“No, you can’t go. What am I supposed to do if you leave?” Bai Qing’s mother held the chubby policeman’s hand.
The latter was left in frustration when he saw that Bai Qing’s mother refused to let him go. The most troublesome thing a police officer could ever encounter was a family dispute. Usually, they could only use words to resolve such matters, and unless one of them caused severe injuries to the other party, they had no authority to detain anyone.
He could only comfort her again. “It’s okay, lady. You have already made a police report. If anything bad happens again, we will catch the bad guy this time.”
Once the police officer started to comfort her, Bai Qing’s mother got even sadder. “I will be dead by then, and it would be pointless for you to detain him.”
The chubby policeman explained in a hurry, “No, I mean, your husband will definitely not harm you again. Otherwise, he will be the first person we will be suspecting.”
The officer then said to the middle-aged man again, “Be a man and do the right thing. Can you take the initiative and admit your mistake to your wife? Write a letter of guarantee to give your wife peace of mind.”
The middle-aged man frowned, but in the end, he did what the police officer told him to do. “I’m wrong this time. I shouldn’t have hit you, and I will never do that again.”
“Now, that’s the right thing to do. It doesn’t matter if you’ve made a mistake, but the most important thing is that you admit it and correct it,” said the chubby policeman while looking at Bai Qing’s mother on the other side. “Lady, do you think it’s okay now?”
The latter hesitated to look at his husband. There was still a lot of fear in her eyes, “I…I don’t know.”
The chubby policeman almost cried when he heard this. He was still trying to figure out why Bai Qing’s mother was so afraid of her husband. All his efforts to help resolve this family dispute could be all in vain. However, he had been a policeman for a long time, and he had encountered many weirder cases than this. It had all served to help him improve his patience. He gritted his teeth, then comforted her again. “It’s okay. The police station is very nearby. It takes only three to five minutes for us to get there. If he wants to harm you again, call me. My colleague and I will get here immediately. Besides, he’s already admitted his mistake. You should at least give him another chance to make up for it.”
Finally, the woman’s heart softened. “Then… Then I will give him another chance.”
The chubby policeman had been waiting for that sentence for a long time. He was so excited that he almost slapped his thigh.
“Married couples should always use words to resolve all the conflicts. Never use violence against each other. Think twice before you do anything.” The chubby policeman then talked to them for a little longer. After that, he used his walkie-talkie to ask when he could go and deal with the drunken fight. He wiped the sweat off his face and rushed to the barbecue stall with his colleague immediately.
After the police car left, the middle-aged man looked at his wife and said coldly, “Are you happy now?”
The latter was a little scared when he asked the question. Immediately, she hid behind her daughter.
“Let’s go home.”
The middle-aged man turned around, swiped his card, and opened the door.
From the beginning until the end, he refused to look at Zhang Heng as if he did not exist.
Bai Qing made an apologetic expression to Zhang Heng, and at the same time, said thank you in a low voice. It was not appropriate for her to say anything else at this time. She had to help her mother back to their house.
Zhang Heng looked at the Bai Qing’s family going into the building, and an iron gate separated them. After that, he stayed downstairs for a few seconds and looked around before leaving the place by calling a taxi home.
As soon as Zhang Heng paid the taxi fees via WeChat, he received a message from Bai Qing.
[Are you home yet?]
Zhang Heng replied with a yes.
[I’m so sorry you had to see all of that.]
A while later, Bai Qing’s sent him another message.
[I think they should be fine. Every family faces different problems.]
[But I don’t think they have the same problem that my family has, where my father wants to kill my mother.]
Bai Qing added a bitter smile.
[How are they now?]
Zhang Heng asked after he got out of the taxi.
[It’s still peaceful for the time being, but my mother insists on sleeping on the sofa tonight, alone. She still seems to be a little afraid of my dad.]
[Make sure to lock the door to your room.]
[Erm… Why? Think they will fight again tonight? If that is so, the more I can’t lock my door tonight.]
Bai Qing paused and added.
[Although I’m a little tired of them arguing all the time, this was the first time I witnessed such a huge fight between them. And honestly, I didn’t expect my father to install so many pinhole cameras at home. It is shocking, and this makes me feel a little uncomfortable. He is not the father that I know anymore, especially when he looked at my mother tonight. There was no love in his eyes at all. By the way, thank you for stopping him.]
[Actually, I didn’t help much. Your mother was the one that called the police.]
[Ah, don’t talk about it anymore. I still feel ashamed that you were there to witness the whole thing. They are adults, but they were like two kids who just had a fight in a kindergarten. By the way, I’m standing by the window now. Can you look out?]
[Sure.]
[The moon is very bright tonight, and the shadow on it is visible. Unfortunately, it is said that even the United States had stopped sending people up there. I wonder what it feels like standing on the moon.]
[You can feel the desolation when you stand on it. It is a grey world, full of undulating craters and bottomless ravines. There is no life, no sound, and weathered rocks are the only interesting thing for you to see there.]
[Well, I will just close my eyes and imagine it. I think I can imagine the way you describe the moon to me. It’s really amazing. It’s like being on the moon right now. You can consider becoming a novelist in the future.]
[Sounds like a plan.]
While chatting with Bai Qing, Zhang Heng opened the door with the key. It was now midnight, and grandpa had already returned to his bedroom. However, he still left the light on in the living room for Zhang Heng.
Zhang Heng got out of his shoes, brushed his teeth, washed his face quickly, and went to his bedroom in slippers.
However, instead of sleeping, he took out another pair of sneakers and sportswear that he bought from under the bed.
He then poured out all the textbooks and workbooks in the schoolbag, replacing them with things he thought could come in handy, especially a pile of unassembled Lego bricks. After that, he waited for a while to confirm that his grandpa had fallen asleep again if he woke him up just now. And finally, he crept into the living room again and opened the door.
Although Zhang Heng did not know what happened to Bai Qing’s parents, he was certain that the previous fight was not the end but just the beginning. A follow-up event would most likely happen later, which was why he asked Bai Qing to lock the door.
Bai Qing was obviously more worried about her parents than herself. So Zhang Heng felt that it was not safe to leave her alone. Besides, he was also curious about how the story would develop.
