Chapter 64: Caught Again

Lin Qingxue threw Su Yutao aside and kicked out at the same time. The kick landed on Luo Qianning’s stomach.

Luo Qianning flew backward, hit the wall, and collapsed to the ground. She curled up, clutching her stomach. Her face was white as paper. Her mouth was open, but no sound came out.

Lin Qingxue walked over and looked down at her. The knife was still in her hand, blood on the blade. Luo Qianning raised her head and met Lin Qingxue’s eyes.

A smile twisted her lips. It was an ugly smile, bloody and battered, but still carrying that sweet, cloying tone. “Sister Xue… you’re so cruel…”

Lin Qingxue said nothing, just watched. Luo Qianning coughed twice, then pushed herself up against the wall. She held her stomach and limped toward the other end of the alley.

After a few steps, she turned back. She glanced at Su Yutao, still curled in the corner, then at Lin Qingxue. She laughed.

“That little thing is pretty interesting. Lend her to me to play with someday.”

Lin Qingxue’s eyes turned cold. Luo Qianning had already run off. The sound of her footsteps faded, softer and softer, until there was nothing. The alley fell silent. Only Su Yutao’s trembling remained, along with the choked “huh-huh” sounds from her throat.

Lin Qingxue turned and walked back to Su Yutao. She looked down at her. The little blind girl was huddled in the corner, hugging the penguin, covered in blood.

Not her own blood, but Luo Qianning’s. There was a cigarette burn on her arm, round and red, the skin peeled back. Bruises on her legs. Her knee was scraped raw, blood smeared down her calf. She’d lost one slipper, and her bare foot was cut up from the gravel. She was curled there like a broken doll.

Lin Qingxue crouched down. She reached out and gently touched Su Yutao’s hair. Su Yutao flinched, but didn’t pull away. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she had no strength left.

Lin Qingxue’s fingers ran through her white hair and stopped at the back of her head. Her voice was light, faint, without warmth.

“I’ll settle with you when we get back.” She bent down and lifted Su Yutao from the ground. Not by the collar, but in her arms.

One hand supporting her back, the other under her knees. Su Yutao huddled in her embrace, clutching Qiansui, trembling all over. She smelled that scent. Laundry detergent, sun-dried quilts, and the metallic odor of blood.

During the day, she was laundry detergent and sunlight. At night, she was blood. Now the two smells mixed together, and Su Yutao couldn’t tell them apart. She just curled up, hugging Qiansui, burying her face in the plush fur.

Lin Qingxue carried her, walking back step by step. Her cotton slippers made no sound on the gravel. The night wind blew, cool, stirring her hair and Su Yutao’s hair.

White and black mingled together, indistinguishable. Su Yutao couldn’t cry, but her heart was shaking. She didn’t know where she was going. She only knew she had been caught again. There was no escape.

Lin Qingxue carried Su Yutao out of the alley. The night wind blew, chilly. She took a few steps and stopped. The thugs lay scattered on the street.

The one with the broken arm was still moaning. The one with the severed ear was rolling on the ground. The one knocked out by a brick lay motionless.

And the one with the broken nose was curled in the corner, trembling all over. Blood pooled everywhere, blackish under the streetlight, like spilled ink.

Lin Qingxue looked down at the mess, frowned, and clicked her tongue.

“Damn it, Luo Qianning. Finishing a mission and not applying for cleanup. What a disgusting b*tch.”

She paused, her voice turning colder.

“Can’t beat me, so you use these dirty tricks.” She held Su Yutao with one arm and pulled out her phone with the other, dialing. The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

Mole’s voice was sleepy, with a hint of caution. “Sister Lin? What now? Why do we need cleanup again? We just had one yesterday…” He paused. “And, did you find that little mute?”

Lin Qingxue’s voice was flat, but every word cut like a knife. “Say that again. I’m in a bad mood.” “If you want to be my punching bag, go ahead.”

Mole went silent immediately. Lin Qingxue gave the address. Mole said he understood and would be right there. The call ended. Lin Qingxue put the phone in her pocket and looked down at Su Yutao in her arms.

The little blind girl was huddled against her, hugging the penguin, trembling. Lin Qingxue stared for two seconds. Maybe she thought Su Yutao was too dirty. She grabbed her by the back of the collar and lifted her out of her arms.

Su Yutao was held in the air, dangling, clutching Qiansui, like a dead cat. Lin Qingxue carried her like that and turned back. Su Yutao’s feet couldn’t touch the ground. Her body swayed.

Qiansui almost slipped from her arms, but she held on tight. She didn’t dare speak, didn’t dare move, didn’t dare make a sound.

She just shrunk into herself, hugging Qiansui, waiting. Waiting to go back. Waiting for that person to throw her on the bed.

Waiting for that person to bully her. Waiting for the night to pass. Waiting for tomorrow’s daytime her to wake up, to gently touch her head, to ask if she was hungry.

Qiansui whispered in her ear.

“Are… are you okay?” Su Yutao didn’t answer. Qiansui spoke again. “Look on the bright side. You finished the mission. You saw those thugs, triggered the plot. You don’t have to go again.” Su Yutao sighed inwardly. She knew.

She knew the mission was done. But she figured she was going to get beaten again when they got back. She didn’t know how hard this time would be, how long she’d be choked, whether Qiansui would be taken away again.

In her heart, she asked, “Qiansui, can you apply for something for pain? I don’t want to get hit again.”

Qiansui was silent for a moment, then that soft voice came again, with a hint of grievance. “Mm… actually, I did apply before.

But… Sister Qianxia scolded me and said I ask for too much.” Su Yutao hugged Qiansui tighter. Qiansui whispered in her ear. “I’ll wait until she’s in a better mood, then ask her again.” Su Yutao didn’t answer. She just curled up, hugging Qiansui, waiting.

Not long after, they arrived home. Su Yutao felt the door open, and then she was thrown onto the bed. She fell into the covers, hugged Qiansui even tighter, curled into a ball, and waited.

Her body was rigid, every muscle tensed, like a string pulled to its limit. She heard that person’s footsteps moving around the room. To the window, a pause, then back.

Then the footsteps stopped, right beside the bed. That person was watching her. Su Yutao could feel that gaze on her, cold, like a knife.

She waited for fists, for slaps, for the hand around her throat, but none of them came. Instead, she heard that person let out a soft laugh.

Not a cold laugh. It was the kind of laugh you let out when you were so angry you couldn’t help it. Lin Qingxue stood by the bed, looking down at the thing on the mattress.

That little blind girl was curled up, hugging the penguin, her whole body like a taut bowstring. She was waiting to be hit. She had made herself so small, held the penguin so tight, trembling all over, but she was waiting.

Lin Qingxue watched her. For some reason, she laughed in exasperation. She bent down, grabbed Su Yutao by the back of the collar, and lifted her off the bed.

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