Chapter 9 Hand Seals

  "How come I didn't know you had such a 'colorful' neighbor? She's got looks, she's got figure, and she's so elegant. And she seems to care about you quite a bit, not bad at all! What's her surname and given name, how many people in her family, is she married?" Wang Li, although being an outgoing person, still had some basic manners, and was more reserved when facing strangers. She waited until the elevator went down before squeezing next to Su Tong who was unlocking the door, raising an eyebrow and asking with a grin, "I didn't expect you'd have such good luck with women!"

  "Look at you, drooling like that! Wipe your mouth quickly. If your family finds out you're drooling over another man, you'll be in for it!" Su Tong said with a grin as he opened the door, teasing Wang Li as usual. "But those questions you asked are pointless anyway, because my answer is none of your business!"

  "Look at you, what's with your attitude? I'm getting married soon, just taking a look at the handsome guy to satisfy my curiosity, and asking around to see if he's worth considering. Is this someone worthy of being considered as a potential partner?" Little Wang was dissatisfied with Su Tong's answer and poked her forehead with his finger.

  Su Tong had wanted to hide, but unfortunately one foot was injured. Now his whole body was in a golden rooster independent posture. If he dodged again, it would likely cause an imbalance in his body. He could only let Wang Li explain with a very helpless tone: "What are you protecting? Look at how badly you're speaking. I have nothing to report because you asked about those people's names and what they do. To be honest, if I hadn't gone to the hospital for an interview this morning and met him, I might not even know that I had such a neighbor until now."

  "Look! I finally understand why you're still single. It's not about having high standards or being unrealistic, it has nothing to do with that. Your problem is just two words - dullness! You live next door to a handsome guy and you haven't even noticed until now. Luckily, the two of you have some fate, otherwise, who knows how long it would take for you to realize your dullness? Wang Li looked at her with a 'can't believe I'm stuck with this person' expression. "Honestly, I think he was quite enthusiastic and caring towards you earlier. He stopped what he was doing to help you up the stairs, even though he had his own things to attend to. Maybe he has feelings for you? Why don't you consider it, observe him some more, feel him out? Objectively speaking, that guy is definitely top-notch in terms of looks and personality. If you want to try your luck, you should do it soon, or else you'll be left with nothing but flies buzzing around!"

  "Can't you shoo the flies away? Just now there was one buzzing around my ear, buzzing and bothering me for half a day. Later when I go back inside, the first thing I'll do is grab a fly swatter to deal with it."

  "Are you going to go out with that iron-rust look?" Su Tong opened the anti-theft door, Wang Li supported her and walked into the house, putting her on the sofa in the living room. While speaking, she walked towards the kitchen, "It's not early now, is there anything left to eat at your place? I'll just make something simple for you to eat before heading back home."

  "No need, I'm not that hungry either. You should hurry back home now, it's already past working hours. If you don't go back, your husband will be anxious and start searching for you everywhere. If I get hungry, I can just order takeout, it's very convenient. And my foot isn't a big deal, maybe after resting it won't hurt anymore." Su Tong saw that the sky outside had already darkened, afraid of giving Wang Li more trouble, so he hastily stood up from the sofa with difficulty, grabbed Wang Li and picked up her handbag which she had casually thrown on the sofa and stuffed it back into her arms. "I'm already feeling guilty for troubling you like this!"

  "Alright, I'm going back now. If anything happens or you're not feeling well, just give me a call anytime." Wang Li couldn't persuade Su Tong, so she pushed her back onto the sofa and walked to the door, then stopped and nodded towards the outside, smiling at Su Tong on the sofa, "Seriously, what a waste of good resources! If you don't take advantage of it, I'll move in with you and take care of you while you're sick. And having a handsome neighbor to look at isn't bad either! At worst, you can just charge me rent, I won't even haggle!"

  Responding to her unreasonable request was a soft and fluffy pillow flying straight at her.

  "You'd better be careful, I'll record this as evidence and play it for your family's old donkey." Su Tong dragged out Wang Li's intimate boyfriend to stop this woman who was starting to get out of hand.

  Wang Liman shrugged indifferently: "Suit yourself, anyway I'm absolutely a gentle and virtuous woman in Lao Liu's eyes, the kind that's hard to find even with a lantern. You can say whatever you want, he won't believe it. Alright alright, I won't joke around with you anymore. You, be careful tonight, if it gets too swollen or painful, call me and we'll take you to the hospital together, don't let a small problem become a big one!"

  After repeatedly reminding Su Tong of some things, Wang Li finally left Su Tong's home. Although she didn't sprain her ankle, she wore high heels to accompany Su Tong on a trip to Changqing Mountain. Coming and going, plus climbing five floors just now, she was already exhausted. Now she also wants to hurry back home to rest well.

  Without Wang Li's chatter in the house, it instantly became quiet, except for the faint sound of the second hand on the wall clock ticking away. Su Tong felt weak and limp all over, her ankle still throbbing with pain. She wanted to change into comfortable clothes, wash her hands and face, and get rid of the dust from a day of running around. But even trying to bend down to roll up her pant leg to take a look at her ankle was too much effort, it felt like all her bones had been sucked out, leaving only soft flesh behind. She didn't even want to move, just slumped against the sofa, hoping that after resting for a while she could recover some energy. After staying still and quiet for a bit, Su Tong didn't feel any more energetic, but rather her eyelids grew heavier, the fatigue of the day combined with the lack of sleep from the night before made her fall asleep without even putting up a fight, slumping against the pillow on the armrest of the sofa.

  Despite being extremely tired, Su Tong did not sleep well at all. She could feel her ankles aching vaguely and the air around her seemed to have turned somewhat cold. In her drowsy state, she shivered slightly and wanted to reach for the small blanket placed on the side of the sofa, but her body wouldn't listen to her mind. Moreover, she felt as if she could hear the faint sound of a child crying near her ears, the voice sometimes far away and sometimes close by, sometimes loud and sometimes soft, making Su Tong feel anxious in her sleep, wanting to wake up but unable to do so.

  Whose child is this, why can't the adults just coax them properly? What time is it now? Why is that kid still crying nonstop? The volume is also too disturbing.

  Su Tong had some irksome thoughts in his drowsy state.

  After a while, the crying gradually stopped and turned into children's giggles, the laughter was intermittent and penetrating, Su Tong wanted to cover his ears, but his body wouldn't listen, so he had no choice but to give up.

  It was unknown how much time had passed when her ears seemed to hear the sound of knocking on the door. The knocking was relatively gentle and not urgent, one after another. The sound of a baby's laughter in Su Tong's ear gradually weakened and disappeared. She was slowly called back to consciousness by the knocking sound, struggling to open her heavy eyelids, wanting to respond, but when she opened her mouth, she found that her throat was dry and sore, as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper, and she couldn't make a sound at all. Her body was also weak and powerless. After a good while, she finally managed to support herself and sit up from the sofa, then slowly regained her composure, stood up, and hopped on one foot to the door. She turned on the light switch on the wall and waited until she finally made it to the door, but the knocking sound had long since stopped. Su Tong stuck her eyes to the peephole and just saw the opposite door close with a bang.

  Wasn't that the neighbor from next door who came over just now? What did he come to find me for? To ask about my physical condition? No way, we've only met twice, even if he's extremely kind-hearted, it shouldn't be to the extent that he's so concerned about me.

  Su Tong hopped back to the edge of the sofa, trying to balance herself by using the tip of her injured foot to touch the ground and support her body. However, as soon as her toes made contact with the floor, a sharp pain shot through her ankle, accompanied by an intense burning sensation that was unlike any ordinary sprain.

  Was it when he fell down that he was bitten by some poisonous insect or scratched by some poisonous plant? In Su Tong's mind, the scene of the large courtyard with not a blade of grass appeared, and his heart couldn't help but become even more worried. No matter what, in a place like Changqing Mountain where the vegetation is lush, it's inexplicable that there would be only one courtyard with bare land, without any grass growing on it, and even the old tree inside the courtyard was half dead. This is absolutely abnormal!

  This is terrible, I didn't even check, what if it's really some kind of toxin? It's been half a day, it must have spread pretty badly! Su Tong thought to himself that this was not good, and hurriedly jumped in front of the sofa, bent down and carefully rolled up his pant legs, and couldn't help but be startled.

  Her ankle wasn't as swollen as she had imagined, nor was there any wound, but her ankle had turned a large patch of black, to be precise, it should be considered dark purple, like very severe bruising. Although this also looked frightening, what really shocked Su Tong was not the dark purple color, but its shape.

  That shape looks as if Su Tong's ankle had been grasped by a pair of small hands, leaving behind a dark purple handprint at the ankle.

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