Anan

020 The Looping Man (2)

In haste, Li Yunmo slipped into the passenger seat, observing Zhang Yanan skillfully maneuvering the gearshift and pressing the accelerator, with a sour expression. He muttered, "What first time? Your first time isn't its first time. I've been driving it for three days, and you haven't said anything, have you?"

Zhang Yanan replied, "Three days? Didn't this car just arrive today?"

Li Yunmo reached out to touch his forehead, but Zhang Yanan dodged. Li Yunmo retorted, "Are you still feverish? Dizzy? This car has been here for several days. It was I who brought it back from school for you yesterday."

Furrowing his brows slightly, Zhang Yanan finally realized what he had overlooked. His last memory was from last Friday evening, when he rescued a girl by diving into the water. He had caught a chill at that time, so he took a bath and went to bed when he got home.

Now, it was Tuesday.

Zhang Yanan drove in silence for a while before suddenly asking, "What have I done these three days? Tell me one thing at a time."

Sitting down in the classroom, Zhang Yanan was still lost in thought.

It wasn't until the academic affairs officer, with a slightly flushed face, placed a stack of copied materials in front of him, saying, "Zhang Yanan, are you feeling better? Did you finish yesterday's homework?"

Zhang Yanan glanced at the academic affairs officer, knowing she was interested in him. But he had always thought his signals of refusal were clear enough.

"What's this?" he asked.

The academic affairs officer replied, "...the review materials from yesterday. You said you wanted a copy, so I had them copied for you."

Zhang Yanan reached out with his slender, fair fingers, rubbing his temples, and said, "Thank you, I won't trouble you again in the future."

The academic affairs officer's face dimmed. "Then hand me the homework."

Zhang Yanan's body stiffened slightly. Slowly reaching into his backpack, he pulled out his workbook. He didn't remember doing his homework, but as if possessed, he opened it and took a look — completely unfamiliar elegant characters filled two large pages. With just a cursory glance, he could tell at least half of it was wrong.

Zhang Yanan quickly closed the workbook. "I haven't finished the homework. I'll turn it in tomorrow."

He pressed his chest, feeling his heart pounding wildly — he was in for a real shock underwater! And it was with a female ghost who was bad at studying!

---

In the year 2022...

Li Xinyuan stepped out of the Chenshi Bus Station, hailed a taxi, and hurried to her sister's community. Two police cars were parked there, and her heart sank as she dashed toward the residential area.

From afar, she could see a small crowd gathered downstairs at her sister's apartment building. Rushing over, she heard them discussing:

"...the ones who live in 2203... the parents called the police..."

"...said their daughter wanted to commit suicide, wouldn't open the door..."

"...the police and parents are upstairs..."

"...don't know if they've managed to open the door..."

Li Xinyuan rushed to the entrance of the building, but was stopped by the police beyond the cordon.

"My sister is Li Xiaoyi, who lives in 2203. I'm her younger sister. Let me go up!"

"No, your parents have already gone up, and the police too. We still don't know what the situation is up there. No one else can go up now. You wait here for a while."

"But..."

Li Xinyuan wanted to argue further when suddenly, a chill ran through her body, as if a cold wind from nowhere had penetrated her bones. She turned around and saw a figure falling rapidly from a height. With a loud "bang," everyone on the scene screamed and stepped back.

Li Xinyuan's legs felt like lead as she walked over, squatting down in front of her sister. Her sister's eyes were still open, not closing in death, and blood was spreading beneath her. In a daze, Li Xinyuan heard her parents' cries coming from afar. She stared at her sister, saying, "Sis, I'm late... I'm late... It's my fault, I'm so useless... Sis, don't die, don't die..."

Li Xinyuan collapsed to the ground, wailing beside her sister's remains.

At the same time, in the Xiangcheng Xianghui Attached Third Hospital's emergency room...

The lights went out, and the doctor came out, saying to Zhang Yanan, who had hurried from outside, dressed in a suit as if encased in a layer of frost, "I'm sorry, the patient took a large amount of pesticides, which are highly toxic. By the time we found out, it was too late. Multiple organ failures occurred, and we couldn't save her. Please accept our condolences."

Zhang Yanan, standing still, said, "Thank you for your hard work." Beside him, Wu Xinhui had collapsed on the ground, crying. Li Yunmo, who came with Zhang Yanan, hurriedly helped Wu Xinhui up, comforting her with red eyes, "Auntie, please accept our condolences." But he couldn't say much more.

Zhang Yanan walked into the emergency room alone.

But it seemed like he just took a turn inside. Li Yunmo had just helped Wu Xinhui to the door when he came out, except for his eyes being red, showing no emotional fluctuations.

He glanced at Li Yunmo and said, "Call the secretary and have a few people come over to help with the aftermath. When they arrive, go to the World Trade Center office building to find me. I have an appointment with Hongyun Capital at 1:30 in the afternoon. I'll go over first."

Li Yunmo opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Wu Xinhui grabbed Zhang Yanan's arm, screaming, "Your father just died, and you want to go to work? You're not human! You're not human! Do you have no heart? You beast!"

Zhang Yanan pulled his arm away from his mother's hand, roaring fiercely, "When someone dies, the debt must be repaid! I still owe 700 million, and I can pay it off in five years! But he gave up, he committed suicide! Did he think that by doing so, I could be relieved? You don't understand anything, all these years, what he endured, what I endured, you don't understand!"

Zhang Yanan walked away in big strides.

---

In Chenshi...

Li Xiaoyi's body was covered with a layer of white cloth, waiting for the police to take her away.

Almost half of the community's residents were watching. Li's mother had fainted and was taken away in an ambulance. Li's father was in tears, like a walking corpse.

Zhou Zhihao's parents and sisters also arrived. Upon learning that their son had been stabbed to death by his wife, they let out earth-shattering cries and rushed over to hit Li's family, but were stopped by the police.

Li Xinyuan had been squatting beside Li Xiaoy

i's body all along, unwilling to move. After a while, she suddenly stood up and said to her father, "Dad, you have to hold on and take care of Mom and Nuannuan. I'm leaving."

Her father couldn't believe it.