In the dim and cramped room, a gaunt woman lay in bed, her complexion sallow and cheeks sunken, her features almost unrecognizable except for the elegant eyebrows and straight nose that hinted at her former beauty.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." She reached out a trembling hand to the child beside her bed, letting out a woeful wail. "I'm so sorry."
Wang Shili stood by her bed, his figure obscured by shadows.
His inner monologue echoed in the room, repeating the same question over and over.
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
Jian Jing knew that there should be more to follow the "why", some crucial information, the key to unlocking his inner thoughts. But she couldn't delve deeper into his mind, and so she couldn't hear the rest.
And in that brief moment, Wang Shili had already rushed towards her, gripping her shoulders tightly. "Get out!"
But Jian Jing stood firm, unshaken. "She's your mother, isn't she?" she said sincerely. "You must love her very much."
Wang Shili was past niceties.
The secret buried deep within him had been exposed, if only a sliver, but it was enough to make him edgy and furious. "Get out! You know nothing! Get out!"
He grabbed her throat.
Jian Jing remained still, a faint smile playing on her lips.
She had chosen this dangerous route for a reason - the [Anti-Hypnosis Card]. It was the latest limited edition card she had obtained, and it dictated the crux of her plan.
[Name: Limited Edition - Anti-Hypnosis]
[Description: Passive skill. When the host is hypnotized by an external force, this will automatically alert the host and conceal any system-related information. Additionally, the host can expend 10 Courage to counter-hypnotize the perpetrator to the same degree.]
[Note: A blade wounds the hand if used for evil.]
Although the system claimed to be intelligent when it was actually stupid, Jian Jing was quite fond of it. The reason was simple - the system always preempted any loopholes that could lead her astray, preventing her from going down the wrong path.
The Hypnosis Card was powerful, and yet it was a passive skill. This effectively prevented her from abusing her abilities and becoming someone like Wang Shili. Jian Jing agreed with such constraints, but it also meant she had to take the risk of undergoing hypnosis first before retaliating.
Since Wang Shili had peeked into Jian Jing's mind, he would have to pay the price with an equivalent secret of his own.
She lifted her hand and grasped his arm. "Do you love her?"
Wang Shili froze for a second, before his memories came flooding back.
--
"Slap!" A meaty fist slammed heavily onto the table, rattling the bottles and dishes with a clear chime. The tall man lifted his head tipsily and demanded of the woman entering, "Why were you gone so long?"
The woman coming in was very beautiful, with natural features that were already striking without any makeup. She explained softly, "There was a long line."
The man let out a derisive laugh. "Waiting that long just to buy chicken feet? You must have been flirting with someone, right?" His voice rose sharply at the end.
The color drained from the woman's face. "Don't spout nonsense!"
"Nonsense?" The man abruptly stood up and seized her face. "It's not just one or two days you've been fooling around outside. Don't think I don't know, you slut."
As he cursed, he slapped the woman.
The woman cried from the blow, but didn't dare make too much noise, only sobbing softly. "You're wronging me. He only said a couple of words to me, nothing indecent happened."
"Whether I'm wronging you or not, you know best yourself." The man gave a cold snort and sauntered back to the table, tearing into the newly bought chicken feet noisily.
The woman felt aggrieved, but knew it was futile. She could only weakly defend herself again. "Leave some for Shili."
"Leave what? He's not even my own son." The man spat out a bone, his expression vicious.
The woman didn't dare speak again, only busying herself cleaning up in the kitchen.
At this moment, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Wang Shili had returned. He was still young then, but refined and handsome, already bearing the makings of his future self. After entering, he swiftly glanced at his mother's swollen face in the kitchen, then at his father gorging himself, and said, "The midterm results are out. I'm still first in my grade."
His father's expression changed. It was no longer pure indifference and disgust, but mixed with some gratification and pride.
"Not bad, you didn't embarrass your old man." He picked up a chicken foot and tossed it into a nearby bowl. "Eat up."
Wang Shili received the rice bowl from his mother and ate calmly and properly, also informing his father, "I'm going to Liu Meng's place to do homework after dinner."
"Factory Director Liu's son?" The man's eyes lit up. He no longer referred to Wang Shili not being his own, but eagerly said, "Remember to put in a good word about your dad's work to Uncle Liu. Damn it, if your dad can't earn money, neither can you eat."
Wang Shili gave an "Oh", and asked in return, "Dad still hasn't found a job?"
The man's expression immediately darkened.
The woman signaled him with her eyes to smooth things over, helping explain, "Your dad wants to return to work at the factory. Director Wu's position should have been your dad's. Alas."
"That Wu got in through the back door." The man downed his beer in large gulps, his eyes reddening. "Help your old man out too. You got that?"
Wang Shili said, "I got it."
Before his voice faded, the scene abruptly jumped forward. Night had fallen.
The man was still drinking. The woman had taken apart an old sweater and was knitting a new one, seemingly for her son based on the style.
Young Wang Shili returned with his schoolbag on his back. He told his father, "Liu Meng said it's impossible for Director Wu to be replaced by Dad, since Wu is his mom's relative."
The man slammed his fist on the table again. "Damn it, why the hell not!"
"Mom, I'm going to shower and sleep." Wang Shili said.
The woman hurriedly got up to prepare a change of clothes for her son. Amidst her busyness, the man suddenly yelled, "Come over, I have something to tell you."
He stared at his gorgeous wife, and said, "Factory Director Liu only promoted Wu to please his own wife. But Liu is the real factory director, not his wife. As long as you can persuade him, it's not hopeless."
The woman stammered, "How...how much money do we need? We're almost broke at home."
The man knew better than to argue with her about money. His gaze slid from her face down her body, and he slowly smiled. "What money? You know Factory Director Liu's temper. There are other ways he can make money."
The woman's breath hitched, as if anticipating something. Her complexion turned sallow.
"Anyway, you're a worn shoe. Just help your man out, it's no big deal right?" The man gave a cold laugh. His words were deranged yet cunning, impossible to tell if he was drunk or completely sober.
The woman shrieked, "No!"
Her voice was sharply cut off.
The scene spun as the lighting dimmed, shifting from indoors to outside the home.
Wang Shili with his schoolbag stood at the door, staring at the strange man's leather shoes. An extremely thick resentment showed on his face.
He turned his head to glare at the unwelcome guest. "Prying into my past won't save you."
"We've known each other for years, just getting to know each other better." Jian Jing spoke as if making small talk at a matchmaking session. "He's not your biological father. You two look nothing alike."
Wang Shili let his lips curl down coldly, but said nothing.
She went on, "Your mother is very beautiful."
"She is a weak woman." Wang Shili pushed open the door.
The guest inside had disappeared. His father lounged with legs crossed, using chopsticks to pick up peanuts one by one. His tall, sturdy build was like a towering mountain weighing down oppressively on the home.
Muffled sobs could be heard from the bedroom.
Jian Jing was silent for a while before speaking. "You shouldn't blame the victim. Or rather, you know it's not her fault. Who you truly resent for weakness is yourself."
She looked down at the young Wang Shili. He stared fixedly at the bedroom door but didn't have the courage to fling it open, much less confront the drinking man.
"Yes, I regret very much not killing her earlier." Wang Shili said, "If she had died sooner, she wouldn't have had to endure such pain and humiliation."
Jian Jing asked, "If she died, what would you do? A father with no blood relation would hardly care for a son not his own, would he?"
Wang Shili's expression abruptly darkened.
The lighting vanished.
The drinking man disappeared, and the sobbing woman too.
He pressed closer and closer: “Don’t tell me what to do. You don’t understand anything!” His strong, ferocious hands gripped her neck, “Since you’re so interested in the past, fine, I’ll make sure you understand everything clearly. Don’t regret it.”
The black hole swallowed the two of them.
They disappeared.
*
At this moment, in a private room at the Qing Bar.
The excellent soundproof walls blocked most of the noise. There was no alcohol or food on the table, only two bottles of mineral water and a fruit platter as an afterthought.
The atmosphere was beyond description – not only was there no trace of leisure and relaxation, it was extremely serious, like a principal inspecting a classroom.
Quiet, tense, solemn, apprehensive.
“Any news?” Kang Mu Cheng asked.
Ji Feng shook his head.
“It’s been eight days already,” Kang Mu Cheng said coldly. “The police’s efficiency is as moving as always.”
Ji Feng sat down with a sigh: “I know you’re anxious, but we’ve checked Wang Shili inside and out already. There are no issues with this identity, his records are complete from childhood to adulthood, and his travel records are fine too. There’s no evidence, we can’t apply for anything.”
Kang Mu Cheng pinched the space between his eyebrows, his chest filled with impatient frustration: “Then forget about him. Rescue Jian Jing first.”
Ji Feng: “I can’t do that.”
“You guys are still hiding things from me,” Kang Mu Cheng looked at him and said slowly, “With a kidnapping case, rescuing the hostage is definitely the priority. But the police are still focused on investigating Wang Shili. There are barely any people looking for her whereabouts.”
Ji Feng sighed again. “Actually we did look, we really looked, but we didn’t find anything.”
For most policemen, Wang Shili was also a rare kind of criminal – smart, cautious, rational, sly. Many seniors had solved countless major cases in their lifetimes, but had only encountered one or two people like him.
To match wits and courage against such a criminal was both thrilling and exhausting.
He shook himself alert and explained, “Even if I advocated investigating the perpetrator first, my superiors wouldn’t agree. The team responsible for searching for Jian Jing’s whereabouts never stopped working.”
“No clues at all?” Kang Mu Cheng asked.
Ji Feng considered this, then said, “To be precise, there are too many clues. He is extremely cunning and created many real and fake covers. This is also the biggest problem we’ve encountered in our work.”
Wang Shili was a very clever person. Knowing that there were loopholes in his previous identity information, he had acted decisively and left no trace – even if they found a fake identity, it wouldn’t matter. Now with tighter control, it was hard to take on a new identity, so he had left many real and fake leads to confuse the police and greatly increased their workload.
For example, previously he had seemed reckless, attacking suddenly, but his plans were meticulous. The blood samples he left caused them to waste a lot of time investigating, only to reach a dead end.
It was the same with the kidnapping.
“He took a taxi, so the driver must remember him. Whether there was really someone in the suitcase – if there was, it’s easy to verify. If not, we have to re-investigate everyone else who attended the award ceremony. And Jiang BaiYan’s car – if Jian Jing was really in it, we need to trace the route starting from the car. If not, we’re completely on the wrong track.”
Ji Feng carefully explained the thought process behind the investigation.
Kang Mu Cheng listened patiently until the end, but then said, “I don’t understand investigating cases. I only have one question for you – if you found Jian Jing but didn’t have evidence yet, would you rescue her?”
Ji Feng was silent.
“Humph.” Kang Mu Cheng gave a cold laugh. “You knew he would make a move but didn’t protect her, just watching as she was taken away.”
He was furious, his gaze like ice. “You guys are still hiding things from me. If I had known something like this would happen, I never would have let her go accept the award.”
Ji Feng raised his eyelids calmly and said, “Kang Mu Cheng, this is exactly why she hid it from you.”
The air became deathly still and quiet.
