0115 115 It rained again that rainy night.
Pei Yuzhou was buried in a foreign land, surrounded by his enemies who watched his curled-up body.
Qi Shuyao was only sad for a short while that day, but then she calmed down completely. She asked Tong Kai to continue to contact the people who were collecting information as before, and not to reveal that Pei Yuzhou had passed away.
The day of the burial was the last day of the long summer in Harwick City. The sun had set, and the whole day was gloomy. Chen Luo was busy running around behind the scenes, while Qi Shuyao stood alone on the street outside, letting the wind mess up her disheveled hair.
To be honest, she wasn't particularly excited when she met Pei Yuzhou that day. She just felt that all the unreasonable things had come to a conclusion. But before she could decide who to tell this shocking news first, he really died.
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, he truly deserves to die, but why now of all times?
Qin Zhuohan was devastated and locked himself in his room. The hands that should have been used to save lives since birth had never actually been on the operating table before he killed someone.
Chen Luo finally finished all his work and walked over to Qi Shuyao's side.
"Miss, shall we go back?"
Qi Shuyao looked into the distance, and after a long while, shook her head.
"Go find a bigger house, a villa will do, and we'll move there together. We won't go back for now."
"Why, Miss? The biggest threat has been dealt with, and there are no more obstacles at home. Why don't you go back?"
For a moment, Qi Shuyao felt annoyed and wanted to yell at him, but those emotions swirled in her mind and were eventually suppressed. She turned to Chen Luo and smiled, telling him to take care of the arrangements.
Qi Shuyao and a few others stayed on the other side of the sea in their hometown, where spring was in full bloom and everything was quiet and unchanged.
Tong Kai hasn't issued a single instruction since Pei Yuzhou's death, but the people on the other side don't find it strange. In fact, Shen Yan didn't send anyone to deliver photos of his children. Instead, Mrs. Pei sent over a few photos without saying anything to him.
There was still no news from Tu Mi. She would occasionally send over some code to ensure safety, but she didn't mention anything else.
Having endured the cold winter, Qi Shuyao received a phone call on a windy afternoon.
She didn't recognize the number. After answering and saying "hello" twice, no one answered. Just as she was about to hang up, a sinister low voice came from the other end.
"You've already had a child?"
It was Shu Cheng's voice, like a broken, chaotic iron plate corroded by sulfuric acid, with a strong smell of alcohol.
Her hand holding the phone trembled slightly, but she slowly calmed down.
"You're home? You're not running around on your own anymore?"
"Does my daughter look down on me too?"
"Who ran out saying they were going to find their daughter and their family on their own? They spent all the money their parents gave them and then slunk back home."
Enraged that his daughter had so mercilessly poked at his sore spot, the already drunk Shu Cheng exploded. He smashed his wine glass, stood up, and shouted into his phone.
“Your dad is a failure, but you’ve copied all his good deeds exactly. Tell me who that kid’s father is, or I’ll go over there and beat his legs to a pulp.”
"It has nothing to do with you, and that child has nothing to do with you either."
"It has nothing to do with me? You have nothing to do with me either? Without me, where would you be, and where would she be? I don't know. Does the man who raised you know that this is how he raised my daughter? He even raised a child for me. Tell me..."
Qi Shuyao hung up the phone immediately. The shouting made her head feel like it was going to explode in two, turning into knives stabbing all over her body.
The world fell silent for less than five minutes before the ringing began again, this time from a familiar number.
"Sister Xiaolan! Where have you been these past few days!"
"Yaoyao, let's talk about this later. Do you know that Pei Youwen isn't Pei Youwen?"
"Ah? Oh right, I know. It was Pei Youwen who died back then, and this one is his younger brother in disguise."
"Do you know why he died, and who killed him?"
"This... Pei Yu... isn't that an enemy? The Pei family has so many enemies... what happened?"
"Ever since Tu Mi left, he's been acting like a madman. I didn't have time to deal with him at the time, so I locked him in the clubhouse and kept making excuses to delay him. Recently, he's completely changed. One minute he's talking about his dad coming to save him, the next he's saying he knows who hurt him. He's acting crazy. Was he just pretending to be his brother before, or is this person schizophrenic? Also, he didn't even know me before, so why is he so hostile towards me?"
"He hit you?"
"No, but what he implied was that I was in cahoots with the people who killed his brother. What does that have to do with me? I've been at home all these years..."
"What's wrong? What happened?"
The sound on the other end abruptly stopped, making Qi Shuyao's heart, which had been fluctuating wildly lately, pound wildly. She paced anxiously all over the room, while all that could be heard from Xiaolan was her unsteady breathing.
"Did you remember something? Tell me it's okay."
"Miss, in what year did Pei Youwen die?"
"The year he died was the same year he met my sister, and also the year she got her first period. Did she tell you, was it the fourteenth or the fifteenth...?"
“Miss, it was that year, the only time I went to Jingyang after we settled in Yangcheng. I delivered something to the boss, and on my way back, I passed by an unfinished building and ran into some people I had worked with before. I took a look, and they were surrounding a blindfolded man. But it was dark, and I didn’t think about it carefully. I chatted with some people I knew for a few minutes and then left. After that, I heard about Pei Yuzhou’s son being killed. But I had never connected these two things before.”
"Who is this boss you're talking about?"
Xiaolan fell silent again, this time her breathing was even more rapid.
"Sister, please tell me, what can't you say..."
Qi Shuyao's voice suddenly stopped, and in that instant she understood everything.
"Your boss is Qi Yu, right?"
"Yaoyao..."
"What grudge does Qi Yu have against the Pei family? What are you all doing all day long!"
Xiao Lan just cried on the other end, saying nothing. Qi Shuyao was helpless and finally vented all her anger on her phone, which was smashed like a brick and shattered into pieces on the wall.
The loud noise shook the entire villa, and Jiang Yu, who had been pacing around the doorway after hearing the shouts, rushed in as well.
"Yaoyao, what happened? What Pei family? What's wrong with the Pei family?"
Jiang Yu approached Guan Xin step by step, while Qi Shuyao retreated step by step. She leaned against the wall, covered her face in pain, and slid down.
These things had nothing to do with her, so why was everyone looking for her? She was just a high school graduate who hadn't even finished college, and her diploma was fake.
Pressing down Jiang Yu's hand, Qi Shuyao leaned against the wall and stood up. Everyone in the family was standing in front of her, their gaze sweeping over them one by one.
"You guys stay here for now. I'm going back to China tomorrow, or the day after, whichever day it is."
"no!"
How will you get back?
"What happened?"
Several voices rang out at once. She raised her hand and waved it in front of her, as if she could brush away those words.
"I have a plan, sister. You and he don't need to hide anymore. The target isn't you two. If you want to stay abroad, go to another country, but don't come back to China. Don't respond to anyone who contacts you about your older brothers. Chen Luo, you stay here and continue to contact that person, but don't reveal my whereabouts to him. Whatever you do, don't let him find out I've gone back. Qin Zhuohan... you shouldn't go back. Just go to a quiet place and live a good life."
After explaining everything, she didn't give them any time or opportunity to reply or refute, and simply picked up the broken phone and ran out.
At 3 p.m., Qi Shuyao met with the Prime Minister's son, Anox, at a coffee shop across the river next to the Capitol Building in Harwick.
"I thought your previous statement about keeping in touch when you had time was just a polite remark."
"Actually, it's more of a polite remark. I even feel that what I'm about to say is less important than a polite remark."
"Tell me about it?"
"Tomorrow you and your father will set off to visit the Yue Islands Kingdom to the north of our country."
"Yes, the trip is already booked."
"Would you mind having an invisible person on the plane?"
The handsome prince from the neighboring country smiled.
"If it's you, I don't mind."
Qi Yu had told her a long time ago that it was best not to go near the seas of the Yue Islands in the north, as it was even more chaotic than the area around Changgang, like a group of barbarians.
For the first ten years or so, Qi Shuyao was very obedient, only causing trouble near her home, and never doing anything outrageous or holding anyone back.
She felt that she was timid at heart. When she was a child, she would secretly run out in the summer to buy an ice pop and she would think about all the possible consequences before her heart would race and she would run out.
Now she jumped off the plane, ran straight to the beach, intercepted a black ship, and headed towards Jingyang. Her heart was calm and peaceful, as if she were asleep.
After the ship left the Yue Islands, huge raindrops began to fall from the sky. At first, the rain was not heavy, but it became more and more intense as it got closer to Jingyang. The raindrops hit our faces and made our bones tremble with pain.
The captain was already familiar with the weather here. He faced the storm, letting the ship rise and fall in the waves, the icy seawater pouring over him. He sang a folk song that Qi Shuyao couldn't understand. His voice blended with the sound of rain and wind, but it wouldn't be blown away. It mixed with the wind and came from all directions. She couldn't understand the language, but she could hear the melody. Even with her flesh torn apart by the waves, she still smiled and faced the raging wind, her smile tinged with blood.
She cried out loud in the howling rain, but the thunder drowned out her sobs, and the torrential rain covered her tears. By the time the boat reached the shore, her tears had dried.
Qi Shuyao climbed ashore from the icy seawater. When she looked back, she could no longer see the captain's back. She patted the sand off her body and walked in the direction she remembered.
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