Chapter 203 Brave Legal Guardians
Su Xiaonuan looked at him and for a moment seemed to see her adoptive father. After a long while, she slightly curved her lips, touched her rapidly beating heart, her eyes curved into crescents, and nodded vigorously: "Mm!"
She knew that this was Lu Zheng.
He may appear cold and hard, but he is more tender and upright than anyone else at heart.
He will not shirk responsibility, nor will he be swayed by emotions and lose his principles.
He will find the most difficult path, but the one he can be most at peace with.
Lu Yuntian watched his nephew and Su Xiaonuan interact silently from the side, a faint, gratified smile seemingly passing across his serious face.
He turned his head and whispered something to his young assistant beside him, who wore silver-rimmed glasses and had remained silent.
Assistant Cao Rongyan Yue nodded slightly, and the formulaic smile on his lips seemed a little more genuine.
He pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses sweeping thoughtfully over Su Xiaonuan, then at Lu Zheng's hand tightly holding hers, before lowering his eyes to conceal all his emotions.
The storm seemed to have subsided, and the sun shone again into the municipal bureau.
But everyone knows that some scars are already etched, and some people can never go back to the way they were before.
But life, and the struggle against evil, continues.
Life seemed to be back on track.
The sun still rises every day, the city remains bustling and busy, and the leaves of the plane trees in front of the municipal bureau are beginning to turn yellow and fall.
Some returned, while others remained forever in the darkness of that deep sea, or perhaps, stopped at some moment in the past.
On a crisp autumn morning, Su Xiaonuan went to the cemetery on the outskirts of the city alone.
Anran's grave was chosen in a quiet corner. The tombstone is a simple black granite, inlaid with a photo of her wearing a lawyer's robe, with a cool smile and a firm gaze.
Below the photo are engraved a simple name and dates of birth and death, along with a line of small print: "A brave guardian of the law, a sincere friend."
Su Xiaonuan knelt down in front of the tombstone, holding a bunch of white lisianthus that An Ran loved most.
She gently brushed away the dust that wasn't actually in the photo with her fingertips, just like she used to occasionally tidy up Anran's slightly messy hair.
“Anran, I’ve come to see you.” She said softly, her voice barely audible in the quiet cemetery. “That Madam Bai who harmed you has been caught. And the Sacred Heart Society, they did so many bad things, and they’re being dealt with now… Although, this won’t bring you back.”
She paused, put the flowers down, and sat down cross-legged, not caring whether the grass clippings on the ground would soil her pants.
"You know what? My stall business is booming now. I even have fans. People online call me the 'Mysterious Chef Stall Owner,' isn't that funny? Qin Haoran always brings his team here to freeload, always on credit. He's shameless... Sister Zhao Liyue came back from that joint mission. She's lost some weight, but she's even more beautiful now. She said she has to come here to get a ton of food before her next mission... And Lu Zheng..."
When Lu Zheng was mentioned, Su Xiaonuan's voice softened involuntarily, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.
"He's still the same, serious, always frowning, as if the whole world owes him money. But... he's actually quite thoughtful. He remembers that I don't like the spot where the sun shines directly on my stall, and when I'm busy running around, he silently helps me pack things, collect money, and keep order... Although his face is still expressionless, I can feel it."
She picked up a sycamore leaf that had fallen beside the tombstone and gently twirled it in her hand.
“Sometimes I feel like life is just slowly moving forward. But sometimes, when I look up and see the newly opened milk tea shop on the street corner, I remember you always complaining that I put too much sugar in my milk tea; or when I pass by the bookstore we used to go to, I remember your silly look as you curled up on the sofa reading a professional book and fell asleep... and a piece of my heart feels empty.”
“But don’t worry,” Su Xiaonuan looked up at Anran’s eyes in the photo, as if she could draw strength from that frozen smile, “I will be fine. With your seriousness about life, your sincerity towards friends, and… that silly persistence in justice, let’s live well together.”
She sat by the grave for a long time, rambling on and on about everything from the recent weather to her newly researched recipes, and then to the latest funny incident involving that mischievous little girl, Xu Youyou. It wasn't until the sun rose higher and the cemetery gradually filled with people that she stood up and dusted off her trousers.
"I'll come see you again next time and bring you some freshly made almond tofu. I'm sure you'll like it." She touched the cold tombstone one last time before turning and leaving.
His silhouette stretched long in the autumn sunlight, appearing somewhat lonely, yet standing ramrod straight.
A few days later, Lu Zheng drove Su Xiaonuan to a mental hospital in the suburbs.
The trees lining the road had lost most of their leaves, their bare branches pointing towards the gray sky, creating a somewhat bleak atmosphere.
The white buildings of the mental hospital stood out starkly against the empty suburbs, appearing both striking and chilling.
After strict registration and inspection, they were led by medical staff through quiet corridors filled with the smell of disinfectant to a special ward area with a small courtyard.
Through the thick, explosion-proof glass window, they saw Qin Haochu.
He was wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown, sitting on a bench in the courtyard with his back to them.
His hair was a bit long and hung down in a mess. He was looking down at his hands, muttering something under his breath.
Occasionally, he would suddenly look up, reveal a gentle yet eerie smile to an empty corner, and whisper, "Anran, look, don't the clouds today look like the island you said you'd take me to last time?"
Or he might suddenly stand up, pace back and forth anxiously, his eyes vacant and frantic, waving his arms at the air: "No! No! This isn't how the script goes! Anran should be here! She promised me! She can't leave! She can't!"
The calm, composed, and gentle forensic expert of the past is completely gone.
At this moment, he was just a patient who had been completely overwhelmed by immense loss and guilt, his soul trapped in a cage of his own self-woven obsession.
Su Xiaonuan's nose instantly stung with tears.
She instinctively tightened her grip on Lu Zheng's hand.
Lu Zheng's hand was steady as he gripped hers, conveying silent support.
His gaze fell on Qin Haochu, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
He wasn't particularly close to Qin Haochu, but as a fellow man, he could somewhat understand that deep-seated pain and madness.
However, understanding does not equate to agreement.
Qin Haochu loved in the wrong way, ultimately harming himself and others, and even dragging An Ran down with him...
"The doctor said his condition fluctuates, and his cognition is mostly confused. He only remembers fragments related to An Ran, good and bad, mixed together, repeatedly tormenting him. He's not very aggressive, but he refuses treatment and is immersed in his own world," the nurse leading the way explained in a low voice. "The family... An's family is too busy to come right now. Officer Qin comes often, but his brother doesn't seem to recognize him very well each time."
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