Chapter 46 Crocodile
Chapter 46
After Zhang Jinzhi hung up the phone, he leaned down slightly, supported his knees, and turned his head to look at Chen Wan.
Seeing through the undisguised hatred in her eyes, he grinned playfully, "Why, is this the expression you make when you see your father?"
When Chen Wan heard the word "Dad", his struggling stopped and he was bound by invisible ropes.
She slowly turned her gaze and looked at the cold tombstone in front of her.
Sunlight poured onto the tombstone, creating a colorful halo around the edge. Chen Wan subconsciously closed his eyes, and only after a while could he clearly see the black and white photo in the center of the tombstone.
It is said that daughters look like their fathers, so when Chen Wan saw the well-defined double eyelids in the photo, he suddenly remembered the poem in the book.
Things are different, people are different, everything is over, tears come before words.
When she and Chen Shan went out together when they were little, everyone joked that they looked like they were biological children.
They were once the most important blood relatives in the world, but now they are separated by the Yin and Yang, without even saying goodbye to each other properly.
Chen Wan subconsciously wanted to touch the tombstone, his fingertips moved slightly, but then he bent them silently.
If she counted carefully, she and Chen Shan had not seen each other for three years and two months. In this moment of hesitation, she couldn't even remember what he looked like the last time she saw him.
In the photo, he has clear eyebrows and a gentle and reserved smile.
Chen Wan recalled in his mind for a long time, connecting this appearance with the time six years ago.
Ever since Chen Shan started taking drugs, he has never laughed like this again.
It was obvious that he chose to sink into depravity in order to make himself feel better and to obtain illusory and fleeting happiness, but he never laughed sincerely again.
If you pursue too much the feelings you once had, you will end up with nothing.
"Chen Shan, I've brought your daughter here." Zhang Jinzhi also stared at the photo, then glanced at Chen Wan. Seeing her lost in thought, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Don't you have anything to say? You won't cry?"
Chen Wan looked away indifferently. "You didn't bring me here to see a father-daughter show of affection, did you? And you deliberately brought the police here. Do you want more people to watch your self-directed and self-acted show?"
She looked at Zhang Jinzhi again, her eyes raised, her dark pupils focused with a faint light, and her eyes were like a sharp wild cat.
"What do you want to do?"
Zhang Jinzhi heard this, hummed a sigh, rubbed his knees, stood up a little straighter, and looked down at her condescendingly. "You and your father are quite similar in some ways. You both don't know what's good for you."
"After he was released from prison, you, as his daughter, ignored him. I took him to the hospital for treatment. But he saw that I was in trouble and sold me to the police."
Listening to his banter, Chen Wan felt like he was listening to the fable of the farmer and the snake, except that the storyteller was a snake.
The temperature in the afternoon was already scorching, and kneeling on the brick surface that was gradually becoming scorching hot was painful and numb, which deepened the physical and mental torment.
Zhang Jinzhi still looked at Chen Wan, observing the changes in her expression.
Chen Wan looked back, not wanting to be outdone. His pure black pupils gradually became thinner, reflecting a sharp light.
She thought she would see a smug face, but when she saw Zhang Jinzhi's expression, she felt a little surprised.
He took off his exaggerated sunglasses and no longer looked imposing. There was a hint of compassion in his expression.
His eyebrows were drooping, forming a few wrinkles, and red bloodshot could be vaguely seen in the whites of his eyes.
There was a struggle in his dull eyes.
There is a silent sense of desolation in the corners of the eyebrows and eyes, and the more realistic it is, the more hypocritical it appears.
They are crocodile tears.
Chen Wan silently shifted his gaze to the bouquet of white chrysanthemums in front of the tombstone.
The white petals were curled up, and the dark green stems and leaves had turned a withered dark green due to dehydration, appearing to be dying under the bright sunlight.
The scorching afternoon sun shone directly on Chen Wan, causing waves of burning pain in his bound wrists.
The beads of sweat dripping down his forehead ran across his eyelids, making his vision even more cloudy and dim.
Fatigue and pain, like scorching waves, repeatedly washed over Chen Wan's will. She was dazed and recalled the phone call just now.
"Where is Chen Wan?"
He asked twice, each time with a different breath and tone.
Sound after sound, from suppression to explosion, muffled thunder turns into huge waves.
It was the first time she heard Lin Yu's voice so angry. He was usually very gentle, like a stable tree or a calm lake.
He was her safe haven, a place where her fragile emotions could rest.
But it was all because of me that he was dragged into this ridiculous trap.
Put him in unknown risks.
Chen Wan calculated the time and found that Lin Yu should be on his way to the cemetery.
She bit her cheek, feeling the faint taste of blood in her mouth, and her throat seemed to be blocked by a dark cloud.
He clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms, using the pain to suppress his surging emotions.
Expectations and uneasiness form a mess of contradictory thoughts.
Zhang Jinzhi put on his sunglasses again and said casually, "That policeman has a strong sense of justice. The voice he just raised on the phone really scared me."
"Aren't you curious about what's wrong with what I just said?"
Chen Wan didn't answer. Then her hair was lifted up. Zhang Jinzhi pulled it hard twice and said in a cold voice, "Speak."
The light suddenly became much brighter. She closed her eyes, and the salty sweat soaked her eyes, bringing a dense stinging sensation.
"Your personality is exactly like your father's." Seeing that she was not shaken at all, Zhang Jinzhi loosened his grip and smiled after a moment. "I know you hate me. Now you probably want to kill me because you think I'm the one who caused your father to this point."
"But have you ever considered that your father's repeated drug use and imprisonment are also due to your contribution? You think he is not a competent father, but what about you? Are you a qualified daughter?"
He spoke slowly, and every word was like a sharp saw, cutting into Chen Wan's psychological defenses.
"What do you mean?" She looked up, her eyes through the dark lenses, and saw his teasing look.
Zhang Jinzhi licked his lips, drawling out his words like a clown with exaggerated acting skills. "When your mother got sick, it almost wiped out your family's savings. Cancer is a bottomless pit. How much money can your father, a university professor, have? His savings are just a drop in the bucket."
"If I hadn't lent your family money, your mother would have died much earlier. You should thank me. I'm your family's benefactor."
"You are...the benefactor of our family?" Chen Wan felt anger gradually rising, blocking his throat, and his voice became hoarse and fragmented.
The scorching sunlight fell on her transparent irises, rendering a colorful halo, and a feeling of dizziness violently attacked her mind.
Zhang Jinzhi saw her finally shed her feigned composure and reveal her vulnerability. He smiled with satisfaction, squatted down, and looked her in the eye. "Most of the money for your mother's treatment was borrowed from me by your father. He wanted to borrow money at high interest rates to pay for your mother's surgery, but he was ripped off and nearly beaten to death in an alley. After that, he had to hide out for over half a month. Did you know about this?"
Seeing the increasingly obvious red bloodshot in Chen Wan's eyes, he continued to criticize her, "You don't know, do you think it's because of me that you lost your good father?"
"But do you know how much your father has suffered in places you can't see in order to be a good husband and a good father? I helped you and him, you should thank me."
"After your mother passed away, he became depressed. He had to pretend to be a good father and a good teacher during the day, and hang out in the pub drinking until dawn at night. How tiring it was."
"I let him try some medicine, and that's how he managed to live like a human being."
Chen Shan chose to paralyze himself, exchanging his humble dignity for the abyss of sin and obtaining illusory happiness.
After he finished speaking, Chen Wan was stunned for a while, and the image of Chen Shan in his memory gradually became clearer.
She recalled that when her mother was seriously ill, she rarely saw her father in the hospital or at home.
He always went out to work before dawn, and then came home late at night. After giving her a few words of advice, he fell asleep.
Therefore, most of the time Chen Wan went to the hospital alone to take care of his mother.
At that time, she hated Chen Shan very much, thinking that he didn't care about his family or his mother at all, and only had work in his mind and eyes.
Even on the day his mother died, not long after the funeral, he returned to work and was still busy.
Chen Wan felt that his father, who used to be gentle and kind, had become more and more unfamiliar, like a man trapped in a bag, closed and dull.
So she began to distance herself from her father, and at the same time she wanted to gain attention in this childish way.
However, she didn't expect that it would backfire. When she wanted to reconcile with him, Chen Shan had already become addicted to drugs.
As a result, the family relationship was completely broken and became a topic of conversation in the alley.
Zhang Jinzhi was right. Chen Shan was not a good father, and she was not a good daughter.
Just like what she felt when Chen Shan called her before, she hated being abandoned, but now she was just very incompetent.
He is unable to take any responsibility, nor can he bring peace of mind to others. He just keeps creating trouble.
"You want me to thank you for helping my dad with drugs? If it weren't for you, my dad wouldn't have gotten involved in drugs. You're the one who's prolonging this pain." Chen Wan gritted his teeth and said, "Stop trying to be so righteous and flatter yourself. Just because you lent money to my mom for medical treatment and did a few good things, you're calling yourself a good person?"
"You said my dad and I were ungrateful, what about you?" She said this coldly, tilting her head back to let the stagnant air in her throat flow more freely. Her expression was indifferent. "If my dad hadn't saved you back then, wouldn't you have been beaten to death? Who is the one who is ungrateful?"
Hearing her talk about the past, Zhang Jinzhi narrowed his eyes slightly and his thoughts paused for a while.
The matter between him and Chen Shan dates back many years.
At that time, Chen Shan was still a poor student. After graduating from the college entrance examination, he went to the city where the university was located.
I used my connections to find a job as an assembly line worker to save up living expenses for school.
He is a security guard in a bar, walking on the edge of the dark society.
Both of them were short of money, so they became roommates in a dilapidated low-rent apartment.
They lived unrelated lives. Occasionally, Chen Shan would leave a portion for him when he cooked, and he didn't show his bad temper too much, so they still had a harmonious relationship.
The friendship arose because Zhang Jinzhi borrowed money from everywhere, but was unable to fill the hole, so his creditors came to him.
He threatened to kill him if he didn't pay back the money.
In the end, Chen Shan advanced his salary to pay back part of Zhang Jinzhi's debt, saving him from losing his life.
"You keep saying that you helped my dad live a normal life again, but in reality, you're just dark inside and want to drag everyone else down with you." Chen Wan stared at him intently, his contemptuous eyes piercing through his high-sounding facade. "You just can't stand seeing others live better than you. Stop pretending to be a savior. It's really disgusting."
It is much easier to destroy a weak person than to defeat a strong person.
The darker you are, the more despicable you are, and you will drag others into the same quagmire as you.
"I didn't realize you were so sharp-tongued." Zhang Jinzhi didn't get angry but laughed instead. He took out a pistol, turned it around casually, and pointed the black muzzle at Chen Wan's eyes.
Chen Wan stared at the dark cave entrance, his nerves tensing up a bit. However, he didn't want to appear cowardly in front of Zhang Jinzhi, so he straightened his back instead. "You won't kill me. If you really wanted to kill me, there wouldn't be such a big hassle."
Zhang Jinzhi narrowed his eyes slightly and put away his hypocritical smile.
His finger lightly gripped the trigger, and he pushed it forward a few more inches. He stared at Chen Wan and said in a cold tone, "I don't really like smart-aleck kids like you. I'm not happy talking to you, so I'm going to change my mind."
"But before that, I have something I want to talk to this young police officer about."
His gaze passed Chen Wan and fell not far away.
Lin Yu's figure walked out from behind the crisscrossing tombstones and gradually approached.
......
The cemetery is located in the suburbs, built on a mountain. Many stone tablets are erected on half of the mountain, showing the symbol of death.
The fierce sunlight shining on the marble monuments in rows and rows makes the scene even more desolate.
Everything was shrouded in suffocating silence.
Lin Yu got out of the car, checked the condition of his guns and equipment again and again, took a deep breath, and walked towards the entrance of the cemetery.
On the way here, he thought of many worst-case scenarios. Every time he thought of them, his heart would contract violently, causing severe pain. Fear was like an invisible hand gripping him tightly.
Now that I have really come here and am getting closer and closer to Chen Wan, I clearly want to see her quickly, but my legs feel as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
"They're coming." Zhang Jinzhi stood up straight, and the cold, dark muzzle of his gun moved to Chen Wan's head. He said slowly, "Don't move. I can't guarantee the probability of an accidental discharge."
Chen Wan couldn't look back at Lin Yu. He knelt in humiliation in front of the tombstone and saw a blurry shadow slowly appearing on the smooth stone tablet.
As the shadow approached, her heart gradually rose to her throat.
The anticipation was satisfied, but the anxiety surged up again.
It's like standing on the edge of a cliff but holding a straw in your hand.
Lin Yu saw Chen Wan kneeling in the scorching sun, his thin shoulders trembling silently.
From his angle, he could see her wide-open eyes filled with moisture.
The hand holding the gun gradually stiffened, and the protruding finger bones were like undulating mountains.
His eyes were deep and dark, concealing a sharp edge.
"I came here to talk to you. It's inappropriate to hold a gun, right?" Zhang Jinzhi looked at him, raised his eyelids, and showed a sarcastic smile.
Lin Yuleng's gaze slowly fell on Zhang Jinzhi's hand holding the gun. After trying his best to suppress his anger, he said in a deep voice, "It's not appropriate for you to have a conversation with a gun in hand, right?"
"Then let's each take a step back." Zhang Jinzhi put on a good-natured look, raised his hand frivolously, and shifted his target, pointing the black muzzle of the gun at Lin Yu. "Take you hostage."
The sniper angle moved down to Lin Yu's hand holding the gun. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Put it down."
Lin Yu clenched his back teeth and his vision became much sharper.
He glanced at Chen Wan's back, took a deep breath, and placed the pistol at his feet. After kicking it away, he raised his hands to his ears and said, "Let her go first. We are all men. Don't be so shameless."
Before Zhang Jinzhi could say anything, he was suddenly hit on the knee. He staggered a few steps and finally stood firm.
Then he saw Chen Wan slowly getting up, and her eyes gradually brightening.
He snorted coldly, pulled her up and stood up straight, then took a few steps back into the shadow of the dense forest behind him, putting some distance between himself and Lin Yu.
His left hand clamped Chen Wan's slender neck, his right hand still holding the gun, his eyes half-closed, adjusting the aiming range.
"Do you want to know how your father died?" His sinister tone made Chen Wan's scalp tingle.
"If you don't want to, let me go!" She glared at Zhang Jinzhi fiercely, "You lunatic."
"Let me tell you who killed your father." He ignored Chen Wan's words, his right hand gradually raised, the muzzle of the gun pointed at Lin Yu's eyebrows. "It was him. After he met with your father that day, your father's condition worsened that night. He was sent to the emergency room for a whole day, but he still died."
Chen Wan's struggles gradually slowed down, and every word he said was like a dark tide pouring into his empty heart.
Zhang Jinzhi smiled, his eyes wide open, his face grim, and he roared in a hoarse voice, "He killed your father. Do you think the police are good people? We are all beasts in human skin."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu stood there in a daze, feeling the scorching sunlight above his head turning into a cold blizzard pressing down on him.
In an instant, it was like falling into an icy cave.
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