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On that day, the scorching sun blazed fiercely, glaring down at the ground as if it wanted to peel off a layer of living skin. She stood under a sunshade at the platform outside the office building, waiting for Mi LIangbao to come over so they could go eat Korean Beef together. Less than half a meter to her right was a sidewalk.
At that moment, there were few pedestrians. When the green light turned on, a stylish young woman came running from the other end of the sidewalk. She was confident, healthy, and full of vitality. Perhaps pressed for time, she jogged, swinging her left arm while her right arm was held against her abdomen. As she ran, she stumbled slightly; even though there was no one across the street, she still paused to look up before lowering her head again, awkwardly catching up for a moment before glancing at the air next to Ke Li with a smile that seemed to express an apology to no one in particular.
After the young woman had left for some time, Mi LIangbao got off the bus and rubbed her upper arm with a big hand. "Did you wait long?" she finally snapped back to reality.
It was Saturday evening around eight o'clock when she took the subway home after work. During peak hours, every station was crowded. She pulled herself out from between people, gripping the handrail of the escalator to steady herself. Her bag formed a safety barrier between her chest and the back of a man in a striped shirt with a faux leather belt in front of her. At the same time, she squeezed her buttocks tightly to avoid any misunderstanding of sexual harassment from the young man behind her as she breathed in the mixed odors of various body scents in the cramped space.
Two steps up on her left side, there was a backpack stuck in mid-air, unable to go up or down. She was immediately drawn to it; both were deep green and about the same size, with a large monkey plush toy hanging from one side that had already turned yellow with age.
If she guessed correctly, this plush toy was sold with the bag. Over time it became unclean and ugly, yet Nanfeng refused to throw it away. She had a habit of maintaining items in their original condition. If she lost the original data cable that came with her new phone, no matter how expensive a replacement she bought, it would never fill that sense of incompleteness; if the bronze-colored zipper on her clothes broke and was replaced with a silver one, she felt those clothes were no longer good; she wiped her table every day to ensure it remained spotless like when she first bought it; if she accidentally creased a corner of a new book, she'd be upset for half a day.
So even though this plush toy had turned yellow from washing, she didn't want to take it off.
She noticed that this backpack had double zippers; the pull tab on the left zipper was missing while a tiny brass lock hung from the hole at the end of the right zipper—exactly like Nanfeng's backpack. The brass lock on Nanfeng's bag was one she had bought for her; originally part of a friendship bracelet, she held a key while Nanfeng held a lock—only her key could open Nanfeng's lock. However, after an accident where the chain around her neck broke, Nanfeng felt uncomfortable for quite some time. To avoid losing the lock body, she casually hung it on her backpack zipper and it had remained there ever since.
She touched the key against her chest through her clothes and stared at that backpack. She really wanted to insert the key into the lock hole and see if it would open, but as soon as they reached the top of the escalator, that backpack vanished in an instant.
During lunch break, she ate at a Western restaurant downstairs. The restaurant was extremely quiet except for occasional sounds of metal cutlery clinking against plates. When the waiter brought over her Italian-style set meal, she said "thank you," and he replied "you're welcome." Then one hand placed the plate in front of her; on that wrist was an old black digital watch. She suddenly jolted in surprise and looked up to see an unfamiliar male face smiling at her—a smile reminiscent of Nanfeng's shy and nervous yet unique expression.
Soon after, amidst the bustling office area, she clearly heard that familiar bell sound again and spotted someone wearing a similar fisherman hat above the heads of passersby as she walked against the flow on the pedestrian street.
" Lihua."
That voice finally rang out once more.
She looked up and saw Nanfeng standing by a decorative lamp post with long hair cascading down and wearing a bright light yellow long dress. Her brows were gentle and her belly flat as she smiled at her.
She let out a long breath; it wasn't an illusion— Nanfeng had truly returned.
Ke Li hadn't included anyone else in this matter—not even Mi LIangbao —so these uninformed bystanders would only speculate about her mental state.
Nanfeng said she wanted to go back home for a visit. Ke Li immediately took annual leave and bought two tickets for tomorrow's high-speed train after packing their bags. An hour before departure, they met at the train station.
Nanfeng had left home at thirteen years old and it had been eleven years since then. They reconnected five years after her departure when Ke Li got into university and only saw each other again last year.
The reason for Nanfeng leaving home wasn't due to changes in her parents' jobs or improved family finances leading them to move to a big city; rather, her family fell apart due to her father's infidelity being exposed while her mother was pregnant with her. She was raised solely by her mother who ensured that living in a single-parent family didn't leave any emotional scars on her. In fact, she turned out healthier, kinder, more resilient, and braver than many children from supposedly complete families.
Such an excellent Wei Nanfeng had to leave home because of one incident that forced her into exile for life with an accompanying urine bag.
At thirteen years old, Nanfeng was stabbed multiple times in the abdomen by male classmates with an X-Acto knife during heavy rain. The alley where they attacked was remote and seldom traveled by people; by the time someone found Nanfeng lying in water barely alive, nearly five hours had passed.
After being rushed to the hospital, Nanfeng crossed life-and-death lines several times; multiple critical condition notices were issued one after another as her mother went from hope to despair repeatedly. Fortunately, Nanfeng survived in the end but lost bladder function and needed an external bag for urination—thus losing both dignity and confidence.
This experience of the Grim Reaper lingering by her daughter's bedside left her mother feeling extremely anxious. Those children had immunity from punishment; they were not to be provoked, so she could only keep her distance.
"Suddenly, you just disappeared. I first went to your house looking for you, but no one was home for several days. Then I asked all our classmates, and they all said they didn't know anything. I felt something was wrong, but my parents, our homeroom teacher, and other adults told me not to meddle and to focus on my studies. It was only later that I found out you had been stabbed, but by then you had already moved away and changed your contact information. I couldn't reach you, so I started asking around about who the bastard was that hurt you. Someone mentioned that on the day you collapsed in that alley, someone saw a student from Class 3 in a Lu Zhang uniform running out in a panic with blood on it. It took several hours before anyone found you. So I..."
"So you went online and bought a plastic retractable knife, and when class was over and everyone was relaxing in the hallway, you rushed up and stabbed someone in the stomach with it, scaring them nearly to the ground. Then you pretended to threaten them, saying, 'Just wait! Even if the police can't do anything about it, I will make sure you won't have an easy time of it!' Right?"
Nanfeng teased her, laughing before ruffling her hair.
"Thanks."
Ke Li brushed her hand away. "Cut it out; you're giving me goosebumps." She shivered slightly and pulled out a mint candy to offer Nanfeng, who shook his head and declined.
"I can't eat that."
She tore open the wrapper and popped the candy into her mouth. "You keep saying the person who hurt you wasn't him; then who was it? I've asked you countless times, but you refuse to say. Why? Did you sign a confidentiality agreement? Oh! Could it be that they pressured you and your mom into silence with medical fees..."
Nanfeng flicked her forehead lightly. "Reign in your wild imagination. I brought you back this time to tell you the truth."
Ke Li nodded, her gaze falling on Nanfeng's slim waist as she murmured, "That's good; no need to carry that broken thing anymore."
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