Chapter 271 The Abandoned Park

Chapter 271 The Abandoned Park

“Where are you dragging me in the middle of the night?”

In the outskirts of Honghuai City, a car that would be considered luxurious by ordinary standards pulled over. Two boys in high school uniforms emerged from the vehicle.

“Why have we come to such a desolate place?” asked one of the boys, his dyed yellow hair and earrings clashing somewhat with his school uniform. He surveyed the gloomy, sprawling woods behind a fence and the suburban road stretching far from the city, then looked quizzically at the boy who had just stepped out of the driver’s seat.

“Brother Lin, didn’t you get your driver’s license as an adult? Your dad finally let you take the car out, so why sneak off to this kind of suburb? Don’t tell me you have ulterior motives towards me?” The yellow-haired boy dramatically took two steps back. “Brother Lin, even though we’re close, please don’t develop feelings for me beyond brotherhood!”

“Shut your mouth.” The boy from the driver’s seat, despite his visibly irritated and almost furious expression, possessed a handsome face. If he dyed his red hair back to black and removed the rings from his nose and lips, he would bear a slight resemblance to a certain owner of the Mist Shop.

“I’m pissed off and just wanted to find a quiet place to clear my head. Weren’t you the one who forced your way into the car?” The boy called Brother Lin locked the car door and headed towards the fenced-off woods. “If you don’t want to stay, figure out your own way back. I’m not planning to be your chauffeur.”

“Brother Lin, don’t be mad. I was just joking! As Lin Wenhua’s most trusted sidekick, the most formidable and domineering boss of Honghuai No. 9 High, even if you really had feelings for me, I’d accept it!” The yellow-haired boy immediately followed. “But boss, you were fine yesterday. Why are you so irritable today?”

“It’s all because of that old man at home,” Lin Wenhua gritted his teeth as he walked. “I may be good-for-nothing, but I’ve been this way since elementary school. If it weren’t for my family’s money, I wouldn’t even have gotten into this crappy No. 9 High. And now he suddenly expects me to get into college? What a joke!”

“Huh? College?” The yellow-haired boy looked as if he’d seen an alien. “You, going to college? Didn’t you say your family already agreed to hand over the revenue from one of the shops to you after graduation?”

“Exactly. That old man’s lost his mind again.” Lin Wenhua skillfully made his way to a corner of the fence and slipped through a gap that had been torn open.

“Your grandfather?” The yellow-haired boy thought for a moment. “Right, your grandfather still holds the reins in your family. But I thought you had a good relationship with him?”

“That’s why I say he’s sick—I’m not insulting him, I really think he’s ill.” Lin Wenhua continued pushing through the woods. “Now he keeps talking about my aunt, the one who cut ties with the family over twenty years ago. He says she must be suffering now, that he dreams of her crying in some dark, dark place every night. So he wants me and my dad to find her and bring her back.”

“He even said... either find my aunt or get into college, or I won’t get a single cent from him!” Lin Wenhua couldn’t help but yell into the dark woods. “Isn’t that insane?! He hasn’t found her in all these years, and now he gives me two impossible tasks to choose from? Don’t you think he’s lost his mind?!”

“No wonder you’re so upset.” The yellow-haired boy put himself in Lin Wenhua’s shoes, and even he started to get a headache. “So what are you going to do? Don’t tell me you’re actually preparing for the college entrance exam?”

“What kind of plan is that? The exams are in just over a month—there’s no way I can pass!” Lin Wenhua glared at his sidekick. “My dad’s already searching everywhere for my aunt, but so far, he hasn’t found a single clue. The old man’s condition is getting worse. After seeing my dad fail to find any leads, he started micromanaging my dad’s investments, making him miss out on a shop he really liked. Now my dad’s taking his frustration out on me, as if my failure to get into college is the root of all problems!”

“What did I even do to deserve this?” Lin Wenhua felt deeply wronged. How could his aunt’s disappearance have anything to do with his poor grades?

“Brother Lin, I totally get it, but do we really have to come to such a creepy place?” The yellow-haired boy shivered as he trudged through the dark woods, startling at every rustle of branches underfoot.

“You’re not scared, are you?”

“Of course not!” The yellow-haired boy, Huang Qi, puffed out his chest at the challenge. “As the second-in-command of No. 9 High, how could I be afraid of a small woods? Aahhh—!”

Before Huang Qi could finish, a bird flying out of the trees sent him darting behind Lin Wenhua.

“Heh.” Lin Wenhua sneered. “This is a suburban park that was planned and built but never put into use. In fact, it’s been abandoned for so long it feels completely deserted. So when I’m upset, I come here to clear my head. It’s like a childish secret base, I guess? Anyway, there’s not even half a ghost here, let alone people. Stop overreacting.”

“I’ll try…” Huang Qi quickly composed himself and changed the subject. “But your grandfather’s obsession with you going to college isn’t new. I remember he’s the one who named you, right? Even the characters ‘Wenhua’ are meant to reference the Star of Literature, aren’t they?”

“That old-fashioned businessman is superstitious about all kinds of mystical stuff.” Lin Wenhua headed straight for a certain part of the abandoned park. “When my mom was pregnant with me, the old man invited a fortune-teller to our house. My dad said the fortune-teller was a blind man who spoke in riddles, claiming that the soon-to-be-born grandson was under the protection of the Star of Literature. He said I’d easily get into a top university and achieve great things that would bring honor to the whole family.”

“The old man was overjoyed and immediately gave me this name. But then…”

“Then you turned out like this…”

“Shut up! Turned out like what?!” Lin Wenhua kicked Huang Qi and led him out of the woods. “Besides the woods, this crappy park has a huge lake. It’s the most calming spot.”

Before Lin Wenhua and Huang Qi’s eyes, a moonlit lake opened up, its serene view making them forget the troubles they’d just discussed.

“Hey, Brother Lin, there’s someone over there.” Huang Qi pointed toward a certain direction.

“This place is so remote, hardly anyone comes here.” Though surprised, Lin Wenhua wasn’t too shocked—after all, it was just an abandoned park anyone could enter.

Following Huang Qi’s finger, Lin Wenhua saw a figure slowly walking onto a stone bridge on the other side of the lake.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the person was wearing the uniform of the famously prestigious Honghuai No. 1 Middle School.