“Hubby, do you have no appetite?”
“I know you’re in shock, but your body won’t hold up if you don’t eat.”
“I prepared this heart-filled lunch specifically for you. If you don’t finish it, I’ll be very angry, you know?”
The clock on the wall ticked away, sounding like a countdown for a life.
Wei Zhi’s hand gently cupped Ji Qikun’s chin, her movements so soft they were suffocating. Her gaze was silent yet heavy with pressure, as if she could pierce through his soul and strangle any spark of resistance in its cradle.
Ji Qikun sat stiffly in his chair, not daring to make a single move of defiance. He could only passively accept being fed, mouthful after mouthful. The spoon, laden with food, was shoved roughly into his mouth, occasionally clinking against his teeth and striking his fragile palate. He chewed mechanically through intermittent bursts of pain; every forced swallow felt like his sanity was being eaten away, bit by bit.
Shards of porcelain lay scattered beneath the dining table, uncleaned. They glinted coldly in the dim light, like an extension of Wei Zhi’s gaze.
He felt a violent surge in his gut, as if something in his chest was struggling to break free. His stomach and his heart were both stuffed to the brim. When Wei Zhi shoved another spoonful of food into his mouth, he couldn't help but double over, vomiting violently.
The undigested food splattered onto the floor, mixing with the porcelain shards from that morning.
The stench, mingled with the rising steam, drifted through the gloomy space.
Wei Zhi withdrew the spoon, calmly waiting for his retching to end.
It wasn't until he was vomiting nothing but bile that Ji Qikun finally stopped. He leaned weakly against the chair, his ragged gasps echoing in the air.
Then, Wei Zhi’s spoon, filled once more, was brought back to his lips.
He recoiled in agony, unable to stop himself from pleading, “I really can’t eat anymore...”
“Is this how you treat someone’s kindness?” There wasn't a trace of mercy on her face. “Do you know how much effort I put into this lunch? You really are inconsiderate. Isn't it a husband’s duty to finish the heart-filled lunch his wife prepared?”
The cold spoon roughly pried his lips open. Food and juices dribbled down his chin. She grabbed his hair, forcing his head back, forbidding him from spitting it out again.
He convulsed like a shrimp. Food surged up his esophagus, and the moment a mouthful sprayed from his lips, Wei Zhi nimbly stepped back.
This time, the food that hadn't even reached his stomach landed on his own body.
“I beg you, I really can’t eat anymore...”
Ji Qikun pleaded in a hoarse, trembling moan.
“Begging me? Then show me the proper attitude for a beggar.” Wei Zhi flashed a meaningful smile. “Hubby, aren't you very good at begging?”
Images from three hours ago flashed through Ji Qikun’s mind. Back then, the faint scent of rot in the air had frayed his nerves. He couldn't afford to wait, and he couldn't afford to lose. Compared to Wei Zhi, who had nothing, his life was a dream beyond the reach of millions. He had hardly hesitated before his knees buckled.
He had knelt on the cold, hard floor of the garage. Before him stood an unpredictable, absolute lunatic.
He had begged that lunatic:
“Wife, I know I was wrong.”
“I’ll give you whatever you want, just please, let this end—”
Ji Qikun’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, as if he were grinding out a proper response, but the only sound that escaped his slightly parted lips was the wheezing breath of a dying man.
Finally, upon the floor covered in porcelain fragments and vomit, he knelt once more.
“Please...”
He murmured to himself, his black pupils dull and lifeless.
Wei Zhi pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of him in this state. Only when the shutter clicked did he lift his head, his vacant gaze awakened by disbelief as he stared at her.
“I’ve recently fallen in love with taking photos too,” Wei Zhi said with a smile, scrolling through the new picture in her gallery. “But I’m still a novice. I’ll need you to give me lots of guidance, Hubby.”
Her smile vanished in an instant. Wei Zhi put away her phone and said coldly:
“Clean this place up. Don’t disappoint me again.”
It wasn't until Wei Zhi’s figure disappeared behind the bedroom door that Ji Qikun seemed to wake from a dream, looking around at the mess. His body was colder than it had ever been, yet the heart beneath his ribs was scalding, a fire of rage burning fiercely within.
He gritted his teeth and stumbled into the bathroom outside the master bedroom.
He turned on the shower. Cold water cascaded down, soaking his entire body. His once-glamorous luxury suit, now matted with vomit, clung clammily to his skin.
Water droplets ran down his black hair and over his bloodshot eyes. Like a cornered beast with nowhere to run, Ji Qikun slammed his fists against the cold tiled wall. Gradually, pale red water began to slide down the tiles, spreading in thin threads around his feet.
After the final punch, he lowered his head amidst the roaring water, his reddened eyes staring fixedly at the floor drain in the corner.
There, a bloody vortex was taking shape.
An hour later, Ji Qikun knocked and entered the master bedroom. Wei Zhi was reclining on the bed, leisurely reading a book. Hearing him enter, she merely lifted her eyes with indifference and swept a glance over him.
Ji Qikun sat familiarly on the edge of the bed. He had changed into clean clothes and dried his hair, looking as he did before everything had happened.
“Wife, don’t be angry anymore. It was my fault for not finishing the lunch you so carefully prepared.” He took her hand, a forced, artificial smile on his face. “But you have to understand me. After seeing that scene this morning, it’s only natural to have no appetite. It’s definitely not because your cooking wasn't good.”
Wei Zhi studied him in silence.
“What are you reading?” Ji Qikun leaned in pointedly to look at the book in her hands, acting as if he were genuinely interested. But before she could speak, he changed the subject, speaking ingratiatingly, “Why don’t you take a nap? Or should I make you a cup of coffee?”
Wei Zhi withdrew her hand from his grasp and instead pinched his chin.
“Hubby, what is it you actually want to say?” She tilted her head slightly, smiling tenderly.
Those two fingers held his chin as firmly as iron pincers, yet Ji Qikun didn't dare show the slightest sign of objection.
“Wife, when do you plan to handle the thing in the trunk?” he asked, his voice even more sugary and affectionate than hers. “I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just worried that if you don’t deal with it soon, the smell or some other accident will attract the police.”
“And once it’s handled, you’ll be able to get rid of me?”
“Of course not. I already know I was wrong, Wife—” Ji Qikun said immediately. “Like you said, we are already inseparable accomplices. My advice to handle it early is for our sake. After all, we have a long life ahead of us. Wouldn't it be a pity to let a dead person ruin it?”
Wei Zhi didn't speak for a long time, appearing to weigh his words.
“Will you help me this time?” she asked.
A surge of wild joy rushed through Ji Qikun’s heart, but he restrained himself from letting it show on his face.
“I was too irresponsible before; I shouldn't have dumped all of this on you. This time, I will definitely help you,” he said. “Trust me one more time, Xiao Zhi.”
Ji Qikun’s gaze was incredibly sincere. Many people had been deceived by those eyes before.
That would never happen again.
“Then tonight,” Wei Zhi said, staring at him.
***
At the Dashanguan Police Station, the intense afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows. Behind the noisy reception area, the office zone was filled only with the sounds of flipping files and tapping keyboards.
Zhang Kaiyang sat at his desk, frowning over a document.
“Brother Zhang!”
A junior officer rushed to the office door, gripping the frame as he shouted urgently. Zhang Kaiyang instinctively looked up and saw a young female officer from the reception desk standing beside him. Both looked anxious.
Zhang Kaiyang immediately put down his file and walked over.
“What happened?”
The junior whispered a few words in his ear. Zhang Kaiyang’s expression changed instantly, and he bolted toward the third interrogation room.
In the sparse interrogation room, a figure sat upright at the table.
She was dressed neatly, though there were unhealed scabs on her face and a bandage wrapped around her head. From the moment the hurried footsteps echoed outside, she had been watching the door with a steady gaze, waiting to lock eyes with an old acquaintance for the first time in eight years.
The door was thrown open with force. Zhang Kaiyang stepped inside and then froze. His gaze held shock, wariness, and the grief of witnessing someone become completely unrecognizable.
“You...”
He started hoarsely, but before he could finish a sentence, she interrupted him.
“Eight days ago, the person who reported a murder at the water station—”
“Was me.”
Weng Xiuyue stood up, calm and composed.
In the silent interrogation room, a blank notebook was ruffled by the wind from the window, the first page fluttering up.
In the quiet office area, the file Zhang Kaiyang had just set down also swayed gently in the breeze. On the first page, in black and white, it stated that this was a missing persons file for Weng Xiuyue and Tan Jin.
Six days ago, while he was talking to Wei Zhi in the garage, the call he had received was from the Criminal Investigation Brigade.
“Based on the scene investigation and blood tests, the blood found at the water station was chicken blood, and no signs of a struggle were found. Therefore, our team intends to hand the case back to Dashanguan. If any new leads appear, feel free to contact us.”
After the case was returned to the Dashanguan Police Station, it was treated as a standard missing persons case.
He hadn't told anyone about the connection between Wei Zhi and Weng Xiuyue.
That was their promise.
That night at the abandoned building, he had called out to Wei Zhi as she was about to leave.
“I just want to tell you that the pressure you’re carrying right now isn't something you should have to bear,” he said. “Punishing evil is our job.”
“All these years, I’ve never given up on seeking justice for Mei Man. Even though Ji Qikun found legal loopholes to escape punishment, the law was formulated by thousands of people over many generations. It isn't seamless, but it isn't something that can be held in contempt by the cunning of one or two, or even two or three hundred people.”
“Five years ago, I discovered that on the night Ji Teng fell to his death, there was another witness at the Ji residence besides Ji Qikun.”
“A woman surnamed Xia, who was working as a maid for the Ji family at the time, was in the middle of a divorce lawsuit with her ex-husband. Because there was no one to watch her eight-year-old son, she secretly brought him to the Ji house and hid him in the cellar of the storage room. Coincidentally, after Ji Teng fell, the boy developed a high fever in the cellar and muttered to his mother, ‘Big brother was pushed down.’”
“The maid was afraid of offending Ji Zhongyong and Ji Qikun, so she didn't dare say a word. She sent the child back to her hometown shortly after and resigned a year later using an excuse.”
“Now, that eight-year-old child is twenty-four. He’s been a fugitive for years because of a car robbery. Once he’s caught, I believe we will obtain the decisive evidence to send Ji Qikun to prison.”
While he spoke, Wei Zhi kept her back to him. It wasn't indifference; he noticed her restrained trembling.
After a long silence, she turned around and looked at him steadily.
“Even if you find evidence, the statute of limitations for that case has already passed.”
Zhang Kaiyang said calmly:
“I have already convinced one of Ji Qikun’s ex-girlfriends to provide evidence of his illegal imprisonment of her during their relationship.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Wei Zhi laughed hollowly. “Aren't case details supposed to be kept confidential from an unrelated person like me?”
“I don’t believe you are an unrelated person,” Zhang Kaiyang said. “Similarly, you aren't a law enforcement officer. I hope you can trust me and tell me everything before things become irreversible. As long as it doesn't break the law, I will help you as much as I can.”
“...I don’t understand,” she said. “To most people, Mei Man is just a dead person from the past that no one cares about. What is the reason that has kept you tracking this from eight years ago until now? Don’t tell me about responsibility; this has gone far beyond the scope of responsibility.”
Zhang Kaiyang was silent for a moment, then he grinned.
It was the first time Wei Zhi had seen him smile.
That face, which was always slightly furrowed as if carrying many unspeakable worries, at this moment revealed a brilliant shadow of his self from eight years ago.
“Though I feel that is exactly the scope of responsibility, since you won’t let me mention it, fine.”
“I can only answer you with the word ‘conviction.’”
“What has supported me until now is my conviction as a police officer, the oath I spoke before the police flag. I wasn't anyone special; I was just an ordinary, average person. But from the moment I put on this uniform—”
“I wanted to be a hero.”
Wei Zhi looked at his warm, honest smile and stood frozen. In her mind, she heard the words Mei Man had once said.
*“You—don’t always think so poorly of people. There are still many good people in the world. Even if you haven't met them yet, it’s only because they are waiting for you in the second half of your life.”*
Her tears surged out, unstoppable.
Many, many years ago, on that sixteenth birthday night she would remember for the rest of her life.
Mei Man had taken a freshly bought medicated patch and applied it to the bruises visible all over Wei Zhi’s arms and legs. Though Wei Zhi repeatedly said it didn't hurt at all, Mei Man still used the gentlest touch to slowly smooth out the uneven wrinkles of the patch.
“You’re so brave. Weren't you scared when you looked down?” Mei Man had said with lingering fear.
“I wasn't scared,” she had said honestly. “I just imagined the ground below was a field of soft green grass. I looked it up online; jumping is the easiest way to die.”
In her life thereafter, she had felt heart-wrenching pain countless times for what she had said at that moment.
Every one of her birthdays, after Mei Man’s death, had become an anniversary of her passing.
*If only I hadn't said that,* she thought incessantly.
Her life held few happy memories, and her tears had almost never fallen because of happiness.
But now, she wasn't crying because of pain. The tears flowing into the corners of her mouth weren't bitter; that warm saltiness made her feel like a wave being washed onto the shore at sunset, shimmering with a golden, warm light.
She had intended to fight without being understood by anyone.
Love had once killed her, but at this moment, many years later, it also saved her.
“Swear to me—”
“Say that I can trust you.”
She said.
Zhang Kaiyang’s figure was blurred, but his firm, steady voice still reached the deepest, darkest corners of her soul. There was no light there, no warmth, only a little girl who had locked herself away with a dog chain.
“I swear to the people I have promised to protect with my life—”
He said:
“You can trust me until the very last moment.”
Light tore through the boundless darkness; the warm morning sun dispelled the cold. That blood-stained dog chain shattered inch by inch. Though her past scars would never disappear, she had once again gained the ability to connect with another human being.
Through her blurred vision, she saw Zhang Kaiyang reaching his hand out to her.
The hand Mei Man had reached out to her years ago overlapped with this one.
“...My name?” she had murmured, touching the medicated patch on her forearm. “I don’t like my name.”
The smooth, soft surface of the patch covered those hideous, raised whip scars. she wasn't used to that feeling.
“Then I’ll call you Little Seed,” Mei Man had said with a face full of smiles.
“Why Little Seed?”
“Because a little sunflower seed will eventually bloom into a sunflower.”
No one had ever expected her to become such a bright, radiant existence. Even Wei Zhi herself had never associated herself with such beautiful things.
That name felt the same as the medicated patch; they were things forced upon her.
But she didn't feel displeased. Instead, she accepted the name preciously, just as she had constantly stroked that patch which had absorbed a person's warmth.
“Then I’ll call you Cat Sister.”
“Why Cat Sister?” Mei Man had asked in surprise. “Do I look like a cat?”
“Because Mei Man’s initials are ‘MM,’ and ‘Mao Mi’ is also ‘MM.’”
Her answer was very dull, but Mei Man had still broken into an amused smile.
She actually didn't like cats.
But after becoming friends with Mei Man, she had somehow developed the habit of using her allowance to buy a ham sausage to keep in her backpack. Whenever a cat circled her feet, rubbing against her with its tail held high, she would reach out and stroke its soft little head.
She liked cats because she liked Cat Sister. She liked Cat Sister because Cat Sister liked her.
Because of Mei Man, her life had continued past the age of sixteen.
*“As long as you persevere, you will surely find your own happiness.”*
Mei Man’s gentle words hadn't dissipated even after her death. Just as she had guided Wei Zhi toward the light while she was alive, even today, an invisible force was gently pushing Wei Zhi toward a warm and bright place.
Through her shimmering tears, she seemed to see Mei Man’s smile once more.
This time, she would no longer hesitate.
Wei Zhi wiped away her tears and firmly grasped Zhang Kaiyang’s hand.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
大山关派出所 | Dashanguan Police Station | The local police station where Zhang Kaiyang works.
翁秀越 | Weng Xiuyue | A character involved in the mystery, previously missing.
张开阳 | Zhang Kaiyang | The police officer investigating the case.
梅满 | Mei Man | Wei Zhi's deceased best friend.
季腾 | Ji Teng | Ji Qikun's brother who died years ago.
季钟永 | Ji Zhongyong | Ji Qikun's father.
小瓜子 | Little Seed | Literally "Little Sunflower Seed," Mei Man's nickname for Wei Zhi.
猫咪姐姐 | Cat Sister | Wei Zhi's nickname for Mei Man (Mao Mi = Cat).
