Chapter 347: Into the Tiger’s Den
Wei Shuyi had never seen Jiaren Wu cry so freely before. He was at a loss.
He squatted and hugged Jiaren Wu’s trembling body. He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he suddenly became tongue-tied.
In the end, Wei Shuyi carried the drunk woman into the car and brought her home.
Jiaren Wu was still crying on his bed. Her cries were heartbreaking. Wei Shuyi sat at the side and looked at the woman lying on the bed. His mood was gloomy.
He was actually puzzled. Why would someone who had always controlled her rationality suddenly beat someone up on the streets while wearing a police uniform!
If not for the video as evidence, Wei Shuyi would have thought that someone was spreading rumors.
Jiaren Wu cried herself to sleep.
That night, she had a messy dream.
She dreamed that when she was eighteen, Song Cheng personally sent her to the police academy. She dreamed that on the day of her graduation, Song Cheng had his arm around her shoulders and was standing in front of the camera. She also dreamed of her graduation, her interns.h.i.+p at the police station in the district, and the words Chief Song had said to her on her first day of work.
“In reality, only children dream of being a police officer. Adults, even if they want to be police officers, won’t come to our anti-narcotics department. We’re a group of people who make people hate us the most. Jiaren, I don’t care if you’ve become a police officer for your dreams or r other purposes. You just have to remember one thing. Your every action and thought must be worthy of your police uniform.”
Chief Song, Captain Huang, Lei Zi, Chen Jianping… They had all lost their lives because of the police uniform they were wearing.
As for her, she had taken the initiative to shed the glory of her police uniform.
***
The next morning, Jiaren Wu woke up and felt her eyelids burning.
She quickly ran into the bathroom and saw that her eyes were red and swollen. She washed her face, wet the towel, and put it in the fridge to freeze for a while before applying a cold compress to her eyes.
Wei Shuyi walked out of the bedroom and saw Jiaren Wu sitting on the sofa with a white towel covering her eyes.
He walked over and lifted his leg, using his toes to kick Jiaren Wu’s slippers-clad feet.
“Yeah?”
Jiaren Wu took off her towel and doubtfully looked at Wei Shuyi.
Wei Shuyi stood up and looked down at the person on the sofa. Her eyes were still swollen and ugly. Wei Shuyi had too many questions in his heart. He pondered them for a moment before asking, “Why did you hit that person?”
Jiaren Wu pursed her lips, appearing as if she didn’t care at all. She still had a completely ignorant appearance.
“He deserves a beating.”
Wei Shuyi sat down on another sofa.
He switched on his phone and watched the video again. After watching it, he asked Jiaren Wu with a strange expression. “Could this be your first boyfriend? He cheated and let you down. Yesterday, he came to pester you again and you hit him?”
Wei Shuyi felt that this possibility was quite high.
Jiaren Wu followed his words and replied, “Yes, he cheated on me with my best friend and even had a child with her.” Afraid that Wei Shuyi wouldn’t believe her, Jiaren Wu added. “Not long after my brother pa.s.sed away.”
Wei Shuyi believed her explanation.
“So you’re unemployed now.”
“Yes.”
Jiaren Wu lay down and covered her eyes with a towel. Even though she was an unemployed person, she started to comfort Wei Shuyi instead. “Don’t worry about taking care of me. I’ve opened a bar with a few friends, and we get ten to twenty thousand monthly in dividends. I can survive on that.”
Wei Shuyi raised his eyebrows and remained silent.
He felt that there were many suspicious points regarding Jiaren Wu’s a.s.sault and her resignation.
However, when he looked at Jiaren Wu’s expression, it became obvious that she didn’t intend to tell him the truth. Wei Shuyi felt depressed. This feeling of not being trusted made him feel irritated. “I’m going to work now. You can take care of breakfast yourself.” After saying that, Wei Shuyi picked up his bag and was about to go to work.
Jiaren Wu naturally sensed that he was angry.
She wanted to say something to Wei Shuyi, but in the end, she didn’t.
At noon, Wei Shuyi went to the canteen for lunch.
He was still thinking about what had happened to Jiaren Wu. He really couldn’t understand why she would do this.
Wei Shuyi had no choice but to meet Kang Hui after lunch.
He asked Kang Hui to meet him at the teahouse across the street from the police station.
Kang Hui was not surprised to see him, and he looked as if he expected it.
After they sat down, Kang Hui asked, “Handsome Wei, why are you looking for me?”
Although Jiaren Wu had already been fired, the relations.h.i.+p between her and Kang Hui was still very good. Wei Shuyi was also indebted to him. When Kang Hui saw him, his att.i.tude was no different from before. He was still as enthusiastic as before.
Wei Shuyi personally brewed tea for him.
Kang Hui drank the tea with ease. He heard Wei Shuyi ask, “The man who was beaten… Did he hurt Jiaren before?”
Kang Hui was a little surprised. “What do you think?” He was curious and wanted to know how Wei Shuyi had guessed the relations.h.i.+p between the two.
Wei Shuyi said, “Could it be that that man was once her boyfriend?”
Seeing Kang Hui’s amused expression, Wei Shuyi told Kang Hui what Jiaren Wu had said this morning. “Jiaren said that, that person was her ex-boyfriend. Not long after her brother pa.s.sed away, he cheated on her with her best friend.”
Before Kang Hui could say anything, Wei Shuyi sneered.
He swirled the teacup in his hand and sarcastically said, “That girl is full of lies. You can’t believe her.”
Kang Hui’s smile deepened.
“She lied.”
Hearing that, Wei Shuyi thought that what he thought was true. He asked, “Then what is the truth?”
“She had a younger brother, you know that, right?”
Wei Shuyi didn’t expect this matter to be related to Jiaren’s younger brother. He nodded in surprise and said, “I know, his name is Chengcheng. He has been dead for more than nine years.”
“Do you know how he died?” Kang Hui saw Wei Shuyi’s reaction and guessed that Jiaren Wu had not told him the truth.
Wei Shuyi said, “Wasn’t it due to a heart attack?”
When he said that, he saw Kang Hui frowning. Wei Shuyi’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked. “Isn’t it?” Didn’t Jiaren Wu say that Chengcheng died of a heart attack?
Kang Hui found a piece of candy from his pocket and put it in his mouth. He swirled the candy around with the tip of his tongue.
Before he became a police officer, he also used to smoke. Later on, for the sake of his health, he quit smoking. When his smoking addiction kicked in, he would eat candy. After so many years, although he quit smoking, he had also developed a bad habit of eating candy whenever he felt vexed.
Wei Shuyi stared at Kang Hui’s slightly puffed cheeks without saying anything.
Kang Hui waited for the minty taste to spread in his mouth before saying, “No, Chengcheng hung himself.”
Wei Shuyi’s eyes narrowed in shock.
“W-why is that so?”
The mint was getting cold.
Kang Hui used the tip of his tongue to push the mint to the root of his teeth before saying, “He had a heart disease.”
“I know that.”
“His heart disease was cured. However, during the time he was hospitalized, he got to know Yang Shu, and because of that, an ill-fated relations.h.i.+p started.” Seeing that Wei Shuyi was slightly confused, Kang Hui added, “Yang Shu is the man Jiaren beat up that day.”
Wei Shuyi nodded and didn’t reply.
“At that time, Yang Shu was only 18 years old. He was a few months older than Jiaren. Chengcheng was only 15 years old then. Chengcheng’s IQ was lower than others. When he was young, people didn’t think much of it. But as he grew older, his low IQ became more obvious. He didn’t have any friends. In the hospital, he got to know Yang Shu. Chengcheng was very happy, and so was Jiaren.”
Wei Shuyi listened quietly, his heart clenched.
This story sounded familiar.
Without waiting for Kang Hui to continue, Wei Shuyi said, “Later, after Chengcheng was discharged from the hospital, Yang Shu became good friends with him. As Jiaren treated family members and friends well, she treated Chengcheng’s friend, Yang Shu, very well. Every time she made delicious food, Jiaren would call Yang Shu over to eat. When Yang Shu was arrested for committing a crime, Jiaren went to protect him…
“One day, Yang Shu had taken Chengcheng out to play. Jiaren had gone out to look for him but found out that Yang Shu was tempting Chengcheng to smoke. Jiaren was exasperated and fell out with Yang Shu. She brought Chengcheng home and forbade them from interacting with each other. In the end, Jiaren realized that Yang Shu not only enticed Chengcheng to smoke but also tricked him into taking drugs…
“Chengcheng wanted to quit his drug addiction, but how could it be so easy to quit? After that, Chengcheng didn’t want to be a burden to his sister, so he hung himself and committed suicide.” After saying that, Wei Shuyi felt as if there was a huge rock weighing a thousand kilograms in his heart. Even his breathing became a little heavy. He thought of what Jiaren Wu had said before, and his heart became heavy. “So, although she originally planned to take the medical university entrance exam, she went to the police academy in the end.”
The candy on the tip of Kang Hui’s tongue slowly melted. He bitterly smiled. Nodding, he said, “Exactly.”
Wei Shuyi’s heart ached.
It turns out that the mentally challenged child and the problematic youth Jiaren mentioned that night were Chengcheng and Yang Shu.
No wonder she beat up Yang Shu in public yesterday.
Seeing Wei Shuyi remain silent, Kang Hui got curious about what he was thinking. He asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking that it’s actually quite good if she doesn’t remain a police officer.” Wei Shuyi saw that Kang Hui was frowning and bluntly said, “Your profession is too dangerous. In the past, I respected her choice and never interfered with her. But this time, she gave up on her own accord. I’m actually quite happy. It’s a good thing to be able to stay away from that troublesome place.”
Kang Hui chuckled.
Wei Shuyi didn’t understand why he was laughing.
It was time to go to work. Wei Shuyi stood up and said goodbye to Kang Hui. He paid the bill and left early.
Kang Hui was left alone in the tearoom. He raised his eyes and stared at the ink painting on the vintage door and window. Sighing, he softly muttered, “How do you know that she has distanced herself from the land of trouble and not gone deep into the tiger’s den?”