MNL Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Cause and Effect – Can or Cannot.

According to related news reports, the snow in Linhe City will continue to fall heavily for some time. Qin Xin ultimately decided to return to her hometown earlier. While Xu Jing was packing, he couldn’t help but ask the person behind him again, “You really won’t come with me?”

Shen Yan was folding Xu Jing’s clothes on the bed, slowly replying, “When the time is right, I will go.”

Although his tone was the same as usual, Xu Jing could tell that Shen Yan had made up his mind, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful.

“Classmate, it’s not like we won’t see each other again,” Shen Yan put the folded clothes into Xu Jing’s suitcase and turned to smile. “Is your boyfriend going to run away with someone else?”

Xu Jing asked, “What if he really runs away?”

Shen Yan found it even funnier and retorted, “Where can I go?”

Xu Jing thought, how would he know? But the world is so big, where couldn’t he go?

So, he glanced at the person beside him and threatened, “You better not go anywhere.”

“Don’t worry, I will definitely behave myself and wait for you to come back here,” Shen Yan said, hooking Xu Jing’s neck, “Give me a kiss.”

Xu Jing looked outside to make sure that Qin Xin had gone downstairs to start the car, and quickly pecked Shen Yan on the cheek.

Shen Yan clicked his tongue, dissatisfied, “Who are you fooling?”

Xu Jing tilted his head and said, “Then what do you want? A French kiss?”

Before Xu Jing could finish speaking, Shen Yan had already grabbed the back of Xu Jing’s neck with one hand, skillfully pried open his teeth, and kissed him deeply.

The bedroom door was still open, and they were kissing face to face with the living room, constantly facing the risk of Qin Xin suddenly appearing.

Xu Jing seemed to have been led astray as well, and a feeling of “nothing to lose” was really sprouting in his heart. If this scene was caught by Qin Xin, he could openly bring Shen Yan home.

The moment the elevator bell rang, Shen Yan had already let go of him, also cutting off his willful and ridiculous thoughts.

Because if they were really discovered, he would only be kicked out the door by Xu Huaiyang because he made Qin Xin sad.

The oblivious Qin Xin didn’t even glance at the bedroom after entering the room. Instead, she went to the kitchen on her own to get the kitchen knife that she felt was the most comfortable for chopping vegetables and casually asked, “Have you packed everything?”

Under Shen Yan’s smiling gaze, Xu Jing endured the pain of being bitten on the tip of his tongue and replied, “Yes.”

“Okay, let’s go then.”

Shen Yan worked as three people combined and carried everything they were bringing to the car in one go. Qin Xin’s gaze shifted from Shen Yan, who was carrying two suitcases and three large bags in front, to Xu Jing, who was carrying a backpack on one shoulder and had empty hands, and finally let out a light sigh.

Xu Jing: “?”

On the way to Jiaqing City, Qin Xin looked back at Xu Jing several times, and seeing that he was a little distracted, she asked, “Do you want Xiao Yan to come home with us for the New Year?”

Xu Jing looked out the window and replied, “His family is gone.”

Qin Xin knew it was this matter and said unhurriedly, “Mom understands what you mean, but have you thought about it? After all, we are not Xiao Yan’s real family. When the time comes, being reminded of the past might make him even sadder.”

Xu Jing was silent for a while, and finally nodded softly, saying, “I understand.”

Qin Xin drove very fast and disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye. Shen Yan stood there for a while, and when he turned around, he didn’t return to the apartment. Instead, he walked towards a Maybach that had been waiting for a long time nearby.

This time, Shen Linzhi drove the car himself. He looked at the young man sitting in the back seat without showing any emotion and said, “You really care about their family.”

Shen Yan selectively ignored the hint of jealousy hidden behind these words and said directly, “I want to make a deal with you.”

“Oh?” Shen Linzhi became a little interested. “Tell me about it.”

“I need you to forge a health certificate for me before next month.”

Shen Linzhi quickly found the key point from this sentence and frowned, “What do you need a health certificate for? Why do you need to forge it?”

“That’s none of your business,” Shen Yan said mercilessly. “Don’t worry, I won’t die until I make sure you are not a threat to him.”

Shen Linzhi chuckled softly and said, “Son, you should know that this is inherently illegal. Why do you think I would agree to it?”

Shen Yan’s voice was cold and clear, hitting the nail on the head, “Have you done fewer illegal things?”

Shen Linzhi frowned slightly after hearing this, but then returned to normal, saying shamelessly, “It seems you still care about Dad.”

Shen Yan didn’t know how this person understood that meaning, but he had no patience. He said word by word, “Can you or can’t you?”

“Didn’t you say it’s a deal? Then what benefits can I get?”

“You know everything I have, don’t ask such nonsense.”

Clearly he was asking him to do something, but it sounded more like an order. However, Shen Linzhi still wasn’t angry and slowly made his request, “Then spend the New Year with Dad.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in Shen Yan’s eyes. When Shen Linzhi and Zhong Yiqiu’s relationship had just broken down, he had also asked this person in front of him, hoping that he could go home with him for the New Year. However, at that time, Shen Linzhi hadn’t even looked at him, turned around, and got into a car with another woman.

After many years, it was his turn to say such a thing to himself. It was truly karmic retribution.

Shen Yan sneered.

Shen Linzhi also saw from Shen Yan’s expression that he had remembered the past, and knowing that continuing to talk about this topic would inevitably lead to an unhappy ending, he retreated and made a second-best request, “Then have a meal with me.”

When Zhong Yiqiu was alive, their family had also been happy and harmonious. At that time, Shen Linzhi would come home for dinner no matter how busy he was, and every time he came home, he would bring Zhong Yiqiu a bouquet of flowers and buy him new toys. Whether as a husband or a father, Shen Linzhi had been perfect at that time, so much so that after so many things happened later, Shen Yan had doubted whether everything before was just his imagination, and the hypocritical and hateful man in real life was the real Shen Linzhi.

Shen Yan ultimately didn’t refuse, closed his eyes, and leaned against the back seat, seemingly unwilling to say another word. His eyebrows were heavy, and his whole body revealed a weariness and depth that didn’t match his age. Shen Linzhi looked at him through the rearview mirror and didn’t say anything more, just reached out and turned the heat up higher.

·

Although Gu Rui’s death was suspicious, the police, looking at the elderly old woman and the silent Gu Qianqian at home, and not finding any key clues, ultimately judged that he died accidentally due to drunkenness.

Gu Rui was the only child in the family, so he had no siblings to handle the funeral for him. In addition, he had been lazy, gambling and prostituting for many years, and hadn’t saved any money even though he was over half a century old. In the end, the body was cremated.

Applying for funeral subsidies, contacting the funeral home, all matters were handled by Gu Qianqian herself. When the neighbors asked, she was still so calm, as if the person who died was not her father, but a stranger.

That day, she watched Gu Rui enter the crematorium completely, and finally came out as ashes in a box. At that moment, she actually felt an unprecedented sense of relief. From then on, no one would unscrupulously beat her, no one would insult her with those dirty and obscene words, and no one would threaten her with grandma, forcing her to make deals with other men.

She was liberated, wasn’t she?

As soon as Gu Rui’s body was cremated, Gu Qianqian turned around and contacted the best hospital in the city. After understanding all the matters related to the surgery, it was already evening.

When passing through that alley, Gu Qianqian was also led astray by Liang Ge and unconsciously hummed a little song. She had never been so happy. She wanted to go back and tell her grandma as soon as possible that they were very lucky this time. The attending physician for this surgery was the city’s top expert, with a success rate of as high as 99 percent. Her grandma would definitely be healthy and live a long life.

Gu Qianqian pushed open the door and shouted in a cheerful tone, “Grandma, I’m back! I brought you the millet cake you like to eat the most.”

However, the room was pitch black. Gu Qianqian thought the old woman was trying to save electricity, so she joked while turning on the light, “Grandma, are you trying to play ‘blind man touching an elephant’ with me?”

However, at the moment the light came on, Gu Qianqian stood in place, the bag in her hand suddenly slipped, and the world spun around, making her feel unfamiliar.

She saw the old woman lying motionless in the recliner, her expression peaceful, as if she was asleep.

But obviously this was just her wishful thinking.

Her thoughts scattered, Gu Qianqian couldn’t accept the idea in her mind, and her body sank as if filled with lead. She moved over little by little, and when she touched the old woman’s cold hand hanging beside the recliner, Gu Qianqian fell to the ground, her face pale.

Her lips trembled, and she shook her head, crying and laughing, “No, it’s impossible… How is this possible? Grandma, you’re joking with me, right? You used to like to joke with me the most. I know this time is too. Please wake up, I don’t like this joke, it’s not funny at all.”

However, the only response she received was the sound of tree branches outside the house being broken by the heavy snow.

Gu Qianqian’s emotions gradually became agitated. She grabbed the old woman’s hand and didn’t let go, touching that thin and bony wrist, tears sliding down one by one, hitting the cold, hard cement floor. She could no longer restrain herself from roaring, “I told you to wait for me, I’ve prepared everything, why didn’t you wait for me, Grandma, why did you leave me, why did everyone leave me, I hate you… I hate you!”

When Liang Ge rushed into the room, he encountered a scene that he would never forget in his life.

The usually calm Gu Qianqian was kneeling on the ground, desperately pulling her hair, her eyes scattered, and crying loudly with despair on her face.

Liang Ge’s heart seemed to be strangled by something. He walked forward and knelt on one knee, his outstretched hand trembling in the air, but he couldn’t bring himself to touch her.

Then Gu Qianqian raised her head, her eyebrows had already lost their former coldness, replaced by a silence and emptiness. Liang Ge couldn’t help but hug the girl in front of him. In that desperate cry, words were too pale and powerless.

“Why did they all have to leave me.”

“Why couldn’t they wait for me a little longer.”

“Why did everyone leave.”

Liang Ge was speechless, he couldn’t wipe away Gu Qianqian’s tears that flowed like a broken string, he could only let them wet his coat again and again, and then endure those heart-wrenching questions over and over again.

Gu Qianqian cried uncontrollably until Liang Ge’s outline gradually blurred in her eyes, until the outline instantly merged with the darkness.

She thought she had really lost everything.