Chapter 1379: Zhang Lijuan (End)

I finished telling my story and looked up at the people in front of me.

The long night stretched on, and the six of us lit a bonfire, sitting on the open ground and talking through the night.

It’s strange, I’m not related to these people at all, yet I’m willing to open up to them right now.

So, is it me that’s changed... or the environment?

“Damn...”Chen Junnan said after hearing my story, wiping a mixture of snot and tears and patting Qian Duoduo beside him. “Xiao Qian Dou... you listen to this crap... I’m really impressed... there’s such a miserable girl in this world...”

“Hey... don’t wipe your snot on me...”Qian Duoduo said with a look of disgust. “Wipe it on Si Ge instead...”

“Huh?!”Li Jingguan stood up and stepped back, his face serious. “What kind of talk is that? If you’re really going to wipe it...”

He turned to look at Qiao Jiajin, but to his surprise, Qiao Jiajin had already stepped back several paces.

“Pfft...”

I covered my mouth, feeling the painful memories that had just been stirred up suddenly vanish. These people were all a bit foolish, but they were incredibly entertaining.

“So, should we call you ‘Zhang Lijuan’ or ‘Tiantian’?”Chen Junnan asked again.

“It doesn’t matter...” I shook my head. “Even I can’t decide anymore. After everything that’s happened... I don’t know which name will bring me good luck, so just call me whatever feels natural to you.”

“Fine... I just hate that I can’t help out...” Chen Junnan wiped his snot clean on Qian Duoduo’s clothes and looked up at me. “Tiantian, I declare that from now on, you’re the girl I care about most in Zhongyan Zhidi. If anything happens, I’ll have your back.”

“Tsk.”Zhou Mo, standing nearby, rolled her eyes at him dismissively. “What a fool, always ‘taking the blame’ for others—you can barely save your own skin, and now you’re protecting someone else?”

“Six Jie, you...”Chen Junnan shrugged helplessly. “Anyway, don’t worry about it. I’ll handle things my way.”

“Yeah, yeah.”Qiao Jiajin, sitting back down, nodded. “Pretty girl, don’t worry. I can make sure Jun Nan Zi doesn’t have to ‘take the blame’ for you.”

“Old Qiao, say less.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, Six Jie, don’t worry...”

“Hold on... what’s this ‘Six Jie’ business...?”Qian Duoduo frowned at Chen Junnan. “How did you even rank us? Why are you calling her ‘Six Jie’?”

“You’re Zhang San, Li Si, Qian Wu, Zhou Liu!”Chen Junnan replied. “It’s just easier to say that way! As for me and Old Qiao... damn, that means I’m Da Wa? So I should be calling her Six Mei.”

“Tsk, you try calling me that!”Zhou Mo swung her stick. “Come on, say ‘Six Mei’ to my face right now.”

“Never mind, never mind...”Chen Junnan waved his hand. “Can’t you show me a little respect? I’m the boss, after all.”

The group started arguing again, and this Huluwa organization seemed unreliable from the very beginning.

After all, there were only six of us, yet we were calling ourselves the seven Huluwa siblings. Who knows which leader would come up with something as impulsive as Chen Junnan?

“So... what’s your ‘sin’?”Qian Duoduo looked at me curiously.

“‘Sin’?” I found the question interesting. “If I have to say, my profession is illegal.”

“Uh...”Qian Duoduo seemed surprised by the straightforward answer, his face turning awkward.

“If we go deeper... does ‘willfully degenerating’ count?” I asked.

“This... I guess it...”

“Or, from a religious angle, does ‘abortion’ count?”

His series of questions made Qian Duoduo slowly lower his head, as if from any perspective, I was guilty, but I didn’t want to explain anything.

“Now it’s all good...” I slowly extended my hand. “I’ve really become a ‘female witch’—maybe I don’t deserve any sympathy.”

I stared at Zhou Mo’s stick, and with a slight thought, it was instantly covered in iron.

Now it was a top-notch weapon—painful to hit with and lightweight.

“Tsk...”Zhou Mo looked down at it, then raised her eyes with a hint of sympathy. “How are you the one who’s wrong... If that happened to me, I’d smash their damn heads in. The fault’s not on you at all...”

“It’s fine.” I smiled. “If there’s any mission that requires me to risk my life, I’m happy to help. Maybe that’s why I joined.”

Everyone fell silent after hearing that. Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan exchanged helpless glances.

“So...” Qiao Jiajin spoke up. “Tiantian girl, you really don’t want to leave?”

“I...” I paused. “I don’t.”

My words brought another round of silence from the group.

“But you don’t have to join Huluwa.”Qian Duoduo said.

“What?”

“We’re out here risking our lives.” Qian Duoduo shook his head. “Even here, you should find a few trustworthy teammates and live well, instead of keeping your life on the line for others.”

“Huh?”Chen Junnan looked at him. “What’s that supposed to mean? Is my organization that bad?”

“Not really, just what I said.” Qian Duoduo shook his head. “Chen Da Wa, if I were the leader, and Tiantian lost her memory, I wouldn’t contact her again. She shouldn’t spend her whole life taking risks for others—it’s torture for her.”

“I guess that makes sense...” Chen Junnan lowered his head in thought for a moment. “Wait, saying that makes me sound so exploitative...”

“See, you’re overthinking it.” Qian Duoduo sighed. “I said, ‘if I were the leader.’ I’m not, so we still follow you.”

“So, you’re trying to usurp me?”

“...Are you sick?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at their exchange.

This organization seemed to argue all the time, but I didn’t see any pain on anyone’s face.

“It’s really okay...” I waved my hand. “Don’t you think that ever since we entered Zhongyan Zhidi, there’s a wall separating us from everyone else? On this side are people who don’t want to leave, and on the other side, people are scrambling every day to escape. Our sides were decided from the start...”

“Stop going on about ‘walls’ all the time.” Chen Junnan interrupted me. “Why are you so pessimistic, little girl?”

“Pessimistic?” I gave a bitter smile. “I feel like my whole life has been curled up in a sealed, hard room. I can see others’ joys and sorrows, and hear their world, but I can never step out...”

“Someone will help you open the ‘door’ eventually.” Chen Junnan said.

“What...?”

“Maybe one day, some fool will show up and let you make a ‘door’ in your own space.” Chen Junnan added. “Then, when you open it, everyone’s waiting outside for you.”

I fell silent for a long time after hearing that, wanting to say something, but my nose started to sting first.

That’s right—why had I never thought of that?

I’d always been waiting for this room made of ‘walls’ to crack or completely collapse, but I’d never considered that one day I could just open a ‘door’ and walk out proudly.

Maybe.

If that day comes, I’m willing to wait forever.

I... am Zhang Lijuan, and I am also Tiantian.

Now, I’ll set out on my own path to open that ‘door.’

(Partners, I originally planned for a ten-chapter story but ended up with twenty-five chapters, which allowed me to express everything I wanted. It took a bit longer to write, though. However, the awkward issue is that I applied for a 200,000-word side story quota, and Tiantian’s story alone is almost 60,000 words, with nine people left—this won’t work. So, I’ll stick to the original plan and try to keep each person’s story to about ten or a dozen chapters; otherwise, there won’t be space to write more. I hope everyone understands.

Additionally, I want to mention that writing side stories doesn’t generate income for the author, and the over 200,000 words I’m preparing is already the length of a full book. I’ll do my best to put in all my sincerity for you all—the stories and explanations that need to be there will be. I also hope everyone waits patiently, urges updates rationally, and now that I’ve entered a full-time work state, besides running activities, I should be writing side stories. I’ll strive to finish them soon and start planning a new book.)

(By the way, thanks to all you friends, the physical book sales have surpassed 1 million copies. Tonight (March 22nd) at 6:30 PM, I’ll have a pre-sale for the sixth volume in the Douyin live stream, with some giveaways to celebrate hitting 1 million copies. If you’re interested, come join in. As always, even if it’s just to chat, I’d be thrilled. Looking forward to seeing everyone.)