Chapter 207
Chapter 207
Pan Xiaorou was a big boss. There was no way she actually cared whether some outsider’s business was doing well.
She was introducing business to Meng Yifan probably because Song Xiaotian kept avoiding her, so she planned to start with the people around him.
I admitted Song Xiaotian had a bit of charm, but for him to make such a strong, successful woman chase after him like this? I really couldn’t wrap my head around it.
Pan Xiaorou immediately took out her phone and stepped aside to make a call, contacting that friend’s family.
“Who are you calling sister-in-law? Who did you just call sister-in-law?”
Song Xiaotian glared at the two of us, cursing up a storm. “You two bastards!”
Meng Yifan said, “Just give in to her already.”
Song Xiaotian snapped, “Damn it, where’s my knife? I’m going to chop you two to death…”
As he was speaking, Pan Xiaorou finished her call and came back over, smiling. “I’ve already spoken to my friend’s cousin. I’ll give you her number in a bit. You can contact her directly.”
Meng Yifan was extremely excited. “Great, thank you so much.”
“By the way, President Pan, how did your friend pass away?”
“After all, what we’re selling is a Stigmatized Property. We need to do the preliminary work properly, which means investigating some basic information about the deceased, as well as the cause of death and so on.”
Pan Xiaorou said, “My friend committed suicide. She was actually quite pitiful. She had a thirteen-year-old daughter who passed away half a year ago. Maybe because of her child, she couldn’t get past it, so she killed herself.”
“But I don’t know the exact details either. Her funeral was held very quietly, and outsiders weren’t invited. I only heard about it from her cousin after she passed away.”
So it was because her child had died.
Raising a perfectly healthy child to thirteen years old, only to suddenly lose her-of course a mother would easily be overcome with grief.
“President Pan, when did your friend pass away?” I asked.
Pan Xiaorou said it was two months ago.
When we heard “two months ago,” all of us had an instinctive reaction.
Liu Jing and Feng Gang had died two months ago. There were seven victims in total, all of whom had died two months ago, and every single one of them had committed suicide.
“President Pan, what was your friend’s surname?”
“Her name was Ding Ruoning.”
Ding Ruoning…
I took out my phone and glanced at the list of those seven people.
One of the deceased was named Ding Ruoning. Female, thirty-five years old, lived in Garden Villa.
Garden Villa was a well-known wealthy residential area in Lanjiang City, located in one of the more upscale districts.
Most importantly, the address Pan Xiaorou had just mentioned for her friend’s home was also Garden Villa.
Same name, same home address.
Damn. What a coincidence…
“Then I won’t disturb your work any longer.”
Pan Xiaorou seemed ready to leave. She took Song Xiaotian by the arm and said, “I know you’ve been very busy lately, and I’ve been very busy too. Once you’re done, I’ll come find you again.”
With that, she didn’t even care that Meng Yifan and I were present. She rose onto the tips of her high heels and kissed Song Xiaotian on the cheek, then turned and got into her Ferrari.
“Ding Ruoning is one of the seven victims too. That’s way too much of a coincidence.”
“Then after we send Liu Jing off, let’s go get in touch with Ding Ruoning’s family.”
Meng Yifan and I were discussing it and wanted to hear Song Xiaotian’s thoughts.
But whether it was because that kiss had stunned him stupid, he stood there with a blank look on his face.
“Stop pretending. What are you acting for?”
Meng Yifan teased him, “With President Pan’s looks and that aura of hers, even celebrities can’t compare. You should be secretly thrilled.”
Song Xiaotian said, “I need to leave. I need to leave this place. I need to leave this city…”
Meng Yifan said, “Then just leave. No matter where you run, she’ll still be able to find you. Why waste the time? If you’ve got that kind of free time, you might as well start thinking about how you’re going to spend Father’s Day next year.”
Song Xiaotian said, “Holy shit! Where’s my knife?!”
He took off after Meng Yifan.
Just then, Anning came out and stood beside me, gazing in the direction Pan Xiaorou had left.
I asked her what was wrong.
She said, “Why is she so rich, and I’m so poor?”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “There are plenty of rich people in this world. Even if you reached her level, you might still envy people who are even richer. Living like that would be exhausting. It’s better to be a little poor. When you’re poor, just filling your stomach is enough to make you happy.”
Back when I was so broke I ate instant noodles every day, that was exactly how I comforted myself.
I comforted myself that way for years.
…
A little after two in the afternoon.
Anning and I left the shop and drove to the residential complex where Liu Jing had lived.
We arrived at almost the same time as Seventh Master. Fang Yongshan and his mother hadn’t arrived yet.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long before the mother and son showed up.
Judging from the looks on their faces, they had definitely had a row.
The Old Woman was probably extremely unwilling to come. If her son hadn’t threatened to cut ties with her, she never would have agreed.
After we met, we exchanged a few brief pleasantries. Then Seventh Master went over the precautions with them and communicated a few things before we all headed upstairs together.
The moment we stepped out of the elevator, Fang Yongshan’s eyes suddenly reddened.
He asked an utterly absurd question. He asked Seventh Master whether he could let his wife stay, just like before, and continue living with him.
Before any of us could speak, the Old Woman exploded. “I think you’ve really gone mad! With our family’s conditions, what kind of daughter-in-law couldn’t we find? You…”
“That’s my business!” Fang Yongshan snapped, glaring at the Old Woman in dissatisfaction.
That glare nearly made the Old Woman burst into tears. She folded her arms and said nothing more.
Seventh Master looked calmly at Fang Yongshan and asked, “Weren’t you unwilling to come before? Why are you making this request now?”
Fang Yongshan lowered his head, his voice choked. “I’ve always been a selfish person. My wife always gave in to me. Even when she argued with me, it was only because I hardly ever cared about her.”
“After Mr. Chen scolded me yesterday, I thought about a lot of things. I know that in this lifetime, there will never be another woman who loves me the way my wife did. I want to make it up to her. She was pitiful. She lost her mother when she was very young, and while she was still in school, she lost her father too. Life really wasn’t easy for her.”
Seventh Master nodded, then shook his head. “It’s too late. There is no medicine for regret in this world. In truth, while she was alive, if you had cared about her even for a single day, she might not have taken this path.”
“She’s already dead now. She can’t come back to life. Besides, humans and ghosts walk different roads. If you truly feel you wronged her, then apologize to her properly. Let her leave, in the end, with a little happiness.”
The moment Seventh Master finished speaking, Fang Yongshan’s tears wouldn’t stop falling.
I could tell that he truly couldn’t bear to part with Liu Jing.
But just as Seventh Master had said, it was too late. Everything was too late.
We opened the door and walked in.
Inside the apartment, everything was pitch-black. But in the darkness, the faint outline of a shadow could be seen, facing the doorway.
She had been waiting all this time for that door to open, for the person she wanted to see to walk in from outside.
Now, at last, her wait was over.