After the two returned home together, Ye Sibei took Qin Nan to visit his grandmother and other relatives on Monday morning.
In the afternoon, Qin Nan took Ye Sibei to his home to visit the grave.
His home was not far from South City. After driving for more than an hour, Ye Sibei arrived at his home in the afternoon. Qin Nan did not take her to the village to say hello. After parking the car, he went straight up the mountain.
His father and grandfather were both buried on the mountain. His grandfather's grave was newer and had Qin Gang's name on it, while the grave next to it was older and had Qin Fu's name on it.
Qin Nan brought some wine and some fruits. He sprinkled the Wuliangye liquor he had just bought on the ground and whispered to Ye Sibei, "My father and grandfather didn't have many hobbies except drinking. But they were poor at that time and never had a good drink in their lives. If they hadn't gone early, they might have been killed by the alcohol."
Ye Sibei looked at the lonely "Grandson, Qin Nan" and "Son, Qin Nan" on the tombstone. She couldn't help but ask, "Did your father die on the construction site?"
"Yeah," Qin Nan lowered his head and arranged the fruits, "I heard it happened at the construction site. Something fell down and it was gone."
"Did you pay the money?" Ye Sibei couldn't help but look at him. Qin Nan lit incense. "At first he said it was his own fault, then he made up stories. In the end, my uncle called the villagers to carry my father's coffin to the construction site, left the body there in the sun and wind for more than ten days, and got back the half a million yuan."
"Five hundred thousand?"
A dozen years ago, half a million was not a huge number.
Qin Nan nodded: "Uncles and uncles all contributed, and our family didn't go there for you in vain. The village made the decision and divided the money. The bulk of the money stayed with our family and was taken away by my mother."
"Your mother is really..." Ye Sibei was slightly shocked when he heard this. Qin Nan shook his head: "It's not easy for her either. Forget it."
As he spoke, Qin Nan handed her some incense and said, "Come, worship now."
Ye Sibei took the incense and she bowed.
According to the rules of Nancheng, if the deceased ancestors silently recite their wishes in their hearts when they kowtow, perhaps the ancestors below will listen and protect their descendants.
Qin Nan looked at Ye Sibei kneeling on the ground with her hands clasped together. She was wearing a brown windbreaker, and the autumn sun seemed unusually warm because of this color.
Ye Sibei kowtowed, and Qin Nan went forward to kowtow. After he kowtowed, the two packed up their things together. Qin Nan asked her to go first. After he confirmed that there were no sparks around, he looked up at the two tombstones. After a while, he walked to Qin Fu's tombstone and raised his hand and gently placed it on the tombstone.
"Dad," he called softly, and then looked up at Qin Gang's tombstone beside him, "Grandpa, this is Sibei."
After he finished speaking, he paused, turned around and went in with his things.
After the two returned home, they heated up some leftovers in the house. At night, Ye Sibei used the same trick again, making Qin Nan drink milk with sleeping pills, and then quietly went out in the middle of the night.
Qin Nan followed her out and saw her take out a backpack from home. When they got to the vicinity of the casino, she hid the backpack in a corner of an unfinished building, covered it with some leftover wood or snakeskin bags, and then left.
Qin Nan waited for her to leave, then walked over and opened the things. He saw a series of things inside, including gloves, knives, and anti-wolf spray.
He looked down at these things for a while, and finally took the backpack away and rode back on his motorcycle. On the way home, he scattered these things into the trash cans along the way.
Ye Sibei didn't know many of them, and most of them were bought online, so records would be left. He couldn't have anything to do with her on the scene, so he had to deal with all the things.
After throwing away the things, Qin Nan returned home, disguised himself as before, and lay back on the bed.
Ye Sibei returned to the room not long after. She quietly got into bed, and after a while, she reached out and embraced Qin Nan.
The next day, October 19th, Tuesday.
It was a nice day. At daybreak, the city looked brand new, with a chilly air mixed with moisture. People were coming and going in the south city, and everyone felt that winter was approaching and that late autumn was coming.
Ye Sibei got up early and asked Qin Nan to make breakfast. Qin Nan got up and saw Ye Sibei busy, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Am I treated so well today?"
"It's your birthday."
Ye Sibei turned around and looked at him: "You make a good meal."
"Your mother called just now and said there are some things you learned there, and asked if you wanted to take them away."
"Let her help me pack it," Ye Sibei lowered his head to cut vegetables, "and we can take it together when we move."
Qin Nan leaned against the side and looked at her, smiling without saying much.
After a while, Qin Nan turned around and told her: "I'm going outside to smoke a cigarette."
Having said that, he put on his slippers and walked out.
He walked up the stairs and when he reached the stairs, he looked at his cell phone, hesitated for a long time, and finally called Lin Feng.
"Officer Lin," Qin Nan lowered his eyes, "I have something I want to respond to."
After Qin Nan finished his phone call on the rooftop and made an appointment with Lin Feng for the afternoon, he returned to his room.
Ye Sibei prepared the meal and the two of them had breakfast together.
At noon, Ye Sibei ordered a cake, and the deliveryman delivered it to her downstairs. Ye Sibei volunteered to pick it up. When she got the cake, the deliveryman couldn't help but look at her a few more times. Ye Sibei pretended not to know and signed for the cake with her head down. When she turned around and went upstairs with the cake, she heard the deliveryman's friend on the phone, and he said excitedly: "Fuck, do you know who I saw today? Ye Xianxi, this is the first time I see you!"
Ye Sibei paused while carrying the cake. She held the cake string tightly, and after a moment, she happily ran upstairs again: "The cake is here."
The two prepared a sumptuous lunch together in the afternoon and poured some red wine in a romantic atmosphere.
The wine was bought on the spur of the moment, it wasn't a good one, and there weren't any wine glasses at home, so they dug out two glasses and poured the red wine into them. Both of them felt a little better. Ye Sibei saw Qin Nan lower his head to look at the red wine, she cleared her throat: "Come on, let's wish you a happy birthday," she raised the glass, her face serious, "Happy birthday."
While Ye Sibei and Qin Nan were celebrating their second birthday, the Ye family was busy packing up their things.
The Xi family ate early, and after finishing lunch before twelve o'clock, they began to move out Ye Sibei's things, put them in the sun to dry, and according to Ye Sibei's instructions, put them in order for her to take them away.
The things are all old, exercise books, books, photo albums...
These things were hidden in a corner by Huang Guifen and were covered with a layer of dust. When Ye Nian moved them out, the dust choked him and made him cough continuously.
Ye Nian turned around and complained: "Mom, why did you put things so high? The dust is thicker than the book."
"If you don't put it higher, is there room for it at home?" Huang Guifen's voice came from the room, "We finally bought a house, but you're selling it again. Don't sell it. Let's borrow some money. The house prices are rising now..."
Whenever Huang Guifen spoke, she would always make him unhappy in an instant. Ye Nian didn't want to say anything. She moved the things and put them at the door. There was a long photo on the book. Ye Nian lowered her head and dusted the photo. The dust fell from the photo. There were footsteps beside her. Ye Nian looked up and saw Zhang Yong.
"Captain Zhang?"
Ye Nian looked at Zhang Yong and his heart trembled. Zhang Yong looked down at the photo in his hand and asked, "Do you have time?"
When Ye Nian heard this, he knew that Zhang Yong had something to say. He glanced inside and immediately said, "I'll change my clothes right away."
Having said that, Ye Nian put down the photo, turned around and went back into the house to put away her clothes.
Zhang Yong was idle, so he lowered his head and picked up the long photo, which read "Group photo of the first grade of Nancheng No. 2 High School, Class of 2006". Zhang Yong guessed that this was Ye Sibei's high school photo, and he glanced at it casually.
The student's face changed slightly, but Zhang Yong still relied on his keen observation to quickly find the student's Ye Sibei.
The girl in the photo was extremely bright, but now she looked lifeless. Zhang Yong looked at her for a moment, lowered his head, and was about to look away when he suddenly noticed a boy who was slightly taller than Ye Sibei behind him.
Although it was a group photo, the boy did not look at the camera. Instead, he lowered his head and looked at Ye Sibei who was sitting in the row below him.
The boy was very thin and wore a school uniform. He looked completely different from his current muscular appearance, but Zhang Yong could still recognize him from his facial features.
Qin Nan.
The question he asked Qin Nan on the day of the first trial suddenly flashed through his mind.
"You didn't know each other before?"
"No. Never."
"Really? How old are you?"
"Seven."
He was clearly a sophomore student, but he said he was a seventh grader.
He had clearly met Ye Sibei and knew Ye Sibei, and judging from his expression, he should have had feelings for Ye Sibei back then, but he said he didn't.
Why
Zhang Yong was full of questions, and his intuition told him that this was something that needed to be explored.
Ye Nian changed her clothes and ran out of the room: "Captain Zhang, let's go."
Zhang Yong paused, put down the photo, and walked out with Ye Nian.
He pretended to chat casually: "By the way, how did your sister meet your brother-in-law?"
"Blind date."
Ye Nian said: "I heard that my sister went on a blind date, but she didn't like him. Then she happened to meet my brother-in-law, and they fell in love as soon as they talked. My father didn't agree at the time because he thought my brother-in-law had a low level of education, but my sister decided on him."
"Love at first sight?"
"Probably?" Ye Nian thought Zhang Yong was talking about Ye Sibei. "My sister was much more ugly at that time. My mother scolded her every day at home. She was scared to death."
"I remember Qin Nan was from South City. Which university did he go to?"
"I don't know about that," Ye Nian and Zhang Yong went into a coffee shop together. The two of them found a private room, and Ye Nian walked in front. "I haven't heard him say that either."
Zhang Yong didn't say anything. He looked around the coffee shop. After the two of them sat down, Ye Nian ordered something. He was a little nervous. He thought about it for a while and said hesitantly, "Is there any progress... about my sister's matter?"
Zhang Yong raised his eyes to look at him. In fact, he had heard that Ye Nianhao had been looking for people who were present when the incident happened recently, from the cleaning lady to the employees of Fuqiang Real Estate. Several times, everyone called the police. The police warned Ye Nianhao, but after the warning, Ye Nianhao continued.
Some people said that Ye Nian had gone crazy.
I don't look for a job or a future, I just focus on this case.
The time for appeal has passed, and now there is only a chance to request a retrial if new evidence emerges.
So his only hope is the emergence of new evidence.
Zhang Yong stared at him, lit a cigarette, and said softly, "Your sister has given up, what are you so obsessed with?"
"I have no idea."
Ye Nian shook his head: "I can't get over it. As soon as I close my eyes, I think of this matter, this matter." Ye Nian's eyes were red. He looked up at Zhang Yong, restraining his emotions, "It ruined my mother, my sister, and Chuchu. Everything I have was ruined because of this matter. If this justice is not done to my sister," Ye Nian's nose was sour, "I can't get over it."
"If justice is not done fairly," Ye Nian looked up at Zhang Yong, "private justice will run rampant."
Zhang Yong paused, and Ye Nian said bitterly: "It was not until today that I finally understood the meaning of what the master said."
"Is this appropriate for you to say to the police?"
"I told you, it's actually the best. This proves that I know I shouldn't use private means." Ye Nian said, knowing that the topic couldn't go too far, "What does Captain Zhang want me to do?"
"Your sister's case," Zhang Yong flicked off his cigarette, "I found a clue."
"What clue?"
"If what Zhao Chuchu said is true," Zhang Yong pondered, "it means that what your sister said was not the situation at that time."
"Do you think my sister is lying?"
Ye Nian frowned, and Zhang Yong shook his head: "What if your sister remembered it wrong?"
Ye Nian was stunned for a moment. Zhang Yong took out some photos of drugs and said, "I have considered this possibility before. If your sister has taken some psychiatric drugs, she may have memory loss and blurring. Because of objective conditions, Meng Xin is right. With that amount of alcohol, Ye Sibei is unlikely to reach the point of complete loss of consciousness."
Ye Nian looked at the photos of medicines on the table. There were several kinds of medicines on it.
"Your sister didn't do a blood test and missed the best period for evidence collection, but fortunately Qin Nan confirmed that Fan Jianxin was the first suspect, so we controlled Fan Jianxin as quickly as possible. We checked all the witnesses on the scene, searched all the places he stayed, checked all the money flows, and even checked WeChat red envelopes, but we didn't find any relevant evidence. And Zhao Chuchu's initial testimony stated that your sister was already unconscious when she separated from her, so we decided to trust Zhao Chuchu and think that Ye Sibei was drunk because he was in a bad mood."
"Now you have the evidence?"
Ye Nian looked up at him, and Zhang Yong thought for a moment: "This month, I have been investigating the illegal sale of controlled drugs in Nancheng. The Huaishui police have seized a number of drug dealers' dens. We will check the purchase lists provided by these drug dealers one by one. As long as any of them can prove Fan Jianxun's identity, Fan Jianxun will have a tendency to prepare for the crime."
"That's not enough." Ye Nian said decisively, "If you want to handle Tie's case, you must not only prove that he has the medicine, but also prove that he gave the medicine to my sister that day."
"So I need your help."
Zhang Yong looked at him seriously. Ye Nian frowned: "What?"
Zhang Yong didn't reply. He took out a small bug from his pocket, pushed it over, and looked at him calmly: "Go find Zhao Chuchu."
"What do you want to ask her?"
"Go ask her what happened."
"She won't tell."
Ye Nian shook his head decisively: "I asked her, if I wanted to tell her, I would have told her a long time ago."
"Did you really ask?" Zhang Yong looked at Ye Nian. Ye Nian raised his eyes and Zhang Yong reminded him.
"Are you asking what happened to your sister, or what happened?"
"Ye Nianxia," Zhang Yong thought for a moment and told the young man, "Most people are walking on a tightrope, with good on one side and evil on the other. Where she falls in the end depends on how the world pushes her."
"How do you want to push her?"
Ye Nian was silent for a moment, then he grabbed the bug, stood up and walked out.
Zhang Yong took out an earphone and put it on his ear. While adjusting the eavesdropping device, he was talking to Lin Feng on the phone.
"Hello, Captain?"
"Please call South City Second Branch and ask for me," Zhang Yong said as he heard Ye Nian's voice coming from the headset. He seemed to be nonchalant. "In their class of 2006, has there ever been a student named Qin Nan?"
"Okay," Lin Feng responded, "Oh, and, Captain, I need to take a leave this afternoon."
"What are you doing?"
"Qin Nan called me this morning and said that Ye Sibei looked a little strange. She bought a train ticket to City G, but she used another ID card to buy a ticket to Huaishui and Yuncheng. Qin Nan was worried about what she was doing, so I wanted to go over and take a look."
"oh."
Zhang Yong raised his hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose: "Hey, just treat it as a day off for yourself."
After Zhang Yong hung up the phone, he waited for a while and saw Lin Feng sent him the phone number and contact information, and then confirmed, "Yes, this Yang Qiyu was Qin Nan's class teacher back then."
Zhang Yong looked at the phone and thought about it. He decided to take a vacation as well to satisfy his curiosity.
*** ***
When Zhang Yong went to find Yang Qiyu, Ye Sibei and Qin Nan had finished their meal. The two sat at the table for a while. Qin Nan said, "I can't eat any more cake."
"Then I'll pack my things first."
"Then I'll clean up the dishes."
One of them started to pack up, while the other cleaned up the mess.
The sunshine that day was much brighter than that of late autumn. Ye Sibei felt the sunshine falling on herself in the bedroom. She looked up at Qin Nan who was cleaning the room. She didn't know why, but she felt a sense of reluctance.
But after a moment, she pressed it down again.
She didn't want to go back to her past life, a life full of drag and pain.
She had already made her decision and didn't want to hesitate.
She quickly lowered her head, packed her things, and checked the time. It was almost four o'clock.
Ye Sibei thought about it, turned around and called Qin Nan who was outside: "Qin Nan, eat the cake. After eating the cake, I have to leave."
Qin Nan responded. He washed the handkerchief in his hand under running water, wrung it out, and placed it on the water table.
Then he washed his hands and took the cake out of the refrigerator.
The two of them sat at the dining table. Ye Sibei lit the candles one by one, then she went to draw the curtains. The room instantly became dark. Qin Nan stood by the dining table and lowered his head to light the candles with a lighter.
“This is my first birthday.”
He turned around and looked at her for a moment, and Ye Sibei walked up to him and said, "Then I will spend every year with you from now on."
As she spoke, she clapped her hands and sang the birthday song: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
Qin Nan lowered his head and stared at the gently swaying candle. When she finished singing, he closed his eyes and made a silent wish.
Ye Sibei stared at his profile as he closed his eyes and made a wish, looking at his smooth and beautiful lines.
When Qin Nan opened his eyes, she raised her chin and said, "Blow out the candles."
Qin Nan blew out the candles, and the two of them ate the cake together. Then Qin Nan sent Ye Sibei to the train station.
At 4:45, he walked her to the ticket gate.
"Send it here," Ye Sibei said, carrying his bag, "I'll be back soon."
"Okay." Qin Nan nodded. The two of them were silent. After a moment, Ye Sibei said lightly, "I suddenly feel like I'll be gone for a long time."
“There is this illusion.”
"Okay, I'll go first. You're not in a hurry anyway, so take your time to read it."
"Sibei," Qin Nan suddenly grabbed her hand and called her, "Do you know what wish I made just now?"
"What?"
"I wish that Ye Sibei can live a safe, happy and fulfilling life."
Ye Sibei was stunned. She felt an inexplicable uneasiness in her heart, but she still pretended to be calm and said, "Why don't you join us to make money?"
"Let's go."
Qin Nan let go of her hand and slowly put it into his trouser pocket. He looked at her and told her, "Go to G City. Don't miss me and don't look back."
For a moment, Ye Sibei felt that he meant something, but she thought he probably didn't know.
If he knew anything, he would hold himself back and not let himself go.
She paused, held her backpack tightly, controlled the soreness in her eyes, and said firmly and seriously: "Don't worry, I won't look back."
She has chosen this path and she won't look back.
Qin Nan stood up.
"Let's go."
Ye Sibei didn't say much this time. He held his backpack and turned to leave.
Qin Nan watched her walk into the station, and from a distance saw Lin Feng, who was wearing a baseball cap, following her in. Lin Feng turned around and looked at Qin Nan, who nodded in thanks.
At this time, Ye Nian was sitting in a private room in the teahouse. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he turned around and looked up, seeing Zhao Chuchu standing at the door with a calm and indifferent look.
"I am coming."
Zhang Yong stepped into Yang Qiyu's home. He looked up at the two young boys in the "Group Photo of the Class of 2006 Nancheng High School Grade One" on the wall, and listened to Yang Qiyu sitting behind him, sighing and speaking.
"In fact, I have always wanted to tell Sibei about this since the day they got married."
"But Qin Nan wouldn't let me talk about it," Yang Qiyu sighed and shook his head, "He said that the past is in the past, and it doesn't matter to him."
"He hopes that no matter what happens, Ye Sibei," Yang Qiyu turned his head and looked at the two figures on the wall, "can live a peaceful life."