Chapter 15

After reporting to the police, Ye Sibei returned to the hospital.

Huang Guifen and Zhao Chuchu had already left, leaving only Ye Ling in the hospital room. Ye Sibei lay back on the bed, letting the nurse reinsert the needle. She turned to Qin Nan and said, “You go back to the shop, I’ll be fine here.”

Qin Nan nodded, tucking her in, “I’ll check it and come back.”

“It’s okay,” Ye Sibei shook her head, “just need to get the drip, my dad will keep an eye on me.”

Qin Nan didn’t respond, he took her clothes and left.

After he left, Ye Sibei closed her eyes. Ye Ling sat next to her, after some thought, he whispered, “You should have told me earlier.”

Saying this, he seemed to realize that saying these things was futile. He thought for a moment and started advising her again, “Once you sue, Qin Nan is a good man. You should accommodate him more in the future…”

“Stop it.”

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“Yeah,” Qin Nan nodded, placing the thermos on the table and taking out a small bowl to pour out the porridge, “Have you eaten?”

“I was waiting for you to come over to eat,” Zhao Chuchu explained, “I just came to keep my sister company.”

With that, Zhao Chuchu bid farewell to the two and said, “I’ll leave first.”

Ye Sibei watched Zhao Chuchu leave before turning to Qin Nan. Qin Nan sat down next to her, scooped up the porridge with a spoon, blew on it to cool it down, and brought it to Ye Sibei’s lips.

Ye Sibei quietly watched the person taking care of her in front of her. She actually had many questions to ask and many things to say, but in the end, she swallowed them all. Leaning forward, she took a sip of porridge from the spoon.

At night, Qin Nan set up a small bed and slept next to her. Ye Sibei turned her head to look at him, gazing at his profile for a long time before turning her gaze away and closing her eyes.

She stayed in the hospital for three days. On the third morning, when Ye Sibei woke up, she felt much better. Huang Guifen came to take Qin Nan’s shift and helped Ye Sibei take a walk in the hospital.

She still felt a bit weak, but other than that, there was nothing else wrong. Huang Guifen, who was usually talkative, didn’t say a word the entire time. Ye Sibei knew that Huang Guifen was sulking with her, but she didn’t pay any attention to it. Instead, she felt much cleaner.

After walking in the courtyard for a while, when they were about to return to the ward, they heard someone talking next to them, “Did you know? Fuqiang seems to be in trouble.”

As soon as they heard this, Ye Sibei and Huang Guifen stopped in their tracks and saw two elderly ladies passing by, chatting animatedly, “There were police cars parked at the door early in the morning, and the police called in a lot of people for questioning.”

“What’s going on? Did someone die?”

“No one died,” the old lady spreading the news said mysteriously, “My nephew works in there. They say there might be a woman who was, you know…”

…

As the two old ladies continued their conversation, Huang Guifen’s eyes reddened. She supported Ye Sibei and lowered her head, “Let’s go back and lie down first. I’ll ask the doctor if you can be discharged.”

With that, she helped Ye Sibei walk back to the ward, their steps quickened.

Ye Sibei had no expression on her face. When they reached the ward, Huang Guifen went to ask the doctor, and Ye Sibei sat on the hospital bed. After thinking for a long time, she finally took out her phone.

As soon as she opened WeChat, she saw that her work group was exploding with messages. There were various pictures and news inside. She scrolled through them one by one, seeing people in the group and private chats constantly asking.

“Who called the police?”

“Was it Sibei?”

“@Ye Sibei, are you there? What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“President Fan was taken away? Who should I go to for signatures?”

“Chuchu and Xiaoyang were also questioned. Everyone who was there that night was summoned by the police.”

…

The group was exploding, and there were quite a few people messaging her privately.

Some were people she had real interactions with, while others seemed to be probing for certain information, trying to ask tentatively, “Sibei, did you call the police? Are you okay?”

She quietly scrolled through these messages. After a while, Huang Guifen came back, looking somewhat pleased, “Sibei, the doctor said as long as you feel okay, you can leave and go home for observation. I’ve just completed the discharge procedures.”

With that, Huang Guifen started packing things up, “Let’s go, let’s leave now.”

Ye Sibei didn’t respond. She looked up and saw some people seemingly peeking at the door.

“The girl who committed suicide the day before yesterday was in this ward, right?”

“Yesterday, some employees from Fuqiang came to see her. Is it her?”

Huang Guifen seemed to have heard these words. She quickly pulled down the curtain, handed Ye Sibei her clothes, and after Ye Sibei changed, the mother and daughter left together.

On the way, Ye Sibei always felt like someone was watching her, but when she turned around to look, it seemed like no one was really watching.

Huang Guifen kept her head down the whole way, pulling her, seemingly pulling all the shame of her life, wishing to immediately hide her where no one could see her.

Ye Sibei looked at her mother’s urgency. When they reached the door, she spoke softly, “Mom, I’ll go back by myself.”

“What are you saying?”

Huang Guifen seemed to think she was going to cause trouble again. She was about to scold her when Ye Sibei took the luggage from her hand, “Seeing you like this makes me uncomfortable. Don’t come looking for me in the future, so as not to cause you trouble.”

After saying that, Ye Sibei hailed a taxi and got into it, leaving in Huang Guifen’s astonished gaze.

As soon as she closed the door, Huang Guifen reacted, and somewhat panicked, she shouted, “Sibei! Mom didn’t mean…”

“Driver, Jinxiu Community.”

Ye Sibei directly told the taxi driver, “Let’s go.”

The car drove forward, and Huang Guifen’s words became fainter and fainter until they couldn’t be heard anymore.

Ye Sibei sat in the taxi, turning her head to watch the pedestrians on the street coming and going.

Returning home alone, when she opened the door, she found that the house had been cleaned up.

All the previous bottles and impurities were cleaned up, the floor was wiped clean, and the bare light bulb in the living room had been replaced with a bright ceiling light.

Ye Sibei stood at the door, looking at her home for a moment before stepping inside.

Even though she had only been away for two days, it felt like a lifetime.

Entering the house, she took a shower and then noticed numerous missed calls and messages on her phone.

She casually scrolled through them for a while before setting the phone aside.

News travels fast in small towns, and by the afternoon, it seemed like everyone around her knew.

Some friends and relatives were very enthusiastic, sending her messages when she didn’t answer their calls:

“Sibei, are you okay? Should I come over to your place to check on you?”

Looking at such messages, she hesitated for a moment but ultimately replied, “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Some people genuinely cared about her, and she replied to each of them to ease their worries.

“I’m fine.”

“It’s okay, I’m doing well.”

Even her grandmother knew about the incident and called her. She answered the phone and heard her grandmother sobbing.

“I’m fine,” Ye Sibei comforted her grandmother, “I’m doing well. Don’t worry, take care of yourself.”

“As long as you’re optimistic,” her grandmother’s voice was full of concern, “but you’re still so young, how will you live in the future…”

“Sibei,” her grandmother cried, “why did it have to be you? Why are you so pitiful?”

Ye Sibei listened in silence.

After a long time, she lowered her head and said softly, “Grandma, my phone is running out of battery, I have to hang up. Please don’t cry, don’t be sad, I’ll live a good life.”

“Sibei, stay strong. Grandma will come to see you in a while.”

“Okay.”

After saying goodbye to her grandmother, she hung up the phone.

Turning off the sound on her phone and tossing it aside, she reached for a cigarette and a lighter from the bedside table, lit it, and sat on the edge of the bed, watching the sunset outside the window.

Before the sun had fully set, there was a commotion outside the door, and footsteps approached. She didn’t move.

The footsteps paused, and after a while, someone walked up to her and sat down beside her.

Ye Sibei turned her head with the cigarette in her mouth and smiled gently, “You’re back?”

“Have you eaten?”

“No, not hungry.”

Ye Sibei watched the sunset sinking amidst the swirling smoke, “Let’s wait a while.”

Sitting beside her, Qin Nan remained silent. Ye Sibei felt comforted by his presence, knowing that someone was quietly watching over her.

After a while, she spoke softly, “They’re probably investigating the case today, questioning a lot of people.”

“Yeah.”

“And everyone knows now.”

“And then?”

“A lot of people called me, comforting me,” Ye Sibei brushed off the ash from her cigarette and turned to smile, “They told me not to worry, said I was pitiful, and asked me what I would do with the rest of my life.”

Qin Nan looked at her, his gaze as calm as usual, without any difference. This eased Ye Sibei’s emotions a lot. She looked at him, puzzled, and asked, “What does the rest of my life have to do with this matter?”

“What does it have to do with it?” Qin Nan countered.

Ye Sibei chuckled, “Originally it didn’t matter,” she turned her head, and after a while, her voice came hoarsely, “Because of them, it matters.”

“But they mean well,” Ye Sibei lowered her head, “I understand.”

“Change your clothes.”

Qin Nan suddenly spoke up, and Ye Sibei turned back in confusion to see him getting up and rummaging through the closet for clothes for her, “I’m taking you somewhere.”