Although he went to bed very late, Yan Junze, having just completed his first task, was evidently still excited, and spent the night in a daze, hardly getting any real sleep.
He was awakened by the cold as it was getting light outside.
In May, even though the morning air is cool, a thin blanket should be enough to keep warm, but Yan Junze was certain that it was the cold that had woken him up.
Sitting up in bed, he twisted his head to glance behind him and saw nothing, yet a chill that seemed to have soaked into his being made him almost shiver uncontrollably.
He then got dressed and, standing in front of the wardrobe mirror, Yan Junze glanced at his own reflection, and sure enough, there was Ke'er, clad in red, lying on his back as if she were sound asleep.
No good, this dead child wasn't coming down, and he had no way to deal with her for the moment.
He needed to find a way to warm himself up first; otherwise, he might freeze to death before strangenesses had a chance to scare him to death.
Yan Junze rummaged through his closet and quickly found a khaki-colored thick sweater to put on.
As he was getting dressed, Ke'er behind him seemed to have no effect whatsoever, as if she had become transparent at that moment.
The incident in the bathroom had been resolved, and Yan Junze must find a chance to convince his parents that there was no longer any need to go to great lengths to call for an exorcist.
He checked the time, it was already 6:10 AM, and there were 20 minutes left before his father, Yan Daguo, would get up and open the bathroom door.
After pondering for a moment, and feeling the warmth starting to build up in his body, Yan Junze noted that despite the lack of sleep over the past few days, he was in pretty good shape.
It seemed that youth was indeed an asset.
The Ke'er lying on his back seemed to only bring coldness for the time being, and he had not yet discovered any other side effects that might harm his body.
Yan Junze quickly thought of a plan. He took out the switched bathroom key and, before his parents were up, opened the door and the light switch of the bathroom as if he had done this many times before.
He then watched the time on his phone.
At 6:20 AM, adjusting his emotions, he ran to his parents' bedroom in a panic, first knocking loudly on the closed door, then shouting, "Dad, Mom, get up quick! The bathroom door is open, and that thing seems to have disappeared."
Three minutes later.
Yan Daguo, Li Man, and Yan Junze stood in front of the open bathroom door, staring inside with bewildered expressions. They had been standing there for over two minutes, motionless.
After some hesitation, Yan Daguo finally spoke, asking Yan Junze, "Was the door like this when you got up?"
"Yeah, the light inside was on too, and it must have been on for quite a while," Yan Junze confirmed with certainty, nodding.
During the conversation, he deliberately twisted his body, shaking his back in front of Yan Daguo and Li Man, wanting to know if his parents could see Ke'er on his back.
As it turned out, his concerns were unnecessary, as under the current circumstances, it seemed that no one other than himself could see Ke'er.
And even Yan Junze himself could only spot Ke'er through a mirror.
Yan Daguo checked the time; it wasn't yet 6:30 AM. Based on his experience, at this time of day under normal circumstances, it would not be safe to enter the bathroom, as there was a high chance of encountering the ghost of the red-clad girl.
A moment later, gritting his teeth and with a look of resignation on his face, Yan Daguo said to Li Man, "Wife, I'll go in and take a look. You and our son stay outside the door."
With that, not waiting for Li Man to object, he stepped into the bathroom, and from the slightly trembling of his legs, Yan Junze felt that his father's step was no different from stepping into hell.
Time seemed to freeze as Yan Daguo stood in the bathroom for a long time, and the mother and son also stood outside for a long time, staring at each other in silence.
The hour hand on the living room clock pointed to 6:41 AM when Yan Daguo walked out of the bathroom.
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"It seems... it's really gone."
As he muttered to himself, Yan Daguo checked every room in the house, fearful that the red-clad girl would emerge. If she appeared in other rooms in broad daylight, the situation would be far more serious than it is now.
Li Man also went up and down, inspecting everywhere.
Half an hour later, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
It appeared to be truly gone.
Still uneasy, Yan Daguo said to Li Man and Yan Junze, "Let's keep locking the bathroom door on time for the next two days. After midnight, I'll go into the bathroom. If I'm certain that thing doesn't appear again, it may really be gone."
"Thank heaven!" Li Man clasped her hands together and looked up to give thanks, her face showing gratitude for the divine favor.
Then, lowering her hands, Li Man's expression turned to one of surprise as she stared at Yan Junze. "Ze, why are you dressed like a zongzi? Is it that cold? You are wearing a thick sweater meant for the dead of winter."
"Cold," Yan Junze affirmed with a nod.
"You must take care of yourself these days," Yan Daguo said with concern, then to Li Man, "Now I think we can hold off on asking a friend to call the exorcist. Let's wait to see if that thing is really still here, and then it won't be too late to spend money."
Li Man had no objections to the suggestion.
The family was already short on money, and it would be best not to have to dip into her meager salary in advance.
Li Man even felt the surprise of winning a jackpot. When others encountered strangeness, they either endured in terror until the exorcist came or simply moved away. Yet, the strangeness in her own house had just vanished.
If she knew the real reason why her son was dressed like a zongzi, she wouldn't feel like she'd won the jackpot, but as if she'd been cursed.
...
An hour later.
At Shuntian No.3 Middle School, Senior Year Class 5.
The morning reading was underway, with the teacher not yet in the classroom. The mix of reading noises was like the machinery in Yan Daguo's factory, rumbling and incessant.
In this world, just like on Earth, there was an international language spoken around the globe, called USA language, similar to the popularity of English on Earth.
Therefore, there were many students reciting USA language at this time. Yan Junze had looked over the textbooks and felt that the pronunciation and usage were not much different from English, just with some very subtle differences that were negligible for him.
While he was studying USA language, Zhou Dali was staring at him with a look of astonishment.
Soon Yan Junze lifted his head and fixed his gaze on Zhou Dali. "What?"
"Why are you dressed like a zongzi?" Zhou Dali's exaggerated expression focussed on Yan Junze's winter-like attire.
"Do you have a special fondness for zongzi?" Yan Junze internally complained, tightening his coat, which he'd layered over a thick sweater, "I have a bit of a cold, feels chilly."
"Cold in this weather?"
Zhou Dali didn't waste the opportunity to flex his thick forearms, which were almost as wide as Yan Junze's waist. He rolled up his sleeves, exposing his muscles, and swiftly waved them about under the watchful eyes of Bao Jie and Jiang Ruixin at the next desk. While showing off his muscles, he also demonstrated his unmatched hand speed and the evident high frequency of shaking from his extensive training.
The two ladies gave him a look as if he were an idiot, not uttering a word.
Just then, Yan Junze suddenly felt Ke'er, whom he'd almost forgotten about lying on his back, lightly shift.
The bell for class rang, and the teacher arrived.
```