Chapter 30.2

Qin Nan’s expression changed dramatically, and he immediately reassured Ye Sibei: “I’ll go look for him.”

“I’ll go too.”

Ye Sibei quickly grabbed her coat, said hello to Ye Ling, and ran out with Qin Nan.

Once they got in the car, Ye Sibei took out her phone to search for information, but Qin Nan snatched it away: “Don’t look.”

Ye Sibei was stunned as Qin Nan buckled her seatbelt for her: “We’re continuing the appeal. Until we win, you can’t look at anything.”

Ye Sibei didn’t respond, and when Qin Nan started the car, she finally remembered to ask: “Where are you going to find Nianwen?”

“Zhao Chuchu’s house.”

Upon hearing Zhao Chuchu’s name, Ye Sibei slowly reacted and turned to look at Qin Nan. “What did she say?”

Qin Nan didn’t respond, and Ye Sibei yelled: “What did she say?!”

Zhao Chuchu was the key witness. If Ye Nianwen was going to Zhao Chuchu at this time, Qin Nan knew from the news that Ye Nianwen was looking for Zhao Chuchu because she must have said something.

Why did the case lose?

Insufficient evidence—where was it insufficient?

Why was Ye Nianwen looking for Zhao Chuchu?

Ye Sibei’s mind was filled with all kinds of questions. She reached for Qin Nan’s pocket to grab his phone, and Qin Nan finally spoke: “She said you were clear-headed!”

Ye Sibei was taken aback, looking up at Qin Nan: “What do you mean by clear-headed?”

“She said that when she separated from you, you were still chatting with her, you could still recognize people, and you weren’t in a confused state. When she left, she told you to text her when you got home. She confirmed you were safe before she went to sleep.”

Qin Nan relayed what he saw in the news to her, and as Ye Sibei listened, her mind felt a bit hazy.

She recalled that night, watching Zhao Chuchu leave. But suddenly, a shadow appeared; Zhao Chuchu was half-bent outside the glass, making a “call” gesture with her hand, telling her, “Just go back and let me know you’re safe.”

She waved her hand: “Okay.”

For a moment, she didn’t know which memory was real. Sitting in the car, she kept recalling the past. After a long time, she still took Qin Nan’s phone.

“It’s fine,” she said calmly. “I just want to see what really happened.”

As Ye Sibei and Qin Nan rushed to Zhao Chuchu’s house, Ye Nianwen arrived first, sitting by the roadside, constantly thinking about the questions he wanted to ask Zhao Chuchu when he saw her.

He felt the waiting time was extraordinarily long, just like the day he confessed to her years ago.

That day, he woke up at five in the morning, carefully styled his hair with gel to avoid Huang Guifen’s scrutiny, sneaked out, and waited here, waiting for the girl to say goodbye to her parents, bouncing out of the courtyard, down the steps.

He was sitting in the exact spot where Zhao Chuchu had stood; he remembered it so clearly, not a detail forgotten.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally saw a taxi pull up. Zhao Chuchu opened the car door and got out, looking a bit weary.

Then she noticed the young man sitting in the light. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with questions and hostility.

Zhao Chuchu closed the car door, and Ye Nianwen stood up.

Zhao Chuchu paused, and after a moment, as if anticipating something, she closed the car door, standing in place, looking at Ye Nianwen.

The taxi drove away, leaving the empty street in the light rain.

Zhao Chuchu smiled slightly: “You came?”

“Why are you lying?”

Ye Nianwen spoke hoarsely, and Zhao Chuchu replied calmly: “Lying about what?”

“In court,” Ye Nianwen controlled his emotions, “you lied in court!”

Zhao Chuchu remained silent, her gaze sweeping over Ye Nianwen, her tone unaffected: “Take out your phone and recorder.”

Ye Nianwen’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Zhao Chuchu. She met his gaze: “I know you. Take them out.”

“What do you think I am?!”

Ye Nianwen suddenly rushed up, grabbing Zhao Chuchu by the collar and lifting her slightly: “You don’t need to take them out;” he stared at her intensely, “I’m holding your collar; I’m threatening a witness. Even if there’s a recording, it doesn’t count. Are you reassured now?!”

Zhao Chuchu didn’t say anything; she looked at Ye Nianwen losing control, her eyes slightly red: “I’m reassured.”

Saying this, she pulled Ye Nianwen’s hand down: “Let’s go inside first; it’s not convenient to talk here.”

She turned and stepped up the stairs, and after a moment of pause, Ye Nianwen followed her up.

Zhao Chuchu’s house was a two-story self-built bungalow. She led Ye Nianwen inside, greeted her parents, and went upstairs to her room.

The two entered the house, one after the other. Zhao Chuchu set down her bag, tiredly greeting Ye Nianwen, “Take off your outerwear, get your phone out, and empty your pockets.”

Ye Nianwen took a deep breath, following her instructions to drop his coat on the floor and empty his pockets, slamming everything on the table.

Zhao Chuchu lowered her head and poured herself a glass of water from a small thermos on the table. After taking a sip of warm water, she felt slightly calmer. Just as she was about to speak, her phone rang, and her father’s voice came through: “Chuchu, Ye Sibei and Qin Nan are here asking where you are. What should I say?”

“Let them come up.”

Zhao Chuchu lowered her eyes: “It’s fine.”

After hanging up, she turned her back to Ye Nianwen, taking a moment before speaking softly, “Just ask what you want to ask.”

Ye Nianwen was silent; his mind was a bit chaotic. After a while, he finally organized the most crucial question: “Why did you lie?”

Zhao Chuchu looked down, with no hesitation: “In court, except for the condom issue, I didn’t lie about anything else.”

Ye Sibei and Qin Nan walked up to the second floor and stopped in front of Zhao Chuchu’s door.

Zhao Chuchu and Ye Nianwen opened the door and heard voices from outside. They both looked over; Zhao Chuchu looked at Ye Sibei, her expression unchanged: “I didn’t lie.”

Ye Sibei stared at Zhao Chuchu, listening as Zhao Chuchu spoke somewhat tiredly: “That night, Zheng Qiang was always looking for someone to drink with. He could drink a lot. I hung out for a while and couldn’t keep up. Fan Jiancheng told me to take care of Sister Ye, so I stayed with her, hiding whenever I could. That’s why I believed him so much that day. I thought he was a good person.”

“Actually, you felt much better after you threw up that day. You were pretty much the same as usual, just emotionally unstable and talkative, but you were clear-headed and spoke well,” Zhao Chuchu leaned against the table, turning to look at Ye Sibei, who knew she was talking to her. “Before you left, you were still chatting with me, asking why life was so tough. I told you that life’s difficulties are endless, and we can only keep moving forward.”

“I remember.”

Ye Sibei didn’t deny it. Zhao Chuchu lowered her eyes: “I told you to call me when you got home. I felt tired when I got home, set an alarm for an hour, and fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw your message saying you got home. I didn’t think much about it and just went back to sleep.”

“Show me the message.”

Ye Nianwen stood up, reaching out eagerly.

Zhao Chuchu lowered her head, took out her phone, and searched for the conversation in WeChat, handing it to Ye Nianwen.

At 00:07 on April 9, Ye Sibei sent a message to Zhao Chuchu with the location of her house, leaving a note: “I’m home.”

Ye Nianwen stared blankly at the message, and Qin Nan stepped forward to take a look. He pulled out Ye Sibei’s phone from his pocket, entered the password, and skillfully opened WeChat to search for the records from that day.

There were no records.

“It must have been Fan Jiancheng…” Ye Nianwen mumbled, analyzing as he held the phone. “He drove my sister to the entrance of the neighborhood and then sent the message with my sister’s phone before deleting it. He also made a call and deleted that too! By that time in the early morning, my sister was already unconscious.”

“I didn’t give that message to the police.”

Zhao Chuchu lowered her eyes: “From the beginning, I thought, whatever Sister Ye says, I’ll say the same. If she says she was unconscious, then she was.”

“Then why did you change your story? Why did you mention the condom issue, which you didn’t tell my sister?” Ye Nianwen was unwilling to believe, staring at Zhao Chuchu. “You’re lying! You must be lying!”

“I’ve been dreaming a lot recently,” Zhao Chuchu ignored Ye Nianwen. She looked at Ye Sibei, thinking that she was probably the only one who could understand her here. “I dream that we are trapped in a cage, with many people poking us from outside with sticks and sharp objects, telling me to bite you and telling you to bite me. They say we are all sinners, having made mistakes, so we are being punished.”

Zhao Chuchu’s expression became somewhat dazed, and Ye Sibei observed her tired brow and eyes.

She wasn’t the victim in this situation, yet she looked the same—hair cut short, clean nails, dressed in long sleeves and pants, bare-faced.