Chapter 59

  That day, she went to pick up her brother very late.

  This time, as usual, I was scolded by the female teacher, saying that it's so late to pick up the child, and they don't have overtime pay, do they really think kindergarten teachers are volunteers?

  Her face expressionless, she waited until the female teacher had walked far away before softly uttering a single word from her mouth: "Damn!"

  In this city, there are many people we dislike, and we may also be disliked by others.

  Yóu yóu led Lèi zǐ towards the direction of the old building. As they passed by that store, she deliberately stopped and took a few seconds to adjust her mood before mustering up the courage to look at the voice in the window glass. Good, this time there was no yellow raincoat. Lèi zǐ seemed not to have bullied any younger kids today either. Maybe it's because ā liàn wasn't around today.

  The last bit of twilight was squandered at dusk. The black night quickly occupied the entire sky. The streetlights came on, and the figures of people returning home under the streetlights were sometimes long and sometimes short, drifting into the darkness and suddenly disappearing. Youyou led Lezi across the crosswalk, turned a corner, and returned to the old building's street.

  The streets were still bustling with people shortly after nightfall. The ground was filled with all sorts of vague and blurry shadows, swirling together to form a small mound. Men smoking cigarettes, women speaking in shrill voices, motorcycles speeding by like strong winds, the sounds of arguments from someone's home in the residential building, all strongly filling the emptiness of the dark night.

  The stall selling zongzi had already been set up in front of the convenience store. As Youyou walked by with Leizi, Leizi suddenly pulled her back.

  "Sister, I want to eat zongzi."

  The dense meat fragrance of the zongzi seemed to permeate every inch of air around her. Youyou thought for a moment, and then walked towards the stall selling zongzi, saying to Fu Bo: "Ah, buy one zongzi."

  Fu Bo looked up at her in surprise and was stunned for a moment. She urged impatiently, "Hey, where's my zongzi?"

  "I... know."

  Fu Bo peeled open the zongzi while secretly gazing at Youyou, as if sizing her up to see if she was human or a ghost. After a long time, he finally gathered the courage to say: "Little girl, didn't you used to run down here in the middle of the night to buy zongzi?"

  Hesitated for three or four seconds before saying: "No way. I don't like eating zongzi."

  Actually, she could recall it. The other day, she was eating blood zongzi in the living room... Youyou just didn't want to mention this strange thing again. Her answer obviously reassured Fu Bo, and his action of peeling the zongzi leaves also became more agile.

  I said so, ghosts won't come out this early.

  Fu Bo peeled the zongzi and handed it over, Youyou passed the zongzi to Le Zi's hand. Fu Bo saw Le Zi and called out affectionately: "Hey, little brother, is that you."

  Le Zi obediently called out: "Uncle is well."

  Two people who knew each other had left Yu You momentarily bewildered. She was wondering how Le Zai and the zongzi seller became friends, when Fu Bo's next words immediately dispelled her doubts. He said: "This little brother comes down every night to buy zongzi from me, saying he's going back to eat with his little friends."

  "Little friend?" As soon as Youyou said this, a yellow figure appeared in his mind. In the depths of his heart, a clear "ding dong" sound echoed again, making the entire night even more eerie.

  "Lei Zai, do you often buy zongzi and... eat with Ah Lian?"

  Yu Yu asked this way, and then she really saw Le Zi nodding his head.

  "Ailian said that in the past when her mother picked her up from school, she often bought zongzi for her to eat."