Everyone's been reborn, so who would bother finding a wife on their own?

Chapter 47

The night grew deeper.

Song Huan escorted Xiao Yunqing to her apartment building and watched her skip and hop into the stairwell, her ponytail swaying in the dim motion-activated light, before finally disappearing around the corner of the stairs.

She leaned out of the second-floor window, waved to him, and opened and closed her mouth. It was too far away to hear what she was saying, but judging from her lip movements, it was probably "See you tomorrow."

Song Huan raised her hand and waved in response, then put her hands in her school uniform pockets and turned to walk towards her home.

The October night breeze carried a thin layer of coolness.

The camphor trees on both sides of the road rustled in the wind, and a layer of dead leaves fell to the ground, making a soft, crunching sound when stepped on.

The streetlights cast a dim yellow light, spaced about ten meters apart, stretching his shadow to varying lengths.

There weren't many people on this old street at night. Most of the shops on both sides had closed, with their roller shutters pulled all the way down. Only one convenience store still had its lights on, the pale light shining through the glass door onto the several boxes of empty beverage bottles piled up at the entrance.

Occasionally, an electric scooter would pass by, its headlights sweeping across the scene before the engine's sound faded into the distance, and then the surroundings would fall silent again, leaving only the sound of Song Huan's own footsteps, one after another, unhurried and gentle.

As he walked, he suddenly paused.

About twenty meters ahead, next to the garbage collection point, stood a figure in pajamas.

Lin Yue.

She was wearing a light pink cotton nightgown with white lace trim on the cuffs and collar. It was a little worn and the color was uneven, but it was clean.

Her hair wasn't tied up; it was loose over her shoulders, and the ends were a little messy, as if she had just gotten out of bed.

He was holding a black garbage bag and tiptoeing to throw it into a garbage can that was half his height.

The garbage bag was a bit heavy, so she had to reach up to it to get it over the edge of the bin before it finally fell in with a thud.

She dusted off her hands and turned around.

Song Huan hesitated for a moment.

It's so late, why is she wandering around outside alone in her pajamas?

He wanted to go up and say hello, but as soon as he lifted his foot, he put it down again.

After feeding the cat in the alley last time, there was a subtle distance between him and Lin Yue.

They weren't far apart, but they weren't exactly close either. They would occasionally exchange a few words at school, but she would always be the one to speak first, he would respond with a couple of words, and then the conversation would end.

She was always very careful, as if she was afraid that saying even one more word would bother others.

Oh well, saying hello won't hurt.

Just as he was about to walk forward, a shadow suddenly flashed out from the alley next to him.

That was a man.

He was in his forties, very thin, with high cheekbones that cast two shadows under the streetlights.

He was wearing a dirty dark blue work jacket, the cuffs were worn white, and the oil stains on the collar had hardened into dark yellow lumps.

His hair was oily and messy, sticking to his scalp, and a thick patch of bluish stubble covered half of his face.

He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the embers flickering in the night, and smoke billowing from his nostrils, dispersing into a hazy gray mist under the streetlights.

He stepped in front of Lin Yue, blocking her way.

Lin Yue was startled and took a step back, her back hitting the metal of the trash can with a dull thud.

Her pupils dilated instantly, and her shoulders instinctively shrank.

She looked up and saw the person's face clearly. The light in her eyes dimmed instantly, replaced by an indescribable fear.

Song Huan immediately stepped forward.

"Lin Yue, right?" The man pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, held it between two fingers, and spoke in a hoarse voice with the burnt smell of cheap tobacco.

He squinted and looked Lin Yue up and down, his gaze sliding from her disheveled hair to the neckline of her pajamas, and then to her bare ankles. The way he looked at her wasn't like he was looking at a person, but rather like he was looking at an object, a thing that could be valued.

Lin Yue's shoulders tightened further. She lowered her head and whispered, "Who...who are you?"

"Don't you recognize me?" The man chuckled, revealing two rows of yellow teeth, their gaps filled with blackish-yellow tobacco stains. "Didn't your dad mention it to you? My surname is Qian, and your dad calls me Brother Qian. Your dad is Lin Suo, right? He owes me several thousand, and he's disappeared again lately."

When Lin Yue heard the name "Lin Suo," she froze for a moment, as if she had been pricked by a needle.

She bit her lip, trying to say something, but it felt like something was stuck in her throat, and she couldn't utter a single word.

She took a step back, but there was a trash can behind her, leaving her nowhere to retreat. Her plastic slippers scraped against the cement floor with a screeching sound.

"It costs several thousand yuan."

Brother Qian took a step forward, put the cigarette back in his mouth, and freed both hands. He placed one hand on the edge of the trash can, which was positioned right next to Lin Yue's body, trapping her in his shadow.

"Your dad said that since his daughter is all grown up, raising her would be a waste of time, so he might as well give her to me as a gift. I thought it was a good idea; I don't have a wife anyway, so getting a daughter right away wouldn't be a loss, don't you think?"

As he spoke, he leaned closer, his eyes becoming slick and his gaze sliding down Lin Yue's collarbone. A slight upturn at the corners of his mouth revealed a nauseating smile.

Lin Yue's face was as white as a sheet of paper.

Her lips were trembling, and her fingers were clenching the hem of her pajamas into a crumpled mess. Her eyes were glistening with tears, but she struggled to hold them back.

She opened her mouth, and the sound squeezed out from between her teeth, very soft and weak, like the wail of a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Go away... go away..."

Brother Qian's smile deepened. He reached out his other hand and touched Lin Yue's face, lowering his voice to a volume only the two of them could hear, but his words were exceptionally clear, "If you behave, your father's debts will be wiped clean. If you don't behave... I won't be so polite."

Just as his fingers were about to touch Lin Yue's face...

A hand reached out from the side and grabbed his wrist forcefully.

Brother Qian was stunned for a moment.

That hand was very strong, with hard knuckles, and its five fingers were clamped around his wrist like iron clamps. He tried to pull it back, but he couldn't.

He turned his head and met a young face.

Song Huan stood next to him, sideways, blocking Lin Yue's view.

His face showed no particular expression; he was neither angry nor nervous, as calm as a still pond.

But his eyes were not calm; there was a cold light in them, like the first layer of ice forming on a river in winter.

Brother Qian glanced at him up and down. He was a boy, barely tall enough to reach his shoulder, skinny and wiry, clearly a student.

"Where did this brat come from? Get out of here and mind your own business."

Brother Qian suddenly flicked his wrist, shaking off Song Huan's hand. He took half a step back, raised his chin, and pointed the tip at Song Huan, his impatience undisguised.

Song Huan did not back down.

He put his hands back in his pockets, tilted his head, and said in a tone as if stating a very ordinary fact, "Turn right at the intersection, walk two hundred meters straight, there's a police station. Look over there, is the light still on?"

Brother Qian's face stiffened for a moment.

He glanced instinctively toward the intersection.

Actually, you can't see the police station from this position at all, but Song Huan's tone was so calm when he said this that it left no room for doubt.

The words "police station" fell into the night air like a pebble thrown into water, rippling outwards with a chill.

"It's still early, the police officers are all on duty."

Song Huan continued, her tone even carrying a hint of friendly reminder, as natural as giving directions to a friend, "If you think a debt of a few thousand yuan is worth spending a few days in jail, then go ahead, I won't stop you."

Qian Ge's jaw muscles twitched.

He stared at Song Huan, his lips moving as if he were rapidly calculating something in his mind.