Chapter 5

"Nothing much, it's all similar to what we usually study."

Su Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and said, "But our school organized a physical examination before the exam. In the past, they just measured our height and weight, but this time they actually had to draw blood. Big brother, you should have seen it; several boys in our class fainted at the sight of blood. They usually act so tough, but this time they were screaming like crazy. It was quite amusing."

"Physical examination, and they drew blood?" Su Xiaofan was taken aback for a moment, but he didn't think much about it. High schools often organize physical examinations, and this seemed unrelated to the special admission. However, Su Xiaofan felt that something was off about his sister's special admission. With so many students in the school, why was only his sister chosen?

"Well, let's prepare the tuition for my sister first. When I send her to Yanjing, I'll check out the school then." Su Xiaofan shook his head, carried the chicken out, and seeing his sister staring at him eagerly, he smiled and said, "Eat quickly, it's all yours."

Su Xiaofan missed the college entrance exam due to illness and had never encountered special admissions, so he wasn't very familiar with these matters. There were over a thousand candidates in his sister's class, so being chosen was like being one in a thousand. Since he confirmed it was true, he decided to go with it. Regarding the tuition, Su Xiaofan had a plan. If he couldn't find a way in the next few days, he would borrow 30,000 yuan from Brother Gang as an emergency measure.

"Big brother, you eat too." Su Xiaoxiao picked up a piece of chicken and offered it to her brother.

"I can pick it up myself, you eat yours." Su Xiaofan didn't open his mouth but picked up a piece himself. "The pandemic seems to be getting worse recently. You should be more careful about hygiene at school. Use serving spoons when dining with classmates, and don't act too wild and lose your ladylike manners."

Since the beginning of last year, a pandemic has swept the world. At its worst, the antique market was closed for several months. Although it reopened, it is still affected, with the number of visitors significantly reduced, only about a third of what it used to be. This has also impacted Su Xiaofan's business.

Moreover, the weather has become unpredictable. It's already like summer in mid-May, with temperatures reaching 36-37 degrees Celsius at noon, but it drops to around 10 degrees Celsius at night. Today, for example, it was sunny in the morning, but by evening, dark clouds had gathered, and a heavy rainstorm was imminent.

After the siblings finished their meal, the rain finally started, coming down suddenly with large raindrops hitting the glass with a pattering sound. Su Xiaoxiao, after clearing the dishes, cut a watermelon and, looking at the heavy rain outside, said worriedly, "I wanted to go to the supermarket, but how can I go with such heavy rain?"

"What do you need? Just have it delivered."

Su Xiaofan's rented apartment was in the old city center. Although the building was old, life was very convenient. For anything needed, a call to the nearby supermarket would get it delivered within five minutes. If the nearby supermarket didn't have it, he could order it through an app.

"It's not convenient to have it delivered." Su Xiaoxiao, usually carefree, suddenly looked embarrassed, her voice much lower than usual. "There are daily and nightly use items. I can't explain it clearly to them; I need to buy it myself."

"Hmm? You need to buy sanitary napkins, right?" Su Xiaofan, with his keen hearing, immediately understood his sister's whisper. He had been in society for several years and was not a bookworm, so he understood her meaning.

"Then you shouldn't get wet. I'll buy them for you." Su Xiaofan stood up and said, "I've bought them for you before. Stay home and watch TV; I'll be back soon."

When Su Xiaofan was in high school in the city, his sister was still in junior high in the countryside. He often brought such items from the city supermarket for her. He had even bought her underwear and bras. In a way, he had been both a father and a mother to her, while their father had never cared about these things.

When the rain eased a bit, Su Xiaofan found an umbrella and went downstairs toward the supermarket. The community supermarket, though small, had a wide range of goods. With such heavy rain, Su Xiaofan didn't want to go to the big supermarket in the city.

"Uncle Niu, just eating?"

Entering the supermarket, Su Xiaofan shook the umbrella and greeted the owner. The small supermarket was run by Uncle Niu, a resident of the neighborhood. His wife usually brought meals for him during meal times. Su Xiaofan had lived in this neighborhood for almost three years and was very familiar with Uncle Niu and his wife.

"Everyone knew it would rain today, but there were many customers, so I didn't have time to eat." Uncle Niu put down his chopsticks, threw a cigarette to Su Xiaofan, and said, "With such heavy rain, the power might go out soon. You should buy some candles. We've reported it many times, but the power company doesn't want to spend money on repairs. It would be better to fix it once and for all."

The old community, while convenient, also meant outdated facilities. The power lines in Su Xiaofan's neighborhood were from the 1980s and 1990s. During summer peak usage, the power often tripped, and during thunderstorms, it was the same. So, residents always kept candles at home during rainy days.

"Uncle Niu, I heard the old city is about to be renovated." Su Xiaofan, while picking out items for his sister, said with a smile, "You have two apartments here. When they are demolished, you'll be a wealthy man."

"They've been saying that for ten years, but nothing has happened." Uncle Niu pouted, displeased. "If they rebuild in the same place, it's fine, but if they move us to the suburbs, it's better not to demolish at all."

"Old city renovations are usually in the same place." Su Xiaofan placed the items on the counter, paid after Uncle Niu scanned them, and said, "See you, Uncle Niu. If the rain continues, close early and go home."

Su Xiaofan, holding a bag, opened the umbrella and walked to the door. Just as he was about to push it open, the glass door was pulled from the outside, and he collided with someone.

"Oops, big brother, I'm really sorry, I didn't see you coming in."

Su Xiaofan, seeing he had hit someone, put down the umbrella and hurriedly pulled the person up. After pulling him up, he saw that, besides the person he had hit, there were four others standing under the supermarket's awning. The rain was heavy, so Su Xiaofan couldn't see their faces clearly.

"Hey, it's you, kid." Just as Su Xiaofan pulled the person up, a familiar voice came from behind, and his wrist was tightly grabbed. Looking at the person's face in the supermarket's light, Su Xiaofan was stunned. It was truly a narrow encounter with an old enemy; the person he had hit was none other than Wu Chuanbao, who had come to settle accounts today.

"Kid, why don't you keep running?" Seeing Su Xiaofan, Wu Chuanbao was overjoyed.

Today, Wu Chuanbao hadn't found Su Xiaofan at the antique market and was a bit reluctant. He found a spot far from Su Xiaofan's stall, smoked a few cigarettes, and chatted with some stall owners, casually mentioning Su Xiaofan.

The temporary stalls at the antique market were not fixed. Su Xiaofan, being friends with Zheng Dagang, always reserved two spots, but the neighboring stalls often changed, so the stall owners mostly knew each other.

Su Xiaofan remembered the saying, "Speak only three parts of your mind," and didn't tell others where he lived. However, after spending a long time at the antique market, others roughly knew he lived in a nearby neighborhood and had a sister in high school. These details were all extracted by Wu Chuanbao.

Wu Chuanbao and his group had stopped their tomb-robbing activities recently and had nothing to do. They decided to wander around the area. Coincidentally, they arrived at this neighborhood just as the rain started. Soaked like drowned rats, they were about to enter the supermarket for shelter when they unexpectedly ran into Su Xiaofan.

"Big brother, in business, one party is willing to buy, and the other is willing to sell. Why would I run?" Su Xiaofan smiled bitterly and pulled Wu Chuanbao under the awning. This made Wu Chuanbao's face a bit better. His real goal in finding Su Xiaofan was not the 8,000 yuan but to get the real "Dai Sheng" to complete the transaction with Hong Kong.

"Almost..." Wu Chuanbao's words were cut off as he suddenly felt his right hand loosen, and the arm he was holding slipped away. Su Xiaofan, with a "whoosh," darted into the rain, faster than the rabbits Wu Chuanbao often encountered in the mountains.

"Little brat." Wu Chuanbao, seething with anger, signaled to Wu Chuanpeng and the others and rushed into the rain. By the time Uncle Niu, who had noticed something was wrong, came out to check, they were already gone.

"Damn, looks like we need to move." Su Xiaofan, familiar with the area after living there for three years, didn't dare go home directly. He circled the neighborhood and, seeing he hadn't shaken off Wu Chuanbao and the others, sped up. He planned to leave the neighborhood and then climb back over the wall, which they wouldn't be able to follow.

Su Xiaofan's plan was good, but he didn't expect the rain to make the ground slippery. As he turned a corner at high speed, he slipped and crashed into a wall. Unfortunately, the neighborhood's electrical box was on that wall. Unable to stop, Su Xiaofan twisted his body and hit the electrical box with a "bang."

The electrical box, which needed repairs every few weeks, was already in poor condition. It couldn't withstand Su Xiaofan's weight. With a loud "boom," a bright flash of electricity appeared, and a glowing electrical web, like a spider's web, spread through the rain.

As if drawn by the ground's electrical web, a thunderclap echoed in the sky, and a blinding flash of lightning filled the night. The lightning branched out in all directions, turning the dark night as bright as day. The thickest branch of lightning connected to Su Xiaofan on the ground.

In the blinding light, Su Xiaofan's shocked face was clearly visible to Wu Chuanbao, who was a dozen meters away and felt a tingling sensation. The next moment, the entire neighborhood went dark as the overloaded circuit shorted out.

"Damn, how... how could this happen?" Seeing Su Xiaofan lying motionless in the rain, Wu Chuanbao was stunned. He never expected such an outcome.

Wu Chuanpeng, who followed closely behind, saw this and stammered, "Second brother, should... should we call the police?"

"Call the police? To save him or arrest him? Do you want to die? Hurry up and leave!"

Wu Chuanbao wiped the rain from his face, turned on his flashlight, and, seeing Su Xiaofan lying motionless on the ground, pulled Wu Chuanpeng and ran out of the neighborhood. In Wu Chuanbao's mind, Su Xiaofan was definitely dead. He wasn't a god; being electrocuted and struck by lightning would kill anyone.