Shoutout to Alinaza for the commission!
The hospital Mo Jichen arranged was a research institute under the Lu Corporation.
But it wasn’t the one Jiang Se had gone to seven years ago, it was another one specializing in forensics and autopsy research.
It wasn’t the first time Huang Jia had brought a victim here. Familiar with everything, she led her to a ward and said to the female doctor waiting inside, “Dr. Mo, this is Miss Jiang.”
“Mm, I know, my brother just called me.” Mo Jiwan, in a white coat and holding a camera, nodded and smiled at Jiang Se. “I’m Mo Jiwan. I’ll be doing your forensic exam today.”
The doctor in front of her looked five or six points similar to Mo Jichen: bright eyes, even features, her temperament calm as a chrysanthemum.
Jiang Se said, “Thank you.”
Mo Jiwan had Jiang Se sit on the hospital bed, pulled the white curtain closed, and methodically photographed her injuries, from her jawline and neck to the many cuts on her hands and wrists.
After the photos, Jiang Se removed her top. Mo Jiwan glanced at her collarbones.
A very beautiful pair of collarbones, except right now they looked frightening.
The right collarbone was rubbed into a patch of bruised blood. The left collarbone was covered with red marks from sucking and biting.
Mo Jiwan pointed at the right collarbone and said, “This patch of bruising was caused by the suspect?”
Jiang Se lowered her eyes to look.
This was the only side where she’d put concealer with the drug.
“No, this was caused by me washing it with water because I felt dirty. The other side I didn’t have time to wash yet, my friend arrived.”
“Good thing the left collarbone didn’t get wet. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so easy to collect the suspect’s DNA.” Mo Jiwan said gently, “I’ll collect from this side. The other side was washed, most of the traces are gone.”
Jiang Se’s long lashes trembled. She looked at Mo Jiwan.
As if unaware of her gaze, Mo Jiwan gently swept a cotton swab across Jiang Se’s left collarbone and shoulder.
After dropping her off with Mo Jiwan, Huang Jia stepped into the stairwell to take a call.
The call lasted less than five minutes. When she came out, there was already another figure outside the ward.
A man leaned against the railing, quietly staring at the ward door, the lines of his profile cold and hard.
Huang Jia thought the victim’s boyfriend was impressively fast.
Just earlier on the phone she and her colleague were sighing that such a stunning pair of lovers mustn’t let this whole mess drive them apart.
“Miss Jiang is inside for the forensic exam. After the exam she still has to get her wounds treated and give a statement.” Huang Jia walked over. “It’ll take at least three to four hours.”
Lu Huaiyan turned his head toward her, nodded slightly, thanked her, and said, “I’ll wait here.”
Huang Jia let out an “mm,” and was about to push the ward door open when the man behind her suddenly said, “Her phone isn’t with her. Could you ask her what she wants to eat later? I’ll arrange it ahead of time.”
Huang Jia paused, looked back at him, and agreed readily, “No problem.”
Their voices outside weren’t loud and not entirely clear, but Jiang Se knew Lu Huaiyan had arrived.
He was waiting right outside.
As soon as Huang Jia came in, she relayed Lu Huaiyan’s words through the curtain.
After that she added, “Your phone and handbag are in the suspect’s business vehicle. I’ll have a colleague bring them over later.”
Jiang Se gave a soft “mm”: “I want the chicken soup wontons from Zhenbaozhai.”
She didn’t really have much appetite, but she needed to eat something, to ease his mind.
Huang Jia said, “Got it,” and was about to leave when a voice unhurriedly followed behind her: “Please tell him to get the wounds on his hand treated.”
When the ward door reopened, Huang Jia made a point to look at Lu Huaiyan’s hand. It was indeed injured, looking like wounds scraped by something rough, fine and long, with a dozen crusted scabs.
He had smashed open the entrance door of the basement. Most likely he’d hurt his hand then.
Huang Jia handed him disinfectant alcohol and gauze. “Miss Jiang said she wants the chicken soup wontons from Zhenbaozhai. And, she asked that you treat the wounds on your hand.”
Lu Huaiyan took it.
Huang Jia figured he might want to ask about Jiang Se’s condition, so she didn’t rush back inside.
But the man didn’t ask a single thing. Holding the bag of disinfectant and gauze, he stood there as if rooted, not moving, showing no intention of treating his hand.
Since she wasn’t leaving, Lu Huaiyan assumed Huang Jia still had something to say, so he asked, “What else did she say?”
“N-no, nothing,” Huang Jia waved her hand. “Miss Jiang just told you to hurry and treat your hand. She didn’t say anything else.”
After a pause, she smiled. “Miss Jiang’s injuries aren’t serious, and she’s extremely calm. I’ve never seen… sigh, anyway, you really don’t need to worry.”
Lu Huaiyan’s lips curved into a very faint smile. “I know.”
Huang Jia didn’t know how to respond to that.
She had never seen a victim as calm and composed as Jiang Se, nor a family member as steady and unshakable as Lu Huaiyan.
These two had very similar auras. It was fascinating.
By the time the wounds were examined and cleaned, dusk had fallen and the city lights were coming on.
Not only did Lu Huaiyan bring Jiang Se’s dinner, but Huang Jia and two other colleagues also benefited, and even Mo Jiwan received a portion.
Zhenbaozhai’s food was notoriously expensive. Huang Jia and the others tried to decline politely, but Mo Jiwan was the first to unceremoniously pick up her portion, saying, “No need to refuse. Your Captain Mo already approved you joining this meal. He said you’ll be pulling an all-nighter, so eat more to save your strength.”
Saying this, she greeted Lu Huaiyan: “Brother Lu, you can take Miss Jiang to my office to eat.”
Lu Huaiyan said no, “I’ll take her to another place to eat.”
He brought Jiang Se to a document room.
The Lu family was rich and powerful; even the document rooms in these charity-based research hospitals were like small libraries, filled with various medical books, journals, and human body models.
Jiang Se ate half of the chicken soup wontons and couldn’t eat anymore. The remaining half bowl was finished by Lu Huaiyan for her.
“Do you want to rest for a while?” The man threw the empty bowl into the trash can and said lightly, “Later we still have to go to the sub-bureau for your statement and deposition.”
Jiang Se shook her head. She kept her eyes open, quietly looking at him.
Seeing her shake her head, Lu Huaiyan nodded and said: “Then let’s go.”
His expression was very calm, and his tone was just as calm.
“Older Brother Huaiyan.” Jiang Se called out to him.
Lu Huaiyan did not turn around. He twisted the doorknob open, his voice still calm as water: “I’ll go with you to the sub-bureau.”
—
Beicheng Major Crimes Unit Sub-bureau.
Mo Jichen had just returned from the hospital. After being busy all afternoon, he hadn’t had a sip of food or water, and was now guzzling water from an elderly-style insulated cup.
When Jiang Se and Lu Huaiyan came in, he put down the cup and said: “The surveillance from the club’s parking lot has already been pulled. The whole process of Miss Jiang being drugged was recorded clearly. The suspect was wearing a mask and hat, so his face isn’t clear. But the mask and hat were found in the garbage bin in the garage, and the forensics lab is comparing DNA. Oh, right—”
Mo Jichen pointed his chin toward Jiang Se’s hand, “Not only is there the suspect’s skin tissue under your nails, but also fragments of the gloves he was wearing. The gloves, mask, and hat were all found in the garbage bin. Combined with the surveillance footage, the suspect is involved in kidnapping, unlawful detention, and attempted r*pe, among several charges. When he’s able to be discharged, we will place him in criminal detention. Colleagues from the sub-bureau will be rotating at the hospital these next two days to prevent his escape.”
Jiang Se asked: “Has Fu Yun woken up?”
Mo Jichen said: “Not yet. Although the few stabs you made didn’t hit vital spots, he lost too much blood and was drugged. The doctor said the earliest he’ll wake is tomorrow morning. Miss Zhu, who reported the case, said you forced the suspect’s hand because you were investigating the kidnapping case from seven years ago. She said she was coerced by the suspect, afraid he’d kill her, so she pretended to cooperate. After you were taken, she immediately called the police. The beer the suspect drank was drugged by her.”
Jiang Se let out a soft “mm”: “I have indeed been investigating the kidnapping case from five years ago. Sister Zheng Huan, the private investigator I hired, sent the documents over, right?”
The moment Zheng Huan’s name came out, not only Mo Jichen but even Huang Jia beside him paused visibly, secretly glancing at Mo Jichen.
“Miss Zheng has already sent the documents. Don’t worry, we will investigate every case mentioned in them, including the kidnapping case from seven years ago.” Mo Jichen said in a businesslike tone, “We found an old phone in the basement where the suspect kept you. It contained photos of you from middle school to high school. One of them is from the day you were kidnapped seven years ago.”
He handed over a thick file. “I had someone photocopy them. Do you want to take a look?”
“Thank you.”
Jiang Se opened it. The first photo was her wearing a black ballet dress, dancing in the practice room.
The photo was taken from outside the window, capturing the reflection in the mirror.
She remembered the black ballet dress clearly. She had specially ordered it to dance the Black Swan.
Ji Yunyi didn’t agree to her dancing the Black Swan.
So she wore the dress and danced a full Black Swan routine in the practice room, even recording it to show Ji Yunyi: “I can dance the White Swan, and I can dance the Black Swan. No one can define what I am suited to dance.”
No wonder Fu Yun had prepared a Black Swan princess bed for her.
Jiang Se continued flipping, and at one page her fingertips paused.
It was from the day of her middle school graduation photo, the moment she brushed past Fu Yun and looked back at him.
Back then, his button had ripped off two strands of her hair.
The last photo was the one Mo Jichen mentioned, her back as she pushed open the painting institute’s doors and walked in.
That was Cen Se at sixteen.
Jiang Se closed the file, calmly returned it, and asked: “Captain Mo, do you still need to ask anything else?”
Mo Jichen put the file away and asked a few more questions.
By the end, it was almost ten at night.
“Same as last time, I’ll have Huang Jia contact you with follow-ups.” Mo Jichen looked at the man who had been sitting silently beside Jiang Se, “That’s it for today. Once the facts are fully investigated, the sub-bureau will transfer the case to the procuratorate, which will bring public charges. The trial will not be public.”
“I want a public trial.” Jiang Se raised her eyes to Mo Jichen. “Can I apply for a public trial?”
Mo Jichen froze. One of the charges Fu Yun was suspected of was attempted rape. To protect victims, such cases were generally not publicly tried.
“According to Article 188 of the Criminal Procedure Law—”
“I know. Cases involving personal privacy are not publicly tried, but I am willing to have it publicly tried.” Jiang Se said. “I want more people to see my case, to see how I used the knife in my hand to protect myself, to see me walk out of that basement safe and sound, to see the criminal arrested and judged.”
—
Leaving the sub-bureau, the night wind brushed past.
Lu Huaiyan’s car was parked in the lot. On the way there, the two were silent.
Just as she opened the door to get in, a gray Toyota hurriedly stopped at the entrance.
Several detectives got out in a rush, and soon Mo Jichen and Huang Jia led a group out of the sub-bureau and into the car.
The Toyota sped away.
Lu Huaiyan withdrew his gaze, bent down into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and drove in the opposite direction from the gray Toyota.
“Mo Jichen didn’t dare send Fu Yun to a Lu-owned hospital. They sent him straight to Third Hospital instead. The man who just got out of the car is one of the officers guarding Fu Yun.”
“Fu Yun is in trouble?” Jiang Se asked.
Lu Huaiyan: “Most likely.”
Jiang Se didn’t speak. Only when the car drove out of the precinct’s intersection did she say: “Older Brother Huaiyan, I want to go somewhere first.”
Lu Huaiyan said in a淡 voice: “I know, I’m taking you there now.”
The black Maybach steadily drove toward the outskirts.
Strips of neon light swept past, the noise of the bustling city slowly thrown behind the car.
Wrapped in the night, they drove into a patch of silent desolation.
Outside the abandoned factory, Cen Mingshu’s red Ferrari was already gone.
That afternoon at the hospital, Mo Jichen had already sent someone to move the car away.
Jiang Se stepped out of the car with a key tightly held in her hand.
Lu Huaiyan took an iron hammer out of the trunk. “Need it? Uncle Mo made this hammer himself, very sturdy.”
He knew she wanted to come here.
And he knew what she wanted to do here.
Jiang Se accepted the heavy iron hammer and looked at Lu Huaiyan.
“Older Brother Huaiyan, wait for me here.”
Lu Huaiyan gave an “mm”: “Go ahead.”
Jiang Se was actually a bit tired, but she wanted to come here as soon as possible.
A person had died in this abandoned factory back then, and the owner had hired people to clean it inside and out and even found a master to drive away evil spirits, but still couldn’t sell it.
Until the year Jiang Se turned eighteen and took over Hongsheng, she used Xu Zhou’s hand to buy this factory.
The iron door let out a “creak.”
She carried the hammer and slowly walked toward the room where she’d once been imprisoned.
“Cen Se, I’m here.”
A beam of moonlight came in through the circular hole in the wall like a wound.
Jiang Se quietly stared at that beam of light.
“Seven years.” She said slowly, “I paid back your seven knives.”
“The first knife landed on Fu Yun’s left wrist.”
The dim room before her seemed to slowly turn into that cage-like basement under the moonlight.
When Jiang Se aimed the knife tip at Fu Yun, the man’s tall body pressed toward her, one broad hand gripping her shoulder.
She stared into Fu Yun’s eyes and stabbed the sharp blade into his left wrist. She used so much force that even while holding the knife she could feel the jolt of the blade striking bone.
“The second knife was his right arm.”
The pain in his left wrist forced Fu Yun to release his left hand and use his right arm to clamp her neck.
The man perhaps thought she wouldn’t dare swing the knife near her own neck. When he succeeded in locking her shoulder and neck, he even laughed by her ear: “Slower, Sese, careful the knife doesn’t slice that pretty neck of yours.”
Jiang Se didn’t even blink as she stabbed into his arm, then gripped the hilt with both hands and sliced to the right.
Fu Yun grunted in pain but refused to let go, determined to choke her unconscious, and reached out with his left hand to grab her wrist and take her knife.
Jiang Se’s face was indeed flushed with lack of oxygen, but she had practiced this scene countless times.
Before Fu Yun could touch her wrist, she had already yanked the knife out and swung hard toward his right ribs. At the same time, she slammed her head back.
“That was the third knife, Cen Se.”
“Fourth and fifth, the back of his shoulder.”
The back of her head rammed straight into Fu Yun’s nose. The impact stunned Jiang Se for a second and forced Fu Yun’s grip to loosen.
Jiang Se used the moment of blankness caused by his intense pain to quickly move behind him and jab two consecutive holes into the back of his shoulder.
In just a few minutes, the man had taken five of her knife wounds.
His shirt was soaked red, blood gushing out, his strength flowing away along with it.
Fu Yun suddenly wasn’t so eager to grab her anymore.
He braced his hands on his knees and stared at Jiang Se, slowly starting to laugh, laughing so hard his shoulders trembled.
“You really make me like you too much, Sese.” The man’s eyes were filled with madness, the arc of his smile exaggerated. “Let’s die together. I’ve always known only you are worthy of me. Don’t worry, even if I go to h*ll, I’ll take you with me!”
At that moment, adrenaline suppressed the drug and weakness flowing through his blood. He suddenly grabbed her right wrist and yanked her hard into his arms.
Jiang Se never intended to escape.
Her right hand loosened. The knife fell downward. Using the momentum of leaning forward, she caught the knife with her left hand and swiftly drove it into Fu Yun’s abdomen, then used all her strength to knock him over.
The two of them crashed to the ground together.
“The sixth knife, Fu Yun’s right abdomen.”
By then Fu Yun was already at the end of his strength. That last move used up every bit of power he had left.
When the back of his head hit the carpet, his gaze began to unfocus, his limbs falling weakly to the floor.
Jiang Se pushed herself up from his body, pulled out the knife, held the hilt in both hands, and stared fixedly at his left chest.
Those seemingly chaotic six strikes were all preparation for the final precise one.
His eyes hadn’t closed yet. He might still have the ability to strike back.
She was still within the time frame of legitimate self-defense.
The sharp blade flickered with cold light under the dim lamp.
Jiang Se’s expression was icy.
But just as the knife tip was about to fall toward his heart, her gaze wavered. In a sudden motion, she pushed her arm forward, the blade slicing through his shirt and sliding to his left shoulder.
“The seventh knife, left shoulder.”
When the seventh knife fell, Fu Yun hadn’t even closed his eyes. His unfocused pupils stared right at her.
Only after a blurred “Sese” escaped his lips did his eyes finally shut.
“It’s over, Cen Se.”
Moonlight spilled like a handful of soft silver into a corner of the room.
Jiang Se looked toward the spot illuminated by the light.
There, a young girl’s limbs were bound, her eyes covered with black cloth, her mouth stuffed with fabric, quietly curled into a ball.
Ever since she bought this abandoned factory, she had come here every year.
“In the past, whenever I came, I could only tell you to wait. This time I can finally say one thing—”
“Cen Se, I’ve come to take you home.”
—
Two bright beams from a car stretched across the wild grass, tiny insects carrying light resting on the tips of the blades.
When the sound of the hammer striking the floor echoed out, countless insects fluttered up, stirring fragments of light.
Lu Huaiyan leaned against the car hood, black lashes half lowered, quietly listening like a carved statue.
One hit, two hits, three hits.
After the third hit, the sound abruptly stopped.
Lu Huaiyan lifted his head toward the iron door, and when he caught sight of the figure walking out, he softly asked, “Finished?”
“Mm.” Jiang Se tilted her head up at the blue-velvet sky. “It stopped raining.”
The man straightened, long legs stepping toward her, taking the hammer from her hand and tossing it into the trunk, holding her hand as he said calmly, “Mm, since it’s finished, we won’t come back again. Now, we’re going home.”
They didn’t return to Xinhe Residence. The car drove toward the river, heading straight for his riverside villa.
Jiang Se’s hand wrapped in gauze was soaked through with blood.
Once she got in the car, she closed her eyes in exhaustion.
The car parked in the garage.
Jiang Se didn’t open her eyes. With lowered lashes, she said, “Older Brother Huaiyan, carry me to shower.”
Lu Huaiyan glanced at her, got out, went around to the passenger side, lifted her into his arms, and carried her toward the second-floor bathroom.
The trench coat she wore earlier was long gone. She had only a thin knit top and jeans on.
Inside the bathroom, Lu Huaiyan undid the gauze on both of their hands, then slowly removed her clothes.
Hot water sprayed down from the showerhead overhead.
Jiang Se watched him with open eyes.
His gaze quietly swept over the injuries on her body. Then he pumped the shampoo twice and washed her hair.
Then came the body wash and her body.
White foam wandered over her skin, carrying the scent of rosemary.
This was the scent she liked.
More than half a day had passed, and the wounds on her body looked much worse. The ligature marks and whip marks on her neck, the bruises on her collarbones and shoulders, the large patch of soft-tissue bruising on her waist and abdomen, and the cuts on her wrists and hands.
Lu Huaiyan’s touch, already impossibly gentle, subconsciously lightened even more.
His shirt and dress pants were soaked through, clinging to his skin and dripping water.
Jiang Se lifted her eyelids and said, “Older Brother Huaiyan, I don’t hurt.”
“Mm.”
“I caught Fu Yun. This time he definitely won’t escape.”
“Mm.”
“Older Brother Huaiyan,” Jiang Se touched his face, speaking softly, “don’t be angry with me.”
Lu Huaiyan’s foam-covered hands froze for a split second.
After more than ten seconds of silence—
He lowered his eyes and asked her word by word, “When you got in Fu Yun’s car, did you think about the possibility that you might fail? What if Zhu Mingli hadn’t betrayed him, what if Fu Yun hadn’t drunk the beer, what if the police hadn’t arrived in time. Jiang Se, did you think about the fact that you could die?”
Jiang Se said, “I thought about it.”
Lu Huaiyan let out a faint laugh. Water slipped from his jaw, drop by drop.
He leaned in close to her ear and murmured, “Then did you think about what would happen to me if you died? Did you never once think about having a future with me?”
“To you, leaving me behind is such an easy thing.”
“When I was rushing over from the airport, do you know what I was thinking, Jiang Se?”
“I was thinking, if there really is a god in this world, please let him return you to me. Don’t be so cruel to me. And don’t be so cruel to you.”
How laughable.
A man who never believed in god had actually begun praying during that long half hour.
All those emotions he had been suppressing and fermenting for so long finally reached the breaking point.
His jaw slowly tightened, Adam’s apple trembling.
But in the end, he couldn’t bear to make her feel bad. He hurriedly washed the foam off his hands and turned to push open the shower’s glass door.
“Older Brother Huaiyan.” Jiang Se looked at his back. “Hold me.”
His injured hand rested on the glass door. The thinned foam slid from his fingertips like melted cream, tracing thin white lines down the glass.
He paused, breathing heavily.
“I want you to hold me, Older Brother Huaiyan.” The girl behind him stubbornly repeated herself.
Lu Huaiyan slowly exhaled a heavy breath.
He lowered his head, tugged off his soaked shirt and pants, and stepped back into the cloud of hot steam, bare-skinned.
Jiang Se rose onto her toes, arms circling his neck, speaking softly: “Older Brother Huaiyan, I brought sixteen-year-old Cen Se back.”
She buried her head into his shoulder, her voice shattered by the delicate patter of the shower, “These water sounds… they’re no longer the thunderstorm from that day.”
The thunderstorm of her sixteenth year had finally stopped.
She could finally no longer hear it.
Lu Huaiyan’s heart twisted.
His long lashes slowly lowered. His left hand covered the back of her head, pulling her tightly into his arms.
