There was a ring, and the other side picked it up.
"Ali?"
Gu Tinglan smiled,
"Why did you suddenly think of calling me?"
It's rare for her to take the initiative to call.
Shen Li said:
"Little uncle, I accompanied grandma to Dutian Villa to watch the bright moon this morning."
Gu Tinglan was startled.
He knew that Shen Li had returned to Hong Kong City these two days, but he didn't know the exact itinerary.
It turned out to be...
"Really? So—how does it feel?"
"It's pretty good." Shen Li said, "It's just a little clingy, and it took a long time to appease it before leaving."
Gu Tinglan was silent for a moment, then laughed, feeling:
"Clingy?"
Apart from Fourth Sister, this was the first time he heard someone describe Haoyue like this from other people.
Fortunately, these years, no one can touch Jiaoyue's violent temper earlier.
Especially after the fourth sister left, Jiaoyue fell into a long period of depression, and after that...
"It probably knows how to stick to you."
He sighed.
Shen Li paused, and asked after deliberation:
"Little uncle, back then...how did that fire start?"
After the voice fell, Gu Tinglan on the other end of the phone suddenly fell silent, as if he had lost his breath.
The air freezes, freezes.
After a while, Gu Tinglan spoke with difficulty:
"Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"
This is a pain that both the Gu family and Shen Zhijin will never forget.
For nearly twenty years, they have a very tacit understanding and rarely mention it.
Because if you touch it, it hurts to the bone marrow.
After recognizing Shen Li, they rarely mentioned this matter in front of her.
Even Shen Li accidentally heard many things about that year from Xu Yin and Yu Pingchuan.
Gu Tinglan never expected that she would take the initiative to ask.
Shen Li was quiet for a moment before whispering:
"I... I saw Bright Moon today, and I miss her very much."
No.
She wanted Gu Tingyin, the person who held the child tightly in his arms until death, the person who originally belonged to her, but she never even called out "Mom".
She misses her, not just today.
Gu Tinglan's chest was tight and painful, and his heart seemed to be crushed by something.
They never mentioned that year to Shen Li, and Shen Li never said such things to them.
- She misses Gu Tingyin very much.
Everyone knows that there is a scar.
No one touches it, pretending it doesn't exist, as if it will reduce some pain.
But how is it possible
The wound lasted for many years and could not heal.
So painful, how can you feel nothing
In fact, she should have asked Shen Zhijin about this matter.
But she can't.
she can't.
So after much deliberation, she could only ask Gu Tinglan.
"I remember that when my little uncle went to Lincheng, he seemed to be investigating this matter?"
Gu Tinglan was quiet for a long time before saying:
"yes."
He sorted out the chaotic thoughts in his head.
"I mentioned to you before that the fire actually started from the house downstairs. That person forgot to turn off the valve after cooking in the morning, causing the natural gas to leak. Later, when he went to the bathroom to take a shower, he turned on the water heater. , it exploded. The kitchen and the bathroom are next to each other, so...
At that time, your mother and... and the child were upstairs, and the fire started quickly. Your mother had just given birth and was still relatively weak, and she had to protect the child, so... she couldn't get out. "
Gu Tinglan closed his eyes.
"Finally... suffocation."
Shen Li didn't speak for a long time.
Gu Tinglan took a deep breath and said:
"A Li, in fact, your mother's due date was July 10th at that time. The family originally said that it would pass when the date was approaching, but I didn't expect you to be born half a month earlier. After receiving the news, the family members Immediately rush to Lincheng. However, you also know that it will take a while to get to Lincheng from Hong Kong City.
Your mother arrived at the hospital in the morning, and the delivery went smoothly, but... that child has a very serious congenital heart disease, and the hospital in Lincheng couldn't see her. The family discussed transferring her to Yunzhou. At that time, your father... was going to contact the hospital in Yunzhou. It took a lot of preparations to take them to Yunzhou, so he went downstairs and left for a while, really for a while... "
Gu Tinglan's voice choked.
"... When he arranges everything properly, when he goes back, it's already..."
No one could have imagined that the fire would start at that moment.
Shen Li sat on the chair with her eyes slightly lowered, her shoulders straightened, but her fingers trembled slightly.
"So your father has never been able to forgive himself all these years."
Even if it wasn't really his fault.
Who could have predicted everything that followed
If it weren't for the fact that so many people stopped him, Shen Zhijin would have died inside.
In the end, he knelt in despair outside the fire scene, watching his life burn along with it, and finally turned into a piece of black ash of nothingness.
The smoke cleared.
From then on, there is no difference between being alive and being dead.
Shen Li listened without moving.
She suddenly remembered the night of the paternity test, she persuaded Shen Zhijin, saying that it was too cold and his injury hadn't healed yet, so he should go back first.
He said that he was not qualified to ask her anything, but he should have the right to wait for that night.
He stayed downstairs like that all night, never leaving her.
I didn't know it at the time, but now that I think about it, I realize how much unspeakable pain was hidden under those words.
—He didn't even have a chance to start over, so he could only suffer day and night.
Endure, suffer, keep silent, day and night.
She lowered her head slightly, her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and a small dark stain appeared on the jeans.
She closed her eyes, trying to make her voice sound calm.
"It was in the morning, why did that person suddenly go to take a shower?"
Gu Tinglan condensed her voice:
"We have always suspected this matter. But there is no proof of death, and the police have not found anything. In the end, we can only let it go and believe that it was an accident. It was not until a few years ago that we accidentally discovered that the previous attempt to kidnap The kidnappers of your mother once had a secret relationship with a person named Dylan for a period of time. This person may have been involved in the kidnapping, and may even be behind the scenes. Unfortunately, the content of the conversation between them is It has been erased, and it can only be found that it is a foreign number, and that number corresponds to a person who does not exist."
The clues have been interrupted so far, and the other party has obviously concealed his identity.
Shen Li remembered this person.
"Little uncle said, when the fire broke out, did that person ever go back to the country?"
"Yes. Because at that time, on a flight from abroad to Yunzhou, that person used that fake passport again." Gu Tinglan shook his head, "It's a pity that when we found out about this, the matter had passed more than ten years ago. In 2009, the means of investigation were limited, and the person should have disguised himself when he entered the country. So even though we knew that he had returned to China, he just disappeared, and no further information could be found."
"In the following years, that fake passport has never been used again, so we have no way to start. But kidnapping and fire, both of which have his shadow, so..."
Therefore, I have to doubt.
Shen Li thought for a while, then suddenly asked:
"Is little uncle familiar with Shi Yang?"
Well, I admit that when I said before that Shen Zhijin didn't feel sorry for herself, it was all my self-consolation and self-deception.
I don't know how many times my eyes are swollen from crying for him.
Er Yueyue, with swollen eyes, sent a good night.
(end of this chapter)