Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

A middle-aged woman dressed simply peeked out from under the stairs, looking out into the hallway.

"Auntie!" Zhang Qian smiled sweetly when she saw her.

"I rang the doorbell for ages and there was no answer. I thought you weren't home."

When the aunt saw it was Zhang Qian, her shoulders relaxed, and there was joy in her eyes, but even more so, weariness and worry.

"It really is Qianqian."

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and opened the door halfway.

Zhang Qian was so happy that she didn't notice anything wrong and continued talking:

"You were being so hesitant on the phone the other day. What happened that you were hiding from me?"

The aunt didn't reply, but looked around the stairwell to the left and right, glancing back and forth twice.

After confirming that no one else was following him outside, he pulled his head back.

When she turned her gaze back, she met Bai Li's gaze, who was following behind Zhang Qian:

"This is?"

Bai Li was too eye-catching, and his outfit and aura made him completely out of place in her environment.

Zhang Qian stepped half a step to the side, making room for her.

"This is my boyfriend, Bai Li."

She grabbed Bai Li's arm, her tone particularly proud.

Bai Li stood outside the door and greeted them politely.

"Hello, Auntie, you can just call me Xiaobai."

Her evasive manner suggests she's wary of someone.

Bai Li thought to himself that now was not the time to ask.

"Come in quickly."

The aunt spoke hurriedly and stepped back.

After the two went inside, she closed the security door behind her and turned the deadbolt twice.

Although the interior decoration is old, the items in the house are neatly arranged.

The floor was spotless, and the fabric sofa was covered with a floral cover.

Bai Li placed all the gifts next to the coffee table, piling them up to half a person's height.

Seeing so many things, the aunt rubbed her hands on her clothes a couple of times:

"You silly girl," she habitually scolded, "You came all this way, why did you bring anything? You're wasting money."

Zhang Qian pulled Bai Li to sit down on the sofa and went to the shoe rack to find slippers for herself.

"Oh dear," she waved her hand dismissively.

"These are just everyday items, as well as school supplies and toys I bought for Tongtong."

The aunt looked at the high-end skincare products, cherries, Lego bricks, and designer children's clothing.

"These things aren't cheap, are they? Earning money isn't easy, so we should be careful with our spending."

"It's all food and entertainment, nothing too expensive, so you can eat without worry."

Zhang Qian answered while changing her shoes, without mentioning that the pile of things cost almost six thousand yuan.

"Where are Uncle and Tongtong?"

Zhang Qian put on her slippers, sat down next to Bai Li, and casually asked a question.

When asked this, the aunt paused while pouring water.

"Your uncle is still driving a truck outside."

She carried over two glasses of cooled boiled water, added some orange powder to them, and placed them on the coffee table.

"Tongtong..."

She stopped midway through her sentence.

Bai Li looked over and saw that she was clutching the hem of her dress tightly with both hands, and her eyes were starting to redden.

It was filled with the helplessness of being driven to a dead end, and fear.

"What's wrong with Tongtong?"

Zhang Qian felt a pang of guilt when she saw her aunt's expression.

"No...it's nothing."

The aunt gritted her teeth, turned her face away, and refused to continue.

Just then.

"Mom, I'm hungry."

The door to the second bedroom was pushed open from the inside.

A little girl came out rubbing her eyes.

She was wearing a pink short-sleeved shirt and sandals, and she was very cute with two pigtails.

Bai Li leaned back on the sofa, looking at the child.

Although she was very cute, the little girl's eyes were blank and lacked the liveliness that a child should have.

What's most eye-catching is her exposed arm.

Her delicate arms were covered in bruises, with several obvious finger marks that were connected together.

Countless possibilities flashed through Bai Li's mind, but he suppressed the urge to ask immediately.

Let's ask again when Tongtong isn't around...

The little girl walked into the living room, looked up and saw Zhang Qian. A brief flash of joy crossed her eyes, but then she noticed a strange man sitting on the sofa.

She took two steps back, hid behind the door frame, covered her head with her hands, and looked terrified.

Bai Li saw all of this.

He stood up and took out the Lego toys and two boxes of imported chocolates that were on the ground.

Then he walked up to the little girl and handed her the things.

When Tongtong saw Bai Li reach out, she hid behind him, not daring to reach out and take his hand.

Seeing her like this, Bai Li became even more certain of his guess.

"Tongtong, right?" Bai Li squatted down, looked her in the eye, and patiently said:

"I'm your sister Qianqian's boyfriend. All these toys and treats are for you. You can eat and play at the same time."

Perhaps it was his naturally endearing biosignals that came into play.

Tongtong lowered her hands from her head, looked at Bai Li, and then at Zhang Qian standing next to her.

Zhang Qian quickly came over, unwrapped the chocolate, and put a piece in Tongtong's mouth.

"Is it sweet? Little White Brother picked it out especially for you."

Zhang Qian stroked Tongtong's head.

The little girl chewed on her chocolate, nodded, and finally let down her guard, sitting down on the carpet with her Lego box in her arms.

Bai Li sat down as well and patiently helped her put together the building blocks.

He found the building blocks one by one and handed them to Tongtong.

"Brother Xiaobai, where should we put this red block?" Tongtong asked softly.

"This is the roof, put it on top." Bai Li helped her put the blocks on.

Tongtong grinned; this was the first smile she had shown today.

Seeing that her aunt wouldn't say anything, Zhang Qian had no choice but to pull her to sit down on the sofa and tell her about her current situation.

She wanted to reassure her aunt and let her know that she was no longer the little girl who could only defend herself with a kitchen knife.

Only in this way can she feel at ease telling me what exactly happened.

On the carpet.

After eating her fill of chocolate, Tongtong started to feel sleepy while playing.

Her head bobbed up and down until she fell asleep on Bai Li's lap.

Bai Li picked up Tongtong, walked into the second bedroom, laid the child flat on the bed, and covered her with a small blanket.

He walked out of the second bedroom and closed the door behind him.

Upon entering the living room, Bai Li looked up, her gentle demeanor from when she was coaxing the child vanishing:

"What on earth is going on?"

From the moment we entered the house until now, everything—from the tightly locked security door and Auntie's evasive behavior to Tongtong's injuries and stress response—has been wrong.

He didn't want to beat around the bush anymore.

Zhang Qian also became anxious when she heard Bai Li speak:

"Yes, Auntie, please tell me."

"What exactly are you on guard against? Where did Tongtong get the injury on her arm?"

My aunt's lips trembled twice, and tears fell down her cheeks.

She turned her head away:

"Qianqian, stop asking. You should go back now."

"It's not that your aunt wants to hide it from you. You went through so much trouble to escape that devil's clutches, I can't just watch you fall into the same trap."

Upon hearing those words, Zhang Qian's mind went blank.

devil.

In her world, this word corresponds to only one person.

"That beast?!"

Zhang Qian jumped up from the sofa and grabbed her aunt's arms, shaking them violently.

"Was it him? He's causing you trouble?!"

Zhang Qian raised her voice, which trembled.

The feel of that kitchen knife from back then, and the man's face reeking of alcohol, were all flashing before her eyes.

The aunt was shaken until she cried, but she wouldn't admit it.

Just then.

The cell phone on the coffee table rang.

The screen lit up, displaying a string of numbers without any notes.

When the aunt saw the string of numbers, all the color drained from her face.

She frantically hung up the phone, shoved Zhang Qian aside, and stood up to push her.

"Qianqian, Xiaobai! You two hurry up and leave!"

She was surprisingly strong and pulled Zhang Qian toward the door.

"Hurry up! It'll be too late if we wait any longer!"

"He's unreasonable, he's a madman!"

Zhang Qian gripped the back of the sofa tightly with her hands, her feet rooted to the spot, refusing to move.

"I'm not leaving!"

Zhang Qian shouted, her neck stiff:

"I'm not going anywhere today! Before, I was younger and could only run around. Now my older brother is here, so we can solve anything together!"

Outside the door, a series of chaotic footsteps echoed in the hallway.

The man's steps were heavy as he climbed the stairs, his shoes dragging on the concrete steps, accompanied by his grumbling.

The footsteps stopped outside room 402.

boom!

The security door was kicked hard from the outside, and the entire door frame shook.

"Open the door!" A rough male voice came through the iron gate.

Upon hearing this sound, the aunt's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.

"It's over..." She covered her face, filled with despair.

The pounding on the door from outside grew louder and louder.

boom! boom! boom!

Accompanying the sound of the door being kicked was the clanging of metal.

The man pulled a large bunch of keys out of his pocket.

Then, a bunch of keys were inserted into the keyhole.

Click.

The sound of the lock slowly turning was amplified in the room.

......

...