Qiming Chapter 60

Chapter 60

---

"Absolutely not," Ying Han said, slamming his cup down on the table. "Get rid of that idea immediately and go on the blind date."

"Why?" She rolled her eyes. Just a moment ago, he was pretending it wasn't a blind date, and now his true colours were showing. We're a family, aren't we? Lying to each other all the time, isn't it exhausting?

"He's already resigned."

"That's good, isn't it? Changing jobs is quite normal, it shows he has ambitions for his career."

"Do you know why he resigned?" Ying Han pinched the bridge of his nose and hesitated for a long while before finally revealing the truth, "His health is in a terrible state. He had leukaemia as a child and underwent a bone marrow transplant, now it's relapsed, and he can only go home to recuperate."

"Oh my God." She covered her mouth with her hand.

"Look at your expression, do you feel sorry for him? Is your sympathy running wild?" Seeing Ying Xizi's confused and compassionate look, he slammed the table in anger. "Yes, he is pitiable, but also frightening and detestable. He is now a key monitoring target of the police, he's a major suspect in the Jiang family case, how can you be interested in someone like that?"

"But I can't blame you, it's my fault too, how did I end up accepting such a person as my student? What grudge did the Jiang family have against him that he would repay kindness with such cruelty and harm the whole family with such vicious means?"

"Jiang Yang's case?" At this moment, Ying Xizi's head was full of question marks. What suspect? What key monitoring target? How come she hadn't heard any of this? She knew about the Jiang family case, but the specific details were unclear, only that the methods were said to be very brutal.

She calmed down and quickly sorted out her thoughts.

So, Gu Yunfeng, this bastard, had her lie to her father and say she fancied a suspect in a family massacre? My God, he actually had her say she liked a terrifying murderer who used brutal means and committed all sorts of evil acts?! The veins on the back of her pale hand bulged instantly, her back and palms sweating as she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

After all, she had to continue acting, and she needed to get the information.

"Suspect? He's a suspect? Do the police have any evidence? Maybe he's been wronged? The guy looks like a good person, how could he be so cruel?" she shouted shrilly.

"... Think about it yourself. Meet Xiao Xie the day after tomorrow." Ying Han finally couldn't stand his foolish daughter anymore. He stood up, sighed in exasperation, and went to the kitchen to cook.

—————

Gu Yunfeng and Xu Chengyue had just returned when they received a call from Ying Xizi.

"Gu Yunfeng, you bastard!" Her furious voice came through the phone, extremely penetrating and deafening. He quickly moved the phone twenty centimetres away from himself.

"What happened... Auntie?" he responded cautiously. "Calm down, calm down."

"This morning you asked me to help you get information from my dad about that guy named Wang Kun."

"Yes, did you cooperate with us, the police?"

"I did, when I got home, I asked my dad as you said."

"And what happened?" He recalled the morning's situation, he had suggested Ying Xizi pretend to fancy Wang Kun to get information from Ying Han. Judging by her reaction, she must have seriously cooperated.

"What happened? What happened is that I just found out that this person I've never met is a suspect in a major criminal case. How could you make me deceive my own father and say I liked a brutal criminal?"

Her voice was truly penetrating because of the anger, and Xu Chengyue couldn't stop laughing beside him.

"Now I understand, you were just using me, using my relationship with my dad to gather information about this suspect. Gu Yunfeng, where is your conscience? Did a dog eat it?"

"This... is my fault. I apologise, I didn't consider your feelings," he said sincerely, promising to treat her to a meal in a few days, letting her choose anything she wanted, no matter how expensive.

But the strange thing was, how did Ying Han know that Wang Kun was a suspect in the Jiang family case? The police hadn't even reached a conclusion yet, and it was impossible for anyone else to know anything, so how did Ying Han find out?

"Apologise? Is an apology useful?" Ying Xizi shouted at him with a sob in her voice, "Do you know that because of this, my dad is determined to set me up on blind dates now? I don't want to go on blind dates, I don't want to!"

"Pfft–" Gu Yunfeng finally couldn't hold back his laughter. Fearing she might hear it, he quickly covered his mouth to stifle it.

"Have you met the person for the blind date? Do you have a photo?"

"I've met him before, I guess we're acquaintances."

"Ai, that's even better, just meet him to humour your dad." He tried to comfort her, remembering the first time he met Ying Xizi, she exuded the aura of a formidable goddess from the inside out. How had she changed so much in just a few months?

"Humour my dad? The blind date looks like a minor. When I see him, I feel like I'm kidnapping a child!"

"Don't get too excited... As long as he's legally of age, this police uncle won't arrest you," Gu Yunfeng said earnestly. "It's just a meal. Imagine that young face as Xu Chengyue's, and you'll be fine."

"What does this have to do with me?" Xu Chengyue looked at him, baffled.

After finally calming down Ying Xizi, Gu Yunfeng hung up the phone, looking exhausted. Calming a girl down could be such hard work sometimes, it required remembering and connecting things she said more than ten minutes ago. But knowing she was genuinely trying to help them gather information made it all worth it.

"According to her, Ying Han already knows Wang Kun is related to the Jiang family massacre case. He has already identified him as a suspect."

"Who could have told him?"

Gu Yunfeng looked at their reflections in the window and vaguely sketched a figure in his mind. In the dim light, Professor Xu's gaze was gentle yet cautious. After hesitating for a long time, he turned and asked, "Who was the first to say Doctor Ying had a problem?"

"Ying Xizi, she voluntarily reported her own father, is she really his biological daughter?" Gu Yunfeng answered casually. "If she is, she's a very righteous girl. It's a real shame you missed out on her."

"???? What does this have to do with me again?" Xu Chengyue stood there, dumbfounded.

"I'm just joking," Gu Yunfeng said with a gentle smile.

Xu Chengyue continued, "Now, Ying Han is my doctor, Wang Kun's teacher, and knows about Wang Kun's situation... He really knows too much."

"Other than the police, the only people who could be involved in this case are the suspects and the victims' families," Gu Yunfeng said, leaning back on the sofa with his head resting on his crossed arms. Suddenly, he sat up wide-eyed. "Hey, did he do anything wrong during your surgery?"

"I don't think so," Xu Chengyue said, but his heart skipped a beat.

They took turns brushing their teeth and showering. Gu Yunfeng then realised that having an extra person around meant the toothpaste was used up quickly. When it was his turn, nothing came out of the tube.

It had been a long time since he went to the supermarket, and he hadn't paid any attention to the depletion of household supplies. He rummaged through the cabinet in the living room, unsurprisingly finding no spare toothpaste.

"Chengyue," he pushed open the bedroom door, looking pitiful as he said, "We're out of toothpaste."

Xu Chengyue found a bottle of mouthwash covered in dust and accurately tossed it to him. "You can use this, remember to go to the supermarket tomorrow."

"Whose is this?"

"It's yours. Look at the production date, it's from two years ago. You bought it then forgot about it, didn't you?"

"Is it expired?"

"Expired or not, just make do with it."

After showering, Gu Yunfeng instinctively lay on the sofa, ready to turn on the TV. He suddenly realised that things were different between him and Xu Chengyue now. They had already confirmed their feelings and accepted each other, so he could rightfully return to his own room and lie on the same bed.

But he still couldn't accept sleeping in the same bed with another man.

After a tough mental struggle, he pushed the door open and saw the bedroom light on. Xu Chengyue was sitting on the bed, surrounded by books and scattered documents. Fortunately, he wasn't a clean freak, otherwise, all this mess would have ended up in the trash.

"Are you planning to work all night?" He sat on the edge of the bed, unable to laugh or cry, guessing that Xu Chengyue had probably gotten used to having the bed all to himself and hadn't left any space for him.

"No, I just thought of something..."

"What is it?"

"How did Wang Kun pay for the bone marrow transplant?" Xu Chengyue looked up at him.

"Fourteen years ago, Wang Kun received a bone marrow transplant, with Lin Xiangrong providing the hematopoietic stem cells. This morning, Wen Xin checked the hospital records from that time. Wang Kun and his father stayed in the hospital for a long time and couldn't afford the transplant fees."

"Mhmm." Xu Chengyue nodded. "I guess Lin Xiangrong paid for it?"

"Lin Xiangrong was a student back then, and she came all the way back from the US to save this kid," Gu Yunfeng said. "She probably couldn't afford to pay for it either, but she donated her hematopoietic stem cells after confirming her relationship with Jiang Hai, so maybe..."

"The Jiang family helped Wang Kun?"

"Probably." Gu Yunfeng pushed the books aside and sat next to Xu Chengyue. "Unfortunately, we lack evidence, and the bloodstains at the scene aren't enough to form a strong chain of evidence. We need to go to the scene again tomorrow to see if we can find anything new."

As Gu Yunfeng spoke, he noticed Xu Chengyue staring blankly, lost in thought.

"What are you thinking?" He shook Xu Chengyue's shoulder, and only then did the other party come back to his senses and inexplicably say, "I think she's quite impressive."

"Who?"

"Lin Xiangrong," Xu Chengyue explained. "She was only twenty back then. She graduated from university, went abroad for further studies, fell in love with a rich heir, and helped build the family business. She even donated hematopoietic stem cells and gained a devoted follower."

"What a remarkable life." He genuinely admired her.

"A loyal fanboy?" Gu Yunfeng laughed, saying this loyal fanboy nearly got her in trouble by leaving a drop of blood at the crime scene.

Gu Yunfeng thought back to when he was twenty. He was still in school, training and attending classes, living a simple and uneventful life. What was Xu Chengyue doing at twenty? With his eyes closed, he imagined that Xu Chengyue must have been brilliant, achieving everything smoothly and perfectly. His parents hadn't yet had their accident, and he was fully dedicated to studying his favourite subjects and technology.

"You're impressive too," he said to Xu Chengyue.

"Really? I can't remember much from back then, only this recent year."

The recent year referred to the time from the accident to now. Gu Yunfeng leaned closer and asked, "How does this year of rebirth feel?"

"Very boring. Before I met you, I only had two places to go, home and school. After meeting you, I discovered many new places."

"The crime scenes?" Gu Yunfeng laughed.

"I've been thinking these days that my previous life was too dull, I really really want to experience a different life."

"What kind of life is different?" He looked at Gu Yunfeng's face, finding him more handsome and pleasing the more he looked, finally unable to resist pinching him.

"A different life is simple, eating different food, doing things I haven't done before, and committing to a relationship..."

He wanted to experience what it was like to build a deep emotional connection with someone, someone he liked.

Can you accompany me to build this deep connection? He wanted to ask Gu Yunfeng but didn't say it in the end.

"Let's sleep, it's already late." He shook Gu Yunfeng's arm, biting his lip as he spoke.

"Mhmm, goodnight."

"Goodnight." He answered earnestly, turning his back and looking at the perfect full moon outside the window.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

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 14, 2024 by Angel

Edited: October 28, 2024 by Angel