Sun Rain Chapter 37
by(Part 1)
The night was turbulent with wind and rain, and wild fires shattered the silence.
Later, the sky darkened, turning a hazy gray. In a daze, Fu Xuanliao heard someone softly say in his ear: “You should go. I’m letting you go.”
He resisted understanding the meaning of the words, instinctively clenching his fists, trying to grasp something. When he was shaken awake, he opened his eyes groggily. Above him was the clear blue sky, and beneath his feet was solid ground. Only then did he confirm that he had finally left that stretch of sea.
It was another morning, and compared to the quiet deep sea, the dock was as bustling as a marketplace.
Fu Xuanliao was surrounded by people. Jiang Rong and Fu Qiming looked at him worriedly. Two medical staff members examined him, saying, “It seems to be temporary syncope caused by prolonged sleep deprivation. We recommend sending him to the hospital for further…”
“Where is Shi Meng?” As his mind slowly gathered, Fu Xuanliao ignored everything else, sitting up abruptly. “Where did Shi Meng go?”
A police officer who had just arrived flipped open his notebook: “The kidnapper? Don’t worry, he won’t escape. He’s over there being questioned.”
It turned out that when Jiang Rong went downstairs yesterday morning, she found Fu Xuanliao’s car parked below, but he was nowhere to be seen. She asked the property management to check the surveillance footage and saw her son being led away at knifepoint. Panicked, she immediately called the police.
Shortly after, a taxi driver also reported the incident and provided a clue, saying he had driven two male passengers from Fengcheng to Jiuzhou Bay seaside in the early hours. One of the male passengers had tied the other’s hands with rope and seemed to be threatening him with a knife.
The time, location, and descriptions matched perfectly, so the two reports were merged into one case. However, due to the dark sky, the surveillance footage was unclear, and eyewitnesses could not confirm the kidnapper’s appearance. Everyone first went to the seaside, where they learned from the old boat renter that the two had taken a boat out to sea, and one person was indeed bound at the wrists. Only then was the nature of the case defined as a kidnapping.
The police immediately coordinated with the dock boat owners to locate the fishing vessel and sent signals to dispatch nearby ships for rescue. Maritime operations are slow to respond. Feedback confirming the discovery of the boat arrived only at night, and by the time the large vessel towed the small boat back to shore, dawn had broken.
“The kidnapper?” Fu Xuanliao was confused. “Who is the kidnapper?”
The police officer pointed to the other side: “Right there. He has confessed everything.”
Returning to shore with the other vessels, time seemed to rush by, giving Shi Meng a sense of being instantly transported through the night, leaving him overwhelmed.
He was watched by two police officers, one of whom was questioning him about the events.
He was exhausted, so tired that he seemed unable to remember anything. He answered the officer’s questions one by one, looking down at his left wrist, which was red from being gripped. Like a man resigned to his fate, he admitted to the crime.
“Did you threaten Mr. Fu to bring him here from Fengcheng?”
“Yes.”
“Was the boat rented from the boat owner surnamed Wang?”
“Yes.”
“We heard you rented this boat several months ago. What was its purpose?”
“To store something.”
“What thing?”
“…It’s gone now.”
The police only investigated matters related to the case. When the suspect didn’t want to answer, the officer skipped the question and continued: “What was your motive for the crime? Why did you take Mr. Fu out to sea?”
Hearing this question, Shi Meng looked momentarily lost.
Just then, a series of urgent footsteps approached from a distance. Fu Xuanliao, who had woken up at some point, stumbled and rushed over, grabbing Shi Meng’s wrist and declaring, “He is not the kidnapper.”
Not just the police, but Shi Meng too was stunned. The spot on his wrist that had been held all night seemed to retain the memory of the grip. He struggled a few times but couldn’t pull his hand free.
The police officer collected his thoughts: “Mr. Fu, are you suggesting there is another kidnapper? But the taxi driver and the boat owner both identified…”
“No,” Fu Xuanliao said. “I was not kidnapped. I came here with him voluntarily, and I boarded the boat voluntarily. He didn’t harm me. How can this be called kidnapping?”
Jiang Rong, who followed closely behind, said awkwardly, “I apologize, Officer. This Mr. Shi is someone we know. We didn’t see clearly in the surveillance footage and mistakenly thought he was the kidnapper.”
The police officer looked bewildered: “But he already confessed.”
Fu Xuanliao quickly said, “He hasn’t slept all night. His mental state is poor. His words cannot be used as…”
“I am very clear-headed,” Shi Meng interrupted. “I am extremely clear-headed right now.”
He seized the moment before Fu Xuanliao could react and shook off the restraint: “I kidnapped Mr. Fu and took him out to sea.” As he spoke, he held up his hand, including the one wrapped in gauze. “Arrest me.”
The conflicting statements from both sides completely confused the police, who hesitated over whether to apply handcuffs.
“It seems you neither harmed Mr. Fu’s personal safety nor sought his wealth. So what was your purpose in doing this?”
The question was still about the motive for the crime.
Shi Meng looked back at the small boat moored by the shore. On the stern deck, there was a patch of charred blackness—the mark left by the destruction of the evidence of his love.
He looked up at the sky. Yesterday’s sun had set, and the one rising now had nothing to do with him.
The clouds gradually dispersed. Time was almost up. Shi Meng narrowed his eyes and answered in a very quiet voice: “To help them fulfill their wishes.”
Fu Xuanliao wished I were a villain, wishing I had stolen that painting;
Shi Huaiyi wished no one knew I wasn’t the son of the mistress;
Shi Sihui wished I would relinquish the shares and die;
My birth mother and adoptive mother both wished I would disappear.
They each had their preferences and their plans. Shi Meng, however, never learned how to be gentle or how to yield. All he could do was grant their wishes.
Since both parties offered contradictory accounts and the full context of the case remained unclear, coupled with the suspect’s family submitting medical records proving he had suffered significant physical trauma and was unfit for detention, the police relented, allowing him to return to the hospital for treatment while assigning personnel to watch him and prevent him from leaving.
Only Shi Meng had left, but a large group of people returned. Gao Lecheng, who was waiting at the hospital, gasped, “What is going on?”
He had just heard about Fu Xuanliao’s kidnapping, and he hadn’t expected the kidnapper to be Young Master Shi, Shi Meng.
He ran to the door of the hospital room and craned his neck for a long time, but didn’t catch a glimpse of Shi Meng. Gao Lecheng had no choice but to return and ask Fu Xuanliao, who was being carried back, “What were you two doing?”
Fu Xuanliao hadn’t closed his eyes for days and was exhausted to the point of collapse. He shook his head, unwilling to say more.
Gao Lecheng couldn’t contain his curiosity: “I heard from Jiang Xue that Shi Meng is the real eldest young master of the Shi family?”
Fu Xuanliao closed his eyes and nodded.
“Holy cow, that’s incredible!” Gao Lecheng remembered the nonsense he had spouted on New Year’s Eve, excitedly slapping his thigh. “I spoke nonsense and actually hit the truth?!”
Zhang Hao, who was accompanying a patient on the same floor, also came over to join the commotion.
“What? Young Master Shi, Shi Meng, isn’t named Shi Mu? …Huh? Shi Mu is the legitimate young master of the Shi family? …Oh, he isn’t anymore… Wait a minute, then why is the painting signed by Shi Mu?”
At this, Fu Xuanliao and Gao Lecheng asked in unison, “What painting?”
Suddenly the center of attention, Zhang Hao scratched his head uncomfortably: “The one that was sold at a high price at some charity gala at the Oriental Hotel last year. Wasn’t that painted by Young Master Shi?”
Gao Lecheng inhaled sharply: “That was painted by Young Master Shi?”
“Yeah, my friend took a picture and showed me. It was a mass of fire, wasn’t it? He painted that.”
Fu Xuanliao, lying on the hospital bed, struggled to sit up. He found his phone, pulled up a photo from his album, and showed it to Zhang Hao: “Is it this one?”
“Yes, that’s the one. I remember now, it’s called ‘Flame’!” Zhang Hao slapped his leg. “I heard you two were fighting over this painting. I couldn’t figure it out at first, but then I thought about your relationship—you were clearly just playing a lovers’ game!”
Gao Lecheng still hadn’t grasped it: “How can you be sure he painted it?”
Zhang Hao said, “I saw it in high school. He was hiding alone in the art room painting that exact piece. Although back then it was just lines and no color, we did study painting for a few days. How could I not recognize the same painting?”
Fu Xuanliao barely registered the rest of the conversation. His face grew even paler, a sign of the unbearable weight of a confirmed suspicion, and the helplessness of an irreversible mistake.
Gao Lecheng was meticulously confirming details with Zhang Hao, from the differences in appearance between Shi Mu and Shi Meng to their personalities, leaving no possible point of error unchecked.
This was nothing short of reminding Fu Xuanliao, over and over, how terribly wrong he had been.
Appearance could not be changed. He said the person he saw painting “Flame” was the same person he saw at the entrance of Heting Club, and because the painting was later signed by Shi Mu, he assumed his name was Shi Mu.
Moreover, Shi Mu and Shi Meng were only slightly similar in appearance, but their temperaments were completely different, making it difficult to confuse them. Zhang Hao even mentioned the characteristic of “not talking much,” which clearly belonged to Shi Meng.
However, other possibilities couldn’t be ruled out. For instance, Shi Mu might have left the unfinished painting in the school art room, and Shi Meng happened to be looking at it when Zhang Hao walked in… But five years ago, Shi Mu clearly said the painting was one he had just finished and was preparing to submit for a competition. So what was the painting that appeared during high school and was witnessed by Zhang Hao?
Assuming Zhang Hao was lying, what was his motive? He had absolutely no reason to tell a lie that offered him no benefit. Furthermore, his reaction when he mistook Shi Meng for Shi Mu during their chance encounter at the Heting Club entrance couldn’t have been faked.
That left only one possibility—Zhang Hao was telling the truth, and the painting was indeed Shi Meng’s work.
The process of repeatedly verifying this conclusion felt like thunderbolts striking overhead. Shortly after learning Shi Meng’s true identity, another bolt struck, shattering the narrative he had believed and forcing him to confront the truth behind it.
His hands clenched so hard that the IV needle nearly fell out. Fu Xuanliao’s already shaky convictions were battered beyond recognition by the invisible lightning.
He remembered Shi Meng emphasizing countless times that “Flame” was “mine.”
“Mine.”
“This is my painting.”
And what was Fu Xuanliao’s reaction at the time? He laughed contemptuously, fiercely gripping Shi Meng’s neck, telling him it wasn’t his; it was stolen.
As if his own throat were being squeezed by an invisible hand, Fu Xuanliao struggled to breathe in the narrow gap.
It turned out Shi Meng was not such a malicious person. All the anger born of deep hatred suddenly had nowhere to go, and even his reckless outbursts became ridiculous.
Just a few hours ago, out on the vast sea, he had matter-of-factly confessed to Shi Meng, “I am yours too.”
How powerless, how ridiculous. No wonder Shi Meng didn’t believe a single word.
No wonder Shi Meng had to burn that painting to ashes.
Fu Xuanliao began to laugh, first low and intermittent, then he lowered his head, his shoulder blades hunched, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably with the vibrations in his chest.
Gao Lecheng was terrified, thinking he couldn’t accept the fact that he had mistaken the person. He offered a superficial comfort: “Don’t be like this. It’s just a painting. We can clear his name later, help him wash away the injustice. Isn’t that all there is to it?”
Zhang Hao, who heard the painting was burned, also advised awkwardly, “Yeah, Young Master Shi is such a good painter. He can just paint an even better one. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.”
Buried in the darkness, Fu Xuanliao thought with near-naivety how wonderful it would be if things were as simple as the bystanders believed.
He faintly heard a voice. Gao Lecheng leaned closer to listen: “What?”
Tired of laughing, Fu Xuanliao’s vision was blurred. He gasped and said, “It turns out…”
“It turns out what?”
“It turns out… it didn’t have to be this way.”
It turned out it didn’t have to end up like this. There was no deep-seated hatred between them that was impossible to resolve.
He was only angry that Shi Meng had stolen someone else’s painting, angry at Shi Meng’s tyrannical and cruel methods. Now that the truth was revealed, Shi Meng was the victim. Even if his remaining erratic behavior was wrong, why did he deserve such overwhelming hatred?
Moreover, Shi Meng’s initial motivation was love.
Flames seemed to leap up before his eyes. The scene from last night on the sea reappeared, like a dream.
But Fu Xuanliao was too sober now, sober enough to know that the painting was merely a lifeless shell, and what Shi Meng had burned was the core—a passionately beating heart that loved Fu Xuanliao.
(Part 2)
The remnants of the fire and ash had been swept away by the sea breeze, but some gaps remained that could be filled.
After confirming that Shi Meng’s re-examination results showed no major issues, Fu Xuanliao, whose body and mind had been severely traumatized, lay down to rest for a while. When Officer Chen, who was in charge of the previous case, called, he gathered his strength and forced himself to sit up.
He held the phone, his brows furrowing deeper: “Are you saying that the person surnamed Zhou was only acting on orders, and Shi Sihui was the mastermind?”
“That’s what the current investigation suggests,” Officer Chen said. “They were in close contact via phone before and after the incident. We also found that the front desk downstairs had been tipped off beforehand. Anyone looking for Shi Huaiyi had to go through them first.”
The mystery was instantly solved. Fu Xuanliao hated his own sluggishness and his haste at the time. In reality, if he had calmed down, he would have realized that the only people who could operate with such impunity in the Shi Group building, knocking out and taking away a living person without anyone knowing, were Shi Huaiyi or Shi Sihui.
Since the police dared to inform him of this news, it meant the investigation direction was clear. Fu Xuanliao asked, “What about the person? Have they been arrested?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end. “The Shi family has hired a lawyer for Shi Sihui. We can only question her briefly. The evidence is not conclusive enough, and she refuses to admit anything, so we cannot arrest her.”
Hanging up the phone, Fu Xuanliao pulled out the IV needle, put on a jacket, and left.
He burst into Li Bihan’s hospital room, rushed straight in, grabbed Shi Sihui’s arm without a word, and dragged her out. Shi Sihui shrieked, “What are you doing? Let go of me!”
Shi Huaiyi was also stunned by the sudden situation and quickly stood up: “Young Fu, what is this?”
Fu Xuanliao was unmoved, continuing to pull her out: “To the police station. You’re going to explain everything you did, including how you harmed Shi Meng.”
“What are you saying? I don’t understand.” Shi Sihui denied it. “What does that have to do with me? Did that bastard tell you?”
Shi Huaiyi scolded, “That’s your biological brother!”
Shi Sihui clearly knew the truth but didn’t care: “They are all people blocking my way. No difference.”
Fu Xuanliao was now certain that Shi Sihui was the sole orchestrator of the incident. He was determined to investigate the matter thoroughly and seek justice for Shi Meng, so he dragged her out mercilessly.
Seeing his furious, uncontrollable rage, Shi Huaiyi kept saying things like, “She was only doing it for her mother,” and “I’ve already criticized her.” Shi Sihui, however, started to laugh.
Since the truth was out, she relied on her parents’ protection and gloated: “Well? Are you satisfied with the big gift I gave you?”
Fu Xuanliao was never a patient man, and his grip didn’t loosen: “You won’t go, will you? Fine. I’ll give you two choices: either you obediently go to the police station for investigation, or you let me beat you up right here, matching the extent of Shi Meng’s injuries. You won’t miss a single bit of the suffering he endured!”
Perhaps intimidated by Fu Xuanliao’s murderous expression, Shi Sihui, who had intended to say more, exchanged a look with Shi Huaiyi and finally stopped resisting.
Half an hour later, Officer Chen arrived and took Shi Sihui away.
Seeing her daughter being handcuffed, Li Bihan, leaning weakly on the hospital bed, strained to speak for her: “Don’t do this. She had no choice…”
Fu Xuanliao’s face was grim: “She almost killed Shi Meng.”
One of those words seemed to strike Li Bihan. Her body trembled, and she turned her face away, silently weeping.
Having resolved a major issue, Fu Xuanliao took a wash bag from Gao Lecheng and went to the restroom to quickly shave and wash his face, making his appearance, which had been neglected for days, look at least presentable. Then he headed to Shi Meng’s room.
He didn’t even get to see him; he was stopped outside the door.
“He doesn’t want to see anyone,” Jiang Xue said.
Fu Xuanliao pleaded, “I just want one look. He was floating on the sea all day, he didn’t eat or drink…”
“He has eaten and drunk now, and he is sleeping,” Jiang Xue said, handing him a piece of clothing draped over her arm. “He asked me to return this to you.”
Looking down, it was the suit jacket Shi Meng had taken when he left the hospital.
Just a few hours ago, it had been on Shi Meng, shielding him from the wind and waves at sea.
Slowly reaching out to take the suit, Fu Xuanliao couldn’t help but ask before Jiang Xue closed the door, “Did he say anything else?”
Jiang Xue looked at Fu Xuanliao’s distraught appearance and let out a faint, inexplicable laugh.
Her tone, however, carried a hint of melancholy: “Probably not. He made such a grand gesture; whatever he wanted to say should be finished now.”
Shi Huaiyi also couldn’t see Shi Meng.
Fu Xuanliao returned to Li Bihan’s room to inquire about Shi Meng’s condition in detail, as they were his parents.
Though he claimed to be asking, he adopted the air of an interrogation. Fu Xuanliao’s features were deep-set. When he smiled, he was charming and amiable, but when he put on a stern face, he exuded a fierce pressure.
Shi Huaiyi felt guilty that his son had almost caused an accident by tying up someone else’s son and taking him out to sea. Although he felt offended, he dared not refuse to answer.
“Naturally, he’s fine. The bruising on the back of his head has mostly dissipated, his ribs are fine, and the rest are minor injuries.”
Li Bihan interjected: “What about… his hand?”
“We have to wait for the next dressing change and X-ray to see the situation. Even if he can’t paint in the future, it’s not a big deal. Our family can afford to support him.”
Shi Huaiyi continued, turning to Fu Xuanliao: “In this regard, Mengmeng is not as sensible as you. You know to let things go for the sake of our families’ relationship and not hold it against him. Sihui is his sister, after all. I went to see him just now, hoping he would speak up for Sihui to the police, but he wouldn’t even let me in. He is truly thoughtless.”
Hearing the word “thoughtless,” Fu Xuanliao first felt confused, then a sense of absurdity washed over him.
When Shi Meng was quiet, unassuming, and didn’t fight for anything, no one ever praised him. Now that he had been harmed and merely raised a weapon to protect his legitimate rights, he was called thoughtless.
Shi Huaiyi continued to ramble, criticizing Shi Meng for not being magnanimous enough, saying that the young girl named Jiang blocking the door clearly coveted the Shi family’s wealth and power, otherwise she wouldn’t be so dedicated. He even suggested canceling the recently signed share transfer agreement, so he would have a reason to persuade Shi Meng to forgive Shi Sihui…
He treated Fu Xuanliao as one of his own, speaking from the heart, but Fu Xuanliao felt a chill run through him.
When Shi Huaiyi suggested that Li Bihan go see Shi Meng, arguing that he couldn’t possibly refuse his birth mother, Fu Xuanliao finally couldn’t listen anymore and said coldly, “Why shouldn’t he refuse?”
The other two people in the room were startled.
Fu Xuanliao looked at Shi Huaiyi: “Is it because you provided him with so-called superior living conditions and the ‘glorious’ title of Young Master Shi, yet you didn’t care how others viewed or talked about him, forcing him to live in constant peril, where he could be stabbed at any moment?”
Then he looked at Li Bihan on the hospital bed: “Or is it because you gave him life but treated him with indifference, and even after learning the truth of what happened years ago, knowing he suffered so much injustice, you still hide in your shell, refusing to accept the facts?”
“Who are you to make him suffer so much?”
Shi Huaiyi and Li Bihan were speechless.
Though he was clearly angry, Fu Xuanliao’s eyes were as cold as ice, enough to silence everyone present.
Finally, he emphasized: “I am not letting this go for the sake of our families’ relationship. It is for him. I am willing to do this myself.”
With that, he couldn’t stand to stay another moment. He stood up abruptly and strode out.
He only managed a few steps before his strength gave out. After the outburst, Fu Xuanliao was like a punctured balloon. He leaned against the wall, letting his weakened body slide down.
He crouched in the empty corridor on the top floor of the hospital, his arms resting on his knees, his palms hanging down, his head bowed motionlessly. Only his shoulders rose and fell with his breathing.
In the unseen depths of his mind, Fu Xuanliao continued the thought he hadn’t finished earlier: Why could everyone hurt Shi Meng and then casually forget about it?
To find the culprit, Fu Xuanliao began uncontrollably tracing the roots of the problem—
Blame Shi Huaiyi for not controlling his lower body, engaging in improper relations with a woman outside, and having a child; blame the woman, Ms. Yang, whom he had only met once, for her malicious heart, committing the terrible act of switching babies; blame Shi Mu for stealing someone’s painting, tarnishing their reputation, and then turning the tables, causing the misunderstanding to deepen; and blame Shi Huaiyi even more for trying to conceal the truth, causing Shi Meng to suffer unjustly for so many years, leading their relationship to become so twisted.
But were the injustices and suffering Shi Meng endured truly caused only by this irresponsible man and woman?
As the turmoil subsided, Fu Xuanliao took a breath, then slowly exhaled, followed by an overwhelming wave of regret.
He regretted sentencing Shi Meng to death without listening to his explanation, regretted not believing every word Shi Meng spoke, regretted not looking at Shi Meng by his bed before leaving home that day… He regretted that after all these years, looking back, he realized he had never treated him well.
No wonder he ran away, Fu Xuanliao smiled self-mockingly.
Who are you, and who am I? Why did we accept a transaction of value but refuse to bear the corresponding responsibility, even resorting to harsh words and betrayal?
Why did we force him to desperately cling to something, only to let go in despair, leaving no room for retreat?
So Shi Meng was capable of despair, Fu Xuanliao tugged at his stiff lips, thinking that he was indeed an artist—preferring to be shattered jade than intact tile. Even if he had to destroy it with his own hands, he wouldn’t leave a single lingering thought for an unfulfilled relationship.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them, turning his head to look at the glass window at the end of the corridor. Inside, there was a person who looked even more haggard and pathetic than the one in the mirror earlier.
He watched quietly, thinking that the person who should be blamed, the person responsible for Shi Meng’s forced desperation, was this man right here.
In the evening, Shi Huaiyi pushed open the hospital room door and almost instinctively took half a step back when he saw Fu Xuanliao’s face.
He was still shaken by the two furious outbursts the young man had unleashed earlier in the day. Although Fu Xuanliao was only a junior, Shi Huaiyi was somewhat intimidated.
Following him to the window at the end of the hallway, Shi Huaiyi’s voice was gentle and cautious as he asked, “Uncle is tired after a day of commotion. Why don’t we discuss this tomorrow…”
Fu Xuanliao was decisive: “No.”
“I only have two questions. You can leave after you answer them.”
Shi Huaiyi conceded: “Then ask.”
Having received permission, Fu Xuanliao delayed speaking.
He looked out the window. The sunset glow spilled into his eyes, but it couldn’t fill the emptiness in his heart from having lost everything.
But since he had made up his mind, he would no longer evade.
Fu Xuanliao turned to face Shi Huaiyi: “I want to know, did Shi Mu know about the switch before he died?”
“Also, five years ago, when Shi Mu stole Shi Meng’s painting and falsely claimed it was his own, were you aware of it?”