After the Real Young Miss Became My Canary - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Politeness

Even after a long time, Song Zhi never got a call back from Shen Ying. Song Zhi made countless calls to the phone number, but no one ever answered.

She kept comforting herself, thinking that maybe Shen Ying hadn’t heard the phone, or that the old, dilapidated phone was broken.

“It should have been replaced long ago, that broken phone,” she thought. So she decided that when she returned, she would get a new phone for Shen Ying.

“She’s never bought one, so she probably doesn’t know much about them. I’ll help her choose one,” she mused. Thinking about this made her happy again, feeling that it was impossible for Shen Ying to deliberately not answer her calls.

Then, on a night when her phone had only a sliver of battery left, she called twice. Perhaps she had been comforting herself too much lately, because on a whim, she made a third call.

The ringtone sounded for no more than three seconds before it was cut short with a click.

The flutter in her heart died instantly.

It was as if someone had stomped on it with a military boot.

“How could this be?” she thought, her disbelief palpable.

Finally, she held her phone and looked at it for a long time, deciding that a misunderstanding wasn’t good. She should just ask for clarification. Just as she picked up the phone, her almost-dead phone screen suddenly went black.

After countless days of lonely, bitter waiting in this cold place, the phone finally gave up and died here.

Song Zhi suddenly remembered that some phones have a feature that automatically shuts down all running programs when the battery is critically low, supposedly to protect the battery.

Song Zhi’s face was expressionless as she tossed the phone aside.

“Bullshit,” she thought.

This feature was so messed up.

What if someone had something very important to say? What if they were dying and just needed this one call to see the person they loved one last time?

The last analogy was a bit morbid, but Song Zhi didn’t believe in that stuff. She just thought it sounded quite romantic, even if it was a bit inappropriate for her and Shen Ying’s situation. So, she decided to think of a better one.

But she couldn’t come up with anything more fitting, so she decided to stick with the current one for now.

The phone was dead, but Song Zhi couldn’t bear to return it. First, because the timing was so random—the maid who had given it to her hadn’t come for a long time.

Second, because she just couldn’t part with it. Holding the phone, she always felt that at any moment, the screen would light up and Shen Ying’s call would come through. Once it was returned, it couldn’t be brought back again.

There was one more thing she hadn’t said: she was a little scared.

The fear was vague and indescribable, leaving her heart in a constant state of panic. But she would come up with all sorts of reasons to suppress the feeling. Finally, she just gave up.

“Forget it,” she thought.

She stayed in the quiet room for another ten days.

During these ten days, if the food looked appetizing, she would eat a few bites just to keep her hands from betraying her, at least to stop them from shaking.

Her hands would always tremble when she tried to do something, which was quite inconvenient.

As she left the room and stepped out of the darkness, she ran directly into Song Qin.

Song Qin was in the garden talking with a large group of people. The moment he saw her, he pulled the others away. “She’s crazy,” he said. “Let’s not get involved.”

Song Zhi, who had just come out and wasn’t in the mood for a fight, heard his words and felt that Song Qin never learned his lesson. “Oh, you knew I was crazy and still walked right into me? You must be asking for a beating. I can teach you a lesson for your mom.”

Song Qin was publicly humiliated and his expression soured. Anyone who followed celebrity gossip knew his mom was a mistress who only got her position after Song Zhi’s mother died and she got pregnant with him. Otherwise, it would have been a question whether she could even be called Mrs. Song.

Hearing Song Zhi’s words, some of his friends’ faces changed.

Song Qin was so angry he was about to lash out. He attended a private aristocratic academy, and none of the people he had invited over today came from a simple background. Just as he was about to start a fight, a thin, female voice called out.

“Song Qin.” Song Qin looked at the person who had arrived, and his expression softened slightly. “Mom, why are you here?”

Song Zhi didn’t even turn her head until the woman walked softly up to her.

She looked no older than thirty, wearing a flowing ink-wash print dress that accentuated her graceful figure. Her voice was as soft and gentle as her body suggested.

“Xiao Zhi is back. Really, why didn’t your father tell me? I could have asked the auntie to cook your favorite dishes.”

Her words were subtle but sharp, immediately painting Song Zhi as unloved. Not only did no one greet her when she came home, but her own father didn’t even bother to tell anyone.

This one sentence made everything clear to Song Qin’s classmates. Hong Kong is a small place, and they would inevitably run into each other again. With her and Song Qin’s relationship, those people would probably talk behind her back to avoid offending Song Qin.

Song Zhi didn’t like the pity in their eyes, but she wasn’t someone to be used as a pawn.

“Auntie,” Song Zhi said with a sweet smile, her eyes on guard.

“I came back a while ago. You just weren’t informed. My dad and I have already seen each other twice. Could it be that you don’t like me and deliberately avoided me?” Song Zhi feigned surprise, covering her mouth. “That can’t be, Auntie. Even though you’re my stepmother, we’ve hardly met. Why would you dislike me?”

Li Li’s forced smile froze. “Of course I wouldn’t think that. I just didn’t know.”

Song Zhi smiled. “I thought so too. It seems you and my dad aren’t very close, since he didn’t even tell you this. Your son doesn’t seem to be close to you either. The bump on his head? I put that there. One on each side, perfectly symmetrical.”

Song Zhi had almond-shaped eyes and long eyelashes, and when she smiled, two shallow dimples appeared, making her look beautiful and sweet. But the words she spoke with those same smiling eyes were anything but sweet.

Li Li’s smile was completely gone. “You two are just kids. It’s normal to have conflicts. Of course Xiao Qin wouldn’t tell me; that wouldn’t be right. Your father is busy with so many things every day. How would he have time to tell me all this? He doesn’t want me to be bothered.”

She thought her response was quite clever.

But Song Zhi’s eyes curved again. “Then I should definitely make up for the meal. You weren’t at the last family dinner, so I’ll throw a party in a few days to welcome myself back and also welcome you, Auntie.”

Song Zhi’s cheerful smile infuriated Li Li, who was forced to stand there, pretending not to be bothered as Song Zhi waved goodbye to the group.

In a good mood, Song Zhi hummed a tune as she went inside to change. Then, she drove a low-profile, ordinary-looking car out of the underground garage.

It looked like a car that cost around a hundred thousand yuan.

Song Zhi was quite pleased. Before leaving, she checked her reflection in the mirror, looking at her outfit.

A black silk dress with a knee-length brown leather coat. For jewelry, she only wore a pair of long, dangling earrings with small pink beads.

She looked at herself from all angles and was satisfied. Just before she left, she changed to a darker shade of lipstick.

On the way, Song Zhi found two popular online novelists and came up with a story for them. By the time she got out of the car, she was full of confidence.

But when she went upstairs, she was stunned.

The door, which was once old but clean and tidy, was now covered with a bunch of white papers. Next to the white papers, a large bucket of red paint had been splashed, and the walls were covered with a light yellow liquid. From a meter away, a faint, fishy smell wafted toward her, mixed with the stench of something fermented.

She looked closer and saw two bloody words written on the white papers: “PAY UP!”

She couldn’t hold back and gagged, but then she covered her mouth.

“I shouldn’t throw up,” she thought, “or I’ll have to clean it.”

She held back her nausea and knocked on the door, but there was no movement inside.

She then took out her phone and called, but after twelve rings, no one answered.

She couldn’t help but feel relieved.

“Thank goodness I brought the key.” She searched for a moment before she found the keyhole. She inserted the key, but it fell out.

She picked up the key and tried to twist it in again, but it met with resistance and fell out again. This time, she was prepared and held out her hand to catch the key, but it bounced off her palm and hit the door. Song Zhi instinctively reached out to catch it, but when she saw the fishy red paint smeared on the door and her tightly clenched hand, she couldn’t help but gag again.

She looked at her hand with disgust, her heart filled with worry.

“The place is a mess. Where did Shen Ying go? Why did she change the lock? Is she in danger?”

“Who’s trying to die, making a fuss at someone’s door this early in the morning? How unlucky.”

The door behind her hadn’t opened yet, but a string of curses came out first, followed by the click of the lock. An old woman poked her head out of the door, and upon seeing Song Zhi, she slammed the door shut.

Just as the door was about ten centimeters from the frame, a fair hand was forcefully wedged into the gap. The hand was incredibly strong, and the long, slender fingers held the door frame, prying the door open.

The old woman looked at Song Zhi with a face full of fear. Song Zhi stood in front of her, a cold expression on her face. Her entire presence was chilling, and the half-light from the old woman’s room shone on the side of her face, highlighting her sharp facial features and icy expression.

She looked very intimidating.

The old woman still remembered the scene of her fighting with the electrician. “Is this person going to hit me?” she thought.

Song Zhi said in a cold voice, “Where is she?”

The old woman was stunned for a long time before she realized that Song Zhi wasn’t going to hit her. Her eyes darted around, sizing up Song Zhi’s expensive clothing, and her mind started to stir.

The old woman pointed to the door opposite. “You mean her?”

Song Zhi looked down at her and nodded slightly.

The old woman sighed, an expression of profound sincerity on her face. She reached out to grab Song Zhi’s hand, but Song Zhi lazily stepped to the side, causing her hand to miss. The old woman wasn’t embarrassed, still smiling and putting on a facade of goodwill.

“That person,” she began, “I won’t tell anyone else, but I’ll tell you: you should stay away from her. She brings home stray cats and dogs that are about to die. They’re so dirty. And I’m telling you, if you hang out with her for too long, you’ll get bad luck!”

After she finished speaking, she looked at Song Zhi, waiting for her to ask for more.

But Song Zhi asked, “I think the restaurant on the west side, the first one, has good food. Have you tried it? What do you think?”

Her words were fast and her presence was strong, quickly throwing the old woman off balance. The old woman was confused. “That’s a toilet. How could I have eaten there?”

Song Zhi hadn’t expected this answer. She remembered the serious expression Shen Ying had when she said that, and suddenly realized that Shen Ying was actually a little bit mischievous.

She asked again, “Do you know where Shen Ying went?”

“I just saw her near the toilet, leaving with a woman. Tsk, tsk, she’s not content with just ruining the Shen family couple…”

“BANG!”

Song Zhi lowered her foot, which had been aimed at the old woman’s door, and showed a very polite, apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry. I kicked your door in. But I hope you can be more careful with your words, don’t you think?”

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