Pampered by the School Bully
Chapter 194 - 188. The man at the alley entrance, Sangzhi’s dad! (3)

Chapter 194: 188. The man at the alley entrance, Sangzhi’s dad! (3)

On Saturday night, Pu Sangzhi was immersed in knitting a scarf...

She had already knit more than half of Huo Feng’s scarf and planned to finish it in one night so she could give it to him before next week.

Huo Feng was right, the Start of Winter had passed, and cold air would arrive next week.

Although he didn’t lack such a scarf, giving it to him earlier would fulfill his wish.

The cold weather for the following week was fast approaching.

Chen Huifen also found some warm clothes for Pu Sangzhi from the wardrobe.

When Pu Sangzhi was sitting on the bed knitting the scarf, Chen Huifen would rummage through the wardrobe to find clothes that were suitable for Pu Sangzhi to wear.

In Pu Sangzhi’s room’s wardrobe, many clothes were left behind by a cousin who had gone abroad.

Originally, this rental housed Pu Sangzhi’s grandmother and that cousin’s family, but after they bought a new house and moved out, and the grandmother was also hospitalized for the long term.

This vacant ancestral home was then left to Pu Sangzhi and her mother.

And that cousin just happened to graduate from university this summer and was preparing to study abroad, so she sorted out a bag of clothes she didn’t want and brought them here for Pu Sangzhi to wear.

Chen Huifen stuffed this bag of clothes into the wardrobe and would occasionally take something out when Pu Sangzhi needed any.

Like now, as the weather was turning cooler and Sangzhi was short of clothes to wear, they couldn’t conveniently go out to buy new ones, so they had no choice but to dig through the clothes left by the cousin.

When Chen Huifen opened the wardrobe, she immediately saw the blue dress Huo Feng had bought for Pu Sangzhi.

After Pu Sangzhi had worn this dress home last time, she changed out of it and never let Chen Huifen see it.

So now, Chen Huifen was quite surprised to see this dress...

Chen Huifen took the dress out from the wardrobe and after hesitating for a while, she asked, "Xiaosang, did you buy this dress?"

Chen Huifen thought that this was a dress Pu Sangzhi bought for herself with the salary from her tutoring job. Maybe because she was embarrassed to say, she didn’t tell Chen Huifen.

But in fact, it wasn’t bought with the money from tutoring; it was forcefully given to Pu Sangzhi by Huo Feng.

Pu Sangzhi looked up at the dress, and at once, a flicker of panic crossed her little face.

In the choice between deceiving Chen Huifen or not, she hesitated a few seconds and in the end, chose not to deceive her, admitting awkwardly, "This... Huo Feng insisted on giving it to me."

"Oh~"

Chen Huifen nodded somewhat surprised.

She hadn’t expected that these two kids had already started to exchange gifts.

No wonder Sangzhi was determined to give that kid the scarf, she had received a gift from him as well.

"Mom, please put it away quickly, I’m not planning on wearing it anymore," Pu Sangzhi said with a mildly blushed face.

Chen Huifen couldn’t help but laugh secretly to herself, she turned around and hung the dress back in the wardrobe, saying, "Xiaofeng has quite good taste, this dress is very pretty."

Pu Sangzhi pretended not to hear and continued knitting the scarf with her face reddening.

Chen Huifen continued to sort out the clothing, and from the bag left by the cousin, she found several warm sweaters and thick coats.

Although they were secondhand, they still looked about seventy percent new, and making it through the winter wouldn’t be a problem.

Chen Huifen neatly folded these clothes and placed them on Pu Sangzhi’s bed, saying to her, "Next week the cold front is coming. You must wear more clothes at school and absolutely cannot catch a cold."

Pu Sangzhi nodded, "Mhm. You too, mom, take good care of yourself."

Chen Huifen went on, "The clothes left by your cousin are quite nice, the material is good, and they look almost new. You can just make do with wearing these for now. Once we’ve had some time of calm and are certain there’s no danger, I’ll take you to Wenzhou to buy new clothes. We can’t always have you wearing hand-me-downs, it’s unfair to you."

"It’s fine, mom..."

Pu Sangzhi said sensibly, "Clothes aren’t important; having any to wear is enough. We shouldn’t waste money; let’s save up to pay off the debts early, then we can start a new life afterward."

Seeing Pu Sangzhi being so well-behaved, Chen Huifen reached out, gently caressing her head, "Xiaosang, I only feel that life isn’t so difficult because you are so good."

Pu Sangzhi looked up, her black pupils also gazing at her with a smile, "Mom, it’s also because of you that I don’t feel my life is so miserable."

Looking at Pu Sangzhi’s mature little face that seemed wise beyond her years, Chen Huifen smiled.

So far, their family’s life could still be considered quite good.

Although they had a lot of debt, their relatives were all good people who never pressed them for repayment and had stated they wouldn’t charge any interest, allowing them to pay it back slowly.

Despite experiencing company bankruptcy, family breakdown, and displacement to their current state, the people they cherished were still around.

Even though life had battered them with numerous hardships, the light of hope still shone ahead.

Earning money, repaying debts, pursuing an education, and getting into Tsinghua... they could keep following these steps one at a time.

This was fine.

That was enough.

...

However, just as Pu Sangzhi and her daughter were immersed in the warm and harmonious atmosphere of their home, outside the room, outside the house, and even beyond the alley, a lonely figure eagerly anticipated the tightly closed door.

Amid the dark night, tiny fires sparkled, and in the moment when the cigarette ash fell, the sparks flickered in the air before turning to ash on the ground.

At the quiet end of the alley, a man squatted on the ground, a cigarette between his fingers, occasionally taking a drag. The smoke blurred the weathering on the man’s face, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, his weather-beaten features...

He squatted there quietly, thoughtfully gazing, his eyes dark and profound, as if hiding an endless abyss, or as if shrouded by a layer of haze...

In the alley, behind that locked door, were the people he dared not touch, the realities he couldn’t face, including the happiness he longed for. It was right before his eyes.

So near, yet so far...

At the small store at the entrance of the alley, the plump aunty was observing the man from afar.

She had seen him squatting there for about fifteen minutes, smoking three or four cigarettes, showing no sign of leaving.

So, when the man wasn’t paying attention, the plump aunty made a call to Huo Feng.

Huo Feng had instructed her several times to call him immediately if this suspicious man appeared.

Indeed, after Huo Feng’s instructions, the man had appeared twice before.

But on those two occasions, he did not linger long in the alley and merely bought two packs of cigarettes before leaving.

Therefore, the aunty had not notified Huo Feng about those two instances.

This time, it seemed like the man was going to stay for quite a while.

So the plump aunty went through with the call to Huo Feng, prepared to relay the news.

It was already nine in the evening.

At that time, Huo Feng was holding his guitar, sitting on a tall stool in his room, softly strumming...

The sudden phone call made Huo Feng immediately put down his guitar.

Even though it was already 9 p.m., Huo Feng rushed downstairs, hopped on his electric scooter, and sped towards the location.

All the way there, Huo Feng’s scooter almost took flight on the road, pushed to its top speed, making him wish he could give chase to cars...

Yet, due to certain objective factors, he always ended up trailing behind the cars he was chasing, getting further and further behind.

Still, Huo Feng managed to arrive at the mouth of Pu Sangzhi’s alley in a fluster within twenty minutes...

By the time he arrived, the dimly lit alley was desolate.

Huo Feng hurried down from his scooter, looking left and right, searching everywhere, but could not find the man.

Looking around, all he saw was the aunty at the small store...

Running towards the aunty, Huo Feng caught his breath and asked, "Sister, where did he go?"

The aunty, holding a kettle of hot water, said anxiously, "Oh dear, you’re too late. He was here just a few minutes ago, hasn’t gone long..."

"Ah..."

Huo Feng frowned, "Which direction did he go?"

The aunty pointed to the left side of the alley entrance, "Over there, he always goes that way. Maybe you can chase and see if you can catch up."

"Ah, thank you."

Huo Feng hurriedly sprinted off, actually intending to give chase.

However, he had only run a couple of steps when the aunty called him back, "Hey, come back a moment."

Huo Feng turned around and asked urgently, "What is it?"

The aunty said, "I’m telling you, this man is about 1.75 meters tall, fairly slim, wearing a military coat. Also, his facial features are quite nice, but his face is very dark. He seems like a good person, too..."

"Ah, thank you."

Huo Feng thanked the aunty, turned around, and raced off, hopping on his scooter and speeding in the direction the man had left...

He had to find this man.

He absolutely had to!

Especially before understanding why this man kept appearing here!

Otherwise, Pu Sangzhi and her mother would forever be confined to a life without seeing the light of day.