Chapter 208: White? Black? Or Red?
"Did you see that white figure?" After the woman left the bedroom, her expression shifted naturally, her eyes trembling slightly, her face pale, looking pitifully charming.
"No." Gu Feiyu glanced at the woman who had removed her mask, a hint of awkwardness on his face as he quietly turned his head away.
"Let's sit down first. I feel like that white figure appearing was suspicious." The woman gestured for Gu Feiyu to sit on the sofa. Seeming uncomfortable in her high heels, she kicked them off to the side and walked barefoot into the kitchen.
Gripping his baton tightly, Gu Feiyu felt nervous, fidgeting restlessly and unconsciously shaking his leg.
The woman took two freshly opened bottles of drink from the fridge and set them on the coffee table: "I really want to thank you for today."
"It's my duty. Saying thanks is too polite." Gu Feiyu felt a bit embarrassed.
"I have to thank you properly. If it weren't for you just now, I wouldn't have known what to do. Since my sister disappeared, I don't have any family left. I'm alone in Jiujiang, with hardly any money saved. I'm just waiting to sell this house and then leave here forever." The woman sat on the sofa across from the security guard, still shaken. She curled her legs up on the edge of the sofa and gently rubbed them.
"Leaving might be for the best." Gu Feiyu nodded, looking at the woman with a hint of sympathy. "But don't be too discouraged. Your sister is only missing. Maybe she'll be found someday."
"It's not as simple as you think. My sister and I were very close. We grew up together. She always shared everything good with me and told me all her secrets. But one day, she suddenly disappeared, and no one could find her anywhere. I suspect she might already be..." The woman's voice choked up toward the end, as if she had been holding it together for a long time and finally let down her guard in front of a stranger.
Her small frame and slender arms naturally gave off a fragile impression, and her crying made her even harder to resist.
Gu Feiyu panicked, not knowing what to do. He froze for a long moment before putting down his baton and handing the woman the tissue from the coffee table.
Taking the tissue, the woman dabbed gently at the corners of her eyes, careful not to ruin her makeup: "When I came home from work and saw that white figure, I was terrified. Do you think my sister was taken by that monster?"
Her voice carried a note of despair: "Now that I've seen the white figure again, could I be the next one to disappear?"
"No, you won't." The woman seemed too upset to notice her posture was revealing something. Gu Feiyu, sitting across from her, deliberately looked away.
"I hope so." The woman picked up her drink and lightly clinked it against Gu Feiyu's. "Sorry, I made a fool of myself."
She raised her drink, and Gu Feiyu, snapping out of it, politely took a sip: "I don't think you need to be so pessimistic. A lot of people have been coming to the neighborhood asking about your sister. She's definitely still alive. Maybe she just can't see you right now for some special reason."
The drink, fresh from the fridge, was cool and soothing, tasting great. Gu Feiyu took another sip without thinking: "Your sister must have her reasons for disappearing. I don't buy into ghost stories. She probably got into some trouble and made up an excuse to avoid the law. Honestly, people like her, hiding and running, are pretty pitiful. If she can't even see her closest family, what's the point of living?"
"You don't know her. You've never truly understood her." The woman's expression twisted in pain, her voice subtly changing. "She was the best sister in the world. She was willing to share even the things she loved most with me."
Gu Feiyu was getting tired. He hugged his baton and leaned back on the sofa: "Sounds like you two were really close."
The woman seemed lost in memory, staring at the drink on the coffee table that the security guard had half-finished: "When I was very young, people often bullied me, and my sister was always the first to stand up for me. As we grew up, our personalities became more and more different. I was selfish, whiny, and fussy, but no matter what mistakes I made, my sister always forgave me. She was perfect—beautiful, dignified, with a lovely smile."
"Back then, I was so immature. The more she tolerated me, the more I resented her. Everything she liked, I hated. She loved white, so I loved black. I had to be the opposite."
"This went on for months, until that incident happened."
Studying the security guard, the woman spoke after a long pause: "As much as I hate to admit it, I ended up liking the same thing as my sister."
"In our neighborhood, there was a handsome, sunny boy who fell in love with my sister. He loved listening to music, writing, and singing beautifully."
"Every time he went on a date with my sister, I felt like my heart was being torn apart. I didn't want something I liked to become someone else's possession."
"My sister and I looked very alike. I started wearing the same makeup as her and putting on her clothes."
"The first few dates went smoothly, but gradually, the boy discovered my secret. After all, I wasn't my sister. Our personalities were completely different."
"I cried and begged him to stay, but he only loved my sister."
The blue veins on the woman's arms looked alarming. She was emotionally agitated, but Gu Feiyu, sitting across from her, seemed oblivious, his energy flagging as if he'd stayed up too long and was getting drowsy.
"For him, I gave up my pride and begged my sister. But my sister, who had always doted on me, stayed silent this time."
"We didn't speak for a whole week. Eventually, my sister gave in and said she'd invite the boy over to let him choose for himself."
"When the boy heard my sister was inviting him over, he was thrilled. He bought new clothes and flowers, and stayed up all night recording a song my sister loved most."
"When he came to our house, he confessed his love to my sister, but she didn't accept right away. Instead, she called me out and wanted the boy to make his own choice."
"I had never looked forward to anything so much, but just seconds later, all my hopes were shattered."
"The boy didn't hesitate. He chose my sister."
Her fingers dug into her flesh. Even after all these years, she could still feel that sting.
She breathed heavily, taking a long time to calm down: "I felt like I was being torn apart. The pain was indescribable. I wanted to leave, to run to some deserted place."
"My sister saw my pain. She seemed to have expected this outcome all along."
"In my darkest moment, my sister stepped up again. She personally fed the boy the drink, took off her white dress, and pulled a kitchen knife from the kitchen."
"She told me that besides white and black, there was another choice that was fair to everyone."
As she spoke, the woman pulled a kitchen knife from under the sofa cushion and used the tissue Gu Feiyu had handed her to wipe off the makeup from her eyebrows and face.
She seemed to recall something she had done long ago. Raising the knife, she walked toward Gu Feiyu, whose body was now immobile. Her wig fell off, and her bald face leaned close to his ear.
"Darling, black, white, or red—which color do you like?"