Neverending drops of rain fell rapidly onto the closed windows, and a young man with gold-rimmed glasses dozed off with a cup of hot coffee in his hand. He observed the raindrops on the glasses of the window with a lost expression.
His eyes were soft and gentle with a well-defined and sculpted face and features, comparable to the looks of a handsome actor. Instead of having charisma and a powerful presence of an actor, he exuded a warm and scholarly feeling to those around him.
I wonder how long will this last?
He sighed gloomily and dismissed the depressing thoughts clouding his judgment, averting his attention to his computer. Large strings of texts appeared in his vision as his eyelids trembled and his fingers shook.
'The popular actress is rumored to be in love.'
Downwards were long lines of over-exaggerating words and assumptions, without confirmation. The kind of news spread like plagues with no consideration for anyone nor the main parties, intruding on the personal lives of others.
He shook his head inwardly and took a sip of his hot coffee,
'Some people lack the means to have a life.'
a young girl with dimples and a youthful ponytail approached him with a smile.
"Professor, you're not going home?" The young girl spoke sweetly with her crispy voice.
Home? Where is home?
"Not yet. I'm waiting for the rain to subside first," Wei Yi returned back with a gentle smile.
I'm not sure if the rain will subside or continue until night.
"Professor, I could give you a ride as thanks for your additional help on our assignment," The young girl said with a meaningful smile.
Wei Yi shook his head and dismissed her offer, "There's still a lot of work for me to do, you go first."
Wei Yi, a History Professor at Beiying University, is known to be a conservative and reserved man. Despite the initial impression of him being aloof and quiet, he is an extremely hospitable and kind professor to his students, often offering them free classes to help with their studies and homework.
After exchanging a couple of words with his student, Wei Yi bid her a farewell to her and remained in his seat for another couple of minutes.
After ascertaining the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon, he eventually stood up and left the place.
In front of the gates and under a safe surface, ahead was a dark and gloomy sky. Most people have left the campus by now.
Wei Yi checked his phone and got a long list of text messages from his grandmother.
The first message was two hours ago and the last was only fifteen minutes ago.
I didn't realize I had my phone turned off. Grandmother must've been very worried.
'Xiao Yi, I ran out of medicines. Could you stop by and get some?'
'Get the ones I use every day."
'Xiao Yi, it's going to rain soon."
'Xiao Yi, if it's raining a lot, we can get them tomorrow.'
'Xiao Yi, where are you?'
'It's been hours, where have you been?'
…
Wei Yi replied back with a thumb up and took out an umbrella from his bag, he switched it on and observingly search for a pharmacy on his phone.
He eventually found one a couple of miles away from where he was standing and made his way to the place whilst holding an umbrella.
"Main Street…"
While walking along the pedestrians' pavement, and simultaneously there was a sudden commotion of noise ahead. The sudden sound caught his attention and he turned his head whilst holding his phone and umbrella, a flash of light appeared in his vision.
Almost blinding his eyes, he could recognize it to be the front light of a sportscar.
At that moment, time seems to have stopped. All sounds turned deafening silent and all he could see were the lights in the front of his eyes.
Only one single thought crossed his mind as the force approached.
'Death…'
Bang!
Wei Yi felt his consciousness leave his body as he was pushed forward without the ability to keep balance, feeling lightweight, gently closing his eyes as he stumbled onto the ground. His breathing began to weaken and his thoughts were gradually dissipating, his body became unfeeling and grew cold.
'I can't die yet…I haven't prepared tomorrow's lesson and bought grandma's her medicine…'
Despite knowing he was going to die, his last thoughts were still about his work and his grandmother. The last things he saw before he fell into an eternal slumber were ghastly smoke and a couple of strangers running toward him.
"Someone! Save this man!"
There, he fell into the arms of approaching death.
-
CY Conglomerate's building, 17th Floor
"You farts! Who let that bastard run loose without a lease?"
A roar echoed from the main office, and straight into the ears of the four people in front of it.
A figure situated in the front was a middle-aged man in his 50s, he had a head of dark hair with white sideburns and a gray beard, he was a dignified middle-aged man with prestigious background and high status from his posture.
He had extremely prominent features, with a high-bridged nose and well-groomed eyebrows, these features signified the looks he had in his youth.
His eyes were darkened to the point of black and were filled with fury, as he reprimanded the four kneeling in front of him. He seemed to have aged an additional ten years due to his anger and stress.
"Chairman, we didn't know he escaped in a car," The man with a receding hairline, shivered with fear.
"You had one job! You failed to do it! Did I hire you to leech off me?" Chairman Cui yelled angrily, "You had a whole team of four and you tell me you didn't know one person escaped! Were you born with no pair of ears and eyes? What were you doing?"
The four men didn't reply nor dare to make excuses as they were horribly caught laying off their duties by the sudden news. They thought they were being quite sneaky with their tactics.
"All of you are fired and I pray to the Nine Heavens you never get another job as guards!" Chairman Cui brutally dismissed them, holding back the urge to slap the four into heaven, "Get out of here and never step foot in CY ever again!"
The four men shot up and ran out like a group of terrified chickens, leaving behind nothing but their mess to CY in an utterly humiliating manner.
Chairman Cui slumped down in his chair with a headache, rubbing his temples, and stared into the cold tea in front of him.
After a while, a handsome man in a professional suit and a name tag entered the room, wearing his glasses and a sad smile as he saw Chairman Cui. He bowed his head and quickly came to the side of the man and whispered to his ears.
Chairman Cui sighed and took out a cigarette to light it up, "Pay his family 1 million and have it be solved as quickly as possible."
He ignored the no-smoking rule and lit up his cigarette, taking a whiff of it, and exhaled, "How is he?"
"Barely living. It may take a couple of months before he could recover fully," The assistant replied back with a lowered expression, casually taking note of the changes of Chairman Cui.
"Not that bastard, the other one," Chairman Cui interrupted and added.
"The doctors said he didn't make it and passed away before he could get to the hospital," Assistant Wang slightly lowered his head and softly spoke, "It appeared the damage done was too strong and he passed away from it."
Chairman Cui didn't say anything for a long time.
"Pay them an additional 2 million, deducted straight from my account."
"Alright, Mr.Chairman," Assistant Wang nodded and left the office, leaving him alone.
He took a whiff of his cigarette and thought,
'An'er…An'er…you bring nothing but shame to the family. As your father, I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you after this incident…'
He shook his head repeatedly with a pained expression.