The night passed, and a new day dawned in the abandoned building.
Qiao Hua had not slept all night. She kept sawing at the ropes around her wrists with a broken tile she had found, finally cutting through them as a faint ray of sunlight slipped through one corner of the window.
With a soft thud, the rope fell to the floor in two pieces.
The prolonged binding and friction had rubbed her wrists raw, and faint traces of blood seeped through her skin.
Ignoring the pain, Qiao Hua bent down and untied the ropes around her ankles. The moment she was free, she went to the window.
The windows of the abandoned building had been crudely sealed, with the covering coming loose at the corners. She peered through a gap and found the surroundings deserted, as though the whole area had been abandoned.
It seemed Zhou Qiwen had deliberately chosen this place to avoid being discovered.
Then Qiao Hua noticed an abandoned factory across the way. Although its sign had been removed, she could still make out faint traces left behind.
She narrowed her eyes and studied it carefully. After several minutes, she finally deciphered the factory's name: Wanlong Factory.
Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded outside.
Her heart jolted. She hurried back to the chair, picked up the ropes from the floor, and looped them around her wrists and legs, pretending she was still tied up.
A moment later, Zhou Qiwen walked in and found Qiao Hua sitting in the corner with her eyes open, her body slightly tense.
Zhou Qiwen tossed what he was holding in front of Qiao Hua. It was the same bread as yesterday.
Qiao Hua glanced at the food by her feet but did not move.
Seeing that she had not touched the bread