She had finished the candy in her mouth and unwrapped another, popping it in. Turning around, she walked over to an old bicycle not far away, unlocked the rusty lock, and turned a corner on the bike.
She headed straight for the bank across the street.
Stopped in front of the ATM.
Parked the bike expertly and locked it up.
An old security guard not far off emerged with a thermos cup, sipped his tea, and watched her.
The bike was so old and dilapidated, its paint almost completely worn off. Who would want to steal it?
Jiang Ruan, as if not seeing the guard's glance, went straight to the ATM, took out a black wallet from her pocket. There were no notes, only a few bank cards in the card holder. Her slender, white fingertips brushed over a few differently colored cards, pausing on a gold one.
She then took out the card to check the balance.
Six zeros after the number.
She bit her fingernail, this wouldn't do. If she gave this card to her folks, she wasn't sure how they'd react.
Bear in mind, she was just a high school student who had recently graduated.
After some thought, she took out the card again and replaced it with another one that she had recently opened. Again, she checked the balance. It showed thirty thousand yuan.
She nodded approvingly.
Her parents had hardly any savings despite being diligent all their lives. She usually pretended to have part-time jobs to supplement the family income. Now that she was preparing to leave, it was better to leave them with some living expenses. Otherwise, they would have to do those dirty, tiring jobs without her knowing.
She withdrew the card and turned to leave.
She got on her old bicycle and arrived at an intersection. It was a red light.
Just as she stopped, her phone rang.
Looking at it, she saw it was Lu Yizhou.
She answered, "Speak your mind."
"Boss, your sister is in trouble. The police just picked her up, saying they found drugs in her bag, and the Chen family's kid is involved."
Her eyes turned frightening at his words.
This reckless Yuxin was playing with high stakes again. How dare she mess around with those things? Had she no fear of death?
"Hmm, I know."
With that, she abruptly hung up.
Looking at the time, it was already half-past nine.
Across the street was a plaza with many peddlers selling a variety of fresh items. Many children were playing around.
As the traffic light turned green, Jiang Ruan was just stepping on the pedal when a little boy ran past her, chasing his newly bought toy car straight into the middle of the road. Suddenly, she heard a honk. She looked over.
A dark saloon car was speeding towards him.
The bright car lights were blinding.
The little boy didn't see the car and was shooting straight for it. The car clearly had no chance to avoid him.
If the car hit him, he would either die or be seriously injured.
Jiang Ruan pursed her mouth, her hand gripping the handlebars tightly. She could hear the screams coming from all around.
No one in the vicinity seemed to notice her.
Staring in the direction of the little boy, her pupils seemed to darken a bit.
＊＊
At the busy intersection, a thin figure seemed to turn into a shadow, frantically sprinting towards the boy like a ghost. Just as the car was about to hit him, she scooped him up and violently rolled to the other side of the road.
It all happened so fast, like a flash of lightning, too quick to get a clear vision of her movements.
Jiang Ruan stopped after rolling a few times with the boy, her wrist was scrapped against a sharp stone on the ground, leaving a gash.
The bystanders hadn't even reacted yet.
Wait.
How did that girl get across?