Ch 89

　He forgot to check the weather forecast and didn't expect it to rain heavily.

　　He brought an umbrella, but he didn't know if Ji Fanling had brought an umbrella, but Ji Fanling didn't have a mobile phone, and neither did he, so the two couldn't communicate at all.

　　Fu Yingcheng could only stand on the rooftop and wait.

　　Blue-white lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the boy's pale face from top to bottom for a moment.

　　Across the street, Ji Fanling opened the door and walked into Jiangjia Noodles.

　　Six forty.

　　The strong wind carried the dark umbrella cover. Fu Yingcheng struggled to hold the umbrella handle, and his whole body was soaked.

　　He changed his schoolbag and carried it in front of him, protecting it in his arms.

　　Because I don't want my money to get wet.

　　At the intersection below, a girl stood on the roadside holding an umbrella.

　　The heavy rain obscured his vision, and the driver's eyes were blurred by drunkenness. The tires braked sharply amidst the harsh friction sound, but the heavy vehicle still rolled over with inertia.

　　Ji Fanling rushed forward and pushed Jiang Baixing away.

　　Seven o'clock.

　　At the bottom of the building, two sharp sirens sounded alternately, tearing apart the sound of the pouring rain between heaven and earth.

　　Fu Yingcheng's watch rang a lonely alarm. He was holding an umbrella and standing on the rooftop of the sixth floor.

　　An ambulance and a police car below, one behind the other, flashing red and blue lights from far to near, rushed through the red light and drove through the deserted intersection.

　　The bright light pierced the dim night, across the height of six floors, illuminating the dark eyes of the young man in the wind and rain.

　　The sharp sound got closer and further away, bringing an inexplicable feeling of heart palpitations.

　　...

　　It seemed like there was something that he had missed forever.

　　Seven twenty.

　　Ji Fanling was late.

　　Girls are the kind of people who either don't come or will never be late.

　　The soaked boy pursed his lips and lowered his eyes. The heavy rain rolled down his black eyelashes and crossed his pale face.

　　He got off the unfinished building and walked towards home holding an umbrella.

　　Half past seven.

　　Fu Yingcheng trudged in the rain, looking for a place where he could barely stand in the stagnant water.

　　When he passed the intersection, he saw police cars and ambulances parked on the side of the road. The woman in an apron held the boy tightly in her arms. The boy was holding a plastic bag and crying loudly, calling for his sister in a broken voice. The uniformed police officer was interrogating and taking notes while the drunk driver was leaning on the front hood of the car, talking fiercely with his tongue hanging out.

　　The vague fragments of sentences reached his ears amidst the overwhelming sound of rain:

　　kid... are you sure you saw it, right? Can you describe the situation again...

　　I didn't drink! And I didn't hit anyone! Can children count?

　　It's not up to you to decide whether to do it or not! You are reasonable about drunk driving, right?

　　It's raining too much, so monitoring may have to wait until tomorrow...

　　Yeah, where are the people? Why do people disappear? It shouldn't be.

　　Could it be over there...the manhole cover is gone...the sewer seems to lead to Wanjiang River...

　　what a pity...you are so young and will take the college entrance examination next year.

　　...

　　Fu Yingcheng didn't stop or even take a second look.

　　He never cared about things that didn't concern him.

　　The young man braved the wind and turned away from the crossroads of fate without looking back.

　　*

　　Early the next morning, Class 31 of Beiwan No.1 Middle School.

　　The first two classes in the morning were all about Lao Tang's Chinese language. Papers were taught in succession, and the endless chatter made people drowsy.

　　The bell rang during the recess period, and a group of people fell asleep on their desks.

　　After Fu Yingcheng finished collecting the things on the table, he pretended to look back at Ji Fanling's seat unintentionally.

　　The seats are still empty.

　　It was not unusual for her to be late or absent from class.

　　But today's absence only gives people a bad feeling.

　　Fu Yingcheng didn't think much, took out the paper and wrote the questions.

　　After a while, screams suddenly erupted in the corridor, accompanied by a flurry of discussions: "What?" "F*ck, really!" "Were you here yesterday?" "Where did it happen? "It's true that he didn't come." "Who said that?" "What happened?" After a few

　　minutes

　　, Fu Yingcheng's deskmate returned to his seat from outside the classroom and started counting the math homework. The person I called: "Chen Minghui, Song Yuqiao, Wu Lan... OK is gone."

　　Fu Yingcheng paused at the tip of his pen and said casually: "Where is Ji Fanling?"

　　His deskmate gave him a strange look, stopped and lowered his voice. The voice sounded: "Hey, didn't you hear?"

　　Fu Yingcheng raised his eyelids, and the young man's eyes were clearly black and white.

　　The deskmate hesitated to speak: "Well, I'm listening, I'm just listening."

　　Time was suddenly slowed down.

　　The boy's lips opened and closed, and every word he spat out was twisted in a weird way.

　　"Ji Fanling had a car accident last night."

　　"The person may have..."

　　"Dead."

　　...

　　Within a few days, the news was quickly confirmed. After all, someone died, which caused an uproar in the school.

　　The disappearance of the corpse was reported in the news like a miracle, and even UFOs were mentioned, saying that the abnormal thunderstorm that night was a sign. After all, when had it rained so heavily in Beiwan in the past fifty years?

　　Lao Tang did not allow anyone to discuss this matter in the class, nor did he allow classmates to talk nonsense online.

　　The police searched the nearby streets and searched for fish in the lower reaches of Wanjiang River for several days, but found nothing.

　　Not only did the family members of the missing person have no desire to search, but they also wished that the matter would be over soon, so they quickly announced that the person concerned had died due to an accident.

　　The day after Ji Fanling was declared dead.

　　The school is as usual, people are coming and going, it is lively, everything is running as usual.

　　The monthly exam results are out, and the rankings are posted on the blackboard in front of the class.