That evening, when Duoduo returned, her little face was sullen, looking rather downcast.
Ye Li asked out of curiosity, only to learn that her other front tooth had also been gloriously retired today.
“Come on, come on, give Big Sister a smile!” Ye Li teased with mischievous glee.
Hearing that, Duoduo immediately pouted her little lips and furrowed her brow, her large, dark eyes glistening with tears as if she were about to cry any second.
Beside them, Qiao Bei couldn't help but chuckle and said helplessly, “Big Sister, please stop teasing her.”
After spending this time together, he had also realized that the coldly glamorous woman before him wasn't as vicious and mean as the rumors outside made her out to be.
On the contrary, he found her quite carefree and easygoing, someone who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. As long as one treated her with enough respect and sincerity, she wasn't hard to get along with at all—it was just that she could be rather childish at times, always delighting in teasing Duoduo.
That night, to comfort Duoduo's wounded feelings, Qiao Bei made a point of telling her a bedtime story about the Tooth Fairy.
He even had her quietly tuck the lost front tooth under her pillow, telling her that the Tooth Fairy would come in the middle of the night to exchange a gift for it.
Only then did Duoduo, who had been sulking all evening, break into a smile and excitedly hide her little tooth.
From the opposite bed, Ye Li scoffed derisively, but in a rare bout of kindness, she didn't expose his trick to deceive a child.
In the middle of the night, she heard Qiao Bei climb up on tiptoe, fish something out of his pocket, and quietly slip it beneath Duoduo's pillow.
Ye Li curled her lips slightly. Choosing not to disturb the “Tooth Fairy” during the exchange, she quietly closed her eyes.
Early the next morning, the moment Duoduo opened her eyes, she couldn't wait to check under her little pillow, followed by an “Ah!” of astonishment.
The child suffered from mutism; aside from being unable to speak, she rarely made any sounds at all.
This was the first time Ye Li had heard her sound so excited. Her curiosity piqued, she sat up and leaned over to look, her eyes instantly brightening.
Beneath Duoduo's pillow lay several pieces of candy wrapped in colorful cellophane.
Red, yellow, and blue—exactly three.
“Do you like the Tooth Fairy's gift?” Qiao Bei asked gently with a smile.
Duoduo's little face flushed pink as she nodded vigorously with joy.
She liked them—she loved them!
“Where did you get candy?” Ye Li swallowed involuntarily.
Out in the outside world, such a thing might not be anything special, but in this sunless cell, it was exceptionally rare.
She wanted some too!!
“Someone from the lab gave them to me earlier.”
Seeing her staring fixedly at the candies as if she wanted one as well, Qiao Bei said to Duoduo, “Duoduo, how about sharing a candy with Big Sister?”
Duoduo, however, snatched up the candies at lightning speed and hid them behind her back, demonstrating her refusal with immediate action.
“Duoduo, don't be so stingy. Big Brother will get you more next time, okay?” Qiao Bei tried to persuade her.
Duoduo shook her head with absolute resolve.
Still not giving up, Qiao Bei urged, “Look, you have three whole pieces. Can't you share just one?”
In response, Duoduo swiftly unwrapped the candy with the blue wrapper, popped it into her mouth, and held out her open hands to him.
Now there were only two!
Qiao Bei: “...”
The child was usually quite generous; she had probably been teased so much by Big Sister that she was holding a grudge.
Seeing he couldn't convince Duoduo, Qiao Bei could only turn to Ye Li. “How about I bring you some next time if I get the chance, Big Sister?”
“I don't even want it!”
Ye Li scoffed, falling straight back onto the bed, and retorted sarcastically, “Eating candy when your teeth are falling out—watch out, or your new teeth won't grow in!”
Duoduo immediately pouted in displeasure, turning her head away indignantly as well.
Watching the two “children,” one big and one small, throw their petty tantrums, Qiao Bei sighed helplessly.
Time quietly passed, and Ye Li's injured foot gradually finished regrowing.
And she seemed to have grown accustomed to the dull yet peaceful days in the cell.
However, what occurred that night abruptly shattered the previous illusion of tranquility.
Ye Li was awakened by an abnormal sound.
Naturally vigilant and a light sleeper, even the faintest noise was enough to wake her.
It was a series of dull thuds, like the sound of something heavy yet somewhat soft repeatedly slamming against a wall.
Ye Li immediately rose from her bed. Without even putting on shoes, she moved swiftly to the door barefoot on tiptoe.
Turning sideways, she leaned slightly forward and peered out through the transparent window on the door.
It was the dead of night. The corridor was bathed in dim, yellowish light, utterly empty with nothing in sight.
“Thud!”
Another dull thud.
Ye Li immediately locked her gaze onto the door and window of the opposite cell.
Just a moment ago, some dark, shadowy mass had slammed against the window, smearing the previously clear glass with a mess of deep crimson fluid and fleshy residue that was slowly trickling downward, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.
Immediately after, another strange noise faintly drifted from across the hall.
It was a chewing sound—sometimes squelching and sluggish, sometimes crisp and brisk—as if behind that door, something was relentlessly tearing through flesh and crunching on bones, gorging itself in a ravenous feast.
Ye Li's brow furrowed deeply. A sense of foreboding welled up inside her, yet a spark of excitement flickered within her dark eyes.
That hair-raising sound persisted for quite some time before gradually tapering off.
Immediately after, something resembling a strip of raw scarlet meat suddenly pressed against the smeared window, sliding back and forth as it licked away the liquid and residue bit by bit.
Through the glass that had grown clear once more, a massive, pitch-black silhouette was revealed.
The shadow drew abruptly closer. A colossal, blood-red eye peered greedily outward through the window, its gaze brimming with a chilling hunger and savagery.
Soon, it spotted Ye Li hiding behind the door across the corridor. Like a cat catching sight of a mouse, an excited, ravenous look surfaced in its gaze, and a faint, sinister “hehehe” chuckle drifted over...
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