The Remaining Life Has Its Limits

Chapter 8

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"You don't know what I do?"

Qin Nan lowered his head and wrote the receipt, replying nonchalantly.

Zhang Yong observed the tires. It was the first time he observed these things so carefully. Then he remembered that the tire patterns were actually different. His fingers began to tap his arms carelessly: "Is it difficult to reverse the tire to find out what car it is?"

"It's possible, but not easy. If the tires are all original and not particularly common, then it's easy to find. But if the tires have been replaced, or the tires themselves are relatively common, then it's difficult."

Qin Nan wrote the receipt and walked over to Zhang Yong and handed it to him. Zhang Yong took the receipt and saw Qin Nan was about to go back to work. He suddenly called him, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Um?"

"I have a photo here of wheel tracks on the road. Can you help me figure out what car it might be?"

"I'm not sure about this," Qin Nan said. Zhang Yong was about to say "forget it" when he heard Qin Nan calling out, "Come in and sit down."

The two of them sat in the room together. Zhang Yong sat on the sofa in a familiar manner. Qin Nan poured him some tea and sat next to him: "Where are the photos?"

"Oh, here."

Zhang Yong took out a group of photos from his inner pocket and quickly picked out one of them.

During the whole process, Qin Nan kept his head down.

Zhang Yong likes Qin Nan's understanding. He is quiet and never asks or looks at things that he shouldn't ask or look at.

"This is it," Zhang Yong handed over the photo, "Can you tell if there was any car passing by?"

Qin Nan took the photo and looked at it carefully for a few times. He had a rough outline in his mind: "There are not many cars passing by, so I can barely make out the shape, but the two wheels are stacked together, so it will take some time to separate them." He returned the photo to Zhang Yong, "Why don't you ask your professionals to check it?"

"The client has withdrawn the case," Zhang Yong said helplessly. "It's my personal matter now. I won't bother my colleagues. They have a lot of work to do."

"The case has been withdrawn, why are you still involved?"

Qin Nan took out a cigarette from his pocket and asked casually.

"Withdrawing a case doesn't mean there is no case," Zhang Yong put the photo on the table and tapped it. "If you can help me find evidence to convince the parties to file a case, I will treat you to a meal."

"It's a small matter. I'll try my best."

"Okay," Zhang Yong turned around and looked at the sky: "I'm leaving first. Thank you."

Qin Nan nodded, stood up and sent Zhang Yong out. When he came back, he took another look at the photo.

The wheel tracks in the photo overlap, and large patches of reed roots can be vaguely seen next to them.

He guessed the place at a glance.

There are not many places in South City with large reed fields. He once wanted to take Ye Sibei to this reed field.

But there never has been, and there never will be.

He took a deep puff of his cigarette, crushed it into the ashtray, clipped the photo into a notebook beside him, went to greet the new customer at the door, and directed people to park the car in the yard.

"Move forward a little, move forward, stop. Boss," Qin Nan walked forward, "Car wash and car repair?"

*** ***

After dinner at home, Huang Guifen asked Ye Nianwen to take her home.

Ye Nianwen sent her to the door, thought about it, and still reminded: "Sister, talk to your brother-in-law when you have time. If the conflict lasts for a long time, it will really be impossible to heal."

"Um."

Ye Sibei nodded and told him: "Go back and rest early."

Ye Nianwen responded, and after watching Ye Sibei enter the house, he stood at the door for a long time, took a deep breath, and turned to leave.

Ye Sibei returned to the house alone, looked at the quiet and empty house, turned on all the lights, walked to the balcony and the window, sealed all the doors and windows, and then lay down on the bed.

She lay there for a long time but couldn't fall asleep. When she closed her eyes, she heard the same sound she had heard last night.

After a long time, she straightened up, opened the webpage, and typed word by word in the search bar.

“How to live after being raped?”

Messages popped up on the web page, and she watched people from all over the world who had similar experiences as her tell her about their sufferings.

There was a woman who won the case after being raped, but because the victim was an acquaintance, everyone accused her of harming others, saying that it was her who was indecent and seduced others to harm them.

Some people who were raped were prosecuted but the case was not filed due to insufficient evidence. They live in public insults, watching the murderer go unpunished while bearing the charge of false accusation.

There are people who remain silent in reality and just want to vent their emotions online. Why don’t they call the police when they are insulted by netizens, saying that she is a writer who deceives people to increase traffic.

There are also some who simply share their experiences in women's forums. Some of them were sexually assaulted as children, and some as adults, but they are all thinking about how to live like normal people in the next few years or even decades.

It seemed as if they had not suffered an accident, but were suffering from an incurable terminal illness.

The virus brought by this incident will continue to live in their bodies, spreading and upgrading, and no medicine will be able to help, causing lifelong pain.

Ye Sibei listened to these people's words and felt like she had entered a group of fellow patients, watching her fellow patients share her future with her.

They told her that at first, they would have very intense emotions, but they couldn't really appreciate the impact it would have on the future.

But slowly, the feeling became less intense and began to turn into a continuous pain, one year, two years. When I realized that this thing seemed to never end, I started to get used to it and despair at the same time.

Life will slowly change dramatically in this process.

Some people are promiscuous, some are alcoholics, some have no self-control and live a messy life, some are so inferior and afraid that they dare not even go out, and some even fall in love with the abuser. No matter domestic violence or infringement, they will accept it without any bottom line just to comfort themselves. At least these sufferings are their own choices.

No one can explain the logic behind the change, and even the parties involved themselves cannot understand it. They can only watch their lives completely derailed and are powerless to do anything.

Ye Sibei looked at what these people said - her future, she clearly realized that what Huang Guifen had chosen for her was indeed the best path.

Hide it well, don't say anything, and don't let anyone know, then at least, her harm will only come from herself.

As long as she can let it go, it will be over, just like being bitten by a mad dog.

This realization made her feel suffocated and unable to sleep.

She instinctively felt that she should find something to do. Looking at the half-pack of cigarettes and lighter left by Qin Nan on the coffee table, she took a cigarette and walked towards the balcony.

She sat on a chair on the balcony, looking at the silent night and lit a cigarette in her hand.

She has been well-behaved since she was young. Although she would quarrel with her parents and had a prickly personality, she actually always strictly adhered to all the world's evaluations of a "good child".

Study hard, don't smoke, don't drink, don't wear heavy makeup, don't wear clothes without sleeves, don't wear skirts above the knees, don't get tattoos, and don't fall in love casually.

But all this didn't seem to protect her, and she still walked step by step to where she is today.

She reflected on herself in the dark night, and gradually found some tricks from simply inhaling and exhaling clumsily.

Tobacco calmed her down. She looked at the faint light in the sky, which brought her an inexplicable sense of security. She looked at it tiredly, and finally closed her eyes in the early morning breeze, and got a moment of peace.

After three days of reversing her day and night, her mood gradually calmed down.

On the evening of the 12th, she received the usual monthly reminder from the bank, informing her of the repayment amount and date for this month.

This reminded her that she should go back to work.

She sent Fan Jiancheng a message telling him that she had returned to work. That night, she sat on the balcony, smoking for half the night and drinking a lot of wine before she could barely fall asleep.

When she got up the next day, she stood up and went to the mirror. After washing up, she looked at her haggard self in the mirror and subconsciously reached for foundation. However, as soon as she touched the foundation, she paused. After a moment, she opened the locker behind the mirror, took out all the skin care products and cosmetics inside, and threw them into the trash can as if to vent her anger.

She combed her hair into the most neat ponytail, used a plain hairband, put on a grey sportswear bought for her by Huang Guifen, and carried a sports bag.

After getting herself ready and preparing to go downstairs, she suddenly noticed the sky.

It was still dark in the morning and there shouldn't be many people on the road, so she stopped for a moment.

Too dangerous, she thought.

So she waited a little longer, and only went downstairs when it was completely light.

She didn't dare take the bus, fearing the possibility of contact with people, so she could only take a more expensive taxi to the company. On the way there, her mind was full of questions about that night.

What exactly happened that night.

Who assaulted her, and who knew about it that night? How would those who knew about it look at her, and would they tell her

These questions made her feel panicky, but since she had decided to keep the matter secret, she had to live her life as usual.

She needs income to support herself and live the same life as before.

Ye Sibei kept preparing herself mentally, and when she got off the car, she held the strap of her schoolbag tightly and walked towards the "Fuqiang Real Estate" store with gritted teeth.

The company was no different from usual. It was already late and most people in the company had arrived. Fan Jiancheng was standing at the door, asking the cleaner to sweep the floor.

The closer she got to him, the faster Ye Sibei's heart beat. She was almost shaking. She could only lower her head and walk into the store, pretending not to have seen Fan Jiancheng.

"Sibei?"

Fan Jiancheng was sharp-eyed and saw her first. He was about to say hello with a smile, but suddenly he saw that Ye Sibei was not wearing the company's work clothes. He raised his head and frowned at Ye Sibei: "Where is your uniform?"

Ye Sibei said nothing, using silence to express his resistance.

"Sibei, this isn't your first day at work, don't you know the company rules?" Fan Jiancheng said in a slightly heavier tone, "Why aren't you wearing a uniform?"

"forget."

Ye Sibei lowered her head and lied. Seeing that something was wrong with her, Fan Jiancheng waved his hand and said, "If you forget today, I'll deduct 50 yuan from you. If you forget again tomorrow, I'll deduct 200 yuan according to the regulations. Remember?"

Ye Sibei stood still, and Fan Jiancheng noticed something was wrong: "Sibei, what's wrong with you?"

"Mr. Fan," Ye Sibei pursed his lips and asked the question he had been wanting to ask, "Did you send me home on the day of the drinking party?"

"Yes," Fan Jiancheng answered straightforwardly, "You and Chuchu both wanted me to send you off, so I sent Chuchu off first and then you."

As he spoke, Fan Jiancheng seemed to feel that he was biased, so he quickly explained, "Chu Chu was also very drunk that day, and her house was closer to home."

"Oh," Ye Sibei nodded and asked in a low voice, "Did you send me to the door?"

"You drank a lot, how could you have forgotten everything?" Fan Jiancheng laughed, "My wife called me that night to have a quarrel. You said your husband was coming to pick you up, but he left before he even reached the gate of the community." Fan Jiancheng felt a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh."

Ye Sibei didn't say anything, she just kept looking at him.

He is so natural.

It's so natural that it's hard to tell it's him.

Maybe it was really as he said, she got off the bus early and something happened on the road.

Seeing that she was looking at him, Fan Jiancheng couldn't help but feel worried: "Sibei, what's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh Nope."

Ye Sibei came back to his senses: "I'm going to work."

Having said that, Ye Sibei entered the company.

Zhao Chuchu saw her coming back and greeted her with a smile: "Sister, are you okay?"

"It's all right."

Ye Sibei sat down, and Zhao Chuchu felt relieved: "That's good, I'll take the client to see the house first, and then we'll talk."

As she spoke, Zhao Chuchu walked out, and Ye Sibei hurriedly called her, "Um, Chuchu."

Zhao Chuchu looked back, a little confused. Ye Sibei pursed his lips and said, "Did you go home with me that night?"

"Yes," Zhao Chuchu and Fan Jiancheng said in unison, "but I got off the car when I got home, and it was Mr. Fan who took you back. What's wrong?"

"Oh," Ye Sibei nodded, "It's okay, I'll just ask."

"Is everything all right?"

Zhao Chuchu asked with concern, and Ye Sibei shook his head: "No, go and get busy."

The customer was still waiting for her, and Zhao Chuchu had no way to ask more questions, so she waved and left.

Ye Sibei returned to her seat. She lowered her head and thought for a while, took a deep breath, and started her day's work.

The sleepless night made her feel dazed. She dozed off during the day and did almost nothing all day.

At five o'clock, Wang Lin came over packing her things as usual and handed her a stack of documents: "Sibei, I'm going to pick up the kids. I'll give you the invoice and data. Thank you."

Ye Sibei paused while typing, and before Wang Lin left, she finally mustered up the courage to speak: "Sister Wang, I have something to do today, I will be home before dark."

"You don't have any children," Wang Lin ignored her and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Why are you back so early? Young people should work overtime. I'm leaving now. Thank you."

Having said that, Wang Lin trotted out.

Ye Sibei turned her head to look at the documents on the table and frowned. After a long time, she looked away and looked back at her computer screen.

When it was time to get off work at six o'clock, she looked at the sky, hesitated for a moment, put the documents back on Wang Lin's desk, and walked out of the company directly.

She dare not refuse others.

But she was more afraid of the night.