Chapter 34.1

Qin Nan sent Ye Sibei off and drove back home. At this time, Zhang Yong was sitting in Yang Qiyu’s room, while Mrs. Yang took the children out to play on the playground, and Yang Qiyu lowered his head.

“At that time, I had just started working, and Qin Nan was the first class of students I taught. He was a left-behind child, raised by his grandfather. He got involved in school life but didn’t pass the entrance exam for high school. His father spent all his savings to enroll him in this high school. I remember he was very thin back then and didn’t talk much. He hung out with a group of city kids, often sleeping in class or skipping school to play games. At first, I really disliked this kid and often lectured him. There were several times I thought about expelling him, but his father and grandfather came to the school to plead for him. Once, they even knelt in front of me. I felt sorry for them, so I let him stay. Then one day, he suddenly came to ask me if he still had hope of studying. I told him no one is without hope, and he could come to my house for extra lessons.”

“At that time, I took pity on his father’s misfortune and saw that he had the heart to study, so I decided to teach him. His foundation was too weak; he hadn’t studied much since childhood and couldn’t grasp concepts quickly. Despite working hard every day, his grades didn’t improve significantly. He often came to my classes covered in bruises. Later, I figured out that he didn’t want to hang out with those brothers anymore because they were bullying him.”

“Honestly, I didn’t quite understand,” Yang Qiyu shook his head. “What are these kids thinking?”

“And then what happened?”

“Later, I became familiar with him and started to take care of him. I asked why he suddenly changed his attitude. He said everyone had told him he was trash, destined to be like his father—unable to study well and, even if he did, it would be useless. They would just hang around until they were old enough to go out to work. But he didn’t think like that; he always wondered if he could give it a try, yet he was afraid of failing, so he didn’t even try.”

“But he saw a girl in the neighboring class. He saw her parents scold her at the school gate and heard others laugh at her. Yet she continued to study without any interference. He thought to himself that he could give it a shot too.”

“That person was Ye Sibei?”

Zhang Yong asked, and Yang Qiyu nodded. “At that time, Ye Sibei was in the honors class, right across from Qin Nan’s classroom. Qin Nan sat by the window, and so did Ye Sibei. I often saw Qin Nan watching her.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yong was puzzled. “I thought their relationship was ordinary. I’ve known Qin Nan for three years and hardly ever heard him mention Ye Sibei. The first time I heard anything was about their divorce.”

“So you’re curious?”

Yang Qiyu poured tea for Zhang Yong, who nodded and joked, “He must have intentionally concealed things he’s done. What if he’s hiding something criminal? I am a criminal investigator; I have to be sensitive to these things.”

“Don’t worry, Qin Nan doesn’t have a criminal record, and his feelings for Sibei… can’t really be called love.”

Zhang Yong paused while holding his teacup, and Yang Qiyu continued calmly, “He hasn’t had much contact with Sibei and has hardly ever spoken to her directly. I asked him if he liked Ye Sibei, and he told me that it wasn’t really love. It was just that she made him see hope in something he couldn’t do. So he hopes Ye Sibei can live well because if she does, he will feel that the world can truly be changed through effort, that he has the ability to live well in this world.”

“Then by the end of their second year of high school, his grades improved a bit. If he kept working hard, he might have been able to get into a third-tier university or a slightly worse second-tier one.”

“But what happened?” Zhang Yong continued to ask. Yang Qiyu fell silent, cradling the cup in his hands as he recalled something. “His father passed away.”

*** ***

“No recording.”

Ye Nianwen placed his phone face up on the table, turned on the screen, and quickly rummaged through his pockets, reassuring Zhao Chuchu, who was seated across from him, “Don’t worry.”

Zhao Chuchu glanced at his actions and then looked at the warm honey pomelo tea on the table, a drink she used to order every time. Ye Nianwen would always order it for her in advance.

This detail made her pause. She lowered her gaze, reached for the teacup, and felt its warmth radiating from her cold palms. In a soft voice, she asked, “You came to ask about your sister, right?”

“I came to ask about you.”

Ye Nianwen looked at her calmly. Compared to before, Zhao Chuchu seemed much more haggard. He felt a pang of sadness in his heart and lowered his head to take a sip of water. “Before, I only asked you about my sister. I wanted to know, how have you been recently?”

Zhao Chuchu held the cup but couldn’t speak. She kept her head down for a long time before saying, “You asked this question too late. You know, I’ve been waiting for this question for a long time. But when it should have come, it didn’t. Now, whether it comes or not, it doesn’t matter.”

“I don’t trust you, and you don’t trust me,” Zhao Chuchu controlled her tone. “Don’t ask me anything else.”

“On one side is kindness, and on the other is evil. In the end, where she falls depends on how the world pushes her.”

“How do you want to push her?”

Zhang Yong’s words echoed in Ye Nianwen’s ears. He stared at the person before him and finally spoke up, “Chuchu, are you a good person or a bad person?”

“You can consider me a bad person.”

Zhao Chuchu answered decisively. Ye Nianwen pondered for a moment and took the listening device out of his clothes, slapping it onto the table. Zhao Chuchu looked calmly at the device, showing no surprise.

“A bad person wouldn’t call themselves a bad person. To say they are a bad person is because their conscience is condemning them.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Chuchu’s eyes turned red. Ye Nianwen turned off the listening device in front of her.

“Tell me one truth.”

“What truth do you want?”

“That day,” Ye Nianwen said, maintaining a calm expression, “what exactly happened?”

Zhao Chuchu turned her head away, not wanting to look at Ye Nianwen. “I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”

Ye Nianwen didn’t respond. He focused on her, observing her for the first time so carefully. At that moment, he saw her fear, her struggle, her hesitation.

“I might not understand,” he said, his voice a bit hoarse, “but I know you’re a good person.”

Zhao Chuchu was taken aback. Ye Nianwen repeated what she had once made him say.

“Ye Nianwen, always likes Zhao Chuchu.”

Zhao Chuchu bit her lip, looking at Ye Nianwen as tears suddenly fell.

“That night,” she instinctively raised her hand to hug herself, tightly grasping her own arm as if confessing to a great scandal. “I was taking care of my sister. When the drinking party was about to end, Fan Jiancheng said he would get some water for me and my sister, and then he went to a small room.”

Ye Nianwen wasn’t surprised. He had heard this from other witnesses. He looked at Zhao Chuchu and asked, “And then?”

“He was gone for a while. I felt thirsty, so I went over myself. I saw him holding a bottle of medicine next to the water he had poured for himself. I asked him what it was, and he said it was a hangover remedy.”

Once she said this, Zhao Chuchu’s fingers slowly relaxed. She lowered her gaze. “I didn’t think much about it and walked over to take the medicine. I told him I would feed it to her. Fan Jiancheng wanted to say something, but I didn’t give him a chance and just took the water away.”

“So you were the one who fed her the medicine?”

Ye Nianwen restrained his emotions, afraid to disturb Zhao Chuchu. He vaguely understood why she was reluctant to speak.

Tears streamed down Zhao Chuchu’s face as she looked at Ye Nianwen, struggling to keep her voice steady, trembling, “I fed the medicine to my sister.”

Ye Nianwen watched her as she struggled to speak each word. “And then I sent her home. I told her to call me when she got back. At twelve o’clock, she sent me a message, and I went to sleep.”

“Why didn’t you say anything at the beginning?”

Ye Nianwen looked down at his intertwined hands. Zhao Chuchu kept her head down. “If I say it, can I still live well?”

“It’s my fault that she’s harmed. I’m scared, I feel guilty, I blame myself,” Zhao Chuchu paused, “but I don’t want to ruin my life.”

“So, at that time, I thought of a way to have the best of both worlds.”

Zhao Chuchu looked up at Ye Nianwen. “I won’t tell the truth, but I was the last person to see her. I’ll lie for her and help her send Fan Jiancheng to prison. That way, I can cover up my own crime and help her too.”

“I just never thought,” Zhao Chuchu forced a smile, “that no matter how much I cover up or explain, as long as the victim isn’t me, it’s already my sin.”

“I watched everything online questioning me—my clothes, my appearance, my past relationships, everything about me.”

“Ye Nianwen, do you know? I’ve always doubted myself,” Zhao Chuchu raised her hand, pointing at herself. “I don’t know if it’s right for me to be in sales, I don’t know if how I dress is right, and I don’t know if dating in middle school is something I should be punished for. Everyone says I’m wrong, but I feel I’m not wrong, so I’ve been resisting. But deep down, there’s always a voice telling me it’s my fault and I shouldn’t have done it.”

“I’ve already made many mistakes. If everyone finds out it was me who gave the medicine to your sister…”

Zhao Chuchu’s lips trembled. “I’m scared.”

“No one will believe me. No one will think I didn’t do it on purpose. Look, they just think I carelessly left her in the car and can blame me like this. If they knew I did it, I can’t imagine what they would say.”

“But,” Ye Nianwen said, his voice difficult to manage, “the medicine was given by you. You really were careless.”

“Should I go die?!” Zhao Chuchu suddenly raised her voice, screaming, “I gave her the medicine, but I didn’t do it on purpose! Does that mean I have to be unforgivable?!”

“You should testify!” Ye Nianwen stared at her, struggling to control his emotions. “You shouldn’t hide this matter. If you testify, this case won’t lose!”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Chuchu looked at Ye Nianwen and, after a moment, let out a laugh. “Do you know why I never wanted to tell you all this?”

Ye Nianwen was taken aback, and Zhao Chuchu spoke calmly, “Because I already knew you would say that.”

“I’ve heard this too many times. Yes, I didn’t testify at first; I was scared. When I saw that I would be scolded for just leaving Sister Ye in the car, do you know how I felt inside?”

Zhao Chuchu raised her hand, pointing to her chest. “I felt fortunate.”

“If being a good person leads to a more miserable life than being a bad person, then I would rather be a bad person.”

“Zhao Chuchu,” Ye Nianwen said in disbelief, “don’t you feel guilty?”

“I do,” Zhao Chuchu looked at Ye Nianwen, tears streaming down her face. “So do you know how long I waited for you? I waited for you to say, ‘Chuchu, I believe you. Chuchu, you’re a good person.’ If you had just said that, maybe I could have moved on. But you didn’t.”

“I thought countless times about standing up and testifying for Sister Ye,” Zhao Chuchu said with tears in her eyes, clutching her clothes tightly. “But every time, you, the people around us, and the online community made me feel like testifying would ruin my life. The only time I felt I could stand up was when Sister Ye said I was a good person.”

“At that moment, I felt just a bit of courage to admit what I had done. Then, just now, when you said you liked me and that I was a good person.”

Zhao Chuchu smiled, but after a moment, her expression turned somewhat disappointed. “Unfortunately, you still deceived me.”

“Why do you need others to acknowledge you before you can stand up?” Ye Nianwen found it hard to understand her words. “You’re wrong. If you made a mistake, you should make amends, face the punishment, shouldn’t you?!”

Hearing this, Zhao Chuchu slowly calmed down.

She looked at Ye Nianwen with a sense of complete resignation.

“Ye Nianwen,” Zhao Chuchu said softly, “treat me like a person.”

“Not everyone will do what ‘should be done.’ You shout your slogans so beautifully, then why didn’t your sister report it back then?” Zhao Chuchu leaned closer to him. “Why didn’t you let her report it?”

“Aren’t you also a person?”

—