Chapter 87: The Secret Hideout from Our School Days

Xiao Hechuan suddenly seemed to remember something.
“By the way, your phone kept ringing just now, so I answered it for you.”
Jiang Ciyou picked up her phone and glanced at it.
It was a call from Bo Jin Xiu.
“What did you say?”
Xiao Hechuan replied, “I just said I was your friend and you were staying at my place for the night.”
A dull ache crept back into Jiang Ciyou’s head.
“How did he react?”
Xiao Hechuan looked rather innocent. “He hung up right away.”
Jiang Ciyou rubbed her temples.
She could already picture Bo Jin Xiu in a jealous rage.
But Jiang Ciyou knew her own situation was dreadful right now.
Besides, Bo Jin Xiu only knew she suffered from insomnia.
He had no idea about the other problems, let alone her past.
And these, Jiang Ciyou had no intention of letting him know.
Her temples throbbed painfully.
She didn’t have the energy to explain anything.
More importantly, there was still one thing left unresolved.
Jiang Ciyou slept for a while longer at Xiao Hechuan’s home.
When she woke, it was already eight in the morning.
Xiao Hechuan had gone to his private clinic.
The house was unusually quiet.
This wasn’t Jiang Ciyou’s first time staying there.
During a previous episode, she had spent quite some time living here.
She was intimately familiar with every corner.
Xiao Hechuan’s apartment was a luxury penthouse in a high-end complex, situated on the top floor.
The living room boasted an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling glass.
It was spacious, with a sweeping view.
Jiang Ciyou stood barefoot before the window, her gaze fixed on the bustling world outside.
On the elevated highway, endless streams of cars flowed like the pulsing veins of the city, like blood coursing through its heart.
Every day seemed the same; the world never shifted one bit for anyone’s fate.
Jiang Ciyou pulled out her phone and made a call.
“Senior brother, I want to borrow something from you.”
A low, compelling male voice answered, “What do you want?”
“Your pet.”
Jiang Ciyou stayed in the penthouse until noon.
Only when her senior brother called to say everything was in place
did she leave.
Before leaving, Jiang Ciyou called Xia Ling.
Her voice was calm, betraying no emotion.
“Xia Ling, let’s meet.”
There was a brief silence, then an answer: “Alright, I have something to say to you too.”
“Do you remember our secret base? I’ll wait for you in the old place.”
She hung up.
Jiang Ciyou drove to Mount Qingcheng.
Mount Qingcheng was a neighborhood of luxury villas.
Each villa had its own secluded courtyard, surrounded by tall trees, affording ample privacy.
The villa at Mount Qingcheng had been a birthday gift from Feng Yuping when Jiang Ciyou turned fifteen.
Jiang Ciyou loved the environment there. In high school, she had transformed it into her secret sanctuary.
Back then, she, Xia Ling, Shen Nuo, and Yan Feng would often come here and run wild together.
Only the four of them had ever set foot inside.
Each of their faces had been registered for recognition, so any one of them could open the door.
Jiang Ciyou arrived early.
Stepping inside, she found the yard overgrown with weeds and brush.
She hadn’t set foot here in over three years.
Yet in the midst of the disarray and decay, traces of the past lingered.
There was a huge cherry tree in the yard.
Beneath it stood a swing chair.
The swing had long been worn colorless by the elements, thick with dust.
But Jiang Ciyou suddenly recalled the nights she and Xia Ling had snuggled together on that swing, watching the stars.
Xia Ling always liked to lean on her shoulder. “Xiao You, you’re like the bright moon in the sky, and I’m just an ant on the ground. Thank you for being my friend.”
“Xia Ling, what nonsense are you thinking now?” Jiang Ciyou would throw an arm around her, bold and carefree.
“You’re my moon, but not just mine. I’m so afraid one day you’ll leave me behind.”
Jiang Ciyou would stand up, hands on her hips. “You read too many books, always so sentimental.”
Then she’d stretch out her hand. “Xia Ling, we’ll always be best friends.”
Thinking of those days,
Jiang Ciyou only felt a bitter irony.
Someone she had once treated so sincerely had been the one to stab her deepest.
Jiang Ciyou went inside directly.
She descended to the basement.
She checked the things her senior brother had sent over.
Perfect.
They looked quite ravenous.
Afterward, she went up to the small attic on the top floor.
This was the surveillance room.
Outside the villa, in the yard, and down every hallway and room, there were cameras.
Jiang Ciyou powered up the surveillance equipment.
A row of monitors instantly flickered to life.
She sat in the chair, waiting leisurely.
Finally, a black Mercedes appeared in one of the feeds.
Jiang Ciyou recognized it—it was Yan Feng’s car.
Xia Ling had been driving it for the past month.
The car pulled into the yard and parked.
Just as she expected.
Xia Ling got out.
Today, she wore a white dress as always, looking delicate and pure, like a small white flower trembling in the sunlight.
Xia Ling gazed at the “ruined” yard,
seemingly lost in memory.
She stood there for a while before going inside.
Soon, Xia Ling was at the door of the surveillance room.
There was no door to the surveillance room.
In fact, Xia Ling was surprised.
Walking through the house, she noticed all the doors had been removed.
But she didn’t dwell on the reason.
Jiang Ciyou sat in the chair,
dressed in a black dress that day.
Her black wavy hair was adorned with a black butterfly clip, even her shoes were black.
From head to toe, she was shrouded in black, giving her a ghostly air.
Yet her smile was vibrant. “Xia Ling, you’re here?”
Xia Ling walked in slowly, her eyes pitiful.
Her voice was almost pleading. “Ciyou, will you help me?”
Jiang Ciyou laughed aloud, but still asked, “What do you want my help with?”
“Ah Feng doesn’t want the baby in my belly, but I can’t lose this child. Could you talk to him for me? He only listens to you now. Ciyou, please let my child go, alright?”
Jiang Ciyou laughed sardonically. “Let your child go? You really know how to twist things. What does Yan Feng wanting your child gone have to do with me? You make it sound as if I’m the one urging him to get rid of your baby. Xia Ling, you’re a master at moral blackmail.”
“That’s not what I meant. It’s just that Yan Feng feels guilty towards you, so he’s being so cruel to me. If you forgive me, he’ll be able to let go too.”
Xia Ling stood half a meter in front of Jiang Ciyou.
With a thud, she fell to her knees. “Ciyou, I’ve done many things to hurt you, but my child is innocent. For the sake of her being a life too, can’t we just let the past go?”