Walking Wen Shu Home

"Oh, right," Wen Shu asked again. "When are you planning to announce that you're a Sequence Ability User? If you don't do it before the Gaokao, you won't be able to take the assessment for Sequence Ability Users."

"I thought you'd ask when I awakened my Sequence Ability first."

"Why would I ask so many questions?"

Qin Siyang couldn't help glancing at Wen Shu again.

There was something different about her.

"Sometime soon. I need to find out what I should prepare before going to the Sequence Ability Management Bureau. My background is a little complicated, as you saw today. So I have to make sure nothing goes wrong when I register."

"Mm, that makes sense."

"I also need to learn about the assessment for Sequence Ability Users. Since I'm taking it, I want everything ready beforehand. Once I reveal my identity, all sorts of nonsense might come knocking, and dealing with it could leave me overwhelmed."

"Mm, that makes sense."

"You don't have any advice?"

Wen Shu shrugged. "Everything you said is right. I don't have any advice to offer."

"All right."

"What about Li Jingwen? How are you going to handle her? With her uncle missing, she'll probably figure out pretty soon that you're responsible."

Qin Siyang said flatly, "Give her some hope and keep her dangling."

"You mean you won't interfere with her and Zhou Yang, so she'll still have something to look forward to?"

"Exactly. Let her hang on to that hope. Once I've settled everything, I'll tear it apart myself."

"Then kill her?"

"Then kill her and her entire family."

"Mm, perfectly reasonable."

A boy and a girl with youthful faces spoke of nothing but murder. If anyone had overheard them, they would surely have dismissed it as children talking nonsense.

After a while, Qin Siyang asked, "Which college are you planning to apply to?"

"I haven't decided yet, but it has to be one that assigns private dorm rooms. I'm taking my grandmother with me."

"Are colleges with private dorm rooms rare?"

Wen Shu smiled. "I can tell you weren't paying attention during last week's schoolwide class on filling out college preferences."

"I'm a Sequence Ability User. Why would I listen to that? Isn't it a waste of time?"

"All right, you're amazing. My mistake. Of the eight colleges, only two have private dorm rooms."

"Only two? What about the others?"

"They all have shared rooms, with four or six people each."

"Sounds like the colleges with private rooms should have better facilities. They're probably the best two, right? You're so capable, you should be able to get in."

Wen Shu had been about to say something, but she glanced at Qin Siyang and saw the smile covering his face. He genuinely wished her well.

She swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue. "Mm, thank you."

Qin Siyang nodded and said nothing more.

They walked for a while longer.

Wen Shu asked, "Do you know the way?"

"No. Don't you?"

"You dragged me along while you were running. How was I supposed to remember the way?"

"...Then where have we been going all this time?"

"..."

"Forget it. Let's keep going. Once we find a main road, we'll know where we are."

They walked for another half hour before finally spotting dim streetlights.

"We've reached a main road. Let's check the signs."

"Okay."

They stepped onto the main road and checked their location, only to discover they had been walking in the exact opposite direction from home.

It would take more than forty minutes to get back.

"There are fewer people out now. I'll walk you home."

"All right. Thank you."

They walked side by side, speaking less and less.

Both had the good sense not to ask too many questions.

Neither so much as mentioned the secrets the other couldn't share.

For example, Wen Shu didn't ask what sequence Qin Siyang belonged to.

Nor did Qin Siyang ask why Wen Shu had immediately known how to deal with the smell of a corpse.

They had done something terribly wrong together, and now they were very close, yet still maintained a certain distance.

Both found that relationship comfortable.

After a while, Wen Shu said, "Qin Siyang, you're so capable and so smart. Why did you like Li Jingwen?"

Although the question didn't touch on his secrets, it made Qin Siyang feel utterly embarrassed.

He looked down at Wen Shu and found her gazing at the road ahead, seemingly without any intention of teasing him.

Yet Qin Siyang couldn't shake the feeling that she was mocking him.

"Maybe because even smart people have their stupid moments."

"Besides, I'm not smart. At least when I'm with you, I often feel a little slow."

Wen Shu gently shook her head. "Someone might be stupid for a while, but not for that long."

Qin Siyang froze briefly.

Those words touched on his most closely guarded secret.

Wen Shu seemed to be saying he was an entirely different person from before.

But how could he explain that?

After all, he had only changed completely after being reborn.

For the first time, Qin Siyang faced a question he couldn't answer.

He felt that whatever lie he told, this female classmate with her blinking, wide eyes and flowing long hair would see right through it.

Even after thinking for a long time, Qin Siyang couldn't come up with a suitable explanation.

In the end, all he could say was, "A lot of things are beyond our control."

Wen Shu nodded. "Yes. A lot of things are beyond our control."

As though she knew she couldn't press the question any further, Wen Shu fell silent.

Qin Siyang no longer felt like continuing the conversation either.

For the rest of the walk, neither said a word, letting the cold wind slip in and out of their thin jackets.

After passing one streetlight after another, they finally returned to the intersection where they would normally part after school.

Then Qin Siyang followed Wen Shu and walked her home.

"Well, I'm home. Thank you. I should invite you in for a bit, but it's really late, and I can't put you up for the night."

"It's fine. I understand. There's no need to be so formal with me."

"All right. Be careful on your way home, too."

Qin Siyang smiled at Wen Shu's bright, clear face. "You know it's other people who need to be careful. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

After watching Qin Siyang leave, Wen Shu let out a soft sigh.

The way things had unfolded today had truly gone far beyond anything she had expected. She had never imagined that even studying diligently at school could drag her into matters of life and death.

Qin Siyang had brought all of this into her life. A few days ago, they had been complete strangers. Today, they had killed someone and hidden his body together.

She couldn't help marveling at how unpredictable life was.

Wen Shu stopped thinking about Qin Siyang and took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself as much as possible.

Then she turned around and opened the door.

"Grandma, I'm home."

Her cheerful voice rang out in the doorway.

The moment she finished speaking, the candle lamp inside lit up. Although her grandmother was blind, she always sat beside the lamp before Wen Shu came home from school, waiting to light it for her when she returned.

Tonight, her grandmother had probably sat beside the lamp for three or four hours. The thought made Wen Shu's heart ache.

"You're back, Shu? Why are you so late today?"

"Yes, I'm back. Something came up, so I got home late."

Wen Shu took off her shoes at the door and walked into the room barefoot.

Although the floor was cold, she had no slippers to wear.

Her living conditions were much the same as Qin Siyang's. In fact, with an elderly woman who couldn't work to support, her burden was even heavier than his, since he only had himself to feed.

The reason she went barefoot was that the cheap, uneven composite flooring in their home was spotless.

Someone regularly took great care to clean every inch of it.

Wen Shu couldn't bear to dirty it with her shoes. If she wore them inside, her grandmother would wipe the floor all over again the next day.

It was easy to imagine how difficult wiping an entire floor would be for a blind person.

"Shu, why aren't you wearing shoes? It's so cold! Put your shoes on!"

"It's fine, Grandma. I like going barefoot. I used to run all over the house barefoot when I was little. Do you remember?"

"Of course I remember. You were a little wild thing back then. Nothing could stop you. Ah, there was still a sun in the sky in those days. In the blink of an eye, it's been ten years since the Apocalypse began."

Wen Shu stepped onto the carpet, sat beside her grandmother, and held her hand, hoping to ease the elderly woman's sadness.

After her grandmother lost her sight, Wen Shu had removed all the chairs and laid down carpets scavenged from the dump so she wouldn't bump into things at home.

She had even carried their old wooden bed out of the house. Now she and her grandmother slept on three layers of blankets spread directly on the floor.

As a result, Wen Shu's home was empty. It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say they had nothing but four bare walls.

The entire room held only one small dining table. A little candle lamp stood alone on it.

The flame flickered, illuminating the silhouettes of an old woman and a young girl leaning against each other.

Both wore smiles, seemingly content with things as they were.

After a while, Wen Shu said, "Have you eaten, Grandma? I'll make you something."

"I've eaten. Didn't you bring some leftover food back from the cafeteria yesterday? I already had that."

"Good. I was worried you'd go hungry waiting to eat with me. I haven't eaten yet, so I'll make myself a little something in a moment."

Wen Shu was just about to get up when her grandmother's aged hand caught her wrist.

"Shu, there's something I want to ask you."

"Go ahead, Grandma."

"As soon as you came home, I smelled something on you..."

Wen Shu paused, instantly growing tense, then asked with a smile, "What did you smell?"

"Someone else's scent. Shu, are you dating someone?"

Wen Shu breathed an inward sigh of relief.

She had thought her grandmother had smelled blood.

Before coming home, she had checked herself repeatedly. There had been no bloodstains on her clothes, and only dust on the soles of her shoes. She had been afraid her grandmother would smell blood and she wouldn't be able to explain it.

Ever since her grandmother's eyesight had failed, her sense of smell had become extraordinarily keen. Usually, she could even tell what dishes Wen Shu had eaten at school. Wen Shu had come home on edge today, terrified that her secret with Qin Siyang would be discovered.

"Oh, I studied with another classmate today, so some of his scent might have rubbed off on me."

"Shu, you always study by yourself. With your grades, no one in your year can help you with anything. Why would you study with someone else?"

Faced with her grandmother's concerned questioning, Wen Shu could only remain silent. The more she explained, the worse it would sound. Better not to say anything.

"I'm not trying to lecture you. But this is a crucial time before the Gaokao. You mustn't get distracted. Once you're in college, I won't stop you from dating, but don't do it now."

"Apart from you, no one at your school is certain to get into a college. Don't waste your time on them and hold yourself back."

"All right, Grandma, don't worry. I won't hold myself back. As for dating, I know what I'm doing."

Unable to explain someone else's scent on her, she could only vaguely admit to dating.

If she denied dating, was she supposed to say she had gone out and killed someone with a boy?

"That's good, then. I've always trusted you."

"Grandma, I'm going to make some food. Afterward, I still need to review a few things. You should get some rest."

"Isn't this candle lamp too dim? Studying like this is bad for your eyes. Don't end up blind like your grandmother while you're still young."

Wen Shu smiled. "Don't worry, Grandma. I know what I'm doing. I haven't given you anything to worry about all these years, have I?"

"Ah, it's my fault, too. I can't give you a good place to study. If we could afford an electric lamp, your grades would surely be even better."

Wen Shu hugged her grandmother tightly. "Grandma, being with you is what makes me happiest. Whether we have an electric lamp or not, I won't let you down! I'm going to heat up my food!"

"All right, go ahead."

Wen Shu went into the kitchen and tipped the food she had gotten from the cafeteria that day into a pot, sending a series of clatters through the room.

Like Qin Siyang, she also had the privilege of receiving extra food at the cafeteria.

But while Qin Siyang's privilege came from Auntie Zhang's sympathy, hers was a genuine privilege.

The principal had personally instructed Auntie Zhang to give Wen Shu as much food as she wanted.

As the school's top prospect in that year's Gaokao, the principal would never allow the school to shortchange her when it came to material support.

Watching the Three-Winged Flying Fish turn in the pot, Wen Shu's thoughts drifted back to everything that had happened that day.

As she listened to Wen Shu bustling around in the kitchen, her grandmother's smile gradually disappeared, leaving an expression of profound sorrow.

In the candlelight, her deeply wrinkled face held an elder's love and worry for the younger generation.

"Ah, someone else's scent on her, and a faint smell of blood..."

"Has she gone out killing with someone again?"