Chapter 4: The sky is falling

Yang Xichen needed to calm down alone, so he nodded, took the washbasin from under the bed and the towel hanging on the end of the bed, and turned to go to the water room.

Arriving at the quiet water room, Yang Xichen took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

After dispelling the distracting thoughts in his mind, he turned on the faucet and filled half a basin of water, wrung the wet towel half dry and rubbed it on his face.

Immediately afterward, a very fresh and slightly sweet fragrance drilled into his nostrils.

Yang Xichen had smelled this scent on Haitang before.

His action of wiping his face paused, and he realized that the fragrance was Haitang’s body fragrance. He quickly took off the towel and threw it back into the basin as if it were burning.

But this body fragrance aroused the throbbing that he had forcibly suppressed, and his heart, which had just calmed down, began to beat violently again.

His body temperature, which had just returned to normal, also rose uncontrollably.

Yang Xichen quickly unbuttoned his collar, but still felt unbearably hot.

His eyes swept over the faucet, and he quickly turned it on, scooping up the cool tap water and pouring it on his face continuously.

The cold water washed over him, allowing him to calm down again.

After the water on his face dried naturally, he picked up the basin and the wrung-out towel and walked out of the water room, only to see Haitang standing outside the water room.

Yang Xichen panicked for no reason: “Tang, Tangtang, why are you here?”

Haitang didn’t notice Yang Xichen’s abnormality and said worriedly, “Brother Xichen, you’ve been in the water room for a bit long, I was worried, so I came to take a look.”

Yang Xichen avoided the question of being in the water room for a long time and comforted her: “With my skills, nothing will happen, don’t worry, let’s go back to the ward.”

Haitang was indeed distracted.

Returning to the ward, Yang Xichen helped Haitang onto the bed, covered her with the quilt, and sat down by the bed, saying, “Sleep, I’ll be here with you.”

After tossing for most of the night, Haitang was actually at her limit. She had been holding on and not sleeping before because she was worried about Yang Xichen.

Now that Yang Xichen was by her side, she relaxed and quickly fell asleep.

Looking at Haitang’s sweet sleeping face, Yang Xichen’s gaze uncontrollably fell on Haitang’s small face, from her eyebrows to her closed eyes, to her delicate nose, and then to her lips, which had no color due to her illness and were dry and peeling due to the fever.

When his hand was about to touch her lips, Yang Xichen woke up instantly and quickly got up and avoided going outside the ward, and then sat alone outside the ward all night to avoid suspicion.

The next day, because Haitang didn’t have a recurrence of fever, she went through the discharge procedures on the doctor’s recommendation.

But at the hospital gate, they ran into her cousin-in-law, Song Zhaodi, who had received the news and came to the hospital to collect Hai Jinbao’s body.

Haitang’s gaze first fell on Song Zhaodi’s eyes. Although her eyes were red, there wasn’t much sadness.

Haitang could understand this, after all, her uncle and aunt and cousin often beat and scolded her cousin-in-law. Those who were in jail were in jail, and those who were dead were dead. For her cousin-in-law, it was a relief.

However, polite words still had to be said, but before Haitang could speak, Song Zhaodi took the lead and said, “Tangtang, I have something for you.”

Saying that, Song Zhaodi took out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Haitang, and continued to explain: “This is your application form, which Dad took from your school’s admissions office.

Now that they are all in jail, I have nothing to be afraid of, so I stole this application form and returned it to you, so you can make plans early.”

Haitang took the application form with trembling hands and opened it. When she saw the familiar words on the application form, Haitang only felt that the sky had fallen.

Her college dream was shattered, and large tears welled up from her eyes one after another.

Seeing the little girl shedding small pearls, Yang Xichen’s heart ached, and he subconsciously reached out to wipe away her tears.

But Haitang, who quickly struggled out of the sad and desperate emotions, raised her hand to wipe away her tears first.

Then she looked at Yang Xichen: “Brother Xichen, can you help me transfer to high school in Beidu? I want to repeat a year.”

Yang Xichen’s outstretched hand froze awkwardly in the air, and then moved a little to the side, landing on Haitang’s shoulder: “No problem, then come back to Beidu with me tomorrow afternoon.”

With the matter of repeating a year settled, Haitang felt at ease and smiled sweetly at Yang Xichen: “Thank you, Brother Xichen.”

Then she turned her gaze and landed on Song Zhaodi: “Cousin-in-law, when are you going back to the village? I’ll go back with you to pack my things.”

Song Zhaodi said hesitantly: “Tangtang, I don’t know how long I’ll be delayed here. Xiao Ya and Xiao Bao are at home, why don’t you go by yourself first.”

Yang Xichen interjected at this time: “Tangtang, I’m going to Dahuai Village in a while, you come with me.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to Brother Xichen.” With a ride, Haitang didn’t refuse, and then said to Song Zhaodi: “Cousin-in-law, from now on, you will be the head of the family, educate Xiao Ya and Xiao Bao well, and when they become successful, your good fortune will be behind you.”

Song Zhaodi nodded: “Tangtang, take care of yourself when you go to Beidu, go quickly.”

After speaking, she pushed Haitang, and she herself turned around with red eyes and walked quickly into the hospital.

Haitang watched her cousin-in-law enter the hospital and went with Yang Xichen to the guest house where they were staying, and opened another guest room.

After putting things in the guest room, Yang Xichen first took Haitang to the state-owned restaurant for breakfast, and then drove her to Dahuai Village.

When they arrived at Dahuai Village, Yang Xichen first sent Haitang to the Hai family.

Then he went to the village branch and mentioned to the village secretary Jiang He about the relocation of Professor Li’s father’s grave, asked Jiang He to help find someone to dig the grave, and then returned to the Hai family.

At this time, Haitang had packed all her things. She didn’t have many clothes of her own. She had three sets of seasonal clothes, and the rest were all books.

Returning to the guest house, Yang Xichen moved Haitang’s things into the guest room where she was staying.

He also went to Professor Li’s guest room and informed Professor Li that Haitang would be returning to Beidu with him.

After lunch at noon, returning to the guest house, Yang Xichen went out while everyone was taking a nap.

He came to a very secluded alley and came to the yard at the end of the alley.

The one who opened the door was a one-eyed old man with gray hair and beard.

Yang Xichen raised a very small iron plate with a skull pattern in his hand. A look of respect flashed in the old man’s one eye, and he made a gesture of invitation.

Entering the yard, Yang Xichen glanced around and landed under the grape trellis in the yard. He stepped forward and sat on the small stool under the grape trellis.

The old man sat down opposite Yang Xichen, poured a cup of tea, and asked while handing it to Yang Xichen, “I wonder what your instructions are?”

Yang Xichen took the tea and said coldly, “Find out the evidence of the crimes committed by Director Du and his wife of the Xiyun Town Cotton Mill and send it anonymously to the Public Security Bureau.

I don’t care who is supporting them behind their backs, this couple must be sent to prison.

In addition, a man named Hai Dafu and a woman named Wang Yinzhi have recently entered the prison.

You say hello inside and have fun with that couple. I hope they will spend the rest of their lives in a mental hospital.”