Chapter 63 Saving Lin Xiaoning

Neither Qiu Shengming nor Bai Peiyu was anywhere to be found.

Qiu Yiyao walked into her room and saw the medicine Qiu Shengming had given her that morning sitting right on the desk.

"Is this supposed to mean that I have to die?"

Qiu Yiyao sighed and sat down. She deeply missed her home in the city, and she missed the real Qiu Shengming.

She wondered if he thought she was already dead, and how heartbroken he must be right now.

Qiu Yiyao dared not dwell on it; just the thought made her heart ache.

That was her only remaining family—how was he going to survive the future?

She pulled a worn-out diary from the drawer.

It was a diary she had kept since middle school. Although she hadn't been diligent enough to record everything, it held the major events of her life over the years: her high school entrance exams, her college entrance exams, her coming-of-age ceremony, her mother's passing...

Qiu Yiyao gently stroked the yellowed cover as memories flooded her mind scene by scene.

"Yaoyao," Qiu Shengming pushed the door open, "this afternoon, we're going to visit your mother."

"Visit Mom?" Qiu Yiyao closed the diary and flatly refused, "I'm not going. I'm afraid it will only make me more heartbroken."

Qiu Yiyao had no intention of visiting a fake grave; she would not allow anyone to insult her mother in such a manner.

Qiu Shengming said nothing and let out a soft sigh. After a long silence, he said, "Alright then. I might be coming back quite late this afternoon. Make something for yourselves to eat, and don't wait up for me."

"Got it."

Hearing the door click shut, Qiu Yiyao put the diary back into the drawer and turned on the computer.

This time, it didn't take much effort to log into the forum.

To her pleasant surprise, there was a private message waiting for her.

With trembling hands, she clicked on it, revealing a single, short line: "Sunday night at eight, I'll be waiting for you at the abandoned construction site in the northern part of the town."

"Sunday... tomorrow night?"

A wave of excitement washed over Qiu Yiyao. He had actually seen her reply!

Just as she thought of this, the screen flashed and went black.

She knew that trying to log in again now would be useless.

Fortunately, she had seen it in time, or she would have missed it completely.

The thought that she would no longer be fighting alone made her pace back and forth in the room with excitement.

Before dinner, Bai Peiyu returned, carrying some takeout.

"Uncle Qiu said he won't be back for dinner, so I bought some food outside."

Qiu Yiyao let out an "oh" and tentatively asked, "You and him... did you two have a disagreement, so..."

Bai Peiyu paused mid-motion, then replied as if nothing was wrong, "You don't need to worry about that. Just do as I say."

He placed a box of food in front of Qiu Yiyao. "Eat up. We have business to take care of later."

Knowing he was referring to finding Lin Xiaoning, Qiu Yiyao acknowledged and lowered her head to eat.

She devoured her meal in a rush, as if afraid of being late.

After dinner, she dragged Bai Peiyu out the door in a hurry.

Stepping outside, she saw a brand-new motorcycle parked at the entrance.

Surprised, she asked, "Did you just buy this?"

"Having a vehicle makes things easier." Bai Peiyu mounted the motorcycle. "Get on. The road over there isn't very good, so hold on tight."

...

Bai Peiyu drove Qiu Yiyao straight through the town center, arriving at a residential area of two-story buildings near the foot of the mountain.

Though called a residential area, it consisted of only five or six households.

"Be careful. The people here are not easy to deal with."

Bai Peiyu lowered his voice as he spoke.

Qiu Yiyao nodded and followed him to a relatively new two-story house.

The front door was slightly ajar, and sounds were coming from inside.

Glancing around to make sure no one else was about, Qiu Yiyao stepped forward and gently pushed the door open.

A man's curses flooded her ears, filled with unspeakable, filthy language.

Qiu Yiyao's heart tightened. Her intuition told her that Lin Xiaoning must be getting beaten again, so she rushed into the house and ran toward the guest room from where the noise originated.

Pushing the door open in a flurry, Qiu Yiyao indeed saw Lin Xiaoning collapsed on the floor while a sturdy man wielding a rattan cane lashed out at her.

"Bastard!"

Furious, Qiu Yiyao spotted a broom in the corner, grabbed it, and charged at the man, striking him fiercely across the back.

"You piece of trash, I'll beat you to death!"

Stung by the blow, the man angrily turned around. Recognizing Qiu Yiyao from the riverbank the other day, he sneered, "It's you again. You really love sticking your nose into other people's business."

With a forceful shove of the broom, the man sent Qiu Yiyao stumbling to the floor.

Struggling to her feet, Lin Xiaoning threw herself in front of Qiu Yiyao. "Just leave, please. Don't worry about me."

"No way, I'm going to teach this trash a lesson today."

Determined to stand up for Lin Xiaoning, Qiu Yiyao had no intention of backing down now that she was here.

She stood up, pointed at the man, and berated him, "I've been alive for twenty years, and this is the first time I've ever seen a scum like you—refusing to do any honest work and only knowing how to hit women."

"Ha! I'll beat my own woman however I want. Who do you think you are to act high and mighty?"

"Who I am is none of your business, but you're bound to come to a bad end! Xiao Bai!"

Realizing she couldn't handle the man on her own, Qiu Yiyao called out for Bai Peiyu's help.

To her dismay, after calling twice without anyone entering, she looked back—Bai Peiyu was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing this, the man grinned maliciously. "Did your helper not dare to show up? In that case, I won't hold back anymore today."

A gleam of excitement flashed in the man's eyes as he dropped the cane, cracked his knuckles, and slowly advanced.

"What a total psycho."

Catching sight of the rattan cane on the floor, Qiu Yiyao formulated a plan.

Having previously witnessed the man's cruelty and knowing he wouldn't let Qiu Yiyao off, Lin Xiaoning frantically pleaded for mercy, "It was my fault! Just let her go, she's still just a young girl."

"Young girls are the most fun. Get out of the way."

The man kicked Lin Xiaoning aside.

Unfazed, Qiu Yiyao locked eyes with him. "Then let me show you just how much fun a young girl can be."

With a smirk, she clenched her fist as if preparing to strike his chest.

Sure enough, the man fell for the ruse, figuring a punch from a mere girl would tickle at best, so he puffed out his chest and invited the blow.

Qiu Yiyao's smile widened. "Let's see you taste this young lady's wrath."

Just as her fist was about to graze his chest, she instantly pulled it back and delivered a vicious kick straight between his legs.

Caught completely off guard by the sneak attack, the man gasped in agony and collapsed to his knees, clutching his groin.

"Useless. Down in one kick? And here I thought you had iron trousers."

Rushing behind him, Qiu Yiyao scooped the cane off the floor. "Come on then, you useless piece of garbage."

Frowning with rage, the man hauled himself up from the ground, his face contorted with fury. "You're courting death."

As he lunged toward Qiu Yiyao, Bai Peiyu suddenly materialized behind him and sent him crashing to the floor with a swift kick.

Seizing the opportunity, Qiu Yiyao stepped forward and rained blows down upon the man with the cane. "Didn't your mother ever teach you that what goes around comes around?"

"You trash! I wanted to throw up the moment I laid eyes on you, and hitting you just makes me want to vomit even more."

"Go to hell, you bastard!"

Qiu Yiyao held nothing back. Besides, knowing she still served a vital purpose to the people in the town, she felt completely emboldened.

Howling in pain, the man began begging for mercy.

"In your dreams. Here, Xiaoning, take this."

Qiu Yiyao handed the cane over to Lin Xiaoning.