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墨書 Inktalez
It seemed that I had shown enough awareness, as Brother Feng nodded in satisfaction and said, "You should know that this place is under my protection. You seem to be quite sensible. If you don't make a move, I'll let you leave our KV without a hitch. But if you dare to act up or shout, I'll break a leg of yours. Do you understand?"
I smiled at Brother Feng and replied, "I definitely won't move. If I do, I’d be a fool."
As soon as I finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter. Xu Man joined in, laughing as if she were looking at a fool.
At that moment, Brother Feng had already stepped in front of Zhao Mingkun, reaching out to touch Zhao Mingkun's face while saying, "But tell me, how much can a reporter earn in a month? Why not come work for us at KV? Let me see if your skin is as smooth as it looks."
The people around continued to laugh, seemingly unaware of anything else to do but laugh.
However, the next moment, their laughter ceased abruptly. Zhao Mingkun had kicked Brother Feng away with one swift motion. Brother Feng did not expect Zhao Mingkun to be so wild; caught off guard, he was sent crashing onto the Tea Table with a heavy thud.
The Tea Table was surprisingly sturdy. After the loud crash, it remained unscathed while Brother Feng lay on the ground, struggling to get back up.
Laughter faded into silence; no one could find humor in the situation anymore.
"Get him!" Brother Feng shouted. "What are you all waiting for? Go and beat that bastard!"
At this point, everyone finally reacted and rushed forward, trying to grab Zhao Mingkun. Yet Zhao Mingkun remained seated without moving an inch. The first person attempted to pull Zhao Mingkun up but found his hand frozen in mid-air, unable to descend.
The crowd behind him pressed forward in confusion, but this person refused to budge.
"Stop pushing! Stop pushing! He has a gun!" the person at the front shouted desperately.
A dark gun barrel was aimed at him while Zhao Mingkun slowly stood up. The surrounding people were dumbfounded; they knew that our country had strict regulations regarding firearms. In our nation, every murder case must be solved regardless of how many years have passed—ten, twenty, or even thirty years—if new leads emerge, the police will investigate. The same goes for shooting incidents; perhaps this was why there were no bullets in Zhao Mingkun's gun.
Zhao Mingkun glanced at Brother Feng lying on the ground and said, "Stop playing dead."
Brother Feng awkwardly got to his feet.
I looked at Brother Feng and said, "Brother Feng, I didn't move, did I?"
Brother Feng looked at me with a somewhat aggrieved expression and replied, "You didn't move. You really didn't move."
"Then who is the grandson?" I continued to look at Brother Feng.
"I... I'm the grandson! I'm the grandson!" Brother Feng hurriedly said, "I don't know where you two are from; I truly apologize."
I sighed and said, "Didn't I tell you before, Xu Man? Now it's time to talk about it. Seven years ago, were you pregnant with Hu Pei's child?"
Xu Man nodded and then began to recount the original story and that night seven years ago.
That night, when her parents saw Xu Man lying on the bed with a big belly, she finally felt a bit of relief seeing her own parents. What parent wouldn't love their daughter? That sentiment was something she couldn't quite grasp, and it was simply too wrong.
In her parents' eyes, Xu Man didn't see pity or sadness; instead, she saw anger and disdain. At that moment, Xu Man understood what kind of existence she was in her parents' hearts. Xu Man also had a younger brother, and she thought that if it were her brother who had gotten someone else pregnant, her parents would probably be very pleased.
That night, Xu Man's parents left her four thousand yuan to handle the situation herself. But too much time had passed; if she had to undergo an abortion now, it would pose significant risks to her health, and reputable hospitals wouldn't accept her anymore. Moreover, Xu Man could already feel the movements of the child in her womb.
In our country, there are no specific laws stating when one can no longer have an abortion. However, in most developed countries, having an abortion after a certain period is legally equivalent to murder—murdering one's own unborn child. Of course, this consideration is also based on the demographic challenges faced by various countries.
Indeed, it is murder. Xu Man could feel her child slowly growing; she sensed that this was a living being. She did not want to kill anyone, especially not the child in her womb. In Xu Man's words, that would be too sinful; one would end up in hell after death.
Because of this belief, Xu Man endured for so long until she experienced pre-labor pains that alarmed her parents. Their response was to sever ties with her, which only added to Xu Man's despair. Her only support was Child's Father—Hu Pei.
That night, after the pain in her belly subsided somewhat, Xu Man went to find Hu Pei at the construction site.
Xu Man hailed a taxi; the driver was a middle-aged man with a gentle voice. He asked Xu Man if she was going to the hospital for a check-up and why her husband wasn't accompanying her.
Xu Man smiled sweetly, but her heart was bleeding. She said, "My husband is waiting for me over there; he's worried sick. I'm only six months pregnant, so there's really nothing to worry about."
The driver chuckled and replied, "You two look like a young couple who just got married. With that smile, you must be very in love."
"Yes," Xu Man said, hoping it was true.
The driver, at forty years old, seemed to misunderstand that a smile was merely an expression and did not reflect one's true feelings. At this moment, when she needed companionship the most, Xu Man had severed ties with her parents, and Hu Pei was not answering her calls. She felt abandoned by the entire world. She placed her hand on her belly; it was the only source of comfort she had left.
After getting out of the car, Xu Man repeatedly dialed Hu Pei's number in the silent night, but no one answered. Standing beside the vast construction site, tears streamed down her face when suddenly a person rushed out. Dressed in camouflage clothing, he hurried toward the site. Xu Man could tell he was likely a worker from inside.
She wanted to ask where Hu Pei and the interns were working, but this person appeared flustered as if he had something urgent to attend to. Xu Man first called Hu Pei again, but he didn’t pick up. Then she tried calling Lu Zhiqiu, but he also ignored her call.
At that moment, Xu Man realized that both Hu Pei and Lu Zhiqiu were avoiding her calls; something must have happened. Perhaps Lu Zhiqiu was preventing her from reaching Hu Pei.
Standing at the entrance of the construction site, she dialed both their numbers repeatedly, but no one answered.
Xu Man understood now that she had been abandoned by everyone. She stood there in a daze at the entrance. She thought to herself that if it started to rain at that moment, it would better reflect her misery. However, the weather was pleasant that summer night; a gentle breeze brushed against her face.
Those seeking relief from the heat remarked on how nice the evening was.
Still, no one came.
It felt as if she were the only person left in the world.
Before long, the man in camouflage ran out again. His face was filled with panic as he spotted Xu Man and paused for a moment. They locked eyes; Xu Man noticed him, and he noticed her too. But at that moment, she had no interest in acknowledging him. Later, when she calmed down, she recalled that something about him seemed off.
Zhao Mingkun and I exchanged glances and sensed an underlying possibility from Xu Man's words. That night, someone had indeed been at the construction site. In just one short night, so many people had seen Lu Zhiqiu, and now another person emerged—who could he be? What was his purpose for being at the site?
I asked, "Do you still remember what that person looked like?"
Xu Man, unsure of our background and hesitant to remain silent, seemed to recall something after a moment. "I was standing alone at the entrance of the construction site. It was a special night, so I have never forgotten it."
Xu Man looked at us and continued, "The person was about one seventy-eight tall. When he went in, he was wearing camouflage clothing, but when he came out, he had taken off his jacket and was holding it in his hand. It seemed like he had something wrapped inside his clothes, though it didn’t look very big. We exchanged glances; he seemed like he wanted to come over but then glanced warily inside the site and immediately ran away."
"I think he must have been trying to steal something from the site," Xu Man said. "But he was really scared of being caught and left right away."
I nodded lightly. From Xu Man's description, this hurried worker seemed suspicious. As a construction worker arriving at the site in the middle of the night, even if he were stealing from himself, he wouldn’t be so panicked. It appeared that this person had likely done something far more serious than mere theft.
At that moment, I suddenly felt a chill run through me; I realized I had overlooked an important detail. If a worker were going to steal something from the site and needed to wrap it in his clothing, it meant that whatever it was wasn’t large—perhaps there was something even more fitting.
I continued to ask, "Did you encounter anyone else afterward?"
Xu Man shook his head. "No, I only saw him."
I began to think. Many people had come to this construction site looking for Lu Zhiqiu, and Xu Man had waited here for a long time without seeing anyone else come out. From a timing perspective, we could make a bold assumption: Xu Man saw that man after Wang Yikai and Yang Licheng had left, and that man left before Liang Mei came out.
"So you didn't see anyone else besides him?"
I looked at Xu Man.
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