Chapter Nineteen: How Dare You Act So Recklessly?

Page 1/3

Zhao He’s words seemed to possess a comforting magic. Tang Wange felt as if she was about to fall apart—exhausted and sleepy, she dozed off with her head resting on Zhao He’s back.

When she woke the next day, it was still dark. As usual, a steaming bowl of porridge sat on the table, but Zhao He was nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t returned by the time she left for school.

“He’s never gotten up this early before. Could he have gone off to mess around somewhere?” Tang Wange muttered to herself, absentmindedly doodling circles on the scrap paper. Her voice sounded jarringly loud in the quiet classroom.

A classmate couldn’t help but chuckle. Immediately, a piece of chalk struck Tang Wange on the forehead.

“Tang Wange, come to my office after class!”

She sighed inwardly—she had said “unlucky” enough times already.

“Why didn’t you turn in yesterday’s homework?” In the office, Teacher Cao’s face was stern. “Other teachers have told me more than once that you’ve been distracted in class! You’ve always been an exemplary student, and the college entrance exam is coming up. Why are you suddenly slipping up?”

“I ran into some stray dogs after school yesterday, and they tore up my backpack,” Tang Wange said quickly.

Though a shaky excuse, it gained credibility when Teacher Cao noticed the several rips in her uniform.

“There have been quite a few incidents lately. You need to adjust your mindset and focus on your studies,” Teacher Cao softened her tone, speaking earnestly. “Song Jing will publicly apologize after Monday’s flag-raising ceremony, so he shouldn’t trouble you anymore. Also, I understand your family situation. The college entrance exam is your only chance to change your fate. You must seize it. Understand?”

Tang Wange understood perfectly.

But what weighed more heavily on her mind was that her pocket money was no longer enough to cover the coming months’ expenses.

Dejected, she returned to class and flipped through the pages of part-time job listings she had noted before.

She could work at a convenience store for four hours after evening study sessions, earning 60 yuan; if she could find another part-time job on weekends...

“Yuying Welfare Home on Middle Street is hiring part-time teachers for weekends, paying 80 yuan for a morning shift. That way, you could earn over 400 yuan a week!” Ling Fei popped her head in.

“Ling Fei, you’re an angel!” Tang Wange’s eyes lit up with hope.

“Hope it helps~” Ling Fei smiled gently.

In the following days,

Tang Wange spun tirelessly like a ceaseless top!

As soon as evening study ended, she rushed to clock in at the 24-hour convenience store.

Page 2/3

Though her stomach growled with hunger, to save money she ate only a single starch sausage at night.

One night, at midnight when her shift changed, she broke her usual routine and took a bag of over thirty-yuan marinated beef from the shelf to pay for.

These days, she was busy with part-time jobs, leaving early and returning late. Zhao He seemed even busier, always out of reach. She wondered if she had been neglecting him, causing him to sulk. So tonight, she bought his favorite meat, hoping it would cheer him up.

With this thought, she hailed a taxi on the street.

“Please take me to West Chengjiao Road.”

“Sure thing!”

On the deserted road under nightfall, the orange-yellow taxi sped away from the bustling city center.

“Little girl, if I’m not mistaken, most of West Chengjiao Road is undeveloped wasteland, right? What are you doing going there alone this late at night?” The driver’s eyes flicked repeatedly in the rearview mirror.

“I live there.”

“Alone?”

“Yeah, kind of.” More precisely, there was a ghostly presence living there too.

“You’re brave for someone so young...” The driver’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Feeling uneasy, Tang Wange fell silent. The car was filled with static from the radio.

“Stop at the intersection ahead.”

“Got it!”

Seeing the destination approach, Tang Wange asked the driver to stop at a street corner lit by a streetlamp.

Clutching her backpack, she hurried off, quickening her pace with vigilance and a hint of panic down the narrow winding path.

Something felt off.

The driver’s tone and scrutinizing gaze had unsettled her deeply.

It was as if some sinister presence chilled her to the bone.

Not far from where she started, she heard the taxi’s engine abruptly cut off behind her.

Only the glaring headlights remained, glaring down the path she hurried along.

Tang Wange froze like a startled rabbit, then broke into a run.

Unfortunately, the snow that had fallen the night before had melted and refrozen, leaving the ground slick and treacherous.

A misstep sent her tumbling to the ground.

Page 3/3

Her heart pounded wildly, impossible to count the beats.

Ignoring the pain, she stifled her mounting terror and looked back at the driver—an old man leering as he advanced upon her.

“What do you want? Don’t come any closer!”

“Little girl, this desolate place, and you’re so pretty—it just makes me itch all over, can’t help myself!” The old man reached her, rubbing his hands together with the excitement of a loathsome fly. “Why don’t you just give in? I can pay you every month. How about that?”

“Dream on!”

Tang Wange gritted her teeth, eyes reddening as she glared at him. “If you dare touch a single finger of mine, I guarantee you won’t live to see a grave!”

Zhao He—Zhao He would never let him get away with it!

“Look at you, little girl, don’t you realize your situation? Still so defiant?”

The old man grabbed her ponytail roughly, yanking her head down so half of it smashed into the icy snow.

The bone-chilling cold numbed her nerves, draining half her body heat.

Her coat was torn violently.

The biting wind rushed through her collar, seemingly intent on freezing her heartbeat.

[You mortals]

[Dare to defy?!]

Suddenly, a fierce and commanding female voice echoed through the chaotic mind.

Tang Wange’s body stiffened from head to toe.

Her dark eyes suddenly grew hollow, then filled with a contemptuous void that scorned all.

A sudden gust stirred the grass and branches behind her.

Startled by this strange phenomenon, the old man immediately released her and stepped back.

A streak of golden light flashed in Tang Wange’s eyes as she slowly propped herself up.

Behind her,

In the night where darkness and specters intertwined,

Pairs of ghostly blue eyes opened wide,

All fixated sinisterly on the lecherous old man.