Chapter 194 — The Girl on the Ledge
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
At the doorway she had caught Liu Xinlan's shocking news, and it frightened her badly. Lan Zhi was Tang Zhi's childhood playmate; the three girls had been exceptionally close, until that business had happened...
So much time had passed that by all rights it should have been left behind, yet now, out of the blue, came word that Lan Zhi was going to jump. What was to be done?
"Mom, Wenwen and I are going to take a look!" Tang Zhi could spare no more words; she grabbed Liu Xinlan and made to run out.
"Hey... be careful..." Mother Tang hastily called after them.
"Auntie, what's going on?" Wei Zhao had only caught fragments of it, but he understood that someone was going to jump from a building.
"Ah, it's a good friend of Yun'er's, named Lan Zhi. She was hurt a few years back, and now... to think she'd actually try to jump..." Mother Tang's voice grew anxious. "No — I'd better go over and see for myself!"
But before Mother Tang's words had even landed, Kang Xiaofeng, upon hearing the name "Lan Zhi," looked as though he had been injected with a stimulant — he shot out the door like an arrow, chasing after Tang Zhi and Liu Xinlan.
Lan Zhi. Wei Zhao shook his head. No wonder Kang Xiaofeng was so frantic...
"Hm? Wei Zhao, your classmate..." Mother Tang was rather baffled by Kang Xiaofeng's behavior.
Wei Zhao of course knew why Kang Xiaofeng was acting this way, and said at once: "Auntie, let's go — we'll come take a look too..."
In front of the three-story building at the mouth of the alley, a crowd had already gathered, the scene somewhat noisy, while Tang Zhi and Liu Xinlan stood outside the crowd, at a loss. Kang Xiaofeng came running up right behind them, and as he lifted his head, his whole body gave a sudden jolt.
In the left-hand window on the third floor, the window was now thrown fully open, and leaning out over it was a girl in white — none other than Lan Zhi from the photograph. Haggard as she was, she still possessed a fragile kind of beauty that made Kang Xiaofeng's heart skip a beat.
"Xiao Fen! It's me, Liu Xinlan — Wenwen! Can you hear me?" Cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, Liu Xinlan shouted up at the building.
But Xiao Fen on the third floor seemed not to hear Liu Xinlan at all. Her expression was dazed, her gaze empty as she stared into the distance, and there was no telling what she was thinking.
"Xiao Fen, go back inside, quick — it's dangerous!" Tang Zhi was frantic too, not knowing what on earth to do.
Nearly everyone in the shantytown who had come to gawk knew that Tang Zhi and Liu Xinlan were Xiao Fen's closest friends, and the onlookers parted of their own accord to let Tang Zhi and Liu Xinlan through.
Reaching the front, they saw Lan Zhi's mother, Song Huiping, standing there in a panic, utterly at a loss, tears glinting in her eyes as she gazed up at Xiao Fen and screamed her name until her voice gave out — yet Xiao Fen paid no heed at all.
"Auntie Song, Xiao Fen, she..." Tang Zhi caught sight of Song Huiping and hurriedly asked.
"Ah, Tang Zhi, Liu Xinlan, you're here — quick, talk some sense into Xiao Fen! I don't know what's gotten into her; she's locked herself in her room threatening to jump. Her father's gone up, but he can't get the door open, and he's trying to reach a locksmith..." Anxious as Song Huiping was, she still pinned her hopes on Tang Zhi and Liu Xinlan.
Wei Zhao and Kang Xiaofeng pushed their way over as well. Kang Xiaofeng looked even more frantic than the girls, beads of sweat about to drip from his forehead: "Boss, what do we do? What do we do?"
Wei Zhao ignored him, lifting his head to look at Lan Zhi above. At this height, he was fully confident he could climb up unnoticed from the side and bring her down — but that would also expose his skills...