Chapter 22: Escape
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In order to prevent Yun Xi from escaping unnoticed, Chen Lixue and Liang Danyi took turns watching her.
When they went to bed that night, Chen Lixue made up an excuse to have Yun Xi move to Liang Danyi and her sister’s room. This would make it easier for Liang Danyi to keep an eye on Yun Xi.
The bedroom shared by Liang Danyi and her sister was three times the size of Yun Xi’s room that had been refitted from a storage room. There were two beds in the room, and it was much more spacious than her little hole in the wall.
To make them let down their guard, Yun Xi decided to go with their plan.
Yun Xi casually threw into a corner the bag she’d packed from her other room. After a stressful evening, Liang Danyi was too lazy to help Yun Xi tidy up since she had to focus on keeping an eye on her.
However, Yun Xi was in a very good mood. She immediately crawled into bed and grabbed a book to read.
Just as she’d expected, she heard the sound of the door lock outside the room just past 10 pm.
Since Chen Lixue was keeping such a close eye on her, tonight was her only and best chance of escaping unnoticed.
People typically slept the most deeply between 12-3 am. Liang Danyi had always been pampered well and rested at scheduled times, so she would surely be asleep by 9 pm.
But since Liang Danyi had to keep an eye on Yun Xi that night, she didn’t sleep. Liang Danyi nervously delayed her sleep until 11 pm, which was much later than her normal bedtime.
Yun Xi checked the clock before turning off the light and going to sleep.
Under the blanket, she squeezed the key she’d cut at the village entrance that afternoon.
In the darkness, she closed her eyes as she listened to the sound of Liang Danyi’s breathing. She waited for Liang Danyi to fall asleep and be completely sound asleep.
She waited for some time before she heard a rooster cry quietly nearby. She knew it was about time.
Quietly climbing out of bed, she grabbed her backpack and walked to the edge of the door to cut off the screen on it. Reaching her hand outside the wooden frame, she opened the lock.
Doors in the countryside were made with half wooden boards and half screens for the purpose of ventilation. The window screens were covered with short curtains as partitions and to preserve feng shui properties.
And it was precisely due to such a design that she was able to open the lock from the inside!
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to open the dead-bolted door from the outside even if she copied Liang Danyi’s key!
Walking out of the room, Yun Xi carefully looked at her home of over a decade under the glow of the moonlight.
Although she had been under someone’s roof, it still shielded her from the wind and rain, thus she still had some feelings for it.
But even the strongest feelings couldn’t compete with her desire to return to Jingdu.
In this lifetime, she would never compromise or acquiesce anything that belonged to her again!
It was a six-kilometer road from the village to the town. A bullet train directly connecting to Jingdu was put in place several years ago, and she would be able to walk to the train station before dawn.
She could still vaguely recall how there was usually a direct bullet train to Jingdu at 7 am. By the time Chen Lixue realized Yun Xi had run off and chased after her, it would probably be too late.
––
In the early morning, Mu Feichi was training Great White’s running speed. After a few laps, he was also bathed in sweat.
“Boss!” Qi Yuan and Feng Rui stood on the sidelines and had no choice but to interrupt him when the time was cutting close.
Qi Yuan brought a file over and walked up when he saw Mu Feichi stop. “Boss, there’s an urgent matter!”
Mu Feichi wiped his face and drank some water before taking a glance at the file. His eyes darkened slightly.
“We are returning to Jingdu immediately! Qi Yuan, notify the bullet train to add another car. Team A will be wearing civilian clothes and going on the bullet train, Team B will be going by vehicle, and Team C will be going by helicopter.”
“Roger! I’ll notify everyone right now!”
Great White probably knew that Mu Feichi was about to leave, so he clenched his paws and patted his feet as he looked up with a sad and adorable face.
Mu Feichi would always leave it behind and refuse to bring it with him—he was basically treating it like a pet cat!
“I wasn’t planning on leaving you here; you’ll be leaving with a helicopter. if I make a big fuss of bringing you on the bullet train, that’ll surely scare everyone off the train!”
He raised a hand to pat Great White’s head before getting up to walk inside. He left Great White with the veterinarian.