Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Due to excessive blood loss, Nan Mu briefly slipped into unconsciousness.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Wen Miao lying unconscious on the ground. Beside her were Nurse Lin and Nurse Xiao Ai. Nurse Xiao Ai seemed to be trying to push Nurse Lin off the edge; both of them had half their bodies leaning out over the railing.

Where was Wen Xin? Where did he go?

Nan Mu looked around, but he couldn’t see him anywhere.

Nan Mu wanted to go over and help Wen Miao up, but his body, drained of blood, refused to cooperate. Even a simple movement like raising his hand felt incredibly difficult.

As he struggled unsteadily to his feet, Nurse Lin spotted him. She screamed at him desperately, “Help me! She’s trying to kill you both!”

Nurse Xiao Ai tried to turn around, but Nurse Lin seized the opportunity to land a punch. The situation suddenly reversed, with Nurse Lin now pinning Nurse Xiao Ai down.

Just then, the overburdened railing groaned and shook. Nurse Lin instinctively let go of Nurse Xiao Ai to steady herself. Then, with a loud “clack,” the railing snapped and broke away.

Nurse Lin instinctively took a step back, while Nurse Xiao Ai slammed hard against the ground, half her body dangling off the edge of the building.

As if a pause button had been pressed, Nurse Xiao Ai and Nurse Lin locked eyes for a split second before simultaneously lunging toward Wen Miao. With the railing gone, there was nothing blocking her; she could easily be pushed off.

Both Nurse Xiao Ai and Nurse Lin reached out for Wen Miao at the same time.

Wen Miao lay there senseless. She was wearing a white baby-doll blouse today, but now the front was soaked in blood. It looked just like… just like when she was lying in the Biology Research Lab all those years ago.

In an instant, a flood of thoughts rushed through Nan Mu’s mind.

Xiao Ai was one of Xu Lei’s people-someone sent to monitor him. Even if he saved Wen Miao now, as long as they were alive, they would try to kill her again and again…

In a flash of movement, Nan Mu threw himself at Xiao Ai with everything he had. Without the railing to stop them, Xiao Ai was easily knocked off the roof, taking him with her.

He heard himself falling at high speed, the wind whistling past his ears.

He knew this was a foolish way to handle things, but… it was the only way he had left to protect her.

He had been stabbed in the abdomen and was bleeding profusely; he no longer had the strength to guarantee he could subdue Xiao Ai. Nurse Lin was clearly no match for Xiao Ai and was already at a disadvantage. If the struggle continued, everyone might end up dead.

In that case… he might as well gamble with his life.

He would bet on whether fate would side with him and Wen Miao this time.

=== Nan Mu’s Perspective ===

I am Nan Mu, a student at A University of Science and Technology, majoring in Biology.

A University of Science and Technology is a premier institution in the country. To get into this university, I spent the first eighteen years of my life buried in my studies.

When I went to register at the school, the person in line ahead of me was a girl with a baby face. She was in the same major as me and had a very cheerful personality. She kept asking me where I was from, if I had been to City A before, and where the fun places in City A were.

I scratched the back of my head, racking my brain to search through the pitifully few places I had visited during my years of intense study. Finally, I managed to find a few decent spots to recommend to her.

We had only exchanged a few words when she suddenly started waving her hand vigorously toward someone behind me. “Miao Miao! Over here… Wen Miao! I’m over here!”

Miao Miao. Wen Miao.

When I heard that name, a chill ran down my spine, and my skin crawled.

I didn’t even have time to see what she looked like. Instead, my eyes fell instantly on the student ID pinned to her chest.
Wen as in gentle, Miao as in the second hand of a clock.

Wen Miao!

…

The reason I felt such sheer terror at this name stems from a dream I had when I was very young.

Oh, no, I shouldn’t call it a dream. Because looking back now, it might not have been a dream at all.

…

When I was little, my parents were busy with work, so they left me in the countryside to be cared for by my grandparents.

I grew up rolling around and playing in the rice paddies; I was thin and tanned dark by the sun.

When I was six, my mother worried that rural education wouldn’t keep up with the city, so she brought me back to town.

Her original plan was to put me in a preschool prep class for a year. Once I got used to city life, I’d be just the right age to start primary school.

But my mother never expected that city kids would start practicing “skin color discrimination” at such a young age. The city children were all fair-skinned and chubby, while I was the only one who looked thin and dark. Consequently, during my time in that prep class, not a single child wanted to play with me.

I was always alone, sitting by the sandpit on the playground, lonely as I toyed with the sand, watching it rustle through my fingers and fall back to the ground.

That woman appeared during that time.

Time has made it impossible for me to remember exactly what she looked like. I only know that she smelled wonderful, and her embrace was warm.

She bought me lots of delicious treats and took me to the amusement park I had been longing for. In my memory, we transferred between two subway lines-getting off at the fifth stop of Line 2 and transferring to Line 11 to the final station.

She listened to my complaints with great patience. For instance: how the other kids wouldn’t play with me because I was dark; how the other kids always made me be the “vaulting horse” because I was short; how I didn’t like city life at all because I had no friends…

But she gently stroked my head, held me, and comforted me.

She said: “In the future, you’ll have many, many friends. You won’t be dark at all; you’ll be very, very handsome, and many people will like you. You’ll also grow very tall-tall enough to easily block shots on the basketball court…”

At that time, I didn’t even know what a ‘block’ was, but I just felt it must be something very pleasant.

I loved the world she described to me, and I loved… her presence.

That day was the happiest, most joyful day I’d had since moving to the city.

…

As the sky began to darken, she brought me back to the preschool.

Before we parted, I asked her expectantly, “Will you come back tomorrow? Will we go to the amusement park again tomorrow?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she asked me if I still wanted to see her.

I nodded vigorously, and then she smiled.

She ruffled my hair and reached out her hand toward me. “Then let’s make a promise. If you can do it, then I’ll come see you again.”

I couldn’t wait to reach out and hook my pinky finger around hers. “Pinky swear, cross my heart, hope to die!”

Our agreement was this: stay away from a girl named Wen Miao, and never, ever become friends with her.

…

Later, naturally, that woman never appeared again.

…

As I grew up, I occasionally mentioned that day to my mom, but no one remembered such a woman, nor did they recall me ever being taken away from the preschool.

Mom said, “You probably just had a very realistic dream.”

Kids, after all, can’t always tell the difference between dreams and reality.

Gradually, I began to doubt my own memory: Was it just a dream? Or did I truly live through a day like that?