Homemade Stun Baton
Sure enough, as Zhang Cui looked at Lin Xi, she arranged her expression and piled on a smile.
She even picked up a large piece of fatty meat for Lin Xi.
“You child, why are you only eating rice? Eat some meat too.”
After a pause, Zhang Cui added, “I’m preparing to go back to our hometown. Xiao Xi, you haven’t been there before, have you? This time, come back with me and have a look. You can also stay there for a while.”
Here it came.
Lin Xi thought this inwardly, then calmly took another mouthful of rice. She looked at Zhang Cui and deliberately put on a puzzled expression. “Why should I go back to the old hometown all of a sudden?”
“Well, it’s not like you have anything going on.”
Lin Xi shook her head. “I don’t want to go.”
Seeing that Lin Xi’s tone was firm, Zhang Cui knew that simply saying it like that would not work. So she pretended to sigh and spoke the “truth.”
“Actually, this is for your own good. After what happened between you and Xinxin at school, when you go back, your classmates will definitely talk about you. The school might even punish you. What if they make you write a self-criticism or give you a demerit?”
“So, come with Grandma to the countryside for a while. Once this matter calms down, we can come back.”
Like hell I believe you.
Lin Xi silently complained in her heart.
And Lin Anxin too. Didn’t she herself know exactly how she had fallen into the lake? Yet she actually nodded along with Zhang Cui’s words and looked at Lin Xi with a worried expression.
At this moment, even Song Kexin, who rarely spoke to Lin Xi, opened her mouth and said, “Your grandmother is doing this for your own good too.”
Zhang Cui quickly nodded. “That’s right. The conditions in the old hometown are pretty good now too. Besides, you’ll only be staying there temporarily. It’s not like you’ll be there for the rest of your life.”
Lin Xi still looked resistant. “Then what about my classes?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. It’s not as if there aren’t schools in the village.” After a pause, Zhang Cui added, “Your mother graduated from there too.”
Seeing that Lin Xi no longer spoke and had lowered her head as though she had tacitly agreed, the smile on Zhang Cui’s face widened. She put on a benevolent expression and said, “Then it’s settled. After breakfast, go pack up, and we’ll set off.”
At the side, Xu Jiaofeng took a sip of soup and said, “Have Uncle Li send you later.”
“Alright. Then I’ll have to trouble you, in-law.” Zhang Cui gave Xu Jiaofeng a grateful smile.
Lin Xi watched the interaction between them and sneered inwardly.
Since they had already decided, why bother symbolically asking her opinion?
Since she knew that opposing them would be useless, Lin Xi was too lazy to struggle anymore.
The chopsticks in Lin Xi’s hand poked at her rice. After hesitating for a moment, she said, “I still have a few notebooks at a classmate’s place. If I’m leaving, I have to go to school and get them back.”
Xu Jiaofeng was somewhat displeased, her expression showing dissatisfaction. “What’s so important about a few shabby notebooks? If you lack anything once you get there, can’t you just buy it?”
“They have my notes in them.”
Xu Jiaofeng was about to say more, but when she saw Song Kexin giving her a look, she unhappily swallowed her words. She was dissatisfied inwardly. Wasn’t it just sending away one child? Did it need to be so troublesome?
The others looked at one another before Xu Jiaofeng finally spoke. “Fine, then. You’ll leave tomorrow.”
“But you have to set off early tomorrow morning. You can’t delay things, or you’ll hold up your grandmother’s business.”
Xu Jiaofeng clearly looked down on Zhang Cui. Would she really be so considerate of her? Obviously, she just wanted Lin Xi to leave as soon as possible.
Lin Xi wanted to laugh inwardly, but she said nothing more. She buried her face in her bowl and nodded, while her mind was already making its own plans.
—
Because she had to go to school to pack up her books, after breakfast, Lin Xi and Lin Anxin took the car to school together.
In the car, Lin Anxin looked at Lin Xi. After hesitating for a moment, she said softly, “Older Sister, I’m sorry. Yesterday was too chaotic. I don’t even know how I fell into the water. I told Grandma and Mum, but they didn’t believe what I said.”
Lin Xi turned her head to the side, too lazy to pay attention to Lin Anxin.
Seeing this, a trace of dissatisfaction and hatred flashed through Lin Anxin’s eyes. After thinking for a moment, she continued, “I didn’t expect Grandma to take you back to the old hometown either. I heard the conditions there are very bad. Why don’t you talk to Grandma and tell her you don’t want to go?”
Lin Anxin was deliberately trying to provoke Lin Xi. But unfortunately, her words landed like a fist striking cotton. Lin Xi did not react at all.
Lin Anxin felt somewhat defeated and withdrew her gaze in disappointment.
For the rest of the journey, the two of them did not speak again.
When they arrived at school, they each got out of the car and went to their own classrooms.
Because of what had happened the day before yesterday, Lin Anxin brought two bodyguards into the school. Thanks to Lin Anxin, Lin Xi also had a bodyguard assigned behind her.
However, that person’s job was not to protect her, but to monitor her.
—
As soon as Lin Xi arrived in the classroom, she began packing up her things—the exam papers in her desk and the textbooks in the storage box at the back.
“Hey, have you guys heard about Lin Anxin?”
Suddenly hearing a familiar name, Lin Xi’s hand paused for a second as she packed her things. Then she heard several girls in the corner seemingly discussing what had happened to Lin Anxin yesterday.
“Lin Anxin? Who? The prettiest girl in Year Seven?”
“Yes, yes, her.”
“What happened to her?” one girl asked in confusion.
“You actually don’t know? The day before yesterday, Yan Xueqi brought people and blocked her over by the artificial lake. Later, she even fell into the lake. Loads of people were watching.”
“That exciting?” The girl who had been confused before asked in surprise, “What happened? How did she provoke Yan Xueqi and the others?”
“Exactly. How crazy must that Lin Anxin be to actually provoke Yan Xueqi?” another girl said in astonishment.
Yan Xueqi and her little followers were a group of delinquent students in the school. It was said that their family backgrounds were not simple. Under normal circumstances, nobody would take the initiative to provoke them.
“You guys know Wang Yukai from Class C, right?”
“I know. Yan Xueqi’s childhood sweetheart. Don’t tell me it was a love triangle?”
“It’s even more exciting than that,” the girl paused, then continued. “That Lin Anxin probably doesn’t like Wang Yukai, but when Wang Yukai confessed to her and gave her gifts, she didn’t reject him either. But when she left a WeChat contact, she deliberately gave Wang Yukai her good friend’s WeChat instead, and then lied to her good friend, saying Wang Yukai liked her.”
“Damn! There’s actually such a move? So her good friend always thought Wang Yukai was pursuing her, while Wang Yukai always thought he was pursuing Lin Anxin? That move is wild. What was she trying to do? Do sea kings now hire employees too?”
“I’m not finished yet. After Lin Anxin accepted the gifts Wang Yukai gave her, she immediately gave them to her good friend and said Wang Yukai had asked her to pass them on. But guess what? Yan Xueqi happened to catch that whole process.”
“What a huge piece of gossip. No wonder Yan Xueqi wanted to make trouble for her. But how do you know all this?”
“Don’t you read the school forum? Yan Xueqi posted about it there.”
“Let me see.” That person took out her phone and quickly browsed the forum. “Wait, no. Looks like there’s been a reversal.”
“Really?”
“Look yourselves. It’s a post by one of Lin Anxin’s friends. It says she asked Lin Anxin about it, and Lin Anxin was also completely confused. She always thought Wang Yukai liked her good friend and had only come to her to pass messages.”
“No way. Making up a friend out of thin air? People actually believe that explanation?”
“The problem is, some people really do believe it. Look, loads of people are supporting Lin Anxin. Here, here. Some are even saying Lin Anxin is innocent and cute.”
…
So that was what happened.
Hearing the girls’ conversation, the corners of Lin Xi’s mouth twitched. While marvelling at Lin Anxin’s tactics, she finally understood the cause of what had happened the day before yesterday. She was somewhat speechless.
The entire incident was already being gossiped about all over the school. Xu Jiaofeng and the others only needed to come to the school and casually ask around to know that Lin Anxin falling into the water had nothing to do with Lin Xi at all. Yet they had firmly chosen to believe Lin Anxin’s nonsense. Or perhaps it was not belief, but deliberate favouritism.
—
Over there, the girls were still continuing to complain. At that moment, one of the girls seemed to notice Lin Xi’s presence. She curled her lip and stopped the classmate who was about to speak.
“Let’s talk somewhere else.” As she whispered this, the girl pointed toward Lin Xi for the others.
When the girls saw Lin Xi, their expressions became the same as the first girl’s.
“Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll talk over there.” The girls quickly left, as though Lin Xi were some kind of virus.
Lin Xi had already become numb to such situations.
When Lin Xi had first entered the school, she had originally gotten along quite well with everyone and had close friends too. But starting from last semester, many malicious rumours about Lin Xi began appearing on the school forum. Some said she was a child fostered in someone else’s home; some said she was the child of a murderer; some said she was the child of a rapist; some said all her exam results came from cheating. There were even more ridiculous rumours claiming she had an improper relationship with the fifty- or sixty-year-old owner of the school printing room, which was why she could always get the exam papers in advance and score so well.
Those rumours were clearly absurd to the extreme, yet some people actually believed them.
Her close friends gradually grew distant from her, and everyone around her began avoiding her like the plague.
Although the school later came forward and confirmed that the rumours were all false, and also deleted all the forum posts, the damage caused by the rumours themselves could no longer be erased.
The laughable thing was that the school had clearly said the day before that they would find the student who spread the rumours and deal with them severely. Yet the very next day, the school seemed to have forgotten about the matter entirely and never mentioned it again.
Lin Xi took a deep breath and sped up, packing her books into her schoolbag.
—
After leaving the classroom, Lin Xi went to the laboratory classroom.
“Teacher, I left some stationery in the laboratory before,” Lin Xi said to the laboratory administrator outside the lab.
Teachers never doubted the words of good students, so the administrator directly opened the door and let Lin Xi in.
Lin Xi walked to her experiment table and opened the drawer. There really were several spare pens inside that she had left there. Lin Xi quickly put the pens into her schoolbag. At the same time, she also grabbed several small circuit components and experiment wires from the drawer.
Almost every experiment table drawer had spare consumable parts like these, but Lin Xi did not need many.
After leaving the laboratory, Lin Xi went to the teaching affairs office.
Song Kexin and the others had already called the school in advance to ask for a long leave for Lin Xi. So Lin Xi merely went over to inform them, and the school let her leave early.
—
When the car passed by a shop, Lin Xi told the driver to stop.
“Miss, is something the matter?”
“I’m going to buy some things I need to bring with me.”
The driver thought for a moment and stopped the car. Lin Xi entered the shop, bought the things she needed, grabbed some snacks along with food that could fill her stomach, and returned to the car.
—
After returning home, Song Kexin called the bodyguard to her alone and asked, “You called a long time ago. Why did it take so long to come back from school?”
Song Kexin was worried that Lin Xi might sense something was wrong and suddenly regret going.
“Madam, on the way back, Miss stopped and went to the mall to buy some things.”
“What did she buy?”
“A power bank, a fan, some skincare products, some snacks like crisps. She also bought insect repellent, cold medicine, medicine for bruises and disinfection. And… a few plush toys.”
Hearing the bodyguard’s words, Song Kexin’s gaze shifted slightly. Buying these things meant Lin Xi had indeed prepared to go to the countryside hometown.
Song Kexin felt reassured.
“Mm, I understand. You may leave.”
“Yes.”
—
On this side, after Lin Xi returned to her room, she did not come out again.
Lin Xi staying in her room the whole time did not arouse anyone else’s suspicion.
Inside the room, in front of Lin Xi was a simple reflux device made from bottles and jars she had found in the kitchen. After carefully checking it over and confirming there were no mistakes, Lin Xi finally added crushed chilli and alcohol into it, then connected it to a heating power source.
The solvent quickly began to boil, continuously cycling through evaporation and condensation.
This was a very long waiting process.
After propping up her chin and watching it for a while, Lin Xi looked away. She then took out the power bank she had bought that day, along with the circuit components and wires hidden in her schoolbag.
Using a screwdriver and utility knife, she dismantled the power bank. The structure inside was even simpler than Lin Xi had expected.
After studying the circuit, Lin Xi quickly found the safety current-limiting device. With swift movements, she cut the safety control circuit, then removed the output terminal of the power bank.
Lin Xi dismantled the plush toys that made sounds. Sure enough, inside the speakers, she found the magnets she wanted.
According to the calculated quantity, Lin Xi wrapped short wires around the magnets and connected them.
Very soon, a small transformer was completed.
Lin Xi connected one end of the small transformer to the output terminal of the power bank. Then she hid the two wire ends on the other side to the left and right of the USB port.
After finishing all this, Lin Xi restored the power bank so that it looked completely intact.
She pressed the power button, and between the two sides of the USB port, the wires instantly connected into a visible arc of electricity.
This kind of electric shock would not kill anyone, but it was enough to knock down an adult.
Holding the homemade “stun baton,” Lin Xi smiled in satisfaction.
Then her gaze turned to the simple reflux device on the other side.
Lin Xi replaced the bottle of ice-cold Sprite on the outer layer, which had already warmed up, with a can of iced cola. She added another portion of alcohol and continued repeating the previous operation.
Only after repeating this process four times did Lin Xi finally obtain a very small bottle of capsaicin solution. Although it was not as clear as she had imagined and still contained impurities, this was already the best she could do.
After removing the complicated bottles and jars, Lin Xi leaned close to the bottle opening and sniffed. A sharp, irritating smell rushed straight to her head.
“This should do.”
Lin Xi wiped away the tears that had been forced out by the irritation. After the solution cooled, she carefully poured it into the pressurised spray bottle she had bought at the shop earlier.
Looking left and right, Lin Xi stuck on the “toner” label the shop owner had given her.
Perfect!
Lin Xi packed the items into her luggage bag.
After hesitating for a moment, she still took out the utility knife and scissors.
Then, at an inconspicuous seam in the lining of her backpack, she cut a small opening and stuffed in the few cash notes she had.
She checked everything several times to make sure nothing had been missed before finally stopping.
—
By the time she finished all this, it was nearly the latter half of the night.
Lin Xi was so sleepy she could hardly keep her eyes open. She climbed into bed and fell asleep in a daze.
She did not know how long had passed before some fragmented images appeared in Lin Xi’s mind again.
In the dream, she seemed to be in a dark alley. She was running desperately, and the noises behind her were chaotic.
Her vision went black.
She was caught.
Lin Xi fell to the ground and desperately retreated backward, but she was still surrounded by a group of people in front of her and forced into a corner.
Lin Xi could not see their faces clearly. She only felt that every single person’s expression was sinister and terrifying.
They approached her. They grabbed her limbs. Someone kicked her hard in the stomach several times. Someone seized her hair and slammed her head heavily against the wall, the pain making her tremble.
*No! Help!*
Lin Xi wanted to scream loudly, but she could not make a single sound.
Countless hands reached toward her.
…
The dream came to an abrupt end at that instant.
“No—!”
Lin Xi shouted and woke from the nightmare.
Lin Xi curled herself up inside the quilt, her whole body still trembling continuously. Her numb hands clutched tightly at the blanket.
At this moment, Lin Xi’s face was deathly pale. Her back and forehead were covered in cold sweat. In her tea-coloured eyes, the intense terror had not faded for a long time. The horrifying final image still kept replaying in her mind. It had been far too real—so real that it did not even feel like a dream.
The sound of knocking, *bang, bang, bang*, brought Lin Xi back to herself.
Li Ma’s voice came from outside the room. “Miss, are you awake? You’re about to set off soon. The Old Madam said that once you’re ready, you should hurry downstairs.”
“Okay.”
—
Twenty minutes later, Lin Xi finished packing, put on her luggage bag, and went downstairs.
Seeing the huge luggage bag on Lin Xi’s back, Zhang Cui said in surprise, “Why are you carrying such a big bag? How much did you pack?”
“Didn’t you say I’d be staying in the old hometown for a few days?” Lin Xi asked back.
Zhang Cui immediately reacted and nodded along. “Fine, fine. Bring more if you want. That way, you won’t lack anything once you get there.”
According to their plan, they were not just going to let Lin Xi stay in the countryside for a few days, but for at least several years. Bringing more things was fine too.
Song Kexin looked at Lin Xi’s backpack. An uneasiness came over her from nowhere, so she instructed the servant beside her, “Li Ma, go help her check. Make sure she hasn’t forgotten anything.”
Li Ma responded, stepped forward, took Lin Xi’s backpack, and opened it to check.
Most of the backpack contained clothes and textbooks, along with some snacks. The rest consisted of travel-sized toiletries and skincare products, as well as a power bank. There was nothing unusual inside. In fact, the things she packed looked exactly like she was calmly going on a trip.
“Young Madam, Miss has packed quite thoroughly.”
Song Kexin nodded. She also stared at the bag and looked it over once before finally pressing down the uneasiness in her heart.
“If everything is packed, then go.”
Zhang Cui led Lin Xi and prepared to set off.
At this moment, Lin Yize came downstairs.
The instant she saw Lin Yize, Lin Xi’s expression changed drastically. She retreated several steps in a row and fell onto the sofa.
“Xiao Xi, what’s wrong?” Everyone’s gazes gathered on Lin Xi. Even Lin Yize, over there, looked at Lin Xi coldly.
“I… I’m a little dizzy from hunger. It might be low blood sugar.” Lin Xi explained with a pale face.
“Feeling dizzy from hunger isn’t a big deal. I brought some snacks. You can eat them in the car later,” Zhang Cui said, glancing at the time. “We can’t delay. We still don’t know whether there’ll be traffic. Let’s go.”
Lin Xi nodded and followed Zhang Cui over, getting into the car driven by Uncle Li.
While Lin Xi had already got into the car and Zhang Cui had not yet entered, Zhang Cui patted Song Kexin’s hand. “What’s wrong? Are you reluctant to let her go?”
Song Kexin shook her head and voiced her concern. “Mum, what if Lin Xi realises something is wrong and runs out of the village?”
Zhang Cui was not worried. “Don’t worry. She doesn’t have money on her, and she doesn’t know the way. How could she run? Besides, it’s not like you don’t know our village. The nearest suburban bus station is more than ten kilometres away. She won’t be able to walk out. Once she finds out, at most she’ll make a fuss for a while. I’ve already spoken to Zhang Qiang and told him to watch her carefully. After enough time passes, she’ll settle down.”
Seeing that her reassurance had worked, Zhang Cui did not delay any longer and got into the car.
“Goodbye, Mum. Goodbye, Xiao Xi.” Song Kexin waved at the two people in the car.
Lin Xi stiffly turned her head, forcing herself to maintain her usual expression. She also waved at the people outside the car and said goodbye, but her gaze did not dare linger on Lin Yize.
Only when the car drove far away did Lin Xi finally relax slightly.
The dream from last night surfaced once again in Lin Xi’s mind.
At the final moment before the dream ended, through the layers of figures, she had clearly seen the face of the person standing not far behind that group of people.
It was Lin Yize!
Leave a Reply