"Can we ride the ferry wheel?" Her pestering voice was not so simple for Mu Lixin to ignore. He did not know why he obeyed Mingxia's request every time she made one. It was unlike him! Lixin snubbed this new feeling and escorted her to the ferry wheel. Shortly, an attendant came and led them into the wheel. He gave them some instructions and left.
The wheels were turned on, and slowly, Mingxia could see herself rising from the floor. They were about ten meters above the ground. Thank goodness, none of them had any height disorders. Mingxia propped her head toward Lixin and rested it on his shoulders. She wrapped her fingers around his and silently made a wish. Ancient beliefs proved that any wish made on the ferry wheels came through, though not straight away.
Lixin examined her childish behavior, smiled, and also followed suit in making a wish. Whether it came true or not was up to Lixin to decide. After they were done, Mingxia stood up and went to the door to pull it open, but it refused to bulge. Her eyes began to tear up as it blurred her vision, and her skin color whitened oddly. Mingxia froze on the spot. They were stuck. Her heart began to pulsate out of control. Lixin immediately noticed this and ran toward her. He enveloped her in his embrace.
"Are you claustrophobic? Mingxia, speak to me!"
Flashback, Eleventh Grade:
Zhou Mingxia POV
I could see nothing but darkness crowding me and laughter from the other side of the room. My hands were shackled to the chair, and my legs were held firmly to the legs of the chair. I could hardly see anything. They were all blurry and dark to me. Suddenly, a candle was lit from the other side of the room. I saw a man standing next to the only source of lighting, and I was able to recognize him—he was my father, Zhou Muchen. He had a razor blade in his arms and a sinister, sly smirk on his face.
"Xiao Ming, your father is back from work," Muchen spoke out loud, strolling closer and closer to me. The disgust in his voice sent shivers down my spine. This incident was in the eleventh grade when I was detained for fighting. Ever since then, I have never fought and only cried when I was wrongly accused. "I heard from the teacher that you fought your classmate. The boy is in the hospital. Do you realize what you have done?"
"I cannot believe you, Xiao Ming! You dared to lay hands on him. And so what if you were bullied by him? I told you several times and in numbers that you deserved it. All you do is cause me pain! How I wish I would have strangled you the moment you were born."
"Papa, I am sorry," I sobbed, struggling to free myself from the chains. I knew the consequences of fighting, and knowing it was time to face them, I became afraid. Muchen held the blade above my head, and before I knew it, there were drops of blood falling from my head. He had made a large insertion in my head. "I am sorry. It hurts a lot." That was all I could say as I kept on bleeding profusely. He slowly evacuated into the darkness and, from afar, watched me cry in pain. My white uniform was soaked in deep red blood. Before I knew it, I had blacked out.
I woke up some hours later to see myself locked up in a small metal cage. I banged and banged on the door, yet there was no one to answer me. I screamed, but there was no response. I could only wail silently. My wounded forehead was already bandaged, and my uniform changed into my nighties. I soon realized that I was locked up in a cage. The night rained throughout, and the frightening thunder sounds never seemed to stop. I rolled myself into a ball and cried all night. When my body could not take the pressure and fright, I passed out on the cold floor.
.............
"Mingxia, speak to me. Zhou Mingxia!" Lixin worriedly called out after the attendant had gotten them out of the ferry wheel. They were currently out of the amusement park and in his car, but she did not wake up. Mingxia's body was very hot and pale. "Huang Yichen, pick up the call." He pleaded, clasping his fingers together. There were faint murmurs from Mingxia. Luckily, her eyes flew open, and she gasped for breath. She felt suffocated and lacked oxygen, so naturally, her face turned red. She reached out to Lixin, and that was when he knew she had snapped out of her trance.
"Lixin, I feel really uncomfortable. Lixin, it hurts so badly."
"I am here. Where does it ache?" Lixin asked, wondering what just happened. If she was claustrophobic, why did she agree to go into the ferry wheel? "Let me drive you to the hospital." Mingxia nodded in agreement and managed the pounding headache.
In the hospital,
"How is she, Yichen?" Lixin stood up anxiously, running to him the moment Yichen came out of the test room. He waved his hands, and Lixin followed him to his office. He closed the door and sat down. "Can you tell me if she is fine?"
"Yes. No harm or injury. She is perfectly fine."
"I do not believe you! How could she be yelling that her head hurts all the way here while you say nothing is wrong? Take the scan again." Lixin retorted.
"This is the fifth time that I have scanned her. She is okay and healthy. I am guessing she is hiding something that she is not telling you. We needed an MRI scan of her brain and saw unusual brain waves. It is called a post-traumatic disorder. She is suffering her traumas, both physically and mentally. Most people only know they suffer this kind of thing, but she doesn't know. The way her father treats her makes it seem that it is normal to her but not to her brain. She had one again in the scan room."
Where were you able to capture what she was dreaming of?" Lixin asked.
"I am not a neurosurgeon, for crying out loud. These are only my speculations. I am an orthopedic! Mu Lixin, there is one thing I have confirmed: Miss Zhou has successfully enslaved you. I was annoyed when you made me fly to Wuhan just for this. What exactly do you see in this Mingxia? She cannot be compared to Nan Xing. You are only doing this to fulfill your mother's last wish. Your nice attitude would make her think she is entitled to it." Yichen cried out, washing his face and slumping back into the chair. He gave Mingxia's health report to Lixin. "I really do not know how to help her. I am not a neurosurgeon. You know who can help you. Call Nan Xing; she will fly back from America to help you. Nan Xing calls every day to check on your well-being. It is so sad that you decline her calls. I feel bad for her."
"You need smacking, don't you?" Lixin replied ruthlessly, raising his hands and tapping Yichen's forehead. He stopped when Yichen surrendered and said, "Sign Mingxia up for therapy class. And also, help me investigate someone called An Yu. I heard she comes to this hospital for a medical checkup."
"An Yu?" Yichen nodded, writing down her name on white paper. He examined Lixin's worried face and sighed. He was stressed over matters that did not concern him. Mingxia's problems were never his from the start! He need not be nervous about her. "I heard your court case was canceled. Your father is up to no good."
"You can say anything you want; I am not bothered about that asshole again. If he wants to fight to the death, I will grant him his wish." Lixin coldly stared into thin space. He was less concerned about his father, although a huge part of him wanted this case to end. For six years, his father had invaded his privacy and harassed him both publicly and privately; it was getting troublesome on his part. It would be nice if he ended up in prison. "Mr. Ling has remarried. Her name is An Yu. That was why I said you should look into her medical record. I perceive he is only a stepping stone in her plan." Yichen nodded again, noting down all Lixin had said. It was so awful that Lixin had to go through this alone.
Yichen could recall vividly how well Haoyu treated them, Nan Xing and Huang Yichen, any time they dropped by for a visit. He was very friendly and so nice that Yichen began to ponder if truly the man causing Lixin a headache was his father, whom Yichen grew up to admire. He was the best example of a father, or maybe it was his wishful thinking. Many families were like that; they appeared to be perfect in the open, but on the inside, they were nothing like families, and the same applied to Lixin's family. Too bad he endured it in silence, hoping for the best for his mother.
"I never knew that your father was a green tea drinker." He posed as the best father in the world when he wasn't. I can still remember that whenever we came for sleepovers, he was the one who welcomed us with open arms, gave us cookies, and gave us a place to stay. I saw it as the best thing that happened to you." Yichen voiced out that she was not ready to be certain that Haoyu was a sheep in wolf clothing. He appeared to be the best at that time, and when Yichen got into arguments with his father, he often compared Haoyu to his father. He was wrong all along.
"People change Yichen, and it all started when my father began to see another woman. My mother became paranoid and could not handle it. That woman is An Yu; she ruined my family, and I will ruin hers! All her happiness will soon become a nightmare, which she will not be able to escape in the near future. Do me a favor and find out her details and email them to me. I know who will handle her very well. Someone who will not mind getting equal with her"
"Who?" Yichen wondered. Once Lixin had removed his hands from someone else's matters, he was either handing them over to someone higher than him or he was just too lazy to deal with them, and the latter was the best reason.
"Who else knows the thick-skinned nature, weakness, and strength of An Yu apart from Jiang Shi? I know him well; he would not hesitate to get even with that home wrecker of a human."