Chapter 36 Thinking of Him "Xie Shijin... why did it take you so long to come back?"...

When Cheng Shiyun watched melodramatic TV dramas, she fantasized about what she would do if she got cancer one day.

She was terrified of death and cherished her life.

But if it were a disease like cancer, which costs a fortune and is incurable, she might not seek treatment.

Cheng Jinghua and Ran Hongyin only had her as their daughter. Now that she's gone, there will be no one to take care of them in their old age.

So if she were diagnosed with a terminal illness, she would advise her parents to give up treatment and save their money for their retirement.

She wanted to live, but not to live in pain, and even less to see anyone suffer because of her.

Asking them to give up the search for the driver was a rational choice made by Cheng Shiyun after careful consideration.

Emotionally, she certainly hoped that the driver who caused the accident would be brought to justice.

But reason told her that after two years, there were almost no clues left, and it was virtually impossible to catch the driver who caused the accident.

She's already dead; she shouldn't be a burden to others anymore.

As for the fact that she turned into a little snake and came back, Cheng Shiyun decided not to tell Ni Jiaqi for the time being.

Who knows, she might die someday.

There's nothing we can do; she was just destined to die young.

Moreover, if Ni Jiaqi knew she was back, he would definitely fight Xie Shijin for her "custody".

Ni Jiaqi still has his parents, but Xie Shijin only has herself.

...

Early the next morning.

Xie Shijin's hand wounds finally began to heal and scab over as he prepared food for the small snakes in the kitchen.

Snakes are different from kittens. Kittens can eat cat food, but snakes mainly eat mice, chickens, rabbits, and various frogs.

Rats are unclean, and even when Cheng Shiyun was still a cat, Xie Shijin wouldn't let her eat them. There were no frogs for sale at the market, only bullfrogs, which were covered in small bumps and were too ugly, with a fishy and smelly slime. Cheng Shiyun couldn't bring herself to eat them, so early in the morning, Xie Shijin went to buy a live chicken.

But the chicken was too big, many times bigger than Cheng Shiyun. Even with her mouth wide open, she couldn't swallow it, and the chicken even pecked her twice.

She treated her like an earthworm, how awful!!!

Xie Shijin was processing live chickens in the kitchen, and Cheng Shiyun didn't dare to go in.

Let alone killing a chicken, she had never even killed a fish in her life. She was also a bit of a saint, and couldn't bear to hear the chickens' cries of pain.

Xie Shijin was very efficient at killing chickens. He finished processing a live chicken in just over ten minutes, cutting it into pieces the size of a finger for the little snake to eat.

While eating, Cheng Shiyun listened to Xie Shijin say that he had found a new job and would be going to work soon.

She swallowed a piece of chicken whole; it wasn't very tasty. Cheng Shiyun asked, "What kind of job? Where is it?"

Xie Shijin said, "It's far away and tiring. When I'm busy, I won't have time to take care of you, so I can't take you with me."

Furthermore, considering that its species and toxicity are unknown, it is advised that Cheng Shiyun not to sneak out.

Cheng Shiyun buried her head in the bowl.

School starts in about ten days, and short-term jobs are hard to find... I guess I'll have to do manual labor.

If he doesn't say anything, then that's probably it.

After Xie Shijin filled her water and food containers, he went out.

Cheng Shiyun became a left-behind child.

...

It was only nine o'clock, but the sun was already very strong.

At 2 a.m. last night, a burglary occurred in the city center. Yang Shengnan stayed up all night to catch the suspect and just finished taking his statement. She is about to go home to rest.

She opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat. Before she could even adjust the seat back to rest for a while, her phone rang again.

Xiao Liu called to say that he had found Guo Renyi's car repair records.

Yang Shengnan asked him to come to the parking lot.

A short while later, Xiao Liu, panting heavily, sat in the passenger seat and handed over a notebook: "In the past two years, Guo Renyi has only had one car repair record, on the morning of July 12, 2016."

"In the morning?" Yang Shengnan frowned.

"Yes," Xiao Liu nodded and said, "It's a bumper that needs fixing."

The requirement for real-name registration of motor vehicle repairs was implemented in 2017. Records prior to 2017 were difficult to find. He visited repair shops in several nearby districts, and his efforts finally paid off when he managed to find one.

Xiao Liu said, "Fengchi Auto Shop, the owner's daughter studies at Yichuan No. 7 Middle School, and the owner knows Guo Renyi."

"When Guo Renyi came to get his car repaired, the owner wanted to get on his good side, so he chatted with him for a bit."

"Guo Renyi said that he was on his way home from his shift on the evening of July 11 when he encountered road rage and rear-ended someone. I also checked with the traffic police and there is indeed a record of his report."

"Put your things away." Yang Shengnan handed the notebook back to him, fastened her seatbelt, and said, "Go find Guo Renyi again."

"Looking for Guo Renyi?" Xiao Liu asked doubtfully. "But the repair records and the boss's words don't prove anything."

Yang Shengnan started the car and turned the steering wheel: "The day Guo Renyi came to the station for investigation, he asked who had given the keychain to the police before he left."

Xiao Liu was completely confused.

so what?

After all, it's something that concerns me personally, so it's normal to ask a few more questions.

As the car drove out of the police station, watching the vehicles and pedestrians recede into the distance, Xiao Liu belatedly asked, "Master, do you think the keychains in those two photos are the same?"

Yang Shengnan smiled.

She wasn't sure, but she believed in the boy.

Xie Shijin said that the keychain was found at Guo Renyi's house, simply to tell them that Cheng Shiyun's death might be related to Guo Renyi.

Without solid evidence, they couldn't directly search Guo Renyi's house, so they had to work on Guo Renyi himself.

...

City Hospital.

Guo Xuan's right eyeball ruptured and he has lost his sight. The weather is hot, and he refuses to cooperate with the application of medicine, so the wound has become infected. The doctor is cleaning the wound for him.

"Mom, it hurts so much...it hurts so much! Don't touch me!"

Guo Xuan pushed the doctor, crying and making a scene.

The doctor was also helpless: "Little friend, if the pus isn't cleaned properly, the inflammation will spread, and it will not only hurt more, but the whole eye will also get worse. Only by treating it properly now can we have a successful surgery to fit a prosthetic eye later, and minimize the impact on appearance, understand?"

Guo Xuan understood this better than anyone else, but he couldn't accept it.

I can't accept that my eyes have gone blind, and I can't accept that my lifelong dream of becoming a pilot has been shattered.

Qian Juan was heartbroken: "Just bear with it, son, just bear with it..."

Just then, Guo Renyi's phone rang.

He glanced at it, his eyes narrowed, and without answering, he hung up immediately.

But a few seconds later, the phone vibrated again, from the same number.

Qian Juan wiped away her tears, looked up and asked, "Whose call was that? Why didn't you answer?"

Guo Renyi frowned and said, "It's a nuisance call."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a text message arrived.

Only three words: [Meet once.]

Guo Renyi rubbed his throbbing temples, turned off the screen, and said to Qian Juan, "I'll go back and get Xiao Xuan a few changes of clothes. You stay here and take good care of Xiao Xuan."

"Okay, go ahead." Qian Juan nodded, then added, "Be careful on the road."

On the other side, Yang Shengnan arrived at Yichuan City Hospital. As soon as she parked her car in the parking lot, she saw a middle-aged man coming out of the inpatient department.

"Master, Guo Renyi." Xiao Liu unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to get out of the car.

Yang Shengnan grabbed him and said, "Don't move."

Xiao Liu: "What's wrong?"

Yang Shengnan raised her chin.

Following her gaze, Xiao Liu suddenly noticed a slender young man standing behind the glass door of the inpatient department.

"Xie Shijin, what's he doing here?"

Guo Renyi got into the car, and Xie Shijin turned and went into the inpatient department.

Yang Shengnan said to Xiao Liu, "Go and take a look."

When Xie Shijin comes to the hospital, he either goes to see Qian Juan or Guo Xuan.

Xiao Liu quickly opened the car door and followed the elderly man into the inpatient department, only to bump into him head-on. The old man nearly fell, and Xiao Liu, supporting him by the arm, hurriedly apologized, "I'm so sorry, are you alright...?"

Xie Shijin turned around and glanced back.

The two looked at each other from a distance.

Xiao Liu felt awkward for a moment, and just as she was about to speak, she saw Xie Shijin turn her head and leave through another door of the inpatient department.

"Xie Shijin!" Xiao Liu called out to him and chased after him.

When he arrived at the hospital entrance, he saw Xie Shijin open the door of a taxi and get in.

The inpatient department has two entrances. Private vehicles are not allowed to park at the main entrance, while taxis and ride-hailing vehicles park at the back entrance.

Xiao Liu was stunned. He took out his phone and called Yang Shengnan: "Hey, Master, Xie Shijin ran away. It seems... he didn't come to see Guo Xuan."

Yang Shengnan said, "I saw it."

She glanced at the taxi that overtook her on the left.

"Huh?" Xiao Liu stood there scratching his head. "What exactly is he trying to do?"

Yang Shengnan hung up the phone and followed closely behind the taxi and Guo Renyi's car.

Guo Renyi did not return to Lushan International, but turned around at the second intersection and went onto the overpass.

Half an hour later, Guo Renyi drove into the underground parking lot of a shopping mall. He took out his phone and sent a message: "I've arrived."

A moment later, a girl wearing a mask and with her hair in a low ponytail glanced around and, after confirming that no one was around, walked out of the emergency exit.

After arriving, the girl stood beside the car with her head bowed low, looking somewhat lost.

Guo Renyi rolled down the car window and said coldly, "Get in."

Feng Yue opened the passenger door and got in, and Guo Renyi drove the car out of the underground parking lot.

The car's air conditioning was set very low, and the vents were blowing directly at Feng Yue. The girl was a little cold and timidly hugged her arms.

Guo Renyi glanced at her: "Why are you wearing a mask? Aren't you conspicuous enough?"

Feng Yue took off her mask, revealing a swollen half of her face.

Guo Renyi narrowed his eyes, turned his head away, and said nothing.

Feng Yue felt a lump in her throat.

The man replied coldly, "Didn't I tell you not to contact me anytime soon?"

With his son injured and the police watching him, he really wasn't in the mood to comfort the little girl.

“I know.” Feng Yue put her mask back on, swallowed hard, and said softly, “I want to leave Yichuan. Could you… give me some more money?”

"Twenty thousand, I'll never contact you again."

She lost her restaurant job and applied for a clothing store job at the mall, but before she even passed the probation period, she was told not to come back.

Her dad said that in other countries, parents don't care about people after they turn eighteen. She's also eighteen now, so if she continues to live at home, she'll have to pay rent.

If she doesn't pay this month, her dad will kick her out. She has no money. She argued back, and her dad grabbed her hair and slapped her twice.

Guo Renyi slammed on the brakes and looked at her coldly: "Twenty thousand? Didn't I give you one hundred thousand?"

Feng Yue pursed her lips.

Guo Renyi did transfer 100,000 yuan to her, but she didn't have a bank card at the time, so the money was transferred to her father's card.

More than a month later, the police did not suspect her, and she calmed down. She secretly took her father's card to the bank and withdrew money, buying herself many things she could not afford before, and even got her hair permed. But her father found out not long after.

In addition to the 1,200 yuan she had saved for tuition, her father confiscated it all.

"I've already given you the money. If you can't keep it, that's your own problem," Guo Renyi said sternly. "Get out of the car."

Feng Yue hurriedly said, "I only need 20,000, just 20,000. I promise I won't bother you again!"

"Just look at us..."

That relationship was too shameful and couldn't be made public, so she was too embarrassed to say it aloud. But seeing the man's cold and disgusted expression, she choked up and brought it up again: "And what happened two years ago..."

"Are you threatening me?" Guo Renyi lowered his eyebrows.

Guo Renyi is the principal of Yichuan No. 7 Middle School. He often delivers important speeches under the national flag. He has always been dignified and is deeply loved by the students. But only Feng Yue knows how ruthless he is.

Looking into the man's sinister and fierce eyes, she felt as if she had been transported back to that stormy night two years ago.

Amidst the lightning and thunder, the man, looking ferocious, gripped the girl's neck tightly.

The girl's body was half-suspended in the air; he would either strangle her to death.

Or, fall from the building.

Feng Yue quickly denied it: "No! I didn't! I was just scared..."

After that incident, Guo Renyi not only gave her a sum of money, but also found her a school, a private high school in Linjiang City, and paid her tuition for two years.

But when her father heard that she wanted to transfer schools, he withdrew her from school as well. She had no choice but to drop out of school and work. No matter how tired or hard she was, she never looked for him.

Two whole years.

Only recently, when she bumped into Xie Shijin on Qianfeng Road, did she panic and call him once, and meet him once.

But lately she keeps running into Xie Shijin. Whenever she sees Xie Shijin, she thinks of Cheng Shiyun and that fair and beautiful face. She is very scared and can no longer stay in Yichuan.

Guo Renyi lit a cigarette.

With the windows closed, the pungent smell of tobacco filled the cramped carriage, causing Feng Yue to cough incessantly.

"What are you afraid of?"

He reached out and tucked the girl's hair that was hanging down beside her ear behind her ear.

"There's no surveillance footage, no audio or video recordings, no evidence whatsoever, how can we arrest you?"

Feng Yue trembled slightly, closed her eyes tightly, and let the man touch her face.

Guo Renyi said, "The police might come looking for you soon."

"Looking for me?" Feng Yue immediately became nervous.

"Someone gave the police a keychain, saying it belonged to Cheng Shiyun." Guo Renyi flicked his cigarette ash. "Was she wearing a keychain on her phone at the time?"

Feng Yue frowned and thought for a moment: "I...I...I don't remember very clearly."

Cheng Shiyun's phone fell from upstairs. She went downstairs to pick it up, but she was too scared to notice anything.

She remembered that Cheng Shiyun had posted a lot of photos on QQ Space on her birthday that day. Feng Yue took out her phone to try and find them, but when she opened her contact list, she realized that she had deleted all her high school classmates, including Cheng Shiyun.

She said cautiously, "...What if it fell into the car?"

They stuffed the person and the phone into the trunk of their car.

Guo Renyi took a drag of his cigarette, the strong nicotine filling his lungs.

The keychain must have rolled into a corner of the trunk.

He went to get his car washed at the end of July, and I guess the car wash staff cleaned out the key ring from the trunk and put it on the center console for him.

He hadn't driven the car for two or three months, so he didn't notice it. It was only when Guo Xuan asked him why there was such a girly thing in the car that he assumed Feng Yue had left it there. Afraid that Guo Xuan would talk nonsense in front of his mother, he made up an excuse and said that he found it at school.

He didn't even get a good look at what the keychain looked like. Later, Guo Xuan took the keychain, played with it until he was tired of it, and threw it in the guest room. Then the nanny found it again...

Such a small keychain has caused so much trouble.

Guo Renyi stubbed out his cigarette and said to Feng Yue, "I can give you the money. You know what to say when the police come looking for you."

The man's rough thumb rubbed against her chin, and Feng Yue nodded: "I know..."

She had never seen anything before, was not familiar with Cheng Shiyun, and was sleeping at home when the incident occurred.

"good."

...

It was late afternoon, around three or four o'clock.

Cheng Shiyun was so bored that she curled up in the cat's bed to sleep, and then she had a dream.

I dreamt that she wasn't hit by a car, but strangled to death.

That dream was so real; the suffocating feeling of someone choking her was so intense that Cheng Shiyun was still terrified when she woke up.

She paced around the living room twice, feeling both scared and aggrieved.

Finally, she couldn't resist any longer and went to Xie Shijin's bedroom, crawled into his closet, and started rummaging around in it.

Xie Shijin's clothes were all washed; the fabric was soft, with a faint scent of laundry detergent and his own body odor—warm, refreshing, and clean.

Cheng Shiyun slithered inside the snake, burying herself within it. The familiar scent made her feel a little better, but she still couldn't help feeling wronged.

Why not take her?

How tired can you be that you can't take her with you?

She's just a little snake. She'll just obediently coil around him. She won't cause trouble, she won't act cute, and she won't interfere with his work.

He used to want to take her everywhere he went. He would stare at her without blinking as she ate or drank.

Why did I have to leave her out this time?

Cheng Shiyun felt extremely insecure and nestled in the nest she had built with the clothes of a boy.

It was getting dark.

She was terrified.

I miss him so much.

...

Around six or seven o'clock in the afternoon, Guo Renyi's nanny came to the hospital to deliver food.

Guo Xuan is emotionally unstable and often loses his temper and smashes things. The doctor said it would be best for a family member to stay with him at night.

A quarter past eight o'clock, it was completely dark. Qian Juan came out of the inpatient department. Guo Renyi would probably be keeping her company tonight.

Xie Shijin took the bus home.

He had just reached the entrance of the residential area when a black sedan stopped in front of him.

The boy didn't even look to the side and walked straight past it.

The person in the driver's seat got out and called out to him, "Xie Shijin."

Xie Shijin turned around, and Yang Shengnan approached him and asked, "Did you follow Guo Renyi this morning?"

The boy stared at her without speaking, his dark, cold eyes appearing somewhat icy in the dim light.

Yang Shengnan said, "Xiao Liu just graduated and has little experience. Many of these jobs are new to him. I'm not defending him, but forgetting to bring the evidence is indeed his problem, and I have already criticized him."

She watched all the surveillance footage from the interrogation room. That day, she went to receive leaders from the province, and it was Xiao Liu who took the notes for Xie Shijin. However, when they were dispatched to the scene, Xiao Liu forgot to take the keychain in her haste.

Because of this incident, Yang Shengnan realized that the boy no longer trusted them.

Indeed, it has been two years and the police have found no clues, which is quite incompetent in a way.

However, Xie Shijin did not give up on the search as he had told Ni Jiaqi.

If he really hadn't looked for him, he wouldn't have stalked Guo Renyi all day.

“It is the responsibility of the police to catch every criminal and bring justice to all the victims. These are things we should do,” Yang Shengnan said. “Don’t act rashly before you have solid evidence.”

Seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys are easily impulsive. Just because of a suspicion, Ni Jiaqi was able to smash someone's car. The boy in front of me looks calm and composed, but he is actually more stubborn.

On the night of the incident, July 12, 2016, when the police came to take statements from the witnesses, the deliverymen stammered that the surveillance cameras were turned off. Xie Shijin suddenly went berserk and punched them hard in the face, leaving them covered in blood.

He would have killed someone if the police hadn't stopped him.

Xie Shijin finally turned his head to look at her, his eyebrows and eyes deeply shadowed, and asked, "How can I trust you?"

Yang Shengnan was taken aback.

The idea of ​​turning to the police when encountering difficulties is ingrained in the Chinese psyche, but today it is being questioned for the first time.

She sighed and said, "I don't know how to make you believe me, but I can guarantee that I will follow the clue you mentioned and keep investigating. One year, two years, as long as I don't retire, I will keep investigating."

"Cha Fengyue." Xie Shijin's voice was a little hoarse.

Yang Shengnan narrowed her eyes: "That girl is Feng Yue?"

When investigating the victim's social relationships, Yang Shengnan remembered that the police had also investigated this girl.

When Feng Yue met Guo Renyi, she was wearing a mask, so Yang Shengnan didn't recognize her.

To avoid being discovered by Guo Renyi, their car didn't follow too closely, nor did it have any eavesdropping devices installed, so no one knew what they were saying in the car.

Xie Shijin nodded: "She and Cheng Shiyun are good friends, and she has seen that keychain before."

He talked a lot, focusing on Feng Yue's strange behavior after Cheng Shiyun's death.

“Okay, I understand.” Yang Shengnan added, “Has Ni Jiaqi come looking for you? He hasn’t been home for five or six days, and his mother called the police.”

Xie Shijin frowned and shook his head.

"That brat, he doesn't reply to my texts or answer my calls." Yang Shengnan called Ni Jiaqi again, but still couldn't get through. She looked up and saw the handsome young man still standing there. She said, "Alright, you can go up now."

It was already dark when the lights at the entrance of the apartment building came on.

Xie Shijin went upstairs with her schoolbag on her back. Yang Shengnan remembered something and asked, "By the way, how's your cat? Did you find it?"

The boy didn't turn around, but said with his eyes downcast, "I'm back."

"You're back?" Yang Shengnan asked in surprise.

The day Xie Pingxue came to see Xie Shijin, his cat was injured while protecting its owner, but then it suddenly disappeared for some unknown reason.

When Yang Shengnan arrived after receiving the notification, Xie Shijin was kneeling in the middle of the road, searching for a cat, his hands covered in blood, a shocking sight.

Ni Jiaqi was also looking for the cat. Yang Shengnan wanted to ask him when he had returned, but the boy had already disappeared at the entrance of the building.

It was a very hot day, so Xie Shijin turned on the living room air conditioner before leaving.

The key is inserted into the lock, the door opens, and a cool breeze hits you.

The living room was dark because the lights were off.

Xie Shijin pressed the switch, and the lights suddenly became bright.

"Cheng Shiyun?"

I only ate half of the chicken in the bowl.

There was no sign of the snake in the living room, and the bedroom door was ajar.

Cheng Shiyun vaguely heard the sound of the door opening. The little snake didn't have a watch and didn't know what time it was; it just felt like it had slept for a long time.

She groggily crawled out of the pile of clothes and saw a slender figure standing at the door.

The living room lights were bright, while the bedroom was pitch black. Xie Shijin walked in through the dividing line between light and shadow.

Cheng Shiyun's eyes stung, and she desperately suppressed the urge to cry.

Xie Shijin slowly walked over and saw the clothes that were all messed up. Her heart softened, and she asked softly, "Why are you sleeping here? Are you sleepy?"

"...What do you mean? I can't sleep in your bed?"

Cheng Shiyun was wide awake, glaring at him fiercely and hissing several times.

"You wouldn't let me into your room yesterday, and you won't let me sleep in your bed today, Xie Shijin! Have you been wanting me to leave for a long time?!"

She waited for him for so long, and as soon as he came back, he questioned her.

Even if you forbid her from sleeping, she'll still sleep; even if you chase her away, she won't leave!

"No, I didn't think that way." Xie Shijin approached and half-squatted by the bed. His handsome face looked very gentle in the hazy night. "This is your home too. You can sleep wherever you want."

The moment she saw him squatting in front of her, Cheng Shiyun could no longer hold back and pounced on him, burying her triangular little head in his neck.

"Xie Shijin."

She started sobbing.

His tone was more aggrieved than ever before.

"...Why did it take you so long to get back?"

-----------------------

Author's Note: Why did you only just come back? = I missed you so much I almost cried [glasses]