Chapter 42: Golden Pear · Grape Soda

Anything that can drag a human life back from the brink of death is the most precious thing in the world.

Even if it costs millions, there is no shortage of people willing to pay; even if it merely increases the slightest possibility of survival, people flock to it like ducks—such as that bottle of sports drink.

Yet, erasing a person's life is very cheap.

Things that kill are usually not valuable at all.

Jin Xueli glanced again at the purple can of soda in her hand.

Actually, if the only goal was to kill, a knife would be enough. Even if she could not do it herself, twelve thousand dollars would be enough to hire a desperate criminal.

However, using worldly methods meant Jin Xueli would naturally have to bear worldly risks and consequences. After all, Black Molar City was a real society governed by rules and laws. What if someone traced Anthony's death or disappearance back to her?

She had managed to evade the den residents, only to end up in a worldly prison—that would be far too ironic.

She wanted to resolve this matter cleanly, without letting a single speck of murder suspicion stick to her—she still had so much money, so much of life left to enjoy.

The true reason this soda was expensive was not merely that it could cause a person's death—to be honest, she was not even certain whether the outcome it caused could truly be considered death.

Yet she was certain of one thing: using an artifact to eliminate Anthony would leave her with no lingering troubles whatsoever.

At the very moment Jin Xueli was lost in thought gazing at the soda, a line of small text at the bottom just shifted from "Countdown: 6 hours 25 minutes" to "Countdown: 6 hours 24 minutes."

With a validity period of only 8 hours in total, she had already spent an hour and a half; what made her most angry was that, apart from the initial few phone calls, she had spent the remaining time simply waiting.

Could it be that Anthony was bewildered too, not expecting her to initiate contact with him?

Just as this thought crossed her mind, the disposable cell phone she had just bought on the table buzzed. Jin Xueli glanced at the screen and immediately snatched up the phone: "Anthony?"

The other end of the line fell silent for a second or two.

Only then did his voice speak as if nothing were wrong: "Ah, it really is you."

"Of course it's me. Didn't I leave you a voice message?"

"You suddenly said your phone was lost and told me to call this number. Rather suspicious, don't you think?" Anthony spoke at a slow, leisurely pace, yet his tone and voice were like a rodent sniffing out scents in the dark. "...When did you lose it?"

Jin Xueli thought for a moment and named a time before he had posted her phone number on a pornographic website. "Yesterday morning."

Anthony paused.

When he spoke again, his tone was a layer warmer: "Why are you suddenly looking for me? It's been so long..."

"Can we meet and talk?" Jin Xueli asked straight to the point. "At the bar where we first met?"

Choosing a public place was meant to put Anthony at ease so he would accept the invitation; he must surely be afraid that she had rounded up some people to lure him out and beat him up.

"Is something the matter?" The stalker proved to be quite cautious indeed.

At that moment, Jin Xueli summoned the heroines of every romantic movie she had ever watched in her life into herself, mimicking their light and earnest tone as she said, "I... I didn't like the way things ended between us. I feel that there might still be some room for us, and we don't have to carry on like this. Whatever you want, we can talk it over properly..."

Could there truly be such a foolish woman in the world?

After receiving round-the-clock phone calls in the middle of the night, countless insults and curses, and being threatened with "I'll find someone to get rid of you right now," would she still be foolish enough to calmly talk things over with her stalker?

Jin Xueli felt there was no such person, but Anthony seemed to think otherwise—at least, he hoped Jin Xueli was that person.

"Right now?" There was something eager and restless in Anthony's voice, making the skin of her ear feel uncomfortable even across the phone line. "I'll need at least an hour to free up time and head over..."

Jin Xueli said through clenched teeth: "No problem. I'll wait for you."

After hanging up, she placed the phone and the purple soda together on the table in front of her, staring at them fixedly for a moment.

Several male and female drinkers at the adjacent table suddenly burst into loud laughter; they seemed to be colleagues grabbing a drink after work, clinking their glasses together in mid-air.

A waitress approached the table and asked with a smile, "How is it? Is the person you're waiting for coming?"

"In a little while." Jin Xueli pulled a few bills bearing Benjamin Franklin's portrait from her wallet and handed them to her along with the purple soda. "Just like we discussed earlier, once he arrives, I'll have to trouble you."

The waitress stared at the banknotes, obviously startled by the generosity of the tip, and looked somewhat incredulous. "Are you sure?"

Jin Xueli slowly leaned back against the chair and smiled at her.

"...I'm sure."

As it neared nine o'clock, the bar gradually began to fill with patrons.

The scent of alcohol in the air, mixed with perfume and the tobacco smoke that rushed in every time the door opened, blurred and saturated the lighting.

When the validity period had only 3 hours and 41 minutes left, and Jin Xueli was beginning to consider whether to activate her backup plan, Anthony finally pushed open the bar door—his gaze swept around the circle, quickly finding the target, yet he did not walk over immediately.

Standing at the doorway, he first scanned all the customers in the bar before slowly sauntering over and dropping heavily into the seat opposite Jin Xueli.

"You look really tired," his very first sentence carried a concerned demeanor. "Having a rough time lately? Ah, I can't sleep well at night either; I think of you often."

Jin Xueli considered herself quite worldly, but facing this kind of self-unaware shamelessness, she was still too astonished to find words.

"You know what?" Anthony tapped the table with one hand and said, "Before I came here, I called the lost phone you gave me."

Before Jin Xueli could react, he stated righteously: "Just as I thought, someone picked it up. How can someone pick up someone else's phone and not return it?"

"Wait, someone answered?" Jin Xueli asked hurriedly.

"Yeah, a guy," Anthony said.

Morand's vocal timbre was deeper than that of an average woman, which indeed caused him to misunderstand; however, the fact that the phone was answered meant that Morand and the others had also returned to Black Molar City.

"I told him, how much money do you want before you'll return the phone to my girlfriend?"

At that moment, Jin Xueli felt as though she were a guest at a high-society mansion who, after taking off her shoes, realized she was wearing a sock with a hole in the toe.

"She... what did he say?" She rubbed her face hard and asked.

Clearly, she had come here today to commit murder, yet right now she wished she could hang herself from the rafters first.

"You can't imagine how greedy he is!" Anthony said, filled with righteous indignation. "'Twelve thousand, and I'll give it back to her,' can you believe that? I got angry right then and wanted to threaten him a bit, scare him..."

"...And then?"

"That guy laughed and hung up the phone." As he spoke, Anthony leaned in closer and said with a comforting air, "Don't worry, if you need me to, I'll keep calling for you and get the phone back."

Jin Xueli lowered her head, paused for a few seconds, and then straightened up again.

Before replying, she raised her hand to signal the waitress, and only then let her gaze fall back onto Anthony's face.

As if examining a newly discovered insect, she looked at Anthony and said in a low voice, "Mhm, desperately making harassing phone calls is indeed what you do best."

If Anthony had retorted or flown into a rage out of humiliation, it would at least have indicated some shred of shame.

He merely dazed for a moment, then smiled and said, "I knew you'd hold a grudge. I admit I went a bit too far... because I've never cared about anyone this much before."

The waitress walked over with a tray and placed a glass filled with ice cubes in front of each of them.

With a crisp "pop," she pulled the tab of the soda can and poured half of it into the glass in front of Jin Xueli, a thick layer of white foam floating atop the purple liquid.

Just as she was about to pour some for Anthony as well, he reached out and covered his glass.

"The soda you bought?" Anthony looked at the purple can on the tray, signaling the waitress to leave it there. Picking it up to examine it for a moment, he said to Jin Xueli, "I've never seen this brand before... You always have some weird things."

Unwilling as she was to admit it, Anthony possessed a certain intuition—and it was precisely by relying on that intuition that he had picked Jin Xueli out from a bar full of people.

"Imported," Jin Xueli was reluctant to let the artifact remain in his hands for too long, so she reached out her hand and said to him, "It's quite good, want to try?"

"No, you drink it." Anthony pushed the soda can toward her and turned to the waitress. "A gin and tonic."

Keeping her composure, Jin Xueli pushed the soda can aside, making it look unimportant.

When the gin and tonic was served, Anthony spoke again: "You asked me to come today..."

"I have a few things I want to tell you."

Anthony took a sip of his drink, in no particular hurry to ask what she wanted to say. He glanced at the glass of soda and said, "Go ahead and drink, don't you like it?"

Jin Xueli lowered her eyes to look at the soda and brought it closer to her lips.

Anthony was also holding his glass, peering at her from over the rim; she opened her mouth, letting the ice-cold liquid slide down her throat and into her stomach.

The sound of swallowing seemed to finally reassure Anthony. Looking at the diminished level of the soda, he smiled and said, "I'll taste some later too, never seen it before. What do you want to say?"

Jin Xueli put down her glass and said slowly, "You have a mental problem."

Anthony's face abruptly chilled.

"I don't know if it's a congenital genetic defect or if your upbringing turned you into a pervert. Nobody may have told you this before, but I have to tell you today: you are scum.

"You feel the world, especially women, owe you something, that life is unfair to you, and that others have stolen what rightfully belongs to you, right? Why should I have money while you don't? Why am I unwilling to be with you? To someone as narcissistic as you, a rejection is the ultimate insult... You do everything you can to harass and retaliate against me, yet you are cowardly and pathetic, only daring to post my number on websites."

Anthony froze, his face flushing crimson.

Jin Xueli smiled, picked up her glass, and drained the soda in one gulp. "Whatever you get today is what you deserve."

"What?" he asked blankly.

"I'm leaving," Jin Xueli stood up, edging out past the table.

"Wait," Anthony leaped up instantly, reaching out to grab her arm. "You explain yourself—"

At the moment he drew close, Jin Xueli gently blew a breath toward his face.

A rich scent of grapes filled the space between them.

"People are watching, what are you doing?" she asked softly.

True to expectation, Anthony reluctantly released his grip. His eyes drifted to Jin Xueli's seat, spotting the handbag left behind there. The muscles in his cheeks twitched into a smile, and he sat back down.

He had misunderstood, thinking Jin Xueli was merely heading to the restroom.

She stood by the washbasin, neither using the toilet nor washing her hands, which drew the gaze of a blonde woman. The blonde woman was somewhat drunk, looked at her, and suddenly asked with a smile, "Why are you wearing rainboots?"

Jin Xueli was in a good mood; tapping the tips of her shoes against the floor like a tap dancer, she smiled and replied, "The weather forecast said it's going to rain."

When she felt enough time had passed, she walked back out and arrived at her table. The seat beside the table was empty, with no one there.

The chair was wet, and a large puddle of purple liquid was dripping drop by drop onto the ground. A pool had already accumulated on the floor, looking as though someone had accidentally knocked over a can of soda—or two.

Jin Xueli stepped right into the liquid, splashes of water dotting her shoes. She bent down to pick up her bag and retrieved the soda can from the table.

As she headed out the door, she gave a casual greeting to the waitress.

"My friend already left first," she said apologetically with a smile. "I accidentally spilled my drink just now..."

"No problem, don't worry about it!" the waitress said warmly. "I'll go mop it up right away."