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Ziya felt a wave of frustration wash over her as she hung up the phone. Without hesitation, she dialed Liang Chao's number. Zhiqing paced back and forth, her anxiety palpable. It was strange how one's sixth sense could be so unsettling, gnawing at you endlessly before a significant event, leaving you in a state of unease and endless speculation.
"Where are you?" Ziya asked urgently as soon as Liang Chao picked up.
"I'm at the tea house with some friends... uh... I'll be there soon," Liang Chao's hesitant voice raised Ziya's suspicions. Who was this friend he was with?
"What’s going on?" Zhiqing approached Ziya, noticing her troubled expression as she ended the call.
"I don’t know. He said he would be back here soon."
………………………………
At De Yi Lou Tea House, Severe Cold's deep-set eyes were fixed intently on Liang Chao, who was speaking on the phone by the window. It seemed like Liang Chao had quite a few close female friends.
"Uh, I need to get back to the clinic; there are patients waiting for me. You see..." Liang Chao stammered under Severe Cold's intense gaze, feeling pressured as if something serious was at stake. The words he uttered about lives being on the line forced him to abandon his plans for the clinic and head back to De Yi Lou Tea House instead. Just as he settled into a private room, Ziya called him, saying she was waiting for him at the clinic.
"Liang Chao, there’s a problem at your home..." Severe Cold began, but before he could finish, Liang Chao dashed out.
Severe Cold shook his head and sighed heavily. It seemed he would have to find his old friend himself. He pulled out a business card his friend had given him a year ago from his pocket. It had a phone number and an address written on it. Looking at the card made him reflect; thankfully, he had kept it safe. If it had been lost along with his phone, he wouldn't even know where to start regarding the matter entrusted to him by his comrade.
Severe Cold still remembered how he lost that phone. It all came down to that person at home who had changed completely after having a child—messy and forgetful—who let their child play with Severe Cold's phone that had been left on the bedside table, resulting in its loss. If he wasn't mistaken, he was sure that neighbor's kid had taken it; perhaps they bought it for just a few dozen bucks.
Losing the phone wasn’t the worst part; what truly pained Severe Cold was that he could no longer contact Ziya. He hadn’t wanted to memorize Liang Chao’s number back then but didn’t want to seem dismissive either. So he had jotted it down casually in a small notebook in his pocket. Little did he know that this seemingly trivial act would turn out to be incredibly helpful.
Liang Chao drove urgently toward the clinic, eager to see Ziya and inform her about Sun Meng's condition. The weather felt stifling, even with the air conditioning on, and he was restless. As he approached an intersection, a red light forced him to stop. Through the windshield, he saw a long line of cars ahead. It seemed he would have to wait for the next green light to proceed. He rolled down the window to get some fresh air, but for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a pungent odor in the car, as if something were rotting.
Liang Chao lit a cigarette and exhaled slowly, letting the smoke drift while his hand rested on the window. Suddenly, he felt a breath on his shoulder, as if someone were sighing softly behind him. Instinctively, he turned his head to look back; aside from the rear seat, there was no one there. Returning his gaze to the road, he glanced at the rearview mirror… and there it was—a flash of red and a blurry figure… YaYa?
A soft gasp escaped Liang Chao's lips as he found it strange that YaYa would be in his car. Ignoring the honking from cars behind him urging him to move, he turned around to search the interior carefully. Aside from some scattered fabric toys piled on the seat, there was no sign of YaYa. Who had he seen in the rearview mirror just now?
With questions swirling in his mind, he started the car and drove forward. The thought of YaYa brought an inexplicable pain to his heart; she had called from the hospital to tell him about her pregnancy, leaving him restless for several nights. After much coercion and persuasion, Liang Chao had spent three thousand yuan of his savings to buy out that lump of flesh growing inside YaYa.
Lost in thought, Liang Chao didn't notice that his car had veered off course until a loud honk jolted him back to reality along with a slight jolt of the vehicle. He had run a red light and nearly collided with an oncoming car. Following the traffic officer's instructions, he pulled over. The officer saluted him, checked his driver's license, ensured he hadn't been drinking, and conducted a series of routine checks. Since this was his first offense, there were no further repercussions beyond a warning.
Ziya remembered that Liang Chao wasn't always like this; although he had a rebellious streak typical of a rich kid, he wasn't inherently bad-hearted. Even in D City, his behavior hadn't shown any signs of crossing boundaries. When did things start changing for him? Was it after moving into this place?
"Zhiqing," Ziya asked thoughtfully, "do you think a person changes in different environments?"
Zhiqing held her water cup and hesitated in response to Ziya's question; she wasn't sure how to answer or what definition Ziya was referring to.
"Well, it depends on the person. There's an old saying: 'A lotus grows in mud but remains unstained.' While it's metaphorical for lotus flowers, it also applies to people. Are you thinking about Liang Chao or Sun Meng?"
"Both of them have issues. Liang Chao has never acted like this before; we were high school classmates, and I know his temperament well enough not to think he'd disregard morals like this. Is it Sun Meng's fault that he's become like this? Or is there another reason?"
"Here they come; let's not talk about it anymore." Zhiqing said as she spotted Liang Chao's car slowly approaching from behind Ziya.
Liang Chao got out of the car, nodded to the two, and opened the roll-up door, stepping inside to turn on the fan. However, Ziya, who followed closely behind, fixed her gaze on the trail of water dripping from Liang Chao's vehicle. The water left a sticky residue on the ground, reminiscent of thick rice soup.
"Liang Chao, is your car leaking oil?"
"What?" Liang Chao exclaimed, quickly stepping out of the clinic. Following Ziya's point direction, he looked in the direction she indicated and indeed saw a trail of droplets coming from where his car had been parked—one drop after another.
Zhiqing answered a phone call while Ziya and Liang Chao made their way to the front of the car. The droplets seemed to be concentrated at the rear.
"There's nothing at the back!" As they approached the parking spot, a faint odor wafted through the air, making Ziya feel nauseous.
"You... should open it up and take a look! It smells terrible," Ziya said, covering her nose as she urged Liang Chao.
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