0081 081 Do you know the meaning of cherry blossoms?
The weather in Xijin was abnormal all year, with the temperature fluctuating up and down. As soon as the new year began, the housekeeper fell ill. Sister Xiaolan took care of her at the bedside, while Qi Shuyao was considered clumsy and could only sit in the courtyard watching the fire brewing medicine.
The cherry blossoms in the courtyard were in bloom, and a petal fell into the water. She wanted to scoop it up, but it was beautiful just floating in the wind. She held up her phone, trying to capture the image from various angles, but no matter how she took the picture, she couldn't capture the kind of stunning beauty she had imagined. So she put her phone away and sat back down in front of the medicine stove.
The cherry blossoms don't bloom for long, and Qi Yu arrived just in time for them to be in full bloom. He walked through the grove of flowers, his head covered in petals.
Qi Shuyao was so excited that she wanted to run over, but she was afraid that the medicine would burn, so she could only stand there and hop around, begging him to come over.
He had a particularly handsome smile, a smile that seemed completely unburdened, as if he had shed all his burdens and walked briskly toward her.
She was picked up and spun around, still holding the palm-leaf fan from the medicine stove in her hand. As she spun, she caught sight of the old butler upstairs watching them and smiling, and then she kicked her legs shyly, wanting to get down.
Qi Yu, with his back to the window, buried his head in her shoulder, suppressing a laugh as he tried to tease her.
"Why are you embarrassed? Isn't it normal for a daughter to give her father a hug?"
"Stop messing around and put me down."
The housekeeper came downstairs to greet us, and my mother-in-law, who can now walk around, leaned on the windowsill to say hello to him.
After a brief greeting, Grandpa went to the kitchen to prepare the meal. Qi Shuyao watched his slow steps until his figure disappeared around the corner, and only turned her head when she felt a light weight being pinched by his fingertips.
She hooked her fingers around Qi Yu's and slipped them into his palm, but despite the bright spring sunshine, her hand was covered in sweat.
"What's wrong? Are you not feeling well either?"
With her other hand, she tossed aside the palm-leaf fan and touched his forehead, but it was also grabbed and squeezed tighter and tighter.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"No, nothing happened. I was just too excited. Everything was resolved in an instant, and I felt like I was floating on air."
"Then please sit down."
She couldn't pull her hand back, so she could only pull him to sit on the small bamboo chair, but he resisted with all his might and wouldn't move.
"Yaoyao..."
He spoke, his voice unusually trembling and hesitant. His eyes darted around, unable to meet her gaze. His body swayed slightly from side to side, but his fingers, which were tightly clasped around hers, remained stiff and motionless.
"...I said if, if we change our way of life, let's treat it as an experiment, like others..."
"Dad! What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well last night? Come inside and get some sleep. I'll give you a shoulder massage, okay?"
She interrupted him, innocently jumping around him like a child. The wind in Xijin was still so strong, rustling the cherry blossom branches and clearing his mind.
"I was a little sleepy. I came straight here after getting off work this morning."
He made up a random excuse, but didn't let go of her hand. He took a ring out of his pocket and slipped it onto her middle finger.
“They held a small auction a few days ago. I think you’ll definitely like this shape and style, so just wear it for fun.”
After saying that, he chuckled twice and turned around and around.
The atmosphere froze, and Qi Shuyao felt her hands and feet turn cold, unable to say a word.
The medicine stove beside her churned and popped open, making a constant noise when she tapped the small lid. She looked down to look, but there was no response. Xiao Lan from upstairs hurriedly ran down, turned off the fire, lit a thick towel, and carried the medicine stove away.
Qi Shuyao released Qi Yu's hand in an instant. Once the surroundings quieted down again, she gently touched the edges of the large diamond on the ring with her thumb and walked towards Qi Yu.
"Is everything resolved? Can I go back to my place now?"
"Yes, it's solved, and Guanxiang has been found too."
"Shall we go back today?"
"Wait a minute, after we finish eating, come with me somewhere."
Just like when she came, she left Xijin without taking anything with her. The elderly couple saw them off to the edge of the woods and watched them get into their car and leave.
Xiao Lan has booked a flight for tomorrow. She still needs to pack everything up here and say goodbye to the little girl on the fishing boat across the river on Qi Shuyao's behalf.
The car drove towards the airport, but instead of reaching it, it turned into the mountains. The mountain roads were rugged, and it took a long time to reach the destination.
It was a natural cave, with scenery as beautiful as a paradise, but now it was surrounded by armed police.
Qi Yu parked the car, and the police leader walked up to him and whispered something to him. He nodded silently and pulled Qi Shuyao to continue walking inside.
With the police leading the way, the two made it into the cave. As soon as her heels touched the natural rocks, she froze on the spot.
Inside the cave, Guan Xiang and the man who claimed to be her father sat facing each other at a stone table, on which were wine cups.
They came in, but no one paid any attention. Guan Xiang was already very drunk, half-lying on the table, having lost all his previous bravado, and his speech was slurred.
"...I know I can never be you, but you don't want to be yourself..."
When the time was up, the police had given him enough free time. Two fully armed police officers came forward, handcuffed his hands and feet, and led him out.
Qi Shuyao stood at the entrance of the stone cave, but she neither moved aside nor backed down, looking directly into the man's unfocused gaze.
He started laughing as he looked at her, almost drooling, and leaned closer to her.
"My little beauty, we meet again! Aren't you surprised? Although we won't be able to see each other for a while, I believe we will meet again in the future. Take good care of yourself out there, and please don't die..."
He talked too much, and the policeman next to him covered his mouth. The once tall man was now curled up into a ball and dragged to the police car. Before the door closed, he still raised his hand and waved at her in a crazy manner.
Qi Shuyao didn't even frown. After watching him perform his monkey act, she turned around and stared at the two men confronting each other inside.
He was annoying to look at, but he didn't really do anything. He swaggered out and stood in front of Qi Shuyao.
With no police officers around to restrain him, Qi Shuyao unconsciously clenched her hands in her pockets, leaning back slightly to meet his gaze.
"Yaoyao, this name doesn't sound good. Daddy has given you a nicer name. When you come back to me, I'll tell you that no matter where he hides you, I can make you willingly return to your real father's side. Only then will we be a family."
"Really? Then why don't you go home?"
The man's expression changed instantly, revealing an anger that was unusual for his age. Qi Shuyao stood directly opposite him, and perhaps because of the sunlight, she could even see a natural fear on his face.
"What home? A home is only when my children are with me."
He reached out to grab her, but Qi Shuyao nimbly dodged him. She relaxed her hand in her pocket and even took it out and shook it.
"Okay, then keep up the good work."
She took Qi Yu's arm and left the place without looking back, despite the man's fiery gaze.
Guan Xiang's arrest brought an end to the three-year-long Guan Xiang case, and this series of incriminating evidence was finally made public.
But as her grandfather said, whoever orchestrated the event can control which part of the event they want to be exposed. For example, Guan Xiang killed so many men who gambled until they were bankrupt and were driven to suicide, but the news focused on the girls who were sent to endless hell.
The video of the girls, naked and covered in bruises, came from police investigation footage. However, Qi Shuyao noticed a finger belonging to the photographer that had accidentally appeared in the heavily pixelated video. The fingertip had a scar on it, on the middle finger of Tu Mi's right hand.
He's too good at manipulating people's hearts. Simply showing the evil of gambling won't resonate with many people. So you have to show things that people can empathize with and that can arouse public outrage, such as a wife who is mortgaged by her indebted husband, or a minor girl who is sold into a brothel by her gambling-addicted father.
Hongjie, who managed these girls, had long been arrested, but her image was never exposed to the media. It seemed that all of these things were done by Guanxiang alone.
In addition, the media also exposed a series of evil deeds committed by the Guan family, which spread to various other industries. Almost every resident was shrouded in his vast dark network. The knife did not directly stab you in the heart, but you were already suffocating under the weight of the corpses of those in front of you.
For a time, the name Guan Xiang probably ignited everyone's anger. Most people were still venting their anger on those two words. His face was not made public. This suggestion was made by a female leader, who said that some people would see his appearance and feel compassion.
Upon hearing this news, Qi Shuyao felt like laughing, but at that moment she was dressed in all black and sitting on the road leading to the cemetery in the mountains.
Only Qi Yu accompanied him, also dressed in a black suit, with a serious expression.
The mountain road had many bends, but he didn't need navigation. After passing through a thicket of weeds as tall as the car, a small mound was hidden behind a big tree.
There was no name, no tombstone, and even the small mound had been blown down by the wind, making it much shorter than before.
Qi Shuyao bent down and placed the flowers next to the mound of earth. Qi Yu had also brought two bottles of wine, which he poured all over the mound.
“Uncle Jin, my dad and I have come to see you again. This time we have some really good news. Guan Xiang has been caught, and all his crimes have been exposed. He might be sent to you soon. You must personally torture him properly.”
Qi Yu sat down cross-legged, and the two wine bottles clinked together, making a crisp sound that echoed in the valley.
"Brother, I couldn't kill him and deliver him to you myself because I'm not capable enough. There are too many rules and regulations in this world, which are not suitable for people like us. But I'm almost there. I've taken another step forward and seen a little more of the sky."
Qi Shuyao chimed in from the side.
"We will definitely climb to the top, definitely, definitely. No one can do whatever they want in front of us, or presumptuously control everything."
She stopped and turned to look at Qi Yu.
"Before that, don't think about anything else, just look ahead. Do you remember the old woman's story? She said that the more corpses buried under the cherry blossom tree, the more beautiful the blossoms would be. Some people deny this, but no one actually digs up the roots. But the more beautiful you are, the more dangerous you are in other people's eyes, and no one will dare to bully you."
She reached out and grasped his fingers from the back of his hand, pressing them against the mound of earth in front of the grave.
"I will always be with you on this journey, watching over you, even if there are knives in front of us, we will overcome them."
The mountain wind howled, as if even the dead bones buried underground were praising her words.
Yes, he wanted to hold the whole world in his hands, to ensure she could live out the rest of her life in peace, with no one daring to bully her, no one able to bully her. She said how beautiful the world was, so he gave her the world. He wanted to hold her, stand at the highest point, and look down on everything. So what if they came from underground? So what if they were abandoned? They would be in the morning sun every day, for countless years, and the sunlight would surround them.
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