Chapter 388 Deprived of Peace
Jiaqi’s parents never once asked about my age. Instead, they spoke to with heartfelt earnestness, pointing out Jiaqi’s shortcomings and asking to be tolerant of them.
I kept smiling and agreeing, feeling as if I were floating on cloud nine.
I had thought it would be a gathering that would leave embarrassed, yet sohow, the one embarrassed turned out to be Jiaqi. I couldn’t help but laugh.
His parents listed his faults, and his sister recounted his childhood blunders—so much so that, for the first ti, I saw an awkward expression on Jiaqi’s face.
Today marked the beginning of my new life.
“Chenze, Jay Chou is coming to Chengdu in five days. Last ti I couldn’t go with you to Richie Jen’s concert, shall we go together this ti?” Jiaqi asked.
“Mhm, if I have ti, of course I’d love to.”
{Ring, ring—}
Jiaqi’s phone began to ring, the caller ID showing the Qingyang District Public Security Bureau.
“Hello?” Jiaqi sat down beside with a smile, answering the call. “Yes, this is Lawyer Sun, what’s the matter?”
A muffled voice ca from the other end. Though I sat close to him, I couldn’t make out the words clearly.
“What…? Alright, I understand. I’ll co by first thing tomorrow morning. Try to rge those two cases together.” The smile on Jiaqi’s face gradually faded. “Yes, I understand. It’s a pity for that woman, but at least justice will be served.”
After hanging up, Jiaqi’s expression was tinged with lancholy. A few seconds later, he turned and gave a subtle look.
I followed him out onto the balcony, looking at him in confusion.
“Chenze, I’m not sure if this counts as good news, but since it’s related to you, I have to tell you.” Jiaqi began with a faint smile.
“What is it?”
“The police discovered a woman’s body buried in Butcher Ma’s backyard. After examination, it turned out to be a female university student who went missing many years ago.”
“A… female university…. student?” My voice trembled slightly at those four words.
In our village, female university students were a rare sight.
“Yes.” Jiaqi lit a cigarette and held it between his lips. “Sigh… I don’t know if this can be considered good news or not. In any case, giving Butcher Ma the death penalty is now set in stone. Tomorrow I’ll head over to the police station to look into the details. They said the body had been buried in his backyard for over ten years…”
I felt my head grow dizzy.
“Jiaqi… that fe–female university student… what was her na?” I asked.
Her na was ntioned earlier, but I didn’t catch it. They said she was there doing volunteer teaching.” Jiaqi looked at in puzzlent. “What is it, Chenze? Did you know her?”
A female university student doing volunteer teaching… how could I not know her?
She was my guiding light.
Under the glow of that light, I managed to leave the village and spent the rest of my days striving toward a better life.
I never imagined that the light which guided my steps forward had forever remained behind.
All these years… she had been buried in Butcher Ma’s backyard…
How terrified and helpless must she have been?
My body began to tremble.
Inside Butcher Ma’s shack, I had once seen an entire wall covered in scratch marks.
Those scars had clearly been there for quite so ti.
Now it all made sense…
Teacher Ning Wan’er, did you once feel the sa despair I felt?
No… your despair ran deeper than mine.
Because you knew there was no one in this world who would ever co to save you… you knew you would never escape that village.
You could only slowly accept your own death, only to remain there forever.
My beacon, the guiding light of my life. The woman who gave all my hope, on so day more than ten years ago, died in that cramped little room, in despair no different from that of livestock.
“Jiaqi… I–I feel terrible…” My eyes were swollen red, and it felt as though the entire sky above had collapsed. “I may lose control, I want to go ho first…”
“Chenze… if sothing’s troubling you, you can tell .” Xiao Sun gazed into my eyes. “Anything at all, I can help you resolve it.”
Resolve it…?
The cruel truth is… this was sothing that no longer needed resolving.
Teacher Ning Wan’er is dead, and now Butcher Ma is about to pay with his life. From every angle, isn’t this matter already resolved?
Then why… why do I still feel such despair?
Ding—
The phone I hadn’t heard from in ages suddenly rang out with a WeChat notification.
It was a ssage from Chengcai.
“I just called the cops, and hear you’ve woken up?”
How strange. Chengcai, who never contacts , has actually taken the initiative to talk to . But it doesn’t matter anymore. People like him can no longer affect . I’ll just block all their contacts right now.
I sighed, swiped left on the screen, and was about to delete the conversation when another ssage ca through.
I hesitated slightly, then opened it.
“Does your boyfriend know what you’re really like?”
What followed was a screenshot of a chat record between Chengcai and Butcher Ma.
Butcher Ma: “A woman used by city folk really is a slut, look at this.”
Below were photos of . The very ones I thought I had erased from this world are now appearing before my eyes, one after another.
Worse still, there were videos. Videos that trampled every shred of dignity I had left.
It feels as though I truly cannot escape this village… this man-eating village.
Can’t you let go?
Can’t you act as though you never saw ?
Can’t you just pretend I’m already dead?!
“Chenze, what’s wrong?” Jiaqi asked in confusion. “Whose ssage is it?”
“I—”
Just as he was about to lean closer, I imdiately locked my screen and shoved it into my pocket. In my panic, I even knocked my elbow, yet felt no pain at all.
I was terrified, so terrified. I couldn’t let Jiaqi see those pictures of . Even if the whole world were to see… I could never allow him to.
“Ah…?” Jiaqi noticed flusteredly tucking my phone out of sight. Instead of anger, a trace of awkwardness crossed his face. “Sorry, Chenze, I didn’t an to pry into your privacy…”
“N–No… it’s not like that…” I waved my hands in panic.
Ever since we confird our relationship, Xiao Sun always sat by my side whenever he made or answered calls. Perhaps it was to give a sense of security, or perhaps to put at ease, but he would always make these small gestures unconsciously.
He never kept anything from . Yet this ti, I had hastily hidden my phone from him, that was unfair to him.
“Jiaqi… it’s not what you think, I—”
I hadn’t the faintest idea how to explain. I only felt the urge to cry, and the urge to curse this wretched world.
But I couldn’t cry. If I cried, Jiaqi would worry.
The fault lies with alone, but I keep involving others. That’s unjust.
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