Qing Ye was completely fed up with these two idiots. They went to ask for money and didn’t know how to run when they saw the crowd. Instead, they stubbornly continued demanding payment. While these people wouldn’t hit women, a weakling like Liu Nian was bound to get beaten up.
Liu Nian spoke hurriedly on the phone, saying that Du Qiyan had gone upstairs with that group and hadn’t come down yet. He didn’t dare leave first or go up himself. He couldn’t reach Wu Ge on the phone and asked if Qing Ye could quickly find a way to contact Xing Wu, worried that something might happen to Du Qiyan up there.
While heading downstairs, Qing Ye asked him, “How many people are there?”
Liu Nian stammered, “Probably… probably five or six.”
“Give me the address. I’ll go find Xing Wu.”
After hanging up, Qing Ye had already rushed out of Xuan Island, locked the door, and headed straight for the main road. After eight o’clock, there were fewer and fewer people on the streets. The street lights flickered intermittently, and the evening wind carried a hint of coolness.
At the corner of the street, two three-wheeled vehicles were parked outside a small shop, with a group of people playing cards around a low table nearby.
Qing Ye reluctantly approached and asked, “Are you available?”
Several middle-aged men stared at her, and one with arched eyebrows asked, “Where to?”
Qing Ye said Electronic Street, and the man impatiently looked at his cards: “Electronic Street is already closed. Why are you heading there at this hour?”
Seeing that he wouldn’t even move, Qing Ye pulled out 50 yuan and tossed it onto the card table: “Are you going or not?”
The middle-aged man glanced at the money, slowly reached into his pocket, and stood up to walk toward the three-wheeler. Qing Ye climbed on without a word.
The middle-aged man took the back roads, occasionally glancing at Qing Ye in the rearview mirror.
Qing Ye watched him warily while taking out her phone to call Xing Wu. His phone was connected but no one answered. The middle-aged man in the front seat stared at her again, suddenly turning into an unfamiliar alley. Qing Ye pretended to speak into her phone: “I’m in the car now, coming from Zhazha Pavilion.”
She glanced at the roadside and deliberately raised her voice: “Now I’m near the post office. Just wait for me by the road.”
The middle-aged man soon drove the three-wheeler back to the main road, and Qing Ye felt slightly relieved.
After more than ten minutes, the three-wheeler stopped in front of Shun Yi. As soon as Qing Ye got off, the vehicle drove away. At this hour, the entire street was empty except for a few broken bicycles and plastic bags fluttering along the roadside.
Shun Yi’s rolling door was tightly shut, showing no signs of occupancy. Qing Ye uncertainly walked up and knocked, but there was no response from inside. The door was locked and she couldn’t see any light inside.
She looked around and began pounding on the door with her fist. The rolling door made a series of “clack-clack-clack” sounds. After a few minutes, a small door suddenly opened in the neighboring shop, and a man poked his head out to look at her, asking, “Who are you looking for?”
Qing Ye turned her head and found this man somewhat familiar, seemingly one of those playing cards with them when she last came to find Xing Wu. She remembered them calling him Da Hei.
She said, “I’m looking for Xing Wu. Is he at Shun Yi?”
Da Hei walked out of the small door, recognizing Qing Ye, and scratched his head: “Looking for Wu Ge? He’s not here. Do you need something urgent?”
“Yes, it’s urgent. I can’t reach him by phone. Do you know where he is?”
Da Hei pulled out a set of keys while wearing slippers: “Then I’ll take you to him.”
With that, Da Hei locked the door and turned toward the alley behind. Qing Ye stood at the entrance without moving. Da Hei looked back at her and smiled, “Come on, you’re Wu Ge’s friend. I wouldn’t dare harm you. Wu Ge would kill me.”
Qing Ye gripped her phone and followed. The alley was littered with cardboard boxes and garbage everywhere, along with dirty oil drums emitting an unpleasant, pungent smell. Qing Ye maintained a constant distance behind Da Hei.
Through the alley was a small residential complex’s back door, seemingly an open-style old community from the 1990s. Several elderly men and women sat on small stools chatting at the entrance. After she and Da Hei entered the complex, she found it quite large and filled with all sorts of people. After winding around for about ten minutes, they reached a bicycle and electric bike shelter.
Da Hei walked directly to a ground-floor courtyard opposite the shelter. Through the yard, they could see lights on in the living room. Da Hei stepped onto the gate’s edge and called out, “Wu Ge!”
Qing Ye stood behind him, looking around, unsure of where exactly they were, but suddenly spotted Xing Wu’s Little Angel parked nearby.
Soon the door opened, and a young woman walked out. She first peered out, seemingly recognizing Da Hei, and directly came to open the gate.
Qing Ye then realized she had seen this woman before – the hot girl who had come to Xuan Island with Xing Wu last time, standing at the door smoking.
However, she was now wearing a nightgown, her hair wet, obviously having just showered. Even from several steps away, Qing Ye could smell the alluring bath fragrance on her, and see the half-visible colored fox tattoo on her thigh, exuding a kind of deadly enchantment.
Da Hei beside her said, “Sister Shu, this girl is looking for Wu Ge, says it’s urgent.”
This Sister Shu turned her head to glance at Qing Ye. Though she didn’t speak, Qing Ye could sense something unusual in her examining gaze. Qing Ye met her eyes and calmly asked, “Is Xing Wu here?”
Shu Han turned around and flatly said, “Come in.”
Da Hei waved at Qing Ye, who stepped into the yard. Though small, it was kept quite comfortable, with a self-built small shelter and a pair of stone stools for tea drinking.
As soon as Shu Han entered, Quan Ya asked, “Who is it?”
She looked at Xing Wu and said, “A girl is here to see you.”
Xing Wu was playing League of Legends with Quan Ya, each on their computer. Hearing this, he turned around and saw Qing Ye standing at the doorway, having just walked in from the courtyard.
Qing Ye scanned the room, her gaze finally landing on Xing Wu. He wore a black fitted tank top with loose gray shorts. Qing Ye felt a flash of surprise – at home, she always saw Xing Wu completely covered in long pants, never dressed so casually.
Seeing Qing Ye come to find him, especially at this hour, Xing Wu also asked in surprise, “How did you get here?”
However, Qing Ye’s first words were: “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
That expression, that tone, that look, carried strong dissatisfaction and barely noticeable anger, like a legitimate girlfriend righteously questioning her boyfriend, making everyone around feel… awkward.
Shu Han leaned to one side, eyeing this young girl, then cast an inquiring look at Xing Wu.
Xing Wu stood up and looked at Shu Han: “Is my phone charged?”
Shu Han straightened up and walked toward the room: “Let me check, it should be about done.”
Qing Ye’s eyes followed this woman to the room. When she opened the door, Qing Ye saw it was a woman’s room, presumably hers, which meant… this was her home.
She withdrew her gaze and said to Xing Wu: “Liu Nian was beaten up. We don’t know how Du Qiyan is doing now. She was taken upstairs by that widow – I mean her ex-boyfriend. They have about five or six people there.”
“What?” Xing Wu frowned, picking up his long pants and putting them on while asking Qing Ye: “Where are they?”
“Target Factory District 2, do you know it?”
Xing Wu paused, exchanging a look with Quan Ya, who threw down his mouse and also stood up. Shu Han came out just then and handed the phone to Xing Wu, who casually took it and stuffed it in his pants pocket, saying to Quan Ya: “Call some people.”
“I’ll come with you,” Da Hei said at the door.
As they were heading out, Shu Han called to Xing Wu: “Wu Zi, want me to go say hello?”
Xing Wu looked at Qing Ye standing beside him. Qing Ye turned her head away and walked toward the yard, hearing Xing Wu say behind her: “Let me go check out the situation first.”
Then he walked out of the yard and started up his Little Angel. Shu Han walked to the gate, while Qing Ye stood by the bike shelter across the yard. Xing Wu rode over and said to Shu Han: “It’s probably nothing big, don’t worry about it.”
Then he turned to Qing Ye: “Get on.”
Shu Han’s eyes shifted slightly, landing on Qing Ye across the way. Qing Ye also turned to meet her gaze. Though neither spoke a word, their eyes held a silent contest.
Qing Ye calmly withdrew her gaze, swung onto Xing Wu’s motorcycle, and held his waist. Shu Han’s eyes swept to Xing Wu’s waist, then glanced at his profile. He seemed to have no reaction and quickly rode away, the motorcycle disappearing around the corner of the complex.
On the way, Qing Ye made two more calls to Liu Nian, confirming his location and asking about the situation there. Liu Nian said Du Qiyan hadn’t come down yet and wasn’t responding to messages.
Xing Wu had originally told Qing Ye to go back, but she was worried about Du Qiyan and decided to go along to check.
When they reached the Target Factory entrance, several motorcycles were already parked there, with about five or six men waiting. They didn’t look like students, appearing to be in their twenties, and nodded to Xing Wu. Qing Ye didn’t recognize any of them.
She said, “I thought you’d call Huang Mao and the others.”
“They’re students. The less they get involved in these social matters, the better.”
“What about you?”
“I’m different.”
Qing Ye grabbed the fabric at his waist: “How are you different?”
Xing Wu turned his head, his sharp features showing no warmth: “I don’t expect to have a future.”
Qing Ye lowered her gaze to look at her and Xing Wu’s shadows by the wheel, the light in her eyes stirred by his words. She had once read in a book that when a person continuously faces setbacks, surrounded by people yet with no one to help them up, when the last hope turns into helplessness and light is devoured by darkness, they stop expecting a future.
Xing Wu called out to the group: “They’re in District 2, let’s go directly.”
Only then did Qing Ye see that the Target Factory was a factory – a plastics factory. This area was full of old, dilapidated buildings, pitch black at night, giving the impression of an abandoned factory.
The group rode to District 2, and from far away they could see Liu Nian foolishly standing by an electric pole. Xing Wu rode directly toward him, and only after getting off did Qing Ye see Liu Nian’s miserable face. His already small eyes had the left side completely swollen, unbearable to look at.
Liu Nian pointed upstairs and said: “They went to the fourth floor.”
Xing Wu led the people up without another word. Liu Nian nervously wrung his hands, while Qing Ye looked up at this dangerous building marked with a large “demolish” character. Only a few households still had lights on. She withdrew her gaze and followed them up, with Liu Nian anxiously calling out: “Qing Ye, don’t go!”
She turned back to give Liu Nian a look, her figure already disappearing into the building.