Chapter 141

Chapter 141

The period when Hu Heng was investigating He Yuchuan and writing those anonymous letters was an exceptionally strange time for him.

First, there was Qin Song’s absence – Qin Song actually skipped work for two days in a row. When Hu Heng called him, Qin Song told him to keep an eye on things at the company for now, and that he would be back to work as usual in three days.

It was far too abnormal. Qin Song was usually fanatical about work. He had never casually dumped the company on Hu Heng like this before.

Then there was his mother’s absence – Hu Yonglan suddenly announced that she had signed up for a tour group and was going on a trip with them. Right after that, she quickly packed her bags and left home.

That was abnormal too. Hu Heng had never known her to have any interest in traveling.

And so, Hu Heng worried over company matters while investigating He Yuchuan’s affairs.

A few days later, Hu Yonglan returned. The moment she came back, she locked herself in her room again.

Hu Heng was utterly baffled. Could someone have upset her even on a tour group trip?

Qin Song was strange too. He had said he would be back in three days, but by the time Hu Heng saw him again, ten days had already passed.

Qin Song’s appearance at the time gave Hu Heng a fright. He had grown so thin that his cheeks were slightly sunken in, dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his hair was long and tangled like dry straw, glistening with oil.

What Qin Song said startled Hu Heng even more. He said that in those past ten days, He Qian had divorced him, and he had left with nothing. And… his parents had died in an accidental car crash.

Qin Song’s father had died. Which meant Hu Heng’s father had died.

Hu Heng’s heart was a tangle of emotions.

Many years later, whenever Hu Heng looked back on that day, he deeply regretted urging Qin Song to hurry up and make a clean break with Huang Yuanrui.

He had been too impatient back then. He felt that Qin Song’s life had suffered a devastating blow, and all he wanted was to help Qin Song get through it quickly. At the same time, he wanted to push Qin Song into cutting off that weed-like extramarital relationship once and for all.

How could he have imagined that Qin Song, in such a dazed state, would go negotiate with Huang Yuanrui – and that an accident like that would happen?

After Qin Song went upstairs to find Huang Yuanrui, Hu Heng immediately went home.

Qin Zhiyuan had died unexpectedly. He had to hurry and tell Hu Yonglan the news.

Hu Heng had never gone through Hu Yonglan’s drawers again, but he could guess that after all these years, Hu Yonglan had probably kept on secretly spying on Qin Song’s family.

She had clearly retired already, yet every day, there was always a short, fixed stretch of time when she wasn’t home. She claimed she was going out for walks with friends, but then turned around and bought newer, better cameras.

She had spent so many years living like this. Hu Heng had long since given her the freedom to do as she pleased.

If she liked doing it, if she was used to doing it, then so be it. After all, people’s habits were hard to change.

Now that Qin Zhiyuan was dead, perhaps after Hu Yonglan found out, something in her might finally change.

Hu Heng felt a small surge of excitement. He imagined Hu Yonglan finally letting go of the hatred from the past. Maybe her personality would even become a little more cheerful.

When he got home, Hu Heng saw that the door to Hu Yonglan’s bedroom was still tightly shut.

He knocked lightly twice. “Mom, what are you doing?”

Hu Yonglan answered in a muffled voice, “Lying down and looking at my phone.”

Hu Heng said, “Open the door. I need to tell you something.”

Hu Yonglan sighed. “What is it? Just say it through the door.”

Hu Heng jiggled the doorknob twice more. “Open it first.”

A few seconds later, Hu Yonglan walked over barefoot and opened the door.

She leaned half her body against the doorframe. “Talk.”

Hu Heng said, “Mom, you look terrible. Are you feeling unwell?”

Hu Yonglan said, “Hurry up and say it. I want to lie down after this.”

Hu Heng cleared his throat and said, “Qin Zhiyuan is dead.”

Hu Yonglan trembled. “What?”

Hu Heng repeated it. “Qin Zhiyuan is dead. Qin Song told me.”

Hu Yonglan stared into Hu Heng’s eyes. “How did he die?”

Hu Heng said, “He and his wife were riding their bikes to buy groceries when they were hit by a dump truck on the road. Both of them are gone.”

Hu Yonglan stared blankly for a moment, then asked, “Have the funeral arrangements been handled?”

Hu Heng nodded. “Qin Song only came back after everything was done. He’s so pitiful. He’s an orphan now.”

Hu Yonglan swallowed. “I’m a little thirsty. Get me a glass of water.”

Hu Heng turned around, poured a cup of warm water, and handed it to Hu Yonglan. “Mom, from now on, you don’t have to keep hating them in your heart anymore. It’s all in the past, and they’re gone too. You should let it go and look ahead.”
Hu Yonglan took a sip of water and said with a frown, “Look ahead? You won’t even find yourself a wife. What am I supposed to look ahead to? In a few more years, you’ll be forty.”

She shoved the cup back into Hu Heng’s hand. “Take your own life seriously. I’m going back to bed.”

With that, she shut the door again and lay back down.

Hu Heng sighed and collapsed onto the sofa.

Brothers were bound heart to heart. With Qin Song running into something this huge, Hu Heng felt miserable too.

That night, Hu Heng didn’t drift off until one in the morning. Then, at two, he was jolted awake by the shrill ring of his phone.

He grabbed it with one eye squinted shut. “Hello?”

Qin Song’s weak voice came through the receiver. “Where are you?”

Hu Heng brought the phone in front of his eyes for a look, then put it back to his ear. “At home. What’s wrong?”

Qin Song asked, “Is there anyone next to you?”

Hu Heng snapped fully awake. He sat up in bed. “No one’s here. What happened?”

Qin Song was silent for two seconds before he said, “I killed Huang Yuanrui.”

Hu Heng let out a sudden cry, then quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.

Qin Song gave a soft “shh.”

Hu Heng asked, trembling, “Where are you?”

Qin Song said, “There’s a construction site on Fuyuan Road. You know it? I buried her in a pit there.”

Hu Heng was completely stupefied. “Is that… is that going to work? You… why did you kill her? How did you do it?”

Qin Song sighed. “The two of us got into a fight in 302. It was an accident. Afterward, I found a big bag in the storage room, stuffed her inside, and brought her to the construction site.”

Hu Heng muttered, “What do we do? What do we do? What are we supposed to do now…”

Qin Song snapped, “I’m the one who killed someone, not you. What are you panicking for?”

Hu Heng’s drowsiness vanished completely. He sprang out of bed and said calmly, “The hallway cameras. I’ll go delete the surveillance footage!”

Qin Song said, “Right. Hurry up and delete the footage for me. I’m going home now to get my documents.”

Hu Heng froze mid – motion. “What do you need your documents for? Are you going to turn yourself in? Don’t panic. You have to keep it together!”

Qin Song said, “You idiot. Turn myself in, my ass. I’m getting out of here!”

Qin Song went to Singapore.

After Qin Song left, Hu Heng couldn’t sleep for two days straight. Every time he thought of Qin Song, his heart clenched.

Every day, he drove to the construction site on Fuyuan Road in a state of terror to circle around and take a look. He even pretended everything was normal and asked a friend from the Public Security Bureau out to dinner, trying to sound things out for Qin Song.

Luckily, within two days, the pit where Huang Yuanrui had been buried was filled in, and Hu Heng’s heart finally settled back into place.

Two days after that, he bought some joss paper and, at night, drove near the construction site to secretly find an empty spot and burn it.

As he burned the paper, he murmured to himself:

“Little Huang, in your next life, find a good man and marry him. Don’t do anything this dangerous again…”

“Little Huang, Old Qin wronged you. I’m burning some money for you on his behalf. Dress yourself up nice and pretty over there, and don’t hold on to resentment…”

“Little Huang, you were such a young girl. What a pity…”

After burning the paper, Hu Heng felt a little better. Then he drove back to the office to work overtime.

With Qin Song gone, there was a lot of work Hu Heng had to handle. He simply moved all the things from his own workstation into Qin Song’s office.

By now, it was already very late. Everyone in the office building had gone home, leaving Hu Heng alone among the empty row of offices.

He stared at his computer for a while until his eyes started to ache, so he put in two drops of eye drops and closed his eyes to rest them.

From the doorway came the sound of footsteps, moving from far to near. The steps sounded very fast.

Before Hu Heng could react, the person was already standing in front of him.

Hu Heng rubbed his eyes and caught a familiar scent of roses.

He forced his eyes open and saw Huang Yuanrui standing quietly beside his desk, watching him.

Hu Heng let out a scream and jerked backward, toppling over with his chair in a heap.