"I..." Mu Yiran was speechless after being bombarded with two questions in a row.
Is it because of embarrassment?
I still don't know how to face Shi Youxi.
Mu Yiran knew she seemed too conflicted, so she chose to run away.
She didn't know how to forgive Shi Youxi, or rather, how to convince herself to forgive Shi Youxi.
Shi Jie subtly accused her of being too harsh on Shi Youxi.
yes...
Why.
Why, when it's the person I care about most?
Seeing her struggling and confused expression, Lin Zhi's eyes suddenly went blank. "...It shouldn't be like this."
Mu Yiran didn't want to talk about it, so she stiffly changed the subject, "How...did you recognize me?"
They recognized her as Cheng Ran.
"I didn't recognize you." Lin Zhi shook her head and smiled, her eyes filled with the woman's face, which still felt unfamiliar in her memory, but...
"Because we have the same look in our eyes."
"What?"
Lin Zhi suddenly recalled, "The way the president looked at you back then."
Actually, Lin Zhi's memory of Shi Youxi was quite vague, but after meeting the woman named Mu Yiran again that night, Lin Zhi kept recalling that inexplicably blurred memory from the last part of high school.
She remembers how she was carried out of the collapsed hotel.
I remember who was watching her when she woke up.
I remember how Shi Youxi brought about the downfall of his stepmother, Cheng Ran.
I remember how Shi Youxi, such an arrogant person, lowered his head and asked each of the students at the school, just to prove that someone had ever existed.
I remember how Shi Youxi hacked all the links and videos related to the college entrance examination that year, just to link her name with the college entrance examination keywords, so that only one person could see it.
I remember how Shi Youxi dug for three days with his bare hands just to dig out those gifts that had already turned into rubble.
What she remembers most clearly is the first time she saw Shi Youxi running towards a woman with a smile in the gymnasium.
"The way he looked at you on stage that night was exactly the same as back then. Even if others couldn't tell, I could."
Lin Zhi smiled and lowered her head, saying something only she could hear:
"Because that's how I look at him too..."
It can be as straightforward as it can be obscure.
No one knows better than her how much you like someone, or how much you have to be persistent to look at someone like that.
Lin Zhi blinked her blurry vision, "...If you really like him, then don't avoid him."
"You shouldn't say hurtful things to the person you love..."
"No one knows if this will turn into your farewell to him."
“............”
As if the long-awaited night was awakened by the sound of a gunshot from the sky, Mu Yiran felt a sudden, sharp pain spreading from the corner of her heart, as if the bullet that had passed through Shi Youxi's body had now pierced through her body.
Mu Yiran stared blankly at Lin Zhi's retreating figure, her eyes inexplicably reddening.
Only after Lin Zhi's figure had disappeared from sight did Mu Yiran turn her gaze back to the hospital room door, which had remained open.
She looked at the sliver of light leaking out from the ground.
Little did she know, the people inside were also watching the tiny shadow of her peeking out onto the ground.
...
After that, Mu Yiran would only visit the man in the hospital when he was unconscious. The two of them tacitly maintained this way of getting along, as if waiting for someone to take the initiative to break the deadlock.
But Mu Yiran didn't expect that before this, not only did Shi Youxi suddenly return to the capital after being discharged from the hospital, but Li Bingcheng also brought her other news.
News about her parents.
Because Helian Xin is suspected of involvement in domestic and international underground sex trafficking and pimping, Mu Yiran has recently been followed by some reporters. Some of them even found out about the neighborhood where Mu Yiran and Zhou Yuan live together. As a result, Mu Yiran has recently returned to the manor that Shi Youxi bought. It is not easy for her to travel. The two met at a private house. Before entering the house, she seemed to see Lu Tingyi's car.
The entire private room was booked, and Mu Yiran saw Li Bingcheng as soon as she entered.
"You're here. Was the journey safe?" Li Bingcheng pushed the hot milk tea in front of her.
Mu Yiran nodded. "Yes, the police issued a statement today, so the reporters shouldn't be paying attention to me."
Li Bingcheng was well aware of this. "The fact that HG's operations were shut down by the procuratorate is probably related to this club incident, especially since they also investigated cities like Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong..." He looked at Mu Yiran's expression and raised an eyebrow: "He did it all, didn't he?"
"I heard he was injured at the club? How is he? Is he alright?"
“............”
Mu Yiran's hand froze, and she couldn't help but recall the dream she had last night.
Because of Shi Youxi's sudden departure, coupled with a vivid dream of a man shooting at her, she is now very uneasy.
Setting down her teacup, Mu Yiran smiled and changed the subject, "Well... he's fine. Uncle Bingcheng, what exactly is it you wanted to talk about?"
"....."
Without missing the gloom and evasion that flashed in her eyes, Li Bingcheng changed his mind and did not ask any more questions about Shi Youxi.
Without wasting words, he simply placed a USB drive in front of her. "This is what you had that British kid investigate. It's Qi Qiulin's transaction records with various private buyers in London. I've seen it, and there's even a video in it. Although it can't directly determine her behavior, once it's exposed, her buyers in the UK will immediately abandon her. It's a significant weakness."
Speaking of Candice, Mu Yiran suddenly remembered that this person should have come to find her on the day the recording ended. "Why would he let you hand him over to me?"
Lee Byung-seung: "Do you know his brother? He was the Speaker of the Senate last year."
Mu Yiran recalled what Shi Youxi had said: according to the timeline, it should have been five years ago that the Candice family intended to put their eldest son in the upper house, but he only actually took office last year?
"His brother also appears in that video, and it seems that his brother also knows that his younger brother is investigating his scandal."
Mu Yiran was shocked. "This...he gave this to me?!"
"It's unclear, and it's easy for aristocratic politicians like them to get away with it. The only question is whether the unedited version of his intentions to you was to sacrifice family for the greater good... or for some other reason."
Li Bingcheng shrugged. "But since he gave it to you, there's no need to worry about it. Take the contents back and make a backup. Leave the rest to me."
After Mu Yiran finished packing her things, Li Bingcheng asked with a calm expression, "Do you still remember your parents' former driver... Cong Nianhua?"
Mu Yiran nodded, "Uncle, of course I remember."
Speaking of this person, Mu Yiran inexplicably recalled that not long after she confessed her feelings to Shi Youxi, the two of them went to the Mu residence to tidy up. Mu Yiran even showed Shi Youxi a family photo. Because it was a stranger's face, and she was holding a picture of Mu Yiran as a child, the man asked her questions repeatedly.
Mu Yiran still vividly remembers what that guy said that day.
"Envious? Why?"
"If you envy me for having so many family photos, I can take some with you too. After all, I've been a mom, so it's not impossible for Qianqian to be your dad as well."
"...It's not that I envy that."
"What is that?"
The man's eyes were full of affection as he embraced her from behind. In that moment, it felt as if she had found her whole world, and he had found his whole world in return.
"I envy them for being able to love you for so many more years than I have, and I envy them for being loved by you for so many more years than I have."
"But it's okay, sister. I will live a few more years to make up for all the years that Mom and Dad owed you, and you, you must also live a few more years with me to make up for all the love I missed."
"Sister, I like you, and my love for you will last forever, but I also want you to love me... even if it's just for a short time."
"...Then you'd better live well and see if my love for you lasts long enough."
"…………"
She never imagined that one day her warm memories would become so painful and piercing. Mu Yiran swallowed hard, suppressing the bitterness.
Composing herself, she continued speaking to Lee Byung-seung:
“He was a security guard at the orphanage before my dad was adopted. Because he took special care of my dad, he came to work for my dad after the orphanage closed down. After the incident, he said he had found his family and left Haishi.”
At that time, Mu Yiran was too busy taking care of herself to pay attention to such trivial matters.
"Why did you ask about him, Uncle Cheng? Are you close to him?"
Lee Byung-seung paused for a few seconds, then said, "We're not close. I specifically looked up information about him this time. He immigrated to Australia, has leukemia, and doesn't have much time left. I saw him at the hospital."
He didn't continue speaking, but instead pushed an MP3 player with a small card inserted in front of Mu Yiran.
Mu Yiran's breath hitched, and her whole body tensed up.
She knew what it meant for Lee Byung-seung to tell her so directly that he was going to investigate the people and events of that year, and it also meant what she would face next.
She licked her dry lips and reached out her cold hand to turn on the voice recorder.
A lifeless voice came out:
“Ranran…Miss, I am Nianhua. I’m so sorry that it’s taken me so long to tell you this. It’s karma. I’m paying the price for hiding the truth back then. Consider it my way of atoning for my sins. I hope what I’m saying can help you.”
"Back then... Yanze and Xiaoqie's car accident wasn't an accident... it was a premeditated murder plotted by Wen Zaosi's family and outsiders!"
"…………"
Mu Yiran's ears rang, and she quickly covered her mouth.
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