48 Hours a Day

When Bai Qing heard the voice, her face instantly changed.

As the steel door opened before Zhang Heng, a middle-aged woman stumbled into the corridor in front of him. She was in an unkempt state, with messy hair, and was in a set of pajamas and slippers. She ignored where she was running, and as a result, tripped over the steps in front of her.

“Mom, what’s the matter?” When Bai Qing saw her mother falling, she instantly ignored Zhang Heng and ran over to see what was going on.

When she stood on her feet again, the middle-aged woman was trembling. The moment she saw that it was her daughter who helped her, she yelled, “Qingqing, Qingqing, your dad wants to kill me!”

“Mom, what are you talking about? Don’t be afraid. Speak slowly.” Bai Qing patted her mother on the back, trying to calm her down first.

However, Bai Qing’s attempts were all but futile.

The moment the lady heard the footsteps sound coming from the corridor, fear devoured her once again. Zhang Heng was familiar with that stricken look on her face since he had seen that very expression on the college student’s face.

“Dad?” Bai Qing called out hesitantly.

The next moment, a middle-aged man in suit and leather shoes walked towards them.

He seemed a little surprised to see Bai Qing and Zhang Heng her side.

“Dad, what is going on?” Bai Qing asked.

“Leave it to the adults to deal with. Kids should stay out of it,” the middle-aged man said.

“But mom just said you wanted to kill her?!”

“Your mother is mentally unstable. I’m taking her to the hospital,” the middle-aged man said casually.

“No, I am not sick! It is you who is sick! Recently, I felt that something wrong with you. I feel like you’ve changed a lot. You’re no longer my husband!!!” cried the middle-aged woman.

When he heard that, Bai Qing’s father remained.

“When I went to the bathroom earlier, your dad suddenly rushed in, grabbed my hair, and dragged me out! He had this bloodthirst in his eyes, and I knew that he was going to kill me!” The middle-aged woman hugged Bai Qing tightly. “Don’t let him come close!”

Bai Qing then looked at the middle-aged man suspiciously.

“Your mother is hallucinating. I just told you that she is mentally unstable, and I am about to take her to the hospital for an examination.”

Bai Qing volunteered, “Then I will go with you.”

“No. I want you to stay at home. This is an adult matter, and it has nothing to do with you,” the middle-aged man droned on, his requests unquestionable.

Zhang Heng could see that Bai Qing’s father was the one who usually gave the orders in her family. Even while talking to his own kin, he used a command-oriented tone, one that was cold and unyielding.

The commotion caused two families on the first floor to open their doors to see what was going on. One of the men came out with a kitchen knife in his hand. “What’s wrong? I heard someone calling for help,” he quizzed vigilantly.

Bai Qing’s father snorted coldly and looked at his wife on the ground. “Are you happy now? You have put us to shame. Stand on your feet now!”

Not only did the woman remain on the floor when she heard his order, but she quickly retreated behind Bai Qing.

“Oh, a married couple is quarreling.” The man with the kitchen knife heaved a sigh of relief and then said in an affronted tone, “Don’t quarrel in front of our house. Do you know what time is it now?”

“This is not a quarrel. My husband is trying to kill me!” the middle-aged woman insisted. When she saw more people around her, she felt a little more relieved, and she stopped trembling.

“It appears this is getting out of hand,” the man with the kitchen knife raised his eyebrows. “I don’t care about what happens to your family. Just deal with it yourself. Stop screaming.” After that, he turned around and returned to his house.

On the other hand, the other neighbor who came out with the man realized that it was a false alarm. They, too, closed the door and left them alone.

So the middle-aged woman quickly looked around to see if there was anyone who could help her. And finally, she landed her gaze on Zhang Heng. “Young man, you can’t leave us here alone. Otherwise, we would be gone from this world!”

“I won’t leave you alone, auntie,” Zhang Heng reassured politely.

“Who are you again?” The middle-aged man frowned.

“He is my classmate, dad,” Bai Qing replied.

“This is nonsense. How many times have I told you not to go out with boys in the middle of the night? Didn’t you say you were going to watch a movie with the girls from your class?”

“We just came back from the cinema. I was worried that it might be unsafe for Bai Qing to come home alone, which was why I volunteered to send her home after the movie is over,” Zhang Heng explained without changing his expression.

“You are simply trying to sweet-talk yourself out of this mess. You really think I don’t know what’s going on between the both of you?” the middle-aged man warned. “You’ve already escorted her here. She’s safe. You can leave now.”

Although Bai Qing’s father seemed persistent, Zhang Heng did not leave.

“You are sending her to the hospital. She still appears to be unstable. Anyway, I have nothing to do now. I can stay with her for a while.”

“Shouldn’t you be feeling embarrassed about how you can’t see yourself as an outsider?” the middle-aged man snapped coldly. “I’m going to take my wife to the hospital now, and I’m in no mood to talk nonsense with you. You’d better not show up in front of me again, or I’ll look for your class teacher in school and ask to talk to your parents.”

One had to admit that this strategy was usually quite effective on ordinary high school students. After all, asking to talk to the parents was the ultimate move against a student.

Fortunately, such a strategy proved ineffective on Zhang Heng. “My parents are abroad, and I haven’t seen them for a long time. It might not be easy for you to talk to them,” he replied calmly.

“Heh,” the middle-aged man chuckled. “You have to have a guardian anyway, right?”

“I am staying with my grandfather, but he rarely interferes with my affairs,” Zhang Heng admitted truthfully.

The middle-aged man was in no mood to keep talking. He then turned to Bai Qing. “You should go home first.”

“Dad, Zhang Heng is a very nice person. He is just worried about mom and me,” Bai Qing retorted bravely. “Can you tell me about the conflict between you and mom? Although mom can be quite materialistic, she’s always been stable mentally. And…” Bai Qing hesitated. “…you’ve been behaving a little weird recently.”

“I just told you to not interfere with the affairs of grownups,” the middle-aged man said with a straight face. “Take care of your own stuff. Just study hard, and get into a good university. This is the greatest thing you can do for this family. You are not allowed to go out with boys anymore!”

A look of disappointment flashed across Bai Qing’s eyes. “Why do you guys always keep things from me. Please stop treating me like a kid! If all you guys do is bring pain to each other, why continue to live in the same house and torture the other? If it is because of me, the two of you have certainly not given me a harmonious family environment.”