Qiming Chapter 52

Chapter 52

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He didn't know how things had turned out this way.

Looking at that huge pile of medical records, he soon became drowsy. Then, Xu Chengyue said he really felt bad about it and suggested that Gu Yunfeng should sleep on the sofa in the living room instead.

As a result, it turned out like this. He lay on the edge of the bed, shivering. They lay back to back, with enough space between them to fit two more people. Gu Yunfeng patted his own head vigorously. He didn't know why he was being so timid, why he was trembling, and what he was afraid of. Physically, he certainly wouldn't lose out.

So he turned over to face Xu Chengyue. The curtains were not completely closed, and moonlight streamed in, illuminating their faces. He extended his hand and waved it a few times in front of Xu Chengyue's face, but there was no response from the other party, who seemed to be truly asleep.

It was normal to be asleep at such a late hour, but why couldn't he fall asleep? It seemed that as long as he was too close to Xu Chengyue, he started to feel anxious.

He widened his eyes, staring at the other person's sleeping face in the moonlight. Xu Chengyue had a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes. Although he had single eyelids, his eyelashes were very long, making him look delicate and aloof. When he was asleep, his brows furrowed lightly, as if he was having another nightmare.

As he continued to stare, he inexplicably extended his hand, gently traced the other person's face with his fingertips, and then touched his lips, quickly retracting his hand reflexively.

What am I doing? He thought dejectedly, turning his back to the other person again, closing his eyes, and forcing himself to think of nothing.

In the morning, Gu Yunfeng was the only one at the office. He had woken up early and couldn't fall back asleep, so he went straight to work.

He lay on his desk, flipping through the case files of the Jiang family massacre. As time went by, the file had grown thicker. The killer was a cautious person, with clean and efficient methods, sneaking in and out of the crime scene without leaving any useful traces. The only breakthrough now was the crime scene and the bloodstains in Jiang Yang's car, which belonged to Lin Xiangrong.

Last night, he and Xu Chengyue had carefully reviewed Jiang Hai's medical records. The patient's body functions were fine, brain waves active, and condition good. His lack of awakening could only be attributed to bad luck.

However, there was a very slim possibility that Jiang Hai had woken up but was pretending to be in a coma.

If he could manage that, he must be a person of incredible fortitude, lying in bed for years with a clear mind, escaping reality, and remaining indifferent even upon learning about the major events in his family.

That's what a true immortal is.

Gu Yunfeng made a cup of instant coffee, but the water wasn't hot enough, making the coffee taste awful. He hadn't been sleeping well these past few days, supporting his head with his left hand, and soon dozed off, his face eventually buried in the case files.

Half-asleep, he seemed to see large patches of blood, the blood of the Jiang family victims, the killer's blood, and Lin Xiangrong's blood. They mixed together, indistinguishable from each other, forming a deep red hue that nourished a wilting poppy.

Then he felt someone shaking his shoulder vigorously, calling his name.

Quickly coming to his senses, he straightened his back, patted his face, and opened his eyes to see Shu Pan staring at him with wide eyes, like two light bulbs suddenly appearing in front of him.

"Captain Gu, did you work all night?" Shu Pan stared at Gu Yunfeng's face, clutching his chest in distress. "You've become a national treasure, your eye circles are so evenly black, you don't even need eyeliner."

"I didn't stay up all night. On my way here this morning, I got mugged by some thugs and took a couple of punches to the eyes." He joked with a straight face.

"Where are the thugs? You couldn't beat them and they got away?"

"How could that be? After giving them a loving education, I let them go." He lied confidently, taking a box of xylitol from the drawer and popping a few into his mouth.

"Come on, Captain Gu, I've seen eyes that have been punched before, and it's not like this." Shu Pan said, handing Gu Yunfeng a few documents to sign, while mumbling about his glorious achievements when he was younger.

"Back in school, I was quite the campus bully, always fighting and not studying properly."

"I know," Gu Yunfeng looked at Shu Pan with disdain.

"Then one time, I beat up a junior who annoyed me. Maybe I was jealous of him being popular with the girls. The next day, his father came to find me."

"Oh? Did he give you a beating?" Gu Yunfeng signed the documents, threw the pen into the drawer, and handed the files back to Shu Pan.

"No way. That junior's dad was a successful man, not particularly well-dressed, but his speech was clear and philosophical."

"So, you accepted the teachings of a successful man and turned over a new leaf?"

"Exactly. I still have my junior's phone number. After I changed my ways, we got along well. But he went abroad for his studies after high school, and we haven't been in touch for years."

"Oh, impressive impressive." Gu Yunfeng absent-mindedly praised him. He looked down and noticed that the sweat from his forehead had soaked his collar. The weather had been fluctuating between hot and cold, summer one moment and autumn the next. The lotus flowers in the lake were blooming alongside the osmanthus on the roadside. He closed the case file he had been flipping through and asked, "Why bring this up all of a sudden?"

"I always remembered my junior's father's name, Fang Xing. Back then, I only thought of him as a knowledgeable uncle and didn't know what he did." Shu Pan found a chair and sat across from him, "Today, I saw in the news that Uncle Fang is now the actual director of a listed company."

"What company?"

"Zhiyin Biotech, which recently split off from Zhiyin Technology. Look, here's the news article that was just pushed to me." Shu Pan handed his phone to Gu Yunfeng. The news feature on the screen detailed Fang Xing's life story, from being an employee at a startup to becoming the director of a listed company valued at billions.

"Who would have thought I once had close contact with such a big shot," Shu Pan sighed.

The feature included a photo of Fang Xing standing beside an elderly man with thick hair and a well-fitting suit. The caption introduced the man as the dean of the School of Biology at Nanpu University.

In the interview, Fang Xing looked spirited, claiming that their research in biomedical science would cure countless incurable diseases in the future.

All lofty ambitions and noble sentiments.

"This guy doesn't look trustworthy," Gu Yunfeng pointed at Fang Xing's photo. "His eyes bulge out, and he likes to squint while looking at others. Look, in both pictures, he's doing it."

While studying Fang Xing's face, Gu Yunfeng's phone suddenly vibrated. Answering the call, he realised it was from a hospital.

"Who is this?" The background noise was very loud, with voices mixed with mechanical sounds, making it hard to hear the caller.

After several attempts to clarify, he finally heard a frantic male voice, "Do you know Jiang Quan? A boy about fifteen or sixteen."

"I do."

"He attempted to commit suicide."

Gu Yunfeng shot up, his face turning pale. The case file slipped from his hand to the floor. Bending down to pick it up, he noticed his hands were trembling uncontrollably. The sharp paper edge cut his palm, drawing a tiny bit of blood, a thin and narrow wound.

With a fierce look, he opened the drawer, found a bandage, and stuck it on the cut. He then looked out at the crowded street outside the window. The air inside was eerily quiet, a silence that could be shattered at any moment by a gust of wind, a downpour, or even a falling leaf.

The window in the office rattled loudly from the wind, and Shu Pan sat in stunned silence for several seconds before reacting.

"The youngest surviving son of the Jiang family?"

Gu Yunfeng put down the phone and nodded. "Fortunately, they managed to save him."

He quickly confirmed which hospital Jiang Quan was in and efficiently began sending messages to various people.

"A few days ago, Jiang Quan was diagnosed with severe depression by a psychiatrist. The doctor prescribed antidepressants, but he didn't take them," he said, pushing open the door and walking out. "Lin Xiangrong is arranging Jiang Hai's transfer to another hospital these days. I'll have Professor Xu go directly to Ruihe Hospital to find her."

"This poor child... going through all this at such a young age," Shu Pan lamented.

Facing the bloody scene, witnessing the brutal deaths of his loved ones, and seeing the fragility and loss of life had undoubtedly left deep psychological scars. These were not things that could be easily healed. Without proper guidance, he might continue to distort his own heart, becoming increasingly unrecognisable and sinking deeper into despair.

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Ruihe Hospital.

Lin Xiangrong sat by the bed, looking at Jiang Hai's tightly closed eyes. He had just turned thirty when the accident happened, and seven years had passed unknowingly. He had been in a coma for seven years, his face gaunt and haggard, but his hair was neatly trimmed, and his beard was shaved, making him look clean and fresh.

The EEG monitor showed a regular pattern, and if one got close enough, they could hear his normal breathing. Many times, Lin Xiangrong felt that he was just someone asleep, dreaming a long dream, unwilling to wake up from the perfect world within it.

"How is he doing now?" she asked the young doctor beside her, staring at Jiang Hai's lifeless face.

"His physical condition is stable," Wang Kun replied. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Yes, what's there to worry about," Lin Xiangrong murmured to herself, her slender fingers tracing Jiang Hai's face. Perhaps because he had been in a coma for so long, time had left no marks on him. He looked much the same as seven years ago, without wrinkles or the worldly weariness of middle age.

"Are you taking good care of your health?" She looked up at the young man with fair skin and a gentle, shy demeanour. Although he was seriously ill, he didn't look too bad, and his body could hold up for a while.

"Yes, after I resign, I will focus on my treatment," Wang Kun smiled. "Just as you told me to."

"Did you really want to resign?"

"Being a surgeon is too exhausting. I want to go back home and rest for a while." He looked in the mirror by the window, seeing his own gentle but tired face. "Don't worry, Dr. Ying is highly skilled and responsible, and you've known each other for a long time."

"Yes," Lin Xiangrong said, cradling her face like a little girl. "He will wake up one day, and you should also get treated. Everything will pass."

The EEG monitor at the bedside continued its rhythmic pattern. Her voice lingered, eventually disappearing with the wind.

Everything will pass.

What will pass? Wang Kun thought bitterly. It was a statement so naive it was almost laughable. Will the murder pass? Will the police's suspicion of them pass? Will the deaths of so many people be forgotten?

Unless the murderer is dead.

"I have another surgery," Wang Kun glanced at the clock on the wall and made a gesture of calling. "I'll go first, let me know if you need anything."

After Doctor Wang left, she closed the door and walked lightly to Jiang Hai's side.

Two months ago, if Wang Kun hadn't received her call and arrived in time, she might not have made it out of her home alive. Lin Xiangrong sat by the window, unbuttoning her sleeve. The bruises on her forearm hadn't faded, marking the violence and abuse she had endured.

How many times had she been hurt?

How many times had she called the police?

How many times had she wished to chop Jiang Yang to pieces?

So many that she had lost count. So many that she had finally abandoned her former weakness, determined to correct her derailed life.

Lin Xiangrong leaned down, staring at Jiang Hai's tightly closed eyes, and shook her head. "They've all gone, it's just you and me now."

A gust of wind swept through, brushing past her nose and out the window. It blew towards the distant rivers, mountains, and the bright sky.

She opened her mouth and gently whispered in his ear, "They've all gone, you can open your eyes now, A'Hai."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: August 2, 2024 by Angel

Edited: October 3, 2024 by Angel