The train conductor standing at the door originally intended to stop Zhou Ziwei and check his ticket, but Zhou Ziwei's appearance was so sleazy that it was natural to think he wasn't a good person.
But to his surprise, the moment he raised his hand, everything went blurry before his eyes, and the lewd old man had vanished without a trace. Instead, standing in front of him was a young man carrying two large travel bags...
Zhou Ziwei got on the bus, but didn't rush to find the mentally challenged teenage assassin. He simply found a seat and sat down.
Because it was a stop along the way, the tickets sold at the station didn't have assigned seats, so there was basically no need to find a seat; it was up to whoever grabbed a seat. Although Zhou Ziwei didn't have a ticket, he still swaggered over and grabbed a seat.
Once the train started moving slowly, Zhou Ziwei released the ladybug and mosquito to help him find the young assassin.
Zhou Ziwei chose to board from the middle carriage, so that the ladybugs and mosquitoes would search at both ends. As long as they didn't fly more than 200 meters away from Zhou Ziwei, he could see everything on the train through their sensory systems. Therefore, it was no different from Zhou Ziwei going out to search on his own, but it was actually more efficient.
Finding someone in a moving crowd is difficult, but finding someone in this relatively still state is much easier. About five or six minutes later, Zhou Ziwei had already found the mentally impaired female assassin and the four young men who had abducted her through the ladybug.
However, during this time, the little mosquito was almost slapped to death by an uncle.
This startled Zhou Ziwei. After all, the little mosquito had only recently been modified by Zhou Ziwei, and its independent soul had only been formed for less than a day. Even if Zhou Ziwei's soul power had strong modification and enhancement capabilities, there wouldn't be many obvious changes. Therefore, apart from having a toxicity that could instantly put people to sleep and having gained some spirituality, the little mosquito was not much different from an ordinary mosquito. If someone were to slap it, it could still be smashed into a pile of minced meat.
Zhou Ziwei had no such worries about the ladybug. The little creature's shell was now much harder than steel. If anyone dared to slap it, the ladybug would be perfectly fine, but the person's hand would definitely get a bloody hole in it.
Startled, Zhou Ziwei quickly summoned the mosquito back and let it rest on his neck before standing up and walking toward the carriage where the teenage assassin was.
"Little sister, have something to eat! Here... I'll feed you..."
A young man with dyed blond hair took a bunch of grapes out of a plastic bag, picked one and put it into the mouth of the dazed girl, but the girl's eyes were vacant and she ignored him.
The blond-haired boy frowned, grabbed the girl's head, and shoved the grape into her mouth.
The girl, however, seemed completely oblivious to chewing. Although she was forced to eat a grape, she simply held it in her mouth without moving.
Seeing this, the blond-haired guy glanced helplessly at the tall, thin man sitting opposite him and said, "Brother... what should we do... this girl seems really stupid, she doesn't even know how to eat. I really wonder how she was raised to be this big. If she refuses to eat for several days in a row, she'll starve to death sooner or later!"
The skinny man had no better ideas, so he could only sigh and say, "I was thinking of taking her home to be your wife, but if you really can't support her, then... we might as well wait until we get to Zhongdu and just sell her somewhere."
The blond-haired guy said anxiously, "No way... bro... this girl is a little slow-witted, but she's so cute. It would be such a waste to sell her, wouldn't it? Or... I heard that if she can't eat, she can barely survive with glucose injections. Let's take her home and raise her for a while! Even if we have to sell her, well... well, we'll have to wait until I've had my way with her a few times and gotten tired of her!"
The short, fat man and a cross-eyed young man sitting next to the skinny guy across from him immediately lit up when they heard this. They hurriedly said, "Hey, Brother Dong, if you really want to take this silly girl home as your wife, then we have nothing to say. But... if you still want to sell her later, then you can't forget about us brothers... We were the four of us who found her together. We have no objection if you want to play with her for a few days first, but... after you've had your fill, we brothers have to have our turn too, right? And when it comes to how much money it makes, we brothers have to get a share."
Upon hearing this, the blond-haired man's eyes widened, and he snorted coldly, saying, "When I said I was going to take this girl away, you two were all hesitant and worried about being caught by her family. Now that we're out of Tonghai and nothing will happen, you're trying to get involved again? Where were you all before?"
The short, fat man quickly put on a fawning smile and said, "What are you saying... We were just worried about you back then, weren't we? Besides... when we did this business together, we all agreed that we would share the profits and losses. If you want to keep this girl at home as your wife, that's your own business. But if you want to sell her, then it's a business we'll all be involved in. Since it's a business we're all doing together, you, A-Dong, can't just take it all by yourself, can you?"
That's enough.
Seeing that the group was getting louder and louder, the skinny man immediately whispered and shouted, "Shut up, all of you. We can discuss these things when we get to Zhongdu. There are too many people around here. If someone hears us and calls the police, we'll all be in deep trouble."
The skinny man was clearly the leader of the four. As soon as he said that, the other three stuck out their tongues and none of them dared to say another word.
But just then, a cold voice rang out from the side: "Who are you? Where do you want to take my niece?"
The group was shocked upon hearing this and looked up in the direction of the voice, only to find that an ugly and lewd old man had appeared in front of them.
The three men, including the blond-haired guy, genuinely believed that the girl's family had come looking for her. They were all terrified, their faces turning pale, unsure of what to do. Only the skinny man frowned, sneered, and said, "Where did you come from, old man? Don't cause trouble here... Hmph, don't think you can fool us with a few lies... We don't know this girl, but we saw her almost run into a car, so we rescued her. When we asked her where she lived, she couldn't tell us. My brother, being kind, decided to adopt her as his sister. You overheard a few words and think you can come here to fool us, trying to trick her away, huh? Hmph... You're so old, yet you still have such lustful desires. Do you believe I'll slap you to death?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei's anger subsided. If the skinny man wasn't lying, then they might have unintentionally saved the young female assassin. Even if they later developed some wicked thoughts towards her, it would be considered that their good deeds and bad deeds canceled each other out.
Otherwise, Zhou Ziwei had already planned to turn all these people into idiots, but after hearing this, he decided not to make things any harder for them.
Zhou Ziwei's soul is incredibly powerful, making him highly sensitive to subtle emotional changes in others' tone of voice. Unless someone has received special training, it is difficult to hide a lie from Zhou Ziwei's eyes.
To Zhou Ziwei, these people were as insignificant as ants. Zhou Ziwei sensed that the skinny man didn't seem to be lying, so he suppressed his murderous intent. He thought about it and realized that he was the one who had ruined this young assassin. There was really no need to lower himself to the level of these ordinary people with dirty thoughts.
Zhou Ziwei swept his gaze across the men's faces again, then snorted and said, "I heard everything you said. You beasts actually planned to gang rape my niece and then sell her. Hmph, I was going to call the police and have you all arrested, but... if you really did save her once, then I'll let it go. Whether she's my niece or not, you can find out by lifting up her left sleeve. My niece has a plum blossom tattoo on her left arm. If she doesn't have that tattoo, I'll turn around and leave immediately. If she does... then all of you get out of here... don't let me see you again."
Upon hearing this, the skinny man was both surprised and puzzled. He gestured to the blond-haired guy to roll up the assassin's sleeve and take a look. After seeing that there was indeed a plum blossom-shaped tattoo on the assassin's arm, the group finally had no more doubts.
It turned out that the girl's parents had come looking for them. If they called the police, they would be unable to escape the charge of human trafficking. The group was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. Without saying a word, they turned around and ran away. They didn't even dare to go to Zhongdu and got off at the next stop.
Zhou Ziwei sat silently beside the young assassin, staring at her blank face, his heart filled with conflicting emotions.
What should I do to deal with this girl?
Volume 1: The Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 237: Are You My Wife?
Finally, they arrived at Zhongdu... Zhou Ziwei stood in front of the train station with the mentally challenged girl, looking up at the city that stood in the hazy morning light. The emotions in his heart surged up like a tidal wave once again.
Am I home? Have I finally returned here?
Looking at the familiar or unfamiliar buildings, Zhou Ziwei would feel a strange sense of intimacy, as if he were looking at every plant and tree in his own yard, which made him feel an urge to shed tears.
"Let's go! Let's have dinner first..."
After standing there for a long time, Zhou Ziwei finally took the mentally impaired girl's hand and walked towards a fast food restaurant in front of the station.
Zhou Ziwei casually ordered a few fast food dishes and sat opposite the dazed girl. He noticed that she hadn't touched her chopsticks at all, and hadn't even glanced at the food on the table. Zhou Ziwei's brows furrowed even more deeply.
Eating is a biological instinct. Generally speaking, even insects that have no intelligence know how to eat on their own after they are born. They don't need to be taught by others. Humans are the same. Newborn babies will naturally suckle their mother's nipple. Even the most mentally ill person, Zhou Ziwei has never heard of anyone being so stupid that they can't even eat.
But... why does this mentally challenged girl refuse to eat anything, or even drink a drop of water?
Looking at the increasingly haggard face of the senile girl, Zhou Ziwei once again felt a dull ache in his heart.
Although if he could turn back time and choose again, he would probably still choose to attack this teenage assassin, but... if he really had a choice, he thinks he might choose some other method to disable her fighting ability! Even turning her into a paralyzed person like he did with Cao Dong and the others would be better than leaving her dumb and stupid like this!
With another soft sigh, Zhou Ziwei grabbed the chopsticks in front of him and began to wolf down his food. In no time, he had finished all the food in front of him. Then, he took the girl's small hand, dragged her out of the fast food restaurant, and quickly found a hotel near the station to stay in.
When checking into the hotel, Zhou Ziwei had changed into a completely different person. He looked to be no more than thirty years old, not particularly handsome but not bad-looking either, with an honest and simple appearance.
It wasn't that Zhou Ziwei liked to change his identity for fun when he had nothing better to do; it was just that his original appearance was too sleazy, making people instinctively wary of him wherever he went.
If he were alone, it would be better; people might be wary, but now that he has a mentally challenged girl with him, at least nine and a half out of ten people would probably think that the girl was abducted by him.
If the police are called in then... even if Zhou Ziwei has a way to escape, he can't withstand that kind of trouble...
At this time, Zhou Ziwei used the alias Lin Xuefeng. His information and ID card showed that he was a migrant worker from Northeast China with a high school education. He had been working in the south for several years and had been wandering around for many years without returning to his hometown.
Although Zhou Ziwei's height and build are somewhat different from Lin Xuefeng's, since this man hadn't been home for many years before he died in Yunnan, even if his family encountered Zhou Ziwei, who was now impersonating him, they probably wouldn't be able to expose him.
Since the information stated that Lin Xuefeng was just a laborer, Zhou Ziwei naturally didn't dare to be too high-profile. He simply found a very ordinary hotel to stay in. The mentally challenged girl had no ability to take care of herself, so arranging a separate room for her would be tantamount to murder. Therefore, Zhou Ziwei simply asked for a double room and stayed with the mentally challenged girl.
The lower the grade of the hotel, the more lax the management. Naturally, there are many men and women who come here to check in. It's impossible for the hotel to require every guest to register their ID card. So, although the mentally challenged girl didn't have an ID card, they didn't pay any attention to her. However, the receptionist in charge of registration saw that the mentally challenged girl was so young and clearly seemed mentally unstable. She couldn't help but be a little suspicious and looked at Zhou Ziwei with disdain. But in the end, she didn't ask any more questions and checked Zhou Ziwei in as usual.
Under the strange gaze of the receptionist, Zhou Ziwei practically fled, dragging the mentally challenged girl into their room. Before Zhou Ziwei could even catch his breath and was about to let the girl rest on the bed, he suddenly noticed that the girl's jeans were wet... and getting wetter and wetter until they were dripping all over the floor...
Damn, I peed my pants... How could this happen?
Zhou Ziwei was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly felt a huge headache coming on.
Actually, he should have thought of this earlier. How could you expect someone who's so stupid that she can't even eat to go to the bathroom by herself? It's just that the girl with dementia hadn't eaten or drunk anything along the way, so she hadn't gone to the bathroom or shown any signs of this, which is why Zhou Ziwei subconsciously overlooked the problem.
The girl was urinating so badly, yet she still stood there as before. Zhou Ziwei was stunned for a long time, and could only helplessly drag her back into the bathroom. He then stripped off all her clothes without hesitation, rinsed her thoroughly under the showerhead, and then found a bath towel provided by the hotel and had her wrap it around herself. He then put her on the bed and covered her with a blanket.
Although the girl was very pure and beautiful, and had a very charming figure, perhaps because he felt guilty, or perhaps because the girl was too young, Zhou Ziwei did not have any evil thoughts when he was bathing her.
But after he finished his work, when he saw the girl lying on the bed, with her skin, white as porcelain, exposed where the blanket didn't cover her, Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Sometimes a woman's pitiful appearance can arouse a man's desire to conquer more than her hot sexiness. Zhou Ziwei can still control his behavior for the time being, but if he continues to be alone with this girl, he also doubts whether he will eventually transform into a beast.
After thinking about it, Zhou Ziwei felt that he still needed to find a nanny to take care of her, otherwise... he couldn't possibly bathe her and accompany her to the toilet every day!
However, before that, Zhou Ziwei still had to find a way to solve her food problem. If she continued to go without food and water, she might really starve to death in just a few days.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei could only buy her a set of clothes first, and then take her all the way to the most famous snack street in Zhongdu. He led her from one end to the other, hoping that something there could attract her attention. Maybe there was a snack that was her favorite food. As long as he could entice her to take a bite, he could open up a breakthrough, and then things would be much easier in the future.
But in reality, hope is always easily shattered. Zhongdu's snack street is famous throughout the country. The entire street gathers almost all the local specialties from all over the country, with thousands of varieties. But even with so many fragrant snacks placed in front of the girl, no matter where she went or what aroma she smelled, she never reacted. She remained blank and bewildered, like a piece of wood.
Zhou Ziwei became a little anxious. He bought a few snacks and brought them back to the hotel, then tried to force them into the girl's mouth. However, even if the food was forced into her mouth, the girl would never chew it or swallow it.
If you feed her water or some liquid food, you can manage to get a little bit down, but the girl doesn't actively cooperate in swallowing, which makes it easy for her to choke.
Several times, the girl coughed violently from the choking, almost rolling her eyes back, which startled Zhou Ziwei so much that he was in a panic.
Although all that effort was still ineffective, at least they managed to get some water in, preventing the girl from dying of thirst.
It seems this matter can't be rushed; we can only think of a solution later.
Zhou Ziwei had considered sending her to a mental hospital, but he figured that a mental hospital probably wouldn't have a better way to deal with a girl in such a serious condition. At most, it would be like what the blond guy on the train thought: keeping her alive by giving her IV drips. But if that were the case, the girl would eventually become no different from a living dead person.
Moreover, if Zhou Ziwei wanted to get her to the hospital, he would at least have to help her forge an ID card or something; otherwise, even if he did, they wouldn't accept her.
Putting the girl's matter aside for the time being, Zhou Ziwei finally began to consider going home to visit her. However... how should he enter the house, and how should he face his parents from his previous life?
After thinking it over for a long time, Zhou Ziwei decided that it would be better to visit his parents as his old classmate from his previous life, even though this might rekindle some of the memories his parents had already forgotten.
But he really had no other good way to get close to his parents, so he had no choice but to do this.
Although the girl is now quite dazed, she is relatively quiet. When there is nothing to do, she just lies or stands there blankly and will never do anything on her own initiative, so she is almost not dangerous.
So Zhou Ziwei simply left her alone in the hotel and assigned Xiao Wenzi to guard her. If anyone with ill intentions dared to approach the girl before Zhou Ziwei returned, Xiao Wenzi was to take them all down.
After leaving the hotel, Zhou Ziwei didn't go straight home. Instead, he went to the farmers' market and bought a lot of local products and specialties from Northeast China, especially two Korean ginseng roots, which are particularly nourishing for the elderly... Just those two ginseng roots alone cost Zhou Ziwei over 30,000 yuan. However, since they were for his parents, Zhou Ziwei naturally didn't feel bad about the price.
He originally wanted to buy some more valuable items, but he was worried that his parents wouldn't accept his gifts because they didn't know him well and didn't know his background. Besides, he didn't have much cash on him, so he had to give up for now.
After buying all these things, Zhou Ziwei specially bought a canvas bag produced in a city in Northeast China, stuffed all the items into it, and treated it as a gift he brought from the Northeast. Then he took a taxi and headed straight for his old house in Dongpu District.
This is an old building that is at least nearly thirty years old. As soon as you enter the stairwell, you can smell a pungent musty odor. The walls on both sides are covered with countless shocking cracks, and the paint is peeling off everywhere. The corridors and stairwells are piled with all kinds of clutter. You never know when a huge rat might crawl out from somewhere. The rat seems to be guarding its territory and doesn't even bother to make way for people walking by.
This place is much more dilapidated than it was three years ago...
Zhou Ziwei sighed inwardly and continued climbing upstairs. In his previous life, he lived on the fourth floor. This building only had six floors in total, and there was no elevator. The only way to go up and down was by climbing the stairs.
Originally, this building was located in one of the earliest developed areas of Zhongdu, and was among the first buildings to be erected in the city. However, this area has now become a slum where only the poorest people in Zhongdu live. The slogan of renovating the old city has been around for many years, but because this area has no commercial value, no real estate business association is willing to invest here, and the government is unwilling to spend money on it. As a result, this dilapidated building has been standing here for a long time, ignored by everyone.
Zhou Ziwei endured the unpleasant smell in the corridor and finally climbed to the fourth floor, only to find that the familiar door was not only tightly closed, but also had a "For Rent" notice posted on it.
My parents moved!
Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback when he saw the notice. Then he looked at the phone number written on the notice and realized it was not his father's old mobile phone number. After hesitating for a moment, he finally used a phone card that he had just bought in Zhongdu to call the number on the notice.
If his parents had indeed moved, then Zhou Ziwei could only try to find them through this phone call; otherwise, relying on the neighbors would be impossible.
Neighborhood relations in modern metropolises are always like this; people living in the same building may not even know each other, and it's quite possible that they don't even know each other's genders. If you were to ask them about the whereabouts of Mr. and Mrs. Yang, it would be like asking a blind person for directions.
The call went through quickly, and the other person answered politely before asking, "May I ask who this is, and what can I do for you?"
Zhou Ziwei was slightly stunned for a moment after hearing that elegant and melodious voice before he came to his senses.
It was Yu Xiaoru's voice. He probably hadn't paid much attention to this voice in his previous life. Back then, she was just his girlfriend's younger sister. Although this girlfriend's younger sister was even more beautiful and younger than his girlfriend, Zhou Ziwei wasn't so beastly as to want to have his way with both sisters. Because they had known each other since Yu Xiaoru was very young, Zhou Ziwei had always treated Yu Xiaoru like his own younger sister.
He took good care of her in daily life, but didn't pay too much attention to her, so as not to cause Yu Xiaoya to misunderstand.
It wasn't until Zhou Ziwei and his sister were framed and imprisoned by Huang Lianshu that he learned what had happened in his family and realized how different Yu Xiaoru was from her sister.
He was really regretful at that time, regretting that he had fallen for Yu Xiaoya, that worldly and heartless woman, and why his girlfriend wasn't a good girl like Yu Xiaoru.