Chapter Seventy-Three: The Truth

With a worn and troubled heart, I returned home and lay down on the soft bed, only to find my mind in greater disorder than before. Zhang Jiaxin’s tear-streaked face at our last farewell still played before my eyes. Even now, I could not tell what remained of my feelings for her—pity, perhaps, or lingering attachment... but never love.

I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. In the end I got up, sat in a chair, switched on the lamp, and lit a cigarette, drawing on it deeply in the hope that it might tire me out, or at least leave me dazed.

“Little brother, are you asleep?” Zhao Kewen’s faint voice came from outside the door, interrupting my wandering thoughts and severing my tangled reflections on Luo Qing.

“Why didn’t you knock?” After opening the door, I turned on the light and looked with some surprise at Sister Kewen, who seemed terribly haggard. I felt a pang of tenderness for this woman who had lost everything in love, yet still struggled on with such strength, trying to live decently.

Zhao Kewen looked at me without speaking, then followed me inside. Only then did she explain, “I was afraid I’d wake you if you were asleep. If you weren’t, then calling out would be enough for you to hear.”

I looked at Zhao Kewen, who wore a mischievous smile, and felt a bit ashamed. Whether it was Zhao Kewen or Sister Shi Yu, they always helped and protected me in places I myself would never even have noticed. Yet I, living amid such care, kept doing things that hurt them. I cursed myself inwardly for being such a bastard, and silently resolved that I could not go on like this, burdening others. I had to work hard and stand on my own.

“New furniture?” Zhao Kewen looked around at the luxurious pieces in the room and sighed softly. “Why didn’t you tell your sister in advance? I could have helped you choose the style properly. I used to do after-sales work in a furniture market, you know!”

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. “It wasn’t bought today. It was from last month.”

“Luo Qing’s taste isn’t bad. These things are decent quality, too. The daughter of a shopping mall owner doesn’t seem to be just a pretty ornament after all...” Zhao Kewen glanced here and there, then nodded in satisfaction.

I could not help but be surprised that she knew these pieces had been bought by Luo Qing. Had the two of them met before Luo Qing left? At that thought, excitement surged through me at once, and I hurriedly asked, “How did you know the furniture was bought by Luo Qing, Sis?”

Zhao Kewen turned her head and looked at me as though I were a fool. “You two used to live together—how could I not know? Besides, forget whether you bought this furniture or not; with your economic standing, even if you sold everything you owned, you still couldn’t afford just this one bed... And even if, by some miracle, you really had money, do you think with your lazy, good-for-nothing nature you’d go out and buy furniture? More like eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling!”

Shut down by her barrage of ridicule, I felt a little embarrassed, but the disappointment in my heart hurt even more. Luo Qing had disappeared from my life without leaving a trace, as if our meeting had only been a beautiful chance encounter, and before I knew it, the story had already reached its ending.

“How are things on the bar side...” I asked somewhat guiltily, looking at Zhao Kewen, who was already lying on my bed. In truth, this had also been a knot in my heart for some time, always affecting my mood in ways I could not name.

“It’s pretty much ready. In a while, it’ll be back in full blood and reopened.” Zhao Kewen did not seem especially concerned about this question, or perhaps she had already arranged everything and was therefore entirely confident.

“Really?” Hearing that news, I could finally breathe a little easier. At least my guilt would no longer be as heavy as before. “How did you manage it?”

But Zhao Kewen did not answer. I knew she did not want to tell me the details, so I could only sit beside her dejectedly, absentmindedly staring at the peeling yellow walls. I also wondered how many secrets Zhao Kewen still carried that I knew nothing about. But everyone has things they do not wish to say; I had no right to demand anything of others. To be more easygoing, perhaps, was to live more truthfully.

“Little brother, actually I came to tell you something about Qitian.” As she spoke, Zhao Kewen sat up and looked at me, who had begun to yawn from boredom.

The moment I heard that name, a name I loathed to the bone, my heart gave a jolt as well. It was not that I feared him; rather, after all that had happened, I finally understood how precious a peaceful life truly was. I did not know whether, one day in the future, he would come at me again with every possible means of revenge, and that kind of vicious cycle was truly exhausting. There were so many beautiful things in this world worth pursuing—why must we insist on trapping ourselves in a dead end from which there is no escape...

Though I desperately wanted to put an end to this disgusting cycle, the truth was simple: I still hated Qitian. Just the fact that he had once wanted to do such a shameless thing to Luo Qing was enough for me never to forgive him.

“What about him?” I asked flatly. I was not especially concerned with how the law would punish him, because that was no longer something I needed to think about or care about. More than whatever punishment Qitian would receive, I wanted even the faintest scrap of news about Luo Qing.

“Qitian has been charged with too many things. Aside from the clash with you that day, the authorities also gathered evidence for all kinds of crimes he committed before. This time he’s really done for—he probably won’t have any chance to turn things around.” Zhao Kewen smiled lightly. “The most interesting part, do you know what it is? The person who provided the evidence and reported him was actually Qitian’s girlfriend!”

“What!” I stared at Zhao Kewen in disbelief. There was far too much information packed into that one sentence. Qitian’s girlfriend wasn’t Zhang Jiaxin? Zhang Jiaxin exposed Qitian’s secrets?

“You’re going crazy!” Zhao Kewen jumped at my sudden shout, shot me a glare, and went on, “The entertainment industry in Yichun has changed a lot this time. Quite a few small business owners under Qitian have been dragged in as well. For us, this could be a great opportunity for development!”

I nodded in agreement. First, there would be fewer competitors in the same industry. More importantly, this was something worth thinking about carefully: the flaws and shortcomings that led to their downfall and failure meant that, if we went in the opposite direction, we could build a highly distinctive and positive image. For example, the bars Qitian ran were often violent and lawless, where black and white were mixed together indiscriminately. Zhao Kewen’s bar, on the other hand, was orderly and stable, always able to guarantee the guests’ safety. It was easy to imagine whose bar would win more favor. In this society, the normal customers still made up the majority; those involved in drugs and brawls were only a small fraction. Running a bar still depended on a broader audience for growth. One must never challenge the dignity of the law for the sake of petty profit.

“But... with Qitian’s network, there had to be some powerful backing behind him, right? Even if he’s charged with a lot, as long as it hasn’t been blown up into a public storm, he should still have a way to wriggle free as soon as possible.” I thought for a moment and said it aloud. That possibility was not only real, but likely very large. The fact that he dared to cross the law meant he had a protective talisman; the only question was whether the backing was strong enough.

“You really got it wrong this time... Qitian is truly beyond saving. His crimes have already spread through the media, and now his name is hanging on the front pages online.” Zhao Kewen looked at me and smiled. “No matter how hard his backing is, facing the multi-channel force of today’s media and the outcry of internet users, he wouldn’t dare force his way through.”

“More than that, even the police and the courts have taken an unusually hard line. It seems they want to use Qitian to make an example of him. From gathering evidence to recording witness statements, everything was completed in just a few days. The efficiency is frightening!” Zhao Kewen pinched her chin with her pale fingers. “Something like this absolutely did not happen by chance. There must be someone even more formidable steering things from the middle...”

“Someone more formidable?” I was a little bewildered by what Zhao Kewen was saying.

“Yes. I suspect that person is old Luo—Luo Qiancheng!” Zhao Kewen said each word clearly, and the tone sounded less like a guess than a conclusion.

“Luo Qing’s father?”

“Think about it. We don’t need to concern ourselves with what relationship Luo Qing’s father and Qitian may have had in the past. That day, Qitian was trying to lay hands on Luo Qiancheng’s only precious daughter. Tell me, if it were you, what would you do? Swallow it and keep quiet?”

I shook my head. If anyone ever dared bully my daughter in the future, I’d beat the hell out of him!

“That’s right. The situation now is that Qitian has been pushed to the center of the storm. Luo Qiancheng doesn’t even need to act personally to get his revenge, and with the Luo family’s manpower and resources, reaching out to the media and giving the relevant people a heads-up would be effortless, wouldn’t it?”

Hearing Zhao Kewen’s analysis, I seemed to suddenly see the whole matter clearly. Many of my earlier doubts could now be explained reasonably. The reason Qitian was punished so efficiently was that Luo Qiancheng was secretly applying pressure behind the scenes. It was a beautiful use of one knife to kill through another’s hand, leaving no trace at all; even if the other side wanted to use tricks, there was no opening to strike.

I immediately thought of my days in the hospital as well. My injury had healed, yet I was not allowed to leave; and the moment I did leave, I also received notice that I had been cleared of all charges. In other words, all the covert struggle had taken place during my hospitalization, and keeping me in the hospital had been nothing more than a means of protecting my person. At the same time, it also allowed me to avoid the possibility of spending my days behind bars under the pretext of recuperating.

“So the arrangements in the hospital were also made by Luo Qiancheng?” I still needed to confirm it. After all, the truth had come so suddenly that I was having trouble digesting it.

“Little brother, you really think too highly of yourself...” Zhao Kewen sighed helplessly and looked at me as if she were speechless. “You were fooling around with Luo Qiancheng’s precious daughter. He’d have been delighted if you, little punk that you are, had died. And you think he’d help you? You really do think too highly of yourself...”