Chapter 10: Untrustworthy

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Cheng Xiangru arrived outside the door and carefully observed his surroundings. The elevator was stopped on this floor, but no one was inside. He glanced toward the slightly ajar door of the stairwell, hesitated for a moment, then went back inside to the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife for protection. Moving quietly, he returned to the stairwell door. After several deep breaths, he suddenly flung the door open. The stairwell was empty and dim, with no one in sight.

Something was wrong.

Cheng Xiangru held his breath and listened intently. He faintly heard hurried footsteps coming from below. At this point, even if he chased after them, he wouldn’t catch up. After a brief moment of thought, he made a decision.

He quickly returned inside, leaving the door open and the knife in hand, then ran to the living room balcony. Leaning against the window, he widened his eyes and stared unblinkingly at the building’s main entrance. But after waiting a long time, no one emerged.

Had the person who knocked on the door run away too fast? Or... had they never left at all?

Suddenly, the stairwell door outside creaked open. He spun around sharply and saw the black-clad girl who had saved him standing there, looking at him. She still carried a black travel backpack, wore a hood, and a black mask covering her face, mysterious and unsettling.

Cheng Xiangru tightened his grip on the knife. He wasn’t sure of her intentions, so he remained cautious.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Cheng Xiangru took two slow steps forward.

The girl’s voice was clear and gentle, oddly mismatched with her mysterious attire. “I hesitated a lot, but I think it’s better to tell you face to face.”

“Tell me what?” Cheng Xiangru stepped forward another two steps.

The girl frowned slightly. “Just stand there and don’t move, or I’ll call the police.”

Cheng Xiangru was taken aback. “But... this is my home.”

The girl laughed softly. “Look how nervous you are. I’m not a bad person. I won’t hurt you.”

Only then did Cheng Xiangru remember that this seemingly fragile girl was the fierce one who had driven off Yang Hu’s gang. He instinctively stepped back two paces.

At that moment, the sound of the elevator descending came from outside the door.

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The girl glanced back once, then turned to Cheng Xiangru again. “To make it short: never trust that man named Zhou. He doesn’t know your father at all. Although it’s still unclear why he’s after you, it’s definitely not for anything good. Remember, don’t let yourself be used! I can’t say more now, just think carefully.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and ran, yanking open the stairwell door and disappearing amid the heavy slamming.

“Wait!” Cheng Xiangru hurried to the door.

At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and Aunt Liu, returning from shopping, looked startled. “Child! What are you doing?”

“I...” Cheng Xiangru glanced at the knife in his hand and then at the extremely nervous Aunt Liu, unsure how to explain. Suddenly, he noticed the small posters stuck to the wall beside the elevator, so he pointed. “I want to clear these flyers off the wall.”

Aunt Liu sighed with relief, hurried forward, snatched the knife, and scolded, “What nonsense are you up to? That’s for cutting vegetables; how can you use it to scrape the wall?”

“Sorry, it won’t happen again,” Cheng Xiangru quickly apologized.

Still uneasy, Aunt Liu took the knife back to the kitchen, turned on the faucet, and washed it vigorously.

Cheng Xiangru looked back at the stairwell door, hesitated briefly, then closed the door and returned to his room. The unexpected visit from the girl in black and her hurried warning had further unsettled his mind.

He didn’t know whom to trust.

The girl’s identity was unknown, yet she had saved him at his most dangerous moment; Mr. Zhou, unrelated by blood, had repeatedly helped him without asking for anything in return, even going so far as to try to take him to find his father.

What puzzled Cheng Xiangru was that if Mr. Zhou truly had such a close connection with his father, why hadn’t he known where he and his sister had lived all these years? But if Mr. Zhou had ulterior motives, what could he possibly want?

The mounting confusion gave Cheng Xiangru a splitting headache.

Frustrated beyond measure, he punched the wall hard to vent, letting the pain dull his inner turmoil.

“Bang!”

After the dull thud, the door opened, and Aunt Liu appeared, surprised. “Child, what are you doing now?”

“I... I’m hitting mosquitoes.”

“There aren’t any mosquitoes at this time of year.”

Since it was already winter, mosquitoes were basically extinct. Aunt Liu didn’t believe his excuse.

Distracted by her, Cheng Xiangru gave up explaining and sat silently on the bedside.

Aunt Liu stared at him for a while, sighed softly, turned, closed the door, listened outside for a moment, then took out her phone and sent a message.

That evening, Cheng Xiangru picked up Cheng Yimo from school, and the siblings walked home together.

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The little girl could hardly contain her excitement, sharing one school story after another. Cheng Xiangru replied absentmindedly, hands in his pockets, head down as he walked beside her.

Cheng Yimo was caught up in her story but gradually lowered her voice until she fell silent.

After a few minutes, she finally asked, “Brother, what’s wrong?”

“Hmm?” Cheng Xiangru was startled back to reality.

Having depended on each other for so many years, the siblings deeply understood one another.

Seeing her brother so distracted, Cheng Yimo knew he must be troubled.

Cheng Xiangru didn’t want to hide it from his sister. “Yimo, I saw that girl who saved us again.”

“Really? Where?” Cheng Yimo’s big eyes blinked in surprise.

“At home. She told me Uncle Zhou doesn’t know our dad and warned me not to trust him. Yimo, who am I supposed to believe?” Cheng Xiangru paused, then sighed deeply. “I know we escaped that terrible life and live peacefully now all thanks to Uncle Zhou. But...”

Cheng Yimo was still young and couldn’t understand much—nor offer advice. She simply held her brother’s hand, cupped it near her lips, and gently exhaled warm, moist breath, warming his hands.

“Forget it! Whatever happens, happens!” Cheng Xiangru shook his head with a smile, took his sister’s hand, and continued walking home.

Winter had come, with short days and long nights. Streetlights glowed, illuminating the path ahead.

They had endured so much suffering; neither wanted to return to that hellish past.

Regardless of whether Mr. Zhou was trustworthy, as long as his sister could live well, Cheng Xiangru was willing to entrust everything to him.

Back at home, Cheng Xiangru had planned to keep his upcoming trip to the Northeast a secret but was caught off guard when he discovered a receipt requiring parental signatures that his sister had hidden. Unable to hold back, he finally told her that he would be going with Mr. Zhou and others to find their father in the Northeast the day after tomorrow.

Cheng Yimo was reluctant to be separated from her brother and wanted to go with him but was scolded by Cheng Xiangru, a rare occurrence that left her crying for a long time. This pained Cheng Xiangru so much he almost gave up on the trip.

Yet, thinking of their father—whom he hated with clenched teeth and had dreamed of countless times—who might finally be found, and of the many agonizing questions that could soon be answered, possibly even giving his sister a chance to shed her orphan status, Cheng Xiangru gritted his teeth and resolved to go through with it.

Time flew by, and before he knew it, the day of departure arrived.

He watched his sister cry reluctantly as she entered the school gate. Only after she disappeared inside the main building did Cheng Xiangru dare wipe away his tears and compose himself, his expression hardening.

After seeing her off, Cheng Xiangru returned home, grabbed his suitcase, and repeatedly urged Aunt Liu to take good care of his sister until he returned. Only when she was so nagging that her ears burned did he finally turn and leave.

“Yimo, trust me! I will come back very soon!”

“Maybe... I can even bring that heartless, hateful man back to see you and make him say ‘I’m sorry’ to you with his own mouth!”