Chapter 9: Determination 1
Where you are,
This is heaven.
Yi Tian, who had been hurt and bullied, half leaned on the hospital bed quietly. She sat quietly, with deep sorrow on her face. Even the dark red of the sunset could not cover up her paleness.
Li Qiuyang and I stood by the bed, watching the light gradually fade away from her face. After a "pop", only a dim yellow light remained in the room.
I felt that every sigh flowing in the air was like a hand slapping my face.
"Yitian, I'm sorry. If my foot hadn't been injured, things wouldn't have turned out like this."
I stood in front of the bed and saw the bruises on her face. I felt so painful that I wished I was the one who had the accident last night.
The police called me at noon and told me that Yi Tian was not only beaten last night, but also molested and photographed indecently. If we had not called the police in time, there might have been more serious consequences.
After hearing this, Li Qiuyang rushed out like crazy. I didn't have the strength to stop him. I could only plead behind him, "What Yi Tian needs most right now is company."
He stopped, turned his back to me, and asked tiredly, "Sister, what should I do? Will she forgive me?"
I can't give him an answer to this question. I know Yi Tian will forgive us, but can we forgive ourselves?
"Li Ge, don't blame yourself. I don't want to see you sad for me." Yi Tian's voice was very soft, and every word made me feel heartbroken.
Even at this time, she still wanted me not to be sad. But the more she said this, the more I blamed myself, and there was no way I could stop blaming myself.
She is no longer the same as she was when we first met. I remember the first time I met Yi Tian, she smiled ostentatiously, put her arm around my shoulders and said, "My name is Yi Tian, Yi for easy, Tian for sweet. From today on, we are friends."
At that time, she would laugh heartily, scream wildly, eat buffet food with me until she vomited, and skip classes with me to go bungee jumping outside...
But now? She sat there like a porcelain doll that would break at the slightest touch, with no spirit in her eyes.
I know she doesn't want to hear me say sorry, but what else can I say besides sorry?
"I will definitely find out who did this! I will not let him off easily!" Li Qiuyang gritted his teeth angrily, then he sat down beside Yi Tian's bed and said softly, "Yi Tian, I'm sorry, I will never abandon you again, never again. I will definitely protect you well and not let you get hurt in the slightest."
"Qiu Yang, let's break up!" Yi Tian's voice was very soft, like a feather circling gently in the air and landing on the ground.
I looked at her in surprise. What was even more surprising was Li Qiuyang. His expression became excited. He tightly grasped Yi Tian's hand and said, "I don't want it!"
"You pinched me."
Li Qiuyang let go of her hand in a panic, stammering, "I'm...I'm sorry."
I don’t know why things turned out like this. We were happily gathering together and laughing just a moment ago, and Yi Tian was even clamoring to marry Li Qiuyang.
This result was both unexpected and expected.
Yi Tian is such a stubborn person. She loves Li Qiuyang so much that she cannot accept being "abandoned" like that.
But the one who caused all this was me.
"Qiu Yang, I'm really tired. I can't accept that the person I love so much leaves me behind time and time again when I need him. I know you feel guilty and that you still care about me, but I can't accept this kind of care under guilt. It would be too tiring for both of us. For so long, we have always been arguing about whether we care or not and about future plans. I really don't want us to spend every day arguing like my parents did." Yi Tian said all this lightly, as if she was an outsider.
I clearly saw the tears in her eyes and the increasingly obvious sadness on her face.
No one can deny that Li Qiuyang's position in Yi Tian's heart is irreplaceable. Everyone knows how heartbreaking this separation is.
Everyone is changing, right?
We have all had our edges smoothed out over the years, but we all still stubbornly say that we are the same as we were at the beginning.
Li Qiuyang stood there in a daze, his fists clenched tightly. I thought he would fight for himself again, but I didn't expect him to unclench his fists.
He turned to look at me, the tears on his face were not dry yet, and his dry and hoarse voice was like sandpaper rubbing on the floor: "Sister, please take good care of her for me."
He turned around, and I kept watching his trembling figure walking away. I wanted to speak to keep him, but I didn't know what to say.
People who love each other at first will eventually go their separate ways.
Is it cruel?
Reality is so cruel, you never know when it will stab you in the chest.
A boy who likes to call me "sister" behind my back, a girl who is always by my side and willing to help me, they are the people with whom I most hope to be happy forever, but now... everything is ruined.
I really hope this is a dream. When I wake up, everything will return to where it was. Yi Tian and I are still the heartless us, Lin Chujian is still the young man in white standing by the Lover's Lake, and Li Qiuyang is standing on the stage, playing the electric guitar coolly...
Those who have hurt us and harmed us are nothing but bubbles in a dream and will eventually disappear.
The sadness came flooding in and I felt like dying.
Li Qiuyang fell into another kind of madness, and he began to frantically track down the murderer behind the incident. After all, he was still a young boy, and he had no clue after going around in circles for several times. Later, Yi Tian couldn't stand it anymore and asked him to stop investigating, but he still didn't listen.
He blamed himself for all the mistakes that night, and I knew he would never give up until the truth was revealed.
I know that he is like a trapped animal, trying to find a way out of hope. Later , I stopped stopping him. As long as he is not injured and nothing happens, I will let him find it. The premise of all this is that he will not cause any more trouble. I really don't have the face to ask Lin Chujian and Lu Yan again, and I don't want Yi Tian to accompany me to worry about him again.
He agreed, for Yi Tian.
If Xu Yaxin hadn't appeared, things might not have ended like that.
Just as Li Qiuyang was running around looking for the person behind him, Xu Yaxin appeared in front of us.
Seeing how sad we were , she was very proud. When she appeared in front of us, she held her head high like a proud peacock, looking very arrogant.
Yi Tian once told me that although Xu Yaxin was annoying, life was not so boring because of her.
At that time, I thought her words were quite interesting, but now thinking about it, I would rather live a boring life than be sad and painful like I am now.
Without any complicated politeness or sarcasm, Xu Yaxin directly stated her purpose. She said, "Li Qiuyang has been frantically investigating the mastermind behind the Yi Tian incident recently. I know who it is."
"Who is it!" Li Qiuyang grabbed her and asked.
"Li Ge, guess who it could be?" Xu Yaxin looked at me and asked with raised eyebrows.
I shook my head.
"Tsk tsk, it seems you don't know your best friend at all!"
The three words "good friends" struck me like a bolt of lightning. I stood there stiffly, speechless.
No matter how stupid I am, I know who she is talking about.
" Who is it? Tell me!" Li Qiuyang continued to shout.
I tugged at his shirt and said weakly, "Qiuyang, don't ask. I know who it is."
"Li Ge, you are really smart. I would like to know how you will deal with it after knowing that she did all this. I am really looking forward to it!" Xu Yaxin said this and turned away triumphantly.
She really just waved her sleeves, leaving behind a sadness.
"Why are you telling us this?" I asked as I watched her leave.
She paused, without looking back, and sneered, "Everyone has something they cherish. Unfortunately, Zhou Yao touched something she shouldn't have touched."
Something to cherish?
The first name that popped into my mind was Lin Chujian. Obviously, based on my understanding of Lin Chujian, it couldn't be him. Then who could it be?
A vague name appeared in my mind, and I shook my head to dispel the impossibility.
"Brother Lu Yan, do you know where Zhou Yao is now?"
"Have you forgotten what that woman did to you? Why are you still defending her at this time? Do you know that she hired someone to do what happened to Yi Tian?"
"Okay, I'll go find you."
When I came to my senses, Li Qiuyang had already hung up the phone and hurried out.
I didn't have time to think about how Yi Tian would react after knowing all this. I was afraid that Li Qiuyang would overreact, so I could only jog to catch up.
When Li Qiuyang and I went to look for Zhou Yao, we saw Lu Yan. They were arguing about something, but when they saw us, the argument ended. Zhou Yao looked at us in surprise and asked in a cold voice, "Why are you here?"
"Zhou Yao, aren't you going to explain the matter of Yi Tian to me?" I asked.
"You know everything? Then there's nothing to explain." She raised her eyebrows nonchalantly, as if everything was as easy as drinking water or eating for her.
I walked up to Zhou Yao and slapped her in the face. My hand hurt. "Why did you do this? Why? When Xu Yaxin told me it was you, I really couldn't believe it. Where did the timid and gentle Zhou Yao go? Why can you be so cruel? Even if we are no longer friends, Yi Tian has been very kind to you!"
"Li Ge, are you crazy? Do you believe what Xu Yaxin, that mad dog, says?" Lu Yan stood in front of me.
I looked at him and asked word by word, "Lu Yan, ask yourself honestly, do you really not believe it?"
"Lu Yan, go away. This is between Li Ge and me." Zhou Yao walked around to Lu Yan and looked at me and Li Qiuyang coldly. "Yes, it's me. I just want to teach Li Qiuyang a lesson and let him know that you can't just say anything, even if you're drunk. He ruined my life, so I'm going to ruin his. We're even now, aren't we?"
A faint smile, as cold as winter.
She admitted it herself, admitting everything she had done to Yi Tian.
"Zhou Yao! I'm going to kill you! Kill you!" Li Qiuyang was like a madman. He took out a wine bottle from somewhere and rushed towards Zhou Yao.
The wine bottle exploded on Lu Yan's arm, and blood was gushing out.
Lu Yan knelt down in front of us with a plop, and cried, "Li Ge, just consider it as a plea from me. I'm begging you with all the feelings I've had for you over the years, please spare Zhou Yao this time, okay?"
"Hahaha..." I couldn't stop laughing and questioned him, "Lu Yan, you also know that we have been in love for so many years! You begged me for Zhou Yao to let her go. What about her? Did she let me go, let...Yi Tian go, because we are your friends?"
"I know she is sorry to Yi Tian, but Li Ge, she is the woman I love the most. I can't just watch her get into trouble. Please, please."
The Lu Yan I know has many appearances.
Optimistic, positive, loyal, and carefree... none of them can match the humble him in front of him.
This was the second time I saw him like this, and each time it was because of a girl named Zhou Yao.
There are so many people in this world, why did this happen to us? This city is so big, why did it happen to us? Could it be Lu Yan?
"Why do you ask him to do that?" Zhou Yao pulled Lu Yan's arm, desperately trying to get him to stand up. Zhou Yao's crazy look shocked me, "Lu Yan, if you are a man, stand up! I don't need your protection, I will take responsibility for what I did! Stand up! Stand up! I won't allow you to kneel to anyone for me!"
"Yaoyao..." Lu Yan called her weakly.
Zhou Yao stopped what she was doing, sat down dejectedly on the chair, and sneered at everyone present: "Why do you blame me? What did I do wrong? You...you were all born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You don't have to worry about not having tuition fees when you go to college, and you don't have to worry about being fired when you don't do your job well. What about me? My family is so poor that I have to split every penny in half to spend. I work hard and stay up late to do projects, but...but everyone only has Li Ge in their eyes, laughing at my efforts. At first I thought, it's okay, Li Ge and I are friends, and it's better for her to be better than for both of us to be worse. But Li Ge, have you really ever considered me a friend? Didn't you and Yi Tian treat me as a beggar who needs emotional charity and sympathize with me? No matter what happens, you always think of each other and always ignore me! Is this a friend? I tell you! I don't want such a friend! I don't want it at all!"
"And Lu Yan, I thought you were my lifelong support. I lost my friendship and love. But on my birthday, you and your friends laughed at me for being a country boy. Do you know how sad and desperate I was at that moment? So when I met the man who could change my life, I didn't refuse. I knew this man could give me everything I wanted, money, status, and I could climb up through him and trample you all under my feet. See, I did it. You don't know how happy I was to see you in so much pain!"
"You..." I was so shocked by these words that I was speechless.
"Do you think Xu Yaxin told you this out of kindness? Haha, how much do you know about Xu Yaxin? How much do you know about her, about Lin Chujian, and about Lin Chuyu?" Zhou Yao laughed. "Li Ge, you always think you are very smart, but in fact you are a complete fool, a fool who is played around by others. And Li Qiuyang, who do you think you are? We are not done with our accounts yet."
"Shut up!" Li Qiuyang shouted. If I hadn't stopped him, he might have rushed forward again.
"Now that I've said that, I'll shut up." Zhou Yao squatted down and faced Lu Yan, who was slumped on the ground. She raised her hand to wipe away his tears, and her voice was extremely gentle. "Lu Yan, although I couldn't help blaming you just now, I know that among all these things, I know that you are the only one I feel sorry for. Thank you for loving me, thank you for being so sincere to me, and thank you for everything you did for me today. Lu Yan, I really loved you, but I also know that there are many things in this world that cannot be solved by love. I chose this path, and no matter how difficult it is, I can only grit my teeth and go on. I'm sorry, I can't stay with you forever."
Her hand stroked Lu Yan's face, then she stood up and left resolutely.
The sound of high heels gradually faded away. The three of us stood there for a long time, each with our own thoughts, unable to move.
When Zhou Yao broke up with us, I thought about it for a long time, what happened between us, and today when she said it, I realized that there were so many things between us. Yi Tian and I really ignored her a lot.
On this day, there were too many things for me to digest, about Zhou Yao and Xu Yaxin.
During this long period of time, we all walked and struggled according to our own little calculations. No one felt wronged, and no one had the right to blame others, except Yi Tian.
In this bloody story, she is the most innocent one and also the one who is hurt the most.
On the day Yi Tian was discharged from the hospital, I waited in the ward with Yi Tian for a long time but did not see Li Qiuyang.
I don’t know why, but since I woke up in the morning I’ve been feeling a little uneasy, as if something was going to happen.
After knowing that Zhou Yao had ordered people to do those things, Li Qiuyang was very calm, and did not make a scene or say he wanted revenge. It was precisely because of this that I was even more worried.
I didn’t want to tell Yi Tian at first, but she still found clues from our conversation. Under her questioning, I told her about Zhou Yao.
She asked me calmly, "Li Ge, did we really hurt Zhou Yao? She wasn't like this originally."
maybe!
When we couldn't wait any longer and decided to leave, a phone call once again broke our peace.
The police officer said, "Excuse me, are you Li Qiuyang's sister? He was arrested for serious injury and needs his family to come to the police station."
The police also said that the person who was beaten was named Zhou Yao.
Zhou Yao is still lying in the intensive care unit and has not woken up yet. This time, even ten Lin Chujians cannot save him.
I tried to calm myself down and called Aunt Zhang and Dad. I could hear Aunt Zhang screaming like crazy and cursing at me on the other end of the line.
I stood in the police station for Li Qiuyang for the third time, and this time Yi Tian was by my side again.
When the police officer in charge of the case saw us, he asked with emotion: "Why are you here again?"
Yeah, I also want to ask, why are we here again?
This time, the incident was much more serious than the last time. The man who supported Zhou Yao was said to have hired the best criminal lawyer in the country to fight this lawsuit. On the day when Li Qiuyang took action, someone also saw the whole process of his action and took notes.
In short, this matter is very difficult to deal with.
Yi Tian stood beside me, numb and calm. I knew she was in so much pain that she couldn't show any expression. She didn't cry, laugh, or run away. She just stood there quietly and asked me, "Li Ge, why is he always like this? Why didn't he think about the people who loved him when he did all this?"
I also want to know why I promised not to act impulsively, but still caused such a disaster.
I held her and told her, “Everything is going to be okay.”
When will it get better? I don't know.
Many things don’t develop as we expected, and I don’t even know what I can do.
Soon, Aunt Zhang and my father came. As soon as she saw me, Aunt Zhang rushed over and tore my hair and clothes like crazy, shouting frantically: "Li Ge, if you want revenge, come to me! Why do you let Qiu Yang suffer again and again? I am the one who let you and your mother down, not Qiu Yang. What did he do wrong?"
"Auntie..." Yi Tian wanted to explain something for me, but was pushed aside by Aunt Zhang and almost fell to the ground.
Aunt Zhang continued to tear it apart frantically. I knew it was very ugly, but I was powerless to refute her.
I glanced in the direction of my father. He was silent, letting me get beaten without trying to stop it. It seemed like he was thinking about something.
"Li Ge! I'm telling you, if anything happens to Qiu Yang, I will never let you off easily! And I won't let your mother off easily either!" Aunt Zhang screamed, "Even if I risk my life, I will make you and your mother pay for it!"
As she said this, she started to sob loudly, and finally loosened her grip on my hand.
Seeing the opportunity, Yi Tian immediately stepped forward and pulled me out of the "battle circle", looked at me nervously and asked: "Are you okay?"
I shook my head. My sadness was not that Aunt Zhang beat me, but that throughout the whole process my father, the father who once held me in the palm of his hand, watched me being treated like this without saying a word, but never stopped it.
"Li Ge, Dad and Aunt Zhang are old and can't stand the hard work. Please stop making trouble." After not seeing him for a while, he seemed to have aged a lot, his voice was hoarse and full of fatigue.
When I heard him say that, I suddenly felt sorry for him, even though I was sad because he ignored me just now. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I stubbornly refused to let them flow out.
But my father's next words stabbed me in the heart again. He said, "Li Ge, Dad doesn't know what kind of grievances you suffered outside, but Qiu Yang is really not a bad boy. He has always sincerely regarded you as a sister. Why did you let him do something hurtful?"
Li Qiuyang is a good boy, so I am a bad boy in his eyes?
Hahahaha...I suddenly want to laugh.
All the things that happened in the past are like a joke, passing by me like a revolving lantern.
"Li Ge is daddy's favorite little princess."
"My little pigeon is cuter and better than all the children."
"My little pigeon is the most beautiful and sensible girl in the world."
It turns out that a person can really forget what he once said so completely. The little princess who was once a treasure in his eyes has become an unforgivable person.
I was shaking. If Yi Tian hadn't held me up, I might have collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion. I could understand Aunt Zhang's madness, but I just couldn't get over what my father said.
"Look at her expression? Is she unconvinced? Wasn't it you who caused Qiu Yang to be arrested? And you! Don't think that I don't know anything just because you stood behind Li Ge and didn't say anything. You and Li Ge are not good people. Do you think Li Ge asked you to seduce my Qiu Yang? Do you two want to kill Qiu Yang? I tell you, even if Qiu Yang dies, I will not let Li Ge get a penny of the family property!" After scolding me, Aunt Zhang pointed her spearhead at Yi Tian.
I can tolerate whatever she says or does to me, but I will never allow it to happen to Yi Tian.
"That's enough! I don't care what you say about me. What qualifications do you have to say anything about Yi Tian?" I glared at her. "Your family's property? Ask my dad, how much of his property was earned by my mom? My mom was afraid that I would be wronged, so she left more property to him when we divorced. I know you're sad about Qiu Yang's accident, so I let you beat and scold me. Do you really think I dare not say anything?"
"Lao Li..." Aunt Zhang cried and threw herself into my father's arms when I said that.
This scene reminded me of Xu Yaxin. It turns out that all the mistresses in this world who pretend to be aggrieved are all the same.
Even though I was heartbroken, this person is still my blood relative. The crime of intentional injury would cost him many years in prison. After all, Li Qiuyang is his only son, and I cannot hurt him at this time.
"Dad, I'm sorry. I will definitely do my best to make sure Li Qiuyang is okay." Then I turned to Yi Tian and said, "Can you wait for me outside? I'll take you home after I finish dealing with things here."
Yi Tiantian nodded and walked out quietly.
Her silence makes me feel a little uneasy. She is different from Li Qiuyang. Li Qiuyang's silence is often brewing a storm, but as for Yi Tian, I am afraid that she will make herself sick.
After the quarrel, the police gave some more instructions and then told the parents to go back early to hire a lawyer.
I walked out of the police station and saw Yi Tian sitting on a bench outside. She was sitting in the light, and the sunlight made her look a little unreal, like an oil painting with unclear colors, full of white and desolate.
I walked over to her and sat down, resting my head on her shoulder, and asked softly, "Are you tired?"
"Tired." This simple word revealed Yi Tian's infinite exhaustion. "Li Ge, if Li Qiuyang and I hadn't broken up, would he not have become like this?"
"Yitian, this has nothing to do with you." I raised my head, turned her body to face me, and put my hands on her shoulders. "We all know him too well. Whether you break up or not, you all know that this day might come."
Yi Tian smiled sadly, but her pale face did not become lively because of this smile. She said, "Li Ge, I really don't understand why he never thinks about the feelings of those who love him? Me, you, his parents, did he ever think about us before he acted impulsively?"
I can't answer this question.
"Let me take you home. You just got out of the hospital and need to rest." I stood up and wanted to pull her away.
She shook her head stubbornly: "I'll go back by myself. You're tired too. Have a good rest. We still have a tough battle to fight."
I didn't argue with her about sending her home. I was also exhausted physically and mentally. When two tired people are together, it will only make each other more tired.
When she turned around, she said to me, "Li Ge, I really love him."
I said, "I know."
Tears fell uncontrollably. While wiping them, I thought, I always felt that I was omnipotent. But now I find that my strength is too weak. I tried desperately to protect Yi Tian and Li Qiuyang, but the result was that all three of us were very tired and injured.