Chapter 39 Custody "Xie Shijin, give Cheng Shiyun back to me."...
"A major case has occurred in Linjiang City. The provincial department has drawn elite cadres from various cities to assist in the investigation and solving of the case. Captain Yang is representing our municipal bureau..."
The sun slanted in through the glass doors of the service hall, its rays reflecting off the floor, creating a sharp, piercing light that stung the eyes.
Xie Shijin blinked slowly. Seeing that he didn't have anything else to do, the police officer on duty went to change his clothes.
The boy remained standing there, staring blankly as if lost in thought.
After a long silence, he finally recovered from the suffocating feeling of being choked and said, "...Sorry to bother you."
Xie Shijin turned and left.
The police officer on duty changed into civilian clothes and came out. His colleague next to him asked, "Why is this kid here again?"
"What else could it be?"
The two exchanged a glance, both knowing exactly what was going on.
My colleague then said, "Is Yang the only person left in the bureau in charge of the 712 case?"
"Yes, it's been two years. Everyone else has either been promoted or transferred."
"Didn't we hear last year that Captain Yang was going to be transferred to the provincial department? Why hasn't anything happened yet this year?"
"Isn't this enough?" the on-duty police officer said. "The case is solved, and Captain Yang will probably stay at the provincial department and not come back."
I'm not coming back.
Xie Shijin's steps, which were about to descend the stairs, were frozen in place.
He turned his head slowly and stiffly.
The police officers in the service hall were all busy with their own things; some were organizing case files, and some were answering phone calls. No one noticed the figure that suddenly stopped at the stairwell, and the conversation they had just had was long since been drowned out by the noise in the hall.
The sunlight outside was still dazzling, but the light in the chestnut-colored eyes of the boy at the door gradually dimmed.
The weather in August.
Xie Shijin swallowed hard, feeling a soreness in his throat, and suddenly felt his body getting colder and colder.
...
The bus has arrived.
It was rush hour, and the bus was packed with people, but luckily many people were getting off at this stop, so Xie Shijin found an empty seat by the window.
His phone vibrated incessantly in his palm, the sudden ringing drawing attention in the carriage.
All the passengers in the front row turned to look back.
Xie Shijin sat in the back row, her eyes lowered, her long eyelashes concealing the obscure emotions in her eyes, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
The phone rang again after it automatically hung up.
Cheng Shiyun had to peek out from his sleeve and nudge his hand with her head, reminding him, "Ouch~ Xie Shijin, answer the phone."
Xie Shijin turned her wrist and glanced at the caller ID.
Contact person: Yang Shengnan.
Xie Shijin looked away and gazed out the window.
Cheng Shiyun asked him, "Why didn't you answer?"
“It’s no use answering it,” Xie Shijin said.
Cheng Shiyun was taken aback. The boy's jawline was taut, his Adam's apple bobbed several times, but his tone of voice was very indifferent.
"Why wouldn't it be useful? What if someone urgently needs to contact you?"
Xie Shijin's eyes were somewhat vacant; the lush green trees flashing past the window and the hurried people passing by left no trace in his eyes.
The hot wind blew into the carriage, making his hair slightly messy.
Although his face was expressionless, Cheng Shiyun felt that he must be in so much pain that he couldn't breathe.
She sensed it.
Then, she saw Xie Shijin seem to smile and say, "It's nothing urgent."
The major case is obviously more important.
Two years have passed, and Cheng Shiyun's death is becoming less and less important.
Aside from the time she visited Teacher Ran at Songshan Cemetery, Xie Shijin's last meeting with Yang Shengnan was in early 2017.
Just after the New Year, the snow on the ground was a finger's width thick. It was freezing cold. Yang Shengnan came upstairs for a cup of tea and said that the police had finally determined Cheng Shiyun's death to be an accident. She said she would definitely find the driver who caused the accident and give the victim's family an explanation.
Does time really heal all wounds?
Maybe.
He felt as if that scene was just yesterday, but upon closer inspection, it had been a year and a half.
My phone vibrated again; Yang Shengnan had sent me a few text messages.
[I forgot to charge my phone last night, what do you want to say if you call me?]
There's something else I forgot to tell you. I won't be in Yichuan for a while, so don't make a wasted trip.
Whatever clues you find, wait for me to return before discussing them. Do not act alone.
Xie Shijin turned off the screen.
Cheng Shiyun looked at him and suddenly felt as if her chest was filled with cement, heavy and suffocating beyond belief.
"Xie Shijin?" she called softly.
Xie Shijin lowered his eyes and smiled slightly.
"What's wrong?" The boy's voice was a little hoarse.
But the wind was too strong, so noisy it was like a red-hot iron pestle being quenched in ice water, and Cheng Shiyun could only see his lip movements.
She was worried about him and asked uncertainly, "Are you alright?"
"Something's up." Xie Shijin extended his left index finger and tapped the little snake's head, chuckling, "If I keep talking to myself, people will think I'm crazy."
Several stops had passed, and people were getting off the train one after another, leaving half the carriage empty. A clean-cut and handsome young man was enough to attract attention, especially since he was talking to himself frequently. Several passengers were already looking at him with strange eyes.
Cheng Shiyun shrank back into her clothes.
They can still joke around, so it seems like there's nothing seriously wrong.
She nestled obediently in the boy's collarbone.
Xie Shijin was thin, and his straight collarbone and shoulders formed a hollow in his collarbone, just the right size to hold the snake's head. Cheng Shiyun put her head in there and fell fast asleep, inhaling the fresh and pleasant scent emanating from the boy.
At that moment, the man from apartment 602 next door had just dropped his child off at a tutoring class, and Xie Shijin brushed past them.
As Xie Shijin approached the sixth floor, she was about to take out her keys when she looked up and saw the door wide open.
Cheng Shiyun leaned on the boy's shoulder and asked in surprise, "Hiss~ You didn't close the door when you left?"
Xie Shijin said, "It's closed."
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the door lock had been forcibly pried open.
Cheng Shiyun exclaimed in surprise: "A thief broke in?"
Xie Shijin took out his phone, ready to call the police, but suddenly heard a faint sobbing sound.
Cheng Shiyun heard it too, and whispered, "It sounds like someone is crying..."
Xie Shijin pressed her head into her collar and whispered, "Hide well, don't come out."
Hearing footsteps coming upstairs, the person slumped on the sofa raised their head and slowly turned around.
Xie Shijin frowned: "Ni Jiaqi."
Ni Jiaqi?
Cheng Shiyun tightened her grip on the boy's waist and abdomen.
It seems that when Xie Pingxue threw her away and she fell to her death, Xie Shijin called her name, and Ni Jiaqi was also present.
Ni Jiaqi came to see her today.
Ni Jiaqi's emotions, which he had been holding together for several days, finally collapsed the moment he saw Xie Shijin appear.
"Xie Shijin, has Cheng Shiyun returned?" he asked in a hoarse voice. "Where is she?"
Ni Jiaqi dug out a lot of things in the house: Cheng Shiyun's toys, half a bag of cat food that she hadn't finished eating, her clothes that she had worn, and the whole place was a mess.
Xie Shijin bent down and righted the chair that had fallen to the ground: "Who let you in?"
Ni Jiaqi stood up, supporting himself on the sofa, his eyes red and glaring at him resentfully: "I asked you where Cheng Shiyun is. Why didn't you tell me she was back?"
Yang Shengnan told him to stop looking, as Xie Shijin's cat had already returned.
He searched outside for six days like an idiot. He didn't have much money on him. When he was hungry, he ate bread. When he was tired, he slept in the volunteer rest room. He was smelly and ugly.
He couldn't meet Cheng Shiyun looking like this, so he went home, took a shower, changed his clothes, and came specifically to pick her up.
But he didn't see Cheng Shiyun; she wasn't at home, nor was she in Xie Shijin's arms.
Xie Shijin must have hidden Cheng Shiyun away.
"Why should I tell you?" Xie Shijin retorted, his voice indifferent. "Who are you to her?"
How have we known each other since childhood? How well do we understand each other?
Cheng Shiyun also dislikes Ni Jiaqi.
They were childhood sweethearts, but it was all one-sided love on Ni Jiaqi's part.
Ni Jiaqi had neither the standing nor the right to ask him for Cheng Shiyun.
Ni Jiaqi felt a rush of blood to his head. He rushed to Xie Shijin, grabbed him by the collar, and shouted, "Who are you to her? What right do you have to take her away?!"
"To seize?"
After glancing at Ni Jiaqi for two seconds, Xie Shijin raised his hand and pried open Ni Jiaqi's fingers one by one: "Cheng Shiyun is not an object."
Xie Shijin tilted her chin slightly and gazed at him.
Ni Jiaqi paused for a moment, then let go of her hand and slumped over his hair. "I know... I misspoke. I'm sorry. I just wanted you to give Cheng Shiyun back to me."
He felt like he was going crazy.
For six days, he searched everywhere, looking for every place Cheng Shiyun might have gone.
But he couldn't find it, no matter how hard he tried.
He didn't even know how Cheng Shiyun turned into a cat and came back, or when she returned.
Why does Cheng Shiyun only come to see Xie Shijin and not him? Did he do something wrong?
He covered his face, tears welling up between his fingers, bitter and astringent.
“Cheng Shiyun…it’s me, Ni Jiaqi. I’ve come to find you. Please come out and see me, okay…”
He cried so hard he could barely speak, calling out Cheng Shiyun's name again and again.
This was the first time Cheng Shiyun had ever seen Ni Jiaqi cry so miserably in her life. She thought she would feel schadenfreude, but when she heard his choked sobs, she couldn't laugh at all.
After a long silence, Xie Shijin spoke: "You should go home. Your parents are looking for you everywhere."
Ni Jiaqi wiped away the tears on her face and stared intently at him: "I'll ask you one last time, where did you hide Cheng Shiyun?"
His tone was vicious, as if he would attack Xie Shijin if Xie Shijin didn't hand over Cheng Shiyun the next second.
“I didn’t hide anything.” Xie Shijin’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. “It’s just that she doesn’t want to see you.”
Ni Jiaqi's heart suddenly sank, shattering into pieces like a mud doll falling to the ground.
Tears welled up in his eyes again, but he forced them back: "Why wouldn't I want to? Did she tell you?"
"Whether she wants to see me or not, let her tell me herself!"
“If she wanted to see you, she would have come to you,” Xie Shijin said. “But she didn’t. Don’t you understand?”
He seemed to know which words would hurt Ni Jiaqi the most, so each one was more ruthless than the last.
Ni Jiaqi sneered, seemingly disbelieving yet also putting on a brave face, and asked with feigned knowledge, "Xie Shijin, Cheng Shiyun and I don't need you to be our go-between. Is it that she doesn't want to see me, or that you don't want her to see me?!"
Xie Shijin liked Cheng Shiyun, and he knew it.
He could understand Xie Shijin's desire to be with Cheng Shiyun.
But Xie Shijin wants to take Cheng Shiyun for himself? Don't even think about it!
“Ni Jiaqi, you should be more mature. Cheng Shiyun is doing well now and doesn’t want to be disturbed,” Xie Shijin said. “If she wants to see you in the future, I will take her to see you. Now, please leave immediately.”
"Go home quickly, don't let your parents worry."
Ni Jiaqi wiped his face and asked, "Where's Uncle Cheng? You won't let her see him either?"
Xie Shijin narrowed his eyes, his voice cold: "If you tell Teacher Cheng, she'll just think you've lost your mind."
"You're crazy."
The idea that a person can turn into a cat is so absurd; how many people in the world would believe it?
Even if Ni Jiaqi went out with a megaphone and shouted, they would only think he was crazy about Cheng Shiyun, and Cheng Jinghua would never allow him to do so.
Ni Jiaqi forced a smile, but there was no real joy in his eyes.
"You're the one who's crazy! Cheng Shiyun is Uncle Cheng's daughter. What right do you have to stop Cheng Shiyun from coming home?!"
"Xie Shijin, you are too selfish."
Cheng Shiyun didn't go home before because she couldn't go home, and it had absolutely nothing to do with whether Xie Shijin was selfish or not.
If we're really going to get to the bottom of this, it's her who's been staying at Xie Shijin's house and refusing to leave.
Cheng Shiyun thought Xie Shijin would at least refute him, but the boy just pursed his lips and let him insult him.
Ni Jiaqi often plays pickup basketball and has learned a lot of trash talk on the court. He swears very rudely, which makes Cheng Shiyun want to yell at him.
Suddenly, there was a burst of hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by a middle-aged couple with stern faces bursting into the house.
"Ni Jiaqi!"
Ni's mother spotted the hunched-over boy at a glance, her voice both urgent and angry: "You've come here again! Haven't you caused enough trouble?!"
Last night, Ni Jiaqi, who had been missing for six days, returned home on his own. His parents, worried that he would run away from home again, locked him in his room. As a result, he pried open the window and jumped from the second floor.
Mr. Ni followed behind, glancing at Xie Shijin in the room, then looking at his son. His face was so dark it could be wrung out: "For a dead man, you're humiliating yourself like this!"
"She's not dead!" Ni Jiaqi roared.
"Dad, Cheng Shiyun isn't dead, she's back, she's really back." Ni Jiaqi grabbed his father's hand, then turned urgently to the silent boy beside him, his voice trembling with sobs and pleading, "Xie Shijin, say something! Tell them Cheng Shiyun is back, please..."
His voice was filled with obsessive expectation, as if Xie Shijin's words could overturn all reality.
"I think you've lost your mind." Mr. Ni forcefully shook off his hand, his voice as cold and hard as iron. "Take him away!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two tall bodyguards walked in from outside the door and grabbed Ni Jiaqi, who was still struggling, from the left and right.
"Let me go! Get away! Don't touch me!" Ni Jiaqi struggled violently, screaming, tears streaming down his face. "Cheng Shiyun is really back! Why don't you believe me! Xie Shijin, you have to prove it for me—"
After calming down, Mrs. Ni looked at the composed young man with a hint of tired apology in her eyes: "Xie, I'm sorry, Jiaqi has caused you trouble."
Reaching the door, she saw the damaged lock and took out 500 yuan from her bag, placing it on the shoe cabinet by the door: "Please replace the lock yourself. If you don't have enough money, I'll give you more."
Ni Jiaqi was dragged out of the room.
Ni's father and mother followed behind him.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Cheng Shiyun secretly peeked out from the boy's collar and glanced at him.
Ni Jiaqi's leg looks injured; there's blood all over his knee.
Cheng Shiyun didn't know if it was right or wrong not to tell them she was back.
...
Ni's parents dragged Ni Jiaqi downstairs.
Cheng Shiyun watched from the doorway for a while, and when she saw Ni Jiaqi being dragged away by them, she felt a pang of sadness.
Would it be better to tell Ni Jiaqi and the others that she's back?
"They haven't gone far." Xie Shijin's throat was dry, and his voice was a little hoarse.
He seemed to have figured out what Cheng Shiyun was thinking.
Cheng Shiyun was stunned for a moment before raising her head to look at him.
Xie Shijin was also at the door, standing at the corner of the stairs, looking down with her eyes down.
His tone was nonchalant, and his expression was calm as usual, so much so that Cheng Shiyun could hardly believe her ears when she heard those words.
Xie Shijin meant that it was still not too late to tell them now?
If you really tell them, not to mention Ni Jiaqi, Cheng Jinghua won't let her stay by Xie Shijin's side.
For some reason, Cheng Shiyun thought of the last time she said she wanted to go home, but after only taking two steps, she felt as if the boy who was in so much pain as if he was about to die was no longer him.
Xie Shijin is just like that kind of child who doesn't want to give away a gift he likes, but pretends to be generous and asks a question, and then bursts into tears as soon as someone else takes it.
But he also seems to be used to being abandoned, so at certain sensitive moments, he repeatedly asks whether she will leave, feeling extremely insecure.
What sense of security could she provide Xie Shijin?
Cheng Shiyun felt she was overthinking things.
"...No, I don't want my dad to be treated like a lunatic too."
Moreover, Cheng Jinghua was already stretched thin, taking Ran Hongyin to Beijing for medical treatment. Although she missed her parents dearly, snakes have a shorter lifespan than cats, only three to five years, and all of this depended on her being safe and healthy.
She's two years old now, and we don't know how many more years she has left to live, so let's not tell them for now.
"Where is Ni Jiaqi?" Xie Shijin asked.
A sense of sorrow gradually surfaced in his eyes.
"She doesn't want to see you"—Cheng Shiyun never said such a thing.
It was he who took it upon himself to embellish the story.
Ni Jiaqi and Cheng Shiyun at least had the title of childhood sweethearts, but he and Cheng Shiyun had nothing at all.
Even when asked, Cheng Shiyun would say that they had only been deskmates for a month and were not close.
When Ni Jiaqi came to see Cheng Shiyun, he didn't know how to refuse him, so he made up a story that Cheng Shiyun disliked him, hoping to make Ni Jiaqi give up in disappointment.
In this way, he could have Cheng Shiyun for a short time.
He knew this was wrong; he was distorting the facts, taking advantage of Cheng Shiyun's trust in him and Ni Jiaqi's concern for Cheng Shiyun.
But he couldn't control himself.
The thought of possibly losing her again terrified him, as if a monster was about to devour his heart.
He was originally such a despicable person.
But Cheng Shiyun didn't refute him, which made him feel somewhat fortunate that Cheng Shiyun had tacitly approved, and that he didn't seem so bad after all.
Reason and greed were churning within him, driving him nearly insane.
Cheng Shiyun thought for two seconds and said, "Actually, the day I came back as a little snake, I ran into Ni Jiaqi downstairs in the teachers' apartment building. He's afraid of snakes, and he jumped far away when he saw me."
"Even Xu Xian couldn't accept that Bai Suzhen was a snake demon. If I told Ni Jiaqi that I had turned into a snake, wouldn't he be terrified?"
Xie Shijin took a deep breath and said, "Ni Jiaqi likes you," then clenched her hands, which were hanging by her sides, until her knuckles turned white.
The scabbed wound on his palm burst open again, a sharp, throbbing pain spreading rapidly. But he was already numb to this kind of pain, and it did nothing to suppress the fear and palpitations surging in his chest.
He said, "Ni Jiaqi will be eager to take you home."
No matter what Cheng Shiyun becomes, Ni Jiaqi will fight with her.
Cheng Shiyun is soft-hearted; maybe if Ni Jiaqi cries, she'll go with him.
And what about him?
Would kneeling down and begging her make her feel sorry for him?
"..."
Cheng Shiyun knew, of course, that Ni Jiaqi would fight her for him, but she just didn't want to go with Ni Jiaqi.
She made it so obvious, how could Xie Shijin not understand? How did she do reading comprehension? How did she score over 700 on the college entrance exam?
"So what if Ni Jiaqi likes me? Just because someone likes me doesn't mean I have to accept them or go home with them. What do you take me for?"
"Wait a minute." Cheng Shiyun made sure she hadn't misheard. "...What did you just say?"
Does Ni Jiaqi like her? Is Ni Jiaqi crazy, or is Xie Shijin crazy?
This is even more terrifying than the rumors that she likes Ni Jiaqi!
"Ni Jiaqi likes you." Xie Shijin's voice trembled, almost hoarse. "Can't you feel it?"
"..." Cheng Shiyun hissed, "I felt it, he's getting back at me."
Even in death, I will not let her go.
Cheng Shiyun had heard these rumors a long time ago. It started around junior high school. Either people were saying that she liked Ni Jiaqi, or that Ni Jiaqi liked her. As the rumors spread, they eventually turned into the idea that the two of them were dating.
The teacher called them both to the office. Cheng Shiyun explained until her lips were sore, but Ni Jiaqi didn't say a word.
The teacher said, "During your middle school years, your primary task is to study. If you focus your energy on these things now, it will be easy to get distracted and affect each other's grades."
Cheng Shiyun's throat was practically hoarse: "...We really aren't dating."
"Whether you're dating or not, you know the answer in your hearts." The teacher glanced at her, then turned to Ni Jiaqi, who was silently suppressing a laugh, and said earnestly, "I know you've grown up together and have a deep bond, but the school has its rules. When male and female students interact, they should always maintain an appropriate distance."
"..."
Okay, all that explanation was for nothing.
As Ni Jiaqi walked out of the office, his shoulders were shaking with laughter.
Cheng Shiyun glared at him fiercely: "What are you laughing at? What's so funny?"
"I'm laughing at your stupidity." Ni Jiaqi's cheeks hurt from laughing so much. He finally managed to stop laughing and said, "Have you ever seen a student who is in a relationship admit to it? The more you explain, the more obvious it seems like you're trying to hide something."
"...If you're so smart, why don't you explain?"
Ni Jiaqi raised an eyebrow: "Me? I have nothing to fear, I am innocent, and besides..."
How could I possibly like you?
"You?"
In the third year of junior high, Cheng Shiyun was just beginning to develop, while Ni Jiaqi had already grown to 1.75 meters tall, with shoulders so broad they could cover most of her.
He looked her up and down, then poked her forehead with his finger: "You're just a bean sprout. If you were to actually date me, you'd be the one who's winning."
Ni Jiaqi also said that he would talk to Tudou but not to her.
...Tudou is Ni Jiaqi's dog!
Does his daily teasing mean he likes her, or does pulling her hair mean he likes her?
Is this what it's like to like someone?
Definitely not!
She doesn't treat cute kittens and puppies on the street like that.
so.
From whom did Xie Shijin hear this?
Ni Jiaqi just watched as a dead person was slandered without even helping to clarify the situation?
asshole.
Cheng Shiyun became an instant sensation.
With a hiss, it ignited the boy's eyes, and his amber pupils shone brightly.
Cheng Shiyun was furious and didn't notice the change in the boy's pupils. She said fiercely, "If I ever hear Ni Jiaqi say 'I like you,' or 'I like Ni Jiaqi' again, don't blame me for biting you."
The snake's fangs are just like a kitten's baby teeth, a shallow pair, and even when it bares its teeth, they don't pose much of a threat.
Xie Shijin hummed in agreement, peeled the small snake off the railing, and said in a fairly sincere tone, "I won't say anything more, don't bite me."
Seeing that he was frightened, Cheng Shiyun licked her sharp teeth, extremely satisfied with her fierce appearance.
Cheng Shiyun wrapped her arm around his and asked again, "Did Ni Jiaqi say anything else? Did he say anything bad about me? Did he curse me?"
"I didn't insult you... I insulted myself."
The boy lowered his eyes, and a hint of resentment—a feeling of not daring to argue and having no one to back him up—was reflected in his once clear eyes.
"What did he say to you?" Cheng Shiyun looked up, remembering how Xie Shijin had remained silent after being scolded, and asked with a dark face, "Did he ever scold you like that before?"
“…Many.” Xie Shijin pursed her lips and said, “I can’t remember.”
Did you yell back?
Xie Shijin shook his head, stepped into the house, and closed the door: "No."
"He insulted you, and you didn't insult him back?" Cheng Shiyun stared at him with her beady eyes as if she had discovered something new and exotic.
The boy was speechless for a moment, his eyes clearing slightly: "Can I yell back?"
"..."
"Why can't you yell back? Do you only have a mouth to eat?"
"They've been bullied to the point of being unreasonable, and they don't even know how to talk back?" the girl grumbled. "With such a soft temper, everyone would want to pinch them."
It's not that I have a weak temper, it's that I'm afraid she'll get angry if I yell back.
She sides with her relatives regardless of right or wrong.
Cheng Shiyun said, "Hiss! I'll curse back next time."
Xie Shijin smiled wryly for a moment, then suppressed it and gave a very soft "hmm".
Ni Jiaqi turned the house upside down.
He ransacked every available storage space – wardrobes, drawers, bedside tables – throwing everything on the floor, leaving Cheng Shiyun with no pity whatsoever.
Who are you, breaking into someone else's house and ransacking it?
Xie Shijin wasn't making a fuss, but she was already itching to.
Aunt Ni's five hundred yuan was purely compensation for Xie Shijin's emotional distress.
The bedroom looked like it had been ransacked; it was a complete mess.
Xie Shijin is folding clothes.
The weather was nice today; sunlight streamed through the clean glass windows, casting beams of light onto the floor and onto Xie Shijin.
Sunlight slid down his hair, casting a soft golden glow on his shoulders. Occasionally, a gentle breeze would drift in from the window, carrying the scent of grass and trees from the trees below, ruffling the stray hairs on his forehead.
It looked very quiet and warm.
Cheng Shiyun suddenly thought of something.
Can Xie Shijin support her for the rest of her life?
A lifetime seems too long.
Xie Shijin will go to university in Beijing. He will achieve great success and fame, and will no longer be that pathetic young man who was bullied and trembling in the alley. He may even meet a girl he likes, get married, and have children.
Xie Shijin's future is clear and bright.
What about her future?
She has no future.
This is probably how my life will be.
...
Xie Shijin neatly put the folded clothes into the wardrobe.
Ni Jiaqi really went too far. He ransacked the wardrobe, making a complete mess of it. Xie Shijin simply took all the clothes out and refolded them, and there was still a pile left after he finished folding one pile.
The locksmith arrived, and Xie Shijin went out to fix the door lock again.
Cheng Shiyun wanted to help, but turning into a snake was even more inconvenient than turning into a cat. There were many things she couldn't do without hands, so she could only do what she could.
For example, put the desk lamp back in its place, or throw the items on the bedside table into the drawer.
With a flick of its tail, the little snake transformed into a desktop cleaning master, causing everything on the bedside table to tumble into the drawer.
The gap in the drawer wasn't very big, and a box of medicine was stuck there.
Cheng Shiyun glanced at the name of the medicine subconsciously, but didn't recognize it.
What is it for?
Cheng Shiyun rubbed her hands twice and looked at the precautions on the back of the medicine box.
[Indications: Depression; Generalized anxiety disorder; Somatic pain and somatization disorder...]
Cheng Shiyun hadn't seen Xie Shijin take any medicine, but there were only one or two pills left in the box.
Did Xie Shijin suffer from depression?
Cheng Shiyun knew he often had nightmares.
Xie Shijin never told her the specifics of her nightmares, but occasionally, she would hear Xie Shijin calling her name in her dreams.
His voice was painful, hoarse, and incoherent.
so.
Was she his nightmare?
...
In that instant, it felt like something was stuck in my throat.
Cheng Shiyun felt a little breathless.
Why was she reborn two years in the future?
If only I could be reborn on the day she had her car accident.
She would still come to Xie Shijin and tell him that he was not responsible for her death.
He was only sixteen years old at the time, yet he bore a lot of responsibilities and pain that he shouldn't have had to bear.
Since God has granted her the ability to return as an animal, why not take pity on her a little?
She came back too late, and I didn't dare ask her what had happened during the two years she was gone.
She didn't ask, and Xie Shijin didn't say anything.
He's always been like this because no one pities him or cares about him, so he habitually swallows his bitterness alone.
If she could, Cheng Shiyun really, really wanted to stay with him forever.
Cats or snakes, anything is fine.
Wait until he gets married and has children.
She stayed with him.
-----------------------
Author's note: Don't be so pessimistic! [Laughing out loud][Laughing out loud]
I stumbled upon a post on a certain platform where many readers were worried about a bad ending, but that's impossible; it's definitely a happy ending.
A sweet and happy ending. [Glasses]
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