0114 114 It always rains in Changgang
Qi Shuyao can't quite remember why she left her daughter with Shu Li back then. Looking back, it was probably because she had witnessed Qi Yu's protectiveness towards his daughter, which always affected his judgment. She herself was already a burden, and if she brought back an even smaller burden, it would put him in a difficult position. In addition, her grandparents had expectations for her child that were beyond her imagination, so she took a gamble and believed that blood ties could overcome certain things.
Now all of that has been overturned. He has now ascended to the highest position, and blood ties have become the most useless connection for the Shu family. But she is now powerless to bring her daughter back.
She must not remember what she looks like now; she doesn't even know her name.
She was powerless to rush to Shu Li's house and snatch the child back, nor did she have the courage to tell Qi Yu that their child was still alive. Everything was in chaos because of her own cleverness. She didn't know why things had turned out this way.
Why isn't Qi Yu answering her calls? What happened in Jingyang? Where is Tu Mi now? Where did Xu Mei go? Is Li Qing able to stand up now? Why isn't Sister Xiao Lan answering her calls either?
All the strange things came together to create a bizarre balance; at least everyone was still alive in this situation. She dared not cause the slightest disturbance, for fear of making another mistake.
She had no choice but to compromise and agree to what Shu Li said.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, don't go back to Jingyang, just stay there quietly."
"Why……"
Shu Li hung up the phone, and no matter how many phones or numbers she tried, she couldn't get through.
On the sun-drenched street, Qi Shuyao shivered violently, just as a deafening sound erupted from the street.
This year is coming to an end, and tomorrow will be the start of a new year.
Jingyang, at night.
The year in Jingyang has ended, and while the streets are still quiet, Qi Yu's room has long been completely silent.
He now lives in a square room that connects to other rooms on all four sides, and each room is guarded.
He had become a complete puppet, a prisoner.
Clutching a small rag doll that Qi Shuyao had casually sewn at home, he kept repeating a phrase to himself as if possessed.
"I don't want any of this anymore, I don't want any of it."
It was all an illusion. When he woke up and opened his eyes again, his Yao Yao was still a tiny little girl nestled in his arms, looking at him with big eyes. He picked her up and turned to run towards the peaceful world. He would not meet Shu Li or anyone else. From then on, he severed ties with Xu Mei and the Shu family. It was just the two of them. He carried her far away, not returning to Jingyang, and kept heading south.
He can only force himself to fall asleep with fantasies.
Qi Shuyao stared at the calendar turning to the new year. She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, and listed all the information she knew, trying to guess what would happen next.
The Lin family is gone, the Gu family is gone, and Jiang Yu said that Lin Bai is still unconscious. The doctor has changed the "minor brain injury" on his medical record to "may result in a vegetative state". Even if he wakes up, he is unlikely to get involved in the public eye. The only uncertain factors now are the Pei family and the Shen family that he is impersonating.
Of all the people, the only one she could contact was Song Yusheng. She had been relaying what Shen Yan had been doing in Changgang, but it was nothing more than his daily life taking care of the children, and he rarely even went to the company anymore.
Qi Shuyao still believes that the Pei family's ultimate goal is to put Shen Yan, also known as Pei Yuan, in power. However, apart from the four rusty dragons, she currently has no other evidence that Shen Yan has ambitions. If she wants to get involved, she must start with Pei Yuzhou.
She stood up and saw the communicator on the table. Sure enough, things that go too smoothly always go wrong. She was no longer worried about being discovered by anyone when she met Pei Yuzhou, but she had completely lost faith in him.
All the news sent from China to Pei Yuzhou would first be gathered by Tong Kai. He must have withheld a lot of information, such as that Pei Youwen had already broken up with Tu Mi and lost their child.
Qi Yu once taught her that no matter what she did, she should never go through intermediaries or middlemen, but should take the initiative herself. She also decided to bypass Tong Kai and go directly to that building to find Pei Yuzhou first thing tomorrow morning, using the information she knew to find out what he didn't know.
Her tense mind suddenly relaxed, and she felt like she was floating. She didn't plan to eat dinner, so she just lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. Naturally, she didn't hear Qin Zhuohan's footsteps coming in to check on her or the sound of the door closing.
The next morning, Qi Shuyao took Chen Luo to the building where Pei Yuzhou was located. Chen Luo wanted to go up with her, but she snatched the keys and locked him in the car. The two of them stared at each other, one inside the car and the other outside. Finally, Qi Shuyao threw the keys back and threatened him with her eyes wide open, forbidding him from going up.
She returned to that quiet floor, which was still empty, except for Pei Yuzhou's furious yet weak groans coming from the room at the far end.
He rushed over, and the room was no different from before. Pei Yuzhou was just sitting in a wheelchair, struggling in pain.
His loose hospital gown was crumpled up, revealing his withered and shrunken calves. He could no longer stand up; only his hands were still relatively nimble.
Qi Shuyao didn't approach him. Instead, she studied the news. Everything was fine and peaceful, and there shouldn't be any problems in Changgang.
She hadn't contacted Song Yusheng for a few days and didn't know the exact situation, so she went to the door and sent her a message. After waiting for a long time without a reply, she simply dialed the number.
The phone rang for about a minute before it was answered. There was the sound of water on the other end, and Song Yusheng's voice sounded like she was brushing her teeth.
Qi Shuyao didn't have time for pleasantries and asked in a low voice,
"Has Shen Yan made any moves in the last couple of days?"
Song Yusheng spat out the toothpaste foam in her mouth, caught in the inexplicable tension, and also lowered her voice.
“Nothing much. I kept begging Li Yi to take me to Changgang. He said it’s been raining a lot in Changgang these past few days and it’s hard to go out. He only agreed yesterday and booked ferry tickets for tomorrow. He’s been doing well lately, and Shen Yan is in a good mood too. He even let him hold his two kids. The whole family is so happy.”
"Okay, take care of yourself..."
"What did you say? Where are you? Why is someone shouting over there?"
Pei Yuzhou suddenly roared, and Qi Shuyao instinctively walked towards him. He was clutching his neck, as if he had something to say.
The hoarse shouts drowned out the footsteps in the corridor. Qi Shuyao only heard a suppressed roar behind her.
"Pei Yuzhou! Still alive?"
She turned around and saw Qin Zhuohan standing in the doorway in disbelief, walking towards her step by step, followed by a shout from the phone.
"Pei Yuzhou is still alive?"
Just hearing those words, Qi Shuyao could picture Song Yusheng's expression. She backed away to block Qin Zhuohan's advance while shouting into her phone.
"Sheng Sheng, Sheng Sheng, listen to me, Song Yusheng! Don't worry about any of this, I'll help you resolve this. He won't leave this ward. I'll avenge you, don't do anything foolish!"
The call had already been disconnected, and she couldn't get through when she tried to call back. Qi Shuyao could only deal with the immediate situation first, dragging Qin Zhuohan back.
"How did you find this place? What are you doing here? Do you have a grudge against him too?"
"Aren't all these problems caused by him?"
"Don't get agitated. I don't know what he knows yet. The faked death was his doing, but he's still being used by others. Until we figure out the specific details, we—"
Qin Zhuohan had already rushed to the life support equipment next to Pei Yuzhou. Qi Shuyao had her back to him and tried desperately to stop his relapse, but she could not. She could only feel a cold, hard line being tied around her neck, and the force behind her was so great that she almost flew up.
Pei Yuzhou leaned forward with all his might, grabbed a string from the side and put it back around Qi Shuyao. She reacted quickly and grabbed his arm, but her feet got caught in the tangled strings and she fell to the ground, pulling Pei Yuzhou off the wheelchair with her.
Qi Shuyao, whose breathing had improved, tried to control Pei Yuzhou, whose lower limbs were unable to move. However, she forgot that even if his muscles were severely atrophied, he was still a veteran police officer who had worked his way up from the grassroots criminal investigation team. She couldn't break free from his grip at all.
Qin Zhuohan was momentarily stunned as she flew away, then quickly recovered. He immediately crouched down, pulled away all the obstructing wires, and lunged forward to try and subdue Pei Yuzhou from behind. However, Pei's attention was completely elsewhere; he had already grabbed Qi Shuyao by the neck, his eyes bloodshot, and he was muttering incoherently.
"They must all die, they must all die, everyone in the Shu family must die..."
He shouted it out, and Qi Shuyao stopped struggling. According to Shu Li, Pei Yuzhou didn't know her identity, so who told him these things?
She suddenly felt so tired. Life shouldn't be like this. It was as if she had been thrown directly from the ivory tower into the battlefield, and the coldest and cruelest battlefield of espionage at that.
Seeing her lying flat on the ground with both hands outstretched, Qin Zhuohan's heart clenched. He couldn't overpower Pei Yuzhou in his rage, so he glanced at the instrument connected to his body. The wavy lines on the display screen rose and fell intermittently, and two probes were inserted directly into his brain. Even the test was a shock.
Is this what he's been living on until now? And for what reason? It's absurd.
Cold fingers touched his forehead, and with a sharp force, the lifeline was ripped from his brain.
Pei Yuzhou didn't collapse immediately. He trembled as if he had been electrocuted. Qin Zhuohan took the opportunity to drag Qi Shuyao out. Her eyes were wide open, but she hadn't reached the point of suffocation yet.
The door to the ward was smashed open, and a man stumbled in, shoved Pei Yuzhou aside, knelt down next to Qi Shuyao, and even kowtowed.
Qin Zhuohan cautiously shielded her, taking two steps back to prevent the man from touching her.
Qi Shuyao could hear his voice; he was already the contact, Tong Kai, and he was the only person she could think of who could tell Pei Yuzhou about her identity.
What grudge does the Shu family have against the Pei family? She knows nothing about it, so why is everyone coming to her door? She should just die now, and then everyone should quiet down and stop fighting. Aren't you tired of this?
She ignored Tong Kai's tearful complaints, which were nothing more than his inappropriate venting of anger that almost cost her her life.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor again. This time, Chen Luo rushed in. He grabbed Qi Shuyao and placed her against the wall. He tried to get up to deal with the others, but she grabbed his arm. The group fell silent, watching Pei Yuzhou, who was slumped between the sound equipment, struggling slowly before finally passing away.
He undoubtedly left a significant mark on the history of this country, but neither the death he arranged for himself nor the way his life truly came to an end was dignified, nor did it carry a rather wicked irony. He spent his entire life playing with power, yet he never realized that every step he took was constrained by power. He thought he was leading this country forward, but in reality, every step he took was a path paved by others. He arranged for some people and controlled their lives, while he himself was arranged by others, living out his life in a daze.
He's dead. This time he's really dead. It's all over.
It seemed that from the moment he fell, the soundproof glass stopped blocking out the noise. The sounds of people and cars outside crashed into their ears, pulling them back to the real world.
The city retains an old-fashioned steam train track, now a tourist attraction. Nearby, the sound of train whistles can be heard all around. Qi Shuyao suddenly smiled, tilting her head back at Qin Zhuohan, as if suddenly recalling the past.
"I've never told you this, but I actually saw you when I was little. You probably wouldn't know. Back then, I was still in Xijin, living with my dad in a small shack next to the railway. It was early summer, and around dusk, the sky was filled with a beautiful orange glow. My dad had just come home and was cooking inside. I went out to play and watched the trains coming by. That train always stopped near my house for a while. People would get off to stretch their legs, or they would get off to smoke. That day, I saw a family of three by the window in the carriage. The mother, wearing a white dress with red polka dots, peeled a lychee and handed it to her son. The father, sitting opposite me, was wearing medical gloves that I didn't even recognize at the time, and he was tearing open an oil paper wrapper." Even through the car window and from a great distance, I could smell the happiness emanating from the wrapped roast chicken… But now, I live on these memories, a little love, a little family, a little human kindness. Yet, these feelings are intertwined with so much bloodshed, so much killing, so much death. I don't want to think about it. The past, the future, all have passed by in a blur. Time doesn't stop; it will always move forward. I am like this, and so are you. I was born into poverty, while you were supposed to be a doctor in a white coat. But deep down, we both have a train that can fill our lives, a train that carries our emptiness. I watch it move forward, you ride it forward, it's all the same.”
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