At that moment, his blood seemed to freeze and he could hardly react to what he saw.
Is that yellow hair?
impossible……
He had clearly closed the doors and windows before leaving, so how could it... how could it be possible...
However, no amount of denial can withstand the impact of reality.
The pattern on the cat's body was so unique and familiar, not to mention the bell hanging around its neck that he had put on himself and that was left to him by his biological mother.
All of Jiang Que's defenses were completely broken the moment he saw the bell. The blood in his body rushed up rapidly, making him feel dizzy.
He walked slowly and with difficulty, almost unsteady steps, to the pool of blood, and knelt down trembling.
The voices behind him became louder, but he seemed to hear nothing. All he could see was the slightly grinning, bloodstained mouth of the yellow-haired man, and his half-open eyes that seemed frozen.
Everything was like a nightmare.
There was no sign, no logic.
Hazy and trance, with no beginning and no end.
He didn't know how he took off his coat, how he wrapped the yellow-haired body in it, and how he picked it up and walked into the corridor unconsciously.
Until a "ding" sound was heard in the elevator, the metal door opened to both sides, and several people next to it walked in first.
The moment they turned around and looked outside the door, Jiang Que's remaining sanity finally recognized the emotion in their eyes - it was vigilance, the worry that he would walk into the elevator with the corpse in his arms.
That’s right.
Jiang Que lowered his eyes to look at the blood-stained package in his hand, then turned around and walked straight towards the fire escape in the corner.
Because there is an elevator, the fire escape is usually not used by many people. It is dark and damp inside, and the temperature is much lower than outside.
Jiang Que walked inside and slowly climbed the stairs, away from all the strange gazes. Feeling the darkness and coldness surrounding him, he suddenly felt very tired.
He only walked up a few steps, and his feet felt like they were filled with lead and he was too lazy to move anymore. He simply turned around and sat down on the stairs.
He lowered his head and lifted the coat from his legs, revealing his small yellow-haired body.
Its body had not yet stiffened, and there was even a trace of illusory warmth remaining. However, there was no light in its half-open eyes, and with the blood clotted at the corners of its mouth, it looked almost creepy.
But Jiang Que didn't feel scared, he just felt a painful emptiness in his heart.
He raised his hand and gently stroked the furry cheek, stroking his ears back and forth with his thumb, so gently as if it was just asleep.
Many parents let their children keep pets not only as playmates, but also to cultivate their children's love and sense of responsibility.
There is nothing wrong with this idea.
Huangmao's existence made Jiang Que feel for the first time that he could become a kind of support and was capable of taking care of and protecting a young and vibrant life.
But at this moment, everything collapsed completely.
In addition to being filled with guilt, he was also deeply confused.
He couldn't figure it out.
I can't figure out how Huangmao fell down.
For fear of disturbing Ye Ying, Huangmao has always kept the cat in his own room.
There was no single window in his room, only a small independent balcony. He clearly checked the sliding door of the balcony carefully before going out every day, and then closed the bedroom door from the outside. How could Huangmao...
Thinking of this, he suddenly began to waver.
Is the door really closed today?
The more natural something becomes, the easier it is for people to lose their memory of it through mechanical repetition, just like many people will doubt that they left their door unlocked or forgot to turn off the gas stove after going out.
Once this kind of doubt arises, it will involuntarily intensify. Jiang Que tried hard to recall everything that happened before he left the house today, but the more he thought about it, the less certain he became.
Just then, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of his eye.
He immediately looked up and saw a little head poking in from the fire escape door, stealing glances at him timidly.
Seeing that he was discovered, his head instinctively shrank back, but after a few seconds, he slowly stretched it back, and then his whole body appeared at the door.
"Hello, brother..." the little girl whispered softly.
Jiang Que recognized her quickly.
This is the child who lives next door to him. Their bedrooms are separated by only a wall, and the balconies outside the bedrooms are only one meter away.
The little girl's balcony was decorated like Disneyland. Whenever Jiang Que went out to hang clothes, he would always see her playing with dolls in a small tent that looked like a castle. Every time she saw Jiang Que, she would sweetly call him "Hello, brother."
Jiang Que didn't know why she appeared here. He thought she was going upstairs, so he moved aside a little to make way and covered his legs with clothes to prevent the corpse from scaring the child.
Unexpectedly, after the little girl stepped onto the stairs, she did not go around him to go upstairs, but stopped beside him and sat down next to him.
Jiang Que was a little surprised and turned to look at her, only to see that she was staring at the package on her leg, her eyes full of regret and sadness: "Is it... dead?"
Jiang Que nodded without saying anything, and he really didn't know what to say.
The sadness in the little girl's eyes grew even more intense. She cautiously reached out her hand and gently touched it twice through her clothes. Then, she looked at Jiang Que with a look of loss and confusion: "Auntie, why don't you like it?"
Jiang Que was stunned by her question, not even understanding who "Auntie" was: "...What?"
The little girl frowned and changed the address: "Your mother, why don't you like it?"
This question really made Jiang Que a little confused.
Although Ye Ying really doesn't like small animals, her external image has always been that of a "lady from a noble family". She rarely expresses her likes and dislikes easily, and it is even more impossible for her to go around saying "I hate something".
So even if she doesn't like yellow-haired people, how could the kids next door know about it?
"Why do you think so?" Jiang Que asked doubtfully.
The little girl curled her lips and frowned even deeper: "If she liked it...why did she push it down?"
Jiang Que was stunned at first, then his mind went berserk. He almost couldn't, or dared not, comprehend the meaning of these words: "...What? Push what down?"
His reaction was so strong that the little girl couldn't help but flinch, blinking and stammering, "That's it..."
Perhaps because she was too nervous, she kept saying "yes" for a long time without saying anything else. Jiang Que thought about the distance between the two balconies and immediately guessed: "Did you see something?"
He had tried his best to slow down his tone, but even so, the little girl still swallowed her saliva. After a long while, she finally calmed down a little and nodded timidly: "It's just... just now, I was building blocks in the castle, and I heard the door on your side open... I thought it was you coming out, so I looked over, and then I saw..."
She saw Ye Ying coming out, turned around and called Huangmao's name, bent down and scattered a few grains of cat food on the ground, leading it out of the room.
She thought Ye Ying was just feeding the cat, so she watched quietly. After Huangmao ate the few grains of cat food on the ground, Ye Ying changed her position and scattered a few more grains. Then she ate a little bit and scattered a little bit, gradually approaching the edge of the balcony.
Then, just as Huangmao crawled under the guardrail to eat the last few grains of cat food, she watched Ye Ying slowly reach out her hand towards it, and then the next second, she pushed it out!
Jiang Que couldn't believe his ears.
The scene described by the little girl flashed repeatedly in his mind like a horror movie, making him feel cold all over and his heart pounding like a drum.
After a long period of deathly silence, he suddenly stood up, turned around and strode upstairs!
Eighteenth floor.
During the entire process of climbing the stairs, he had no idea what he wanted to do. He didn't care how high the building was or how tired he was. He just seemed to be running blindly towards a destination, impulsive and reckless.
When he finally arrived at the door of his home exhausted, he was panting so hard that he was almost trembling. He took out the key and unlocked the door. Then, without even changing his shoes, he walked in and searched all the rooms in a panic.
No one.
The whole house was empty and Ye Ying was not there at all.
Jiang Que leaned against the wall for a while, feeling exhausted, then turned around and returned to his room. He immediately noticed that the sliding door to the balcony was open with a gap as wide as a palm, as if it was just an accident that he had forgotten to close it tightly.
He walked to the bed and sat on the floor facing the balcony.
At this time, his impulsive blood had gradually cooled down. He looked at the sunset outside the glass and suddenly felt a little at a loss.
In fact, even if Ye Ying was at home, what could he do?
Should he question her and accuse her, or should he simply drag the little girl next door to be a so-called "witness" and make a mess of things?
Then what?
What happens then?
What should Jiang Di do when he is caught between them?
Jiang Que suddenly felt very weak.
It was not physical fatigue, but a feeling of powerlessness spreading from the heart, which made him feel that all his previous efforts were ridiculous and futile, and completely meaningless.
Ye Ying didn't care whether he was excellent and sensible.
She just wanted him to disappear.
In order to remove the "bond" of Huangmao that prevented him from living in the school dormitory, she even gave up her bottom line and chose this most extreme and cruel method.
Jiang Que just sat there numbly, watching the afterglow of the setting sun gradually disappear, darkness gradually covering the sky, and lights lighting up the buildings in the distance.
He didn't know how long it had been before he heard a creaking sound from the door of his house, and then he heard Jiang Di say "Huh?" in confusion and called his name.
Jiang Que did not close the door when he entered the house, which made Jiang Di, who had just returned, very confused. The hurried footsteps quickly passed through the living room and stopped in front of Jiang Que's door.
"Oh, you're home," Jiang Di breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him in the room. "Why didn't you close the door?"
He walked into the room casually, but as soon as he turned the corner of the bed, he saw Jiang Que's bloody coat in his arms and was immediately startled: "Are you injured?!"
However, the next second, as he rushed forward and stretched out his hand, the coat he touched slipped down, revealing the soft, yellow-haired corpse.
Jiang Di was stunned immediately.
As if he didn't understand, he stared at the corpse for several seconds, then looked at Jiang Que in disbelief: "It..."
At this moment, all the suppressed emotions in Jiang Que's heart surged up, carrying with them a pale sense of powerlessness and unspeakable forbearance, dyeing his eyes red as he looked at Jiang Di.
However, in the end, he could only utter a few evasive words: "...it fell down the stairs."
Jiang Di turned his head in surprise and looked at the balcony. When he saw the gap in the glass door, he seemed to finally understand what had happened.
However, no matter how high his emotional intelligence is, he doesn't know how to comfort her in this situation.
After being silent for a while, he had no choice but to sit down next to Jiang Que, holding him in his arms lovingly, and gently rubbing his hair while sighing.
The two of them sat next to each other for a long time.
Suddenly, Jiang Di thought of something, got up and went back to his room and brought something.
It was an exquisite carved wooden box, a work of art that he had fallen in love with at first sight in his early years. He loved it very much, but the other party was unwilling to sell it. In the end, he had to persuade and persuade it and finally exchanged it for a painting that he had kept in the bottom of his box.
But at this moment, he seemed to have completely forgotten the value of the box. He just squatted beside Jiang Que and opened it. He carefully lifted the yellow-haired body and placed it inside. He said, "Dad will accompany you to find a quiet place for it to rest in peace, okay?"
Although Jiang Que brought the yellow-haired creature back, he had not had time to consider what to do with it. He just felt that he could not let it stay there and be cleaned up like garbage.
Hearing Jiang Di's words at this time, he realized that he had to say goodbye to Huangmao after all, and burying it was undoubtedly the best way.
He nodded, stood up and went out with Jiang Di, went down to the basement and got in the car.
"Are you hungry?"
As they drove out of the basement, Jiang Di gripped the steering wheel and said with concern, "Originally, I was thinking that since today is the weekend, we could take a break and go out for a meal, but your mom said that she has extra classes at the Children's Palace tonight and she won't be back for a while, so I took a detour to buy a roast duck, which is on the big table. But we don't know what time we'll be back, so how about I buy you something to eat on the way?"
Jiang Que knew that he was trying to divert his attention, but it had the opposite effect. What he said about Ye Ying just happened to hurt him again.
Temporary additional classes.
Whether it was because of extra classes or she herself didn't dare to come back and face Huangmao's bloody corpse, probably only she knew.
The car went around the side of the building and drove onto the driveway in front of it.
Jiang Que's eyes couldn't help but be attracted by the bloodstain on the ground that had not been cleaned up. It was clearly a small stain, but in his eyes it was so scarlet and glaring.
As he stared at it, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something next to a street lamp not far away, and his heart moved slightly.
His mind raced as the car drove towards the gate of the residential complex. Just as he was about to pass the gate, he suddenly said, "Dad."
"Um?"
"Stop."
Jiang Di didn't understand what was going on, but he immediately stepped on the brakes and stopped the car on the side of the road: "What's wrong?"
Jiang Que looked at him: "I want to see the surveillance."
This community has had surveillance coverage for a long time. Although not everyone can access it, he knows that Jiang Di must have a way.
Jiang Di was stunned at first, then quickly realized that he probably wanted to know how Huangmao fell down, and said, "But the surveillance cameras are all downstairs, they can't capture the upstairs balcony. Even if you look, I'm afraid you won't see anything."
Jiang Que certainly understood this, but what he wanted to see was not the balcony, but the entrance to the corridor.
The basement of this community only has a special gate for cars and no separate pedestrian passage. Ye Ying's car has been undergoing maintenance these days and has not been returned yet. If she wants to take a taxi or walk in and out, she can only go through the only corridor entrance.
Whether he was still brooding over it or unwilling to give up, Jiang Que just wanted to see conclusive evidence with his own eyes to prove that everything that happened today was indeed done by Ye Ying.
"I know," he said, "I just wanted to see if anyone had touched Huangmao's body before I came back."
This was just a random excuse he made up, but Jiang Di was confused by what he said: "Why?"
Jiang Que didn't know how to explain it. After a few seconds of silence, he could only repeat himself: "I want to see the surveillance footage."
He had always been very obedient, sometimes even Jiang Di thought he was a little too obedient. This was the first time he had shown such a stubborn attitude, so although Jiang Di didn't understand where this stubbornness came from, she felt from the bottom of her heart that she shouldn't reject him.
However, he quickly thought of the location of the surveillance camera and the images it might have captured. After considering it for a long time, he finally decided, "Well, I can adjust the surveillance camera, but Dad will watch it for you."
Jiang Que was stunned for a moment, then listened to Jiang Di's explanation: "The surveillance camera will definitely capture the process of Huangmao falling to the ground. That scene is too cruel. Dad doesn't want you to experience it again. Tell Dad what you want to see, and Dad will keep an eye out for you."
This statement was indeed very convincing. The scene of the yellow-haired man falling to the ground must have been shocking. If it weren't for wanting an answer, Jiang Que would not have wanted to witness such a scene with his own eyes.
He hesitated in silence for a moment, weighing his thoughts over and over again, but finally nodded: "I want to know... after Huangmao fell down, who came out of the corridor and whether anyone touched it."
Jiang Di still couldn't figure out his purpose from these words, but although confused, she still agreed without hesitation: "Okay, then you just wait in the car obediently, I'll come back and tell you after I've finished looking at it."
Jiang Que nodded again, and Jiang Di immediately turned off the car, unbuckled his seat belt, got out of the car, and walked straight to the property office building diagonally opposite.
It was already completely dark at this time, and Jiang Di's back was sometimes bright and sometimes dim under the intermittent street lights.
Jiang Que watched him walk into the building and disappear at the stairs through the car window. Then he finally withdrew his gaze and looked down at the wooden box on his legs.
He didn't know what Jiang Di would see.
His judgment that Ye Ying would come out from the corridor was just a guess, but if she had borrowed a car from someone else and went back and forth through the underground garage, then her figure would not appear on the surveillance camera in front of the building at all.
After all, he wasn't 100% sure, and checking the surveillance footage was just a result of his unwillingness. But if there was nothing in the surveillance footage, he wouldn't continue to dig deeper or keep pestering about it.
Jiang Di was gone for a long time. I don’t know if it was because he needed to negotiate to retrieve the surveillance footage, or because watching the surveillance footage itself took a lot of time. In short, when his figure appeared under the street light again, a full forty minutes had passed.
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