Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
It was yet another ordinary night, and the big city was once again illuminated by colorful neon lights. A passenger plane took off from a distance, its flashing lights twinkling in the night sky, appearing and disappearing.
Planes always managed to draw the curious gazes of a few children looking up at the stars. Among the crowd on the street, a little boy lifted his face.
"Son, when we reach the intersection, pay attention to the traffic lights," his father gently murmured as he held the boy's hand.
"Oh," the little boy obediently turned his eyes toward the traffic lights across the street.
"What kind of light is that?" The father tenderly ruffled the boy's short hair.
"That is... red..."
"Crash!"
Not just the little boy, but all pedestrians on both sides of the street screamed in shock. A Bugatti that had come around the corner was struck head-on by an accelerating SUV. The SUV appeared to be fine; its driver even squeezed out from the airbag and staggered a bit before regaining balance.
In people's minds, if a regular SUV was unharmed, surely the owner of the Bugatti would be fine too. However, as they gathered closer, they realized that the SUV had collided from the side, right where the driver's seat was!
People waited for a long time, but this luxury car owner could no longer get out...
On the same day, at nine-thirty in the evening
Ming Juan glanced at the alarm clock on her desk, estimating that their evening study session was about to end. She put down her pen, closed her book, and stretched lazily against her chair.
The school required first and second-year students to attend evening study sessions; everyone had to participate. However, Ming Juan had applied to study in her dormitory. Considering her status, her counselor agreed to her request. Thus, every night from six to nine, Ming Juan could only stay alone in her dormitory.
She didn't like to turn on too many lights. On the first day, at Yu Feiyao's insistence, she reluctantly turned on all three main lights in her dormitory. After that, it was two lights, then one light; today was particularly exaggerated—Ming Juan only turned on a desk lamp and studied for three hours.
Ming Juan approached her bed and took out half-finished knitting from under her pillow. Under the dim light, she continued threading yarn.
"I hope Fei likes it," Ming Juan said as she examined both sides of the sweater, her brows slowly furrowing.
Now, Yu Feiyao was Ming Juan's only source of emotional support.
Last month’s incident left Ming Juan feeling guilty toward Yu Feiyao. Ming Juan never got angry, but that day she had "changed her tone; it was really scary; I almost cried."
Those were Yu Feiyao's exact words later on.
Ming Juan didn't want to create a rift with her only friend over this matter; Yu Feiyao was willing to stay by her side. If they fell out... Ming Juan didn't want to spend her next four years feeling isolated.
To dispel such worries, Ming Juan decided to follow her mother's advice: every night after Yu Feiyao fell asleep, she would take up her needle and hide in the bathroom to knit a sweater for her good friend.
Without the burden of being a young lady, Ming Juan felt she could do anything.
Although this thought made Ming Juan feel like an ungrateful person.
Just half a month ago, due to the Wang family's instigation, the government had intervened and announced the dissolution of eighty-five percent of the Ming Family's conglomerate companies, transferring those assets into state ownership.
This news brought great joy to people across the nation. This was a powerful family that had oppressed citizens for two hundred years; now they finally faced their deserved downfall. The government's actions served as a warning to all remaining corrupt officials and responded to public criticism. Moreover, not completely dissolving everything considered some innocent individuals' livelihoods and left them a path for redemption and revival.
The Ming Family, with fifteen percent of the conglomerate, has assets that are not a small figure for many ordinary businesses. So when Ming Juan heard this news, she let out a sigh of relief—thankful that the country was still willing to give her family a chance.
However, upon hearing that many of her relatives were going to be sentenced, especially her father, the supreme leader of the Ming Family, she could only sigh quietly. This was their own doing; as a younger generation, all she felt was sadness.
The needle continued to weave through the yarn, and Ming Juan's nimble fingers had indeed inherited her mother's talent, quickly completing another round.
Buzzing... buzzing... buzzing...
The phone on the table suddenly received many messages for some reason, interrupting Ming Juan's thoughts. She stopped her needlework and looked at the screen lit up under the light.
"So many messages..." Ming Juan wondered. It turned out to be the family group chat; her relatives must have received some news and were chattering away.
"I'm back!"
"Uh?!"
Ming Juan jumped in surprise, leaping from her chair and accidentally poking her finger on the needle.
"Ah haha, it's raining outside, so heavy." Yu Feiyao shook her wet hair like a giant dog at the door, splattering water everywhere. "I rushed back!"
Ming Juan thought that seeing her only using a desk lamp would surely prompt Yu Feiyao to lecture her.
A sharp pain began to throb in her fingertip. Looking down, Ming Juan realized she had pricked her finger and it was bleeding.
"Ouch?" Yu Feiyao closed the door and surprisingly didn’t mention anything about Ming Juan not turning on more lights but instead stared at the sweater on her lap. "You can knit? You're so skilled."
"Um... yeah." Ming Juan quietly covered her injured finger.
"Good thing my backpack is waterproof." Yu Feiyao set down her soaked bag and raised an eyebrow at Ming Juan. "Are you knitting that as a... token of love for Miao Chengmin?"
"Hey, you!" Ming Juan pouted and immediately lowered her head.
"Wow—" Yu Feiyao moved a chair next to her. "When are you going to ask him out or something? Hmm?"
Ming Juan refused to answer that topic.
"Look at him, he's all muscles! And he's pure-hearted like you said! Like 24K..."
"Alright, enough! Go take a shower! Your clothes are sticking to you; be careful not to catch a cold!" Ming Juan deliberately leaned back a bit and shot Yu Feiyao an eye roll.
"Pfft." Yu Feiyao made a face of disdain. "Boring."
Standing up, Yu Feiyao couldn't help but glance back one last time to confirm that Ming Juan hadn’t picked up her phone before taking her prepared toiletries and pajamas into the bathroom.
In fact, Yu Feiyao hoped that Ming Juan would never pick up her phone again in this lifetime.
In the bathroom, after removing the last bit of coverage, Yu Feiyao couldn’t resist checking her phone again.
"Upon investigation, this car accident..."
Yu Feiyao quickly turned down the volume of her phone and anxiously glanced at the window by the door.
"Confirmed dead on site; no signs of life... related to one of the eight major wealthy families in the country, the Ming Family."
Yu Feiyao could no longer bear to look. She silently turned on the faucet, letting the water wash away her fatigue, along with the last sigh she had let out.
After more than ten minutes, Yu Feiyao dried herself off and wrapped herself in a bathrobe before opening the bathroom door.
"Darling, I'm all clean now."
There was no response.
A sudden feeling of unease washed over Yu Feiyao. She continued to feign playfulness and called out sweetly, "Darling, are you ready to admire my beautiful figure?"
Still no response.
Yu Feiyao's heart sank instantly. She rushed out, only to find the dormitory empty; the door to the adjacent room was slightly ajar.
"Ming Juan!" Yu Feiyao exclaimed in shock, staring at the doorway.
It was clear that Ming Juan must have known about her mother's tragic news. As she quietly slipped out, she had even turned on the nearest bright light to the bathroom.
"Oh my ancestors!" Yu Feiyao quickly stripped off her bathrobe and ran to her wardrobe, needing to change clothes before heading out.
It was nearly ten o'clock by now, and there were hardly any people left on campus; only a few stragglers were wandering back to their dorms. The only exception was Ming Juan, who had pulled up the black hood of her sweatshirt, zipping it all the way up so that her face was hidden inside. With her hands stuffed in her pockets, she walked briskly toward the lake.
Some observant students glanced back at this girl who seemed to blend into the night, noticing her shoulders shaking violently and hearing muffled sniffles and gasps coming from beneath her hood.
As she moved further away from the living area and encountered fewer people on the path, Ming Juan's emotions finally erupted.
At that moment, Ming Juan resembled a forlorn ghost as she reached the steps by the school lake, her whole being slumped over as she stared into the water and screamed, tears streaming down her face.
Rather than crying uncontrollably, it felt more like she was questioning or seeking justice.
Yet often, people can only move themselves emotionally while others merely watch in amusement.
"Mom—"
Ming Juan completely shed her elegant demeanor as a young lady; she buried her face in her hands and let out a chilling wail that echoed like a mountain spirit's cry from afar.
"You made me into a monster..."
Ming Juan didn't want to think about how far she still was from the lake's edge; covering her face, everything around her was pitch black as she took step after step toward the water...
One step after another... perhaps with the next step would come a dizzying spin, a bone-chilling coldness, or when she opened her eyes underwater, seeing the faint glow of streetlights...
"What can I do?" Ming Juan thought to herself. "What kind of wealthy young lady am I? I'm just a gift for the King of Hell."
"Ming Juan!"
"Ming Juan—"
It seemed like someone was calling her name—was it an illusion? Perhaps.
"Juan'er!"
The voice of Yu Feiyao suddenly came from the distant autumn leaves forest, and Ming Juan opened her eyes wide, realizing that she was just one step away from ending it all.
"What do I have to hold on to?"
Looking at the rippling surface of the lake, Ming Juan swallowed hard and stepped forward...
"You!"
As a man's voice suddenly rang in her ears, Ming Juan felt someone tightly embrace her waist. She was already half over the lake when Miao Chengmin turned around gently, pulling Ming Juan back from the brink of death.
Back on the steps, Ming Juan stared blankly at Miao Chengmin, whose face was flushed with urgency. His chest rose and fell rapidly in front of her as he looked into her eyes. Initially filled with anger, his expression shattered into helplessness and comfort when he saw Ming Juan's tear-streaked face and disheveled hair.
In Miao Chengmin's gaze, there was only resignation and consolation as he held the crying young lady in his arms. Fortunately, Yu Feiyao had called out in time; Li Tao had brought Yu Feiyao and four roommates to stand silently behind them.
Yu Feiyao breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that Li Tao's dormitory had a track team captain who could run fast; otherwise, the Ming Family would have faced a huge scandal with two lives lost.
"Let go of me!" Ming Juan screamed, pushing against Miao Chengmin with all her might. But Miao Chengmin dared not release her until she became frantic and bit him; he silently endured it, lowering his head to look at her without saying a word.
"This young lady has had it rough," Li Tao remarked, watching Ming Juan struggle fiercely in Miao Chengmin's embrace.
"Sigh..." Yu Feiyao wiped away her tears and sniffed, "Such a good girl forced into this situation; everyone is at fault."
Miao Chengmin's roommates fell silent.
"Is anyone else here?" Miao Chengmin asked while enduring Ming Juan's frantic bites and punches, keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings.
"We should take her away from here," the Dormitory Leader said. "Everyone present must not speak of this; we cannot put any more pressure on Miss Ming. Yu Feiyao, we will keep our promise from Room 305."
Yu Feiyao clasped her hands together and bowed gratefully.
"Shall we go?" Miao Chengmin gently asked as Ming Juan finally released her bite.
Ming Juan twisted her mouth, looking up at Miao Chengmin with trembling eyes full of despair.
"Don't cry anymore; if you keep crying, it won't look good," Miao Chengmin encouraged himself as he reached out to gently wipe away Ming Juan's tears.
Expecting Ming Juan to flinch away, she instead remained still, allowing him to caress her face without blinking. After he withdrew his hand, Ming Juan looked down at the torn fabric on his chest where she had bitten him, noticing the red stain that intermittently appeared beneath the cloth.
Suddenly silent, Ming Juan obediently nestled into Miao Chengmin's embrace. Seeing that she had calmed down, Miao Chengmin called for Yu Feiyao to support her while he hid behind his roommates, covering the spot where Ming Juan had bitten him and gasping for breath repeatedly.
Comment 0 Comment Count