1 Longest night

Zhao Xinyi was working late again. She didn't sleep for two consecutive days because of school assignments and upcoming finals. Xinyi remained positive at work and she studied when she had some time. She poured herself some instant coffee while she waited for customers to arrive. Most of the time, students flocked the convenience no matter the time of day. Sometimes, adults joined as well.

"Ah, the coffee smell!" Xinyi took her first sip and loved it. Instant coffee are the best. Xinyi studied for a few minutes when her phone started to ring. It was her father.

"Dad, are you alright? Why aren't you asleep yet?" Xinyi's father suffered from early stage dementia

"Yiyi, why aren't you home yet? Are you still at school? Don't stay at school for too long." Xinyi smiled and replied, "I will come back soon. Don't worry." Xinyi heard the auntie on the other side.

"Xinyi, don't worry too much. Your father is doing fine. Focus on your work. Everything will be fine." Auntie hung up the phone and Xinyi went back to work.

Customers started to crowd the store again, it was around nine and some students were finished with tutorial classes. Xinyi envied them because most of the students were younger than her. Oh how she wished that she was younger...

Hours later, Xinyi was about to close the store when an officer came in hurriedly. He was losing a lot of blood on the side of his abdomen and his face was pale. Xinyi quickly opened a new bag of towels from the shelves and helped the officer to stop the bleeding.

"I'll call 119 right now. You need to go to the hospital." Xinyi called 119 but she was stopped by the officer.

"Don't. I can't go. Help me. People...coming after me." He was in a lot of pain and he grabbed Xinyi's shoulder.

"Who's coming after you?" Xinyi helped the officer and hid him in the storage room. He whispered, "People who want me dead." Xinyi was confused but she remained level-headed.

"Take these extra towel to stop the bleeding. Don't fall asleep, okay? Just stay here for a while, leave the rest to me." Xinyi went out and closed the door behind her.

Few minutes later, three men came into the store and interrogated Xinyi.

"Did you see an officer coming in by any chance?" One of the men asked.

"No, few students came in a while ago and I'm the only one here. Also Mister, look at the time. I'm about to close the store now. Can you all please leave?"

One of the man took out a gun and said, "I don't want to shoot you. Just tell me, where is the officer? I will not make your life complicated. Here is one million dollars, you can live a comfortable life instead of working here."

Xinyi sighed.

"I'll tell you one last time no one came in here. If you don't leave, I'll have to call the cops. Money won't work on me so please leave. If you don't leave, are you all going to be responsible if I fail my exam tomorrow?"

All of them looked at each other and said, "We'll leave but if you hid him... we're not going to forgive you."

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" Xinyi smiled.

When they left, Xinyi took a huge sigh of relief. She went to the storage room and checked on the officer.

"Officer...They already left. We can go out now. I'll bring you back to my house for now." Zihan looked at the young girl wearily and struggled to stand up. She supported him while she close up the store.

When they got back home, it was already 2am. Xinyi's father was already asleep since she received her text few hours back. She brought the officer into her room and made him lie down.

"I'll get the first aid kit." Xinyi learned some first aid skills from her neighbor auntie who's a retired nurse.

After she grabbed the first aid kit, she rinsed a towel with cold water and placed some ice cubes on it. Xinyi placed the cold towel onto the officer's forehead. She didn't ask any questions and went ahead with the first aid.

She carefully lifted his uniform and saw a stabbing wound. She used several gauze to compress the wound with one hand while she called the neigborhood auntie with the other.

After few minutes, she arrived since she had an extra house key to Xinyi's house. She saw the wound and quickly grabbed her suture kit.

Few minutes afterward, she finished suturing. She told Xinyi to let him rest for couple of days.

"The wound is not too deep. He still need some time to recover." She told Xinyi to come to her if problems arises.

Xinyi thanked the auntie. She calls her Auntie out of habit but everyone refers her as Auntie Li.

She went back to check on the officer. He was sleeping peacefully so she closed the door quietly.

She tip-toed to her father's room and checked on him. Xinyi adjusted his blanket and placed his hands under the blanket. She kissed her father's forehead, "Dad, I'm back." She whispered.