Late at night.
A private hospital.
A tall man was lying on his side on the hospital bed. The glow of his phone illuminated his face, and his slightly drooping eyelashes cast a small shadow.
He swiped his thumb.
Feng Yan was scrolling through the WeChat chat history with Sang Lu.
Before he knew it,
He scrolled back to a long - ago conversation.
Suddenly, he slowly tightened his palm.
He saw that in the messages she sent him shortly after they got married, a name often appeared —
[Sang Lu: Shiqing invited me to go shopping today.]
[Sang Lu: Shiqing invited me to dinner. I won't be going home today.]
...
Outside the window, the rain was getting heavier and heavier.
A loud thunderclap roared.
Suddenly, it seemed as if a flash of fire was coming towards him.
His throat felt as if it was blocked by something, and he had difficulty breathing.
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.
In an instant, his mind was filled with the memory of a night twenty years ago, also plagued by repeated downpours.
In the back seat of a luxury car, a young him sat holding his schoolbag.
The voices of his parents arguing came from the front seat, indistinct in the rain —
"Your heart has never been in this family... I'm going to divorce you..."
"What are you making a fuss about again?"
"I'm taking A Yan with me."
"Stop being silly. Let's talk about it when we get home."
"Let me out of the car!"
"Don't grab the steering wheel! —"
The sharp screech of the car brakes.
A violent collision, and suddenly a flash of fire shot up in front of his eyes.
The smell of burning spread in all directions.
His clothes caught fire. Before his mother threw him into the water, the last thing he heard was his mother screaming at his father: "You're just a bastard! I was so stupid to be —"
In an instant, he was surrounded by water, and the feeling of weightlessness hit him.
The young him shouted desperately, and the cold water poured into his throat. His cries were drowned in the silence.
Feng Yan clenched his fists, his eyelids tightened, and he gasped for air.
He just couldn't get the images out of his mind.
...
The rain lasted all night.
Early the next morning.
When Fang Assistant arrived at the hospital, Doctor Ji had just left the ward.
As they passed by each other, Fang Assistant noticed that Doctor Ji looked a bit solemn. He was giving instructions to the nurse. After that, he glanced out of the window and muttered, hoping that the heavy rain would stop soon.
Fang Assistant knocked on the ward door twice. After hearing a hoarse "Come in" from inside, he pushed the door open and walked in.
He placed a stack of documents on the table beside the bed.
"Mr. Feng, this is the information you asked me to investigate."
After saying that, he stood aside with his hands down.
He quietly watched as Mr. Feng picked up the stack of documents, his expression cold.
For a long time, he flipped through them silently, his brows furrowed.
Fang Assistant couldn't help but hold his breath.
Last night, Mr. Feng told him to investigate the employee who was on the phone in the corridor of the branch office during the lunch break.
He was a bit puzzled at first.
Mr. Feng was in such a state, yet he still cared about other things.
When he found out the information about that employee, he immediately understood.
The woman in the information was Guan Shiqing. He had seen her at the investment promotion meeting of the Jing City TV station last time. She had actively approached Mr. Feng and was later transferred to another department by the President's Office. Unexpectedly, she was transferred to the Nanfeng District.
Could there be a connection between Mr. Feng's sudden physical discomfort yesterday and this woman?
Having been by Mr. Feng's side for so many years, Fang Assistant had witnessed several times when Mr. Feng had physical reactions due to painful memories, but it had never been as serious as yesterday.
There must be other reasons affecting Mr. Feng's mood.
Most likely, it was related to that woman.
In the quietness, there was a soft sound of the documents being placed on the table.
Fang Assistant pulled his thoughts back and looked towards Mr. Feng.
Seeing Mr. Feng's cold and stern face, a trace of melancholy flashed across his dark eyes. After a long while, he said calmly, "You can go back first."
"Okay, Mr. Feng." Fang Assistant replied softly.
He closed the door of the ward.
He stood outside the door for a while.
His expression became more and more solemn.
A very bad feeling welled up in his heart.
He had never seen such an expression on Mr. Feng's face before.
He subconsciously tried to guess what was on his boss's mind.
Suddenly, he remembered that in that stack of documents, Mrs. Feng's name seemed to have appeared.
That woman surnamed Guan seemed to know Mrs. Feng.
Did Mrs. Feng know that that woman had once tried to get close to Mr. Feng?
Did Mrs. Feng know that Mr. Feng was in the hospital?
...
In Yile Community, Sang Lu woke up when it was almost two o'clock in the afternoon.
She had suffered from severe insomnia last night and didn't fall asleep until dawn.
After washing up, she ate a bowl of tomato and egg noodles cooked by her father. Then she moved a small chair and sat beside the TV. While listening to the sound of the TV drama, she helped her father pick string beans.
Lin Yueyin passed by, looked at the rain outside the window, and sighed,
"It's still raining. When will it stop..."
Saying that, Lin Yueyin picked out several string beans from the basket in front of Sang Lu, tore off the strings on both sides, and casually chatted,
"Lu Lu, last time when you and A Yan came back, I thought you got along quite well. Have you talked about his past?"
Sang Lu looked up. "Past events?"
Lin Yueyin said, "When he suddenly developed selective mutism when he was a child and didn't want to talk."
Sang Lu was stunned for a few seconds and shook her head. "No, we haven't talked about it."
She had been curious about it several times. But every time the words were on the tip of her tongue, she swallowed them back.
She was worried that Feng Yan didn't want to mention it and was afraid of causing him trouble.
Later, seeing that Feng Yan was talking more and more often, gradually, her curiosity subsided, and she gave up the idea of asking.
Lin Yueyin threw a string bean with the strings removed into the small basket and said,
"Lu Lu, you've been optimistic and independent since you were a child. You can do everything well, and people around you are willing to make friends with you..."
Sang Lu looked up blankly.
She didn't understand why her mother suddenly said this.
Lin Yueyin said, "Because you know the proper measure in getting along with others. You can always show kindness and can also keenly detect others' embarrassment and know when to stop. However, baby..."
Lin Yueyin paused and looked at her daughter tenderly with gentle eyes.
"You don't need to be so tired, always keeping in mind the sense of propriety in getting along with others, especially in your relationship with A Yan. You don't need to be like this. Between husband and wife, just say what you want to say directly and ask what you want to know directly."
Hearing her mother's gentle tone, Sang Lu was stunned for a moment.
She was in a daze for a short time, not knowing what she was thinking.
Just then.
The phone in the room suddenly rang.
Sang Lu grabbed a piece of paper to wipe her hands.
"Mom, I'll go answer the phone."
Lin Yueyin nodded.
Sang Lu went back to the room, picked up the phone, and pressed the answer button.
The voice of Fang Assistant came from inside.
"Mrs. Feng, I'm Fang, Mr. Feng's assistant. I'm sorry to call you suddenly. I hope I'm not disturbing you..."
On the other end of the phone.
Fang Assistant was a little nervous.
He had thought about it for a long time before choosing to make this call.
After leaving the hospital, Mr. Feng's absent - minded expression still kept appearing in his mind.
As Mr. Feng's special assistant, he wanted to relieve Mr. Feng's worries.
But he didn't know how to start.
In recent days, Mr. Feng had changed a lot. He followed Mr. Feng every day and observed it most clearly.
Vaguely, one could sense that the fact that Mr. Feng could speak must have something to do with his wife.
Assistant Fang gritted his teeth. Regardless of whether he would get scolded by Mr. Feng if these words reached his ears, he took a deep breath and blurted out,
"Ma'am, Mr. Feng has been in the hospital for the past two days. His condition isn't good, and his face was terrifyingly cold. You see if you could..."
Before he could finish the second half of his sentence, "Could you come and see Mr. Feng?", he heard a surprised gasp from the receiver:
"Where's the hospital? I'll go there right now."
