Chapter 33.1

After they both returned home, on Monday morning, Ye Sibei took Qin Nan to visit her grandmother and other relatives.

In the afternoon, Qin Nan took Ye Sibei to his hometown to pay respects at the grave.

His home was not far from the South City; it took just over an hour by car. When they arrived in the afternoon, Qin Nan didn’t introduce her to anyone in the village and went straight up the mountain after parking.

Both his father and grandfather were buried on the mountain. His grandfather’s grave was new, marked with the name Qin Gang, while the adjacent grave was older, bearing the name Qin Fu.

Qin Nan brought some liquor and fruit. He poured out the newly bought Wuliangye on the ground and quietly told Ye Sibei, “My dad and grandfather didn’t have many hobbies; they just liked drinking. But back then, they were poor, and they never had good wine. If they hadn’t passed away early, they might have been harmed by alcohol later on.”

Ye Sibei looked at the lonely inscriptions on the tombstone: “Son, Qin Nan” and “Child, Qin Nan,” and she couldn’t help but ask, “Did your dad pass away on a construction site?”

“Yeah,” Qin Nan said, lowering his head to arrange the fruit. “I heard it was on a construction site. Something fell on him, and he was gone.”

“Was there any compensation?” Ye Sibei couldn’t help but look at him. Qin Nan lit the incense and replied, “At first, they said it was his fault, but later it got complicated. In the end, my uncle called the villagers, and they carried my dad’s coffin to the site and left the body there for over ten days to get fifty thousand back.”

“Fifty thousand?” 

Fifty thousand was not a small amount over ten years ago.

Qin Nan nodded, “Both uncles and aunts helped out; they didn’t do it for free. The village elders decided how to split the money. The majority went to our family, but my mom took it away.”

“Your mom really is…” Ye Sibei was a bit shocked to hear this. Qin Nan shook his head, “She had it tough too; it’s fine.”

Saying this, Qin Nan handed her the incense, “Come on, let’s pay our respects.”

Ye Sibei took the incense and bowed.

According to the customs of South City, when bowing to the deceased elders, if one silently makes a wish in their heart, the elders might hear it and bless their descendants.

Qin Nan watched Ye Sibei kneeling on the ground with her hands together, dressed in a brown trench coat, the autumn sunlight casting a warm glow due to the color.

After Ye Sibei finished her bows, Qin Nan stepped forward to do the same. Once he finished, they tidied up their things. Qin Nan let her go ahead, ensuring there were no sparks around before looking up at the two tombstones. After a while, he walked to the grave of Qin Fu, gently placing his hand on the tombstone.

“Dad,” he softly called out, then turned to look at Qin Gang’s tombstone beside it, “Grandpa, this is Sibei.”

After saying that, he smiled and turned to leave with their belongings.

Once they returned home, they quickly heated up some leftovers. In the evening, Ye Sibei used her usual trick, giving Qin Nan milk with sleeping pills, and then quietly left the house in the middle of the night.

Qin Nan followed her outside and saw her take a backpack from the house. When they reached the vicinity of the gambling house, she hid the backpack in a corner of an unfinished building, covering it with leftover wooden boards and bags, and then left.

After Ye Sibei walked away, Qin Nan stepped forward to rummage through the items. Inside, he found gloves, a knife, pepper spray, and other items.

He looked at these items for a while before ultimately deciding to take the backpack. He rode his motorcycle back home, disposing of the items in trash bins along the way.

Ye Sibei didn’t know many people; most of these items were purchased online and would leave a record, so he had to ensure there was no connection to her.

After disposing of everything, Qin Nan returned home, disguised as before, and lay back down on his bed.

A short while later, Ye Sibei also returned, quietly slipping into the covers and, after a moment, reached out to hold Qin Nan.

The next day, October 19th, Tuesday.

The weather was nice that day. When the sun rose, the city looked fresh and clean, with a chill mixed with humidity in the air. People were coming and going in South City, all feeling that winter was approaching and autumn was coming to an end.

Ye Sibei got up early to make breakfast for Qin Nan. When he woke up and saw her busy in the kitchen, he couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m being treated so well today?”

“It’s your birthday.”

Ye Sibei turned to look at him, “I wanted to make you a good meal.”

“Your mom just called. She said there are still some of your things from middle school there and asked if you want to take them.”

“Have her pack them up,” Ye Sibei said, looking down while chopping vegetables. “We can take them when we move.”

Qin Nan leaned against the door, watching her with a smile but didn’t say much.

After a while, he turned to tell her, “I’m going out for a smoke.”

With that, he slipped on his slippers and walked out the door.

He climbed up the stairs and hesitated for a long time at the top, staring at his phone before finally calling Lin Feng.

“Officer Lin,” Qin Nan said, looking down, “I have something to report.”

After finishing the call on the rooftop and arranging to meet Lin Feng in the afternoon, he returned to his room.

Ye Sibei had finished cooking, and they ate breakfast together.

At noon, Ye Sibei ordered a cake. The delivery person brought it to her building. She volunteered to go pick it up. When she got the cake, the delivery person couldn’t help but glance at her a few more times. Ye Sibei pretended not to notice, signing for the cake. When she turned to go back upstairs, she overheard the delivery person excitedly telling a friend on the phone, “Guess who I saw today? Ye Xianren! It’s my first time seeing her in person!”

Ye Sibei paused for a moment while holding the cake. She tightened her grip on the cake’s handle and, after a moment, happily ran back upstairs, exclaiming, “The cake is here!”

The two of them prepared a sumptuous lunch together, even pouring a bit of red wine for some ambiance.

The wine was bought last minute and wasn’t very good. There were no highball glasses at home, so they just pulled out two regular glasses. After pouring the red wine, both found it somewhat amusing. Ye Sibei noticed Qin Nan examining the wine and cleared her throat, “Let’s toast to you.” She raised her glass, her expression serious. “Happy birthday.”

While Ye Sibei and Qin Nan were celebrating their birthday together, the Ye family was busy tidying up.

The elders ate dinner early, finishing lunch before noon, and began moving Ye Sibei’s things outside to sunbathe. Following Ye Sibei’s instructions, they organized everything to make it easier for her to take away.

Most of the items were old, including exercise books, textbooks, and photo albums.

These things had been hidden in a corner by Huang Guifen, gathering a layer of dust. When Ye Nianwen pulled them out, the dust made him cough incessantly.

Ye Nianwen turned back, somewhat complaining, “Mom, why did you put the stuff up so high? The dust is thicker than the books.”

“If I didn’t put it higher, where else would there be space in the house?” Huang Guifen’s voice came from the room. “We finally bought a house, and you sold it. Don’t sell it; let’s borrow some money. House prices are rising…”

Whenever Huang Guifen spoke, she always made people feel unhappy. Ye Nianwen didn’t want to engage, so he carried the items to the door. On top of the books was a long photograph. Ye Nianwen lowered his head to brush off the dust from the picture; it fell away in clouds. Hearing footsteps nearby, he looked up to see Zhang Yong.

“Captain Zhang?”

Seeing Zhang Yong made Ye Nianwen’s heart skip a beat. Zhang Yong glanced down at the photograph in Ye Nianwen’s hand. “Do you have time?”

Upon hearing this, Ye Nianwen understood that Zhang Yong had something to discuss. He quickly looked inside the room and said, “I’ll change my clothes, be right back.”

With that, Ye Nianwen put down the photo and turned to go back inside.

With nothing else to do, Zhang Yong picked up the long photograph, which was labeled “2006 Class Photo of Nancheng No. 2 High School, First Year.” He guessed it was Ye Sibei’s middle school picture and casually glanced at it.

Though her features had slightly changed, Zhang Yong quickly recognized Ye Sibei from his keen observation skills.

The girl in the photo had a radiant smile, completely different from her current lifeless demeanor. Zhang Yong looked for a moment and smiled to himself, just as he was about to look away, he suddenly noticed a taller boy behind Ye Sibei.

Although it was a group photo, the boy wasn’t looking at the camera; he had his head lowered, gazing at Ye Sibei in the next row.

The boy was quite thin, dressed in a school uniform, completely different from his now robust appearance, yet Zhang Yong still recognized him by his facial features.

Qin Nan.

A memory flashed through Zhang Yong’s mind of the day of the first trial when he asked Qin Nan.

“You didn’t know her before, right?”

“No. I’ve never seen her.”

“Really never seen her? Which school did you go to?”

“Seventh High School.”

He was clearly a student from Second High School but claimed he was from Seventh High. He had clearly seen Ye Sibei and knew her; judging by his demeanor back then, he must have had feelings for her, yet he said he had never seen her.

Why?

Zhang Yong was filled with questions. His intuition told him this was something worth exploring.

Ye Nianwen came back out after changing his clothes. “Captain Zhang, let’s go.”

Zhang Yong smiled, put down the photograph, and walked out with Ye Nianwen.

He pretended to be casual and asked, “By the way, how did your brother-in-law meet your sister?”

“Arranged marriage, I think.”