Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Huang Yuanrui set her phone on the bed, video chatting with her best friend while painting her toenails.

Xixi: “Can you pick up the phone? This angle makes your face look huge!”

Huang Yuanrui: “Ugh, I’m doing my toes. I’ll pick it up when I’m done. For now, you’ll just have to settle for the foot-eye view.”

Xixi: “How’ve things been lately?”

Huang Yuanrui: “Same old, same old. Just grinding away, playing the long game. Oh, right, I did a MPT ultrasound treatment yesterday. Can you tell if my face looks different?”

Xixi: “Isn’t that stuff for people in their thirties? Aren’t you worried about overdoing the anti-aging and turning back into an infant?”

Huang Yuanrui: “What the hell do you know? I also got skin boosters. Qin Song used that dog mouth of his to say my face looks greasy every time I get them done.”

Xixi: “What the hell does he know?”

Huang Yuanrui gave a cold sneer. “He’s a total psycho. The man is nearly seventy, yet there he is, debating with that Big-Head Hu about whether the ‘He’ in ‘Liang He’ refers to a man or a woman. Stupid dog. He even told me I should read more books, just because I said Zhao Hede was a man.”

Xixi: “What kind of nonsense is that? But… you didn’t actually say Zhao Hede was a man, did you? You really should read a book or two!”

Huang Yuanrui finally finished painting her nails and waved her feet in the air to dry them. “I’m not listening to any of you. I’m going to keep having my fun. Besides, I don’t have to pay for room or board.”

***

School was out for summer break, and Zhang Qiong’s two children were going back to their father’s hometown to play. There were many peach trees there.

The family had finally moved past the shadow of the dead rat incident.

Zhang Qiong’s husband hadn’t agreed to her suggestion of calling the police. He said the neighborhood was too old and didn’t have a single security camera, so reporting it would be a waste of time.

He didn’t agree to getting a dog, either. Large breeds ate more than humans, and he claimed they couldn’t afford it.

He shot down every idea, finally concluding dismissively that it was probably just a prank and that the whole thing was over anyway.

Zhang Qiong was deeply disappointed in him.

Every year at this time, the peaches grown by her in-laws would reach their sweetest peak of ripeness.

A leisurely summer break in the beautiful countryside would be the children’s fondest childhood memory.

Zhang Qiong packed plenty of luggage for the kids and prepared some gifts for her in-laws.

Zhang Qiong patted the car door. “Is there enough gas?”

Zhang Qiong’s husband: “Not much. I’ll find a station and fill up before we hit the highway.”

Zhang Qiong: “Maybe we should switch to an EV later. A lot of people at my office have traded their gas cars for electric.”

Taotao ran out of the house clutching a bag of toys. “Dad! I’m ready! When are we leaving?”

Zhang Qiong: “Why don’t you go to the station near the house first? Don’t wait until you’re on the road; what if there’s a line?”

Taotao: “Take me, take me! I can’t sit still at home, I’m too excited!”

Zhang Qiong’s husband nodded and took their son to get gas first.

Zhang Qiong turned and went to the basement; she wanted to bring two more jugs of peanut oil for the elders.

When she returned to the front door with the oil, she found that her son had forgotten to close it when he ran out.

“That little brat, forgot again,” Zhang Qiong muttered as she stepped inside.

“Mom, I’ve finished packing! Look, I want to bring these two squishies back for Grandma to play with!”

Qiqi ran happily out of her room, showing Zhang Qiong the cake-shaped squishy toys in her hand.

Zhang Qiong smiled and said, “Alright, alright, take them. Let’s see if your grandma can guess if it’s a real cake or not.”

Qiqi carefully tucked the squishies into her pocket. “Let’s go!”

Zhang Qiong: “Your dad and brother went to gas up the car. Come on, let’s go down and wait for them.”

After loading the two jugs of oil into the trunk, Zhang Qiong tapped on the passenger door, signaling for her son to roll down the window.

“What is it, Naggy Mom?”

Zhang Qiong: “You little brat, you ran out and didn’t close the door! Do you know how many mosquitoes get in during the summer?”

Taotao playfully stuck out his tongue. “Blehhh! I’ll remember next time! But anyway, they won’t be biting me tonight!”

Zhang Qiong: “Go ahead and be smug. There are even more mosquitoes in the countryside-big black ones that’ll leave your legs covered in bumps!”

Zhang Qiong’s husband: “Alright, we’ll call you when we get there! We’re off!”

After seeing them off, Zhang Qiong returned to the house alone.

She sent a message to Qin Song: “Can you come over tonight?”

Qin Song: “Sister, I can’t tonight. He Qian has a fever, I have to bring some medicine home to her this evening.”

Zhang Qiong: “Okay.”

Zhang Qiong then messaged Liang He: “Where are you today? Want to grab dinner tonight?”

Liang He sent back a photo of the beach.

“My son wanted to come to Sanya after his exams. This is our third day here. We’re heading back to City A the day after tomorrow. I’ll find a chance to have dinner with you then.”

Zhang Qiong: “Okay.”

She tapped on the photo to take a look. The seawater was crystal clear, and the beach was crowded. There were couples taking photos of each other and children digging in the sand with shovels. They all looked very happy.
She envied them so much; she wanted to go to the beach and feel the sand between her toes too.

She sat down on the sofa, propped a cushion behind her lower back, and spent the afternoon organizing work files on her laptop.

Checking the time, she realized it was already dinner time, and the sky had begun to darken.

Feeling far too lazy to cook, she ordered delivery for herself.

When the delivery rider took the elevator up, Zhang Qiong heard the commotion.

At times like this, she always felt exceptionally nervous.

Everyone has something they fear. Some fear birds, some fear insects, and some fear clusters of small holes.

As mentioned before, Zhang Qiong was terrified of the sound of knocking. This was also why she rarely ordered delivery.

Zhang Qiong had been in the living room, but upon hearing the elevator, she retreated to the bedroom. In there, the sound of the knocking would be slightly muffled.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

Despite being mentally prepared, Zhang Qiong still flinched-this delivery rider’s knocking was unusually loud.

She called out loudly, “Hello! Just leave it at the door, please!”

*Knock, knock, knock!*

The person outside acted as if they hadn’t heard her. He kept knocking while simultaneously dialing Zhang Qiong’s phone.

Zhang Qiong answered, but the other party hung up without making a sound.

Zhang Qiong walked out of the bedroom and opened the front door.

The delivery rider, wearing a helmet and a black mask, handed the food to her without saying a word.

Zhang Qiong took the delivery and closed the door, thinking the rider was very strange. The knocking had been thunderous, he had hung up immediately after the call connected, and he hadn’t politely said, “Hello, here is your delivery,” like other riders did.

She sent a message to Liang He to tell him about it, and his reply instantly cleared up her confusion.

Liang He: “He’s a deaf-mute delivery rider. People with hearing impairments tend to knock extra loudly. He called to remind you to open the door, and he hung up because he can’t communicate with you verbally. My family orders delivery often, and we’ve encountered this many times. There’s no need to be afraid. It’s a good thing that people with disabilities are able to find employment.”

Only then did Zhang Qiong relax, feeling that she had been quite foolish.

That evening, Zhang Qiong felt bored. She wanted to message Liang He but was afraid of interrupting his rare father-son vacation time. In the end, she scrolled through short videos for a while and went to bed early.

She had a dream. She dreamed she was home alone and had ordered delivery again.

Hearing the elevator, she ran to the bedroom like a child to wait for the knocking to start.

It seemed to be that same deaf-mute delivery rider in the black mask and helmet again.

He pounded on the door with heavy thuds, the sound even louder than before. In the bedroom, Zhang Qiong’s heart gave a startled jolt.

She walked quickly to the door. She couldn’t take it anymore; the knocking was getting louder and louder.

*Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!*

She swung the door open. Sure enough, it was the same delivery rider! He politely handed the bag to her and said, “Hello, here is your delivery.”

Zhang Qiong hurriedly replied, “Oh, thank you.”

She placed the food on the living room table, unwrapped it, and began to eat.

As she ate, her eyes suddenly widened.

Wait, wasn’t this delivery rider deaf and mute? How did he just speak?

*Knock, knock, knock!*

The knocking started again. The delivery rider was back!

Zhang Qiong panicked-he had clearly finished the delivery. She hadn’t given him a bad review or a complaint, so why was he back?

She crept to the door, opened it just a crack while gripping the handle tightly, and asked tentatively, “Hello? Is something wrong?”

The light in the hallway seemed to be broken; it was pitch black outside.

In the darkness, the delivery rider slowly leaned toward the crack in the door. He lowered his voice, speaking almost face-to-face with Zhang Qiong:

“You forgot to close the door. It looks like a lot of mosquitoes got into your house.”

With a loud *thud*, Zhang Qiong slammed the door shut.

Terrified, she called her husband with trembling hands.

Zhang Qiong’s husband: “We’re playing on the beach. It’s very cool here.”

Zhang Qiong: “What beach? Didn’t you go back to your hometown?”

Zhang Qiong’s husband said with a chuckle, “Taotao and Qiqi have fevers. I brought them into the seawater to cool them down.”

Zhang Qiong hung up the phone.

Everything was a mess, a total mess! How could Taotao and Qiqi have fevers? They weren’t the ones who were supposed to be sick!

Who was the one with the fever? Zhang Qiong struggled to think-it was He Qian! Qin Song had said during the day that he was going home to take care of her!

This is a dream!

Zhang Qiong struggled to wake up from the dream. She lay in bed gasping for air, slowly trying to calm her emotions.

She checked her phone; it was already two in the morning.

*Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!*

Sudden, thunderous knocking rang out again in the dead of night.

But this time, she wasn’t dreaming.