The Lost Lamb's Trap - Chapter 36.2
Chapter 36.2: Moon (1)
Duan Jiayang rummaged in her pocket but found no money. She said, “Then walk home yourself.”
The two red-haired guys offered Duan Jiayang a ride on their motorbike. Lin Ke walked over to the other one and asked, “Can you give me a ride?”
“No!” Duan Jiayang wouldn’t let the red-haired guy give her a ride.
“Come on, Jiayang, it’s so late. What if something happens to her?” The red-haired guy really wanted to give Lin Ke a ride.
Duan Jiayang’s face turned red with anger. She glared at them and insisted on getting off halfway. She started walking back, and Lin Ke also got off and followed her.
The two of them walked back together. The two red-haired guys then realized that they were heading in the same direction and lived together.
Lin Ke said softly, “I’m her sister… Her dad said that I have to follow her. He said if anyone makes her angry or bullies her, he’ll break their legs and have people chop them up and feed them to the dogs… Her dad is Duan Litian. He’s really bad. She and her dad don’t have a good relationship. Thank you for giving me a ride back.”
The two red-haired guys’ hair, which looked like rooster crests, trembled in the night.
Duan Jiayang’s truancy was quickly discovered by her homeroom teacher, who got very angry at her and slammed the table to warn her.
He told her to call her parents. After he said it, he saw her eyes were red, and he felt sorry for her. He asked softly, “Did something happen at home?”
Duan Jiayang turned and left. The homeroom teacher was so angry he was about to explode. Another teacher next to him said, “Oh, she’s a spoiled brat. It’s her rebellious phase. There’s no cure for this kind of mischief.”
“Don’t be so rude. My student is not for you to lecture.” The homeroom teacher’s eyes turned cold, and he retorted, defending Duan Jiayang.
The homeroom teacher started waiting for her after school every day, putting her in his car and driving her home.
During that time, the homeroom teacher frequently appeared outside the classroom window and at the back door. During the day, the homeroom teacher would block her, and in her free time, she would run into Lin Ke everywhere.
Lin Ke was like a ghost. She would go to the bathroom, and when she came out, she would see Lin Ke waiting outside. She would walk a few steps, and Lin Ke would follow a few steps, not saying a word, like a transparent person.
Sometimes Duan Jiayang would get used to it, and sometimes she would want to kill her.
She hadn’t run into those two delinquents again and didn’t know why they didn’t want to hang out with her anymore. Although she was a little sad, she didn’t run around anymore and stayed at school for a while. It seemed like everything had calmed down.
But the entire third grade was buzzing with gossip, guessing what their relationship was and why Lin Ke had become Duan Jiayang’s lackey.
Because Duan Jiayang was always cold to Lin Ke and said mean things to her, but Lin Ke still followed her on her own accord. Everyone fabricated a bizarre story: Lin Ke’s family went bankrupt and owed Duan Jiayang’s family money. Duan Jiayang, the rich young lady, forced the aloof beauty to be her lackey, bullying and tormenting her.
They were just waiting to see when Duan Jiayang would get her comeuppance.
During the monthly exam, Duan Jiayang tried her best, but she did terribly. She picked up her pen but couldn’t write anything. Halfway through the exam, she gave up and walked out of the exam room. Lin Ke saw her and got up too, following her out. The proctor tried to stop them but couldn’t.
Duan Jiayang was so annoyed with her she wanted to die. She rushed into a small grove of trees and started kicking a tree, glaring at Lin Ke.
“I wasn’t following you,” Lin Ke said. “I’m just sad. My mom doesn’t want me anymore. She abandoned me.”
Duan Jiayang’s nose stung.
“You deserve it.”
Duan Jiayang clenched her hands and walked away in a huff.
She did so poorly on the exam that her grades plummeted, and she became one of the last in her class. Her state was very bad. She was anxious and spaced out. She didn’t do her homework. She, the chemistry class representative, was leading by example, so everyone was lazy. The homeroom teacher did a random check and used a broomstick the width of a finger to hit everyone’s palms. The homeroom teacher’s teeth were chattering as he hit their palms, which quickly turned red and swollen. The students in the back frantically wrote down random answers, hoping to escape. Duan Jiayang stood still. The homeroom teacher hit Duan Jiayang. When he saw her, he was so angry he hated her. He hit her very hard, and the thin stick broke.
She couldn’t handle the drop in grades and the blow, so she ran out to mess around.
She didn’t know how she had become bad. She was scared to death. She would do whatever the bad people told her to do. This time, the delinquents were different from the two at the internet cafe. This group of delinquents said, “Duan Jiayang, you should wear short sleeves and shorts too. You’re so pretty.”
It was already autumn. Duan Jiayang was wearing a low-V black dress that barely covered her thighs. The young girl’s pale skin was exposed, and the curves of her neck and chest made the wind slow down. She was wearing high heels. The most expensive thing on her was the pair of patent leather high heels, which cost 30,000 yuan. But as she walked, she felt a lack of belonging. The moon was hazy in the night. A boy next to her gave her a canned beer. When others drank, she drank too. She leaned against the wall, her legs stretched out in front of her. The adults who passed by all stared at her legs.
They were fair and smooth. Anyone who saw them would want to pinch them and leave a red mark.
The delinquents whistled and flirted with her. They ruffled her hair and said, “Curly hair is pretty too. Why don’t you try it? Does your school care? Are you scared?”
“Sure.”
“When my dad gives me the money, I’ll perm it.”
“Where’s your money?”
“I’ve spent it all.”
“Ask your dad for more.”
“Okay, okay.”
“Want a smoke?”
The guy handed her a cigarette that he had bitten. The cigarette butt was wet and had a tooth mark on it. The guy smiled cunningly. Duan Jiayang turned her face away. “It smells disgusting.”
“You’ll like it later.”
Duan Jiayang turned her head and saw Lin Ke waiting for her with her bag. Lin Ke was leaning against a tree, reading a book under a street lamp. That ghost, she was so patient. She had waited for her until now.
Lin Ke had seen her every move. She must be happy.
Duan Jiayang thought, this is fine too.
The next day, the homeroom teacher called at the dinner table and fiercely criticized Duan Litian for being irresponsible, defending Duan Jiayang. Duan Jiayang kept her head down and didn’t say a word, blinking constantly.
Duan Litian grunted, his voice impatient. “Zhang, who do you think you are? I’m giving you some respect. You’re a homeroom teacher at No. 1 High School, but you’re being so arrogant with me. What is this? It’s the teacher’s responsibility to teach students well.”
He hung up and blocked the number.
Duan Litian had noticed Duan Jiayang’s change and had said a few things, but the more he said, the more she argued with him and challenged him. Duan Litian was so angry he told her, “Duan Jiayang, if I hear that kind of talk again, I won’t give you a single cent. Do whatever you want. I don’t have the energy to deal with you right now. You’re at the bottom of your class after one monthly exam. You’d get a better score if you just stomped on the answer sheet. You’re stupid.”
Duan Litian was disgusted by her grades and indeed didn’t have time to manage her. He was busy with the wedding. Now that Lin Wan had a child, she no longer pretended to be gentle. She wanted money, status, and for Duan Litian to give her a proper title. She wanted to become the true mistress of the house and for Duan Litian to give her half, a large part, of the money he earned.
Duan Litian tried to appease her. He wanted the child but not Lin Wan. He knew what kind of person Lin Wan was and didn’t want to spend his life with a cunning woman. He was already tired of her, but he was hooked by the child. Lin Wan wasn’t stupid. “Do you think I’m interested in your measly body? I want the money in your pocket. The baby isn’t that far along yet. If you don’t give me a title, I’ll say I’m going to have an abortion. Duan Litian was going crazy wanting a son. His only daughter was not smart and loved to cause trouble, treating him like an enemy. He definitely wanted to practice with a younger child. On the surface, the two of them would hug each other’s waists and ask how the baby was. I would say the baby wasn’t doing well, and I felt depressed. Maybe we should just go to the hospital and have an abortion and try for another one later.
You take a step forward, and I take a step back. The competition was back and forth. Lin Wan wasn’t afraid of Lin Ke messing around. She thought her daughter was well-behaved and obedient, so she made a big fuss at home. Duan Litian had to manage the company and also his disappointing daughter at school. In the end, he took a step back. He would give Lin Wan a small wedding first, and when the baby was born, he would reward her with 300 million yuan and a villa.
Lin Wan accepted happily, of course, with an agreement. She had to be rewarded, and if they ever broke up, he had to provide child support.
The house was being decorated. Italian and French designers were coming and going. From time to time, expensive and exaggerated wedding dresses were hanging in the living room. The house was decorated with lights and colors and was being redecorated. The third floor was completely turned into a baby area. Only Duan Jiayang’s room was left untouched, looking out of place.
Duan Jiayang didn’t want to open her door or close it. She just didn’t want to go home. She started running away at night more frequently. Even though she was afraid of those delinquents and often trembled with fear, those people were like her: their parents didn’t love them, and they were all on their own.
Duan Litian didn’t give Duan Jiayang any money, thinking she couldn’t do anything with it. He had people watch her and had his secretary give a lot of things to her homeroom teacher. The secretary apologized and humbled himself, but the homeroom teacher didn’t accept them. Duan Litian donated a batch of books to the school library in the homeroom teacher’s name.
Duan Jiayang deliberately went against him. She wouldn’t even listen to her homeroom teacher. But Duan Jiayang now had many strategists and had completely become a fish in the water. The people her family had arranged to watch her couldn’t keep an eye on her at all. If they blocked the front door, she would take the back. If they blocked the back door, she would climb the wall. If they blocked the wall, she would just put on a school uniform and some makeup and go out anyway.
The homeroom teacher had blocked her a few times like a chicken.
Once, she was climbing the wall, and it happened to be He Xiao’s class that was cleaning. He Xiao saw her and immediately walked over and called her name. She just jumped down, scraping her knees.
After escaping again, she sneered and walked toward an alley. She turned her head and didn’t see the ghost.
She thought, this is good. I won’t go home tonight.
She walked over, and the group didn’t welcome her as enthusiastically as before.
Among the colorful and strange delinquents, Lin Ke was leaning against a wall, her black hair hanging straight. She was wearing a blue school uniform. In the black alley, a tiny red glow was on her slender fingertips.
A group of skinny, tall guys were laughing, coughing, and spitting on the ground, surrounding Lin Ke and watching the show. One of them had his hand propped up by her neck. The number one student, a person who had always been clean and aloof, falling was much more interesting than a silly idiot who willingly came to them. Lin Ke turned her head, avoiding the guy’s breath. She raised her hand and started to smoke the slender cigarette, puffing out clouds of smoke.
It was a skillful, wild kind of skill mixed with a hint of youth.
Her black pupils reflected Duan Jiayang’s surprised and stunned expression.
A guy walked over and patted the wall, smiling at her. “Top student, are you stressed from studying or something? Hurry up and go back. Don’t cause trouble here. If you don’t leave, we might take you to a hotel.”
“Are you an adult?”
Duan Jiayang turned and left. When she looked back again, Lin Ke was still in the same spot. She took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her pocket and handed them to the guy, along with a red packet.
Everyone immediately started to cheer and whistle. “Wow, a cigarette packet! Brother Bin is awesome. This is a top student, a goddess, Brother Liang’s dream girl.”
The guy named Bin clicked his tongue and went to take the things from Lin Ke’s hand. He said, “Are these betel nuts? Who wants this? Do you have something that can be blown into a big balloon?”
Duan Jiayang trembled all over. She clenched her fists. Her back was to the alley, and her eyes were dry from the wind. She hated Lin Ke, hated her to the core. She wanted Lin Ke to rot here, to make Lin Wan regret it for the rest of her life and to make her have a miscarriage from being so angry.
The people there were getting more and more daring with Lin Ke. They took the opportunity to flirt with her and called “Brother Liang.” Duan Jiayang had seen that Brother Liang once. He had a black tattoo and was rumored to do drugs. He would ride his motorcycle around and was rumored to have used a knife on his love rival.
Duan Jiayang was thrilled. It was as if she had unintentionally set a trap, and Lin Ke had finally fallen into it.
But still, she turned around and walked over, grabbing Lin Ke’s hand and pulling her away. The guy named Bin looked at her. “What are you two doing? Should we take you to a barbecue? Or clubbing tonight? Wanna go?”
His eyes were all over the place, and other people were coming closer. The guys had red and green hair and looked shifty.
Duan Jiayang pushed their hands away, pulled Lin Ke’s hand, and walked out step by step.
When they were far away, they started running.
She stopped under a camphor tree. The leaves were yellow, and a few had fallen on the ground. Duan Jiayang looked at Lin Ke. Her clean blue school uniform was mixed with the smell of cheap tobacco. Because of smoking, her lips were dry. Lin Ke looked at her, her eyes bent like stars, but they were fallen, dark stars.
Slap. Duan Jiayang’s hand hit Lin Ke’s face. A red handprint immediately appeared on Lin Ke’s pale face. Lin Ke blinked again, her eyelashes wet. Duan Jiayang didn’t think her slap was that hard.
“Why don’t you just die!” she said.
Lin Ke and her mom deserved to die. Duan Jiayang regretted it so much. She shouldn’t have sent her to the hospital last time. She should have let her become disabled so no one would bother her.
Duan Jiayang looked at her in despair. “Can you just stay away from me? You’re disgusting! I want to throw up when I see you!”
Lin Ke walked forward. Her hand tried to land on Duan Jiayang’s face, to caress her cheek. She said, “Do you think I was disgusting just now?”
“Yes! You’re so disgusting!” Duan Jiayang yelled. But because of Lin Ke’s indifference, her yelling sounded more like a powerless rage.
Lin Ke said, “So… the people who see you fall won’t feel sorry for you. They’ll just feel disgusted.”
Yes, it was disgusting.
Lin Ke wasn’t beautiful or charming in that dangerous environment. All she had was a sense of depravity, like a clown. She herself was also very disgusted. She truly loathed those delinquents. They were uneducated, had no morals, and their words were all foul.
The people who passed by wouldn’t hold back because of their age. They specifically looked at their faces, chests, and legs, fantasizing about their young bodies through their thin clothes.
From the outside of the alley, it just seemed like they were crying and looking for happiness in their fall, fantasizing about them wantonly.
Duan Jiayang squatted down and buried her face in her arms. She was so annoyed. Lin Ke kept following her, and she was the only one who followed her… Lin Ke reached out to touch her. She pushed Lin Ke to the ground. Lin Ke came to touch her again. She put all her strength into her fists. She straddled Lin Ke’s waist and raised her hands to hit her face. Lin Ke didn’t fight back at first. When she was tired from hitting her, she propped herself up on her shoulders, ready to stand up. Lin Ke slapped her face. Duan Jiayang was dazed. She went to pinch Lin Ke, but Lin Ke grabbed her hair and pressed her to the ground. Lin Ke gave her three consecutive slaps.
Duan Jiayang’s eyes were red. “Lin Ke, you hit my face… Duan Litian has never hit my face. Don’t touch me. You smoke. It’s disgusting! It stinks!” The memory of that cigarette from yesterday was still fresh in her mind, making her nauseous every time she thought of it.
“That was my mom’s cigarette. I’m just imitating her. I don’t know how to smoke.”
Lin Ke sat on top of her. Her breath smelled of mint, unlike the cheap tobacco. She grabbed Duan Jiayang’s hands and slapped them on her own face. “You hit me. I’m returning it to you.”
If they both got slapped in the face again, their faces would swell up. Duan Jiayang’s face felt hot. She punched Lin Ke’s shoulder.
The late-night was silent and empty. Their shadows were stacked together, tall and strange, like monsters breaking through the night.
The monsters were panting in the darkness.
It seemed there was a type of monster in the world that was afraid of sunlight and humans, so they would sneak out at night to catch their breath.
Lin Ke pulled Duan Jiayang up, dusted off the dirt on her shoulders, and shook the sand out of her hair. Duan Jiayang swatted her hands away. Lin Ke forcefully touched her face, tidying up her messy hair and tucking it behind her ears, revealing her face. She then pulled a small bag from her pocket.
Duan Jiayang thought it was a betel nut and tried to swat it away again.
Lin Ke’s hands were red from being hit. Her fingers trembled slightly. She picked up the small bag, tore it open, and took out a cool wet wipe. She put the wipe on Duan Jiayang’s face. She wiped the left side, then the right, and finally wiped the dust off her forehead. Her movements were delicate and gentle.
Duan Jiayang’s face was once again clean and flawless.
Lin Ke did this again, carefully wiping her face.
It was like picking up the moon that had fallen into a sewage ditch, wiping it clean, and then standing on tiptoes to put it back in the sky.
“Little Lamb, don’t be like this anymore.”
The moonlight was sinking, and the wind was coming from afar.
Lin Ke held Duan Jiayang’s hot cheeks, soothing her with a gentle voice. “If you’re going to be bad, use me to practice. Bully me, bully me as much as you want.