If the World Had No Daylight - Chapter 13

Christmas happened to fall on a weekend this year, which was precisely the busiest time for the restaurant industry.

Bai Tian tactfully told Ye Wan that she had to go help out at the restaurant, but the other party was not displeased. Instead, she accepted it gladly.

“Then that’s perfect. I’ll go to your family’s restaurant for dinner tonight.”

This sentence was perfectly natural and logically sound, but Bai Tian still felt a little awkward.

Maybe it was because she had never brought a classmate to her home before—the restaurant counted as her home too.

Of course, Liu Xiaopang, who had been freeloading meals at her house since childhood, was an exception.

Still, Bai Tian did not show anything. She simply agreed on a time with the other party, then hung up the phone.

In a place Bai Tian could not see, the girl sitting on the balcony in the wind looked at her phone and curved her lips into a smile.

“A little easier than expected,” she said softly, then got up and returned to her room.

Bai Laosan did not understand why a foreign holiday had become so popular in China too, but that did not stop him from taking the opportunity to make money.

The Bai Family Restaurant was a very small Chinese restaurant. The storefront was old, and the decor was simple and old-fashioned. Inside, there was only enough space for two or three large round tables, plus a few small square ones.

But because of its reputation accumulated over many years, along with its cleanliness, hygiene, and honest ingredients, business at the restaurant had always been good.

Whenever Bai Tian had time, she would come to the restaurant to help. She was not yet qualified to cook dishes in the kitchen, so she could only help Bai Laosan wash and chop vegetables, carry plates, and wash dishes.

The neighbors all knew that Bai Laosan had a niece studying at No. 7 Middle School. Every time they saw Bai Tian, they would praise her with a few words like “so good at studying” and “what a smart little head,” then complain about how disappointing their own children were. After that, some people would even probe indirectly and ask whether Bai Tian had time to help tutor their children.

Bai Tian avoided this as if fearing it more than anything.

At No. 7 Middle School, who did not know that Bai Tian was someone who neglected her studies and spent every day fooling around? She absolutely could not go mislead other people’s children.

But Bai Laosan was very happy about it. His education level was low. Before he even finished junior high, he had dropped out and come back to help the family manage the restaurant business.

Although he never said it, Bai Tian knew that deep down, he actually yearned for the path of studying too. Unfortunately, the family craft had been passed down from son to son for generations, and back then, he had been the only one in the family who could inherit the restaurant.

Now, Bai Laosan was already this old and still had not married. The heavy responsibility of taking over the restaurant in the future had fallen onto Bai Tian’s shoulders.

In truth, Bai Laosan’s conditions were very good. He was decent-looking and ran a small restaurant with good business. No matter how one looked at it, he counted as a small boss. On top of that, he had no elders he needed to support, and his character was something everyone could see. With conditions like these, who knew how many people had tried to introduce matches to him.

But he had been a bachelor for half his life and stubbornly refused to start a family. Others only thought his standards were too high, that he looked down on the people introduced by the surrounding neighbors.

Only Bai Tian knew that Third Uncle did not marry because of her.

At five in the afternoon, two or three tables were already occupied in the restaurant.

After Bai Tian finished what she was doing, she propped her chin up at the back kitchen window and watched the families outside eating happily. Whether it was elderly grandparents, middle-aged parents, or little crybabies running around on the floor, none of these existed in her home.

For some reason, Bai Tian suddenly thought of Ye Wan.

Ye Wan’s house was very large, but there were very few people in it. When she was home alone, would she be afraid of how cold and empty it was?

Bai Tian was afraid of it. Usually, when she went home, Bai Laosan had not yet closed the restaurant. The house would be dark and empty, making her feel as if she could not breathe.

But Bai Tian would not tell anyone, because being afraid of the dark was a very embarrassing thing.

Seven o’clock in the evening was the time Ye Wan had agreed to come, but Bai Tian waited until eight-thirty and still did not see any sign of her.

She took a break and went outside the shop to call Ye Wan, but the phone on the other end had already been turned off.

The sky had long since gone dark. Aside from the streetlights, there were not many shops still lit along the street. Bai Tian slowly walked toward the bus stop, searching the surroundings along the way, unease rising uncontrollably in her heart.

No matter what, Ye Wan was only a girl the same age as her. Going out at night and losing contact would inevitably make people worry.

Bai Tian walked farther and farther away, following the route Ye Wan would have taken to come here, searching the whole way. Her hand kept calling the other person’s phone, but it remained powered off.

In the blink of an eye, it was already past nine. After telling Third Uncle, she went to that small shop. But when she arrived, she discovered that the shop had not opened today. Bai Tian took out her phone, preparing to call Wei Zheng and ask, only for her movements to abruptly stop.

Only then did she remember that she did not have Wei Zheng’s phone number.

Leaning against the rolling metal door, Bai Tian suddenly realized that she actually did not understand Ye Wan at all.

Even though they were deskmates who spent every day together. Even though she had been to Ye Wan’s home, cooked meals for her, and even seen another side of her that no one else knew. In reality, Bai Tian knew nothing about Ye Wan at all.

She did not know what friends Ye Wan had, did not know where she could go to find her, and did not know what might have happened to her.

But Bai Tian quickly calmed down again.

She had never wanted to become too involved with Ye Wan in the first place. As long as she finished repaying her debt, she and Ye Wan would no longer have anything to do with each other. In that case, there was no need for them to understand each other.

Looking at the result, this was exactly what Bai Tian had hoped for. But at this very moment, standing somewhat blankly before the tightly shut door, there was an empty place in her heart where irritation lingered, refusing to disperse no matter what.

Did she truly want to draw a clear line between herself and Ye Wan?

Or rather, could she truly still draw a clear line between herself and Ye Wan?

She clearly knew that the other party was someone who hid her depths. She clearly knew Ye Wan had many things about her that differed from ordinary people. Deep down, she also understood that if she wanted to protect herself, she had to stay farther away from her.

Bai Tian’s intuition had never lied to her.

She was not Ye Wan’s match. If she dealt with Ye Wan without any guard up, sooner or later, she would suffer a great loss.

But in reality, Bai Tian had already begun suffering losses.

She had already marked the other person into her own territory. She had begun to care, begun to be concerned, begun to worry and grow anxious.

This really was not a good sign.

Bai Tian walked back somewhat dejectedly. There were still couples wandering around the street in twos and threes. The Christmas atmosphere could be seen everywhere, and everyone’s face wore a smile. Only Bai Tian had a wrinkled-up face, like the unhappiest kid on the entire street.

Oh no, she had to add the person crying in the phone booth ahead to the left.

Bai Tian’s steps paused.

By the dim yellow light of the streetlamp, she looked over. After hesitating for a long while, she finally confirmed that the side profile belonged to the person she had spent half the night searching for.

Bai Tian quickly walked over. Toward the end, she broke into a run. But when she reached the outside of the phone booth, Bai Tian hesitated again.

Perhaps she was not suited to appearing at such a delicate moment. Perhaps she should not even see this scene.

But that thought only flashed past for an instant. In the next second, Bai Tian still pulled open the glass door outside the phone booth and walked in.

“…Sorry, I still have one more call to make.”

The girl’s voice was somewhat hoarse. Her back was turned to Bai Tian, making it impossible to see her expression. But Bai Tian still heard many things in that voice.

“Ye Wan.” She called her name.

The person holding the public phone froze, yet refused to turn around.

Bai Tian hesitated, then reached out and patted her arm. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“…I’m fine. You should go first.”

She did not turn back to look even once and only opened her mouth to drive Bai Tian away. But since Bai Tian had already stood here, she would not abandon her like this.

“I’m very worried about you. Did something happen to you? Can I help?”

Bai Tian gently held Ye Wan’s arm. She did not use much strength, but she held it steadily, with no intention of letting go.

The girl with her back to Bai Tian slowly placed the receiver back. She lowered her head, and only after a long while did she speak.

“I got a call from my mom.”

Bai Tian froze, and a bad feeling rose in her heart.

“She only got halfway through what she was saying when my phone ran out of battery and shut off. When I used the public phone to call her back, her phone couldn’t be reached anymore.”

Ye Wan’s voice carried a barely detectable tremor. She took a deep breath, then finally said in a low voice, “Something may have happened to her.”

Bai Tian wanted to comfort her. Perhaps something had delayed her, such as the other person’s phone also coincidentally running out of battery, or some other sudden reason. Maybe if they waited a little longer, they would be able to contact her. Yet when the words reached her mouth, she swallowed them back down.

Someone as smart as Ye Wan—how could she not have thought of these things?

Her worry and fear were real. Whether this was intuition or some kind of sense, it was definitely not groundless anxiety.

Because Bai Tian had also experienced the same thing before, she could not say those grand, empty words of comfort.

So she could only gently pat Ye Wan’s shoulder, again and again, soothing her, then say, “Let’s wait a little longer. If you still can’t contact her tomorrow, we’ll think of another way.”

This was the first time Bai Tian had said “we” to Ye Wan. Her tone was so natural that even she herself did not notice the change.

But for Ye Wan, if she had to find a starting point for the fact that she fell in love with Bai Tian, it would probably be that one word: “we.”

There was a lamb who feared the wolf, yet because it glimpsed the wolf’s weakness, it began to feel pity for its naturally vicious predator.

For the wolf, what an interesting thing that was.

Because it was far too interesting, the wolf almost became reluctant to eat this sheep.

But sometimes, “reluctance” was only a beginning.

The monthly exam was on Wednesday, December twenty-eighth.

Christmas had just passed, and the students still had a little lingering restlessness. After all, they were in adolescence, the time when boys and girls first awakened to romance. Even though their main focus remained studying, they could not avoid the mutual attraction of hormones.

The people in Class A were more or less affected too, but their ability to adjust themselves was stronger. Very quickly, they settled their hearts and put their energy into the monthly exam that was about to arrive. However, at the same time, they discovered something unusual.

Their class monitor, the top honor student who forever occupied first place in the grade, had seemed somewhat abnormal since school started that week.

Not only had she been five minutes late on Monday morning for the first time ever, she also frequently forgot the tasks the homeroom teacher gave her. As a result, the fat old man had to glance at her every few minutes during class.

This kind of Ye Wan really made people unable to help guessing what exactly had happened during this Christmas.

Old Baldy Li even indirectly called Bai Tian to the office to ask her about it. The implication of his words was nothing more than his worry that Ye Wan, too, had stepped onto the road of no return known as “puppy love.”

This was the first time Bai Tian had been called to the office over something that had nothing to do with her. She had no mood to deal with Old Baldy Li and merely responded perfunctorily, “I’m not close to her. How would I know?”

If she would not say anything, then naturally no one could do anything to her.

But Ye Wan’s condition not only did not improve, it continued worsening. By Wednesday morning, she did not come to school at all.

This made Old Baldy Li so anxious he nearly died. He made countless phone calls but could not get through. Finally, he charged into the principal’s office in a rage, only to discover that this father had absolutely no idea about his daughter’s abnormal behavior over the past few days.

After scolding Ye Chengze head-on, Old Baldy Li returned to the senior high division with a bellyful of anger and began invigilating the exam.

When he returned, he discovered that Bai Tian had disappeared at some unknown point too.

At nine-thirty in the morning, with half an hour left before the exam began, Bai Tian, who had long since slipped out of school, blocked Wei Zheng’s path.

Although Wei Zheng was a well-known little thug in the area, he also had a weakness. He was afraid of women.

Women were fragrant and soft, but when they argued, they could cry, make a scene, and threaten to hang themselves, torturing him to death.

The reason he had been able to maintain such a long, pure friendship with Ye Wan had a lot to do with the fact that she never made trouble unreasonably.

Bai Tian would not make trouble unreasonably either, but she had something on Wei Zheng.

“I know your new girlfriend. I also know about your ex-girlfriend, your ex-ex-girlfriend, and your ex-ex-ex-girlfriend. You decide what to do.”

Wei Zheng, who had no backbone at all, sold Ye Wan out with almost no hesitation.

“She asked me to help her buy an eleven o’clock train ticket to C City. It departs from North Railway Station.”

Bai Tian turned and left.

She ran home as fast as she could, found her piggy bank, smashed it, and took out all the money inside. Then she dumped out the things in her schoolbag, stuffed in two pieces of clothing and her keys, and rushed straight toward North Railway Station with her phone and bag.

Ten-thirty in the morning, S City North Railway Station.

Ye Wan wore a black hoodie with a gray down jacket wrapped over it. Her hair had been tied up and hidden inside the hood of the sweatshirt, and she wore a medical mask over her face.

Carrying a simple bag, she sat in the seats of the waiting hall and lowered her head to look at her phone.

For reasons unknown, she pressed the power button. Immediately afterward, one missed call notification after another popped up, almost freezing her phone completely. Ye Wan watched expressionlessly for a while, then held down the power button again, preparing to shut it off.

Just then, a call suddenly came in. The note on the screen read: “Little Shorty.”

She looked at the screen for a long while, listening to the tireless ringtone. In the end, she still answered.

The sound of heavy breathing came through from the other end of the phone. In the tone Ye Wan knew so well, the girl got straight to the point and asked:

“Which waiting hall are you in?”