0107 107 I don't believe in separation in this world
After a brief half-afternoon of sunshine, Xiayang was hit by another torrential downpour.
The raindrops launched another attack on the glass, but this time, a few frantic knocks were mixed in with the sound of rain.
The bodyguard could only see a tall figure in a black raincoat standing at the door from the side window. The raincoat clung tightly to the body in the wind, and the figure was also very thin.
He went upstairs to find Qi Shuyao, wandering around the entire second floor, only to hear suppressed, painful breathing from the bathroom at the far end.
The bodyguard carefully approached, and the people inside heard the noise. Qi Shuyao called out.
"Come in quickly and help me."
Pushing open the door, they found Song Yusheng vomiting uncontrollably over the toilet, with Qi Shuyao struggling to hold her waist from behind, though her nightgown was still stained with water.
The bodyguard helped Song Yusheng, whose legs had gone weak, to the bed before the two of them went downstairs.
"He was standing right by the door, and I couldn't see his face through the glass. He knocked on the door about every ten seconds, three times each time. It must have been some kind of code. I guess he was looking for Miss Song."
"Are you still knocking?"
"right."
"Open the door, but don't pull out your gun yet."
The bodyguard slowly opened the door, first cracking it open a little. The man stood outside without moving, and only came in after the entire door was open. Qi Shuyao peeked out from behind the bodyguard and saw the man raise his head, Yang Xun's face peeking out from under his raincoat, which startled her so much that she screamed.
"And her?"
"How did you get here? How did you know she was here?"
Yang Xun had lost weight and become darker-skinned. His hair was shaved extremely short, and his eye sockets were sunken. From a distance, he looked like a blackened skull.
He didn't want to say much to her. After circling the first floor and not finding her, he was about to go up to the second floor when Qi Shuyao stopped him at the top of the stairs.
"So it really was you in that video? You disappeared for years, and now that you've been exposed, you've come back?"
"Nothing I say will change anything. Fine, I won't go up. Tell her to come down."
"She doesn't want to see you. Tell me what's wrong, she can hear you."
Yang Xun paced anxiously on the ground, finally sitting down on the ground and wiping the water off his face.
"The person in that video is me, but I have never participated in those disgusting activities. Do you understand? Those men are all wealthy and powerful figures, but they can't expose the fact that they like men and play with men. They all have wives and children, yet they do things that are worse than animals. They play SM. The guy in that video, Brother Dashan, is the submissive. It's called a heterosexual relationship, but it's actually the dominant's mental control over the submissive, PUA, making them willingly be devoured, and they even think it's a sacrifice, a transformation..."
"What's the point of saying all this? Where are you? What are you doing? When did you go there? When did it start?"
“From the time my father was arrested, from the time I went on the run, those big shots couldn’t do anything themselves and needed middlemen. We were the ones who acted as pimps. There were always people willing to be manipulated, but they couldn’t find the right connections. I just took them to find the sellers.”
"They're no different from kidnappers."
"I didn't want to either."
"Don't want to? Then why did you do this? Who led you down this path? You couldn't have called to apply for the job yourself, could you?"
He seemed to be in great pain, unwilling and unable to speak, but when he looked up at Qi Shuyao's calm face, he realized that he hadn't seen her since they walked out of the high school gate together that day. She had also transformed from a willful and temperamental little princess into a mature adult, and it seemed that she could easily pull him out of his misery.
Yang Xun suddenly laughed, mocking himself. Everyone else was doing well, unlike him, who was unrecognizable.
"Before my dad was arrested, he gave me an address and told me to smuggle myself over there, find a contact, and do whatever job I could get. Survival is the most important thing."
Where are you in the world right now?
“Go east from Jingyang, cross the sea, and the boss there has contracted a mountain of mines, gold mines, silver mines, diamond mines, basically smuggling. He mainly works in the mines and goes out to pimp in his spare time.”
"Can't you do something that's legal?"
She gestured with her hand to indicate the map, then suddenly turned to look at the bodyguard.
"Was the ship that transported jade before from that direction?"
"Yes, it can't be the same place, can it?"
Yang Xun frowned and asked her,
"What jade? How do you know?"
"You knew about this too?"
"If you mean the two rough stones that were transported back mixed with oil, then I was the one who selected them and sent them over."
Qi Shuyao squatted down and looked him straight in the eye.
Do you know who your boss is?
"I don't know, he has never shown his face."
"But private mining is illegal there, and smuggling is a serious crime. Who could provide such protection, and who has connections with people back home?"
She felt as if she had grasped the very heart of the matter. She suddenly stood up, her vision blurred with excitement, and spun around several times while holding onto the stair railing, directing her bodyguard to call Qi Yu.
“Tell my dad all this first, and then tell him that I’m going abroad too.”
The bodyguards had all picked up their phones, but put them down again after hearing her words.
"No, Miss, the boss definitely won't agree to let you go abroad alone."
"If he disagrees with you coming with me, just say it quickly, don't waste a minute!"
Yang Xun left her a specific address and drew a map of the mountains. He looked at the stairwell for a long time, but left without saying anything.
Qi Shuyao hurriedly packed her luggage while dragging her suitcase. Song Yusheng walked out from behind the kumquat tree by the second-floor stairs. She looked somewhat lost, her eyes empty.
"Should I meet him?"
Qi Shuyao didn't even look up, answering indifferently.
"If you don't see him once, then don't see him. Judging from his appearance, he doesn't seem to be giving up. He was just a kid who hadn't entered society back then, so he wouldn't have been punished. There's no such thing as collective punishment now. I really don't know why he ran away. When he turns over a new leaf and comes back, you two will have plenty of time to meet. What are you afraid of?"
She wanted to laugh a couple of times to lighten the mood, but Song Yusheng neither laughed nor cried; she just remained expressionless, preoccupied with something on her mind.
Qi Shuyao assumed that she was thinking about the three of them, including Su Shaojin, so she didn't say anything and could only suppress her inappropriate smile.
By the window, the bodyguard walked over with his eyes downcast and carefully handed over a cell phone that was on a call.
She took a deep breath, took the phone, and held it to her ear.
Even with the phone pressed against her ear, she could feel its coldness; the chill went straight to her face.
"dad……"
"Come back, now."
Qi Yu's voice was devoid of any emotion, but it calmed Qi Shuyao down. She stood up straight and firmly denied it.
"Dad, don't worry about it. Just let me decide for myself this once. I've already come all this way to Xiayang on my own, what difference would it make if I went abroad?"
"This is not your business, you don't need to worry about it, just come back right now."
"How can it not be my business? Your business is my business. I have a feeling that I have grasped the core issue, but I just need to verify it. If I keep being led by what is in front of me, I will never find the core and the most important thing. Also, my sister, my younger sister, and you are all involved. I can't be out there alone. Trust me this once."
Qi Yu kept sighing, his breaths heavy and drawn out. She could hear the weariness in his voice, and his tone softened.
"Is Jingyang in complete chaos right now?"
"Su Changce has been taken into custody. He has gone mad and implicated many other people from all walks of life. It seems this earthquake is going to turn the world upside down."
"Actually, we don't need to worry about the others for now. Yang Xun told me that this video release was something they prepared, and they only had one purpose: to expose Su Changce's affairs. Think about who he has a grudge against? Or who he has blocked?"
Qi Yu stood in front of the pitch-black window, unable to see anything clearly. He slumped heavily back into the chair, rubbing his tired brow.
"Come back first. Back in Jingyang, I have something to tell you."
"Whatever it is, let's talk about it after I get back. This is an opportunity, and if we miss it, we'll never have another one."
"What if he's lying to you and just trying to lure you in?"
“I know Yang Xun fairly well. His image being exposed in the video was arranged by his superiors, and he couldn’t refuse. The main reason he came back this time was to explain to Song Yusheng that he didn’t participate in their disgusting things. Although he was an accomplice, he was also an observer. I’ll trust him one more time. Besides, he hasn’t actually lied to me.”
"So you absolutely have to go. Forget about your family, forget about me."
"What are you saying? It's not like I'm not coming back."
It was no use saying anything more. Alone in the empty room, he opened his mouth, uttering only one sentence:
"Take care of yourself. Don't let anything happen to you."
"You must not become their target either. Live, intact, still in that position, waiting for me to come back."
Before dawn, the three of them drove to the airport. Yang Xun couldn't show his face, but they could leave openly. Their flight was at 5:50 a.m., and there was still a long time before check-in. The bodyguards stood behind them, while Qi Shuyao and Song Yusheng sat side by side on the most iconic terrace of Xiayang Airport, looking up at the rising sun.
The sun rises very early in Xiayang, but tonight the night seems exceptionally long. There are many flights coming and going, and people come with their suitcases and leave with their suitcases. Here, it feels like both a farewell and a reunion.
A glimmer of light peeks out, the clouds outside the glass window are always so beautiful, and the huge signboard of the luxury store next door shines all night long, swaying in the wind.
People come and go in a hurry, and no one will stop for one person.
Song Yusheng kept her head down, looking downcast with misty eyes. Qi Shuyao casually put her arm around her shoulder and nuzzled against her.
"Don't be so sad! I'm just going on a business trip, I'll be back soon."
Will we ever see each other again?
"What are you saying? Are you kidding me?"
"Then you must take good care of yourself, no matter where you are. Don't forget."
"How could I forget you? I was even afraid you wouldn't remember me."
The airport security system was being upgraded. Qi Shuyao was about to go in before the sun had fully risen when Song Yusheng turned around and waved to her from afar.
The sunlight spilled out behind her, stretching her shadow long. Both her arms were raised and waving at her. The shadow, frozen on the ground, resembled a goddess statue protecting this land. Qi Shuyao especially loved her smiling face that day. She just smiled at her. She looked at her for a long, long time and kept thinking about her, her best friend.
The Earth is only so big, why can't we meet again?
Before boarding the plane, Qi Shuyao glanced at the news one last time. A sensational headline read: "National Security Bureau Director Yan Ming sentenced to prison for corruption."
Her thoughts drifted back to a long time ago, when she was just over ten years old, she had met Yanming's son at a banquet in Tangqian [1], and he said he had lost his love.
It was time to board the plane. Qi Shuyao tossed her phone into her bag, got up, and left.
[1] Yan Ming's son, Yan Yulou: The male protagonist of the upcoming novel "Smoke and Flowing Years: Corpse Parts".
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