Volume 1: The Beginning Chapter 7: Preparations

  The next day, Saturday.

  In the morning, Xia Wenjie attended a supplementary class. At noon, he finished school and went home. Without staying at home for long, he walked out of the door and went to Xu Jing's house.

  Xia Wenjie, Li Xuesong and Xu Jing have been playmates since childhood. The three families live in the same neighborhood, and their parents have known each other for generations, often gathering together to chat and eat, making them extremely familiar with each other.

  They attended the same kindergarten, then the same primary school, junior high school and high school. It can be said that the three of them have always been inseparable.

  Due to his parents passing away early, Xia Wenjie cherished the friends around him more than others. However, Li Xuesong's death made him lose two of his closest friends all at once.

  The day Li Xuesong was murdered, Xu Jing was also present and witnessed the whole process. Due to excessive fright, she fainted for several days in the hospital. After waking up, she suffered from severe autism. Not to mention going to school, she couldn't even take care of herself.

  Jin Er's actions ruined two families and took away Xia Wenjie's two closest friends and partners. This hatred has been buried in his heart, and it hasn't dissipated with the passage of time, but instead has taken root, sprouted, and grown vigorously.

  The power of hatred is terrifying and can completely change a person's character, doing things that ordinary people cannot imagine.

  Xu's family is very close to Xia's family, it takes less than 10 minutes to walk out of the community.

  It was Mrs. Xu who opened the door for Xia Wenjie. Since Xu Jing suffered from autism, she had to rely on others to take care of her in her daily life, and Mrs. Xu could only quit her job to take care of her at home.

  "Is Wenjie, didn't you go to supplementary lessons today?"

  "There are supplementary classes in the morning and holidays in the afternoon." Xia Wenjie said with a smile, then asked: "Auntie Xue, has Xiao Bing eaten yet?"

  "I'm worried sick and don't know what's wrong with this child today. From morning till now, he hasn't eaten a single bite of rice."

  "Ah! Not eating is not an option, Aunt Xǔ. I'll go feed her." Xia Wenjie changed into slippers and walked to the bathroom to wash his hands clean.

  Mrs. Xu nodded with relief and said: "Xiaojing has always listened to you, Wenjie, this time again we have to trouble you."

  Xia Wenjie wiped his hands clean and walked out of the bathroom, smiling: "Auntie Xu, you don't have to be polite with me anymore."

  He carried the meal prepared by Mrs. Xu into Xiaojing's room.

  The room was still as tidy and spotless as ever, with many plush toys piled up in the corner of the wall. Those were once Xu Jing's favorite things, but now they had all become decorations.

  A girl sat on the pink bed, facing the window and with her back to the door. Her long, black hair cascaded down from the top of her head like a waterfall. She wore a white dress, but her thin shoulders were almost too weak to support even this light garment, giving people the feeling that she might float away at any moment.

  Just looking at her back, Xia Wenjie's heart felt like being stabbed with a knife. He gently closed the door and forced a smile on his face, saying in a light tone: "Xiaojing, I've come to see you."

  The girl sat on the windowsill, motionless, as if she hadn't heard his words at all.

  He had gotten used to it. Since that day, Xiaojing hadn't said a word, and in front of her, he was accustomed to talking to himself, playing a solo performance.

  "Auntie Xu said, you haven't eaten all day, this won't do. Even if you're not in the mood, you can't neglect your own body, you still have to eat."

  "You're so thin now, a strong gust of wind could blow you away..." Xia Wenjie wasn't a talkative person, but only in front of Xiao Jing did he become loquacious.

  He put the dishes, bowls and chopsticks on the desk, pulled out a chair, then walked to Xu Jing's side, squatted down and said in a soft voice: "Come, little Jing, have some food first, after you finish eating, I'll tell you some good news."

  As he spoke, he grasped Xu Jing's slender small hand and pulled her to the desk, making her sit down.

  Then he picked up his chopsticks again, clamped a piece of bright yellow egg and sent it to the edge of Xu Jing's mouth, laughing: "Xu aunt's cooking is better than the chefs in the restaurant, I love eating it the most, little Jing, you should eat some too."

  Xu Jing slightly opened her small mouth and let him put the egg into it.

  From start to finish, she was like a big puppet being manipulated by others, even eating was mechanical chewing. She sat here with empty eyes, but her heart had long been lost somewhere.

  After eating half a bowl of rice, when Xia Wenjie sent the food into her mouth again, her tongue immediately pushed it out. He knew this was a sign that she was full.

  He put down his bowl and chopsticks, pulled out a tissue, wiped the corner of Xu Jing's mouth while smiling brightly and said in a soft voice: "Xiao Jing, in the next three days, I will make Jin Er pay for Snow Song's death, your nightmare will also end."

  "Are you unhappy?" Xia Wenjie stroked her long hair and smiled: "Don't worry about me, this time I won't be as reckless as last time. Have you heard of driving out the tiger to swallow the wolf? Even if Jin Er is a wolf, there are still tigers in this world that can swallow him."

  "In three days, at most three days, everything will be over."

  "After things are over, I can take a few days off from school and accompany you on a trip to relax."

  "I think that if Snow Pine's spirit is still with us, she wouldn't want to see you like this either."

  "It doesn't matter if I miss the college entrance exam, I'm so smart that even if I take a few days off, it won't affect me."

  Xia Wenjie continued talking to himself, while Xu Jing had already turned her head to look out the window, and her heart seemed to have flown far away.

  On Monday, Xia Wenjie did as he always did, wrapping lead blocks around his wrists and ankles before running to school.

  For him now, the five-kilometer distance is no longer a problem, and his time for running the full course is generally around twenty minutes, which is still the case when he doesn't use all his strength.

  The second semester of the third year of high school is the most tense period for students facing the college entrance examination. Even at noon when eating, many students are doing practice exercises while eating.

  However, Xia Wenjie was very relaxed. Firstly, he didn't take his Gaokao results too seriously, and secondly, his mind was preoccupied with how to avenge Xue Song.

  His lunch was simple, just a bag of bread and two boxes of yogurt. Compared to his classmates who brought their own lunches, what he ate could only be described as shabby.

  "Hey, are you eating that junk food again?" The girl sitting in front of him turned her head around, staring at the bread and yogurt on his desk with her already large eyes.

  Her name is Hu Binbin, she is the class monitor of Xia Wenjie's class, with excellent academic performance and a beautiful appearance. She has a height of over 1.7 meters, with a slender and proportionate figure. Hu Binbin can be considered a standard beauty girl, but her personality is quite tomboyish.

  When she was just in high school, she already had over 1.7 meters, which is a medium to tall height among the boys at that time, even taller than Xia Wenjie back then. Apart from being good at studying, she was also an athletic star in school. Don't look at her as a pretty girl, but actually she has quite some strength.

  She once had a dispute with a boy in her class, and the two of them got more and more agitated, eventually resorting to physical violence. What was astonishing was that not only did she win the fight, but also ended up making the boy cry.

  It's true that I was beaten and cried, being pressed to the ground and hit by Hu Binbin. At that time, this matter caused a sensation and was passed on by students as a "good story".

  For a very long time afterwards, Hu Binbin was the tyrant of the school, and ordinary boys didn't dare to provoke her.

  Xia Wenjie had also clashed with her before, as for what reason, he couldn't remember anymore. All he remembered was that Hu Binbin pushed him at the time, and then he retreated several steps in a row, sat on the ground with a thud, feeling not like being pushed by someone, but rather like being hit by a punch in the chest.

  Afterwards he kept his distance from this old lady with respect.

  Now, Hu Binbin is still over 1.7 meters tall, but Xia Wenjie has already reached her height. Of course, they have long passed the age of fighting and quarreling, but the experience of high school is still fresh in his memory, and his attitude towards her is still evasive.

  Under Hu Binbin's scrutinizing gaze, Xia Wenjie flashed a small white tooth and smiled, saying: "I'm used to it."

  Hu Binbin pouted and muttered: "No wonder you look so thin, the college entrance exam is coming up soon, supplementing nutrition is very important."

  "Hu Daban said it makes sense, I'm convinced." Xia Wenjie exaggeratedly nodded and bowed.

  Hu Binbin couldn't help but feel his own disgust, good intentions mistaken for a donkey's liver and lungs, she huffed in annoyance and turned her head back around.

  After a while, she straightened up and tilted her head back, saying in a charitable tone: "I brought too much food for lunch today, do you want some?"

  After finishing speaking, for a long time, there was no response from behind her. She couldn't help but turn her head to take a look. There was no one behind her. Looking further back, Xia Wenjie had picked up his bread and yogurt and was walking out of the classroom through the back door.

  Hu Binbin's meal was something that Xia Wenjie didn't dare to eat. If there were conflicts in the future, with this lady's temper, she could make him vomit out what he had eaten of her food.

  Xia Wenjie walked out of the classroom and went to the painting room. It was a special classroom for students taking the art exam, and there were only two or three people preparing for the art school entrance exam in the third year of high school. The painting room was usually empty most of the time.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, when Xia Wenjie entered the painting room, there was no one inside. He closed the door behind him and jumped onto a desk, munching on bread while drinking yogurt.

  After eating for a while, he freed up one hand, took out his mobile phone and dialed a number stored inside.

  Beep, beep.

  The receiver made a humming noise for a while before someone finally picked up the phone. A rough voice came from the other end: "Hello? Who is it?"

  "Is it Jin Er Ge?" Xia Wenjie asked with a mouthful of bread.

  "Who am I? Who are you?"

  "Oh, never mind, I was just asking."

  "What the f**k is wrong with you? How did you get my phone number?" His curses were cut off as Xia Wenjie directly hung up the computer.