Chapter 109 Extra 9: Seventeen-year-old Chu Feng
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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Crackling sounds.
Raindrops fell like tiny steel beads from the sky, splattering against the classroom’s glass windows. Chu Feng glanced sideways and saw that it was pouring outside.
Ding-ling—Ding-ling—
The bell for the end of class rang, but the teacher at the podium continued unabated: “Let me finish this problem in just two more sentences! Very quickly!”
By the time those two sentences were over, eight out of the ten minutes of break time had already passed:
“Alright, those who need to use the restroom, go quickly, and we’ll start the next class shortly…”
Chu Feng walked straight out of the classroom, his phone in his pocket. Rain was pouring into the hallway, wetting half of the floor. He darted into the restroom cubicle at the end of the corridor.
Confirming that no teacher would likely come in here, Chu Feng dialed Xie Shiyu’s number:
A melodious female voice rang from the phone: “Your call is currently in progress. Please wait a moment before dialing again.”
Chu Feng frowned slightly. Xie Shiyu’s phone rarely behaved like this. Perhaps… Xie Shiyu was occupied with a work-related call since he came to S City this time with the boss from the part-time job he had at the shop.
Since High School, Xie Shiyu had been working outside to earn money to support his family. Because he wasn’t yet eighteen, he couldn’t sign proper contracts and worked under the table, earning half the wage of a regular job.
In recent years, Xie Shiyu seemed to be working at an auto repair shop where the pay was said to be decent. He might have come to S City with the owner of that shop this time.
Thinking this, Chu Feng didn’t want to disturb Xie Shiyu at work and sent a message: “Are you almost in S City?” “Our schedule is out, I’ll show you.” “It’s pouring rain, did you bring an umbrella? See you at the school gate at six?”
Xie Shiyu, holding a telescope, concealed himself behind a window.
He stayed in a small hotel near No. 1 High School, specifically requesting the room farthest inside on the third floor. From this side window, he could directly overlook Chu Feng’s teaching building.
He saw Chu Feng coming out of the second-to-last classroom in the corridor and heading towards the boys’ restroom.
Xie Shiyu flipped his stopwatch and began to calculate.
Restrooms were also hidden corners of the campus. When Lan Qiuyue was slapped, she was blocked in the girls’ restroom.
If the time spent inside the restroom was unusually long, and some students were “guarding” the door, then something inside was probably wrong.
At noon, Xie Shiyu had run around near the school in the rain and had summarized several shortcuts. If he observed something wrong now, he could sprint from here to Chu Feng’s location in just two minutes and 23 seconds.
Buzzing—
After Chu Feng entered the restroom, Xie Shiyu’s phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
Was Chu Feng secretly calling him?
Seventeen-year-old Chu Feng, in love, made Xie Shiyu a little proud. He took out his phone…
The screen showed an unknown number.
Like a bubble of anticipation being burst, Xie Shiyu answered the call somewhat irritably:
“Hello?”
“Little Xie, your mother…”
Xie Shiyu’s heart tightened: “What happened?”
It was the voice of the caregiver hired to look after his mother: “Your mother was almost attacked! A group of people suddenly rushed into the ward, demanding repayment and smashing things…”
Xie Shiyu: “How is my mom?”
“She’s fine, they didn’t manage to hurt her. The nurses and I fought them off, and the doctors and security came and drove them away. My phone got smashed, so I’m using someone else’s to call you.”
“I’ll definitely compensate for the phone. How’s my mom now?”
“She was napping at the time, and by the time she woke up groggily, those people had already been chased away. We haven’t told her about this.”
“Okay, please keep it secret and let her rest peacefully. Is she awake now?”
“No, she’s sleeping again.”
Xie Shiyu: “Then I’ll call later tonight.”
“Sure, the hospital has moved your mom to a new room to prevent those people from finding her again. It’s room 3608, please take note.”
Xie Shiyu: “Alright. Let me know if anything happens.”
After a few acknowledgments from the caregiver, Xie Shiyu hung up. He saw a video of the ward sent by the caregiver, his mom peacefully sleeping on a white hospital bed, which eased Xie Shiyu’s mind somewhat.
Buzz—
Another call came in, again from an unknown number. Xie Shiyu roughly guessed who it was.
He picked up the phone, and a rough voice sounded from the other end:
“You little bunny, ready to repay your debts?”
Xie Shiyu didn’t speak. It was a loan shark, led by Huang Desheng, who had lent his father seventy thousand yuan when his drug-addicted father was still alive. Over the years, the debt had grown to over five hundred thousand yuan. After these people were imprisoned for lending money, they had constantly harassed him since their release a year ago, insisting on the principle of “the son must repay his father’s debt.”
Xie Shiyu simply couldn’t come up with over half a million yuan. They often caused trouble at the rental house he and his mother had in Ziyun District, sealing the door, spraying red paint, and even smearing feces.
Later, unable to bear it, the landlord had terminated their lease, and with his mother diagnosed with stomach cancer, Xie Shiyu had completely withdrawn from that rental and found a small place near the hospital.
Even so, these people didn’t let them off. Initially without the means, his mother could only be admitted to a small hospital in the area, as even tertiary hospitals didn’t have available beds.
Security at the small hospital was mediocre, and these loan sharks managed to sneak in and cause trouble every now and then. Reporting to the police was futile, as Huang Desheng had a good relationship with some local officials, allowing him to come and go as he pleased, escalating their harassment.
Xie Shiyu could defend himself, but these people loved causing trouble. Anyway, without money, he couldn’t fight them. If things escalated to a critical point, they would definitely lose out entirely.
But his mother couldn’t endure such torment. Soon after getting married, she was tortured by his drug-addicted father. After he finally disappeared—likely dead—she only had a few good years before his leftover loan sharks came back to torment her again.
On her sickbed, his gravely ill mother broke down crying, “How much debt did I owe him in a past life? In this life, he tortures me like this. Even in death, I won’t find peace!!”
Xie Shiyu quietly brought the lunch he had just made and placed it in front of her bed: “Mom, there is no past life. We only have this one life.”
Later, Xie Shiyu gritted his teeth and took his mother to the top hospital in the city, the First Hospital. Coincidentally, there was a hospital bed available that day, and the best doctors for her treatment. Despite the good security, that day was the first time this group of people had broken in. To ensure the patients’ safety, the hospital responsibly changed her room.
“Speak up! Are you mute?!”
From the phone, the loan shark Huang Desheng shouted: “Are you planning to wait until your mom dies, thinking a dead pig feels no fear of boiling water and just not paying up? I’m telling you! Until your dad’s debt is cleared, you won’t have a single peaceful day!”
Xie Shiyu didn’t fly into a rage or shout back. He remained very calm, his voice slightly cold: “When you guys caused trouble in my mom’s hospital room last time, I said there wouldn’t be a next time.”
Huang Desheng burst into laughter on the other end of the line, joined by mocking laughter from his cronies: “Listen to him! Who does he think he’s talking to? No next time, huh? Who do you think you are?”
“Just a little punk, not even fully grown, daring to challenge our brother Huang?”
“We’ll come not just once more but many times. What can you do about it?”
“Now that we know where your mom’s hospital is, we’ll cause trouble every day! Even calling the police won’t help, you know that.”
Huang Desheng waved his phone around, making sure his cronies’ words were clearly heard through the receiver. He lounged in his swivel chair, lazily holding the phone to his ear, completely dismissing the debt-ridden seventeen-year-old on the other end as powerless.
“Five hundred and twenty thousand. Your dad’s debt, not a cent less! Sell your kidney if you have to. If you can’t pay up, I’ll never let you off!”
Xie Shiyu said nothing.
“Oh, by the way,” Huang Desheng leaned back in his chair, picking up a candid photo, grinning slyly, “if you’re really out of money, you could always ask your little boyfriend to lend you some.”
Xie Shiyu’s brow twitched, his voice turning icy: “Say that again?”
“Hahaha!” On the other end of the phone, Huang Desheng’s arrogant laughter echoed: “What’s wrong? Getting worked up as soon as I mention your little boyfriend?” Huang Desheng lightly stroked the person in the photo: “So pretty, so tender. What’s it like to hold him?”
Huang Desheng and his cronies’ piercing laughter came through the phone.
Xie Shiyu instantly gripped his phone tightly.
But he quickly let go, staring at the dark screen as if looking at a corpse inside a black coffin.
“Your little boyfriend’s family is pretty wealthy, right?”
Huang Desheng and his cronies noticed the shoes Chu Feng was wearing in the photo. They were a limited edition, originally priced at five to six thousand yuan, and now worth up to ten or twenty thousand yuan. Despite the shoes’ high value, Chu Feng wasn’t particularly careful with them, casually walking with Xie Shiyu through a wet alley after the rain, the white edges of the shoes stained with some mud. They were holding hands.
Huang Desheng released his grip, letting the photo fall to the ground, where he stomped on it: “You have such a good catch and don’t even know how to use him. A single pair of shoes costs five to six thousand. Fifty thousand yuan is just pocket change for his family, like buying a few bags.”
Huang Desheng continued: “I heard he’s doing well in his studies. Now he’s attending some summer training program at S City No. 1 High School. You don’t care about your dying mother, and you don’t want to lose this pretty little boyfriend either? Hurry up and pay the money!”
One of the cronies chimed in: “We’re planning to head to S City now. Starting tomorrow, we can block your boyfriend at the school gate anytime. By the way, the school bully at S City No. 1 High is one of our Brother Huang’s men!”
Huang Desheng said, “Just one call from me, and I guarantee your little boyfriend will experience a summer training that’s a living h*ll, hahaha!”
A burst of unpleasant laughter erupted on the other end of the phone.
Xie Shiyu listened quietly, not saying a word.
It is common knowledge not to engage in an argument before committing murder.
When the police discover a body, they start by investigating the victim’s social connections. Anyone who had a heated argument with the victim before their death becomes a prime suspect.
However, Xie Shiyu’s eerie calmness was seen by Huang Desheng as a form of submission: this kid was scared!
Huang Desheng thought it was understandable, considering Xie Shiyu was just a seventeen-year-old kid. It’s normal for him to be afraid of people like them.
Soon, Huang Desheng heard what he wanted to hear:
“The money will be paid back. Just give me a little more time, two months…”
“No way!” Huang Desheng roared. “One month! That’s the maximum. If I don’t see fifty thousand in a month, you, your mom, and your little boyfriend can wait and see!”
Bang—
Huang Desheng hung up the phone viciously. His cronies quickly started praising him, saying how he had swiftly dealt with the little punk who wouldn’t pay his debts.
Huang Desheng enjoyed this flattery. To further intimidate Xie Shiyu, he made a call to the school bully at S City No. 1 High, Duan Yanfeng.
After a couple of rings, the phone was answered:
“Hey? Is that Brother Huang?”
Huang Desheng replied, “Yeah, I’m planning to head to S City tonight…”
Before he could finish, Duan Yanfeng quickly said, “Brother Huang, what time will you arrive? I’ll arrange a welcome for you!”
“No need for a welcome,” Huang Desheng said. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Sure, Brother Huang, just say the word!”
Huang Desheng continued, “There’s a student named Chu Feng attending your school’s summer training. I sent you his name and photo. Teach him a lesson, but don’t go too far.”
“Got it, Brother Huang, no problem! I’ve been itching to find an out-of-towner to practice on anyway!”
The school bully of S City No. 1 High, Duan Yanfeng, answered the phone while walking towards the boys’ restroom.
Blatantly ignoring school rules, he looked down at his phone to memorize Chu Feng’s appearance.
Other students in the hallway, who were roughhousing, quietly stepped aside to clear a path for the school bully as he passed.
Duan Yanfeng walked straight to the boys’ restroom and pushed the door open. A student was coming out just as he did.
At first, Duan Yanfeng didn’t pay attention, but a quick glance made him freeze.
This person looked exactly like the photo he had just seen.
It was the one named Chu Feng.
—
When Chu Feng pushed the door open to leave the restroom, he saw the school bully standing there with his phone in hand.
Thinking the bully also wanted to use the restroom, Chu Feng stepped aside to let him through.
However, the bully didn’t move. Instead, he deliberately blocked Chu Feng’s path.
Chu Feng raised an eyebrow. “Got a problem?”
1.75-meter-tall Duan Yanfeng, without his sidekick, looked up at the over 1.8-meter-tall Chu Feng. After a moment’s thought, he took a half step back and shrugged, “Nothing.”
D*mn it, why didn’t they note his height in the photo?
Chu Feng paid no mind, Ding Ling—class bell rang. He went straight back to the classroom, diving into the next round of studies.
After class, Chu Feng saw a reply from Xie Shiyu: [Okay, see you at 6 o’clock.] [But doesn’t your schedule say class ends at 5:40?]
Chu Feng glanced around and saw classmates working on papers; the teacher was not around either. He hid his phone in a drawer and secretly replied: [I have to pick up a package after school today, and the teacher might run late.] [Meet at the school gate at 6 ~]
17:10 “… Citizens, please remember to always close doors, whether car doors or house doors, to prevent tailing…”
In the small hotel room, the television played legal news. Xie Shiyu squatted behind the window, watching through binoculars.
Chu Feng was currently in class, with class monitor Yan Wenbin seated just in front and to the left. A Mediterranean teacher was lecturing from the podium.
It seemed safe for now.
However, during break earlier, Xie Shiyu had seen through his binoculars that Chu Feng had encountered school bully Duan Yanfeng at the restroom door.
The guy clearly blocked Chu Feng intentionally but eventually let him pass.
Huang Desheng was a second-rate thug who wouldn’t be easy to talk to. Saying he’d wait obediently until next month to repay the money was unlikely; they had probably already instructed Duan Yanfeng, the school bully, to go teach Chu Feng a lesson.
At this moment, Duan Yanfeng was standing leisurely at the restroom door, smoking and pretending to be cool.
He had no idea that in the darkness, there were a pair of gleaming eyes locking onto him through binoculars.
17:45 “Let’s dismiss early today. We’ll cover this problem tomorrow.”
Chu Feng took out his phone from the inner layer of his backpack, glanced at it in the drawer, and received a message during class: [From Honeycomb: Present the retrieval code 67645812 at the underground parking Honeycomb A smart locker in Building 1 of Xinjiang Garden to collect SpeedPass Express parcel.]
Xinjiang Garden…
Frowning, Chu Feng wondered why it was delivered there; shouldn’t it be delivered to the school?
“Do any of you know where Xinjiang Garden is?”
As he searched for the place on his map, Chu Feng asked his classmates. Sitting around him were his Rocket Class friends, unfamiliar with No. 1 High School: “I don’t know… Did you order something?”
“Mosquito repellent,” Chu Feng said, “I was lazy to bring it, so I had it sent here.”
“It’s behind the teaching building.” Yan Wenbin turned around, “Is it from SpeedPass Express? They always deliver there. I’m about to pick up a parcel too. Shall we go together?”
Chu Feng smiled, “It’s okay, you go ahead. I might not be there that soon.”
Yan Wenbin could only give up and leave the classroom with his backpack.
Chu Feng first sent a message to Xie Shiyu: [I’m done with class. Heading to pick up a parcel first, and then I’ll be right over.]
Boom! A loud thunderclap echoed through the sky outside the window, lightning streaking across it. Thick clouds poured heavy rain, forming an uninterrupted curtain of water between heaven and earth.
Chu Feng opened his umbrella and walked towards Building 1 of Xinjiang Garden behind the teaching building. Raindrops slid off the tip of his umbrella like glistening water chains, forming white water flowers on the muddy ground.
[Rocket Class is nothing special!]
Bang!
Yan Wenbin kicked open the door to Xinjiang Garden and entered the first floor.
After kicking open the door, Yan Wenbin looked around warily, confirming that the surveillance cameras above were all turned off. He stepped back a few steps, then kicked the innocent door again hard.
Xinjiang Garden was originally a larger real estate development, with Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III construction, but only Building 1 was built. It was exposed to problems like material and lighting issues…
Later, all construction was halted. Many apartments in Building 1 remained unsold.
With few residents, property management neglected, no security guards, and surveillance cameras turned off, the underground parking spots also went unsold.
The two Honeycomb smart lockers next to the parking lot fell into disuse, gradually becoming a pick-up point for SpeedPass Express.
The building was close to the school, and the real estate company continued to sell with the lure of school district homes. Some people were not concerned with lighting and material problems, buying houses and still renovating them.
The entrance and walls of the first floor were covered with anti-decoration cloth with traces of paint and drag-mud.
Because there were no security guards, outsiders could come and go freely. There were various phone numbers left on the walls, elevators, and safety passages.
At a glance, the building was completely unmanaged and chaotic.
Bang!
Yan Wenbin kicked open the door leading to the safety passage to the basement, the stairs inside were dark, but there were lights from the first floor and the basement, and Yan Wenbin walked down the dim stairs.
Basement There were two small doors leading to the underground parking lot, Door A and Door B.
Yan Wenbin glanced at the message: “… underground parking lot, Honeycomb B smart locker.” He moved with practiced ease to open the B door. Just as he pressed down the handle to pull it open…
Suddenly, Yan Wenbin peered through the crack beside the door and saw something unusual!
Snap.
A very faint sound came from the parking lot, like… a hand slapping against a car window.
Because it was so soft, it couldn’t have been someone outside slapping the car window; it might have been inside the car…
!! Yan Wenbin pressed his eyes against the crack in the door, suddenly witnessing an extremely terrifying scene:
Not far from his door, there was a black car parked. Snap.
A bloody hand inside the car slapped against the car window, making a muffled sound, leaving a clear bloody palm print on the glass!
Yan Wenbin immediately covered his mouth, trembling all over. What was happening inside that car…?
In the next instant! Yan Wenbin saw that bloody hand forcibly dragged away, and a man inside the car sat up, both hands tightly gripping the neck of a naked woman.
In the vast parking garage, not a soul was in sight, no new cars had arrived, and the surveillance cameras were all off.
After some time passed, Yan Wenbin saw the woman collapse. After a while, the man took some wet wipes and began wiping the bloody handprint from the car window.
Suddenly, the man froze, abruptly raising his head, and locked eyes directly with Yan Wenbin.
Yan Wenbin felt chills all over: “Did he see me?”
…Impossible! He had been hiding behind the door without making a sound or movement. He couldn’t possibly have been seen!
—It must be a mistake.
Feeling lucky, Yan Wenbin saw the man in the car put down the paper used to wipe blood, gently opened the car door, seeming to come towards his direction…
Yan Wenbin was completely panicked! He had thought he couldn’t be seen, but to a real criminal, he was completely exposed.
Even if a door was closed, hiding behind it didn’t mean safety.
The basement had lights. If there really was no one behind the door, the crack where the door met the floor would be a bright white seam.
But if someone was behind the door, that bright white seam would be partly blocked by shoes, turning black.
When the man in the car was wiping blood, he looked through the car window and saw a black part in the middle of the crack of B door, while the crack of A door on the other side was a bright seam.
[There’s someone behind the B door]
Zzz…
Yan Wenbin seemed to hear the sound of a stun gun. He was so terrified that he couldn’t move a muscle. If he ran now, could he escape? There were no surveillance cameras here… and no one else to save him…
…
“What are you doing here?”
Carrying his backpack, Chu Feng walked out from the staircase of B1 and immediately saw Yan Wenbin trembling behind the B door, not knowing what he was doing.
Chu Feng looked up at the two small doors on B1, B and A. His mosquito repellent parcel was in the Honeycomb A smart locker, so he should open the A door. He was about to go—
“I… my stomach… hurts.”
Chu Feng turned around and saw Yan Wenbin gripping the door handle with one hand and clutching his stomach with the other, trembling all over as if he was really in pain.
“Are you okay? Should I take you to the school hospital?”
After all, they were classmates. Chu Feng walked over to check on Yan Wenbin’s condition. As he got closer, suddenly—
Yan Wenbin opened the door handle of the B door and forcefully pushed Chu Feng out!
Chu Feng stumbled, harshly pushed into the underground parking lot, almost falling onto the cement floor.
Meanwhile, Yan Wenbin turned around and ran away, frantically fleeing the scene.
The crack in the B door returned to being a bright white seam.
…
[“What’s wrong with him!”]
Chu Feng cursed silently in his mind as he was pushed into the basement. Without thinking much, he thought it was just Yan Wenbin’s little prank to get back at him for ignoring him.
He hadn’t suffered any harm from the push, and he should still be able to walk to the Honeycomb A smart locker through the B door. Oblivious, Chu Feng continued forward.
He didn’t know that behind him, there was a black car, a man crouching behind it with a stun gun in his hand, and inside the car, the body of a woman, still warm.
Click.
Seventeen-year-old Chu Feng walked unsuspectingly in the underground parking lot, completely exposed to the man behind him. He didn’t realize that, at this moment, the small steel ball symbolizing his life had already rolled into an abyss from which there was no return.
Zzz…
The stun gun gently hummed to life, preparing to eliminate the only eyewitness.
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