Bad Person

By evening, the wind and snow had grown fiercer.

Xu Ruyi hurried home for a trip. Ding Xueyang and the baby were still in the hospital, and she had come back temporarily to pick up a few things.

Before leaving, she checked the items in her suitcase against the list she had made at the hospital. Halfway through packing, she suddenly heard the doorbell ring.

"Coming." She slipped on her slippers and headed outside. "Who is it?"

No one answered from beyond the door.

Xu Ruyi's heart suddenly leaped into her throat. Facing her front door, she again recalled that night not long ago at Songxueyuan—outside the window that night, too, wind and snow had raged like this.

"Who is it?" Xu Ruyi called again.

No one answered, but the doorbell rang twice more—the visitor outside pressed it several times in succession.

Trembling, Xu Ruyi approached the peephole and carefully looked out. She had already decided that she would take one look, note the person's features, then rush back to her room and call the police. Yet when she looked, she froze instead.

Xu Ruyi opened the door. "Jane...?"

In the dim corridor, Hesta's lips were still trembling. Unmelted snow had piled on her hat and shoulders. Xu Ruyi stepped forward and saw that Hesta's face was flushed red, both her eyes swollen from crying. She had just been about to ask what had happened when the big girl came over with muffled sobs. Xu Ruyi opened her arms and let her lean against her shoulder, then gently patted her back.

"There, there," Xu Ruyi soothed softly. "Don't be sad, don't be sad. What happened?"

Hesta seemed not to hear her. She shuddered as she choked back sobs, wrapping her arms around Xu Ruyi too.

"...Don't stand out here. Come