Sure enough, He Yu refused to see Xie Qingcheng.
It was as though he was determined to evaporate completely from Xie Qingcheng's life—every message Xie Qingcheng sent him was like a pebble dropped into a bottomless sea. Xie Qingcheng had gone to the hospital, but He Yu was unaccustomed to the hubbub of public hospitals and had been quickly transferred to a private clinic. There, Xie Qingcheng found himself barred at the door.
The next few days were also extremely chaotic for Xie Qingcheng.
Xie Xue, Chen Man, the old neighbors who were worried about him, his colleagues, his supervisor… All sorts of people sought him out to ask him just what had happened that night and why his face would be projected onto a broadcasting tower by a criminal organization. On top of all that, he was also summoned to the police department from time to time for further questioning and to complete the necessary procedures.
He knew that the internet was having a field day over this incident, but it had surprisingly little effect on him, as he had absolutely no time whatsoever to sit down and check social media.
Naturally, Xie Xue gave him a lengthy phone call, sobbing the whole time. She asked him where he was so she could come find him, only for him to reject the idea point-blank by refusing to tell her his exact location.
Fortunately, Xie Xue had never seen pictures of their parents' murder scene. In order to protect her, Xie Qingcheng hadn't described their parents' deaths to her in concrete detail; he didn't want her to become like him, ensnared by endless despair. Xie Qingcheng wished for her to know as little as possible.
Chen Man also came to see him.
Chen Man was different from Xie Xue in that he knew all the facts of
situation. He was the first to drop by when Xie Qingcheng was still undergoing his first round of interrogation. He didn't belong to Zheng Jingfeng's department, so he'd had to take time off to rush over. The moment he stepped through the door, he immediately pulled Xie Qingcheng into a hug. He was an impulsive person, but it took him an unexpectedly long time to force out a few muffled words.
"Ge, are you trying to scare me to death?"
Xie Qingcheng noted the dark stubble covering his jaw; it seemed that these past few days, this kid hadn't even bothered to groom himself properly. Sighing, he patted Chen Man on the back.
Later on, as the investigation drew to a close, Chen Man once again came to give Xie Qingcheng a ride home.
That day, Xie Xue had originally planned on coming along as well, but due to the continuous stress she had been under she was feeling rather ill; Xie Qingcheng had her take sick leave and return to Moyu Alley where she could rest under the care of Auntie Li. He returned to the Huzhou Medical's faculty dormitory with Chen Man.
The university's faculty housing was assigned based on seniority, and Xie Qingcheng's living accommodations were more spacious than Xie Xue's. Of course, Xie Xue's dorm was filled with a mess of random junk, whereas Xie Qingcheng's bachelor apartment was essentially just four bare walls, utterly cold and cheerless.
"Ge, you should rest and lie down for a while. I'll go make you something to eat."
Chen Man stepped into the kitchen. He'd been to Xie Qingcheng's dorm a few times and was familiar with the place.
As the range hood whirred to life, Xie Qingcheng lay down on the sofa in exhaustion. Dimly, he felt that this scenario seemed a bit familiar. It was only later that he remembered: the day he had an allergic reaction to mango and got a fever, He Yu had come over and busied himself in the kitchen just like this.
Xie Qingcheng opened the address book on his phone, swiping past his pile of unread messages until he finally reached He Yu's name. Their chat history was still frozen on the messages he had sent He Yu inquiring after his condition.
He Yu still hadn't responded.
After a moment's contemplation, Xie Qingcheng dug up He Yu's phone number from his address book and called him once again. As expected, the line went dead after a few rings.
Xie Qingcheng sighed softly. He didn't even know how to coax women, much less a sulky young man. Not to mention, this was a young man who wasn't just angry right now, but also hurt and despairing. Not knowing what to do, he pressed a hand against his forehead for a long, long while. Then he wearily set his phone aside and turned to enter the bathroom.
After he'd washed up and come back out dressed in a bathrobe, Chen Man was in the living room setting the table.
"Ge, do you want…" Chen Man looked up as he spoke, and his words came to an abrupt stop. He saw Xie Qingcheng wearing a snow white bathrobe, leaning lethargically against the window frame as he lit the cigarette held between his lips.
Xie Qingcheng's hair was still dripping wet, but he couldn't be bothered to dry it. Shimmering droplets of water pregnant with some unspeakable, hidden desire rolled down his neck, slowly melting into the shadow beneath the collar of his bathrobe.
Xie Qingcheng was in a rather poor frame of mind, so he didn't pay much attention to his appearance. He took a drag of his cigarette and coughed quietly as he turned to look at Chen Man. "What were you about to say?"
"Oh, I-I said…" Chen Man's face had turned red, but unfortunately, between his own terrible mental state and the room's dim lighting, Xie Qingcheng didn't notice.
"I said, do you want any vinegar? I cooked some dumplings."
Xie Qingcheng said absentmindedly, "Anything is fine."
Chen Man bolted back into the kitchen, turning so quickly he nearly tripped over a power strip.
Meanwhile, Xie Qingcheng carried on leaning against the window and finished his cigarette. Then, after a moment's consideration, he sent He Yu yet another message.
"About the matter at the archives, I still want to say thank you."
Flakes of cigarette ash floated through the air, carried off by the wind like sea jellies gently drifting through water. Xie Qingcheng gazed silently at his screen for a while, then added, "I'm the one who didn't think things through. I'm sorry."
He knew that what He Yu wanted to hear might not necessarily be these two sentences. He Yu had been deeply hurt by the things that he had said in that video. But Xie Qingcheng didn't know how he should go about explaining himself. He couldn't explain even if he wanted to.
"Ge, the dumplings are ready. Come and eat."
Turning off his phone screen, Xie Qingcheng walked over to the dining table.
The dumplings Chen Man cooked had been wrapped and delivered by Auntie Li. Thin skins encased a healthy dollop of spring bamboo shoots and pork blended in aspic jelly. Chen Man had scooped the dumplings out and dished the soup into a separate bowl so that the food would cool faster. Exhausted and starving, Xie Qingcheng inhaled some thirty dumplings in a single breath.
It was only now that Chen Man said quietly, "Xie-ge, you need to stop doing things like this. Do you remember how you counseled me back when my brother passed? You told me that no matter how sad I was, there was no way I could change the past. That if I wanted to live on, I would have to pull myself back together again sooner or later."
Xie Qingcheng didn't respond.
"You talked to me about what happened to your mom and dad then, too… I was just a kid back then and I was slow on the uptake, so I asked you why you didn't keep pursuing the trail. You said that getting an answer was very important, but there were times when a person couldn't remain bogged down in the mud for the sake of an answer. You desperately wanted to know the true reason your parents died, the identity of the killer who orchestrated their murders… But if you were to risk it all for that endeavor, it would've been impossible for you to continue supporting your family. You still had a sister, and…"
"Xie Xue has grown up," Xie Qingcheng said. "If this were ten years ago, I would resist the urge to demand the truth, because the cost of obtaining it might be something I couldn't afford to pay. But Xie Xue is an adult now, and I don't have a wife or child to raise. I've been selfish for nineteen years, but now that I finally have no attachments to worry about anymore, there was no way I could turn a blind eye when the clues to my parents' murder were right there."
Chen Man very rarely raised his voice in front of Xie Qingcheng, but when he heard this, he could no longer hold back. "Ge, what the hell are you talking about? You're saying that if you died now, it wouldn't even matter, right? Because you successfully brought up your sister and saw us become independent, we'd just be able to accept it if you died, right?! Xiege, you… How could you say that?" His voice shook. "How could you think that?"
Xie Qingcheng gave no response.
Chen Man suddenly felt sincerely frightened by this man. Xie Qingcheng could make a plan that took into account the safety of everyone around him, but he wouldn't factor in his own life at all. When he considered whether he could afford to die, his decision didn't hinge on whether he wanted to live, but rather, if the people he was taking care of would be able to survive independently if he died.
In the face of enormous danger, he was even self-destructive.
"You're only… You're only living for other people? You think that as long as you've made proper arrangements for everyone, then your own death doesn't even matter, right?"
Xie Qingcheng sighed and pulled out a cigarette. "That's not what I meant—"
"You're not allowed to smoke anymore."
Chen Man shot to his feet and pinned Xie Qingcheng's hand down, snatching the cigarette, lighter, and box away with an ashen face. Then, he tossed them into the trash right in front of Xie Qingcheng.
Xie Qingcheng didn't get up from his chair. A long time later, he said, "Chen Man, I don't think my life doesn't matter."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I didn't mean anything, but one has to have priorities in life. Raising Xie Xue was once the most important thing to me; that always had to come before seeking the truth. But now I've completed that task, and I have no attachments holding me back. So seeking the truth is now of utmost importance."
Chen Man's eyes were red. "But your life is also very important. To me, it's more important than the truth."
Xie Qingcheng replied, "You're a police officer."
"But I'm also Chen Man."
For a long time, no one in the room spoke; there was only the continuous tick-tocking of the clock on the wall.
In the end, it was Xie Qingcheng who couldn't bear seeing Chen Man like this. He sighed and changed the subject. "Sit down. Eat with me."
Chen Man said nothing.
"Stop fussing, come sit." In Xie Qingcheng's eyes, he was already making a concession by saying this.
Though Chen Man was reluctant to concede, the pressure from Xie Qingcheng's aura was too strong; he never had the power to resist it for long. He staunchly held his ground for a few more seconds, but in the end, all he could do was slowly sit down under Xie Qingcheng's pointed stare and pick up his chopsticks again…even as tears dripped into his soup throughout the rest of the meal.
In a villa somewhere in the city, a woman's voice rang out.
"What?! You're saying He Yu has the blood toxin?" Lü Zhishu gaped in astonishment at the person before her, only managing to digest the information after great effort. "Executive Duan, surely you're joking…"
Duan-laoban flipped a page of his newspaper. "Executive Lü ought to be very happy to have a son like that."
Lü Zhishu dragged the red nails of her stubby fingers through her hair, her eyes filled with shock. She muttered to herself for a while before she looked up and said to the man in front of her, "As…as Number Four, the organization has always considered him defective goods. These past few years, I've raised him just like an ordinary patient; I never thought that he would have a disease-linked ability, nor…nor have any of you found him valuable as a potential research subject…"
Duan-laoban smiled. "Then it's clear that it's only natural for humans to make mistakes."
She didn't reply.
"During the investigation into the patients escaping from Cheng Kang Psychiatric Hospital, it was discovered that both He Yu and Xie Qingcheng went back into the burning building," he said. "After they reentered, a lot of patients were rescued at an unusually fast rate. They told the police it was because some of the doors didn't have padlocks and were only bolted from the outside—that explanation might be able to convince the police, but it's not enough to convince either one of us."
Duan-laoban took a sip of his strongly brewed pu'er tea and said languidly to Lü Zhishu, "However, Executive Lü need not worry—since He Yu is your son, he's one of ours."
Lü Zhishu's eyes lost focus as she shook her head. "No, with his personality, I'm afraid he wouldn't…"
"A person's heart is made of flesh, and blood is thicker than water. Even if he doesn't yet, he'll be standing on our side sooner or later. What kind of son would disobey his mother?" Duan-laoban gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Lü Zhishu said nothing. The aged pu'er tea was sweet and rich on the tongue. Duan-laoban took another sip.
Lü Zhishu said, "Executive Duan, when it comes to this matter, I can't guarantee you anything. If he really does have blood toxin, he's never mentioned it to us before…"
Executive Duan laughed out loud.
"Executive Lü, could that just be because you're too biased? Even I know that you and your Lao-He don't spend much time with your elder son at all. Of course he's going to be distant from you two. But after what happened with the broadcasting tower, I think he might not be such an indifferent person after all—that Doctor Xie fellow you hired for him merely accompanied him for a brief period and showed him a bit of respect, yet that was enough for him to go to such lengths for him."
At the mention of this, Lü Zhishu became unexpectedly indignant. "If that bullet had hit him somewhere vital, then…"
"Don't you have He Li too? Surely He Li is more important to you?" Amused, Duan-laoban examined Lü Zhishu's face—it resembled a milkshake that had been poorly mixed, covered in bright splotches of color. "In the future, you and Lao-He should remember to save some parental devotion for your eldest. He Li is a normal kid. I know you like him. But now that He Yu has blood toxin, it would be ideal if he listened to us unconditionally. It would save us a lot of trouble if we didn't have to force him." Duan-laoban poured himself some more of the red liquid from the teapot and said mildly, "You can take your time with this, Executive Lü. Rome wasn't built in a day. Give him some more attention bit by bit, and in time he'll forgive the way you neglected him before. There's no rush."
This time, he poured some tea for Lü Zhishu as well and gestured to the teacup. "This pu'er tea Xiao-Shen brought back from Yunnan is really quite good. Executive Lü should try it."
Seeing that Lü Zhishu was frozen in place, the look in Executive Duan's eyes sharpened slightly. "Oh, you—you've been very clever all along. That's why you've been able to deceive your Lao-He for so many years. Your acting skills are no worse than those of the little idols Executive Huang keeps around. But when it comes to acting, it's possible to get too emotionally invested or flub your lines. Executive Lü, do you understand what I mean?"
Lü Zhishu swayed unsteadily where she stood, as though his words had stabbed her in the foot.
Executive Duan smiled. "We've been collaborators for a long time now. I understand you even better than your Lao-He. When it comes to those matters from your past, Executive Lü, as long as you're cooperative enough, I'll always help you keep He Jiwei in the dark—no need to worry. Take a seat."
He pushed the teacup closer to Lü Zhishu. "Try it. Don't you love tea?"
At last, Lü Zhishu sat down slowly on the couch across from him. She tentatively touched the rim of the cup with her fingers, which had gone cold with fright. Only after she adjusted to the warmth did she lift the cup and take a sip.
She swallowed the tea, the tannins bitter on her tongue.
Lü Zhishu forced a smile. "It's very good."
Executive Duan looked at the uncertain expression on her face and said mildly, "Executive Lü, just give it your best effort—it takes a very long time to win somebody over. But there's no need to feel too much pressure. Your esteemed son is only nineteen. The disease differentiation of psychological Ebola becomes more pronounced with time, so let him slowly train his abilities by himself for now; don't lay your cards out on the table until later. I trust that by that time, he'll willingly become one of our members."
"Then…what are your plans for training him, exactly?"
"Let's wait and see," Executive Duan said in a relaxed voice, like he was playing an extremely interesting game. "We'll take it step by step. He was an unexpected surprise to begin with, so I'm thinking that we might not need to plan too far in advance with him yet. Besides, he must have been deeply hurt by that Doctor Xie of his recently. When young people receive a shock, they should be allowed to adjust to it themselves—we'll let him be for now."
With that, he leaned forward to brew more tea.
"We have a lot to do too. The murder videos this time should have intimidated the rats that needed intimidating. We need to keep a close eye on Cheng Kang and Huzhou University and wrap things up cleanly. We've tossed a bone to the dogs, so we have to watch them gnaw on it until they're done. Since we've already led them to that scapegoat overseas, we need to ensure that they don't come sniffing around here."
After he finished speaking, Executive Duan poured some more tea for himself with an air of self-satisfaction. "Be nicer to He Yu, but remember that it needs to seem natural. If He Jiwei finds out that something is amiss, the one who'll suffer losses will always be you."
Lü Zhishu looked at the image of her flabby, formless face reflected in the cup of tea. After a long while, she murmured, "All right. I understand."