Thirty-seven feathers
It was a cloudy day and a rainy night. Heavy rain poured down, rushing to reach the world, and the whole city was shrouded in dark clouds.
Students finishing school and adults getting off work, no one wanted to stay and they all ran home quickly.
In the dim room, Jiang Wanru curled up and hid in the gap between the bedside table and the curtains, covering her mouth tightly to prevent herself from making any sound. Her cheeks were deformed by her own pinching, and her body was covered with new wounds and old ones, but she didn't care at all.
The strong smell of blood filled the entire room, stirring every nerve in her body, mixed with helplessness, resentment, and even relief.
On the bed just two steps away from her, a woman who looked exactly like her was lying on the blood-soaked bed, twitching all over. Her eyes were wide open with unwillingness, and half of a wine bottle, which was smashed in half and had jagged ends, was stuck in her neck. Blood bubbles were bubbling from the place where the bottle was connected to her skin and flesh.
There was a whistle sound in the living room, sometimes far away, sometimes near, sometimes far away... erratic.
Jiang Wanru was shaking violently all over, her heart was beating so fast, as if it was rushing straight to her brain, her adrenaline continued to surge, and she felt like she would faint in the next second.
"Click—click—"
There was someone else in the room, and the sound of leather shoes stepping on the wooden floor lingered in Jiang Wanru's ears.
At that moment, she thought she was going to die.
Suddenly the footsteps stopped. Jiang Wanru closed her eyes tightly in fear, not daring to move or make a sound, and maintained this posture.
There was a rustling sound in her ears, but she didn't dare to look. Her nose was invaded by the smell of blood, and she was so numb that she had difficulty breathing.
After a moment of silence.
"Hey! Little guy, I finally found you!"
“Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha—”
Suddenly, a man's voice came from above Jiang Wanru's head, accompanied by a horrifying and unpleasant laugh.
"ah- -"
Little Jiang Wanru curled up, holding her head, trying to block out the harsh sound.
The man's body was also covered in blood, but his suit was straight and meticulous, forming a sharp contrast.
He grinned and reached out to grab Jiang Wanru's hair.
The little girl felt as if her scalp was about to fall off and it was burning with pain. She instinctively grabbed the place where her hair connected to her scalp, trying to relieve the intense discomfort.
"Let me go!" Jiang Wanru struggled.
The man was unable to lift her up completely, and Jiang Wanru's lower body was dragged on the ground, with the hot blood still staining her white calves.
The white floral dress seemed to be stained with the dye of large blood-red roses.
The crisp footsteps seemed to be beating the rhythm. The man dragged Jiang Wanru step by step towards the door, humming:
"Thunder roars, rain knocks on the window
Mom sleeps in the big bed with her eyes closed
Little feet, gently shake
Doll, come and play hide and seek
The wardrobe is open, dark and dark
I searched the room but it was empty.
The curtains flutter like clothes
The ribs of the umbrella are bent and fall to the side
Floral skirt, nowhere to hide
Hide and seek in the dark night
In the corner, the shadow is long
So you are here"
The sounds of struggling and crying sounded like a beautiful accompaniment to the man's ears, which aroused the desire in his heart without hesitation. The corners of his mouth widened and his laughter became louder. Thunder roared outside the window, but he was powerless to do anything through the window.
"That's my first child." Jiang Wanru explained calmly.
When Ye Linghan heard the statement that transcended time and did not belong to the childish voice of Jiang Wanru when she was little, he suddenly came back to his senses and looked at Jiang Wanru in shock, who was sitting in the driver's seat without any emotion.
It seemed as if all the emotions in her heart had been worn away by the years, or perhaps she was unwilling to reveal them, and they all turned into silent roars.
Ye Linghan wanted to speak, but his throat seemed to be strangled by someone's palm and he couldn't make a sound. He didn't know whether he should comfort her or just be a quiet bystander. It seemed that no matter what emotion he had, it was all swallowed up the moment he looked at Jiang Wanru.
For the first time, he hated himself for being so incompetent.
Jiang Wanru spoke slowly. She didn't care what the people around her thought of her. This matter had been buried for too long, and this was the first time she had the courage to recall it and speak it out.
"That year, I was ten years old."
Ten years old... She witnessed her mother's death with her own eyes, and even when she was dragged away by her father, her mother was still alive. However, she did not have the strength to save her mother and herself at the age of ten. At that time, Jiang Wanru was facing a man who was much stronger than herself, and she was unable to save herself.
Ye Linghan felt as if he was in a vortex of time and space, traveling through Jiang Wanru's broken and tragic memories.
"Why didn't you call the police?"
"Was it helpful?"
"It will be useful. The police will definitely help you."
"No, even if my mother died, he would just say it was a drunken mistake. He wouldn't get a sentence of many years. It's not proportional to the crimes he committed. And even if he was sentenced, my mother wouldn't survive, and I wouldn't be the same person anymore."
Jiang Wanru looked at Ye Linghan and finally smiled.
"Fortunately, I killed him. On that rainy night, while he was asleep, I pulled out the half-broken bottle from my mother's throat and stabbed it into the man's throat."
She said it so calmly.
"However, he didn't seem to feel any pain and died happily..."
Fortunately, he died.
This thought suddenly popped up in Ye Linghan's mind.
If there really is retribution, it should be in this life.
"From now on, you will never wear a skirt again, because the bloodstains belonging to two people are not only imprinted on the floral skirt, but also forever branded in your heart."
"Yes, I never wore a skirt again, because to me, it only brought hatred."
There were no other cars on the road, so the two of them were running freely.
"Then I had my second child."
"After killing him, I ran for my life. My shoes fell off, but I didn't care. My feet were rubbed and bleeding. It hurt a lot, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from that place, away from that space that made me sick."
"That road was really long, really long. I don't remember how far I ran. To be more precise, I don't know how far I ran."
As a qualified examiner, you should not inject emotions into any party, because that will affect objective judgment. Then there will be some criminal suspects disguised as victims, who will use psychological games and exploit this loophole to control the examiner's thinking by playing the victim. This is a fatal mistake.
But when Ye Linghan heard Jiang Wanru opening up her old scars, peeling off her flesh and showing it to him nakedly, he felt at that moment that he was not qualified to say the word "empathy". No words, no single word could replace the suffering she had endured.
The scars engraved on the heart can never heal.
He didn't dare to imagine how the ten-year-old Jiang Wanru survived when she was suffering tremendous torture both mentally and physically, with no one around to help her and no one to give her the right help when she was trapped in a desperate situation.
The mobile phone in Ye Linghan's pocket had become hot due to being on the phone for a long time. Liao Xihe, who was on the other end of the phone, was trembling all over, accompanied by Su Mo and Yao Qingluan, and his eyes were blurred with tears.
Jiang Wanru did not continue speaking, and it seemed that she had no intention of saying anything more. Her expression was very calm throughout the whole process. Even when she talked about the most heartbreaking thing, she did not show too much emotion. It was as if she was narrating a story that was so ordinary that it could not be more ordinary, as if it had nothing to do with her.
Her hands were tightly gripping the steering wheel, and her foot on the accelerator never released its grip.
Ye Linghan glanced at the dashboard and suddenly saw that the fuel gauge had returned to zero, which meant that if the car continued to drive at this high speed, it would stall halfway, and he didn't know how long this situation would last.
Obviously, Jiang Wanru also noticed this, but even so, she never thought of stepping on the brakes.
She raised her eyes and saw the car some distance away from her in the rearview mirror. Her expression relaxed rarely, revealing a genuine, heartfelt, loving smile, and even her eyes became gentle.
She knew the car was following her.
She is...
Ye Linghan carefully observed Jiang Wanru's every move, even her micro-expressions. When he looked at the rearview mirror through Jiang Wanru's gaze, he couldn't help but take a breath.
Jiang Wanru spoke slowly, "Ye Linghan, from the beginning to the end, I never intended to hurt you. On the contrary, I'm deeply grateful, because I can't express how much that person has done for me. The truth may be hard for you to accept, and I can't tell you, but I believe you have the right to know the whole story, because family ties are above all else."
"And to me, she is not like family, but better than family."
"Senior Sister! What do you mean by this?" Ye Linghan looked at the person next to him in surprise.
Why did she suddenly say this? Was this family affection referring to me? Or Liao Xihe? She knew his name. Duan Ran wouldn't have failed to investigate his background, so he would definitely know that he had been without parents since childhood.
But if it was said to Liao Xihe, this sentence must contain something she wanted to express to herself, but what could it be?
Ye Linghan was about to ask again when he suddenly felt a force on his hand. Jiang Wanru loosened one hand and pushed down Ye Linghan's hand that was holding the seat belt, buckling the seat belt into the slot.
Ye Linghan was startled, and before he could react, he felt the car body shaking violently from side to side. Fortunately, his seat belt was fastened in time, so he was not thrown out. All this happened too suddenly, leaving him no chance to breathe or react.
"Senior Sister, what are you doing?" Ye Linghan glanced at Jiang Wanru's slightly cool and slender palm covering the back of his hand, and looked at her in disbelief.
The violent shaking of the car body just now was also caused by the fact that the car was speeding and she couldn't use one hand to maintain the stability of the car body.
This is not right, her behavior is too abnormal. Ye Linghan frowned. At the necessary moment, she was actually trying her best to ensure her own safety.
He wanted to break free, but he didn't expect Jiang Wan's determination at this time was far beyond his imagination, as if she was determined to die.
I finally found someone to confide in about the resentment and bitterness in my heart, and it seems like there is nothing left to linger on.
But she deliberately left a suspense, arousing Ye Linghan's curiosity.
In a hurry, he glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that the distance between him and the car behind him was gradually shortening.
But before he could let down his guard, Jiang Wanru suddenly exerted force with her toes, and the car rushed out again, widening the distance between them and the car behind.
"Senior Sister! Stop now!" Ye Linghan shouted anxiously.
Jiang Wanru smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I can't stop anymore. Please take good care of Liao Xihe."
"No—" Before he could utter the word, Ye Linghan felt his hand lighten, and then saw Jiang Wanru suddenly release the accelerator and step on the brake. Every moment and every force used was just right.
As the car slowed down, Jiang Wanru suddenly turned the steering wheel sharply, causing the car body to drift smoothly and the front of the car to change direction instantly. Then, due to inertia, the car body moved horizontally and spun its tail, and the driver's seat suddenly hit the guardrail on the right.
She tried her best to protect Ye Linghan who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"Senior Sister!"
"Bang—"
It happened almost at the same time. Ye Linghan felt dizzy and his thoughts were interrupted by the powerful impact.
"mom!"
"Xiao Ye!"
Everything around him seemed to be in slow motion. In the last moment before Ye Linghan lost consciousness, he heard two calls.
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