☆, Chapter 28: Shock
Hao Ren thought she was done for, but the ghost suddenly pushed her away and ran off as if it were flying.
Just then, Li Fugui, who had just gone to get clothes, finally arrived. He quickly took the teetering basin and thermos from Hao Ren’s hands.
“Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid! That’s my sister, Li Pingan. My sister must have been helping me tidy up my room just now!” Li Fugui patted Hao Ren’s shoulder forcefully.
Hao Ren was still in shock. She took several deep breaths before she felt a little better.
“Your sister?”
“Yes, my sister!” Li Fugui’s voice was a little dry. “I’ve put the clothes here. I’ll go out first…”
After speaking, he quickly turned and left, pulling the door shut behind him.
“It should be a burn. That girl is so pitiful…” After Li Fugui left, Daizi looked back at the door and let out a long sigh.
Hao Ren let out a long sigh of relief, secretly laughing at herself for making a fuss over nothing. If there were any real danger, how could Daizi not have warned her?
“Uncle Daizi, turn around. No peeking!” After calming down, she immediately felt cold all over. Hao Ren quickly poured hot water and began to wash herself.
“Tch! Little girl!” Daizi turned around as told, but still couldn’t help but complain faintly.
The towel was very clean and should have been newly taken out. Although the clothes were old, they were also clean and had a faint smell of laundry detergent. Judging from the size of the clothes, the person just now should indeed be Li Fugui’s sister. Her sister’s figure should be similar to Hao Ren’s, and the clothes fit her just right.
Hao Ren changed her clothes and went out. Li Fugui was just bringing over a bowl of ginger soup from the kitchen.
“Drink this bowl of ginger soup! My sister made it for you!” As Li Fugui spoke, he subconsciously glanced in a certain direction.
Hao Ren followed his gaze, hoping to see his sister again to apologize for her rudeness just now. Unfortunately, sensing her gaze, the figure hiding behind the door and peeking at her vanished in a flash.
His sister’s cooking was good. Although the ginger soup was spicy, it was not hard to drink. After drinking it hot, Hao Ren felt all her pores open up, and the cold in her body was swept away.
“Thank you, it’s very good!” Hao Ren shouted her thanks in the direction of his sister, but unfortunately, there was no reaction at all from that side.
“My sister must have heard you!” Li Fugui smiled embarrassedly at Hao Ren.
The sound of the rain was pattering. The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier. Because of the thick dark clouds, although it was only two or three in the afternoon, the sky was as dark as if night had fallen. Looking at the pouring rain outside that showed no signs of stopping, Hao Ren’s brows gradually furrowed. With it raining like this, even the buses might have stopped. How would she get back later?
Her premonition was correct. The rain continued until dinner time and still showed no signs of stopping. Even after returning home, Li Fugui didn’t rest. He had been doing piecework handicrafts. Hao Ren had helped him all afternoon, so it wasn’t boring. But this bad weather made her a little uneasy. If she really couldn’t go back, would she have to stay at his place for a night?
To her frustration, her premonition came true again. The storm outside still hadn’t stopped even after dark. Unable to go out and unable to go home, she could only shamelessly have dinner at Li Fugui’s house with Daizi.
Dinner was a simple meal of plain tea and rice. There were only two simple dishes and a soup, plus a specially fried egg, but the chef’s skills were good, and the taste was very good. Although it was simple, Hao Ren ate very happily. Even during dinner, Li Fugui’s sister still did not appear. It was unclear whether she was always like this, or if it was because Hao Ren was here today that she didn’t want to come out.
During dinner, Li Fugui’s mother did come out, but her steps were unsteady, and her face was sickly. Hao Ren stood up to greet her, but after seeing her face clearly, she was instantly stunned on the spot.
Hao Ren had never dreamed that the auntie who had always given her a little extra meat broth in high school would be the kidnapper leader’s mother. Although it was just a little bit of insignificant meat broth, it had warmed the heart of a poor student. A senior who later became a writer had once mentioned that spoonful of meat broth, which was warmer than the winter sun, in one of his essays. But later, when he had the opportunity to return to his alma mater, that auntie was no longer there. She never thought that it was because she was sick.
“Auntie, it’s you?” Hao Ren stood up abruptly, her movement so large that she accidentally knocked over her stool.
Hearing her surprised cry, Li Fugui’s mother’s expression was suspicious. She stared at Hao Ren for a long time, as if trying hard to remember if she had seen her somewhere before.
“Auntie, I’m a student from No. 1 High School!” Hao Ren quickly explained, but she felt a little disappointed in her heart, like a fan who had been ignored by their idol. There were so many students at No. 1 High School; it would be strange if she remembered every single one of them.
“Woof!” Even Daizi was reminding her.
Seeing Daizi, Li Fugui’s mom’s eyes finally lit up. “Oh… I remember now. It’s you, the girl who brought her dog to school every day.”
“That’s right! It’s me! Auntie, you used to bring bones for my dog!” Hao Ren’s originally disappointed heart finally felt a little better.
After dinner, the rain still hadn’t stopped, and Hao Ren’s mood became more and more anxious.
Perhaps sensing her uneasiness, Li Fugui’s mother glanced at the thick curtain of rain outside the window before returning to her room and suggested to Hao Ren with a smile, “It’s raining so heavily outside. It looks like you won’t be able to go back today. Why don’t you just stay at our place tonight? Let Fugui sleep on the floor in the dining room, and you can sleep in his room.”
There was indeed no other way. Hao Ren could only accept her suggestion with a grateful look. Fortunately, it was summer, so it didn’t require any bedding to make do for a night.
Li Fugui’s room was not big, and there were not many things, just a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. The bed was an old-fashioned wooden plank bed, the desk was also an old-fashioned writing desk, and the wardrobe was an old-fashioned one with a mirror. But the things in the room were very neatly arranged. The review materials for the college entrance exam on the desk were neatly stacked and spotless.
There was no computer, no television, not even a radio. The only entertainment in the room was a well-worn copy of Journey to the West by the bed. There were no extra decorations in the room. The only thing that could be considered a decoration was the entire wall of awards.
From elementary school to junior high, from junior high to high school… that guy Li Fugui had a “three-good student” award for every semester, and occasionally there were even a few awards from various competitions. The small wall was almost completely covered with awards.
After a rough glance, Hao Ren found a piece of paper in the corner with a completely different color from the awards. She walked closer and saw that it was a junior high school entrance exam transcript. After seeing the scores, she realized that Li Fugui’s junior high school entrance exam scores back then had far exceeded the admission scores for No. 1 High School. It turned out that the two of them could have been classmates.
Hao Ren could guess the reason why he had gone to No. 2 High School back then: because No. 2 High School had a high entrance scholarship. She had also been tempted by the scholarship of No. 2 High School back then. Of course, she could only think about it. If she had really gone to No. 2 High School for that reason, she would have been beaten half to death by Hao Weiguo.
In fact, the entrance scholarship of Yuntian High School was even higher. The reason Li Fugui had not chosen that one was probably because of his father. Thinking of the expression on his face when he had mentioned his father before, Hao Ren’s heart tightened again.
“He must not have seen the whole program before…” Hao Ren let out a long sigh. If he knew that she was Hao Weiguo’s daughter, he would definitely not be so kind now. But, lying here, she was not very afraid. So far, in Hao Ren’s opinion, his family were not bad people.
Hao Ren was agonizing over Li Fugui’s possible expression after learning the truth when her mobile phone suddenly rang. The phone had been bought recently, and so far, the only people who knew her phone number besides Princess’s owner were Hao Yi, so she answered without even looking.
“Unlucky Ren, where did you go?” As soon as the call was connected, an urgent roar came from the receiver.
Although the other party’s tone was extremely bad, Hao Ren felt a warmth in her heart and quickly explained, “The rain is too heavy, I can’t go back. I can only stay at a friend’s house for a night.”
Hearing her answer, Hao Yi not only did not calm down, but became even more anxious. “Stay over? No! Tell me where you are! I’ll come pick you up!”
It was already completely dark, and the sound of the rain was pattering outside, with strong winds. The situation was so bad that it made one worry if the roof would be blown off. If anything happened to Hao Yi because of her, Mr. and Mrs. Hao would surely tear her apart.
After weighing the pros and cons, she flatly refused. “No need! I’m very safe! Don’t worry!”
“Worry my ass! It’s windy and rainy outside, and you’re a girl, staying at someone else’s house! Tell me your address!”
“It’s fine!” That guy’s reaction was too big. The roar was almost deafening. Hao Ren couldn’t stand it and hung up the phone directly.
She never thought that this unlucky little brother of hers would be so concerned about his older sister! Thinking about it, this was indeed the first time in her life that she had not returned home at night.
Not long after the phone was hung up, the ringtone rang again. Guessing that he would want to talk about coming to pick her up again, Hao Ren found it annoying and turned off her phone directly. The world was finally quiet.
Perhaps because of the typhoon, not a single small animal came to disturb her that night. Hao Ren slept very soundly and woke up early the next morning. The clouds had cleared and the rain had stopped outside. It was a scene of devastation, but it was no problem to go out.
After a simple wash-up, Hao Ren said goodbye to Li Fugui’s family and prepared to go home. She had turned off her phone last night, so that guy Hao Yi must be furious by now.
“It’s not safe here. I’ll walk you.” Li Fugui was already up at this time. Hearing that she was leaving, he quickly got up to see her off.
She had seen a shirtless man sitting at the door on her way here yesterday. Hao Ren of course knew what he meant by “not safe,” so she nodded and thanked him.
“Your sister, she is…” Although she knew it was not polite to ask, Hao Ren still couldn’t hold back her curiosity.
Li Fugui sighed faintly and said with a wry smile, “Don’t look at my sister like this now. She used to be very beautiful!”
Hao Ren of course believed him. With such a delicate and handsome younger brother, no matter how ugly his sister was, she wouldn’t be that ugly.
“There was a big fire at the clothing factory where she worked. Although she was lucky enough to survive, she ended up in this state, neither human nor ghost. Actually, it’s my fault! If it weren’t for her working at the clothing factory to save up for my university tuition, she wouldn’t have encountered such a thing. If it weren’t for me, she would never have become like this…”
As he spoke, his voice became a little choked.
“What’s the name of that factory?” For some reason, when he mentioned the clothing factory, Hao Ren suddenly had a strange feeling and asked out of the blue.
Li Fugui gritted his teeth and said a name, and then Hao Ren was stunned on the spot as if struck by lightning.
She finally knew why she had that strange feeling. It was indeed that factory!
Hao Ren remembered that a factory under Hao Weiguo’s name had once had a horrific major fire. The cause of the fire was due to overloaded production and inadequate fire safety measures. And the factory’s management, fearing that the workers would be lazy, had locked the safety doors, which had resulted in a tragedy with many deaths and injuries. Hao Weiguo had worked hard to settle that matter back then, and in the end, he had to ask a big shot for help and throw out a few scapegoats before the matter was settled.
His father had died because of him, and his sister was living a life worse than death because of him! It was a deep-seated hatred!
Hao Ren shivered heavily, feeling a chill rise from the soles of her feet to her heart. At this moment, she finally understood why he had done such a thing in her past life. It was just a pity that she was not the rich young lady who had trampled on the bones of his relatives and lived a life of luxury in his impression.
Fate is truly a magical thing! In her past life, just before she was kidnapped, Hao Yi had been desperately courting death, to the point where someone had publicly wanted to take his life. Hao Weiguo had no choice but to hire several bodyguards for him. Even if the kidnappers had wanted to make a move, they had no chance, so he had managed to escape disaster.
Thinking of the twists and turns of fate, Hao Ren suddenly felt an inappropriate urge to laugh.
Li Fugui’s parents had named their children Pingan and Fugui with good wishes, but Pingan was not at peace, and Fugui was not rich and noble. He had encountered a father who would rather his daughter die than pay the ransom when he was kidnapping, and he had only killed an innocent person when he wanted to take revenge. Li Fugui’s luck was also heaven-defying.
But in this life, it would definitely be different! Looking at the thin figure beside her, Hao Ren silently made a resolution in her heart. Your blood feud, I will avenge it for you!