Translator:
Atlas Studios
Editor:
Atlas Studios
Except that her uncle did not return to the table to eat even when they had finished eating. Xia Qingyi heard the sounds of two people fighting in the next room. Her uncle came out not long after and apologized to them again, saying that he wanted Luo Meng to stay in the room to reflect on herself.
But the more her uncle apologized, the more uncomfortable Xia Qingyi felt. She came here purely to talk more with her relatives, and yet she was seeing her uncle apologize to them repeatedly now and she could not bear it.
So when the rest was watching television in the room, she decided to take the chance and knock on Luo Meng’s door.
Luo Meng saw that the person outside was her, smiled disdainfully and tried to close the door and leave her outside.
Xia Qingyi used her leg to block the door.
You seem to have something against me.
Luo Meng rolled her eyes.
Yes! At least you’re not blind.
Xia Qingyi crossed her arms and leaned against the door.
Why?
I think I already told you the reason two years ago. There’s no need for me to repeat it,
She moved to close the door again.
Xia Qingyi shrugged her shoulders.
But I lost my memory.
Luo Meng looked at her suspiciously. Xia Qingyi nodded her head again and said,
Didn’t your father tell you?
I don’t know. Anyway, I’ve never listened to him.
Luo Meng said,
What does you losing your memory have to do with me?
Xia Qingyi could not understand exactly where Luo Meng’s hostility towards her was coming from, and decided to probe her by asking,
I did something that made you unhappy in the past?
Luo Meng glanced at her resentfully and did not answer her question.
That means… you like Han Liang?
Please, I beg you, stop your nonsense. I don’t care about men like Han Liang. I hate you, there’s no reason for it.
She looked up and down at Xia Qingyi and muttered to herself,
I just don’t get why you’re so lucky? If Sister Mumu was as lucky as you, then things wouldn’t have been like this now.
Sister Mumu… who is she?
She had never heard her mother or Han Liang mention this name.
Luo Meng heard what she said and smiled coldly.
You’ve forgotten everything.
She is… my friend?
Xia Qingyi still wanted to know the answer and decided to try and guess.
Stop guessing. She passed away many years ago. But this is meaningless to you. It’s good that you’ve forgotten about it, so that it won’t disrupt your life now.
Xia Qingyi felt that Luo Meng seemed to be rather angry.
Then can you tell me about her?
Luo Meng’s eyes seemed to dim for a few moments, before she returned to her original attitude.
But I don’t want to let you know about her. You only have to know that Sister Mumu used her life to exchange for the stable life you have right now.
Luo Meng closely looked at her eyes, like one of those witches casting curses that were often seen on television shows, and spoke in a hypnotizing voice,
You must remember clearly that you can forget about anyone in this world, but not Sister Mumu.
She finished speaking and then closed the door in her face with a loud thud.
Xia Qingyi went deep in thought, and she suddenly had an idea, one that seemingly would be able to uncover the truth that had been buried for a long time. But she did not know how to dig for it.
Just one step more, Xia Qingyi firmly believed, just one more step and she would be able to discover the truth immediately.
She was still missing something, something extremely important. This missing piece was enough to connect everything together and uncover all the answers to the questions she always had in her mind.
What happened?
Han Liang asked from beside her. She did not know when, but she had already walked to the middle of the living room and was standing in front of the huge television.
Xia Qingyi looked at Han Liang and shook her head. She carefully looked at him and did not leave any details on his face out.
It seemed that she would be able to unravel the mystery soon.
Xia Qingyi’s mind was elsewhere the entire time on the way back. She rubbed the book of Stories of Greek Myths that she was holding, and stared at the various colorful gods as though in a trance.
They just reached home, Han Liang was unlocking the door and her mother standing behind her when Xia Qingyi’s phone suddenly rang.
The plump guy from the detective agency had called. Her heart thudded in her chest.
Han Liang had already entered the house. She turned and told her mother to go in first, and that she had to pick up a call.
Hello?
She stood in a corner of the courtyard and spoke softly,
Did you discover something?
I don’t know if it counts as one.
Just tell me whatever you’ve found.
I went to check on the information from when you were young until you grew up, and discovered that all the information on you before you were eleven years old was missing, but information after you turned eleven could be found. Most of them only touched on the schools you went to. Even the basic information such as your class and teacher could not be found.
The plump guy added,
I thought it was weird, so I went to check the information from the school and wanted to ask around. But I only found out that the principal and the teachers are all new, and the old principal and experienced teachers had already resigned when I reached the school.
And there is also something strange. Your mother regularly goes and visits a graveyard in H City in March for the past few years, but the strange thing is that your father’s grave isn’t there. I’m not sure what her purpose of going to that graveyard is.
I even investigated your kidnapping that they said. It was true that it happened, and seemed to have caused quite a furore. The police station said you were dead, but Han Liang did not believe it. He had even specially posted a reward in the newspaper half a year ago because he couldn’t find any traces of you.
And as for the marriage certificate between you and Han Liang that you said, it’s true as well. The registry in the Civil Affairs Bureau even has your serial number. The people at the bureau also said that the person who oversaw your registration remembered seeing the both of you too, so there’s no sign of forgery.
Xia Qingyi carefully listened to the bits and pieces the plump guy said about her investigation, and after a long while, she asked,
Did Han Liang do anything odd in the past month?
The plump guy said,
Oh, I would’ve forgotten if you hadn’t mentioned it. Han Liang did interact with the people at the detective agency in private last month. He’s classmates with the boss of another private detective agency. They usually don’t contact each other, but Han Liang had suddenly sought him out a while ago. I initially wanted to ask the boss what the two of them had talked about, but the boss said that this would touch upon his classmate’s privacy and refused to talk about it, so I didn’t ask further.
Xia Qingyi listened to him speak and did not say anything. She felt the mystery was being unraveled little by little, the fog before her eyes slowly dissipating, and the truth was within that dream-like fog.
Except that there was still something missing, something important.
What was it? Where could it be?! Exactly where was it?! It had to be near her, it had to be that she had not found it yet, that she had neglected a certain detail.
All of a sudden, realization dawned on Xia Qingyi. That had to be it.
She hurried ended the phone call, and then quickly walked inside. Seeing her rush around, Han Liang could not understand it.
What happened to you? What are you doing?
Xia Qingyi did not answer him and walked directly towards the second floor, her hurried steps extraordinarily loud as she climbed up the stairs.
Han Liang followed behind her and stopped at the doorway of her room seeing that she was about to enter it.
I have to change my clothes,
Xia Qingyi said.
What are you changing your clothes for?
To go out and buy fish for you. Didn’t you want to have fish soup?
Really? You’re in that much of a hurry?
Han Liang looked a little happier.
Yes,
Xia Qingyi nodded her head, her hand on the door handle.
Alright, do you need me to go with you?
He asked.
No, I can go myself. I’ll be back soon. The market will close if I’m late, so I have to go there now.
Han Liang gave in.
Then alright, you go.
Xia Qingyi smiled slightly at him, and then closed the door. The moment she closed it, her expression changed immediately, and she anxiously started to flip through her things.
Her movements were light; otherwise Han Liang would be able to hear her from the outside. She knelt on the ground and carefully searched for the item that she wanted; the third book The Soldier and the Princess
that she had taken from her mother two days ago. If she had not guessed wrongly, then it would have the item that she wanted.
She finally found the book in a drawer.
Xia Qingyi sat on the ground, flipped the book open and tried to find something valuable. She had already carefully looked through Andersen Fairy Tales
andStories of Greek Myths
and she did not find anything special, so only this book was left.
She hurriedly flipped through every single page of the book, making paper crackle, and Xia Qingyi felt that her own heartbeat start to go faster.
She flipped to the second last page of the book.
At the bottom right corner of the page was a series of words. Her heart stopped.
After that, she started to forcefully shake the book, and finally discovered a folded envelope that was stuck to the back cover using tape with a color similar to that of the cover’s. The opening of the envelope started to loosen under her intense shaking, and a photo dropped out.
Its back was facing up. Xia Qingyi was trembling as she picked the photo up.
When she saw the front, the truth finally came to light.
Nian Nian! Nian Nian!
Han Liang was knocking on the door from the outside.
Han Liang was shocked when she opened the door. Her entire person had changed. He was unsure where it had started; perhaps from her eyes, or her lips, or her hands. She basically looked like her body had become stiff, and that she had lost her soul.
She did not know why she would have this kind of feeling. She would feel something breaking inside her every time Han Liang touched her, like how a cigarette was extinguished.
What is it?
Han Liang asked.
