Volume Two: Second Scroll
The End of the Green Duckweed (1)1
Light is me loving you.
The phone call was not connected before it was hung up, and a bad premonition suddenly surged in the man’s heart. He lightly bit his teeth, looked back for a glance at the command vehicle in the woods not far away, and made up his mind. He took out the phone card and broke it, threw the phone into the nearby pond, and put on a mask himself. Just as he was preparing to turn and leave, the back of his head was pressed by a gun.
His whole body stiffened, and he slowly turned his head back. A soldier wearing camouflage green was standing behind him, his face cold and stern.
“Police Officer Zheng, come take a trip with us, yeah?”
Rustling footsteps came from the woods, and a group of people surrounded him, one after another pointing guns at him.
Zheng Chengrui smiled bitterly and raised both his hands.
“Shoot to kill on the spot.” Hu Senji thought of Zhao Junfeng’s order and coldly waved his hand.
To his surprise, however, no one listened to him anymore. In his urgency, he abruptly snatched someone else’s gun muzzle, aimed it at Ding Ye, and his thumb lightly pressed the trigger.
“Don’t!”
Seeing that the situation was not good, Song Yuhang rushed over in a single bound and slightly raised his gun muzzle. The bullet shot into the sky with a bang. As if awakened by this gunshot, the Armed Police in camouflage uniforms around him all aimed their gun muzzles at him.
Hu Senji’s face turned white: “What is the meaning of this?”
Song Yuhang gave a cold laugh: “Go and explain it yourself to the various leaders of the Ministry of Public Security and the Discipline Inspection Commission2.”
“Take him away!”
She slightly raised her hand, and the criminal police led by Xue Rui came forward to hold him, dragging the man outwards.
“Song Yuhang, you are nothing but a beat cop3, what qualifications do you have to arrest me…”
Hu Senji was still struggling, his angry roars traveling very far, but no one paid him any more attention.
Watching the farce in front of him, Ding Ye slightly pulled the corners of his lips and smiled.
The box full of money in his hand had just now, because he heard the gunshot and subconsciously raised his hand to cover his vital parts, spilled open. Colorful banknotes scattered all over the ground; only a small portion was genuine Renminbi4, and the rest was all joss paper5.
Without even needing to think, that overseas account must have also been frozen. He thought he had won completely, yet he had lost so miserably it was hard to look at.
Song Yuhang watched his expression instantly stiffen, his face ashen, and slightly hooked the corner of her lips.
“Take him away.”
As soon as her voice fell, a figure parted the crowd and ran over stumbling. Lin Yan kicked him square in the chest, sending the man tumbling to the ground, then pounced on him, tightly grabbing his collar and shaking it, her eye sockets completely red.
She threw punch after punch: “Give me back my dad, give me back my brother, give me back Chunan’s life!”
Caught off guard, no one had expected her to suddenly attack. Ding Ye was beaten until his nose bled and he foamed at the mouth.
Lin Yan pulled out a dagger from behind her waist, the one used to kill Tiger, still stained with the smell of blood, and fiercely stabbed it towards his chest.
Song Yuhang’s pupils shrank. She ran over in two or three steps, hugged her waist tightly, and dragged the person backward.
“Lin Yan!”
Someone had entangled her, and the rest of the people swarmed forward to help up the fallen Ding Ye, put on handcuffs, and pinned his hands behind his back before escorting him onto the speedboat.
Lin Yan was still struggling, roaring, and screaming hysterically, watching with wide eyes as the murderer of her father walked past her with a calm expression, boarded the police boat, and finally, completely drained of strength, knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Song Yuhang also knelt down, pressed her head into her own embrace, caressed her hair, and tears rolled down.
The real-time satellite footage came to an abrupt end right here.
Zhao Junfeng let out a long sigh, took off his presbyopic glasses, rubbed the space between his eyebrows, seeming somewhat regretful, yet also feeling a sense of relief.
Feng Jianguo stood beside him, three to five steps away, and the other leaders in the command room were also gathered around him.
The command vehicle was already surrounded by the Armed Police.
He also sighed quietly in his heart.
“Director Zhao, let’s go, don’t make it difficult for us.”
The old man gave a bitter smile: “When did you find out?”
“Zhongjing Industrial Port. Under the arrangement of the Ministry of Public Security, Lin Yan was carrying out a top-secret mission. Only she and I were in single-line contact. The people who knew this address were either drug traffickers or an inside mole.”
A bit longer ago, it probably started from when Song Yuhang and Lin Yan were attacked upon returning to Jiangcheng City.
Zhao Junfeng thought what he did was like heavenly clothes without a seam6, but his subordinates had left two rubber bullets on the vehicle because they left the scene in a hurry.
Song Yuhang brought those two bullets back. No one knew that she had gone to see him, including Lin Yan.
The planning probably started from that time. It was just that no one expected Lin Ge to stick a knife in horizontally, and later on, Lin Yan’s faked death could be considered a yin error and yang mistake combination of factors7. The reasons for keeping it secret from Song Yuhang at first were, one, because her physical condition did not permit being agitated, and two, since it was a top-secret operation, then naturally, the fewer people who knew, the safer Lin Yan would be.
The concealment from Song Yuhang also had the consent of Lin Youyuan.
Feng Jianguo still remembered what he had said at the time.
The old man was sick in bed, yet there was a trace of a smile in his eyes.
“If, after this calamity, they can still be together… cough cough… then I… can also rest assured.”
Feng Jianguo asked in return: “And if they can’t, then?”
Lin Youyuan sighed faintly: “Then that is their fate. But Lin Yan…”
Mentioning his own daughter, he paused slightly.
“Defeating Ding Ye, growing up quickly, probably in the future no person or matter will be able to hurt her. It’s also good if they can’t be together. When a person has no weakness, they are forever invincible.”
This line of reasoning, Feng Jianguo dared not agree with, yet he also felt from it a father’s earnest love for his child, even though it was in his own way.
Lin Yan originally thought that when the dust had settled, she would be as if joyful to the point of madness, but now her heart was left with only sorrow.
The sea wind whistled, messing up her hair. She refused medical help, walked a little further away by herself, and sat on the beach hugging her knees. The waves lapped at the back of her feet, her silhouette lonely and desolate.
Song Yuhang finished the handover with the criminal police from the provincial department, glanced over in that direction, dropped the matter at hand, and ran over.
She was completely unaware of someone walking up behind her. Song Yuhang patted her own face, straightened her clothes, adjusted her breathing and expression to make her smile not so unsightly, and only then sat down beside her.
Lin Yan glanced at her, tears still swirling in her eye sockets, yet her gaze remained dull and lightless, which made her heart feel as if it were being twisted by a knife.
Song Yuhang reached out an arm and put it around her shoulder, her chin resting on her head and rubbing it gently.
Lin Yan didn’t dodge either, letting her do as she pleased.
She really wasn’t in the mood, and she didn’t know whether she should cry or laugh.
She looked at the still-dark night sky.
“You tell me, will the light really come?”
Or rather, is there really light in this world?
Song Yuhang tilted her head and gently kissed her forehead.
“It will.”
“I don’t believe it.” A teardrop slid from the corner of Lin Yan’s eye.
Song Yuhang wiped it away for her, the expression on her face was one of unprecedented gentleness.
Her eyes were so bright, like the stars in the sky, and also seemed to possess the vigorous life force of mountains, rivers, flowers, and trees.
Lin Yan saw a word from her body:
Full of life and vitality.
Beautiful, is probably used to describe this kind of person, right?
“Then you close your eyes and count to three, you will see the light.”
Lin Yan pulled the corner of her lips in disdain, yet when her palm covered them, she subconsciously closed her eyes.
Song Yuhang watched as the thick clouds on the horizon were broken by the morning glow, the rising sun trying with all its might to leap out of the sea level.
This process was so long, and yet it made one’s hot tears fill the eye sockets8.
She counted softly: “One.”
Lin Yan’s long eyelashes trembled in her palm.
“Two.”
She held her breath, slightly nervous.
“Three.”
Song Yuhang released her hand and leaned over.
Lin Yan had not yet seen the rising sun, but first saw the familiar face. The first ray of morning light danced on the corners of her eyes and brows, painting her black hair a slight chestnut color.
She was slightly stunned, her red lips slightly parted, and was then covered by someone.
This kiss was very light, different from every previous instance of you-come-I-go9 and needle point to needle point10 where they had to fiercely compete to see who was superior; instead, it contained all of Song Yuhang’s love and warmth.
The expression on her face was so sacred and devout.
Lin Yan forgot to breathe, and also forgot to close her eyes, looking straight into her pupils.
Song Yuhang released her, a shy smile on her face: “You asked me, what is light.”
Lin Yan didn’t understand her meaning, and was even somewhat baffled.
“Just ask.”
Unable to deal with her pestering, a slight curve finally appeared on the corner of Lin Yan’s lips.
“What is light?”
The two were talking while lying on their sides. Song Yuhang gently put an arm around her head and planted a kiss on her forehead.
“Light is me loving you.”
Duan Cheng was lifted onto a stretcher by medical personnel, and just as he was about to be sent into the ambulance, he looked back for a glance.
The backlight left only their silhouettes, smudging their faces indistinctly.
This scene was too beautiful and tranquil. Behind them was the battlefield that had not yet been cleaned up, and before them was the rising sun for ten thousand miles. The contrast between the two inevitably made one’s heart surge with emotion.
Duan Cheng slightly hooked the corner of his lips and smiled, almost impatiently wanting to see his Fang Xin.
The group returned to the pier.
Zhao Junfeng had already been taken away by people from the Ministry of Public Security. His epaulets and collar insignia had all been removed, and even his Spring and Autumn regular uniform11 had been taken off. He was wearing only a thin shirt, and the sea breeze made his face a little pale, but Song Yuhang was not sure if that was because he had seen her.
Zhao Junfeng’s footsteps paused slightly as he passed by her, his lips moving up and down.
Song Yuhang thought he wouldn’t say anything, but as the Armed Police were escorting him away, he suddenly turned around and said: “Don’t tell my old partner that I’ve been arrested.”
This sentence was more like it was said to everyone.
She silently took a step back, clenched her jaw tightly, her hands balled into fists, and never gave him another look.
Just as the ambulance doors were about to close, a girl came running out of the crowd, stumbling.
One look at Fang Xin and you could tell she had run all the way from the city center. Her hair was messy, and she was still wearing her lab uniform.
“Duan Cheng, Duan Cheng, where are you?”
Through the car door, which was narrowed to a slit, Duan Cheng heard her call and saw her shoes. Wearing a simple respirator, he struggled to lift his body.
The medical personnel came to press him down, just as someone clung to the car window.
“Duan Cheng, Duan Cheng, are you okay?”
The girl’s anxious call came from outside the car. The doctor opened the car door again, his expression somewhat anxious.
“What is it? Who are you to him? He is not lightly injured, he must be sent to the hospital for further treatment quickly.”
Fang Xin composed herself, looked at his blood-stained clothes, and her gaze focused on his face.
The man grinned, revealing two big white teeth, and managed to raise his right hand, giving her a thumbs-up to show that he was okay.
Fang Xin’s eye sockets reddened at once: “I… I am his girlfriend.”
After a short rest, the two were sent to the hospital together. During this process, Song Yuhang held her hand tightly the whole time, only letting go reluctantly when it was time for an examination. The expression at that moment was also extremely reluctant and sad.
After the two were examined, they were quickly scheduled for surgery, and the lights of two adjacent operating rooms lit up at the same time.
Mother Song was pacing anxiously outside the door, while Ji Jingxing comforted her in a gentle voice at her side.
Before long, a doctor came out and took off his mask.
“Who is the family of bed thirteen?”
“I am, I am her mother.” Mother Song hurriedly went up to meet him.
The doctor’s face showed a slight regret: “The patient is thirty-six years old, still very young, but her abdomen suffered a heavy blow, and the uterus is bleeding heavily. We tried our best to suture it. If the suturing is not good and the bleeding doesn’t stop, then we can only…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Mother Song’s eyes went black, and she collapsed softly to the ground.
“Mom! Mom! Someone come, ah!” Ji Jingxing knelt on the ground supporting her, shouting anxiously. Several medical staff ran over with a gurney and sent the person to the emergency room.
By the time Mother Song woke up in the hospital room, the surgery was already over. The uterus was saved, but her fertility was permanently damaged.
Song Yuhang, of course, eventually learned this news. She touched her own abdomen; she didn’t really feel much. Instead, it was Mother Song and Ji Jingxing who were teary-eyed, especially Mother Song, who had almost cried herself into a mess of tears.
She gently squeezed her mother’s hand to comfort her, wearing an oxygen mask. Seeing Lin Yan lying in another hospital bed not far from her, the corners of her lips curved up.
The doctor said that she didn’t have any major problems, nor were there any lasting effects. The superficial wound on her shoulder had been sutured and the bleeding stopped. The only thing that needed close monitoring was the series of subsequent infection problems brought on by Guillain-Barré syndrome. But at the same time, the doctor also said that her recovery from the previous course of treatment was very good, and there was hope for her to return to a normal life. He was probably talking about the recuperation process during her faked death.
As long as she followed the doctor’s advice, took her medicine on time, maintained cleanliness, and paid attention to dietary hygiene, the infection could also be controlled.
Song Yuhang watched her sleeping soundly, her face pale, but her lips gradually regaining color, her vital signs stable. The curve at the corner of her lips grew wider and wider, wider and wider, until she finally couldn’t help but laugh like a child.
To lose and then regain, was the best gift that the age of thirty-six had given her.
On the day the police sealed up the Lin residence, Lin Yan struggled to get out of bed to go and see. Song Yuhang, who had always been physically strong, was recovering much faster than her. Helplessly unable to win against her, she had no choice but to accompany her. The two of them, wearing hospital gowns, with Lin Yan in a wheelchair, were pushed by her into the car.
At the other end of the estate was Lin Ge’s villa. Police officers were coming in and out, among them were technical police wearing uniforms with the words “Criminal Scene Investigation” on them.
Lin Yan closed her eyes slightly, her hands trembling. She took a deep breath and looked at Song Yuhang.
She understood, went forward to negotiate, and after getting permission, pushed her upstairs. The second floor was Lin Ge’s study. She had been here before, but had never noticed the human skeleton standing in his room.
A police cordon had been set up at the doorway. Several forensic doctors in protective suits were collecting evidence. Fang Xin was also there examining the scene for traces. After a while, noticing someone at the door, she looked up at her.
Lin Yan’s eye sockets were red, her masseter muscles trembling, her fists clenched so tightly that her fingernails dug deep into her palms.
A forensic doctor repeatedly felt the skeleton back and forth several times and said with a frown: “A preliminary autopsy reveals that this is the skeletal remains of an eighteen-year-old adult female. Take it back to the bureau for further dissection to confirm the cause of death.”
The intern forensic doctor opened the body bag, and several people carefully lifted the skeleton and placed it inside. Just as they were about to pull the zipper up, Lin Yan suddenly lunged forward. She couldn’t stand up yet and fell outside the cordon line, stretching her arms out to reach for the best friend of her life.
“Chunan, Chunan, don’t go…”
So it turned out that the person she had spent fourteen years searching for with all her might was right by her side.
So it turned out that the murderer she had spent fourteen years searching for with all her might was right by her side.
What on earth had she been doing these past fourteen years? Her friend’s deep grievance was not yet redressed12, she suspected her father, yet trusted Lin Ge without reservation. In order to get revenge, she had turned herself into neither human nor ghost13. If it weren’t for Song Yuhang, would she have also walked down such a path?
Every time she thought about the countless opportunities she had to discover this secret, yet missed them time and time again.
Lin Yan’s heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife, wishing she could slap herself hard a couple of times.
With a zip sound, the black body bag was finally sealed. Several criminal police officers lifted it up and walked out.
“Chunan, Chunan, look at me, don’t go… don’t… go…”
Lin Yan struggled to crawl forward. Song Yuhang held her tightly, lifted the person up, and covered her eyes with her palm.
“Lin Yan, Lin Yan, don’t look, I’m here, I’m here, don’t be afraid, ah.”
It was also on this day that news came from the mental hospital: Mother Chen was suffering from respiratory failure and was not going to make it.
By the time Song and Lin’s group rushed to the hospital, they only managed to see her for one last time.
Mother Chen lay on the bed, as thin as a skeleton, her rough, chicken-claw-like hand tightly clutching her wrist, struggling to lift her body, as if wanting to say something.
Lin Yan gently removed the oxygen mask for her.
The eyes of the person who had always been crazy and oblivious to the world rarely showed a trace of clarity. A slight smile appeared on the old woman’s face.
“Th… thank you…”
She only said these two words before her hand went limp and she passed away to the west. The ECG monitor beside the bed turned into a flat horizontal line.
Lin Yan stared blankly as her hand slipped from her own palm. She was stunned for a long while, then, as if in disbelief, she gently shook her shoulder.
“Auntie, Auntie Chen?”
Chunan’s mother had peacefully closed her eyes and would never wake up again.
Medical personnel came in to cover her with a white cloth, removed the ventilator, and took away the ECG monitor.
The gurney was moved away from before her eyes.
Lin Yan sat in the wheelchair, covering her lips with her hand, her shoulders shaking violently.
Song Yuhang walked up to her, squatted down, and gently held her hand, giving her silent comfort.
“These are the old woman’s personal belongings. Since she no longer has any family, we will hand them over to you.”
The doctor handed over a cardboard box. She had lived here for a very long time, and as the nurses cared for her, everyone had developed feelings for her, so he sighed and said.
“This morning when she woke up, the old woman was in good spirits, not crying or making a fuss. She even washed her own face, took her medicine, and had our nurse cut her hair and change her into new clothes. Who knew that by evening she would…”
“Sigh, I heard that her daughter’s case has been solved, is that right? No wonder, after holding on for so many years, it has finally come to an end.”
…
Song Yuhang smiled and nodded in agreement. Only after the doctor had walked far away did she open the box. There weren’t many things inside: a few old clothes, socks with patches on them, an old photo frame, a few train tickets she had kept from when she traveled south and north looking for Chunan, and a kraft paper envelope.
Song Yuhang took out the envelope. On the front was written: To be opened by Lin Yan.
The handwriting was elegant and beautiful. Mother Chen had never been to school, so it was most likely Chunan’s handwriting.
She put it back as it was, and holding the box, she walked towards Lin Yan who was sitting on the long bench. She squatted down in front of her, held her hand, and passed the letter to her.
“It’s for you. Do you want to read it?”
The moment her gaze fell on those few characters, Lin Yan seemed to have been scalded by fire. She shrank back, and her shoulders began to tremble, her mouth muttering.
“It’s my fault, it’s my fault… I’m the one who harmed them…”
Song Yuhang squeezed her hand forcefully, her tone slightly heavier: “Lin Yan, it’s not, it’s not your fault.”
“It is me… it is me… If I hadn’t met her, we wouldn’t have become friends, Lin Ge wouldn’t have killed her, and Mother Chen wouldn’t have gone mad…”
“Lin Yan!” Song Yuhang gripped her shoulders, forcing her to look up at her, her eyes firm, her tone chopping nails and slicing iron14.
“People are always talking about the victim-blaming theory15, but what fault do the victims have? Who meets whom is not a factor that can be controlled by human effort, and the changes in Lin Ge were also not a factor you could control. If there is any fault, it is all his fault. There is one point he will never understand: life is a long river, and no one will always stop moving forward16. He couldn’t cross this river and remained stuck in the same place, so he took the wrong path. One wrong step, and every step was wrong17.”
“Over these years, you have done enough for Chunan and for Mother Chen. That’s why she said ‘thank you’ to you in the end. Do you understand what that means?”
Lin Yan looked at her with tear-filled eyes, clutching the letter in her hand tightly.
“It means she has already let go and can go in peace. The doctor said she even had her hair cut and changed into new clothes. She is going to meet her beloved daughter. Before that, she hopes you will live well, the kind of well that is peaceful and safe, without illness or disaster for a lifetime.”
After Song Yuhang finished speaking, her own eye sockets had reddened, and she gently pulled the person into her embrace.
“And one day, we will all meet our departed loved ones in that world.”
She did not cry when Ding Ye was arrested. When Chunan’s remains were found at Lin Ge’s house, she cried but not hysterically. Yet at this moment, clutching her friend’s letter, she cried until she was out of breath.
These were tears of regret, tears of a long-cherished wish fulfilled, tears for a friend’s grievance being redressed, and also tears of release.
Song Yuhang remained motionless, letting her hold her and wail, smearing all her tears and snot on her chest.
A long time later, as passing medical staff cast sidelong glances, Lin Yan finally felt a little embarrassed and released her waist.
Song Yuhang gently scraped her nose: “Cried enough?”
Lin Yan was still sobbing: “Still… still want to cry.”
“Be good, we still have many things to deal with. You can hold me and cry again tonight when we’re back in the hospital room.”
The procedures on the police side, Mother Chen’s funeral affairs, Lin Youyuan’s funeral affairs, the future direction of Jingtai Group…
It was fine not to know these things when she was unconscious, but now that she was awake, they pressed down on her like a great mountain.
Lin Yan knew that now was not the time to be fragile, yet her eye sockets still reddened slightly: “Mm.”
Song Yuhang’s gaze fell on the envelope in her hand: “Then this letter…”
Lin Yan gently placed it into the nearby cardboard box.
“I’ll read it later. When I have the courage to also let go of all this, I’ll open it and see what she said to me.”
By the time Lin Yan could walk on her own, Chunan’s autopsy results were also out, confirming it was indeed her. And the teeth in the crystal ball found in Lin Ge’s room also tested for faint DNA, which matched the sample left by Chen Chunan herself.
At this point, the “6.18 Fenyang Pier Dismemberment Case,” which had spanned fourteen years, was announced to be solved.
As for his basement, a large amount of bloodstains and unprocessed fresh body parts were discovered. More victims surfaced, and for a time, news about this “murderous maniac” spread like wildfire18 on social media.
Lin Yan buried Chunan and Mother Chen together. The burial plot was chosen very well, by the mountains and near the water, with pines and cypresses ever green19.
Her eyes red, she scattered the joss paper into the sky, while Song Yuhang placed a bouquet of white chrysanthemums against the tombstone.
The two stood silently.
A long time later, Song Yuhang asked: “That letter, have you read it?”
“I have.”
“What did she say?”
“She said thank you.”
At the end of that letter, Chen Chunan had written this: “Stingy ghost, from junior high to senior high, we have known each other for six years without realizing it. In these six years, I have watched you slowly grow taller, slowly become prettier. Of course, your personality is still so stinky and arrogant~”
“I often wonder, if I hadn’t met Lin Yan, what would my life have been like? It probably would have been the kind where you follow the prescribed order and can see the end at a glance, just like my mother: reaching a certain age, working, getting married, having children, raising the children, and the children repeating the same life…”
“But because I met you, ah, life began to change from impossible to gradually having a little bit of possibility.”
“You took me to skip class to play video games, letting me know that there were things in the world more interesting than studying; you secretly took me to see movies, letting me know that there were places in the world farther than Jiangcheng City; you showed me that there was another colorful side to this world, making me change from not yearning to yearning. I also want to go out and see, like you, to earn a lot of money in the future, eat delicious food, and buy a big house for my mom.”
“After this summer, we will soon go our separate ways20, but no matter when or where I think of you, you will always be the most concentrated ink and heavy color21 stroke in my youth, my, Chen Chunan’s, best friend. This point will never change.”
“Wuwuwu, I didn’t want to cry at first, but the more I write, the sadder I get. Alright! Today is your birthday, so let me first wish you a happy birthday, and finally—”
The girl drew a big smiley face.
“I hope you have a bright future, and live a life of peace, happiness, and well-being, and also…”
The girl’s pen stroke paused slightly: “Thank you, Lin Yan.”
Only later did Lin Yan understand that the word “thank you” could also be used to say goodbye.
The woman leaned over slightly, stroking the photo on the tombstone, a slight smile on the corner of her lips.
Thank you too, Chunan, for letting me become a better version of myself.
In the afternoon, before they had returned, the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau sent someone to request their presence. The two of them got into the police car heading back to the city together.
In the interrogation room, neatly dressed criminal police officers in uniform were waiting in full formation. They were all unfamiliar faces, probably people from the provincial department or the Ministry of Public Security. To avoid suspicion, Feng Jianguo was not there either.
Song Yuhang held her hand, her expression worried.
Instead, Lin Yan was calmer. She squeezed her hand back, gave it a gentle pinch, and strode inside, sitting down opposite them.
The iron door closed, blocking her line of sight.
Just as Song Yuhang was about to stand on her tiptoes to peek inside, a police officer came over to call her, saying that Director Feng requested her presence.
She had no choice but to follow the other person towards the office, looking back every three steps.
“Name?”
“Lin Yan.”
“Age?”
“Thirty-three years old.”
“Position?”
“Former Chief Forensic Pathologist of the Technical Investigation Department of the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau.”
“Why did you go undercover?”
Lin Yan answered the previous questions very smoothly, but only paused slightly here.
The case officers were all looking at her.
Lin Yan was silent for a long time, until the criminal police officer opposite her became a little impatient and lightly tapped the table with his pen.
Only then did she lazily lift her eyelids, her voice a little impatient yet landing on the ground with a sound.
“To protect the living, and to seek the truth for the dead, is my duty.”
Several people exchanged glances, and then someone else asked: “During the undercover process, were you ever counter-infiltrated by the enemy?”
What followed was according to procedure. The other party’s attitude wasn’t good but wasn’t bad either, so she just answered the questions mechanically, neither cold nor hot.
Until.
“Since the criminal suspect has already submitted to the law, why did you rush up to beat him? Do you know that, as a public official, this act also violates the 《Criminal Law》22.”
Lin Yan was silent, staring at the moth fluttering around the glaringly bright desk lamp, watching with wide eyes as it crashed into it, was scorched by the scalding lamp tube, and fell lifelessly onto the table.
The case officer was a little impatient and knocked heavily on the table with his pen.
“Answer the question.”
Lin Yan pulled the corner of her lips slightly and looked up at him.
The interrogator was very young, about the same age as her.
“You have parents, right?”
The other person was stunned. She then turned her head to look at another, slightly older criminal police officer.
“You have children, right?”
“When one day, your parents, wife and children, friends and siblings are murdered, can you still sit here calmly and ask this kind of question?”
“The ballistics comparison result for this gun is out. It is identical to the one your father lost back then.”
Feng Jianguo handed her the gun, which was in an evidence bag.
“This is?” Song Yuhang took it in her hand, turning it over and over to look at it.
The old man’s face also held a trace of grief.
“The gun Lin Yan’s father used to commit suicide.”
Song Yuhang was suddenly stunned, the expression on her face was somewhat solemn and somewhat surprised, and ultimately a mix of five flavors23.
The interrogation continued until the evening before Lin Yan was released, with not a hair harmed.
Song Yuhang let out a sigh of relief and went up to meet her: “Yanyan…”
Before she could finish, Lin Yan smiled.
“They said I can go back to work anytime.”
“Then do you want to?”
Song Yuhang gently took her hand.
Lin Yan shook her head: “I don’t. I’m a little tired.”
Song Yuhang put an arm around her shoulder and walked outside with her.
“Okay, then we won’t go.”
When they walked out of the Public Security Bureau, someone was already waiting for them.
Ji Jingxing was standing under a streetlight with Xiao Wei and Mother Song.
On this autumn night, the moon was bright and the stars were few. The leaves of the wutong trees24 covered the sidewalk.
She smiled: “Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival25, and you two have also been discharged from the hospital. Mom has braised meat and stewed ribs. Let’s go home and eat together.”
LP: Re-translated on September 09, 2025
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