Having exchanged contact information, Rong Zhi turned around and left.
She hadn't walked far when her WeChat notification sounded. She opened it.
The avatar adorned with stars in the night sky was placed at the top, with a red dot at the upper right corner.
Even without entering the chat box, Rong Zhi could see the message he sent, a simple two-word message.
——[Bai Su]
That was probably his name, she mused. This surname was indeed unusual.
The other party had already introduced himself, so she didn't feel hesitant to send her name over.
Then she put away her phone and took a taxi back to the Rong Family.
The Rong Family's courtyard.
The courtyard's main gate was open, Lu Zhao was directing the servants to move several delivery boxes into the house when a shadow suddenly fell beside him. He paused and turned around, seeing Rong Zhi walking toward him against the light.
The boy was quite tall, estimated at over 1.75 meters, but his figure was very slender, making him appear rather frail compared to the impression of a rich family's young master.
Lu Zhao sighed slightly; it seemed he had to instruct the chef to provide plenty of nourishment for this Third Young Master.
"Third Young Master."
Rong Zhi nodded, his gaze landing on the several large boxes inside the house.
Lu Zhao followed his gaze and exclaimed, "Your deliveries have arrived. I'm having them moved into your room."
Two of them were quite large, not sure what's inside.
Rong Zhi counted them, bent down, picked up the smaller one, and didn't use scissors, tearing it open directly with his hands.
The day after leaving Qingqu County, she had Rong Fengmian send her belongings over using Dongfeng Express, which arrived the next day.
This one she was opening now contained her personal belongings from Qingqu County, already packed long ago.
Taking out each item from the small box, she casually pointed to the side, "Send these two to the West City Villa."
Lu Zhao obliged, eyeing the oddly shaped boxes with mild curiosity, softly asking, "Third Young Master, may I ask what's inside?"
"What?"
Rong Zhi had just found the black bracelet at the bottom of the box, was about to fasten it on her right hand, her eyes raised slightly, her voice indifferent, "Bed."
"Oh, bed... Bed??"
Lu Zhao was dumbfounded.
He almost suspected that the Rong Family was bankrupt; otherwise, why would the Third Young Master need to buy his own bed?
"This... Third Young Master, the room prepared for you at the villa, everything's ready."
Rong Zhi casually caressed the cold bracelet, a mischievous grin pulling at her lips, "I have a preference for beds; the villa's... I'm not comfortable with it."
Lu Zhao stammered on, speaking slowly, "... I see."
No wonder he always saw the Third Young Master looking like he hadn't slept; he truly wasn't sleeping well.
Lu Zhao immediately instructed the servants to move the boxes out again and send them to the West City Villa.
Rong Zhi continued sorting through the items spread across the floor.
A laptop, a pile of scattered porcelain bottles, two white cloth bags with slightly yellowed edges, and all the rest were candies—multicolored, of various flavors.
Earlier, the box was stuffed full.
The phone in her pocket vibrated.
Rong Zhi stirred the pile of candies, grabbed a handful and tossed them back into the box, took out her phone from her pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and answered.
"Sis, have the packages arrived?"
"Yes."
Rong Fengmian was in the hospital room taking care of He Songzhi, watching his mother's peaceful sleeping face, he pressed his lips, "Sis, I miss you."
His tone was quite wistful.
Everyone in the room had left, so Rong Zhi got up, sat on the couch, crossed her legs in a casual manner, "I sent you a set of entrance test papers, do them well, and then study at Beijing High School."
"Huh?" Rong Fengmian was surprised, "Okay, I got it, sis, I won't let you down!"
Rong Zhi softly replied, "Hmm, hanging up."
After hanging up, she opened WeChat and started to schedule a delivery.
Halfway through entering the address, she slowly remembered an unknown address, then returned to the chat interface, clicking into the top chat box.
...
One o'clock in the morning.
Rong Zhi lay in bed, tossing and turning.
All around her was unfamiliar.
She suddenly opened her eyes, irritably kicked off the blanket, her dark pupils tinged with red veins, enveloped in a violent and chilling low pressure.
Completely sleepless.
She rubbed her aching temples, turned over and got out of bed, pulling on a black hoodie by the bed, opened the room door, and walked out of the Rong Family.
If she couldn't sleep, she might as well take a walk to clear her mind.
Beijing's evening in August was still slightly cool, the night breeze gently blowing.
Rong Zhi aimlessly walked down the deserted streets, the streetlights emitting orange-yellow light, stretching her shadow.
Just as she reached the end of the street, she heard the sound of legs kicking into flesh from the alley, followed by a heavy accented cursing.
She furrowed her brows slightly, but didn't enter.
"Run, I dare you to run, I'll break your legs and see how you run!"
As he spoke each word, he kicked once, Rong Zhi listened silently, sketching out in her mind the places he kicked and the weight endured by the one being kicked.
This was murderous.
Inside the alley.
The young boy accused of attempting to escape made raspy noises, the garbage's sour stench and the metallic taste in his mouth nearly made him faint.
Pain—his internal organs were agonized.
The alley's entrance was dimly lit, in his blurred vision, he seemed to see a shadow under the lamp, his desperate survival instinct drove him to struggle fiercely.
That shadow appeared to have heard him, yet remained unmoved, stationed there.
The man couldn't see, he just thought the creature underfoot still wished to escape, kicking harder.
"Damn it, I'll beat you to death, useless thing, can't even get money and now making me spend money to raise you! Die!"
The young boy fiercely shook his head.
And at that moment, the shadow finally moved.
The shadow grew shorter until it stopped at the alley's entrance.
The person walked lightly, stepped on a bottle on the ground, which broke with a shattering sound. The boy instantly stopped his cries, realizing who it was.
With one hand in her pocket and the other holding a phone, her eyes carelessly swept past him, then the man.
Her gaze was deep, cold, and familiar.
The boy stopped moving; he remembered this person—the older brother from the afternoon!
The man was satisfied that he wasn't causing trouble anymore, grunted coldly and prepared to carry him away, when he heard a chilling and unruly voice behind.
"I haven't let you go."
In the moonlight, her raspy, emotive tone added a layer of mystery and danger to the subtle mist.
The man immediately chuckled, turned around, saw a scrawny, puny boy, sneered, "Where'd you come from, kid? I'm leaving, does it concern you?"
Indeed not.
But she hadn't slept well tonight, feeling displeased.
Rong Zhi smirked, eyes narrowing slightly, with a reckless wildness.
The man lost his patience, raised his foot and walked.
However, as he passed Rong Zhi, something caught his foot. He was carrying a young boy on his shoulder, the weight made him tumble forward, seemingly about to fall onto the shattered glass.
Rong Zhi lazily yawned, turned around, kicked him in the butt, and just before he fell, reached out and grabbed the boy's collar—
"Ah!!!!!!!"