He Yu is standing in a rather remote corner.
Therefore not much attention was paid to him.
Right now, the alleyway, which is not a famous place or an internet attraction, is mobbed with people. So many people holding up their mobile phones were yakking.
Just a short time ago, Xie Qingcheng returned to Strange Rain Lane.
Xie Qingcheng came back by taxi at the time.
--
He woke up late because he and He Yu had gone crazy for so long yesterday, and with the ensuing fight over payment, it was dark by the time he got back to Strange Rain Lane, where everyone would normally be home for dinner by this time.
But this is not the case at the entrance to Strange Rain Lane.
When Xie Qingcheng arrived in the neighbourhood, he found many police officers standing at the entrance of the alleyway, keeping out people who were holding up their mobile phones and taking pictures and videos.
"This is where the car will have to stop." The driver said, looking at the one-way street ahead.
"Stop here then, please."
Xie Qingcheng had just stepped out of the taxi after settling his bill when a blinding white light suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. He thought for a moment that he was too uncomfortable to see, but then he realised it was the crowd of onlookers who were being stopped by the police taking pictures and videos of him. The crowd was so intense that they would have thought he was a star.
"That's him!"
"Xie Qingcheng: can you answer what the Canton Tower murder case has to do with you?"
"Why were your videos put up by criminals? Why did they release yours instead of someone else's? Are you connected to the Cheng Kang Psychiatric Hospital?"
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"The internet says you were also involved in the planning of the house arrest and molestation of mentally ill women, why aren't you going to clear that up?"
"Xie Qingcheng, why are you insulting Professor Qin Ciyan? He is a national scholar! You have no conscience! You can still be a doctor and a teacher! Go to jail soon!!!"
Before Xie Qingcheng came here, he already knew about the situation, because of the case of the Hu Da Radio Tower, their family was now the unlucky one in the limelight. Someone had spread the address of Xie Qingcheng's family on the internet, so the small netizens who made the video, and the simple-minded passers-by, all started to flock to Strange Rain Lane like piranhas on the scent of blood.
Not only was his house painted, but his neighbours were also affected.
Auntie Lai rushed out to argue with them, only to have a video taken and posted on the internet, saying that this was Xie Qingcheng's mother, a shrew who was spilling her guts.
Xie Xue was even more outrageous, being directly identified as Xie Qingcheng's young wife and a mistress.
The person who posted the video earned a lot of traffic as a result.
Later Xie Xue cried and called the police, the police came and so did Chen Man, who drove them all out of the alleyway, and the ones who were making a lot of noise were sent straight to the police station for tea.
When others saw this, they didn't dare to throw paint and disturb people, but many of them still gathered at the entrance of the alleyway and refused to disperse, knowing that Xie Qingcheng would definitely return home.
"Shoot him!"
"Xie Qingcheng: look at the camera."
"......"
Look at your mother.
Xie Qingcheng simply ignored them, threw open the door and walked inside with a stern face like a big shot. Hu Zhou's small taxi was brought out like a supercar by him.
"Brother! Brother!!!"
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Xie Xue was sitting on a stool in front of his house, and as soon as she saw Xie Qingcheng, she darted over to him, her ninety-odd pounds of weight coming with acceleration.
Xie Xue froze for a moment and lifted her red eyes, "Brother, what's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well?"
"...... is fine." Xie Qingcheng coughed softly, "Didn't stand still."
Chen Man also approached, "Brother Xie."
All the neighbours were in the courtyard, uncles and aunts, shaking fans and chasing away flies, and when they saw Xie Qingcheng coming back, they all looked at him.
No one spoke.
Auntie Lai is sitting under the old camphor tree in her flowered pyjamas, wiping her tears, a pair of old slippers on backwards, slipping on her feet.
Xie Qingcheng hugged Xie Xue, patted the girl's head and back soothingly, and looked around - because of the influx of netizens who had previously made videos, the alleyway, which had never been shabby but was quiet and elegant, was in chaos, with the flower pots of Uncle Liu's house being smashed, Aunt Zhao's fence being torn up, and even the doghouse of the husky owned by Wang Even the kennel of the huskies kept by Big Sister's son was crushed into a pile of rotten wood.
The dog was standing by, probably still in shock, thinking, "Isn't he the king of home demolition? How could these people be even more animalistic than him, tearing down his doghouse?
What is even more striking is that the Xie family, along with the windows and walls of the two surrounding homes, have been splattered with blood-like paint, and someone has written the word "get out" in scarlet spray paint in a distorted and shocking manner.
Xie Qingcheng's mental strength is really good, he was not broken by such a scenario, he was not even too shocked - also, after what he went through last night, what else could stimulate him now.
He just felt sorry for having dragged others into it, and after a long silence, he turned back to the neighbours in the courtyard who had not said a word, and said, "...... Sorry. I've disturbed you all."
The evening breeze rustled through the courtyard, blowing past the loquat trees, the ivy, and the old aunt and uncle's nightgown and pyjamas.
After a while -
"O Little Shea ......"
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Grandma Zhang spoke up.
Xie Qingcheng didn't respond, he thought it was calling Xie Xue. He hadn't been called Xie by his neighbours for many years; they thought he was cold and powerful, and called him Professor Xie and Dr Xie.
Little Shea was still the name they used only when he was studying.
It was only when Grandma Zhang came over to him trembling, reaching out her old bark-like hand and clutching his arm, that he realised it was actually him she was shouting at.
"That, Xiao Xie ah, don't be afraid ah ...... we all put our mobile phones inside the house, no one has them on them, no one will film you here to harm you ......"
Xie Qingcheng was stunned.
It was only now that he saw some worried tears filling Zhang's old, cloudy eyes.
"It's okay good boy, go home and get a good night's sleep, there are police outside, they can't get in, we'll clean the yard ...... don't think so much, it's okay, it's okay."
"Yeah, Shay, it's okay."
"That's all a bunch of ghosts in human skin, you don't take those internet celebrities too seriously."
"Yeah, and I've had this fence up for over ten years, so it's just as well to get a new one when it's broken."
"Thank you brother, my kennel can be replaced with a big one too, it's the same one Awwww bought when he was a kid, it's too cramped for him to sleep in now."
Xie Qingcheng was quite numb outside just now, not feeling anything, verbal violence is the most indifferent thing to him, but dust and floating crumbs, no need to mind, he didn't even bother to share a look with the other side, as long as no one was hurt.
But at this moment, when he looked at these old neighbours who had been together for more than twenty years without seeing each other, he suddenly felt something break open in his heart, rolling hot, but with a dull ache.
"...... I'm really sorry to have disturbed you guys to this point."
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He didn't know what to say, especially when he saw that the one white orchid that Uncle Liu's family kept in their yard had also been trampled, and the pavilion-like flowering tree had fallen between the messy mud and broken pottery.
His heart also felt like it had been cut by the shards of the clay pots, and he looked at the already hunched figure of Uncle Liu: "...... This is still what Aunt Sun used to grow."
Aunt Sun was the old companion of Master Liu's uncle who had lung cancer and died a few years earlier. She loved white orchids when she was alive, and this one was planted by her own hands more than twenty years ago, when she was still a big sister with a loud voice ...... Master Liu's uncle was also a big man with a strong body.
The flowering tree, which had not been broken by the wind and rain for twenty years, was snapped at the trunk by the crowd of people who came overnight.
Uncle Liu looked out at the annual rings in the trunk of the tree, each one like a shadow of good years past, a ripple of her smile.
Xie Qingcheng is a hard man, but this time, after a long silence, his voice was still suppressed and a little hoarse: "...... Uncle, I'm sorry."
"...... ah ah, it's okay, Xie." It took a long time before Uncle Liu froze back up, he walked over on his crutches and patted Xie Qingcheng on the back, just like the big uncle who worked in the steel mill when he was a kid, patting the teenager with his big, pagoda-like hands.
"It's fine, it's just a tree, people are fine, people are fine. The tree ...... tree can ...... be planted again well ......"
But as the old man spoke, he couldn't help but look down and wipe away his tears.
We all know that the tree is not the same one anymore, the person who planted it has become the bones of the spring, and the tree has finally gone with it.
Uncle Liu dried his tears and tried to put a smile on his wrinkled face: "You bought this tree from the flower and bird market for Wan Yun at that time. Your parents helped her plant it together, do you think I'm senile? I still remember it."
"Yes, Xiao Xie, Ala has lived together for more than 20 years, what kind of person you are, what kind of person your parents are, Ala would not know? What do you say outside, you and Xiao Xue are still neighbours, so you should be careful, you know? Go inside and take a rest, wash up, you'll look great."
"That is to say ah, go wash it, face so ugly, hey, Nong parents live to be heartbroken ah heartbroken dead ......"
Xie Xue looked up from Xie Qingcheng's arms, looking at everyone with tears in her eyes, and could no longer hold back her tears.
After thanking and apologising repeatedly, Xie Qingcheng finally took Xie Xue and the others back to the house.
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Chen Man and Aunt Lai also entered their room.
Looking out of the house, the paint spattered on the windows becomes more like hideous dancing blood.
Xie Qingcheng: "......"
Chen Man ："Brother Xie, don't worry too much, these people are like locusts crossing the border, they'll pass in a flash, they're considered provocative, I've asked my colleagues to properly settle accounts with them one by one. There will be police guarding Strange Rain Lane for the next few days, there won't be any more problems ......"
Xie Qingcheng coughs gently, his body is already aching and he has a fever, so he is trying to hold it together, but the light in the room is low and no one can see that he is obviously ill.
He knocked a cigarette out, tried to light it, saw Aunt Lai and put the lighter down again.
"......"
"Brother, what do we do now? ......"
"Xiao Xie, when the matter of Professor Qin, there was some kind of misunderstanding in the middle, right? You ...... you mentioned him a few times when you came back before, all very respectful, you said those words ...... that surely ...... that there must be some reason." Aunt Lai wiped her tears, "Can you think of a way, to explain the explanation? Ah? That way there are some people who won't chase after you anymore and make it hard for you ......"
Xie Qingcheng: "......"
"Shea, say something."
Outside the house is a long, thick night.
A few of the closest people in the house are around.
Xie Qingcheng's slightly trembling fingers fiddle mindlessly with the steel lighter, which lights up and the light goes out again, lights up but the light goes out again ......
Finally he tossed the lighter aside and closed his eyes, his voice hoarse and tired, but firm and stubborn: "No."
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"......"
"No one has wronged me, it was me who said it, and it was all from my heart."
"I really didn't like the ridiculous things that Qin Ciyan did. I had a change of heart at that time and he and I were not on good terms. That's what I said on the spur of the moment, I owed it to myself to think about it."
"......"
"But brother-"
"I'm not perfect, Xie Xue . Your brother was just a normal person too and would be scared and worried, you were so young and I watched him get killed, there was no way I could stick around in the healthcare system any longer ...... I got scared and I left my job. That's just the way it was."
A few moments of silence.
Xie Xue sounded like a helpless kitten: "...... Brother, can't you even talk to us, can't you tell the truth?"
Xie Qingcheng came out for a long time, his eyes seemed to flash with ghosts of the past, he finally closed his eyes, lowered his head, put his hands together and put them between his eyebrows, he whispered: "What I said, is the truth. I am sorry ...... I have let you down."
The night's conversation ended in a long silence.
Xie Qingcheng is a very stubborn person, as the three listeners in the room are well aware.
"There's 30,000 yuan in this card, Auntie Lai, you take it. There's no way we can say we won't pay for those things damaged by the neighbours. If it wasn't for this incident with me, they wouldn't have suffered this for no reason." Xie Qingcheng said, "I will find a way to deal with the rest of the situation, so don't run away from home.
"Xiao Xie ......"
Xie Qingcheng's eyes are very similar to his mother's, the same peach blossom eyes as Zhou Muying's and the same hardness as Zhou Muying's.
Aunt Lai's heart pumped again.
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She was an outcast from the Jizi Hall, and in her youth she worked as a hostess at the Hu Zhou nightclub, serving the old towel customers, and was described as a bitch with a stinking crotch.
Li Miaoqing, who was not convinced by anyone at that time, sat in the interrogation room with a cigarette he asked the police for, refusing to say a word.
She said I'm just a stinking crotch bitch, so what, you arrest me and I'll go back out and sell them, for all you care!
Zhou Muying said, "Li Miaoqing, you are only seventeen years old. I don't want to send you in there, you go in there, you come out and your whole life is covered in ink.
I know you don't have parents, you don't have a family, here's my card, here's our office number, and this, my home number, private.
If you need anything you call me. I'm not just a cop, I'm also a woman and a mother. I don't want to see a girl who's not even a teenager go down a road like this.
You can call me Muying, no need to call me Officer Chow.
I can help you, you don't have to be afraid.
It was then that pair of peachy eyes that looked over at her in the interrogation room.
Li Miaoqing's body felt like an earthquake, the source of which was the heart that had long been riddled with holes.
She later became one of Zhou Muying's triad of friends.
The relationship was stable and Zhou Muying always took care of the young girl, taking pity on her and letting her come to his home for dinner on New Year's Eve, without ever looking down on her.
When Zhou Muying and Xie Ping were down and out and couldn't find a suitable place to live, Li Miaoqing became their neighbours when he found them a second-hand property deal in the street where he lived.
For the next twenty years, Li Miaoqing never touched the sordid flesh and blood of the business, making cheongsams and working as a tailor, sewing one gorgeous gown after another for Zhou Muying.
Now Li Miaoqing has grown old at the temples, and Zhou Muying is a bone under the spring.
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The last cheongsam she made for Zhou's sister was Zhou Muying's birthday dress, a beautiful brocade that she had sewn with long sleeves to cover Zhou Muying's broken arm.
Because Li Miaoqing knows that Officer Zhou is not just a police officer, she is also a woman, a mother and a wife.
She is in love with beauty.
She is the most beautiful ...... with such determined, bright eyes.
These eyes now seem to look across the years at Li Miaoqing, whose face is already wrinkled.
Xie Qingcheng: "I've been through so much, this is nothing to me."
Li Miaoqing let out a sigh and finally said nothing more.
Xie Qingcheng settles the woman and the girl down for a rest.
It started to rain outside.
The night is deeper.
Xie Qingcheng put on an autumn coat and took two umbrellas, one of which he handed to Chen Man.
"Go back early."
"...... Brother, aren't you staying here tonight?" Chen Man was a bit surprised, he thought that according to Xie Qingcheng's character, he would definitely stay with Xie Xue today.
But Xie Qingcheng just couldn't hold out any longer.
His forehead burned like fire and his body was limp and weak, not to mention the unbearable pain and numbness somewhere.
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If Chen Man had been more careful, he would have noticed that Xie Qingcheng hadn't sat down much at all tonight.
"Don't live anymore. Something came up at school and I have to go back to the dorm first."
"I'll give you a lift then ......"
Xie Qingcheng pushes the door open and a cool breeze of autumn rain blows in from outside.
"No need." He palmed the large black carbon handle umbrella, wrapped his autumn trench coat tighter and walked into the dark, dreary night.
There was no way he could pretend for much longer; he could feel his back already seeping with cold sweat, flush after flush of heat rising, his face hot, his eyes glazed over, half of his divine consciousness seemingly drawn raw from his flesh.
Chen Man: "So you ......"
"Let's go. It's been a hard day for you. You go home early too."
Outside the alleyway, it was after two in the morning and there were people waiting outside in the rain, and Xie Qingcheng admired their perseverance. He hailed a taxi from inside the cordon, and when it arrived, he collected his umbrella and got inside, shutting out the explosion of noise and flashing lights.
He couldn't hold it together once he was in the car and leaned back in the back seat wearily, raising his hand and closing his eyes, "......"
Taxi driver: "Brother, where are you going?"
"......"
"Big brother?"
It took a second call for Xie Qingcheng to recover from his burning blur.
He knew he should actually go to the hospital.
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But he didn't want to go at all. What should he tell the doctor if he did?
What had happened in the small room at the clubhouse, with his pride and ruthlessness, he would rather have knocked down his teeth and swallowed his blood, he would have taken it to his grave. How would he explain the fever to the doctor?
He is a doctor himself.
Go back and take some anti-inflammatory medicine and forget about it.
With this in mind, Xie Qingcheng replaced the hospital on his lips with, "Shanghai Medical Staff Dormitory Building, please."
The taxis left in the dust.
Xie Qingcheng did not see Chen Man standing among the noisy crowd for a long time, and the young policeman's brow furrowed in concern before he finally turned back and went back into the alleyway, only to follow him out again after a while.
He didn't even see He Yu sitting behind the glass window in the 24h convenience store across the road, sipping a cup of coffee.
And then He Yu threw his coffee away, squeezed the brim of his hat and walked out of the convenience store.
He Yu is standing in a rather remote corner.
Therefore not much attention was paid to him.
Right now, the alleyway, which is not a famous place or an internet attraction, is mobbed with people. So many people holding up their mobile phones were yakking.
Just a short time ago, Xie Qingcheng returned to Strange Rain Lane.
Xie Qingcheng came back by taxi at the time.
--
He woke up late because he and He Yu had gone crazy for so long yesterday, and with the ensuing fight over payment, it was dark by the time he got back to Strange Rain Lane, where everyone would normally be home for dinner by this time.
But this is not the case at the entrance to Strange Rain Lane.
When Xie Qingcheng arrived in the neighbourhood, he found many police officers standing at the entrance of the alleyway, keeping out people who were holding up their mobile phones and taking pictures and videos.
"This is where the car will have to stop." The driver said, looking at the one-way street ahead.
"Stop here then, please."
Xie Qingcheng had just stepped out of the taxi after settling his bill when a blinding white light suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. He thought for a moment that he was too uncomfortable to see, but then he realised it was the crowd of onlookers who were being stopped by the police taking pictures and videos of him. The crowd was so intense that they would have thought he was a star.
"That's him!"
"Xie Qingcheng: can you answer what the Canton Tower murder case has to do with you?"
"Why were your videos put up by criminals? Why did they release yours instead of someone else's? Are you connected to the Cheng Kang Psychiatric Hospital?"
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"The internet says you were also involved in the planning of the house arrest and molestation of mentally ill women, why aren't you going to clear that up?"
"Xie Qingcheng, why are you insulting Professor Qin Ciyan? He is a national scholar! You have no conscience! You can still be a doctor and a teacher! Go to jail soon!!!"
Before Xie Qingcheng came here, he already knew about the situation, because of the case of the Hu Da Radio Tower, their family was now the unlucky one in the limelight. Someone had spread the address of Xie Qingcheng's family on the internet, so the small netizens who made the video, and the simple-minded passers-by, all started to flock to Strange Rain Lane like piranhas on the scent of blood.
Not only was his house painted, but his neighbours were also affected.
Auntie Lai rushed out to argue with them, only to have a video taken and posted on the internet, saying that this was Xie Qingcheng's mother, a shrew who was spilling her guts.
Xie Xue was even more outrageous, being directly identified as Xie Qingcheng's young wife and a mistress.
The person who posted the video earned a lot of traffic as a result.
Later Xie Xue cried and called the police, the police came and so did Chen Man, who drove them all out of the alleyway, and the ones who were making a lot of noise were sent straight to the police station for tea.
When others saw this, they didn't dare to throw paint and disturb people, but many of them still gathered at the entrance of the alleyway and refused to disperse, knowing that Xie Qingcheng would definitely return home.
"Shoot him!"
"Xie Qingcheng: look at the camera."
"......"
Look at your mother.
Xie Qingcheng simply ignored them, threw open the door and walked inside with a stern face like a big shot. Hu Zhou's small taxi was brought out like a supercar by him.
"Brother! Brother!!!"
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Xie Xue was sitting on a stool in front of his house, and as soon as she saw Xie Qingcheng, she darted over to him, her ninety-odd pounds of weight coming with acceleration.
Xie Xue froze for a moment and lifted her red eyes, "Brother, what's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well?"
"...... is fine." Xie Qingcheng coughed softly, "Didn't stand still."
Chen Man also approached, "Brother Xie."
All the neighbours were in the courtyard, uncles and aunts, shaking fans and chasing away flies, and when they saw Xie Qingcheng coming back, they all looked at him.
No one spoke.
Auntie Lai is sitting under the old camphor tree in her flowered pyjamas, wiping her tears, a pair of old slippers on backwards, slipping on her feet.
Xie Qingcheng hugged Xie Xue, patted the girl's head and back soothingly, and looked around - because of the influx of netizens who had previously made videos, the alleyway, which had never been shabby but was quiet and elegant, was in chaos, with the flower pots of Uncle Liu's house being smashed, Aunt Zhao's fence being torn up, and even the doghouse of the husky owned by Wang Even the kennel of the huskies kept by Big Sister's son was crushed into a pile of rotten wood.
The dog was standing by, probably still in shock, thinking, "Isn't he the king of home demolition? How could these people be even more animalistic than him, tearing down his doghouse?
What is even more striking is that the Xie family, along with the windows and walls of the two surrounding homes, have been splattered with blood-like paint, and someone has written the word "get out" in scarlet spray paint in a distorted and shocking manner.
Xie Qingcheng's mental strength is really good, he was not broken by such a scenario, he was not even too shocked - also, after what he went through last night, what else could stimulate him now.
He just felt sorry for having dragged others into it, and after a long silence, he turned back to the neighbours in the courtyard who had not said a word, and said, "...... Sorry. I've disturbed you all."
The evening breeze rustled through the courtyard, blowing past the loquat trees, the ivy, and the old aunt and uncle's nightgown and pyjamas.
After a while -
"O Little Shea ......"
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Grandma Zhang spoke up.
Xie Qingcheng didn't respond, he thought it was calling Xie Xue. He hadn't been called Xie by his neighbours for many years; they thought he was cold and powerful, and called him Professor Xie and Dr Xie.
Little Shea was still the name they used only when he was studying.
It was only when Grandma Zhang came over to him trembling, reaching out her old bark-like hand and clutching his arm, that he realised it was actually him she was shouting at.
"That, Xiao Xie ah, don't be afraid ah ...... we all put our mobile phones inside the house, no one has them on them, no one will film you here to harm you ......"
Xie Qingcheng was stunned.
It was only now that he saw some worried tears filling Zhang's old, cloudy eyes.
"It's okay good boy, go home and get a good night's sleep, there are police outside, they can't get in, we'll clean the yard ...... don't think so much, it's okay, it's okay."
"Yeah, Shay, it's okay."
"That's all a bunch of ghosts in human skin, you don't take those internet celebrities too seriously."
"Yeah, and I've had this fence up for over ten years, so it's just as well to get a new one when it's broken."
"Thank you brother, my kennel can be replaced with a big one too, it's the same one Awwww bought when he was a kid, it's too cramped for him to sleep in now."
Xie Qingcheng was quite numb outside just now, not feeling anything, verbal violence is the most indifferent thing to him, but dust and floating crumbs, no need to mind, he didn't even bother to share a look with the other side, as long as no one was hurt.
But at this moment, when he looked at these old neighbours who had been together for more than twenty years without seeing each other, he suddenly felt something break open in his heart, rolling hot, but with a dull ache.
"...... I'm really sorry to have disturbed you guys to this point."
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He didn't know what to say, especially when he saw that the one white orchid that Uncle Liu's family kept in their yard had also been trampled, and the pavilion-like flowering tree had fallen between the messy mud and broken pottery.
His heart also felt like it had been cut by the shards of the clay pots, and he looked at the already hunched figure of Uncle Liu: "...... This is still what Aunt Sun used to grow."
Aunt Sun was the old companion of Master Liu's uncle who had lung cancer and died a few years earlier. She loved white orchids when she was alive, and this one was planted by her own hands more than twenty years ago, when she was still a big sister with a loud voice ...... Master Liu's uncle was also a big man with a strong body.
The flowering tree, which had not been broken by the wind and rain for twenty years, was snapped at the trunk by the crowd of people who came overnight.
Uncle Liu looked out at the annual rings in the trunk of the tree, each one like a shadow of good years past, a ripple of her smile.
Xie Qingcheng is a hard man, but this time, after a long silence, his voice was still suppressed and a little hoarse: "...... Uncle, I'm sorry."
"...... ah ah, it's okay, Xie." It took a long time before Uncle Liu froze back up, he walked over on his crutches and patted Xie Qingcheng on the back, just like the big uncle who worked in the steel mill when he was a kid, patting the teenager with his big, pagoda-like hands.
"It's fine, it's just a tree, people are fine, people are fine. The tree ...... tree can ...... be planted again well ......"
But as the old man spoke, he couldn't help but look down and wipe away his tears.
We all know that the tree is not the same one anymore, the person who planted it has become the bones of the spring, and the tree has finally gone with it.
Uncle Liu dried his tears and tried to put a smile on his wrinkled face: "You bought this tree from the flower and bird market for Wan Yun at that time. Your parents helped her plant it together, do you think I'm senile? I still remember it."
"Yes, Xiao Xie, Ala has lived together for more than 20 years, what kind of person you are, what kind of person your parents are, Ala would not know? What do you say outside, you and Xiao Xue are still neighbours, so you should be careful, you know? Go inside and take a rest, wash up, you'll look great."
"That is to say ah, go wash it, face so ugly, hey, Nong parents live to be heartbroken ah heartbroken dead ......"
Xie Xue looked up from Xie Qingcheng's arms, looking at everyone with tears in her eyes, and could no longer hold back her tears.
After thanking and apologising repeatedly, Xie Qingcheng finally took Xie Xue and the others back to the house.
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Chen Man and Aunt Lai also entered their room.
Looking out of the house, the paint spattered on the windows becomes more like hideous dancing blood.
Xie Qingcheng: "......"
Chen Man ："Brother Xie, don't worry too much, these people are like locusts crossing the border, they'll pass in a flash, they're considered provocative, I've asked my colleagues to properly settle accounts with them one by one. There will be police guarding Strange Rain Lane for the next few days, there won't be any more problems ......"
Xie Qingcheng coughs gently, his body is already aching and he has a fever, so he is trying to hold it together, but the light in the room is low and no one can see that he is obviously ill.
He knocked a cigarette out, tried to light it, saw Aunt Lai and put the lighter down again.
"......"
"Brother, what do we do now? ......"
"Xiao Xie, when the matter of Professor Qin, there was some kind of misunderstanding in the middle, right? You ...... you mentioned him a few times when you came back before, all very respectful, you said those words ...... that surely ...... that there must be some reason." Aunt Lai wiped her tears, "Can you think of a way, to explain the explanation? Ah? That way there are some people who won't chase after you anymore and make it hard for you ......"
Xie Qingcheng: "......"
"Shea, say something."
Outside the house is a long, thick night.
A few of the closest people in the house are around.
Xie Qingcheng's slightly trembling fingers fiddle mindlessly with the steel lighter, which lights up and the light goes out again, lights up but the light goes out again ......
Finally he tossed the lighter aside and closed his eyes, his voice hoarse and tired, but firm and stubborn: "No."
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"......"
"No one has wronged me, it was me who said it, and it was all from my heart."
"I really didn't like the ridiculous things that Qin Ciyan did. I had a change of heart at that time and he and I were not on good terms. That's what I said on the spur of the moment, I owed it to myself to think about it."
"......"
"But brother-"
"I'm not perfect, Xie Xue . Your brother was just a normal person too and would be scared and worried, you were so young and I watched him get killed, there was no way I could stick around in the healthcare system any longer ...... I got scared and I left my job. That's just the way it was."
A few moments of silence.
Xie Xue sounded like a helpless kitten: "...... Brother, can't you even talk to us, can't you tell the truth?"
Xie Qingcheng came out for a long time, his eyes seemed to flash with ghosts of the past, he finally closed his eyes, lowered his head, put his hands together and put them between his eyebrows, he whispered: "What I said, is the truth. I am sorry ...... I have let you down."
The night's conversation ended in a long silence.
Xie Qingcheng is a very stubborn person, as the three listeners in the room are well aware.
"There's 30,000 yuan in this card, Auntie Lai, you take it. There's no way we can say we won't pay for those things damaged by the neighbours. If it wasn't for this incident with me, they wouldn't have suffered this for no reason." Xie Qingcheng said, "I will find a way to deal with the rest of the situation, so don't run away from home.
"Xiao Xie ......"
Xie Qingcheng's eyes are very similar to his mother's, the same peach blossom eyes as Zhou Muying's and the same hardness as Zhou Muying's.
Aunt Lai's heart pumped again.
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She was an outcast from the Jizi Hall, and in her youth she worked as a hostess at the Hu Zhou nightclub, serving the old towel customers, and was described as a bitch with a stinking crotch.
Li Miaoqing, who was not convinced by anyone at that time, sat in the interrogation room with a cigarette he asked the police for, refusing to say a word.
She said I'm just a stinking crotch bitch, so what, you arrest me and I'll go back out and sell them, for all you care!
Zhou Muying said, "Li Miaoqing, you are only seventeen years old. I don't want to send you in there, you go in there, you come out and your whole life is covered in ink.
I know you don't have parents, you don't have a family, here's my card, here's our office number, and this, my home number, private.
If you need anything you call me. I'm not just a cop, I'm also a woman and a mother. I don't want to see a girl who's not even a teenager go down a road like this.
You can call me Muying, no need to call me Officer Chow.
I can help you, you don't have to be afraid.
It was then that pair of peachy eyes that looked over at her in the interrogation room.
Li Miaoqing's body felt like an earthquake, the source of which was the heart that had long been riddled with holes.
She later became one of Zhou Muying's triad of friends.
The relationship was stable and Zhou Muying always took care of the young girl, taking pity on her and letting her come to his home for dinner on New Year's Eve, without ever looking down on her.
When Zhou Muying and Xie Ping were down and out and couldn't find a suitable place to live, Li Miaoqing became their neighbours when he found them a second-hand property deal in the street where he lived.
For the next twenty years, Li Miaoqing never touched the sordid flesh and blood of the business, making cheongsams and working as a tailor, sewing one gorgeous gown after another for Zhou Muying.
Now Li Miaoqing has grown old at the temples, and Zhou Muying is a bone under the spring.
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The last cheongsam she made for Zhou's sister was Zhou Muying's birthday dress, a beautiful brocade that she had sewn with long sleeves to cover Zhou Muying's broken arm.
Because Li Miaoqing knows that Officer Zhou is not just a police officer, she is also a woman, a mother and a wife.
She is in love with beauty.
She is the most beautiful ...... with such determined, bright eyes.
These eyes now seem to look across the years at Li Miaoqing, whose face is already wrinkled.
Xie Qingcheng: "I've been through so much, this is nothing to me."
Li Miaoqing let out a sigh and finally said nothing more.
Xie Qingcheng settles the woman and the girl down for a rest.
It started to rain outside.
The night is deeper.
Xie Qingcheng put on an autumn coat and took two umbrellas, one of which he handed to Chen Man.
"Go back early."
"...... Brother, aren't you staying here tonight?" Chen Man was a bit surprised, he thought that according to Xie Qingcheng's character, he would definitely stay with Xie Xue today.
But Xie Qingcheng just couldn't hold out any longer.
His forehead burned like fire and his body was limp and weak, not to mention the unbearable pain and numbness somewhere.
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If Chen Man had been more careful, he would have noticed that Xie Qingcheng hadn't sat down much at all tonight.
"Don't live anymore. Something came up at school and I have to go back to the dorm first."
"I'll give you a lift then ......"
Xie Qingcheng pushes the door open and a cool breeze of autumn rain blows in from outside.
"No need." He palmed the large black carbon handle umbrella, wrapped his autumn trench coat tighter and walked into the dark, dreary night.
There was no way he could pretend for much longer; he could feel his back already seeping with cold sweat, flush after flush of heat rising, his face hot, his eyes glazed over, half of his divine consciousness seemingly drawn raw from his flesh.
Chen Man: "So you ......"
"Let's go. It's been a hard day for you. You go home early too."
Outside the alleyway, it was after two in the morning and there were people waiting outside in the rain, and Xie Qingcheng admired their perseverance. He hailed a taxi from inside the cordon, and when it arrived, he collected his umbrella and got inside, shutting out the explosion of noise and flashing lights.
He couldn't hold it together once he was in the car and leaned back in the back seat wearily, raising his hand and closing his eyes, "......"
Taxi driver: "Brother, where are you going?"
"......"
"Big brother?"
It took a second call for Xie Qingcheng to recover from his burning blur.
He knew he should actually go to the hospital.
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But he didn't want to go at all. What should he tell the doctor if he did?
What had happened in the small room at the clubhouse, with his pride and ruthlessness, he would rather have knocked down his teeth and swallowed his blood, he would have taken it to his grave. How would he explain the fever to the doctor?
He is a doctor himself.
Go back and take some anti-inflammatory medicine and forget about it.
With this in mind, Xie Qingcheng replaced the hospital on his lips with, "Shanghai Medical Staff Dormitory Building, please."
The taxis left in the dust.
Xie Qingcheng did not see Chen Man standing among the noisy crowd for a long time, and the young policeman's brow furrowed in concern before he finally turned back and went back into the alleyway, only to follow him out again after a while.
He didn't even see He Yu sitting behind the glass window in the 24h convenience store across the road, sipping a cup of coffee.
And then He Yu threw his coffee away, squeezed the brim of his hat and walked out of the convenience store.
