48 Hours a Day

He thought all along that the series of mishaps befalling Tian Tian’s household were related to her paintings, where they seemed to serve as warnings. By using this method, she intended to tell those around her about the impending threats. Unfortunately, no one noticed it. Perhaps, she attempted to tell the people around her, but no one believed her, thinking that these were all mere coincidences.

After therapy, she stopped sharing these paintings until Zhang Heng accidentally discovered them. As for the last picture of her hiding under the bed, the evil eye must have been referring to Zhang Heng, the intruder, and not the guardian talisman. When Zhang Heng bent down and looked under the bed, his eyes appeared before Tian Tian, automatically fulfilling the painting’s prophecy.

As a result, Zhang Heng’s previous investigation strayed in the wrong direction. Tian Tian appeared to have nothing to do with the awful string of mishaps. No, that couldn’t be right. She was undoubtedly related to this matter, but despite that, she was also the only one in her family that remained unharmed. Why?

Whoever or whatever that had been attacking Tian Tian’s family clearly harbored a great deal of malice toward them. But why then was Tian Tian unhurt? Was it because she was still young? Zhang Heng did not think so. How could someone cruel be enough to hurt a pet dog but spare someone’s life because of

age?

He must be missing something important. While thinking about this issue, Zhang Heng walked home, and on the way, he received a phone call from his mother. She was craving ice cream and specified that it had to be an orange flavor. So, he detoured to a nearby Wal-Mart and tried to look for the orange-flavored ice cream in the freezer. Alas, there wasn’t any, and in the end, he bought her a box of original-flavored ice cream and a bag of oranges.

When returning home, Zhang Heng met the little girl who visited Tian Tian. She stood by her window and was peering into the room with its curtains drawn. Suddenly, the girl sensed someone approaching her from behind. She quickly turned around to leave, only to be stopped by Zhang Heng. “Are you a friend from Tian Tian’s homeroom? What’s your name, and do you also live in this community?”

The little girl took two cautious steps back and ran away without saying anything. Zhang Heng didn’t go after her. He just stood there and watched the little girl get further and further away from him. Parents would usually instruct girls her age to never talk to strangers under any circumstances, and was hence unsurprised by her reaction. Although she disclosed nothing to Zhang Heng, he was now sure that she lived around this area.

Kids her age were typically only allowed to move around in the courtyard of the same building since most residents knew each other, and it was considered as a safe and familiar environment.

In fact, this was the third time Zhang Heng saw her in less than a week. The first time she was there, she had entered Tian Tian’s house to visit her, but in her last two visits, she just stood outside the house and looked through the window. Judging by how comfortable she was around the house, she must be in good terms with Tian Tian.

A close mate? Zhang Heng stopped staring at the little girl. He took the ice cream and oranges with him and headed home first. When he opened the door, he saw his mother sitting on the couch barefoot with her legs crossed. The controller in her hand made clicked noisily as she played King of Fighters with his dad. However, the Kyo Kusanagi she controlled was crushed by Athena Asamiya, no thanks to his father, and she was clearly losing the game. When she saw Zhang Heng coming in, she immediately tossed the controller away and yelled, “Yay! My ice cream is here! You’re lucky this round... we’ll fight again after eating.” However, after unwrapping the ice cream enthusiastically, she was disappointed when she discovered it was original-flavored.

“Where is my orange-flavored ice cream?!”

Zhang Heng then threw an orange at her.

“Here, just eat this orange. There was no orange-flavored ice cream in the supermarket.”

Zhang Heng’s mother held the orange in her hand and became lost in thought.

“Aren’t you a little too cruel to your mother?”

Zhang Heng’s father attempted to uphold justice for his wife.

“Why not go out again and find her orange ice cream this time?” he said.

Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.

“Forget it. This looks pretty good. It’s natural, no additives or artificial flavoring.”

“By the way, tell grandpa not to cook my share of food when he comes back later tonight.”

“Ah... we finally returned to China, and we haven’t spent much time together. Why are you going out every day?” Zhang Heng’s mother seemed to have a hard time accepting the new reality. While peeling her orange, she continued to complain about how he was always missing from the house. “Don’t youngsters these days prefer to stay home alone instead of socializing?” she sighed.

“I have something to do, and I’ll be home once it’s settled. Also, your stomach is not built to handle too much ice cream. Control yourself,” Zhang Heng warned.

“Hehe... you still remember that, huh, my son?”

Zhang Heng’s mother smiled, now appearing to be a little happier after not getting the flavor she wanted.

It was now daytime, and Zhang Heng headed the game’s checkpoint. It was inevitable that he was spotted by many, and so, took the long road back home. To be safe, he had changed into a new set of clothes. He then called Qin Zhen, a good friend of his since childhood. Having studied in the same junior high school, their friendship was still strong up to this day. On the other end of the phone, Qin Zhen gasped. “You’re thinking of asking Liu Ming to meet us? And you are asking him to bring his sister with him?! Hold on. I’m a little confused. Are you asking for Liu Ming or his sister? She’s just enrolled in elementary school! Dude, you sure are desperate for a girlfriend, aren’t you?”

“What the hell are you thinking? I just need to ask her some questions!”

Before this, Zhang Heng found out about Tian Tian’s school and class through her workbook, discovering that the little girl who visited her looked exactly like the person in the photo he saw on social media. This was no coincidence since all the kids in the area would attend the nearest elementary school. Many of Zhang Heng’s previous friends were living nearby as well. However, he did not know Liu Ming too well. They walked home together a few times when they were in the same junior high school, but that was about it.

On the other hand, Qin Zhen and Liu Ming often played basketball together. Liu Ming was the one who uploaded the photo on social media. In the picture, he was helping his sister complete some homework.

The caption of the photo was – What sort of elementary school question is this?! Even I can’t solve this. I feel my intelligence getting lower.

Zhang Heng wanted to learn more about Tian Tian’s situation at school. Her parents had previously investigated the matter and ruled out the possibility of bullying. Their investigation, however, was focussed solely on ordinary human beings. Even if they found something they couldn’t explain, they would have just forgotten about it. So Zhang Heng decided to recollect all the information to see if they missed anything.

The fact that Liu Ming’s sister was in the same class as Tian Tian saved him a lot of trouble.

“Help me make an appointment with Liu Ming for dinner. Ask him to bring his sister with him. I’ll foot the bill,” Zhang Heng said.

“Okay... but if you dare mess with his sister, don’t blame me if I hunt you down.”