Little Octopus - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

During this period, I filled out a mountain of paperwork: marriage background check forms, marriage application reports, cadre spouse information registration forms…

While at the designated maternal and child health hospital for my physical exam, someone accidentally bumped into me, scattering my documents all over the floor. I scrambled to pick them up, checking to see if they were soiled. There was only one copy of each, and I was terrified that any smudge would prevent them from passing the audit. Fortunately, they were fine.

He took the stamped documents back with him, saying it would take about half a month to receive the marriage registration certificate, and then we could go and officially register.

“There won’t be any problems, will there?” I asked.

He said there wouldn’t be. My family history going back three generations had already been secretly vetted; this was just a formality now. He added that his superiors were even more anxious than he was because his entire squad was made up of bachelors.

I grumbled inwardly. Three generations… secretly vetted… Where are your manners?

His mother came over every week to help me tidy up the apartment, brew soup for me, and take Dog Dayu for a bath.

“Auntie, you really don’t have to do this,” I said.

She asked if she was intruding on my private space. She just felt that since I lived alone and worked so hard, having a boyfriend who was never around was like having no boyfriend at all. She was afraid I was suffering in silence.

“Auntie, I’m not suffering,” I told her. “I’m happy.”

After he returned to his unit, we went a long time without contact again.

I had basically figured out the pattern: if I got one phone call a week, it meant he was training at the base. If there were no calls, he was out on a mission.

Ever since I found out he was a special forces soldier, I became incredibly tense whenever news broke about the border.

I was terrified he would suddenly appear in the news as a martyr.

I was rushing to meet a deadline and didn’t finish work until nearly midnight.

My mind was occupied with thoughts of Dog Dayu, who must have been desperate to go out, so I drove my Wrangler like it was a Mustang.

But when I walked through the door, Dog Dayu didn’t rush over to greet me.

A sort of sixth sense told me something was wrong.

I lightened my footsteps and peered inside from the wall by the entryway. The scene I saw made me recoil violently, slamming into the shoe cabinet and falling flat on my backside.

He was hanging upside down from the chandelier like a piece of cured meat, motionless.

The house was a total mess, with blood everywhere. It looked like a slaughterhouse.

My heart pounded wildly. I didn’t dare cry, let alone scream. I didn’t know if the killer was still in the house or lurking outside.

My first instinct was to call him. I prayed for a miracle, hoping he would pick up, but-unsurprisingly-his phone was off.

I sent him a WeChat message: [Yu Chenghuai, I’m so scared. Please come back quickly.]

I couldn’t tell my parents. They would definitely see this as a disaster brought upon me by Yu Chenghuai and would oppose us being together.

I wasn’t sure if I should call the police. Would it affect his classified mission?

After thinking it over, I thought of his uncle, Yu Liaoshen. His uncle was also a soldier and might have experience handling such things.

I called his mother instead.

It was the middle of the night and his mother had already been asleep, but she became instantly alert the moment she heard the news. She told me not to panic and said they would come over immediately. She told me to wait for her call when they arrived and that they would take me back to their place.

They arrived very quickly.

I left the apartment complex and immediately spotted their Grand Cherokee with its hazard lights flashing. I ran toward it.

Suddenly, a van sped up from the side of the road. Someone covered my mouth and nose, and I was hauled into the vehicle.

I struggled relentlessly, but my hands and feet were pinned down, and I was struck across the face several times.

The blows left me dizzy and disoriented. My ears rang as if an alarm had been shoved into my ear canals, and blood from my nose quickly bloomed into stains on my pure white clothes.

Before I passed out, I heard the other party mutter a few curses. They had a heavy southwestern accent-it sounded a lot like Sichuanese, but it wasn’t.

When I woke up again, I had no idea where I was or how much time had passed. My surroundings were pitch black and smelled of rot.

My cheeks burned with pain and my head was swimming. My hands were tied behind my back, and my shoulders ached as if they had been dislocated.

Just as I tried to move my legs, I realized my ankles were shackled with iron chains.

I realized I had been kidnapped.

But I had been taken right in front of Yu Chenghuai’s parents, so they had to be looking for me. I just needed to ensure my own safety until they found me.

Someone pushed the door open.

The intense light was blinding.
“So, you’re Zhang Xiao?”

I stared at the man who had entered, remaining silent.

He was tall and gaunt, with a sallow complexion and a mouthful of rotten teeth. The moment he opened his mouth, the stench was enough to kill a swarm of flies.

Before I could even answer, a boot slammed into my abdomen. He then grabbed me by the hair, forcing my head up.

Nauseating breath blasted against my nose, making me gag repeatedly.

“Your man killed so many of our brothers. Don’t you think I should collect a little interest from you?”

“…What are you going to do?”

He said nothing, his sinister gaze roaming over my body without restraint.

I shook my head, desperately trying to shrink back. “No… please, no…”

“You still have the chance to beg for mercy, but what about my brothers? They didn’t even get to say a word before your man blew their heads off.”

He grabbed my ankle and easily dragged me back to where I had been.

“You kidnapped me just for this kind of petty revenge?” I struggled to find any way to escape, trying to use conversation to distract him.

“Petty? Petty is good. The pettier it is, the more it’ll make him suffer.”

My clothes were torn open. I writhed frantically, and for a moment, he couldn’t pin me down.

He pulled off his belt and lashed it across my body. The skin where it struck immediately swelled and burned; soon, the scent of blood filled the air.

I don’t know how much time passed before the man grew tired of the beating, his breath coming in heavy gasps.

I no longer had the strength to struggle.

“To tell you the truth, we sent word of your capture to your man long ago. At first, we just wanted to trade you for one of our brothers, but your man didn’t react at all.”

He stepped on my head, grinding his boot down with force.

I was in so much pain that I couldn’t even manage a cry of agony.

“Isn’t your man heartless? Valentine’s Day is coming up-why don’t we send him a little gift?”

I saw a red light blinking in the darkness. He was recording.

When my body was violated, I didn’t cry.

I haven’t done anything wrong. This isn’t my fault. It’s okay. I’m just hurt. As long as I can get out of here, I’ll get better.

It’s okay. I’ll be fine.

I imagined myself as nothing more than a tattered burlap sack. I wasn’t Zhang Xiao. None of this had anything to do with Zhang Xiao.

A long time later, the man pulled up his pants and left.

The door opened once more, and light spilled into the dark room.

It’s okay. I will walk into the light again.

It’s okay. I can wait.

As long as I don’t die, it’s fine.

My body hurt so much-the pain from the beating, the pain of being torn apart. My hands had long since gone numb…

Every breath I took was thick with the smell of blood…

Yu Chenghuai, where are you…

In the absolute darkness, my spirit was on the verge of collapsing.

I didn’t know how much time had passed. An hour? A week?

The man returned. He injected something into me.

My head began to spin, and my heart raced uncontrollably…

He said it was the purest stuff available-one hit and I’d be hooked.

My eyes strained wide with fury. I wanted to attack him regardless of the cost.

He laughed hysterically. “Remember, everything happening to you is because of your man!”

He used a dagger to carve into my back. “Since your man is such a patriot, how about I carve ‘Loyalty to the Country’ into you?”

Yu Chenghuai, it hurts so much. Are you here yet?

After what felt like an eternity, my shackles were undone. I was almost unable to stand, so the man dragged me out, a knife pressed against my throat.

My eyes were momentarily blinded, unable to adjust to the sudden brightness.

By the time I could open them, I didn’t see Yu Chenghuai.

Standing before me was a man in camouflage, but it wasn’t him. He was negotiating with my captor.

The captor made his demands: release their people and their cargo, and arrange for their escape.

Gradually, I could no longer hear what they were saying. The scene before my eyes blurred into a haze of distorted light.

I used every ounce of strength I had left to lift my head, and the dagger at my neck immediately tightened.

The blade sank into my flesh, but I could no longer feel the pain.

(End of Zhang Xiao’s Chapter)