On Sunday night, all the dormitory students rushed back to school, and the campus that had been empty during the weekend suddenly returned to a bustling scene.
Although the students who are about to be in their senior year of high school have collective make-up classes, most of them leave the school early at the wrong time to avoid occupying the same dining hall with the returning juniors. Incidentally, they also have more choices when deciding when to enjoy dinner.
People in school uniforms were walking in at the school gate, but Zhu Li stood outside the school gate, motionless. She ignored the noisy sounds of vendors around her and just stared blankly at the cell phone she had just turned on when she took it out of her pocket.
Suddenly, Zhu Li felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Why, are you stupid?" Yang Lexin said as he walked over with a sweet smile and hugged Zhu Li's shoulders affectionately. "Let's go. If you don't leave, you will have to go to self-study at night. Come on, I said before that the store that offers half price for the second cup is not far away, I’ll treat you to it~”
Since that incident, Yang Lexin has been inseparable from her.
She is obviously the most cheerful girl in the school who is loved by teachers and classmates, but sometimes she is like a dog-skin plaster stuck to her. She seems to be afraid that Zhu Li will have some problems due to depression and anxiety under the blow, so she will not leave within the scope of her ability.
Zhu Li understood this extremely deliberate concern. But from her own point of view, Zhu Li actually prefers to be alone and not cause trouble to her friends and make her worry in vain.
Zhu Li nodded, but still hesitantly explained: "I won't have evening self-study today...don't worry about me. Le Xin, during the day, didn't you say there would be piano lessons tonight?"
"Why don't you study in the evening?" Yang Lexin was obviously more concerned about the first question. His arms around Zhu Li tightened a little, and his expression was stagnant, as if he was quite nervous.
"My mother is in better condition today." Zhu Li lowered her head and said softly, "I'm going to see her today and stay with her in bed. I also said hello to Teacher Liu... If nothing else happens, I can pick her up tomorrow. she's back."
Yang Lexin was very surprised, and looked even happier than Zhu Li herself: "That's great! Remember to say hello to auntie for me. Then we should go to the milk tea shop, and buy some for auntie to take with her. I have The members there, they push me messages all day long, saying that there is a new hot drink with brown sugar..."
Until he was dragged to the milk tea shop and waited for Yang Lexin to pay according to his own taste, Zhu Li didn't realize what happened. He just felt helpless carrying a bag containing two cups of milk tea and sat in the milk tea shop. Sitting on the chair closest to the outside, I looked around at the lively flow of people around me.
Yang Lexin specially asked the clerk for the cup holder for the milk tea. He said that it would be more convenient to hold it when he was rushing to the hospital, and he could just drink it with his aunt.
"I'm going to the piano room for lessons, please be careful on the road!" Yang Lexin waved to her at the door of the store, his face flushed, but his hands empty.
Sure enough, Yang Lexin didn't buy milk tea. After all, it was for herself.
Zhu Li thought, looking down at the bag in her hand.
Five-twenty-five is the usual time for school to end, and today is the back-to-school day. The senior high school students only have to make up classes in the afternoon, so the teacher showed great mercy and announced the end of get out of class at five-fifteen, and no one was expected to drop out of class. Due to the situation, it is a bit too early to make an appointment for a visit at 6:30. The mother should be getting ready to start dinner now.
She looked down at her watch. It was only five thirty-seven. So now I still have time to go home, put my schoolbag away and set off again.
It's still early.
Zhu Li pursed her lips. She didn't want her early arrival to cause trouble to others, and she wasn't used to staying alone in too noisy places.
The most popular brainwashing song was playing at the entrance of the milk tea shop. The music was screaming non-stop. It was a rhythm that made the crowds of people queuing up dance.
People queuing up to buy milk tea were not only students from Nanfeng Middle School, but also young couples from nearby universities who came out for a date, making noisy noises. The streets in this area are a little crowded, but there are a wide variety of shops, which is a good alternative for young people who don't want to go far to the city center for shopping.
She figured out where to go and walked towards home. When she finally left the noise and bustle behind, Zhu Li felt relieved.
Next to the sidewalk, the gray brick wall is as gloomy as ever, as if it has been covered with a layer of powder. It is not smooth and has a boring color. Only the small advertisements posted were brighter in color, but they were torn apart one by one, as if they were trying to meet a rigid quantitative target - but they couldn't be torn cleanly, leaving behind a sticky remains of paper mixed with glue.
If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder and watch it, your head will be as big as a bucket.
Zhu Li turned a blind eye, carrying the bag of milk tea and carrying her schoolbag, and walked quickly around the corner of the street.
It’s 5:44, still some distance from home.
She looked at the road ahead, feeling a little sad.
Obviously, the location of Mingming's home is not far or close to the school, but it has to cross several roads where cars come and go, and the paths for people walking on the roads are really not decent. It's funny to say that there must be some problems with the city's planning here. People can shuttle through the small roads and walk to this less lively place. On the contrary, it is difficult for vehicles to pass and they need to go around a big road. It can be reached directly by the circle road.
Because of this, residents’ vehicles even have to park in parking spaces a few streets away.
This is one of the reasons why Zhu Youjun didn't buy a car even though he had collected enough money. Another reason was the main reason. He had always wanted to have his own car at home, but considering that his daughter had excellent grades and was about to enter her senior year of high school, if her grades in any subject were suddenly weak, she could still use the money to make up for classes.
The teacher said that the situation of senior high school students is ever-changing. If you improve one point, you can hope to go to a better university, which means a better life.
He had been full of expectations.
Zhu Li never told a lie about this matter, and Zhu Youjun really treated her as his own daughter.
They are a family that is not related by blood.
At this moment, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted because the phone she had placed in her pocket suddenly vibrated.
Because her hospitalized mother didn’t have many people to take care of her, and she had to go to class, she always kept her mobile phone vibrating silently. If she had any questions, she could take them out at any time and know immediately. Because of her worry, she had developed a conditioned reflex to take out her phone and turned on the screen the next second there was movement on her phone.
First came the number. She scanned the string of numbers, feeling a little strange and familiar at the same time, but she was definitely not the number of a doctor, nurse, or caregiver.
With more doubts, she saw the content of the text message, and her pupils suddenly shrank as a few words came into view.
[Someone wants to kill you, hide]
She didn't even understand what it meant for a moment, and looked around confused. There was no one around her in her field of vision, and she was certain of this fact.
Is it... a prank?
Then she saw the signature at the signature after this line of writing.
【——Capsule】
... She knew the name, and at that moment, she gave up her suspicion that someone was playing a trick on her.
Capsules are trustworthy people. Although she didn't know why this kind of unreasonable trust appeared, it was clear that a week ago, this was just a name that had nothing to do with her.
But if this news is true...
what to do? Looking for someone... to help?
hide?
In this alleyway with unobstructed views, where should she hide?
The sound of cooking in nearby residential buildings could be vaguely heard, and even the birds standing on the wall could make a sound when they landed. There was no one around.
Not to mention where she was hiding, she didn't even notice where the danger was.
Thinking of this, she suddenly realized something.
Zhu Li turned around, held her breath, and looked in the direction she came from.
Her behavior was completely outside of her original plan. If someone wanted to ambush her, it would have to be on her way home. But if that's the case, how could a third person know about it?
Then there is only one possibility left: someone is following her, and "Capsule" discovered this fact, so she got the hint.
She looked steadily at the direction she came from, the empty corner in her sight, and slowly took a few steps back.
Instinctive fear and desire to explore coexist at this time.
But whether it was just now or now, there was no strange sound. Zhu Li's current actions are quite unusual. If a passerby were present, they might think that this is a weirdo who makes trouble out of nothing.
Zhu Li is not a weirdo.
She was just thinking about her father—the father who was not her own but better than her own—Zhu Youjun.
What was my father thinking about before he died? Is he afraid?
What would be the reason for killing him?
He was strangled. She vaguely remembered that the policeman who left her phone number regretfully told her the cause of her father's death. The first moment she saw the corpse, she didn't think of so much. At that time, her mind was filled with the broken future and broken home, and she didn't have time to think about it until later.
There are many things to recall, such as who killed him and why he was killed.
People's curiosity is not eternal. People who are curious will suppress their curiosity due to fear or choice, while people who are not curious will also ignite this dangerous flame because of some surging emotions.
At this moment, she couldn't help but imagine that the person who killed her father was the person who said in this text message that he was going to kill her?
Phone...yes, phone!
Zhu Li suddenly remembered the number stored on her mobile phone, the police officer named Liang. Her nervous mind couldn't help her think too much, and there was no room for rationality. She quickly opened her phone again and found the call records.
But before she could dial out the phone and her fingers rested on the button, she caught a flash of black around the corner from the corner of her eye, and her expression tightened.
A figure wearing a camouflage windbreaker walked out, walking briskly, holding a mobile phone in his hand and looking at it while looking at it. He seemed to be extremely focused on it. The mobile phone in his hand was still connected to the earphone plug, just like a passerby passing by. Too many redundant suspicious actions.
The only difference may be that this person wears a hood on his head, with the front material pulled down very low. He seems to be a very autistic passerby who doesn't want to expose his face.
Zhu Li didn't notice anything strange, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
Maybe the dangerous person hasn't acted rashly yet.
Although she was still staring at the passerby, she was already thinking about how to explain what she had encountered to the police officer named Liang.
Even after taking a few steps back, the distance between Zhu Li and the corner was only about 20 meters. I don't know since when, the pace of passers-by seemed to have accelerated a lot.
Zhu Li also noticed something strange. She raised her head again in confusion and saw the passerby getting closer and closer.
At this moment she saw a pair of amber eyes.
The moment she saw the look in the eyes of this seemingly harmless passerby, she inevitably felt the aura of crisis, and couldn't help but continue to retreat, almost wanting to turn around and run away. At the same time, she pressed the button to make a call.
At the same time, a brisk ringing sounded in the distance.
"Good evening, little classmate, do you need any help again?"
Along with the ringing of the bell, such words rang not far away.
