Chapter 5 My Savior 1
Qian Mengmeng forgot to even say hello, and almost the moment she hung up the phone, she ran out of the specimen room. The empty corridor was filled with the sound of "clicking", like a clock that was wound up, being urged by time.
"Mengmeng, come back soon. Your dad seems to be serious this time, no matter how much I try to persuade him, he won't stop!"
She recalled what Wen's mother said on the phone, bit her lower lip, and wished she could grow wings and fly to her father. Her fingers were busy dialing the same number on the phone keypad, but the screen lit up and dimmed, and the receiver just mechanically repeated the message "the other party has turned off the phone."
In this world, her father is the only relative she has left. If something really happens to him...
Qian Mengmeng clenched her phone tightly, her eyes reddened, and she dared not think any further. She ran out of the school gate, looking at the endless stream of people on the road, and was thinking about which way to go to get home faster, but someone pulled her arm. She turned around in surprise and saw that the person was Pei Haochuan. She impatiently pushed him away and said anxiously: "I have important things to do now, don't stop me. I'm taking a day off today."
Pei Haochuan didn't say anything, but looked at her carefully and asked doubtfully: "Are you crying?"
Qian Mengmeng rubbed her eyes roughly and said stubbornly, "Who is crying? It's windy and dusty in spring, and I accidentally got blinded."
Pei Haochuan didn't ask any more questions. He raised his hand, stopped a taxi , opened the door, and nodded to her, "Get in."
Qian Mengmeng was stunned for a moment, blinking in confusion: "What?"
"Get in the car." Pei Haochuan repeated patiently, as if he was afraid that she couldn't hear clearly, and deliberately slowed down his speed, speaking clearly word by word. But seeing her alert look, he shook his head and added helplessly, "Can your legs still outrun the car? Since it's an emergency, of course you have to choose the fastest way. Don't worry, you don't have to pay, I'll pay."
"When... did you become so kind?" Qian Mengmeng asked hesitantly.
Pei Haochuan pretended to close the car door: "If you don't need it, I'll let it go."
"Yes." Qian Mengmeng squeezed in through the door like a fish in water, holding onto the front seat. After telling the driver the destination, she was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she turned around and saw Pei Haochuan sitting up carelessly.
The car door closed with a click, he rolled down the window, looked at the scenery outside, and said nonchalantly, "Drive."
Qian Mengmeng huddled to the corner, pressed against the car door, and asked in surprise, "What are you doing up here?"
Pei Haochuan leaned back against the soft backrest, adjusted himself to a comfortable position, tilted his head, and replied as a matter of course: "I paid for the ride, why can't I get in?"
Qian Mengmeng was speechless for a moment, and said vaguely: "But, but I have something to do..."
"I won't disturb you." Pei Haochuan closed his eyes and said to her lazily, "Call me when you get there."
What kind of person is this! One moment he is kind, and the next moment he is so annoying.
Qian Mengmeng looked out the window angrily, not wanting to pay attention to him. She watched the scene outside the car flash by quickly. After a long while, she said as if talking to herself: "Thank you."
Pei Haochuan seemed to have heard it, but also seemed not to have heard it. He still had his eyes closed, but the corners of his lips curled up in a slight arc.
Of course, the speed of the taxi was much faster than Qian Mengmeng running back on foot. Although there was a little traffic jam on the way, fortunately it didn't delay them for long.
The taxi had just arrived at the destination, and before it could be turned off, Qian Mengmeng ran out of the car, saying "thank you, thank you" in a row, and hurried to an old building that looked a bit old. There were several fire trucks parked in front of the building, and several firefighters in red and yellow uniforms were moving among the crowd, busy laying large air cushions on the ground.
Qian Mengmeng lives in a place like this. This community has been built for at least ten years.
Pei Haochuan looked around, squinted into the sunlight, and vaguely saw a figure on the rooftop.
"Oh, if you ask me, this old Qian can't jump. This has happened several times, and every time he said he would jump off the building, but when did he jump down?"
"That's not a good thing to say. What if I really want to jump down?"
"Did his daughter come back just now? I heard she's still in college. Not only does she have to worry about her studies, she also has to worry about family matters. She's really pitiful."
His last name is Qian? Is the man who is about to jump off the building Qian Mengmeng’s father?
Pei Haochuan heard the discussion of the onlookers. He looked at Qian Mengmeng, who was anxiously explaining herself outside the firefighters. He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment. He strode to her side and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Qian Mengmeng was so anxious that she almost cried: "I am my father's daughter, but he, he won't let me in!"
The firefighter responded helplessly: "It's not that I don't want you to go in, it's that you are too excited. The person who jumped from the building is very emotionally unstable now, and your every move will affect him. There are already two people up there trying to persuade him, so I suggest you calm down."
"Let her go up." Pei Haochuan whispered, "I'll watch her. If she's not in the right mood, I'll take her down immediately. The two people upstairs..." He paused here, then realized that he didn't know who those two people were, and what their relationship was with the Qian family, so he had to change his words, "The daughter is closest to her father, so her words must carry more weight than others."
Qian Mengmeng didn't expect Pei Haochuan to speak for her. She stared at him blankly, but Pei Haochuan casually raised his hand to cover her eyes, as if he was annoyed by her staring at him.
The firefighter looked embarrassed, but seeing Pei Haochuan's calm and trustworthy appearance, he compromised and said, "Okay. You guys go up."
The road to the rooftop was not long, but Qian Mengmeng felt less and less sure about the end. She put her hand on the half-open iron door of the rooftop, but could not make up her mind to push it open, fearing that if she did, she would only see him falling.
Pei Haochuan, who followed her closely, didn't notice her fear at all. Seeing her hesitation, he walked forward and pushed the door open. The sunlight on the rooftop was even more dazzling. As the iron door opened, it attacked their eyes wantonly, causing them to squint subconsciously. It took a while to see the situation on the rooftop clearly.
The rooftop was still very messy, with some old things piled up on both sides. Mother Wen and Wen Yu were talking patiently with their backs to them, while Father Qian was clinging to the shaky railing, just turning his head away, as if he couldn't hear anything.
Wen Yu just heard the sound of the iron gate opening. Seeing that it was Qian Mengmeng who came back, he immediately came over to greet her: "Mengmeng, you are finally back. Your father...what happened to your mouth?"
His voice paused for a moment, and when he saw Pei Haochuan behind her, he suddenly asked in surprise: "How could you..."
Qian Mengmeng didn't care about these things. She walked over anxiously in two steps. When she saw Qian's father looking at her, she slowed down her pace again. She was afraid that she would scare him, so she asked gently and calmly, "Dad, why did you come to a place like this again? It's dangerous here. Let's go home."
Father Qian shook his head violently, holding on to the railing tightly as if he were holding on to a life-saving straw: "I'm not going back! Mengmeng, you, don't go any further!"
"Okay, okay, I won't go back." Qian Mengmeng reluctantly followed his words and stopped where she was. She looked at the railing that could go wrong at any time, feeling anxious but having to endure it. "Dad, what happened this time? Don't worry, talk to me first, okay? If it's about loan sharking, I've found a job and can make four, no! Five thousand a month! I can pay back sixty thousand in a year, and the rest will be paid off soon."
usury?
Pei Haochuan raised his eyebrows slightly and looked around at the dilapidated environment. She and he lived a completely different life.
Is it just to pay off the loan sharks that she becomes so greedy for money?
Qian Mengmeng didn't notice Pei Haochuan's inner fluctuations, and almost forgot his existence. She just focused on persuading her father: "Dad, I know you have been very sad since Mom passed away, but people always have to look forward, you still have me. Don't worry about the loan sharks, just leave it all to me. If 60,000 a year is not enough, I can find another job! Come down first, we can think of many, many ways."
"Yes." Wen's mother agreed, "We have been friends for so many years. Yuzheng and I will help you."
Wen Yuzheng walked to Qian Mengmeng's side and also persuaded: "Yes, Uncle Qian, if something happens to you, what will happen to Mengmeng? You are her only relative in this world."
"That's enough... Stop trying to persuade me." Father Qian closed his eyes in pain. "At the funeral of Mengmeng's mother that year, I swore to Mengmeng that I would take good care of her and not let her live a hard life. But what about now? I have worked hard and fought hard, but companies still went bankrupt one after another. I can't live a good life, and I'm in debt. Mengmeng has to work so hard. Not only does she have to study, but she also has to worry about me as her father. Instead of dragging her down like this, I might as well die! It's all over!"
As he spoke, he stood up unsteadily, holding onto the railing. He stepped one foot over and half-sat on the railing, looking so fragile that he seemed like he would float away if the wind blew.
Qian Mengmeng was so frightened when she saw this scene that her heart almost jumped out of her throat. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something thought-provoking to stop him, but her mind went blank and she could only keep begging, "No, no."
"Do you think that everything will be over after you die?" At this moment, a calm voice interrupted and broke the deadlock.
Pei Haochuan took two steps forward, sighed, and analyzed helplessly: "You said that if you died, everything would be over and Qian Mengmeng would not be dragged down, but have you ever thought that you owed loan sharks, and the debt collectors would not let go of the debt just because you died. They will come and pester your daughter. If the incident reaches the school, have you thought about the consequences?"
Mr. Qian's hands trembled, and he didn't move for a moment, looking at him in panic.
Wen Yuzheng frowned, held his shoulders, and stopped Pei Haochuan: "Enough, what do you, an outsider, know?"
"What he needs now is not tender words of comfort, but to face the reality." Pei Haochuan slapped his hand away and said coldly, "There are many ways to solve the problem, and death is obviously the worst way. You are escaping. You are a family, why can't you choose to share the responsibility with your daughter? If you jump off the building now, you are just throwing all the problems to Qian Mengmeng and making yourself feel better."
Mr. Qian retorted excitedly: "You think I don't want to? But what can I do? Every investment fails, and the company always goes bankrupt within a year. I have tried hard, but God will not give me a way out!"
"Doesn't that mean you have no talent for financial management?" Pei Haochuan frowned in confusion. He hadn't entered society yet, so he thought with a student's mindset, "There are so many things to do in the world, why do you have to waste money and time on areas you are not good at? Even if you find an ordinary job and earn two or three thousand a month, it can greatly reduce Qian Mengmeng's burden, right?"
Qian's father was stunned and speechless. He always thought that only by making a lot of money could Qian Mengmeng live a good life, and the only good way to make a lot of money he could think of was investment. But he never thought about whether he was good at it or not. Every time he failed, he blamed his bad luck and never thought about the solution.
However, Pei Haochuan's straightforward words made him understand that he had thought too complicatedly before, and the goals he set were far from his abilities, which was why he ended up in this situation.
Qian Mengmeng saw that his expression was much more relaxed than before, and immediately persuaded him gently: "Dad, come down, let's go home together."
Father Qian looked at Qian Mengmeng, his eyes reddened, and he sighed, "Dad is sorry for you," and wanted to retract his foot and walk down the rooftop. However, he had spent too much time on the rooftop, and his legs and feet were blown by the cold wind, and they became cramped at this time. He subconsciously wanted to cover his leg in pain, and the already shaky railing fell as his center of gravity shifted to one side, making a terrifying "creaking" sound.
"dad!"
Before Qian Mengmeng could rush up, the railing that was supposed to hold her ground failed to hold and she fell to the bottom of the building, taking her father Qian with her who was unable to escape.
Her legs suddenly went limp and she fell to the ground. Everything went dark before her eyes and she couldn't see anything clearly.
