Su Changhe helped Yue Chongyang get admitted into the hospital and returned to his office. He felt sorry for Yue Chongyang and Lu Xiaomei, who used to be a happy couple.

That was life. Once people had one step wrong, it could be hard for them to go back.

…

It had started to get dark outside. The night was bustling.

“Mom, where is Dad going?” a young girl asked.

“I don’t know, probably traveling for work,” Lu Xiaomei said gently to her daughter.

She used to have a happy family. Now, it was breaking into pieces. Her daughter was affected the most by it. The only thing she could do was minimize the negative impact on her daughter.

“Aye!” Lu Xiaomei sighed.

“Mom, what’s on your mind?” her daughter asked.

“Nothing, let’s have dinner,” Lu Xiaomei said.

…

It was very cold in Zhu.

“Hey, what’s wrong with Baozhan? I called him numerous times. I hope nothing bad happened to him,” a young woman said.

“What could possibly happen to him?” a young man asked.

“Maybe we should check on him at his place. We’ll be in trouble if anything happens to him,” the young woman said.

The young man agreed. The two of them drove to their friend’s house. They had been friends since the beginning of middle school and stayed in the same school until college. They had been able to stay close during college, which they all had just graduated from.

They were happy they could now spend more time together. They never expected that after going to a pub together they would become drug addicts or that drugs would be so easily available in the small town where they lived. They had regrets, but it was too late. They thought the people who offered others drugs deserved the death penalty.

They soon arrived at their friend’s apartment. They went up the stairs and knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman opened the door.

“Hello, Ma’am,” the young woman said, who looked quite cute.

“It’s you,” the older woman said.

The two young people didn’t see the familiar smiling face on their friend’s mother. She looked stern and unhappy. They had interrupted her nap. They had never seen her act like this.

“Ma’am, is Baozhan at home?” the girl asked.

“No, he’s not at home,” Baozhan’s mother replied.

“Where has he gone? We tried to call him, but he didn’t answer,” the girl said.

“He has gone to his grandma’s and will stay there for some time,” Baozhan’s mother replied.

“Oh, I see. Sorry to disturb you, Ma’am. See you later,” the girl said.

The two of them left with confusion.

“Hey, did you notice that Baozhan’s mom was a bit weird today?” Sun Honglin asked.

“Yes, she’s always smiling and nice to us when we visit. Even when Baozhan is not home, she usually invites us into the apartment and gives us some treats. We were apparently not welcome today,” He Xiaofeng said.

“Do you think she knows about the drugs?” Fang Honglin asked.

“What?” He Xiaofeng was surprised. “What are you talking about? Are you stupid?”

“No, Baozhan wouldn’t have told his parents,” Sun Honglin said.

“But, what if he has an episode at home?” He Xiaofeng asked.

Sun Honglin didn’t answer. The two of them got back into the car. They sat in a while before starting the engine.

“Where are we going now?” Sun Honglin asked.

“Go home,” He Xiaofeng said.

“Mom, did they leave?” Du Baozhan asked as he walked out of his bedroom.

“Yes,” his mother replied.

“Stop hanging out with them,” his father said.

“Okay, Dad. Are you going to tell their families about the drugs?” Du Baozhan asked in low voice.

“Go back to your room,” his father said grumpily.

Du Baozhan said no more and returned to his bedroom.

“Darling, Baozhan reminded me. We are friendly with Honglin and Xiaofeng’s family. I know you are upset, but we still have to socialize with them from time to time. Maybe you should give them a call. I don’t want those two kids to be in trouble anymore,” Du Baozhan’s mother said.

After thinking for a while, he grabbed his phone.

A car was speeding down the road. Sun Honglin was driving.

“Oh!”

Sun Honglin suddenly shivered. He was overwhelmed with an uncomfortable feeling.

No!

His heart jolted. He knew he was about to have a withdrawal, and he was still driving.

“What’s happening to you, Honglin? Watch out for the pedestrians!” He Xiaofeng shouted from the front passenger’s seat. She had noticed something was not right with Sun Honglin.

He grabbed the steering wheel tightly like he was grabbing the most precious treasure. His body was shaking. His eyes were wide open but looked mindless.

Oh, No!

She also know what was happening to him and panicked. They were on a main road going nearly 45 miles per hour, and he was accelerating.

“Slow down! pull over!” He Xiaofeng shouted.

Sun Honglin wanted to slow down and pull over. However, he couldn’t control himself. His body was completely out of control.

Snap!

Their car scratched another car.

“Shit! Are you blind! Do you know how to drive?” The driver of the car was terrified, looking at Sun Honglin’s car running zig-zag ahead. “Drunk driving? Stupid man!”

Snap! He Xiaofeng slapped Sun Honglin’s face.

“Sun Honglin, wake up!” she shouted.

“Ahhh!”

Sun Honglin was still experiencing double vision. He felt awful.

“No, I can’t stand it anymore. I have to stop somewhere. I need my drugs,” Sun Honglin said.

“There’s someone in front!” He Xiaofeng screamed.

Sun Honglin swerved. The car went straight into the green belt in high speed. It came out of the green belt and hit the wall next to the road with a big bang!

All the airbags in the car popped out. The two youngsters in the car went head over heels.

“Ouch! Ahhh!”

They opened the car door to get out of the car and then tumbled forward.

A person passing by called the police.

“I’m so dizzy! I can’t walk anymore!”

Sun Honglin fell onto the ground after a few steps. He was short of breath and shaking badly. He took a small pack of powder out of his pocket and teared it up. He stuffed the powder into his mouth. Part of the powder was blown to the ground.

The police arrived quickly, but the two youngsters were already gone.

“What happened?”

Some witnesses hadn’t left the scene. They gave a vivid description of what had happened to the police.

Drunk driving? The policemen wondered. So they’ve escaped?

While the police was dealing with the accident, something surprising happened. A young man and woman came to admit that they were responsible for the accident.

“I picked up a phone call when I was driving, and then this accident happened,” Sun Honglin said.

“Using a mobile phone while driving?” the police officer asked.

“I’m sorry. I know what I’ve done was wrong,” Sun Honglin said.

A traffic officer did an alcohol test on Sun Honglin and He Xiaofeng to check if they had been drinking. He let them go after completing a routine interview. Although they were involved in a traffic accident, they didn’t hurt anyone, which was lucky enough.

“These two youngsters seem to be very calm,” a witness said.

“Yes, they are,” another witness said.

“Look, all the airbags have popped out, but they don’t seem to get injured,” the first witness said.

“It’s none of our business anyway. They’ve admitted what they’ve done, and no one was hurt,” the other witness said.

…

Sometime later, in an apartment in the city, a young man knelt down on the ground. His face was swelling after being slapped by his father.

“Dad, I’m sorry,” the young man said.

“You bastard!” His father, a strong middle-aged man was furious. He kicked his son in the chest.

He wouldn’t have known that his son had been taking drugs if Du Baozhan’s father hadn’t called him. Coincidentally, his son had an accident when he called him.

“I give you money to buy whatever you want, but you end up taking drugs! I should beat you to death!” Sun Honglin’s father was increasingly angry.

A high-pitched voice suddenly said, “What are you doing, Sun Dacheng?” A good-looking middle-aged woman came into the apartment.

“Are you crazy?” the woman shouted.

“Ask your son what he has been doing?” Sun Dacheng said.

“Honglin, don’t be afraid. Tell mommy what have you been doing?” the middle-aged woman murmured.

“Mom, I’m sorry. I’ve been taking drugs,” Sun Honglin said with tears.

“What?” The woman shivered and almost fell onto the ground. “Oh my god! How could you take drugs!”

The same thing was happening in He Xiaofeng’s home.

“How could a girl like you end up becoming a drug addict? Did Sun Honglin and Du Baozhan offer you the drugs?” He Xiaofeng’s father, a chunky and bold middle-aged man, asked with a fierce look on his face. He had crushed the glass coffee table after he had spoken to Du Baozhan’s father on the phone. However, he loved his daughter very much.