Chapter 8: Dust in the Flame 04
Ning Qiyuan really did not appear in front of me again as he said. But even so, his presence was everywhere in the apartment. I often received his text messages and occasionally replied to him. My life seemed to have returned to the two years when Ning Qiyuan was away. The school, the cafeteria, and the apartment were three points in a straight line. It was peaceful without any waves, but I felt very uneasy. I could clearly feel that under this visible calm, there were invisible undercurrents, just like a moment of peace before a storm.
When Lin Xiang came to see me, I was just about to take my books to class when I heard a hurried knock on the door. I opened the door and saw Lin Xiang with red eyes.
As soon as she saw me, she rushed over and grabbed my hand tightly , saying, "Sister Shuchen, please help me, you are the only one who can help me now!"
I was startled and quickly asked her to come in and sit down first, poured her a glass of water, and asked her to calm down before talking about what was going on.
Lin Xiang took the water but didn't drink it. Tears fell first. She said tremblingly, "Sister Shuchen, I didn't expect things to be like this. I really didn't expect it... It was my father... It was my father who killed Qi Yuan's father..."
"What did you say?" I couldn't help but stand up, lowered my head and looked at Lin Xiang, and asked her very quickly, "Did your father kill Qi Yuan's father?"
Lin Xiang nodded heavily: "I heard with my own ears the conversation between Brother Qiyuan and my father. I finally know why Brother Qiyuan has not spoken to us and ignored us for a while. My family's business went bankrupt, and I always thought it was just my father's poor management, but I never thought that all of this was Brother Qiyuan's revenge. Brother Qiyuan said that he wanted my father to pay the price for everything he had done, and he would take away everything my father had, and he would send my father to jail and die..."
"Sister Shuchen, although I don't know what happened in the past, and I don't know what my father did to kill Brother Qiyuan's father, but now my father has lost everything. The family company has gone bankrupt, and he is in debt. In a few days, even the house will be taken away by the bank. Dad may also... Can you, can you persuade Brother Qiyuan to let it go? I will persuade my father to apologize to Brother Qiyuan in person... I have no mother since I was a child, and it was my father who brought us up. I don't want to watch my father go to jail like this. Now except you, there is no one who can help me." As she said that, Lin Xiang grabbed my hand again, just like a drowning person grabbing the only life-saving driftwood around him, trying desperately to survive.
I stared at her tear-stained face, wanting to wipe away her tears, but my body seemed to be pressed down by a thousand-pound weight, making me unable to move. My mind was also in a mess, I had never expected that Ning Qiyuan's investigation would result in such a conclusion, how could Lin Xiang's father be Lin Xiang's father!
"Lin Xiang...is what you said...true?" I asked her in a somewhat dry voice.
Lin Xiang nodded heavily.
I sat down slowly, thought for a long time, and finally sighed and said, "Lin Xiang, I can't promise you right away, and I can't guarantee that Qi Yuan will listen to me and let your father go."
"I know, I know, but can we give it a try..." She looked at me hopefully and said.
"Okay." I nodded and agreed to her.
Lin Xiang and the others, like me, grew up with their father. If they lose their father, they will be parentsless. I can't bear to see them become like me now, without parents, relatives, and even almost no friends. The grudges of the previous life have already had enough impact on our generation. If we can reduce the harm, wouldn't it be a kind of relief for ourselves?
After seeing Lin Xiang off, I sat alone for a long time before I finally made up my mind and called Ning Qiyuan.
Ning Qiyuan answered the call quickly, his voice full of surprise but with a hint of fatigue: "Shuchen, are you looking for me?"
"I have something I want to tell you."
"Okay, I'll be there in a moment. You wait for me in the apartment. I'll be there soon." Ning Qiyuan said anxiously.
I nodded and hung up the phone.
It has been nearly a week since I last saw Ning Qiyuan. It’s not that I miss him or don’t want to see him, but I never thought that our meeting was due to such an opportunity.
Ning Qiyuan came very quickly. In just half an hour, I could already hear the familiar footsteps. After being together for so long, that person's words and deeds seemed to have melted into my bones and blood. I could recognize him without thinking.
Before he could get the key to open the door, I was already standing at the door waiting for him.
Ning Qiyuan looked up at me and smiled, with his usual nonchalant expression. He also waved the box of matcha cake in his hand towards me. That's my favorite flavor. My heart softened all of a sudden, and I couldn't ask any questions I wanted to ask.
"You seemed to be doing well when I was away. Your face seemed to have become rounder." Ning Qiyuan sat on the sofa, patting the cake box and said to me in a faint tone.
I didn't say anything, just looked at Ning Qiyuan quietly. Probably because of the Lin family's affairs, he looked much more haggard, with deep dark circles under his eyes, but he was in good spirits.
Yes, Uncle Ning’s injustice was finally cleared up, so how could he be in a bad mood?
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and finally said what I had been thinking for a long time: "Qi Yuan, can you tell me now, how did Uncle Ning die?"
Ning Qiyuan's hands suddenly froze, and the faint smile in his eyes disappeared. He raised his head and looked at me, saying a few words: "You know?"
I nodded.
"Did Lin Xiang come to see you?" he asked again.
I was shocked that he even knew this, so I didn't hide it from him and nodded again.
"Who else can she look for besides you now?" Ning Qiyuan laughed at himself, his eyes seemed to see through me, and then he handed the cake and fork to me, "Eat while you listen to me, I bought this especially for you."
"Thank you, Sakimoto." I smiled at him, took it and started eating.
Ning Qiyuan watched me eat for a long time before he finally spoke: "Shuchen, actually if you don't ask, I don't intend to tell you. I don't want you to think that I am a person who will do anything to get revenge. But since you want to know, I won't hide it from you anymore."
"Ever since I read Uncle Tong's diary about my father's death, I started investigating. Although it took a lot of effort, the truth gradually became clear. Back then, Lin Yonghe, Lin Xiang's father, and Uncle Tong were selected as undercover agents, and then my father... replaced Uncle Tong."
I was silent in my heart. Yes, it was because of me that Uncle Ning replaced my father and went undercover. This is also the reason why I have always felt indebted to Ning Qiyuan.
"Lin Yonghe and my dad were both undercover in that criminal gang, but for some reason, in the fourth year, Lin Yonghe suddenly quit the gang and left peacefully without any incident. Not long after, he stopped being a police officer. A year later, my dad got into trouble."
"After deciding to investigate this matter, I put a lot of effort into it and finally found out the truth of what happened. It turned out that my father died because he accidentally learned that the criminal gang had a secret deal with Jiang Zhongyuan. They had never been caught because Jiang Zhongyuan had been helping them! My father also suddenly realized that from the first day Lin Yonghe and he joined the gang, those people knew everything!"
"Uncle Jiang?" I was shocked to hear Uncle Jiang's name. Uncle Jiang had been secretly helping those criminals? Those people even knew from the beginning that Uncle Ning and Lin Yonghe were undercover agents. This was too scary!
Ning Qiyuan ignored my surprise and continued, "My father told Lin Yonghe about his discovery. He wanted to expose this matter, but he didn't expect Lin Yonghe to betray him."
My heart suddenly lifted, and I looked at Ning Qiyuan in disbelief. No way...
"Just as you thought, Lin Yonghe told Jiang Zhongyuan about this matter and threatened him to stop being an undercover agent. Jiang Zhongyuan agreed and even gave him a sum of money to bribe him. This money became Lin Yonghe's start-up fund and enabled him to achieve his current career!" Ning Qiyuan raised his voice unconsciously, his eyes reddened, and I could almost feel his hatred for Lin Yonghe.
"Lin Yonghe left just like that, and my dad foolishly thought that Lin Yonghe was murdered without anyone noticing. Not long after, the police found an opportunity to arrest the criminal gang through my dad. Jiang Zhongyuan was afraid that the matter would be exposed, so he took this opportunity to get rid of the gang leader and my dad."
Ning Qiyuan spoke with a trembling voice, his hands clenched into fists so tightly that even the blue veins could be seen clearly.
My heart ached, and no matter how sweet the cake was, it tasted bitter. I didn't know how much time and effort Ning Qiyuan had spent to find out the truth. I knew nothing while he was doing these things.
I want to say something, but I don't know how to say it.
"Shuchen, do you know? When I learned that Lin Yonghe had helped my mother and even found my mother's current stepfather to take care of her, I was grateful to him in my heart . But how grateful I was to him before, how much I hated him after I learned the truth. Lin Yonghe was not the one who directly killed my father, but if it weren't for him, my father might not have died. Jiang Zhongyuan is gone now, and it can be said that he has received retribution, but Lin Yonghe has not. A person's life cannot be replaced by anything. It is far from enough to just make Lin Yonghe lose his money and status. I want him to pay a heavy price for my father's death and regret the choice he made in the first place."
Ning Qiyuan's fierce voice made my body tremble uncontrollably. He was like the way he was two years ago when he misunderstood that my dad had killed Uncle Ning and caused my dad to have a car accident in revenge. He made me feel very strange. But I felt more distressed. I felt sorry for him for bearing this heavy burden alone and never saying a word.
I reached out my hand to hold him and give him a little strength, but his words froze my hand in mid-air. He said, "Shuchen, now that you know everything, do you still want to plead for Lin Yonghe?"
