Chapter 314: Because I Was There Too
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was only after they parted ways that Sang Qianqian and Shen Hanyu got into the car.
Shen Hanyu was still holding her hand. He didn’t say a word and just stared at her.
Only then did Sang Qianqian realize that he was acting strange. He seemed to be really drunk.
There were so many people taking turns toasting just now. Li Zhongjin even came up with all kinds of toasts. He said it was a toast for an apology, a congratulations, and a toast for his absence from their wedding. So now he had to make up for it with three big toasts to the couple…
Under the table, Sang Qianqian quietly pulled on Shen Hanyu’s hand to stop him from drinking. However, he replied, “It’s a rare occasion for me to be happy today. It’s fine.”
Well, when she saw how he didn’t reject anyone and looked indifferent, she thought that he could hold a thousand gla.s.ses of alcohol and not get drunk. In the end, he still got drunk.
“We’ll be home in half an hour.”
…..
Sang Qianqian pushed Shen Hanyu back into the seat. “Close your eyes and sleep for a while.”
Shen Hanyu obediently closed his eyes, but he still refused to let go of her hand and held it tightly.
She did not know if it was because of the alcohol, but the temperature of his palm was very high. Soon, Sang Qianqian’s palm was covered in sweat.
Shen Hanyu’s breathing was steady and even, as if he had fallen asleep. Sang Qianqian carefully tried to pull her hand away.
However, he immediately opened his eyes after just a slight movement.
Sang Qianqian was speechless.
She could only pat his hand to comfort him. “I’m not moving. You can sleep.”
Shen Hanyu refused and looked at her without saying a word.
The drunk Shen Hanyu was unusually quiet, but he also had a different kind of cute stubbornness.
Sang Qianqian found it a little funny, but thinking that they would be home soon, she did not insist.
He turned his head slightly and looked out of the window. It was the familiar streets of the capital.
In the dark sky, a full moon hung high, clear and bright.
It felt a little unreal, like a dream.
However, the familiar clear breath of the person beside her, the hot temperature of his palm, and the sticky sweat all told her that this was not a dream.
“You know what? When I was abroad, there was a night where the moon was also this big.”
Sang Qianqian pulled Shen Hanyu closer and pointed to the moon in the sky. “That was the night Professor Fu’er pa.s.sed away.”
It was a winter night, and the moon seemed cold, but it couldn’t beat the coldness in her heart.
That night was perhaps the most despairing night of her life.
At that time, while thinking that she could no longer save Shen Hanyu, she could not fall asleep when Xie Shi’an sent her back to her house. In the middle of the night, she went to Professor Fu’er’s house, which had burnt to ruins.
After standing within the house’s remains for a long time, she couldn’t help but got inside.
She knew that there was no hope, but she still wanted to try again. She wanted to try to find what she wanted in this half-burnt place.
She had searched everywhere she could. Her hands were blackened by the ashes and had been cut in several places.
However, she couldn’t feel any pain. Tired, she sat in a corner that was sheltered from the wind. She buried her head, choked up, and cried out loud.
In order to take care of Professor Fu’er’s matter, she didn’t sleep for a few days. She was both mentally and physically exhausted. She was cold in the cold wind for most of the night. Her head was heavy, and she felt restless. Eventually, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, she didn’t feel cold. Instead, she felt warm.
She was covered with a thick wool blanket. Not far from her, there was a burning fire, bright and warm.
Even the black burns on her hands were cleaned, and the injured areas were wrapped with gauze.
While Sang Qianqian was in a daze, Xie Shi’an walked in with a pile of firewood.
He didn’t ask her why she had come here in the middle of the night, nor did he ask her why her hand was injured. He just sat down quietly and added wood to the fire.
The two of them sat facing each other in silence, each thinking about their own matters.
Sang Qianqian remembered that it was a very quiet winter night. Amidst the crackling of sparks, it was Xie Shi’an who broke the silence.
He told Sang Qianqian to go back to Shen Hanyu and tell him about her feelings. That way, there would be less regret.
Xie Shi’an even said that he could take charge of Professor Fu’er’s funeral and that Sang Qianqian could leave immediately.
However, after much consideration and hesitation, Sang Qianqian decided to stay.
She had planned to return to China to look for Shen Hanyu after the funeral. However, fate had given her and Shen Hanyu a chance.
After she returned to the country, she was busy with Shen Hanyu’s affairs and had only seen Xie Shi’an on the night of the antidote testing. They had not contacted each other since.
But Sang Qianqian had always remembered the Xie Shi’an on that cold winter night, the warm fire, and the words he said to her.
That Xie Shi’an was just like the Xie Shi’an she knew in the past- calm, rational, gentle, and humble.
He had clearly let his feelings go, so how could he send her a photo like that on the day she and Shen Hanyu returned to the Zhen family?
Sang Qianqian retracted her gaze and looked at Shen Hanyu.
The streetlights on both sides of the road flashed past the car very quickly. The light in the car flickered, and the man’s well-defined and handsome face was visible from time to time.
He was still looking at the moon, his dark eyes calm. If not for the fact that Sang Qianqian knew that he was drunk, she would have thought that he was sober.
It was also because she knew that he was drunk that she could tell him some things without any scruples. Otherwise, she was really afraid that he would overthink and be jealous.
“It was especially cold that night. Shi’an accompanied me in Professor Fu’er’s room for a long time. He told me to come back and find you.”
Sang Qianqian was deep in thought and mumbled to herself, “I definitely don’t believe that those photos are related to Xie Shi’an. But if it wasn’t Shi’an, then who could it be?”
Those photos were obviously taken from the surveillance cameras. The small courtyard where she had been imprisoned by Ruan Cheng was the home of Xie Shi’an and his sister.
There were so many very private images of her and Xie Shi’an in the small courtyard. Clearly, only Xie Shi’an could get them.
Ruan Cheng was long gone, and almost all of his loyal subordinates were dead. The only one left was Cui Ke, who had been sent abroad to take care of Ruan Xiaodie.
He knew almost nothing about what had happened in the country, and it was unlikely that he could bypa.s.s Xie Shi’an to get those surveillance cameras.
So, who sent those photos to Li Zhongjin?
Shen Hanyu didn’t say anything. He continued staring at the moon outside the window in a daze.
Sang Qianqian did not expect him to answer her.
She planned to visit Xie Shi’an in the next two days. First, she would ask him about the photos and see if he had any connection to it. Secondly, she would check on Ruan Xiaodie’s recent situation.
In the silence, Shen Hanyu suddenly said in a low voice, “I know,”
Sang Qianqian was puzzled. “You know? What do you know?”
“I know that there was such a night when you were overseas, and at that time, the moon was also this big.”
He repeated Sang Qianqian’s earlier words without missing a single word.
“That was the night Professor Fu’er pa.s.sed away.”
Sang Qianqian thought that he was talking drunkenly and laughed as she teased him, “Oh, really? But how did you know?”
Shen Hanyu looked at her with a dazed expression, but his words were clear.
He said word by word, “Because I was there too..”