On My Way - Chapter 42

Chapter 42 - Isn’t a Person’s Life Worth Anything?

There was usually an old man who worked as a night watchman at the construction site, but he had gone home for the New Year's Eve.

I wrapped my coat around me and went downstairs, shouting at the top of my lungs, "Who’s there!"

A hunched figure stood before the door, appearing to be an old man. I couldn't see his face clearly in the wind and snow, only hearing him mumble vaguely: "Open the door for me! Pay up!"

My first reaction was that a worker had returned, but I had already paid everyone their wages before the holidays. I stepped a little closer and asked, "Who are you? Was there a mistake in the payment?"

The old man suddenly lunged forward. A strange, twisted face pressed tight against the iron bars, his eyeballs looking like heated glass beads. "Zhao Jianqiang! Pay the money back!"

I was startled and stepped back twice. Had it not been for the iron gate, he would have already pounced on me.

The old man patted the gate like a madman, and at the same time, I smelled a strong stench of alcohol.

"Where did this drunkard come from! How dare you come here to cause trouble! If you shout again, I'll cut your tongue out!" I casually grabbed an iron rod and slammed it hard against the gate. The impact shook the old man, and he clutched his head dramatically while muttering filth under his breath.

I watched him for a while before quickly turning and heading back upstairs.

In truth, a homeless person causing trouble wasn't a major issue; our perimeter walls and iron gate were, under normal circumstances, impossible to bypass.

But on New Year's Eve, being alone in such a remote place was, more or less, a bit unsettling.

I called the local workers, wanting to get someone to come over, but perhaps because it was the holiday, they were all playing cards, and no one answered the phone.

I looked outside from my room, but it remained pitch black, and I couldn't see a thing.

It was probably just a passing vagrant. I tilted my head to listen for a while; there were no more suspicious movements outside, and the dogs had stopped barking.

Slowly, I let my guard down, worked a little longer, and then got up to go to the bathroom.

My room was equipped with a bathroom, but the window leaked air, making it cold and eerie.

I had just squatted down when my phone buzzed.

It was Yu Shixuan.

She was probably wishing me a happy New Year. She had sent several voice messages and a photo—it was pitch black, and I couldn't make it out.

As I waited for the voice-to-text conversion, I clicked on the photo.

The photo was of our construction site, and there was something on the ground... it was the dogs.

The dogs from the site had their heads smashed in, lying on the snow, with black-red blood flowing everywhere.

I squatted there, feeling as if a basin of icy, snowy water had been poured over my head and into my very soul.

At the same time, the voice-to-text transcription appeared: "Are you at the site? Get out of there!"

"Chana received this picture on his phone, sent by someone named Old Hei. Does this have anything to do with you?"

"Run! Run! Run!"

I trembled as I lifted my head to look toward the door.

That photo was taken from inside the site, which meant that person had already gotten in.

What did he want?

The nearest police station was over an hour away, and besides, today was New Year's Eve.

Harina’s family lived nearby... but how could I run? There were only the elderly and her at their home. What would happen if they were harmed?

I sent distress messages to everyone I could, then stared at the bedroom door and slowly stood up.

The snow made every sound clear. A subtle noise came from the doorway, like someone picking the lock.

My first reaction was to move things to block the door. My only advantage now was that the intruder didn't know I was prepared.

If he heard any movement, he would become even more unscrupulous.

I walked over slowly, acting as if nothing was wrong, and sat at my desk. I used my computer to turn on the Spring Festival Gala, and the sound of happy, noisy celebration filled the room.

Meanwhile, I stood by the door, listening to the movement: a gentle turn, a click.

Before it was too late, I splashed a pot of boiling water directly at the door.

The intruder let out a scream. I didn't stop for a single second, grabbed a chair, and smashed it over his head—once, twice!

He collapsed to the ground, screaming, and I turned and ran.

My heart was pounding; I had never run this fast in my life.

I lunged toward my car in the parking area, opened the door blindly, and hit the gas, speeding away.

Just as I thought, the back gate had already been broken.

But at least... I had escaped.

I let out a breath of relief. Just as I wanted to glance at the alarm messages on my phone, I inadvertently caught a glimpse of the rearview mirror.

I was frozen in place.

The old man was sitting in the backseat, his eyes bloodshot, revealing a hideous, twisted grin at me.

"Run, huh? You're quite the runner—"

He used a wire to strangle my neck and hissed, "Stop the car!"

I rolled my eyes as I began to choke. Out of the corner of my eye, I scanned the car mirror: the snow-covered ground was dark with people—there were so many of them standing there.

This was beyond the scope of "scaring" or "warning."

It was more like they were plotting a murder.

The long period of peace had caused me to lower my guard. Chana was truly a lunatic!

"Stop the car!" the man behind me roared again.

Blood wasn't reaching my brain, and I was suffocating; I had no choice but to stop.

"Heh, you damn bitch, I told you to run!"

The man behind me loosened his grip. He prepared to open the door to get out, while the group of people approached with sinister grins.

In that very moment, I threw the car into reverse and charged directly at them.

The distance was too close, and several people were knocked to the ground instantly.

The man behind me cursed in shock and moved to come forward again.

I shifted gears violently, slammed the accelerator to the floor, and drove straight into the wall ahead.

With a boom, the car slammed into the perimeter wall, and the airbag deployed instantly.

I felt the world spinning, and something warm was trickling down my scalp.

Before I could react, the car door was ripped open. A man with a scarred face cursed and dragged me out by my hair, then punched me in the face.

"You damn bitch, you're looking for death!" My hair was grabbed—it was the old man. He yanked my head back and struck my face again and again.

I collapsed to the ground, the cold, metallic taste of iron in my mouth.

I fumbled for my pocket... I felt my lighter!

"Don't come any closer!" I used the last of my strength to prop myself up, holding the lighter toward the car: "If I die, we all die!"

The strong, pungent smell of gasoline made them hesitate for a few seconds.

At that moment, the scar-faced leader suddenly fell to the ground.

Under a crescent moon, a young girl rode a white horse, looking as if she were in an animation.

Harina held her horsewhip high, shouting something in Mongolian that I couldn't understand, and then lashed out again.

The scar-faced man’s face was covered in blood, and he shrieked in protest.

Following her were a group of elderly people, wielding various weapons but showing no fear.

Yes, though they were aged and frail, in their youth, they were warriors who could kill wolves.

I watched as Harina's grandmother ran at the very front, holding a sharp sheep-skinning knife. Her eyes were full of tears, glistening like diamonds under the moonlight.

"Gaolamini! (My child)" she said, using those calloused hands to help me up.

In the distance, the sound of police sirens drew closer.

When I woke up, two days had passed.

Bater sat by my bedside. He was over 1.9 meters tall, and for a moment, I thought I was looking at a bear.

"Dongxue, how are you?" he asked.

Harina rushed over. Her beautiful little face was incredibly pale. She cried as she said, "Sister, I thought you were like the Qinglong—I was so scared."

I felt dizzy and tried to make a joke, though it came out nonsensical: "I won't die. I still have to take you to Beijing... to eat Haagen-Dazs."

I added, "Little sister... you were amazing. You saved my life."

Harina had been playing a game when she saw my message asking her to call the police; half an hour had already passed.

She told everyone in the village and rode out on her horse, leading the charge.

Those people were fleeing fugitives. I didn't know how they had ended up passing by our site, but they had seen the steel materials and grown greedy, never expecting there would be people inside.

I stared blankly at Bater and said, "It wasn't like that, you know."

He had also received my distress message; he was the one who brought the police.

Bater didn't avoid my gaze. He said firmly, "Don't worry. I... we will definitely get to the bottom of this and get justice for you."

This incident caused a massive uproar in our company.

With so many things going wrong on one project, the company's top brass finally couldn't sit still. They abandoned their holiday breaks and took turns visiting me.

Added to the waves of police questioning, my hospital room was more bustling than a theater.

Only one person never came.

It wasn't until the evening of the third day that I was eating porridge and started vomiting from nausea. A large hand reached out to pat my back.

I lifted my head and saw Old Feng.

He looked much more haggard, his face covered in bluish stubble, and his clothes were a mess.

I vomited all over him with no hesitation.

So much for the promise of destroying Chana! Why was I the one who almost got destroyed? You high-level leaders manipulate the game, but it's us small fry underneath who suffer.

He didn't say a word, just wiped away the vomit.

"Sorry about that, Boss Feng..." I apologized half-heartedly.

"I am ashamed to face you," he said.

My stomach full of sarcasm caught in my throat. When a leader made a mistake, it was usually something everyone understood but left vague. This was the first time in the six years I had worked with him that he had been so straightforward.

"To destroy someone like Chana, you have to make him lose his mind and commit a monstrous mistake," Old Feng whispered. "That's why I suppressed his father, kept provoking him, and found a group of loan sharks to incite him to do illegal business..."

I was stunned.

"But I didn't expect he would go mad on you," Old Feng said. "When I received the news, I... I truly wanted to jump off the plane."

He sat there, his back slightly hunched, the stern lines of his face drooping downward.

I had never seen him like this; he looked like a child who had done something wrong.

"Dongxue, you won't believe it, but I would rather have died than have you suffer something like this." He looked at me with an expression I had never seen before.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth and said unnaturally, "Hey, forget it. You didn't come these past two days; I thought you were on vacation!"

He said another thing, something even more shocking: "I got a divorce."

Hm?

Was I hallucinating from a concussion?

Just as I wore an innocent, blank expression, the nurse's voice came from the door: "Ren Dongxue, your family is here."

I turned my head and looked toward the doorway.

Something even more surreal than a hallucination:

Cheng Xia and my grandmother were standing there.