Following Han Xue, I tried to lighten my footsteps as much as possible as we made our way to the second floor.
Even though the room was dark, we could still see that Chen Pu’s door was half open.
Crouching, I crept closer to the doorway.
From inside, Chen Pu’s voice came through:
“I don’t know. I didn’t do anything. If it really were me, would she still be perfectly fine right now?”
“Not you? You think I didn’t see the milk this morning? And the past few days—when I wasn’t paying attention, you must have been mixing it in quite a bit, right?”
My heart jolted—it was Xu Shu’s voice.
In the darkness, Han Xue tugged at my clothes in confusion.
I shook my head at her, signaling to keep listening.
“I didn’t. Anyway, I didn’t do anything,” Chen Pu said calmly.
“You’re still denying it? Before, Chen Yang kept sleeping day after day—did you put something in her? I already felt something was off back then. The moment we talked about going to the hospital, her condition immediately improved. I didn’t think it had anything to do with you at the time—otherwise, I would’ve broken your legs before letting you do all this!”
Xu Shu’s voice rose uncontrollably, laced with anger.
After a pause, footsteps approached the door, startling Han Xue and me.
Before we could turn and hide, we realized she had only come to shut the door.
A false alarm.
I patted my chest, then leaned my ear against the door again to keep listening.
“I didn’t,” Chen Pu insisted.
“Do I have to spell out everything I saw with my own eyes before you’ll admit it?”
“What did you see?” Chen Pu’s voice turned guarded.
“Heh…” Xu Shu sneered. “What? Now you’re scared?”
“I’m asking you—what did you see?!” Chen Pu’s tone carried anger now.
“What did I see? Song Meijing! How are you connected to her? What’s your relationship with her, going over there every single day and staying all day long?”
This time, Xu Shu’s voice became calm again.
“You were following me?”
“Yes. That’s right. I was following you.”
…
The room fell silent for a while before Chen Pu spoke again:
“So what if you saw me going to Sister Meijing’s place? What does that prove? That I poisoned that bitch Chen Yang?”
Smack!
Before he could finish, a sharp slap rang out.
Then Xu Shu’s voice followed, full of frustration:
“Chen Pu! You’ve always been scheming since you were little—just like your useless father! I never imagined you’d be rotten to the core like this! Causing trouble and harming others! If I’d known, I should’ve thrown you into a pile of walkers back then and let you die!”
“What right do you have to insult my dad?!” Chen Pu’s voice trembled with anger, choked with emotion.
The slap had clearly shattered much of his defiance.
Xu Shu paused, as if reflecting on whether her words had been too harsh.
After a moment, she spoke again, her tone controlled and calmer:
“What did Song Meijing tell you to make you do something this vicious to Chen Yang? She’s pregnant—do you even know that? If something really happened, that would be two lives lost—do you understand?!”
“I know,” Chen Pu replied. “If it weren’t for that baby, she’d already be dead.”
My heart lurched.
My face froze, unsure what expression to wear.
Chen Pu… had he just admitted it?
My legs instantly went weak, and I collapsed to the ground.
Heh… just how many wrong things have I done, for a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old kid like Chen Pu to be so ruthless as to want to poison me?
Han Xue supported me from behind, worried.
Inside, Chen Pu’s voice continued:
“This has nothing to do with Sister Meijing. I did everything myself. She just told me some things Chen Yang did in the past, so I could see what kind of shameless person she really is.”
After a brief pause, he added:
“You don’t know, Sis! Sister Meijing lived with Chen Yang before—she’s watched her all along. Selfish doesn’t even begin to describe her. Do you know how many people she’s harmed because of her bad intentions? Not to mention anything else—if it weren’t for her, would Sister Xiao Xue have died? And you—you like Brother Shen Feng. Anyone can see that. But what about her? Shameless—pregnant with Suo Tian’s child, yet still stringing Shen Feng along. If she doesn’t deserve to die, then who does?”
“That’s just your own interpretation,” Xu Shu said, her tone drained of strength, filled with helplessness and sorrow.
“I understand Chen Yang better than you do. I know what kind of person she is better than you. You hear a few bits of gossip outside and come back wanting to poison this one and that one. If you really had the guts… why only poison Chen Yang? Why not poison Suo Tian too and be done with it? Then if anything happened to Chen Yang, and Suo Tian found out, you wouldn’t be in danger yourself.”
Chen Pu was left speechless by Xu Shu’s words and didn’t respond.
After my thoughts finally settled, I realized that from beginning to end, Suo Tian’s voice hadn’t been heard in the room at all.
I glanced back at Han Xue—she had clearly noticed it too and looked puzzled.
Could it be that Suo Tian wasn’t here?
I looked around, and when my gaze swept past the innermost room at the end of the second-floor corridor, it stopped.
That room used to belong to Han Xue.
Later, after arguing with Xu Shu, she moved to the third floor, and the room had been left empty.
And now, Suo Tian was leaning against that door, who knew for how long.
From the moment we came up, Han Xue and I had assumed Suo Tian would be in this room, so we hadn’t paid any attention to the rest of the corridor.
He must have realized we’d noticed him.
Suo Tian straightened up and walked toward us.
One of us sitting, one crouching, we just watched him approach, a bit confused—why had he been standing so far away while listening?
When he reached us, Suo Tian bent down and helped me up.
Then he glanced at Chen Pu’s door.
The people inside seemed to realize someone was outside; after two seconds of silence, hurried footsteps approached.
The door opened, and Xu Shu stood there.
The moment she saw the three of us, her expression changed slightly.
“You… when did you get here?”
“We…” Han Xue hesitated, glancing at me and Suo Tian before looking toward Chen Pu, who stood not far inside the doorway.
She frowned and said to Xu Shu, “We’ve been here a while. Everything we should’ve heard—and shouldn’t have—we’ve heard it all.”
After a long silence, Xu Shu opened the door wider. “Come in and talk.”
Following Suo Tian, we went inside.
The curtains were open, and the moonlight streamed in, barely enough to make out people’s faces.
Chen Pu stood there with his head lowered, seemingly not reacting much to our sudden appearance.
After closing the door, Xu Shu let out a heavy sigh and said to us, “Xiao Pu and I will move out. He’s still young. He made a mistake, but it hasn’t led to any major disaster. For my sake… please don’t hold it against him.”
“Xiao Shu…” I frowned, thought for a moment, then sighed as well and looked at Chen Pu.
“Xiao Pu, I don’t know what Song Meijing told you, but I think you must have some misunderstanding about me. If you’re unhappy about something, you can say it. If we clear things up, won’t everything be fine? Why go this far? Is hurting others what you really want?”
Hearing that, Chen Pu lifted his head and glanced at me. “There’s nothing to say.”
“What kind of attitude is that?” Han Xue snapped, her temper flaring.
“You got exposed for what you did, your sister is lowering her head and apologizing for your disgusting behavior, and you’re still acting all high and mighty! What are you so proud of? You’re just a clueless brat who knows nothing. At least you used to be obedient—now not only are you useless, you’ve stirred up this kind of infighting. We’re already struggling to guard against walkers and sudden dangers, and now you’re stabbing us in the back!”
Suo Tian had been watching Chen Pu silently, lips pressed together.
Xu Shu kept an eye on him, seemingly worried he might suddenly make a move.
As soon as Han Xue finished speaking, Xu Shu hurriedly added, “I’ll take Xiao Pu and move out. We’ll leave tomorrow—early in the morning!”
“Xiao Shu…” Seeing her, someone who never bowed to others, now apologizing so anxiously, I felt a bit pained.
Suo Tian, who had remained silent all this time, turned to Xu Shu, glanced at her, and said, “It’s fine. He’s young—so long as he corrects himself.”
Not just Xu Shu—even Han Xue looked shocked.
None of them expected Suo Tian to speak up for Chen Pu.
Chen Pu was equally surprised.
He looked at Suo Tian and said, “I won’t be grateful.”
“Xiao Pu!” Xu Shu scolded him, then turned back to Suo Tian with a grateful smile.
“I’ll keep a close eye on him from now on. I won’t let him make this kind of mistake again, and I won’t let him go out and mix with the wrong people.”
“Mm.” Suo Tian nodded, glancing at Chen Pu.
“I won’t pursue it this time. But if there’s a next time…”
He bent down, meeting Chen Pu’s eyes. “I’ll kill you.”
Xu Shu’s expression froze.
She quickly pulled Chen Pu behind her and looked at me nervously. “Chen Yang…”
Suo Tian straightened up, turned back, and wrapped an arm around me. “Let’s go back.”
Han Xue hesitated, glanced at Chen Pu, then shot him a resentful glare before turning and following us out.
Standing behind Xu Shu, Chen Pu let out a faint, almost inaudible sigh of relief after we left…
Back in the room, looking at Suo Tian’s calm expression, I asked curiously, “How did you realize Chen Pu had a problem?”
Suo Tian glanced at me. “When Yangyang was talking to me, he mentioned a few things in passing. Something felt off. Thinking it through a bit, it wasn’t hard to figure out.”
I nodded, clenching my fists in frustration. “I really didn’t expect it to be that damned Song Meijing again! Like chewing gum—she just won’t stop sticking to us!”
After getting into bed, Suo Tian pulled me into his arms and said, lips pressed together, “Song Meijing doesn’t have that kind of ability.”
— The end of the Chapter–
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