Si Yanli had a laptop and a card reader in his car. He inserted the memory card into the reader and connected it to the computer.
Soon, a video began playing on the screen.
Ji Yun, dressed plainly, sat before the camera.
She recounted a past that was both infuriating and utterly shattering to one's sense of morality.
Upon hearing it, Wen Yan couldn't help but feel her eyes well up. Even though she had already learned some of Ji Yun's story through the "gossip system," hearing it directly from her was a completely different experience.
Ah.
What a pitiful, unfortunate girl.
Ji Yun's depression did not stem from Si Yanli rejecting her confession.
After Si Yanli rejected her, although she was heartbroken, she also understood the gap between them.
She could accept that Si Yanli didn't reciprocate her feelings, and from then on, she resolved to only think of him as an older brother in her heart.
When Zhou Chongqian first pursued her, she genuinely didn't like him.
Later, Aunt Ji threatened to kill herself, forcing Ji Yun to agree to Zhou Chongqian's advances.
After they started dating, through getting to know him, Ji Yun gradually developed feelings for Zhou Chongqian.
Zhou Chongqian didn't mind that she was a bit slow on the uptake. Whenever he had time off, he would take her into the city to have fun.
A year into their relationship, Zhou Chongqian took Ji Yun to a hotel room.
Before they were intimate, he gave Ji Yun a glass of wine. Her head grew foggy, and in a daze, she ended up having relations with Zhou Chongqian.
Ji Yun thought she was a fool blessed with good fortune and that she would live happily ever after with Zhou Chongqian.
Little did she know, a terrible change was coming.
She found it strange that Zhou Chongqian always turned off the lights whenever they were intimate. Once, during the act, she switched on the room light.
She saw a face leering down at her with a vile, triumphant smile.
Although it looked identical to Zhou Chongqian, she could clearly tell it was a different person.
She was terrified.
The man with the malicious smile, ignoring her struggles, used a pillow to cover her face and completed the act.
After it was over, she ran out crying and found Zhou Chongqian standing outside, smoking a cigarette.
Zhou Chongqian calmly and cruelly told her that the one who had been with her was his twin brother, Zhou Heran.
Zhou Heran had mental issues. He couldn't find a wife, and Zhou Chongqian himself was naturally infertile. The wife Zhou Chongqian found would have to bear his brother's child, so the Zhou family line could continue.
Ji Yun, being naturally a bit slow, was chosen by Zhou Chongqian the moment he laid eyes on her.
She was the perfect prey to cover up the flaws of both brothers.
As for Zhou Chongqian, he found Ji Yun repulsive and never touched her once.
From beginning to end, the one who had been with Ji Yun was Zhou Heran.
Naturally, Ji Yun couldn't bear this blow. She wanted to go to the police.
But Zhou Chongqian had recorded videos of her with Zhou Heran. If she dared to report it, he would publicly claim that she was promiscuous and had seduced his mentally ill brother.
Ji Yun had always been conservative, sensitive, and insecure since childhood.
Fearing the scandal if it got out, she could only endure the humiliation.
However, she demanded to break up with Zhou Chongqian.
Zhou Chongqian, counting on her timid nature and that she wouldn't dare tell anyone about such an ugly affair, took his brother to the Ji family to beg for forgiveness.
Aunt Ji and Uncle Ji didn't know what had happened. Seeing their daughter wanting to break up, Aunt Ji simply blamed Ji Yun for being unreasonable.
While Zhou Chongqian was talking to Aunt Ji and Uncle Ji, Zhou Heran brazenly went to Ji Yun's room and assaulted her.
Ji Yun cried and struggled, so Zhou Heran used a prepared needle to stab her private parts.
Ji Yun had a little black dog. Hearing the noise, it ran over and bit Zhou Heran.
Only then did Ji Yun manage to break free.
When Uncle Ji and Aunt Ji heard the commotion and rushed to the room, they saw Zhou Heran on the floor, his face covered in bloody scratches. He pitifully accused, "I wanted to give Sister Yun a candy, but Blackie tried to snatch it from her. I was trying to get it back for Sister Yun, and Blackie bit me."
Blackie, fiercely protective of its owner, kept barking incessantly at Zhou Heran, even trying to bite him again.
Seeing Zhou Heran's injured face, Aunt Ji, terrified that the Zhou family might reject Ji Yun and even demand compensation, flew into a rage. She grabbed a hoe and struck Blackie several times.
Blackie was killed on the spot.
Ji Yun cried until she nearly collapsed.
Aunt Ji once again threatened suicide, forcing her to marry Zhou Chongqian.
She was utterly despairing and in agony.
In the nights leading up to the wedding, she cried until her eyes were nearly blind.
She didn't know who to tell about her grievances and pain. Her heart had long been consumed by hopelessness.
She thought of Si Yanli.
That young man who, when everyone else bullied her, never looked down on her but instead stood up for her.
Mustering her courage, she recorded this video to tell her story.
Besides Si Yanli, Blackie had been her longest companion.
When she was bullied in the village, Blackie would step forward to protect her.
When she was afraid of the dark at night, Blackie would stay by her side.
When she was sad and crying, Blackie would stand up and spin in circles to cheer her up.
Blackie was the little companion who had given her the most warmth.
And she, so cowardly and powerless, had watched it bleed to death before her eyes.
At that moment, her heart died.
Her closest family had killed her dearest little friend.
The man about to marry her was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
They had driven her to a dead end.
She lost the will to live.
She didn't have the courage to bid farewell to Si Yanli in person, so she could only record this video.
She was afraid Si Yanli would be sad and blame himself if he learned of her death.
She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault.
He and Blackie were both the best friends in her heart!
After watching the video, Si Yanli, usually aloof and indifferent, felt tears fall from his phoenix eyes.
His gold-rimmed glasses fogged up with moisture.
He took off his glasses, covered his eyes with his hand, his emotions taking a long time to settle.
Wen Yan also felt deeply distressed.
She handed a few tissues to Si Yanli.
He took them and thanked her in a hoarse voice.
"Please drive to the police station."
Wen Yan knew Si Yanli wanted Zhou Chongqian and Zhou Heran to face punishment.
[Zhou Chongqian has deleted the videos of Zhou Heran and Ji Yun being intimate. Even if the videos existed, Zhou Heran has mental issues and wouldn't go to jail; at most, he'd be sent to a psychiatric hospital.]
[As for Zhou Chongqian, he would only face moral condemnation. He would even turn the tables, claiming Ji Yun seduced Zhou Heran.]
Si Yanli clenched his fists, his handsome features tense with anger. He was absolutely furious.
Those two bastards.
At the Translation Institute, Zhou Chongqian appeared mature, steady, and polite. No one could have ever guessed he was a wolf in sheep's clothing!
Police Station.
After the forensic examination, it was confirmed Ji Yun had died by hanging herself; homicide was ruled out.
Aunt Ji wept uncontrollably in the morgue.
"My poor daughter, my poor daughter—" Aunt Ji directed all her resentment at Si Yanli. "Why did you have to like him? Someone so cold-hearted, how could he possibly love you? You were so foolish!"
As she cried, Aunt Ji saw Si Yanli approaching.
"You damned scoundrel! How dare you show your face here? You killed Yunyun! Get out, get far away from here!"
Si Yanli had already shown Ji Yun's video to the police.
The officer accompanying Si Yanli was a policewoman. She glared at Aunt Ji. "You are one of the chief culprits responsible for your daughter's death!"
