Chapter 19 Xiaoyu, you are not a burden to me
The night was as dark as ink, and the roar of engines broke through the silence as they entered a remote fishing village.
With a pale face, Zhou Shiye slammed on the gas pedal, bringing the car to a stop in front of a brick house.
Then he pushed open the car door and pressed hard on the painful spot on his ribs.
The sea breeze was biting, blowing the man's messy hair.
Zhou Shiye's eyes were bloodshot as he gripped the photo tightly in his hand.
Ignoring the burning pain in his chest, he stumbled toward the door, which was shrouded in dim light.
"Is anyone home? Open the door."
Zhou Shiye pounded on the door anxiously, the rough banging sound particularly jarring in the quiet fishing village.
The door creaked open a crack, revealing the face of an elderly person. The elderly person's eyes were cloudy and wary.
Who are you looking for?
Zhou Shiye rushed to the crack in the door, shoved the photo in front of the other person, and said in a hoarse, incoherent voice, "Have you seen this girl before? About half a year ago, maybe she was rescued at the beach? She might not be able to speak or remember anything. Have you seen her?"
The old man squinted, looked around in the dim light for a long time, and shook his head: "Never seen one before. There are few unfamiliar faces around here."
Before he could finish speaking, the old man prepared to close the door.
Zhou Shiye quickly reached out to brace the door, and continued speaking rapidly.
"Please take a closer look, please take a closer look."
Zhou Shiye was in a terrible panic, every word revealing his near collapse: "She is very important to me, please think about it again, please think about it again."
The old man was startled by Zhou Shiye's anxious appearance, and his face showed displeasure: "I said I haven't seen it, and I haven't seen it. What's wrong with you?"
After saying this, the old man impatiently slammed the door shut.
Zhou Shiye stood frozen at the doorway, his hand holding the photo trembling violently.
Hope was dashed once again, but what remained was an even more frantic sense of resentment.
He was unwilling to accept it.
Zhou Shiye turned and rushed to the next house, and then the next.
Next, Zhou Shiye kept knocking on the door, showing photos and asking questions, only to be repeatedly rejected.
His expensive suit was covered in dust and grime, his hair was disheveled by the sea breeze, and the bloodshot eyes were even more pronounced. He looked utterly disheveled.
Some villagers were frightened by his paranoid and delusional behavior and hurriedly closed their doors; others shook their heads in sympathy.
After knocking on several doors, a woman wearing an old cotton-padded coat came out carrying a basin of water. She looked at the photo in his hand by the moonlight and hesitated, saying, "It looks somewhat familiar."
Zhou Shiye was overjoyed and hurriedly grabbed the other person's shoulder, asking, "You've seen him? Where? Where did you see him? When?"
The woman, startled by Zhou Shiye's excited expression, took a half-step back: "It's not our village, it seems to be that even smaller village to the north. My brother mentioned it briefly, saying that the old lady at the foot of the cliff seems to have found a baby girl. But it's all hearsay, and it happened several days ago..."
An even smaller village to the north?
Did the old lady pick up a baby girl?
If it really is Wen Yu...
He quickly turned around and ran towards the small village to the north.
The stabbing pain in his ribs became even more acute. Zhou Shiye staggered, pressing his hand tightly against the painful spot.
The sea breeze rushed into his open collar, icy cold, but Zhou Shiye was oblivious, only hoping to reach his destination as quickly as possible.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Shiye finally found a small village on the edge of a cliff.
This place is even more remote, with only a few scattered houses near the bottom of the steep cliff, and they had already turned off their lights early.
The sea breeze was howling as Zhou Shiye rushed to the first house, pounding on the tightly closed door under the moonlight.
"Is anyone home? Open the door! Have you found a girl? Open the door now, open the door for me!"
Zhou Shiye's shouts were hoarse and broken, and were drowned out by the roar of the waves.
Finally, when they knocked on the last house, the dilapidated wooden door was pulled open, and a burly man wearing a cotton coat and reeking of alcohol poked his head out, cursing: "Damn it, what are you howling about in the middle of the night?"
Zhou Shiye rushed over and shoved the photo in front of the other person: "Have you seen this girl before? Was she found? Have you seen her before?"
The burly man, his eyes squinting with drunkenness, rudely shoved Zhou Shiye aside: "No, no, what girl? I fish all day long, when have I ever seen any strange girls? Get lost!"
After speaking, the drunkard slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
Zhou Shiye was left standing there in despair, the sea wind howling through his thin body.
He slowly crouched down, curled up on the cold, damp stone steps, buried his hands deep in his hair, and his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
More than a hundred days and nights, countless journeys filled with hope, only brought more and more utter despair.
This despair tormented him time and again, almost tearing him apart.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Shiye raised his head, his eyes turning fierce again.
No, we can't stop.
He cannot stop as long as she may still be alive somewhere in this world.
Zhou Shiye stumbled to his feet and rushed recklessly toward the edge of the cliff not far away.
It was pitch black below, and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks was deafening.
He groped his way down the steep, slippery path, nearly slipping several times.
The icy seawater reached above his ankles and calves...
Zhou Shiye, like a mindless walking corpse, struggled through the icy seawater, frantically scanning every place in front of him.
As night deepened, Zhou Shiye finally collapsed from exhaustion. His vision went black, and he fell heavily forward, the icy seawater engulfing his mouth and nose.
In his last moments before losing consciousness, he saw Wen Yu's pale face again and heard her terrified cry: "Please..."
When Zhou Shiye woke up again, he had already returned to City A.
In the VIP ward of the private hospital, filled with the strong smell of disinfectant, Zhou Shiye, whose last breath had been drained by this futile trip, was pale and had empty eyes.
He was in excruciating pain all over his body, and an IV drip was being administered to the back of his hand.
Tang Mingzhen stayed by the bedside, watching Zhou Shiye stare at the air in despair, tears streaming down her face.
"Shi Ye, why are you doing this?"
Zhou Shiye remained silent.
He continued to stare blankly into the air.
Tang Mingzhen's heart ached even more, and she hated Wen Yu even more.
It's all her fault; even in death, she's still causing trouble for her precious son.
On what grounds?
What makes Wen Yu so special?
The illness was cured slowly, like pulling silk from a cocoon.
This illness forced Zhou Shiye to halt his investigation for a few days.
But it was precisely these few days of drowsiness that brought a sliver of morbid clarity to his chaotic mind.
We can no longer blindly search for every unverified clue like headless flies; this only wastes our time and does nothing to help.
He needs a smarter, more effective approach.
After recovering somewhat, Zhou Shiye no longer easily left City A.
Instead, the focus of the investigation was shifted back to sorting out information and tracing its source.
He increased the reward amount, but added stricter conditions: requiring the provision of as much detail as possible about the time, location, and witness information, preferably along with photos or video footage.
He began to have people build a systematic database, recording all the information received, whether true or false, in an attempt to find some kind of pattern.
Or, it can eliminate some false information.
At the same time, Zhou Shiye also intensified his attention to Dingsheng Group.
He wanted to make sure that, in addition to the previous tampering with his race car, there were no other retaliatory actions by Dingsheng personnel that he was unaware of.
He could no longer allow any potential risks to threaten Wen Yu's safety.
.
Under the same sky, a private hospital hundreds of kilometers away.
As dawn broke, the sea surface shimmered gently in the sunlight.
Wen Yu woke up from her sleep.
She hasn't had any more shattered and terrifying dreams for several days in a row, which has given her a precious chance to recover both her tense mind and body.
The sunlight streamed in, making it feel warm.
Wen Yu slowly opened her eyes, and what she saw was Shen Jinhuai with his back to the hospital bed, fiddling with something.
The man was wearing a soft, deep blue cashmere sweater today, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and was intently... slicing an apple?
He moved slowly and deliberately, the apple spinning casually between his long, slender, pale fingers, the peel being evenly sliced off in a long strip.
The sunlight streaming in through the window outlined the man's tall and upright figure, exuding a sense of tranquil homeliness.
Wen Yu watched quietly, and the emptiness and unfamiliarity she felt towards this man seemed to be subtly filled by this ordinary and simple scene.
As if sensing something, Chen Jinhuai turned around.
Seeing that Wen Yu was awake, the man's eyes behind his glasses immediately softened with a smile: "Awake? Perfect timing, the apple is cut up, want some?"
Seeing Wen Yu nod, Shen Jinhuai placed the apple pieces into a small white porcelain dish, inserted an exquisite silver fork, and brought it to the small table beside her bed.
Then he poured half a cup of warm water from the thermos and held it to Wenyu's lips.
Wen Yu took the water glass and sipped it.
"Mr. Shen, have you... been here the past few days?"
Wen Yu asked softly.
After recovering for several days, Wen Yu's voice was clearer than when she first woke up a few days ago, and her throat no longer hurt, but you could still hear the weakness of someone recovering from a serious illness.
"Yes, if you're here, I definitely have to be here too."
Shen Jinhuai sat down on the chair next to Wen Yu's bed and naturally picked up a warm towel to wipe Wen Yu's face gently: "Did you sleep well last night? Is there anything that's bothering you?"
Wen Yu shook her head. The gentle touch of the warm towel on her face made her squint her eyes comfortably.
"I slept well and felt fine."
"That's good."
Shen Jinhuai put the towel away and pushed the plate of apples toward Wen Yu, saying, "Try it, it's very sweet."
Wen Yu picked up her fork, forked a piece of apple, and put it in her mouth.
The sweet juice melts on the tongue, and the light apple aroma is very refreshing.
Wen Yu ate slowly, while Shen Jinhuai sat beside her, neither urging her nor trying to find topics to talk about, but simply letting his quiet gaze fall gently on her.
It was as if they were afraid that if they didn't keep an eye on her for a moment, Wen Yu would disappear.
Wen Yu felt Shen Jinhuai's gaze, lowered her eyes, and was too embarrassed to meet his eyes.
Although she knew he was her fiancé, Wen Yu still couldn't remember anything.
I simply can't treat this man the way I would treat my fiancé.
Fortunately, Shen Jinhuai seemed to sense Wen Yu's embarrassment, and after watching for a while, he looked out the window.
After Wen Yu finished eating the apple, Shen Jinhuai checked the time: "The doctor will come to check on you at eight o'clock and will also do today's examination and simple rehabilitation."
"We still have some time. Would you like to sit on the balcony? The weather is lovely today."
Upon hearing this, Wen Yu nodded.
Shen Jinhuai carefully carried Wen Yu to the swing on the balcony, draped a soft knitted cardigan over her, covered her knees with a thick cashmere blanket, and then knelt down to carefully help her put on soft cotton slippers.
Wen Yu's ward was on the top floor. Sitting on the balcony, she could see a vast expanse of blue sea in the distance.
The sunlight shone on the sea, casting a dazzling golden glow.
In the distance, many seabirds circled overhead, and even the air smelled of freedom.
Wen Yu liked it very much.
"Do you like looking at the sea?"
Sitting next to him, Shen Jinhuai asked.
Wen Yu looked at the vast sea before her and nodded: "Yes. It feels... very free."
What Wen Yu didn't say was that the sea in front of her made her feel very free, while the man quietly accompanying her beside her gave her an unprecedented sense of tranquility.
"I just like the sea."
Shen Jinhuai smiled slightly: "Once you're feeling better and the doctor says you can be discharged, we can go back to our own home. Our home is on this island."
"real?"
Wen Yu turned her head and looked at Shen Jinhuai in surprise.
"Yes, really."
Under the warm sunlight, the man's profile, gazing at the sea, was handsome and gentle. His eyelashes behind his gold-rimmed glasses were very long, his nose was straight, and the corners of his mouth had a natural, slightly upturned curve.
Noticing Wen Yu's gaze, the man turned his head, smiled at her, and looked at her with clear and open eyes.
Mr. Shen,
A warm feeling washed over Wen Yu, but after a moment's hesitation, she continued with that slightly awkward form of address: "You...don't you have to work?"
This man had an extraordinary air about him and was dressed impeccably; he didn't seem like someone who had plenty of time to stay in the ward day and night.
But he stayed by her side the whole time.
For Wen Yu, this was both a strange and heartwarming thing, and it also made her feel guilty and uneasy.
Wen Yu didn't want to owe anyone anything.
This is a burden for her.
The unease in her eyes was noticed by the man beside her.
Shen Jinhuai glanced down at Wen Yu's hands on her lap, and then his own hands on his lap twitched slightly.
After a moment's hesitation, the man said gently, "The work was arranged a long time ago. The company has hired a manager, so I basically don't need to be there. Besides..."
For some unknown reason, the man tentatively raised his hand and placed it above Wen Yu's head.
Seeing that she only looked up at his hand on her head with curiosity but did not resist, Shen Jinhuai's lips curled into an uncontrollable smile. He slowly lowered his hand from Wen Yu's head, gently ruffled her hair, and continued, "Moreover, seeing our Xiao Yu getting better day by day makes me feel more... worthwhile than handling any work."
“Xiaoyu, don’t feel any burden. Because…”
"For me, being able to stay by your side like this is the greatest fortune."
"I am the one who should thank you. Thank you for letting me stay by your side. Thank you for being able to stay by your side."
"Xiaoyu, you are not a burden to me."
"I hope you won't see me, your fiancé... as a burden."
Upon hearing this, Wen Yu was slightly taken aback.
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