a fan. That too was really attractive in Jiang Zhi’s book.
Seeing Jiang Zhi stare at her for so long made her feel a tad bit uncomfortable, so she lowered her head and resumed her work.
The sky had already gone dark, and the light offered by Xufang’s tiny table lamp was passable at best. Due to its awkward position, the dim light that lit up only one part of her face created an air of eeriness around her. Jiang Zhi crouched down and leaned toward the girl, focusing on her face that was partially lit up by the mediocre lamp. “Aren’t you as strong as a bull? You could just smash up whoever talks smack about you, no?”
Zhou Xufang was carefully applying the film onto Jiang Zhi’s phone. “If I smash them up too badly, I’d have to compensate them.”
“You sure love money, don’t you?”
“Yep.” Using a sterile cloth, she wiped the screen clean. “Alright, the job’s done. That will be 60 yuan please.”
‘So the most expensive one she had was a mere 60 yuan?’
Jiang Zhi produced a hundred yuan bill from his wallet and placed it in her hand. Of course, he had originally intended to touch her hand again but decided against it at the last minute.
“Keep the change.”
Zhou Xufang accepted the bill and thanked him with a serious look on her face. Then, she grabbed the bag behind her and starting fumbling around for something within.
Jiang Zhi was displeased. Lightly tugging on her bucket hat, he made sure that it was slanted in one direction before letting go. “Didn’t I say to keep the change?”
With the slanted off-center hat on her head, she stared blankly at Jiang Zhi for a while before pulling out a can of milk from her bag. Together with his phone, she pushed both items toward Jiang Zhi.
“My treat.”
How cute.
He wanted to touch her face.
Jiang Zhi reached out his arm, but before he was able to touch her face, she bounced back, her eyelashes dancing as she blinked with eyes full of confusion.
His arm remained outstretched. “I’m trying to fix your hat. Don’t move.”
And so, she did not move.
How subservient.
He wanted to touch her face even more.
His fingertips were shaking when they grazed past her face as he tried to grab hold of her hat. Where the back of his hand had made contact with her hair, he could feel a slight tingling sensation. Still, he pressed onward and ignored the urge to jerk his hand back. It went to the point where even his ears were starting to glow red. “I-I’ll see you around.”
Zhou Xufang looked up from underneath her hat. “See you.”
There had been no changes in her facial expression throughout their interaction.
Jiang Zhi’s face, on the other hand, felt like it was steaming hot. He could feel a tight knot forming in his chest as he clamped his hand tightly around the can of milk. Turning around, he prepared to leave the busy marketplace.
“Jiang Zhi.”
He turned around immediately.
Her face was now entirely lit up by that dim table lamp which somehow softened the outline of her face. “Remember, don’t go out tonight.”
His knitted brows from the last second loosened up in the next.
“Alright,” he replied firmly. The color of spring was, however, still dancing wildly in his eyes.
Following the arrival of a new customer at Zhou Xufang’s stall, she said her goodbye to Jiang Zhi one more time before moving her attention away from him.
Jiang Zhi was left hanging awkwardly in the middle of the walkway.
“…”
He turned and left immediately.
This was his first time being treated like this. It was as if his heart was riding on a roller coaster, climbing uphill to a climax, and then shooting downward at the speed of sound. It was a never-ending series of ups and downs.
By the time Zhou Xufang had completed applying the screen protector, Jiang Zhi had already walked far into the distance. With a concerned look on her face, she pulled out her phone and sent an email to Shuang Jiang.
Shuang Jiang mostly used her email as a means of communicating.
It didn’t take too long before a call from an unknown number came through. Zhou Xufang accepted the call, and as soon as she put her phone next to her ear, an artificially-synthesized voice spoke out. “Ah Fang, what are you planning to do?”
She had already lost sight of Jiang Zhi’s car which was parked at the intersection ahead. “I’m worried.”
“About Jiang Zhi?”
“Yeah, what if our client already has a backup plan? Even if I don’t abduct him, someone else might.”
Shuang Jiang went along with Zhou Xufang. “Do you need my help?”
Zhou Xufang turned off the table lamp and started packing up her stall. “There are a lot of surveillance cameras near Jiang Zhi’s residence. I can’t get too close to him.”
“Give me 20 minutes.”
The average travel time by car ride from Bayi Bridge to Greenhill Residence, where Jiang Zhi lived, was around 40 or so minutes. It was close to 8 pm by the time Jiang Zhi reached his home. Opening the door to his unit, he was about to reach for the light switch when someone’s hand pulled him into the door.
Click.
The front door had been locked.
Everything happened simultaneously. He was pressed firmly against the wall and the voice of a woman whispered into his ear, “Don’t move.”
Move, he did not. Even his eyelids remained still. His expression was surprisingly calm as he responded lazily. “You again, huh?”
It was her, the professional runner.
Her mouth remained shut. One hand was pressed against his waist, and the other, on his shoulder. The inside of his home was pitch dark, with the moonlight that shone through his window being the only source of light.
Vaguely, he was able to make out a blue hue reflecting off her lenses.
“So, who sent you here this time?”
She deliberately lowered her voice. “I’m not here to take you away. Don’t move, don’t say anything, and I’ll leave by the break of dawn.”
They were so close to one another that he was able to catch a whiff of that smell again—the lingering smell of milk on her body.
Rattle.
A sound came from the door suddenly. It was then revealed to be Ah Wan when he called out, “Boss, you left your script in my car-”
The light came in through the tiny opening where the door was, flooding Zhou Xufang’s vision behind the darkened lenses.
Ah Wan stopped mid-sentence, and visibly stunned, he stood still for a moment before kicking the door open. “It’s you again, you damned wh*re!”
“…”
The mouth behind the mask twitched.
“I’m no wh*re,” Zhou Xufang corrected him sternly.
Taking a step back, Ah Wan took up a defensive pose as he yelled out to the assaulter, “You wh*re! Let go of my boss!”
‘I’m not a wh*re!’
She was a little pissed now. In a cold voice, she warned Ah Wan, “Behind you.”
Ah Wan couldn’t care less about what she was saying. He glared furiously at this “wh*re”, and in a fiery rage, he roared at the woman, “Stop with this nonsense! Let go of my boss right this instant!”
The masked Zhou Xufang then casually added two more words to her previous warning. “There’s people.”
The lights suddenly came on.
A bat came slicing through the air the moment he turned around. Although he was able to avoid getting his skull smashed in, the bat slammed right into his shoulder. Right around that time, 7 or 8 burly men, all wielding heavy sticks, came rushing into the room and started facing off with Ah Wan.