He Yu and Xie Qingcheng ignored each other throughout the rest of the investigation process.
When they were released, Xie Qingcheng took the liberty of hailing a taxi for himself and Xie Xue. Xie Xue wanted to wait for He Yu so that they could leave together, but Xie Qingcheng refused outright and shoved her down by the back of her head, stuffing her into the car without a word of explanation.
He Yu simply leaned back quietly against a pillar with his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the scene. He didn't make a sound, nor did he try to force the matter. He looked like a dog that knew it had been abandoned but couldn't chase after its master; this made Xie Xue feel extremely uncomfortable.
"He Yu… Ge, why don't we wait for him…"
"Get in."
"But…"
"Get in!"
"…Then, He Yu? Let me know when you get home, okay?" Xie Xue said weakly.
"Are you done?" Xie Qingcheng snapped. "We're leaving."
Xie Xue wanted to say more, but He Yu quietly shook his head, signaling for her to stop talking.
Once Xie Xue had reluctantly settled down into the car, he merely waved at her, then watched as their car drove away.
Xie Xue sunk into her seat and couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Ge, what's up with you two this time?"
Xie Qingcheng didn't feel like responding. He opened the pack of cigarettes he'd pilfered from Chen Man and was just about to light one when he remembered that Xie Xue was behind him in the back seat and stopped. He held the cigarette between his teeth as he rested his elbow against the open window and gazed with a dazed expression at the city nightscape flashing by on the other side of the glass instead.
"Did He Yu mess up and say something wrong and make you angry…?" Xie Xue ventured quietly.
Xie Qingcheng answered her question with stony silence.
"Ge, don't blame him too much. He's a bit volatile at times, but he's still a good person at heart. I heard that this time, if it weren't for him, you two wouldn't have realized I was missing in time and rushed over and things might have been a lot worse. He—"
"He what?" Xie Qingcheng snapped. He held the cigarette between his fingers and continued in a condemning tone. "I told you to stay away from him, so why're you hanging out with him all the time?"
Xie Xue felt a bit wronged too. "But he's a good person, he treats me nicely, and he's respectful to you…"
Xie Qingcheng was so disgusted he couldn't even speak.
Respectful.
Like hell, he was respectful!
It was and had always been just him putting on an act in front of others. But even so, he couldn't tell Xie Xue about He Yu's disease. Xie Xue only ever saw He Yu's usual virtuously elegant and gentlemanly disguise. Even if he were to speak of the indignities he had suffered at He Yu's hands, even his own sister wouldn't be able to believe him. He could only bite his tongue and bear it.
"Ge…"
"Shut up!"
Xie Xue froze.
This was what always happened with family. The moment after surviving a calamity, everyone would think, We'll never fight again for the rest of our lives! We'll live happily together and talk to each other properly by communicating gently.
But the heightened tender affections brought upon by the shock of traumatic events were no more than a buff, and once they wore off, the disciplinarian would go back to disciplining while the person receiving the discipline would go back to being disciplined. Everyone would return to their familiar roles, and exchanges would be just as foul-mouthed as ever.
It really fucking was just a temporary panacea.
Xie Xue felt mistreated, but there was nothing she could do. Who made him her elder brother?
Ah, whatever, whatever—if she didn't coddle him, then who would? She would just have to indulge that parental temper of his.
At this thought, she crossed her arms and somewhat exasperatedly pursed her lips. She didn't know why her brother kept telling her to keep her distance from such a talented, refined, and morally virtuous boy like He Yu; it had reached the point where it seemed as if her brother actually had some major objection to him, but what could it be? It was truly baffling…
After a while, Xie Xue spoke up again. "Oh, by the way…"
Xie Qingcheng didn't bother acknowledging her, but Xie Xue knew that her brother's silence meant: "If you have something to say, spit it the fuck out."
Thus, she cautiously said, "Earlier when I was resting, he…called… and asked what happened, I…"
Xie Qingcheng didn't ask who "he" was, as though both siblings had tacitly agreed to refer to "him" as such.
"What did you say to him?" Xie Qingcheng asked.
"What else could I say? I just said everything was fine. I didn't talk to him very much."
Xie Xue paused for a moment. "Ge, are you feeling better now?"
"Do you think he would make me feel better?"
Out of options, Xie Xue could only nudge closer and stick her head out from the backseat. She pawed at the edge of the passenger seat like a kitten, as though trying to catch her brother's attention with sheer cuteness.
"Then look at me, look at how I'm perfectly fine—doesn't it make you feel better?"
"…In the future, don't go to such dangerous places by yourself, " said Xie Qingcheng. His tone had finally softened slightly.
"All right, I'll be careful…" Xie Xue hastily replied as the car sped off in a swirl of dust.
The next day, news about the Cheng Kang Psychiatric Hospital was plastered on the front pages of the newspapers.
The article drew on the statements that all the people who had been forced onto the rooftop had given to the police. It described in detail how this case of murder and arson, prompted by the flare-up of Jiang Lanpei's illness, was actually the story of a woman who lived a life worse than death during her nearly twenty years of imprisonment. But unfortunately, Liang Jicheng was already dead, Liang Zhongkang had passed away before his younger brother, and the other higher-ups who might have known about the details of the case were deceased as well—several of them having died in this very inferno.
It was as though the fire of vengeance lit by Jiang Lanpei had taken on a life of its own and swallowed up everyone who had ever been involved in this crime.
Just as He Yu predicted, the papers chose Jiang Lanpei's ugliest photo to print onto their pages. Even so, she still looked very stunning in it—the now-dead woman gazed directly out of the newsprint, her expression showing a hint of resolve, yet one could also see a trace of bewilderment…
Beneath her photo, the reporter wrote: "There is a possibility that Jiang Lanpei is not her real name as such information was processed before digital recordkeeping began. The police are currently conducting genetic testing on Ms. Jiang's remains, but due to the length of time that has elapsed, results may be inconclusive. If members of the general public have any leads, please contact the relevant department at the number below."
Inside his villa, He Yu folded the newspaper shut.
Recently, the topic of psychiatric hospitals and the mentally ill had become the object of public scrutiny. From greasy uncles to naive little girls, everyone discussed it with an air of unflappable logic, as though they were all experts in sociology or medicine.
In most people's eyes, they had become accustomed to labeling the mentally ill as "them," with their natural antithesis being "us." It was impossible for "them" to become "us," no matter how pitiful they were.
But how did mental illnesses arise then?
He Yu remembered something Xie Qingcheng had once said to him.
"The vast majority of mental illnesses are normal people's responses to abnormal circumstances. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder… In these patients' daily lives, there is certain to be one or more abnormal situations that place them under great pressure. For example, bullying at school or cyberbullying, sexual violence against women, or social inequality—these kinds of abnormal situations, that is, the main culprits dealing the greatest damage to their psyches, very ironically, nearly all originate from their families, from their workplace, from society—they originate from 'us.'
"I think that mentally ill people shouldn't be locked away unless there is no other alternative. Rather, they should be allowed to roam freely in the world just like any normal person. This is how they can heal their state of mind and become one of us again. Cages should be reserved for criminals, not for patients who have already suffered so much."
He Yu didn't like Xie Qingcheng, but he agreed with him on this point.
The reason why he allowed Xie Qingcheng to stay by his side for so long was precisely due to this perspective. It made He Yu feel that, at the very least, Xie Qingcheng regarded him as a living, breathing human being.
Thus, after what happened yesterday, upon realizing that he had gone too far and offended Xie Qingcheng, he had felt that he should at least apologize to him.
But who could have known that Xie Qingcheng's familiarity with his disguise would actually lead him to believe that even his apologies were false and end up splashing beer all over his face?
Merely thinking of it filled He Yu with sorrow. He closed his eyes, determined to shake the humiliating feeling of the icy droplets of liquid streaming down his face that still lingered.
Forget it… Don't think about it anymore.
At least Xie Qingcheng had only sworn at him and thrown a drink in his face—others would treat a mentally ill person like him like an animal. If his family had put him in a loony bin like Cheng Kang, his illness might've long since gotten much worse.
Jiang Lanpei had stayed there for twenty years. Did her illness ultimately improve or worsen? Perhaps she wouldn't have ended up taking this path in the first place if she'd never been admitted.
Lao-Zhao knocked on the door of He Yu's room. Upon receiving permission, he entered with the little yellow dog trailing behind him, cautiously wagging its tail. "Young Master He, your instructions have all been carried out." He proceeded to give He Yu a status update on several matters. "I've already given Homeless Services a heads up and explained your intentions to Executive He. Arrangements have been made for Zhuang Zhiqiang to stay at our rehabilitation center for the time being. He won't be sent to Wanping."
"Good. Thanks for all your hard work," said He Yu.
Zhuang Zhiqiang was also pretty damn fortunate—his room was on a lower floor, and he had been quickly rescued by the firefighters. If nothing else, they'd been brought together through fateful coincidence. So, He Yu had no intention of abandoning him after what they had gone through.
Besides, Xie Xue would definitely worry about him.
All the people who had been involved in the massive fire at Cheng Kang received about a week of vacation to recover both mentally and physically. With this experience behind them, they now had to look to the future. Seeing as they had escaped the fires of purgatory, they really ought to live their lives happily and peacefully from now on, including He Yu.
He Yu let his mind drift back to that night, out on the portico.
Didn't Xie Qingcheng say no one would be willing to be with him? Didn't Xie Qingcheng say that if anyone could stay with him for more than a month, he would take his surname?
Very well. He would just have to get together with Xie Xue then.
He wanted to be with the person closest to Xie Qingcheng, to steal his younger sister away from his side—and when the time came, Xie Qingcheng would have to live up to his word and change his name to He Qingcheng. He Yu could only imagine how that man would feel when that happened.
The thought delighted him.
That insufferably arrogant and frigidly stern face…would it reveal an expression that he'd never seen before?
After a week of rest, He Yu returned to the university campus with renewed motivation.
He was ready to make a fool of Xie Qingcheng and confess his feelings to Xie Qingcheng's most beloved little sister.
The outdoor lamps on the villa's balcony were just bright enough to attract a few hovering insects searching for light. Droplets of moisture clung to the glass of the lamp like a sheen of cold sweat, and an armchair that had its back facing the grand doors of the balcony was enveloped in its dim glow.
Someone was sitting in the armchair.
The subordinate who pushed open the door to enter could only see a sliver of the person's hidden silhouette, their elbow lying slanted against the armrest.
"Is that so? There was an instance of patients successfully escaping in an extremely short period of time?"
"Yes, Duan-laoban."
"Fascinating…" Duan-laoban let out a soft chuckle from the chair. "The power of teamwork? Cheng Kang is a psychiatric hospital, not a nursery for teaching little children manners and conduct. This really is quite unusual."
Cold sweat beaded on the subordinate's forehead. "Duan-laoban, Cheng Kang's surveillance was decrepit to begin with, and no equipment survived the fire. We want to extract footage from the incident, but it's really…"
"I didn't hope to extract useful footage from that squandering Liang Jicheng's death in the first place."
Duan-laoban paused.
"Has there been news from the police department?"
"There has, actually. A few patients said that a fellow patient gave them the keys and told them to help each other open the doors, but that was the extent of their information."
Duan-laoban scoffed quietly. "Even if you gave them keys and told them to open doors, would they listen?"
Silence answered him.
"There was a blazing inferno," Duan-laoban continued. "It was a critical moment between life and death."
The subordinate shivered. "Duan-laoban, do you mean to say…"
The man in the armchair didn't speak again. The dim light illuminated the scrap of paper he'd carelessly tossed before him.
Two words written on top, circled, and punctuated with a question mark. Blood toxin?