WSSAPF chapter 8

“Do you still want your lungs?” A familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

Zhou Chulan took the cigarette from Li Zhuoyao’s hand. The cigarette had just been lit, with two-thirds still burning.

“Oh, you’re back.” Li Zhuoyao was momentarily lost in thought, slowly standing up, his legs feeling numb from squatting.

Zhou Chulan looked at the scattered cigarette butts on the ground, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“Why are you smoking so much?”

“Nothing, just program stress.” Li Zhuoyao lowered his head, not daring to look into Zhou Chulan’s eyes.

“Director Li, Director Li.” Qi Zhenquan’s voice came from the crowd, and he walked quickly towards Li Zhuoyao. When he approached, he noticed Zhou Chulan beside him and stopped in his tracks.

“Uncle Qi.” Zhou Chulan greeted.

“Ah, lan, you’ve worked hard today.” Qi Zhenquan dodged Zhou Chulan’s gaze.

“Chief, is there something you need?” Li Zhuoyao stood still, asking without moving.

“Oh, nothing… Just wanted to let you know that about half of the things have been moved up the mountain, and nothing got damaged.”

As he spoke, he couldn’t stop glancing towards Zhou Chulan and signaled to Li Zhuoyao.

Zhou Chulan lowered his head, suddenly letting out a light laugh.

“Well, Director Li, you guys are busy, I’ll go leave first.” Qi Zhenquan said as he quickly walked away.

“He told you something.” Zhou Chulan raised his hand, putting the cigarette he had taken from Li Zhuoyao into his mouth, the part that touched Li Zhuoyao’s lips still moist. Zhou Chulan bit the cigarette and took a deep drag, exhaling a long smoke ring that slowly rose, covering the expression on his face.

Li Zhuoyao, with his lips slightly apart, struggled to say something. His throat seemed to be choked, refusing to cooperate.

Zhou Chulan flicked off the ash with his fingertips, a spark landing on the back of his hand but quickly extinguishing. He looked down at his own toes, and his black rain shoes were covered in mud.

“Said I’m a murderer.”

As the words fell, he raised his head, carefully observing Li Zhuoyao’s face. Li Zhuoyao’s expression was extremely complex, with strong disbelief, restrained sadness, hesitation to ask but unable to, and more, a profound sense of confusion, unable to find an exit or a way forward.

He really still didn’t remember anything.

The cigarette in his hand burned to the end at this moment. Then Zhou Chulan extinguished the cigarette, casually tossing it into the pile of cigarette butts in front of Li Zhuoyao, and put on the black T-shirt draped over his arm, standing up.

“Chief Qi didn’t lie. I have killed someone. If you’re afraid, you can avoid me from now on.”

He looked at Li Zhuoyao calmly, realizing that the other person lowered his head and didn’t dare to look at him. In this instant, he surprisingly felt a bit relieved.

He turned around to leave, but his wrist was tightly grabbed by Li Zhuoyao. His grip was strong, causing a slight pain in Zhou Chulan’s wrist.

“Let go.”

Li Zhuoyao didn’t let go, then slowly lifted his head to look at Zhou Chulan. His eyes were murky, with red bloodshot at the bottom.

Zhou Chulan’s tone was as indifferent as his expression.

“You’re a big shot; don’t associate with someone like me.”