After the Real Young Miss Became My Canary - Chapter 21.2

Chapter 21.2: Nostalgia

That person was said to be Chairman Song’s first wife, which was the young Miss’s biological mother.

She was so scared that tears streamed down her face. She nodded again and again, then remembered that the person inside couldn’t see.

So, she replied softly and tremblingly: “Yes.”

Song Zhi grabbed her wrist and didn’t let go: “What time is it now?”

The maid pursed her lips and said nothing. She wasn’t allowed to speak in the quiet room. She had already broken the rule. She didn’t dare to speak again.

Song Zhi obviously knew this. She tightened her grip on the maid’s wrist and said coldly: “You don’t have to answer me, but if I get out, your rule-breaking will not be a secret. According to the contract, this is a breach of contract, isn’t it?”

She couldn’t bear the consequences of a breach of contract. The maid could only say in a small voice: “It’s eight in the evening.”

Song Zhi: “Are you the one who brings the food here every day?”

“It’s me and five other older sisters, we take turns.”

Song Zhi: “How old are you? Why is it you and a few others? Can’t anyone else come?”

The maid felt that the hand holding her was unnaturally cold. It was already cold down here, and her teeth started chattering as soon as she spoke. She immediately shut up.

Hearing no sound from inside, she cautiously and tentatively said: “I’m fifteen. This place is haunted. The other older sisters are too scared to come.”

Song Zhi was silent for a moment: “You’re so young and so brave? Others don’t dare to come, but you do.”

The maid said: “We get double pay for that day.”

The fear in the maid’s heart dissipated a little. The person inside had changed from a demon in the guise of the Miss to the moody Miss herself.

Even now, her mind was filled with the image of Song Zhi, who had been smiling and talking to Song Qin just a moment before, and then with a smile, she had smashed a vase on Song Qin’s head.

The moment the vase broke Song Qin’s head, blood had splattered onto Song Zhi’s face. Song Zhi’s beautiful and delicate face was smiling. Her eyes were curved, watching Song Qin fall to the ground clutching his head as if he were a joke.

Thinking of this, she shivered.

She was a little afraid: “I need to get money to treat my sister.”

Song Zhi let go of her hand: “I’ll pay all your sister’s medical expenses.”

The maid: “Really?”

Nothing in this world was free. She asked again: “Why? She needs a lot of money. The doctor said the conservative estimate is three hundred thousand.”

Song Zhi didn’t answer. Instead, she asked again: “When will you bring the food next time?”

The maid: “I don’t know, it’s random.”

Song Zhi: “Next time you come, bring me a phone that can make calls. I’ll give you a million.”

The maid seemed scared. She stammered: “A million… But they check very carefully. They do a body search when we come in, and they also use a machine to check.”

Song Zhi: “Don’t you want the money? It will take you years to save up three hundred thousand with your salary from the Song family.”

The maid fell silent, saying nothing.

Song Zhi: “Next time you come, tap lightly on the door four times. I want you to bring good news.”

After she finished, she didn’t speak to the maid, who was fighting a battle in her mind. She walked back to the bed and sat down.

The sound of her footsteps was incredibly clear in the silent room. The silent person outside naturally heard it clearly.

Song Zhi didn’t eat. The food was clean, she knew that, but when she looked at the food, she would think of Song Guan, and she would feel disgusted. Naturally, she couldn’t eat.

In fact, she wished every bite of food she ate in this house was Song Guan’s flesh and blood. Otherwise, the food was the dirtiest, most foul-smelling garbage in the world. Just looking at it made her want to vomit.

She wasn’t sure if the maid would agree, but the maid was young and needed money. She was a good target.

But she wasn’t sure if this target would turn on her, using her as a bargaining chip and exposing this to Song Guan.

She was uncertain.

She had never tried this before because she considered everyone who entered this room to be a part of Song Guan. They listened to Song Guan’s words, and they kept the people who were sent here like dogs. They were no different from Song Guan.

This was her first attempt, and it was just to get a phone. In the past, she would have thought she was crazy.

She had never acted on a whim before, because she knew that her whims had to be exchanged for other things. Without complete certainty, she wouldn’t do anything.

Even this time she slowly pulled a pen the size of a USB drive from the heel of her shoe.

It was a voice recorder.

Song Zhi didn’t know when the maid would come again, so she tried her best to keep her eyes open and close her eyes, so she could go to sleep early and keep her mind tense enough to wake up at the slightest rustle from the door.

At first, she didn’t dare to sleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, she would see large patches of blood, and scattered pieces of flesh around the blood. And a pair of bloodshot eyes would stare at her, full of hatred.

Later, those eyes would appear in every one of her nightmares.

She waited for a long time, but she didn’t know how long. So she counted the number of times she was fed.

In this place, time would be blurred, her voice would weaken, and her mind would gradually slow down as it got darker. Something would always be calling to her, telling her to close her eyes.

But she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to close her eyes. She wanted to stay awake. So she kept her eyes wide open, staring intently at where the door was.

She would remember every person who came and the number of times they came.

She always needed something to help her mind work.

She didn’t know whether the next person to come to the door would be Song Guan or the maid who had her promise.

Time passed minute by minute in this unknown waiting.

Finally, on the ninth time, the door was tapped lightly.

Song Zhi’s eyes shifted toward the sound.

First, her eyeballs moved, then her head.

As her head turned, she walked lightly to the door and stood there quietly, saying nothing.

In the quiet room, she moved softly. In the extremely silent place, she was as quiet as a cat.

The door was tapped lightly four times again.

Four sounded like “death” in Chinese. Song Guan avoided this. Even his family couldn’t have anything with the number four. Let alone the people around him. So the person outside couldn’t be Song Guan.

The person outside said in a low, anxious voice: “Miss?”

It seemed she was lucky.

Song Zhi replied with a sound.

The maid was startled by the sudden close sound. She quickly said: “I’ll put the food and the item on the ground together. There’s a camera outside. I’m leaving now.”

With that, she pretended to be fumbling with the door, put her face close to the door, and used the movement to hide her mouth.

After she finished speaking, she immediately pretended to have delivered the food and walked away.

Song Zhi squatted by the door and reached out to touch a small object.

It was the size of her palm and felt cold, but it gave her a strange sense of comfort.

She picked up the item, sat by the door, propped her long legs up in front of her face, and fumbled for the keyboard, pressing the buttons from memory.

A cold, distorted voice came from the cheap phone: “Hello, who is this?”

The voice was as clear and cold as a spring. The moment she heard the voice, Song Zhi felt as if she had washed her face with cold spring water.

Her heart, which had been churning with anxiety for so many days, finally calmed down.

She spoke very softly: “It’s me.”

Shen Ying’s old flip phone wasn’t great. Her voice would be very different. She didn’t know if Shen Ying would be able to recognize it.

She had a little bit of hope.

But then, the phone went dead with a beep.

Song Zhi opened the phone blankly. She thought the cheap phone was broken or out of battery.

But the phone, which was obediently lit up, told her.

It was fine. She was the one who was wrong.

The screen didn’t reflect on her face in the extreme darkness.

Song Zhi looked at the screen, which was so bright it was blinding in the dark. She didn’t squint. Her eyes were open so wide that tears of a physiological nature flowed.

She felt as if she could see her own tearful eyes on this small screen, along with the red marks on her face, looking ridiculous and pathetic.

Shen Ying must not have recognized her voice. Shen Ying was a person who didn’t like to be in contact with others. When she heard an unfamiliar voice, she probably hung up.

She would call again. This time, she would say who she was at the beginning. Shen Ying would definitely not hang up.

So she called again.

She said softly: “It’s me, Song Yi.”

She felt a little scared. This made her lose the fearless indifference she usually had toward everyone.

She complained in a small voice like she always did: “Did you not know it was me? Why did you hang up?”

Her heart suddenly began to pound, as if something was about to happen. The future was completely unknown.

She waited for the verdict.

The verdict came in a soft voice: “Song Yi.”

Song Zhi nodded.

She remembered that Shen Ying couldn’t see, so she quickly said: “Mm.”

Shen Ying’s voice was flat, without any emotion: “Who gave you that name?”

Song Zhi’s heart tightened. From this flat tone, she could make out a different kind of emotion, even though Shen Ying usually spoke without much emotional fluctuation. She was miraculously able to sense Shen Ying’s emotions.

It felt like something unknown was about to happen, but she could only watch and couldn’t stop it.

Song Zhi: “My grandmother.”

Shen Ying let out a long breath. She rarely showed these emotions in front of people. But if it was in front of a person she would never see again, then it was okay to have one time. She told herself.

After she sighed, she said softly: “Did you go home?”

Song Zhi listened. She seemed to be in a good mood, still the same as before. She immediately felt relieved. She said with a complaining tone: “I went home, but I’m not happy. I don’t want to stay here. I want to go find you.”

Shen Ying listened to her complaining voice. It was so vibrant, just like before, just like when she was by her side. It sounded so sincere.

Shen Ying gently closed her eyes. In the end, she only said a soft “Mm”: “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

Song Zhi’s eyes curved: “I want to eat pork ribs. Can I have them when I get home?”

Shen Ying: “Anything else?”

“No.”

Shen Ying suddenly felt bored. She couldn’t tell if it was disappointment or something else.

She had packaged herself to be sharp and impenetrable, but one day someone tore off her packaging and then mocked her. “It was you who were too wishful, how can you blame others for deceiving you?”

Shen Ying said flatly: “The phone is out of battery. I’m hanging up now.”

There was no need to ask why. The reason was always the same, but with so many variations. She had been through so much since she was a child, and this time was no different. She didn’t want to hear any more excuses. Maybe it was anger.

She had been played too many times, so many that she didn’t want to listen anymore.

If she had held on to one last bit of hope before making the call, now even that hope was gone.

Song Zhi was a little reluctant. She was like an addicted person, absorbing every bit of Shen Ying’s voice, as if she had found light in a dark room. She had grabbed on to the only piece of driftwood in the water, and she held on to it tightly.

The driftwood pulled her back, looking at her just as deeply, as if it was willing to give up everything for her.

She happily hugged herself, trying hard to ignore the strange feeling.

For example, why would a flip phone run out of battery in an instant? But she had never used one. Without a clear explanation, she decided not to make any judgments. Misunderstanding was a monster that provoked emotions. Except for that one thing, everything else about her was completely transparent.

That night, she was lucky enough to be the one to bring the food. The maid let out a sigh of relief.

All afternoon, she had been restless whenever she thought about the phone. She was always afraid something would happen. It made her so uneasy.

She had to get the phone back quickly.

Thinking this, she quickened her pace.

She gently tapped on the door. There was no sound from inside. But she remembered that Song Zhi had been like this at noon today, so she didn’t think much of it and put the food inside.

When she picked up the lunch tray, she specifically reached inside to feel around.

The food was a little lighter. It seemed Song Zhi had eaten a few bites. But the top of the tray was completely empty. There was nothing.

She anxiously felt around inside with her hand.

But she couldn’t feel anything.

She turned her head, pretending to be fumbling with the tray, and said quietly with her back to the camera: “Miss.”

Song Zhi’s voice, sounding a little happy, came from inside: “What’s wrong?”

Could she be getting out soon? If she got out, her money would be in her hands. So the maid also felt happy, but she didn’t dare to ask. She had to hide her happiness and ask carefully and in a small voice: “The phone…”

She figured being locked up wasn’t a good thing to be talked about. She didn’t dare to ask. But her own phone should be fine, right?

The voice from inside suddenly went quiet. Her heart rose. She shouldn’t have done anything wrong, right? Her voice became even smaller because of her lack of confidence: “I don’t have another phone, and if they find out…”

To ask Song Zhi to return the phone, she was a little reluctant. She had only just heard Shen Ying’s voice, and she didn’t want to give it back.

But it was something she had borrowed. She should return it. For a moment, her reason and emotions were at war. Her upbringing told her that this was wrong, and that this matter was risky. The longer the phone was with her, the greater the risk.

But she had just grasped a small bit of light.

It was like a fast-flying firefly hovering in the air. She had always wanted one but had never gotten it. Finally, one day, she finally caught a firefly.

She had barely held it for two minutes when someone told her it was wrong and that she should release it back to nature. Morality nodded in agreement, but the emotion called “liking” was at work.

She was reluctant to let go. She held the phone tightly in her hand. In a daze, it became a long, pale hand, with long, slender fingers. The fingers were a little cold and intertwined with hers.

She thought she must be crazy. Why would she have such an imagination? She didn’t know. It was as if something had taken root in her heart long ago and was now suddenly breaking through the soil. She frantically grabbed at the sprouting branch, but she knew nothing.

What did she know?

She was reluctant to let go.

“You won’t get caught,” she said under the intertwined hands.

Her selfish desire was at work, churning under the noble facade.

The maid became even more frightened, so she said more carefully: “I still need to contact my sister.”

How annoying, Song Zhi thought. She should have not bothered with her. She had so many things to deal with.

But she couldn’t.

Song Guan’s plan was a good one. No one would have thought of extending their power to the maids. So he randomly selected people, which completely cut Song Zhi off from her own influence.

Song Zhi said: “When I get out, I’ll buy you a new one. You can have whatever you want, as many as you want.”

That should be enough, she thought.

But the maid said, “I want the one in your hand.”

Song Zhi refused. She still wanted to call Shen Ying. The two of them argued for a while. In the end, she won with her frightening temper and hostile tone. After all, her bad reputation was well-known, and it was a useful tool.

The maid left in fear, but Song Zhi held the phone and smiled as she made another call.

She had a great plan.

Shen Ying had said the phone was out of battery at noon, so by the evening, it must have been charged.

She looked at the dark room, with light only in her hand. She suddenly felt that life in the quiet room was not so hard after all.

But she kept calling Shen Ying, and the calls never went through.

She stared at the small screen that emitted a little light for a long time.

She thought that maybe she was cooking, since it was dinnertime. The pot was clanging with the oil, the sound was loud, and Shen Ying might not have heard it.

After a while, Shen Ying still hadn’t called back. She looked at the small screen to check the time and found that only a few minutes had passed.

Now she didn’t dare to look at the time. She just sat there, and after two hours, there was still no call back. So she thought that Shen Ying might have been doing her homework and forgotten.

Shen Ying had been busy studying for a certification exam recently, hoping to get an offer from a big company. Her academic background and resume were impressive, but the company required a niche certification.

Coincidentally, Song Zhi had been sitting next to Shen Ying, watching her submit her resume, and her eyes had glanced at the company’s stamp at the bottom.

It was her family’s company.

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