A Cold and Aloof Top Student Is Relied Upon - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Escape

◎Imprisonment◎

This was the third day that Bai Tan had sent Gu Zhu messages with no reply.

She looked at the chat interface, which was filled with her own messages, and frowned. She was worried that something had happened to Gu Zhu after that night.

After thinking for a moment, she decided to call Chang Yuehua. The other woman, upon hearing the situation, also felt something was off. Even Chang Xiling was constantly on her phone during the holiday. Gu Zhu, no matter how busy, wouldn’t have zero time to check her phone. Chang Yuehua pondered for a moment: “Don’t worry, I’ll call her mother first to ask and then let you know.”

“Thank you, Auntie!” Bai Tan hung up the phone. While waiting for the reply, she sent a message to Li Jiajia. If she remembered correctly, tomorrow, on the 15th, Gu Zhu was supposed to go to Shengcheng for the summer camp training. They should have been in contact these past few days.

Li Jiajia replied quickly. She also couldn’t get in touch with Gu Zhu. She was just about to go on a home visit with their homeroom teacher, Lin Qingmei. Their biggest fear had come true: just like last year, right before she was supposed to leave, Gu Zhu was locked up by her mother. And last year, it was for the finals.

“Your teacher Lin and I are on our way now. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

Bai Tan could hear the sound of traffic on the other end. She nodded and hung up, then ran downstairs. Luo Ning wasn’t there. Xiao Zhang, seeing her about to leave, quickly got up to follow her, but she stopped him from a distance: “I’m going out, no need to follow me.” In a moment, she rode her small electric bike out of the alley and disappeared without a trace.

On the way, her phone chimed with a new message notification. She paused by the side of the road and opened it. It was Chang Yuehua’s reply, along with Gu Zhu’s home address. Chang Yuehua also said she was on her way, her voice message sounding both angry and anxious.

Bai Tan didn’t delay any longer and headed straight for Gu Zhu’s house. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, the air was humid, and it felt like it was about to rain.

When she arrived, she met Li Jiajia and Lin Qingmei at the alley entrance. They were surprised to see her there so quickly. Bai Tan followed them to the small building. She knew Gu Zhu’s mother wasn’t fond of her, so she didn’t plan to go inside. She just wanted to be as close to Gu Zhu as possible.

When they reached the second floor, there was a small platform above the corner. The platform faced a window. While Li Jiajia and Lin Qingmei went to ring the doorbell, Bai Tan waited a moment, heard the door open, propped her hands on the platform, and leaped up.

The window was surrounded by a security grid, with only a small gap left open. She tiptoed and strained to look inside. From the bookcase she could see, she guessed this was Gu Zhu’s room.

The soundproofing here wasn’t very good, and she could hear Li Jiajia’s agitated voice from time to time, likely frustrated by Gu Baozhi.

Gu Zhu was leaning against her bedroom door, listening to the two teachers’ earnest and heartfelt words to her mother. Her face was numb, and the light in her eyes was dim. It’s no use, she thought. No one could pull Gu Baozhi out of her stubborn mindset.

Shengcheng, she repeated in her mind. Why does it have to be Shengcheng again?

This city, which was so far from Hong Kong, was where Zhu Li lived. It was also the place where Gu Baolin had fled, a place of immense pain.

And it was the city where Gu Baozhi once worked and heard about her sister’s story.

Things were always so coincidental, so inconveniently arranged. One city connected two lives: one already buried in cruel time, and the other just growing into adulthood.

In Gu Baozhi’s mind, that place was worse than floods, ferocious beasts, tigers, and wolves. It was a terrifying place that would devour the people she loved.

So no matter how many reasons Lin Qingmei and Li Jiajia gave to persuade her, she couldn’t agree. It didn’t matter if Gu Zhu missed the competition. She could take the college entrance exam, and with her grades, getting into a good university was more than enough. Even if she didn’t do well, she could support her for a lifetime, and when she got old, others would take care of her.

As long as she walked a righteous path and didn’t make the same mistakes as Gu Baolin, her Zhuzi would surely live a smooth life.

So after Li Jiajia finished speaking, she still shook her head, her voice apologetic. “We are sorry to the school and the teachers for their hard work and your concern, but we have our own difficulties. Gu Zhu really can’t go to this training. I sincerely apologize to you. I’m truly sorry. Please go home now, both of you.”

“Mrs. Gu, if you really want what’s best for Gu Zhu, you should respect her opinion. Last year you locked her up at home, and it took a long time for her to recover from a serious illness. You even wrote a letter of guarantee in front of me. As a mother, how can you knowingly make the same mistake and break your word?”

Lin Qingmei had been a homeroom teacher for so many years, but this was the first time she had met such a stubborn parent. Gu Baozhi’s relationship with her was the closest of all her students; she often asked about Gu Zhu’s performance at school. Lin Qingmei had vaguely felt that Gu Baozhi’s concern for Gu Zhu was overly cautious and controlling, but this was the first time she had seen a parent disregard their child’s future by locking her up at home and preventing her from going to a competition.

She had a daughter herself, so this situation made her heart ache with anger, but she still tried to control her irrational behavior, hoping to reason with Gu Baozhi.

“Enough! What do you know? Since you know nothing, don’t interfere in my family matters!”

The negotiation continued outside. Gu Zhu was disheartened and apathetic. Because of her poor emotional state these past few days, she hadn’t eaten much and was feeling weak, so her breathing was much deeper than usual. She buried her head in her knees. The tinnitus continued, making her feel nauseous.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the window.

Gu Zhu thought it was a hallucination and just glanced up. But then came another light tapping sound, and another.

She froze in place. Through the transparent glass, a shadow of a hand was visible, blurry yet real. She thought of something, and her heart began to beat faster and faster, a heavy, urgent pounding. She tried to stand up suddenly, but her head felt muddled, and the sudden darkness made her stumble back down.

“Thump—” Her shoulder hit the edge of the bed. Ignoring the pain, she scrambled up when her vision cleared, ran to the window, and forcefully pulled it open.

The old window made a rumbling sound as its rusty track slid open. In front of her, there was a person, one hand gripping the bars of the security grid, the other holding a small axe. She appeared in Gu Zhu’s world like a dream.

Gu Zhu looked at the person, whose hair was messy and damp with sweat, clinging to her forehead. She could only stare blankly. The small platform below the window wasn’t high, so getting up there must have taken a considerable effort.

Her throat was choked with emotion. Before she could say anything, Bai Tan reached out her hand to her.

Across the window, Gu Zhu’s hand trembled as she carefully reached out. When her hand was clasped by the other’s warm palm, it felt as if the night that had wrapped her up had finally been torn open by a ray of light, allowing her to see the brightness once more.

Looking at the girl who was as still as a puppet, Bai Tan felt like crying. In just three days, Gu Zhu had become noticeably paler and thinner. This already-thin person looked like she could be blown away by a gust of wind. But Bai Tan couldn’t cry. She was afraid that if she cried, Gu Zhu would feel even worse.

So she curved her eyebrows and tried her best to surround Gu Zhu with her sparkling eyes.

Bai Tan squeezed her hand tightly and then shook the small axe in her other hand. She had just bought it from the hardware store across the street. She didn’t care if Gu Baozhi was willing to let her go or not. She was going to rescue Gu Zhu, like a warrior going to save her princess, fearless and unstoppable.

The security grid had a locked escape hatch on the side. The key had been taken by Gu Baozhi. All she had to do was smash the lock, and Gu Zhu could climb out from there.

“Just wait for me a moment. I’ll get the lock open, then you come over.” She told Gu Zhu to stand aside so she wouldn’t get hurt.

The person holding the axe truly seemed like a deity descending from heaven.

Gu Zhu’s heart, which had been bound by layers of heavy chains, also felt as if its shackles were being broken.

The clouds in the sky grew thicker and thicker. If it rained, Bai Tan would surely be soaked.

As if something had finally clicked into place, Gu Zhu took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. She reached out her hand toward Bai Tan. “Give it to me.”

“Huh?” The hand preparing to swing the axe stopped. Bai Tan glanced at the axe in her hand, then looked at Gu Zhu carefully before handing it to her. “Be careful, it’s a bit heavy.”

Gu Zhu nodded, took the axe, and turned around. She walked to the door. Before she took action, she looked back at the person anxiously watching her, clinging to the security grid. When she looked over, that person instinctively smiled, as if afraid she wouldn’t feel secure enough.

Gu Zhu saw it clearly: the distress and sadness in her eyes.

She raised the axe and swung it with all her might toward the door lock.

She would no longer be imprisoned! She had to get out, walk outside, and run toward a farther place!

—Bang!

A huge sound exploded, startling everyone outside. Then came a second, and a third… everyone was frozen in shock by the sudden loud noises.

The part of the wooden door where the lock was attached was completely smashed. With one final pull, she tore off the dangling doorknob, wiped away her tears with her elbow, and opened the door. In Gu Baozhi’s stunned gaze, she spoke softly: “Mom, I know.”

I know everything. I know your love, your hate, your cowardice, and your helplessness. I know how lucky I am to have been raised by you.

Gu Zhu was a child nobody wanted, but Gu Baozhi had held that small child firmly in her arms.

But their lives shouldn’t be confined to someone else’s world of pain. The feeling of being trapped in a vortex was suffocating. And now, someone had entered her world without a second thought, wanting to pull her out of this vortex, to drag her out of the mud. She could no longer allow herself to fall.

She wanted to get out. She wanted to walk out with Gu Baozhi, even if it was very, very difficult.

“I know.” Gu Zhu moved closer, her eyes shining with tears as she looked at Gu Baozhi. It was as if thousands of words had been conveyed to her through that one simple phrase.

Gu Baozhi was a little bewildered. She squeezed her hands together, as if she were trying to process the meaning Gu Zhu was conveying. It took her a very long time to realize that, she didn’t know when, Gu Zhu had stopped arguing or complaining, and would only say, “I know.”

Gu Zhu was no longer willful, no longer affectionate. In the countless normal responses she had given, the youth she had long abandoned was buried.

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