Extra 1: Irony

Finally, Chen An returned to their home, and the place he once called home returned to its original coldness.

The coffee table was covered in dust. It had only been a month since I left it, but it already looked so old.

He stood at the door, not knowing whether he should go in. He seemed to see that person's figure in every corner, the living room, the balcony, the kitchen, as if as long as he went in, someone would be caught stealing popsicles.

"Come in quickly? What are you standing there for?" Shen Shiyu returned home earlier than him. He sat on the ground, wondering why Chen An was hesitating.

Not long after, Chen An finally came in. He took off his coat and hung it up as usual. His actions were orderly. Shen Shiyu saw him open the refrigerator and followed him over. "Give me a popsicle."

Chen An's eyes fell on something, and he took a long time to close the refrigerator door, which made Chen Shiyu unhappy. "Hey, didn't I say to get me a popsicle? Why are you..."

The sky suddenly became gloomy. Chen An closed the window, sat down cross-legged, and stared at the mouse cage in a daze.

How could he explain that after Chen Shiyu's death, Guazi also seemed to have sensed something and died at a friend's house. What was brought back was only an empty rat cage. Everything inside was the same as before, except that the protagonist was gone.

"By the way, I haven't asked you yet, where did the melon seeds go? Why didn't I see them?" Shen Shiyu squatted with him, but Chen An ignored him, "Hey, pay attention to me."

Shen Shiyu was so angry that he wanted to bump into him as usual, but this time he missed. Then he looked at his empty hands. Oh, he forgot, he was already dead.

Shen Shiyu was no longer angry. He sat beside him quietly from dawn to dusk. The person beside him seemed unconscious. He sat there for more than ten hours. Shen Shiyu wanted to ask him to eat, but he knew that no matter what he said, he could not hear him.

He never knew that Chen An's feelings for him were so strong. Even though he blocked the harm for him in Mengfei, he still didn't think that his death would affect Chen An so deeply and so far, so far that he had to stay away from Qu An a month later to alleviate the impact.

Not only Chen Shiyu did not expect this, but Chen An himself did not expect this. Xun Muke said that his reaction time to emotions was too long. Others would laugh immediately when they were happy and cry immediately when they were sad, but he seemed to have priorities and had to wait until things were over before he could feel it. Others thought that he was not affected and was open-minded, but only Xun Muke saw through his sad heart.

She was right. These days he gradually realized that the man would never come back, and no one would act coquettishly or play tricks on him anymore. A huge sadness swept over his body. He couldn't concentrate on his work during the day, and could only sleep for two or three hours at night. When he woke up at midnight, all he could see was Shen Shiyu's dazed and tired expression. He looked at him like that, and the next moment, he saw the bullet hit his body, saw him fall straight down, and then slowly closed his eyes.

He suddenly felt that he was so stupid and so naive.

He could neither compromise his principles nor give up his emotions, and their meeting was destined to be unfortunate.

But unfortunately, the tumor required the blood and flesh of so many people to be dug out. Chen Shiyu's tumor was growing on the side, and if it was dug out, he would not be spared.

Their destinies are closely linked; without the previous events they would not have met. This kind of fate leaves no room for complaint or praise.

He hadn't cleaned the house and accidentally caught a glimpse of a pencil dropped on the ground. He looked at it carefully and found that this was the pencil Shen Shiyu used for painting, a very ordinary pencil, which was sharpened crookedly, but the paintings drawn on paper looked very beautiful.

He remembered it, he remembered it all.

Shen Shiyu had a talent for painting. He had seen him draw all kinds of characters. Thinking of this, he opened the cabinet next to him.

"Why are you flipping through my sketchbook?" Shen Shiyu propped up his head and watched him finally move. His eyes followed Chen An as he turned the pages, then paused. "This is... a sketching exercise. I just drew it casually, looking for a reference. I didn't intend to draw you."

Chen An stroked the painting, he knew there were many more ahead, all of them were him.

He remembered how Shen Shiyu bit the tip of his pen while thinking, and how he gestured to him with a board. He knew that Shen Shiyu liked to draw, so he later bought him a tablet and a drawing board.

"Hey, what else are you looking for?" Shen Shiyu saw that he was rummaging through the cabinet more vigorously and couldn't help but try to stop him, but it was useless because he still found the letter.

"Wait, Chen An, brother, can we have a deal and not look at this anymore?" Shen Shiyu tried his best to stop him, but the dead cannot control the living, so he opened it anyway.

I wrote this letter because I anticipated this day would come. Didn't you ask me, Chen An, who am I? It's hard to explain this in a few words. Let me think about where to begin.

My name is Chen Shiyu, I’m twenty years old, and I live in No. 208, Quliu Street, Chentangshan. Haha, is this introduction a bit stupid? After all, it’s my first time, so I should be more formal.

Of course I don't live here anymore.

I guess you have already learned my true identity, the leader of the Yaojin Criminal Group. Doesn’t this name sound particularly bad?

I'm certainly not a good person. As you know, I was the one manipulating the BOJ. The "Scales of Adjudication," as their name suggests, adjudicated the "justice" I advocated. To this end, I condoned many things that shouldn't have happened. I wasn't completely unaware of the crimes committed by Cen Yun, Wen Junhui, and Peng Yue.

Lies are everywhere between you and me.

My character is not as good as yours. At first, I was a bird that obeyed orders just for the sake of freedom. I approached you and enrolled in the police academy because I followed other people's arrangements. I thought that as long as I was given time, I would be able to grasp freedom firmly in my hands sooner or later. But ordinary life wore away my ambition, and the luck of "winning the lottery" made me have delusions.

Isn't it ridiculous that a person with blood on his hands, who can't even remember how many people he has killed, actually dreams of living like an ordinary person?

I'm sorry to Jiang Li.

I wanted to get away from there so badly that I came to Changping County. Unfortunately, I picked him up and took his identity. To be honest, I really didn't know that Jiang Li and I had such a relationship until the trafficking case was exposed.

Before today, I had imagined many ways of being exposed, such as being directly exposed by the investigation team or being discovered by you, but I never thought it would be by Jiang Li's skeleton.

Yes, Jiang Li was probably dissatisfied, so he came to expose me.

Looking at it this way, the scene doesn't seem too bad after all.

This letter is not to beg for mercy, nor is it to ask you to protect me. On the contrary, after writing this letter, I think I will have more courage to face my fate.

Chen An, we were born to stand on both ends of the balance. I'm sorry to have dragged you into this. I've messed up your life. If the investigation team asks about it, you must distance yourself from me and not let anyone else get hold of the evidence. Your career shouldn't be tarnished because of me. If anyone else brings it up, just say I deceived you.

After this separation, we have nothing to do with each other, and when we meet again we will be enemies. I hope you can forget me and the harm I have caused you.

[The time is longer than the previous one]

"Liar..." Chen An held the letter in his hand, and the emotions that had been pent up for a long time finally burst out. The moment his tears wet the paper, he became even more panicked. He cupped his palms to catch his tears, but those tears only fell on the paper one by one and could not fall into his hands at all.

"...Chen Shiyu, I told you that speaking against my words will be punished."

Chen An raised his head, knowing clearly that he couldn't see him, but they stared at each other for a long time as if they were real.

"I know. I'm sorry, bro."

Chen Shiyu's eyes were sore, but he couldn't cry. He knew what Chen An was touching. The handwriting of the letter was illegible, and the ending was revised again and again. What he crossed out was clearly "Can you please not forget me?"

"I won't forget you."

In the empty room, he responded to Shen Shiyu's thoughts.