Chapter 40
Tang Ruxin's sleep was restless. There were constant noises in her ears, and light from the outside world flickered across her irises through her eyelids. She dreamed of her younger self, riding a small stool across the ocean. The sea was filled with storms, monsters, glaciers, and reefs, full of difficulties and dangers. By the end, the stool had fallen apart.
She was awakened by a meaningless dream, her head felt like it was splitting, but her hands were no longer shaking.
Tang Ruxin watched the police officers, some in uniform and some in plain clothes, through the car window. More than a dozen of them were scattered along the road ahead, some squatting to examine the marks on the ground, some taking photos for evidence, and some circling the damaged cars.
The car was wrecked beyond recognition, with a broken, bent utility pole pressing against the roof, crushing the windshield and roof. It was hard to imagine the driver hadn't survived such a crash.
Watching these busy figures in the sun, Tang Ruxin leaned against the car window motionlessly, tears gently sliding down her cheeks.
Yu Zhe had always been her mortal enemy, a relationship they would continue to fight for as long as they lived. As children, they'd fought for grades, awards, Tang Jiulin's attention, and who ate the most. Occasionally, they'd even competed against each other. The thought of Yu Zhe potentially stepping away from their rivalry, of her childhood "enemy" vanishing completely, sent a wave of tingling in her hands and feet, a sense of emptiness within her heart. It wasn't the emptiness of a momentary victory or defeat; it was the emptiness of complete loss, the emptiness of dust returning to dust.
Yu Lei said he didn't expect her to care about Yu Zhe so much, and she herself didn't expect it either. Perhaps when people have nothing, it's good to have an enemy who never leaves.
If Yu Zhe had been responsible for the accident, it would have been fine. But if it had been a deliberate accident—Tang Ruxin wiped her tears and got out of the car. She gathered her coat and walked over to the wrecked car, where she saw Yu Lei squatting on the ground, shoveling snow. She walked around to the passenger side of the car. The door had fallen halfway, hanging precariously from its hinges.
Tang Ruxin stood two steps away from the passenger door of the car, bending down to look inside.
"Did Yu Zhe come to see you today?" Yu Lei put his gloved hand on the sunken roof of the car and asked Tang Ruxin across half a telephone pole.
"I've looked for him." Tang Ruxin glanced at the dashcam and knew that the police had retrieved Yu Zhe's driving route today.
She put on the gloves Chen Jingzhou handed her and stepped back. Because she was an acquaintance, Chen Jingzhou didn't want to let her go back to the car, but she had to be sensible. If this was really a man-made accident, this was the crime scene, and she couldn't touch it.
"What do I want to see you for?"
"It has nothing to do with the car accident." Tang Ruxin walked to the back door of the car and looked around. The back door didn't fall off, but the glass was all broken.
"Whether there's any connection or not is up to the police..." Before he could finish his words, Yu Lei seemed to suddenly think of something, and then he polished his cold, official questioning in his mind before continuing, "Don't overthink it. It's just routine. I need to go over Yu Zhe's schedule for today. If it's not particularly difficult to say, it's best to explain it clearly to avoid any unnecessary suspicion."
Yu Lei considered this the most gentle and considerate inquiry he had ever made in his police career. However, Tang Ruxin didn't appreciate it. She continued to stand three steps away, hunched over, looking into the back seat of the car, ignoring him.
"What are you looking at?" He walked around the car and came to Tang Ruxin's side, following her line of sight.
The back seat of the car was filled with broken glass and nothing else.
Tang Ruxin's breathing paused for a few seconds, her entire body frozen as if on pause. She stared out the car window like a statue, then straightened up after a long moment. She looked up at the unusually clear sky, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
"What did you see?" Yu Lei grabbed her elbow.
Tang Ruxin swayed slightly as he pulled her, but her eyes didn't fall on him. She half-lowered her head and stared at the ground, as if her soul had been taken away, her expression almost numb.
At this moment, several cars suddenly drove over from behind, and the leading car braked suddenly and stopped outside the cordon.
The car doors opened one by one, and more than a dozen reporters, some carrying cameras and some holding microphones, rushed forward and stood outside the cordon. Some set up cameras, while others communicated with the police who were maintaining order, all hoping to get firsthand information about the car accident involving the general manager of Donghe Refining and Chemical.
Yu Lei immediately picked up the hat from behind Tang Ruxin and covered her head with it, then turned around and put her behind him.
"Brother Zhao, move the cordon back fifty meters." Yu Lei took out the walkie-talkie from his pocket, "Chen Jingzhou, everyone put away your cell phones."
A moment later, the cordon extended to encompass all the police cars parked outside the area, forcing the reporters' cars to retreat fifty meters. Yu Lei escorted Tang Ruxin to the car they had come in from, then got in himself.
Tang Ruxin's condition today really gave him a headache.
Yesterday, he was beaten up by Tong Jiayu and left the hospital. At that time, Tang Ruxin seemed normal. Then, after being out of touch for more than ten hours, she looked panicked when she saw him again. But she had been suspended for several days, so why did she just remember to panic today? I didn't have time to ask about the situation, and now she was like a lost soul, unable to ask a single word.
Yu Lei was irritable and tired. He wanted to smoke but was afraid of suffocating the young lady. He kept scratching his head. He bared his teeth, stretched his facial muscles, and said calmly:
"Zhao Lan, I know you may need some time to process what's happened, but I really don't have the time. I can't leave you alone in your current state, and I can't leave you to concentrate on my work. Just consider it a favor and at least tell me what I can do for you."
In order to attract her attention, Yu Lei even called her by her original name. It must be said that this trick really worked. When Tang Ruxin called her "Zhao Lan", her eyes turned to him.
"Zhao Zheng once told me that your name was given by your mother. Mountain winds are mists, and the higher the mountain, the stronger the wind. Your mother hoped that you would climb the highest mountains and ride the strongest winds. What you are facing now may be the mountains and winds of your life. Fear, panic, retreat, these emotions are all valid. Accept them and then carry them with you to do what you want to do, or what you should do."
By the time Yu Lei's last words left her mouth, Tang Ruxin's tears were already falling. This was the second man to say this to her; these old men seemed to love giving people chicken soup. Luo Yi's cold, arrogant face surfaced before her eyes. He hadn't said these words with such earnestness; he had said them while tapping her head with a ruler.
Tang Ruxin lowered her head and tears fell on the back of her hand.
"You know shit." She said in a hoarse voice with a heavy nasal tone.
"If you don't say anything, I'll be considered to know a lot if I understand nothing."
Tang Ruxin suddenly couldn't cry anymore, and even wanted to laugh, but crying and laughing at the same time would make her look like a fool, so she held it back.
She covered her face with her hands and wiped away her tears. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and said:
"After get off work, do me a favor."
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