After changing his number, Ye Sibei's life seemed to return to normal.
She doesn't go out, doesn't go online, and doesn't contact anyone. The most annoying thing she hears every day is the creaking sound of the fan above her head.
A few days later, she received a notice from the police asking her to go to the police station to accept apologies from Zhao Shuhui, Song Ming, Tao Jie and others.
When Ye Sibei arrived at the police station, Tao Jie immediately explained to her: "Sibei, we absolutely don't mean to ask you to perjure yourself. We want you to tell the truth. Please don't misunderstand."
Song Ming said to her with a stern face, "There was a misunderstanding before, don't take it to heart, the company has always been fair."
Ye Sibei ignored them. Her eyes fell on Zhao Shuhui. Zhao Shuhui raised her head and said calmly, "I'm sorry."
Ye Sibei nodded: "Don't cause trouble to the people around me in the future."
"Don't worry, we won't," Tao Jie assured quickly, "Why would we cause trouble to your family? These things have nothing to do with us."
Ye Sibei didn't say much. She knew that Tao Jie and Song Mingxuan were fence-sitters, and Zhao Shuhui was Fan Jiancheng's wife and would not switch sides because of this.
She got an apology and got up to leave. Before she left, Zhao Shuhui called her, "Ye Sibei."
Ye Sibei turned around, and Zhao Shuhui looked up at her: "Don't you feel tired?"
Hearing this, Ye Sibei laughed: "Aren't you tired?"
Who wouldn’t be tired? But no matter whether you are tired or not, you have to keep going on this road.
Zhao Shuhui looked at her without saying anything. Her eyes were tired, and Ye Sibei knew instantly that she was not the only one who was suffering during this time.
After being taught a lesson by the police, they restrained themselves a lot. But Ye Sibei didn't dare to go out. For a while, she stayed at home every day, cleaning the house, and felt as if nothing had happened.
She even had a feeling that as long as she continued to live in this small space and isolated herself from the world, she could pretend that nothing had happened.
At the end of June, she got up as usual and had breakfast with Qin Nan. Qin Nan went to the store and she cleaned the house. After cleaning, she opened the book and started doing the exercises.
That day was no different from any other day, except that Qin Nan came back an hour earlier in the evening and cooked with her.
"I heard from Nianwen that there has been some progress in the case," Qin Nan sprinkled salt into the soup and turned to look at her, "I thought about coming back to celebrate with you."
"What's the progress?"
Ye Sibei was cutting vegetables without looking back. Qin Nan said with a hint of relief in his tone, "He said the case was transferred to the procuratorate yesterday."
Ye Sibei paused while cutting vegetables. She remembered something and pretended to be calm: "Progress is a good thing."
Just as she finished speaking, Ye Sibei's cell phone on the dining table began to vibrate. She put down the kitchen knife, wiped her hands on her apron, walked to the table and picked up the phone. She found it was Ye Ling's number. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up the phone and heard Ye Ling calling her excitedly: "Sibei, come home quickly, your mother...your mother is in trouble!"
Ye Sibei was shocked, and hurriedly turned off the fire and ran out: "What happened to her?"
"She fainted, come over here."
"Then take him to the hospital!"
Ye Sibei asked hastily: "Why did you leave him at home?"
"come here!"
Ye Ling spoke in a rare tough tone and hung up the phone abruptly.
"What's wrong?"
Qin Nan looked up at her. Ye Sibei was a little unsure: "My dad said my mom was sick, but he didn't send her to the hospital. I'm worried that she will feel something is wrong..."
"I go with you."
Qin Nan spoke decisively. Ye Sibei turned to look at him. She calmed down a little and finally nodded.
The two men turned off the engine, ran downstairs, and drove directly to the street outside Ye's house.
Qin Nan went to park the car, and Ye Sibei walked into the alley and into the courtyard.
The Ye family lived in a traditional teacher's compound. The house was bought when Ye Ling was still a teacher, and there were many acquaintances around. As soon as she entered, the people around her immediately stopped what they were doing, and came over to look around.
Ye Sibei lowered her head and hurried to the Ye family. When she rushed into the house, she saw Ye Ling and Ye Nianwen sitting on the sofa, as if they had just had a quarrel. Zhao Chuchu was busy in the kitchen. When she saw her coming, she cautiously called out, "Sister."
Ye Sibei nodded towards Zhao Chuchu, glanced around, and didn't see Huang Guifen, so he couldn't help but ask: "Where's Mom?"
Hearing this, Ye Nianwen suddenly stood up and pushed her forward: "Go back."
"stop!"
Ye Ling called Ye Sibei, his tone was unusually stiff. Ye Sibei was stunned, and Ye Nianwen pushed her: "Let's go."
"Ye Nianwen, you are rebelling!"
Ye Ling stood up, rushed forward, and pulled Ye Nianwen's hand away: "Let your sister go in," he said, grabbing Ye Sibei and dragging her into the room, "Come and see, look at your mother."
Ye Sibei was dragged to the master bedroom by him, and Ye Ling was quite excited: "Look at your mother, what has happened to her because of you!"
Ye Sibei stopped at the door and stared at the room blankly.
Huang Guifen and Ye Ling's bedroom was narrow and dim. Huang Guifen sat on the bed, looking at the window covered with newspapers. Her eyes were unfocused and no one knew what she was thinking.
Huang Guifen had become much thinner after not seeing her for a month and a half. She usually looked aggressive, but now she seemed to have lost her direction. Her hair had turned gray, and she looked like she had aged by ten years.
"This is..." Ye Sibei didn't dare to look any further. She looked away and looked at Ye Nianwen, "What's going on?"
"Nianwen lost his job." Ye Ling said hoarsely, "Your mother has been refusing to eat or drink these days and dares not go out. Chuchu lost her job, and now Nianwen has lost his job. We just bought a house, what can we use to pay it back..."
Ye Sibei was laughing, her lips trembling slightly, and Ye Ling beside her continued: "Your mother can't stand it anymore. Sibei... the family can't stand it anymore, really can't stand it anymore."
Ye Sibei didn't reply. She turned around and walked out, took out her cell phone, quickly found the number of the strange text message before, and dialed it.
This number hasn't sent her a message for a long time, maybe because they didn't know she had changed her phone number, or maybe because of the police's admonition last time. Ye Sibei stood at the door, listening to the phone ringing. After a while, the call was connected.
No one spoke, Ye Sibei said directly: "Zhao Shuhui, is it you?"
"What?"
Zhao Shuhui's voice was calm, as if she had already predicted what she was going to say.
"You did it to my brother," Ye Sibei gritted his teeth, "right?"
"I do not have it."
Zhao Shuhui was very careful, but Ye Sibei's tone of voice inexplicably revealed some sarcasm: "Who is your brother? What happened to him? Why did you call me? I am a relative of the defendant, and we should not have any contact."
"You're taking revenge on me, right?"
Ye Sibei clenched his fists: "Wasn't what the police told you last time enough?!"
"That's enough," Zhao Shuhui said nonchalantly, "Didn't I stop contacting you?"
"Then why was my brother expelled?"
"Ask your brother," Zhao Shuhui said matter-of-factly, "Ask yourself, what did you do wrong? Why did he get fired?"
Ye Sibei didn't say anything. She listened to Zhao Shuhui's voice. For a moment, all the bottom lines and principles in her mind almost collapsed. She held the phone, unable to say a word.
Qin Nan walked up to her, took the phone from her hand, and said in a low voice: "Go see mom."
Ye Sibei took a moment to calm down. She turned and went into the house. As soon as she entered, she saw Ye Ling settling accounts with Ye Nianwen: "The money spent on buying a house at home is all gone. You have to pay the mortgage and your sister's money every month, and your parents don't have much pension..."
"Don't say that. I'll find a way. I'm not useless!"
"You have never experienced the pain of losing your job! When I lost my job..."
Ye Sibei pretended not to see it. She walked through the living room, went into the master bedroom, moved a stool and sat next to Huang Guifen.
"mom."
She called softly, Huang Guifen looked at the window and said softly: "Close the door, it's too noisy."
Ye Sibei nodded, she stood up and closed the door. The noise of Ye Ling and Ye Nianwen's quarrel suddenly became much quieter. She sat down, not knowing what to say to Huang Guifen.
After several seconds, he finally spoke: "What happened to you today? Why didn't you go to the hospital?"
"I just feel a little dizzy," Huang Guifen said evasively, "I'll be fine after lying down for a while."
"Don't save money, go check it out."
As Ye Sibei spoke, she thought that if she persuaded people not to save money, she would have to pay for it. However, she had little income now, so it was not easy for her to use Qin Nan's money to take her to the hospital.
The words of persuasion that I had just given suddenly became empty talk.
Ye Sibei lowered his head, looking rather embarrassed. Huang Guifen didn't say much. She thought for a moment and said softly, "You, you don't know how expensive salt and rice are until you run the household. You spend money lavishly."
Huang Guifen didn't know whether it was because she had no strength or because she loved him, but she spoke very gently. Ye Sibei looked up at her and said, "Mom..."
"Recently, I've been wondering, why did I give birth to a daughter like you?"
Huang Guifen ignored her call, with a sigh in her voice: "You have been quiet since you were a child. You always argue with Nianwen about everything, saying that we are unfair. You ran away when you grew up. I brought you back, and you still hate us. You don't know that I have been looking forward to your growth since you were a child, thinking that you will be sensible when you grow up." She turned her eyes to look at Ye Sibei, "but you have never been sensible."
"You always think that I don't love you and that I want to hurt you," Huang Guifen smiled bitterly, "but I've never thought about it that way. I just don't understand how a girl like you can love someone."
"I, your aunt, your grandma, we all have a much worse life, but we never feel it's unfair. All women live this way. Why do you have to ask for so much?"
Hearing this, Ye Sibei smiled bitterly: "Don't say these things. It's not good to make you angry by saying these things."
"Tell me," Huang Guifen looked up at her, "Tell me, what did I do wrong?"
Ye Sibei didn't say anything. She sat there, and Ye Nianwen yelled in her ears: "Sell the house! I don't want a house, I don't want to get married, I will accompany my sister to fight the lawsuit to the end!"
"That's my money!" Ye Ling shouted hysterically, "It's not your turn to decide whether to sell it or not!"
She paused for a while, and seeing that Huang Guifen was still looking at her, she thought for a moment and chuckled.
"I don't understand," Ye Sibei looked up and forced a smile, "It's so blatantly unfair, why do you think it's right?"
"You don't study, you support your uncle, you support grandma, but all the property belongs to your uncle," Ye Sibei shrugged, "Are you really not unwilling at all?"
"I do not… "
"You do." Ye Sibei interrupted her. She looked at Huang Guifen seriously, "But everyone told you that this is selfish and ungenerous. You have been forced to live like this your whole life, so you think I deserve to live like this my whole life."
"You love me," Ye Sibei rubbed his thumb unconsciously and nodded, "I know. But your love for Nianwen is different from mine. Your love for me is not only love, but also jealousy."
Huang Guifen shook her head gently: "I'm not, why would I be jealous of you..."
"You can't accept that I don't live like you," Ye Sibei smiled bitterly, "because this is denying your life. You always say you are doing this for my own good, but sometimes, you don't know what is good and what is bad."
"You don't understand, you're still young."
"But you're old."
Ye Sibei lowered his head: "Mom, times are changing. I know why you didn't let me call the police, but you see, Chuchu supports me, Nianwen supports me, Qinnan supports me, the world has changed, and you are the one who doesn't understand."
"If it really has changed," Huang Guifen's eyes were a little wet, "why am I lying here, and why is our family quarreling here?"
Ye Sibei couldn't answer this question.
Because she didn't know.
She could passionately refute Tao Jie and calmly refuse Zhao Shuhui, but Huang Guifen's questioning seemed to drag her out of the beautiful dream she had woven.
You don't have to make up your mind, and the world will be the way you want it to be.
Huang Guifen looked at Ye Sibei as if she was looking at a child. She stretched out her hand and gently placed it on Ye Sibei's hand.
"Maybe you're right. I can't love you as much as I love Nianwen."
Ye Sibei was crying, tears streaming down his face.
Huang Guifen held her hand: "So I know you may be right. I also know that this is unfair to you, but Sibei," she paused for a long time before speaking, "Go to the Fan family and negotiate a sum of money, and forget it."
Ye Sibei said nothing, tears streaming down his face, and the room was filled with silence.
While the two were in a stalemate, there was a sudden knock on the door, and then Qin Nan's voice rang out: "Sibei, something happened, come out quickly."
Ye Sibei hurriedly wiped her tears and stood up. She saw Qin Nan had already taken her things. Everyone present was looking at her nervously. Qin Nan took her hand and walked out: "Officer Lin just called me and said that reporters went to the police station for an interview. They may come to block us now. Let's go home quickly."
As soon as the reporter appeared, Ye Sibei was stunned. Before she could react, she was dragged out of the room by Qin Nan. Qin Nan said hello to Ye Nianwen: "We are leaving. Close the door quickly."
Qin Nan pulled Ye Sibei and trotted out. As soon as they ran out of the yard, they saw a group of people walking up the alley. When they saw Ye Sibei and Qin Nan coming out, someone was sharp-eyed and shouted, "It's her!"
As soon as he finished speaking, reporters carrying cameras swarmed over, flashbulbs shone brightly in the dark night. Qin Nan threw the coat in his hand over Ye Sibei's head, grabbed Ye Sibei and ran back.
A group of people chased after the two people, calling out to them anxiously: "Ms. Ye, we have no ill intentions, we are just interviewing you."
"Ms. Ye, I heard that you are the victim of the sexual assault case at Fuqiang Real Estate. Can I ask you about the details?"
"Ms. Ye..."
Those people repeated what happened to her without hesitation, chasing her and Qin Nan throughout the alley.
Ye Sibei was grabbed by Qin Nan and ran. Just as she stepped over the stairs and ran to a higher place, she saw a group of people rushing towards her home.
“They went to my house…”
Ye Sibei spoke nervously, but Qin Nan grabbed her and shouted, "Don't look back!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the flash lights came on. Ye Sibei was so scared that he quickly lowered his head and ran after Qin Nan.
They were running around in the alley like rats crossing the street, being chased and chased, hand in hand. There were not many people in the alley at night, and there were only shabby street lamps standing on both sides, casting a dim light.
Ye Sibei could feel her own breathing and her rapid heartbeat. She held onto Qin Nan tightly, and everything in front of her was blurry.
She wanted to cry loudly. She felt like she was being chased by the whole world, with no future and no way back.
She was like a drowning person, with the only straw that held her back, and the young man in front of her who grabbed her and followed her as she fled in a panic.
Qin Nan led the reporters to take a detour. When they reached the roadside, they did not dare to drive, fearing that the reporters would write down the license plate number and flee along the roadside.
Fortunately, after running a few hundred meters, a pink car suddenly stopped in front of them, and Lin Feng shouted: "Get in the car!"
The two immediately opened the car door and jumped in. Ye Sibei hadn't caught her breath yet. She lowered her head and nervously grasped her phone. Qin Nan leaned forward and asked Zhang Yong, who was sitting in the passenger seat, "Where are we going now?"
"We'll take you back to your car after a few laps, and then we'll go to your house to watch over you. I'll call you when the reporters are gone."
"OK."
While Qin Nan and Zhang Yong were talking, Ye Sibei paused for a moment, sniffed, and called Ye Nianwen.
Ye Nianwen didn't answer, so she simply called the home landline.
The home phone rang after a long time. Ye Ling picked it up. His voice was a little flustered: "Sibei?"
Ye Sibei asked hurriedly: "Dad, what's the situation over there?"
As she asked, she heard the noise on the phone.
Huang Guifen was crying, and she was shouting, "What are you doing? Who are you?"
Ye Nianwen seemed to be arguing with someone, yelling something: "She is not! She is not my sister!"
"Don't worry about it. Nianwen called the police and your mother is chasing people away," Ye Ling said, turning back and shouting, "Don't come in!"
As he said that, he turned his head and said, "They mistook Chuchu for you. Chuchu is hiding at home and dares not go out. You take care of yourself. I will go to help your mother."
Ye Lingyin finished speaking and hung up the phone.
Ye Sibei was in a mess. She wanted to go back to help, but she knew that going back at this time would only make the situation more chaotic.
She lowered her head, held the phone tightly, closed her eyes and said nothing.
After a while, she calmed down a little and typed her name on the Internet, only to find that there were already posts everywhere.
She looked at it carefully for a long time and roughly understood that it must be that the incident of her being splashed with paint was posted online, and some kind-hearted person told her about her experience online.
Sexual assault, the lower class, oppression...
Key words were typed one after another, and after rounds of fermentation, a big V finally questioned the local police, and received the official reply that "the case has been transferred to the procuratorate", and public opinion completely exploded.
Many reporters were quick to notice the arrival of the material and rushed to South City by bus overnight in order to get the first-hand news.
How many people are waiting for a tortuous story, and how many people want to see how beautiful the heroine is.
Ye Sibei looked at the comments online.
There were those who supported her, those who doubted her, and those who were simply making dirty jokes. She scanned them one by one, and her hands couldn't help but tremble.
Qin Nan noticed this from the side. He reached out and took her phone: “Don’t look at it.”
As he spoke, he embraced her and comforted the trembling person: "It's okay, don't be afraid, it's nothing."
Lin Feng took them around twice and followed Qin Nan's instructions to where he parked the car. The reporter didn't know this place. Qin Nan and Ye Sibei got out, thanked Lin Feng and Zhang Yong, and then got into the car together.
After getting in the car, Qin Nan looked back and saw Ye Sibei was still trembling slightly, seemingly completely bewildered.
Qin Nan stared at her, and after a moment, he reached out and hugged her.
There was the operating console of the car between them. His forehead touched hers, and his temperature was stained with hers.
"Ye Sibei."
He called her name and whispered to her, "We are all ready."
After hearing this, Ye Sibei miraculously calmed down.
This person's words were like some kind of spell, becoming the only instruction in her chaotic world.
"Don't look at your phone, don't watch the news, everything they are doing now is to stop you."
"Stop me from doing what?"
"They want you to change your confession, they want you to stop pursuing the matter because it will hurt them and make them pay for what they did."
"Sibei, you scared them."
Ye Sibei didn't say anything and closed her eyes.
She didn't dare tell Qin Nan, for she was afraid that Qin Nan would get annoyed by her inconsistency, her weakness, and her confusion.
They weren't the only ones who were scared.
She was scared.
The truth is that we are all on a dead end from which there is no turning back.
Whether it was her or Zhao Shuhui, Fan Jiancheng or Qin Nan, none of them could turn back.