Chapter 47: Zhou Hui's Background

  Time slowly passed by, and these days heavy snow has been falling non-stop. The ground now already has 15 centimeters thick of accumulated snow.

  I spent the whole day accompanying Li Huanhuan and Dongfang Yu, Zhou Hui to ski and have a snowball fight, having a great time.

  I've never dared to tell my parents or Dongfang Yu about what happened with Bai Feng, because I'm afraid of scaring them and also worried that it might lead to some unnecessary misunderstandings.

  I send water and food to Bai Feng every day, and also give her some snacks, books and so on, so that she won't get bored and want to escape or kill me again.

  My actions were not understood by Bai Feng. As soon as she saw me, she started scolding me and the more she spoke, the more unpleasant it became, to the point where I didn't even dare to go deliver food or water to her anymore.

  All this has been going on until I caught the White Phoenix on the third day, which is today. The snow that had fallen continuously for two days and two nights has also stopped, but the accumulated snow is very thick, and the sky is a dull gray.

  Today, I secretly sent her water and food early in the morning without anyone noticing, but unexpectedly my mother saw me. Under my mother's questioning, I had no choice but to tell her everything and took her to see Bai Feng.

  My mother is a very kind person, when she saw the method I locked in the woodshed, she immediately scolded me: "This is what you did well, how can you treat a girl like this? Don't hurry up and let her go?"

  I was stunned at the time and didn't speak for a while before saying, "She came to kill me, how can I just let her go like that? Mom, you don't understand the situation, this person cannot be released."

  My mother listened to my words, and immediately frowned, saying after a long time: "So you lock up a little girl like this? What if the little girl wants to eat or go to the bathroom?"

  I smiled: "I bring her food and water every day, mom, don't worry, she won't go hungry!"

  Her mother nodded and suddenly said: "What if she wants to go to the toilet or something? Do you have a solution for that?"

  I suddenly blushed and didn't speak for a long time before saying: "She never said that..."

  "His mother laughed: 'Silly boy, she's just a little girl, how could she talk about such things with you? You go out first, I'll take her to the bathroom!'"

  I had nothing more to say and could only retreat from the woodshed. Before long, my mother came out with Bai Feng, who had been set free, and went straight to the toilet.

  It's also my fault for being muddle-headed and not thinking too much, Bai Feng has been locked in the woodshed by me for two days now, I don't know if she will hate me even more because of this!

  I also worry that the white phoenix who has gained freedom will be unfavorable to my mother, carefully guarding the edge of my family's rice field. Once the white phoenix plots evil and wants to harm my mother, I can only rush out to deal with her.

  I don't know if it was my mother's kindness that moved Bai Feng, but she didn't actually harbor any bad intentions towards my mother. Instead, she followed my mother to my side with a honest and obedient attitude, and even said: "Take me back to the barn."

  I glanced at Mother and saw that she couldn't bear it, so I could only go against my own heart: "Never mind. As long as you don't harm us, I... I'll let you leave here."

  Bai Feng was taken aback, and then very gratefully said to my mother: "Thank you, if it wasn't for you, Jin Cang would not have let me go, and might have even kept locking me up, making me... stay in that woodshed forever."

  The mother was very embarrassed and apologized to Bai Feng: "I'm sorry, Miss Bai. It's my son who didn't think things through and caused you trouble! You can go now... wait, let me get some money for you to take a taxi."

  Bai Feng stared blankly at my mother, and a hint of mist gradually appeared in her eyes. I was just feeling strange when Bai Feng suddenly burst into tears: "You're really a good person, if it wasn't for me and Jin Cang... I would have recognized you as my mother..."

  Her mother was taken aback for a moment, then overjoyed: "That's great! No matter what, I really like you, girl. If you're willing, from today on, you'll be my daughter!"

  Bai Feng was taken aback again, then suddenly overjoyed, and pulled my mother to kneel: "Mom, daughter Bai Feng has met you, from now on you are my mother, you are my mom."

  I stood by and frowned, but didn't know what to do for the best.

  The mother was overjoyed, pulled Bai Feng and went into the house, still saying in her mouth: "Good good good... Wind ah, let's go inside to talk, it's too cold outside..."

  I stood alone in the rice field, unable to get out of this thing for a long time. Mother and Bai Feng's parent-child recognition was like a game, making me even more unacceptable and incomprehensible.

  Obviously this Bai Feng came to kill me, how did she suddenly become my sister?

  I couldn't think it through, so I stopped thinking about it and walked onto the snow-covered road, trudging through the thick snow, slowly making my way to a corner in front of my house.

  The location of this corner is very suitable for viewing the distance, although the distance is also a continuous mountain range, and there's nothing special.

  I gaze at the continuous mountain ranges in the north, then look at the giant stone mountains resembling a huge hand in the south. I tilt my head to glance at the distant mountain in the west that looks like a cleaver, and then take another look at the eastern mountain that resembles a sphere. I am deeply drawn to these great mountains, forgetting to breathe.

  After a long while, I suddenly took a deep breath and sighed: "What a great unnamed mountain, unfortunately no famous people have come out of it, what a waste of a good mountain!"

  At this time, I heard a person behind me say: "Maybe you can make this mountain famous!"

  I heard this voice and knew it was Zhou Hui speaking, so I turned my head to look at Zhou Hui and smiled: "Hui sister is also out? It's very cold outside, be careful not to catch a cold!"

  "You don't have to worry about me, you're also outside, aren't you? I haven't seen you enter the house for a long time, so I thought you might have met someone from the Wanlong Association again. If I had known you wouldn't appreciate it, I wouldn't have come out."

  I quickly smiled and said: "How could it be! Thank you for your concern, Hui sister."

  Zhou Hui smiled again: "The scenery here is really beautiful. If it were in spring or summer, it should be even more beautiful."

  I nodded: "When summer comes, it's really cool here, the most suitable place to escape the heat. Next summer, when you come here to play again, you'll know that what I said is true."

  Zhou Hui forced a smile, his expression somewhat dim, and his tone also somewhat melancholic: "I don't know if I'll have the chance to come here and play again! Jin Cang, there are some things that... I've never told you about, and you wouldn't want to know, so..."

  I saw Zhou Hui's expression was not right, thinking she missed home, so I said: "Hui sister, are you thinking of going back home? These days have been snowing heavily, the roads are blocked and can't go out. But don't worry, wait a few more days until the weather clears up and the snow melts, then I'll send you to the train station."

  Zhou Hui shook her head: "I'm having so much fun here, why would I miss home?"

  "I was puzzled: 'What's wrong with you? Can you tell me?'"

  Zhou Hui thought for a moment, and then seemed to have made up her mind as she said to me: "You know some things about my family situation, but those are just on the surface. Actually, I...". She suddenly stopped, thought for a while before continuing: "Actually, I was born into a merchant's family, to put it bluntly, both my father and mother were in business. They didn't have a free love relationship, but were betrothed by their respective families from a young age, and then got married directly after growing up."

  I nodded, indicating that I understood the situation. Zhou Hui continued: "But my father didn't love my mother. After my mother became pregnant with me, my father had another woman outside... These are just like the plot of a TV drama, right? But it really happened in my family. Alas... So from the moment I was born, I've been living with my mother, and that's always been the case..."

  I felt that Zhou Hui was complaining about her father, and as an outsider, I couldn't intervene, so I just quietly listened to her continue: "However, my father gives me and my mother a sum of money every month, which is enough for us to live on, with plenty left over. My mother is also very talented in business, she uses the leftover money to do business, and in just three years, she has acquired four companies, and she herself has become a true big boss, a female tycoon in the business world."

  I think Zhou Hui's mother is really great, and I sincerely praised her: "Your mother is a real strong woman, she's amazing!"

  Zhou Hui nodded, but didn't smile as she usually did. Instead, she looked somewhat sad and said: "My mom had money, but her marriage was unhappy, so she always lived alone. At night, she would secretly cry, and sometimes drink to drown her sorrows. I was only four years old at the time, and I didn't understand what was going on. I thought someone was bullying my mom, and I would often comfort her, telling her not to be sad, that when I grew up, I would take revenge for her." Zhou Hui smiled suddenly: "I was very naive back then, and all I wanted was for my mom to be happy. So everything I said and did was with the intention of making her happy, and I never let her think I was being disobedient!"

  I sensed that Zhou Hui was not going to say what I thought she would, and the next thing she said would be the key point. Sure enough, her next words left me shocked and almost fainted on the spot.

  Zhou Hui said, "Actually, it wasn't until I grew up that I realized my father's family wasn't a regular business family... they were just what we commonly call... they were the underworld." Zhou Hui looked at me carefully and saw that I didn't say anything, so she continued, "I hated my father because my mother suffered too much because of him. So I wanted to find my father to get justice for my mother. When I was a bit older, around 14 years old, I went to find my father and scolded him severely, asking him to apologize to my mother... My father remained silent at the time, didn't say anything, and ignored me. But the people he kept around him were very rude to me, wanting to chase me away. In anger, I ran out, and after returning home, I never paid attention to my father again. When my mother found out about this incident, she cried, crying a whole night with great sadness, no matter how much I consoled her."

  Zhou Hui said here, looking into my eyes, and suddenly changed the subject: "You know these things, will you still look down on me?"

  I shook my head and said seriously, "Hui Jie, you're my friend, how could I look down on you? Besides, these things aren't your fault, why would I look down on you? Don't think too much."

  Zhou Hui smiled and continued: "That's great! By the way, I mentioned that I went to find my father... Later on, I secretly spent money to hire someone to investigate my father. After many twists and turns, I finally found out all the things I wanted to know. My father's new wife, also known as my stepmother, is a very remarkable woman. However, this woman's remarkableness isn't a good thing... She's actually a member of the Wan Long Hui, and what's more, she's one of their leaders!"

  I was shocked and immediately said: "The leader of the Ten Dragons Society? Then... what is her identity? Won't it be..."

  "Hold on, don't think too much, just listen to me. Actually, the Wanlong Society has existed for a long time, it's just that their power was very small at first and had no influence, so people didn't know about them. My stepmother joined the Wanlong Society back then and has been providing funds for them, helping them grow rapidly into the country's largest terrorist organization. You could say, my stepmother is the patron saint of the Wanlong Society, and also one of their most important figures."

  I quickly asked: "Does your stepmother know you're with me now?"

  Zhou Hui shook her head: "I'm not stupid, how would I tell her these things? Besides, don't forget, I'm the one who dislikes her the most, and we usually don't even talk... Don't interrupt, listen to me finish. What I want to say is very important... My stepmother's name is Bai Xin, 'white' as in the color white, and 'xin' as in the core of a grass. Remember this name, because everything I'm going to say next has to do with Bai Xin."

  I nodded, indicating I knew, and waited for Zhou Hui to continue.

  Zhou Hui Bian continued, "Prepare yourself mentally, what I'm about to say, don't worry too much... Actually, Bai Xin is the mother of Bai Hu and also the mother of your newly acknowledged sister Bai Feng; while Bai Hu and Bai Feng are my younger brother and sister from a different mother. They came to kill you because they were sent by Bai Xin..."

  When I heard Zhou Hui say that, I suddenly felt a blackness in front of my eyes and almost fell to the ground. My brain couldn't react quickly enough, it was as if I had a lack of oxygen.

  Zhou Hui hastily supported me and said loudly: "Don't worry, don't worry, with me here, I believe Bai Xin won't send anyone to kill you again!"

  I said with some doubt: "Why? Didn't you and Baixin not get along? Will she let me go because of consideration for you?"

  Zhou Hui nodded and said with certainty, "Although I don't get along with Bai Xin, she is after all with my father. Not to mention looking at the monk's face but not the Buddha's face, she wouldn't dare kill my friend in front of me. Besides, my father wouldn't allow her to do such a thing either."

  I finally slightly put my mind at ease: "So, does that mean my family and I are temporarily safe? Is Bai Feng your sister? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I almost got killed by her..."

  " 'I would have told you if I had known you caught Bai Feng earlier!' Zhou Hui gritted her teeth and said, 'You're blaming me for not telling you after hiding it from me? This is...unreasonable!'"

  I thought so too, and had no choice but to remain silent, waiting for Zhou Hui to continue speaking.

  Zhou Hui gave me a glance and continued, "Just now I saw your mother and Bai Feng enter the house together. After asking your mother, I only found out that Bai Feng was here to kill you. So I quickly came out to find you, afraid that you would be in danger again... You're actually here enjoying the view, and even sighing! Without a care for my worries..."

  I laughed and tried hard to drive away the fear in my heart: "Then I must thank you properly, add rice and dishes for you at breakfast..."

  "Cut it out," Zhou Hui said, "If you keep adding fuel to the fire, who knows how Yu'er and Li Huanhuan will deal with me?!" She paused, her face stern, "I haven't finished speaking yet, but you keep interrupting... Bai Hu was sent to the police station by you, and Bai Feng was caught by you too. Your feud with the White family has already begun. Now, the most powerful member of the White family, Bai Xin, escaped during the last operation to capture the high-ranking members of the Wan Long Hui. So I think it's necessary to remind you to be extra careful with Bai Feng. Once she gets caught and spreads the news, Bai Xin will definitely send someone over to rescue her, and who knows what might happen to you?!"

  "I was surprised: 'Didn't you just say that with you here, nothing would happen? But now, after just a short while, you're telling me to be careful of Bai Feng again?'"

  Zhou Hui glared at me and said, "Wasn't that to comfort you? You were almost scared to death, could I not deceive you a bit to let you calm down? Ungrateful..."

  I knew she was scolding me, but I didn't dare talk back, so I said in a low voice: "Then what can I do? Bai Feng acknowledged my mom as her godmother, what else can I do? Should I really go tell my mom, isn't that deliberately making my mom have a bad new year?"

  Zhou Hui thought for a moment and also felt embarrassed: "It's indeed a difficult situation! Why don't we talk to Bai Feng and ask her not to tell Bai Xin about this matter..."

  I quickly nodded and ran back in big strides, saying as I ran: "Hui Jie hurry up and follow me, don't wait or we'll be late getting back, Bai Feng has already told her mom!"

  Hui Jie was stunned for a moment, then quickly caught up with me in a few steps and said loudly: "What's the hurry? Wait for me!"

  I didn't wait for Hui Jie, and stepped into the house one step ahead of her. I didn't care that Bai Feng was having breakfast, and loudly said: "Bai Feng, you mustn't tell your mother Bai Xin about what happened to me here..."

  Everyone in the house was stunned, only Bai Feng nodded slightly, indicating that she had heard my words. I let out a slight sigh of relief and was about to say something else when Zhou Hui entered the room, looking at Bai Feng and me with questioning eyes.

  I didn't dare to speak too directly, so I smiled and said: "I'm worried that White Feng's mother will misunderstand... so..."

  "Don't worry, I know what to do! I'm now your mom's goddaughter, which makes me your god-sister. I won't do that again..."

  I finally felt a bit relieved, couldn't help but take a glance at Zhou Hui, turned around and found a seat for myself to sit down and prepare to have breakfast.

  Zhou Hui looked at Bai Feng, saying nothing and not eating breakfast either, lost in thought.

  Bai Feng walked right up to Zhou Hui's face and said in a low voice, "Sister, I know you've never liked me, but this time, I hope you can trust me. I absolutely won't harm my own mother, so rest assured!"

  Zhou Hui glanced at my mother and whispered, "I hope you can put your words into action! If you harm Jin Cang's mother, I won't forgive you, and we'll settle the score."

  "Don't worry, I've already called you 'sister', so of course I won't go back on my word. Besides, Jin Cang's mom is also my mom, how could I possibly be bad to my own mom?"

  Zhou Hui finally sat down beside me, picked up the breakfast that mother had personally cooked in the morning, and slowly started eating.

  At this time, Father and Dongfang Shu, as well as Li Huanhuan and Dongfang Yu, looked at me with a strange expression on their faces. I had no choice but to explain: "Bai Feng and Hui Jie are sisters... um, half-sisters. They have some misunderstandings between them... so they said that. You don't need to ask more questions, just hurry up and eat. Later, we still need to prepare a lot of things for lunch!"

  Dongfang Yu listened to my words and immediately lowered her head to continue eating, not asking anything else. But Li Huanhuan had a disbelieving face, looking at me with an expression that made me worried. I was worried she would blow up and smash the bowl on my head.

  Actually, even Dongfang Shu and Guo Sijiu had disbelieving faces, but after all, they were adults and wouldn't bother me about such trivial matters. So I held my bowl, turned around to glance at Li Huanhuan, lowered my head and took big mouthfuls of food, using it to cover up the unease in my heart.

  At that time, my home was filled with a full table of people. In addition to the three members of Dongfang Yong's family and our own three members, there were also Li Huanhuan, Zhou Hui, and Bai Feng, making a total of nine people gathered together, which was very lively. If one more person came, it would make up ten people, just the right number for a table. In our countryside, during festivals or when inviting guests to dinner, only ten people can sit at a table, no more is allowed.