1184 Dylan
After one ring, the person on the other end picked up.
“Ah Li?
There was a hint of a smile in Gu Tinglan’s voice.
“Why did you suddenly call me?”
!!
It was rare for her to take the initiative to call.
Shen Li said, “Uncle, I accompanied Grandma to Dutian Villa to see Bright Moon this morning.”
Gu Tinglan was stunned.
He knew that Shen Li had returned to Hong Kong in the past two days, but he had not known the specific itinerary.
So, it turned out that…
“Oh, really? How do you feel about it?”
“It was pretty good,” Shen Li replied, “It was just a little clingy. I had to comfort it for a long time before I left.”
Gu Tinglan was silent for a moment before he burst out into laughter and sighed.
“Clingy?”
Other than his fourth sister, this was the first time he had heard someone describe Bright Moon in this way.
These past few years, its behavior had been fine. However, in the past, no one had been able to touch Bright Moon due to its bad temper.
Especially after his fourth sister had pa.s.sed away, Bright Moon had fallen into a long period of depression. After that, it had seemed to feel even more lost.
“I guess all it knows is how to stick to you.”
He sighed.
Shen Li paused and asked, “Uncle, back then… how did the fire start?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Gu Tinglan suddenly fell silent on the other end of the phone, as if even his breathing had stopped.
The air seemed to freeze.
After a long while, Gu Tinglan finally spoke with difficulty, “Why are you suddenly asking this?”
This was a pain that the Gu family and Shen Zhijin could never forget.
For nearly twenty years, they had maintained a tacit understanding to mention it as little as possible.
This was because just a single touch would cause a pain that seemed to go all the way to the bone marrow.
Even after they had acknowledged Shen Li, they rarely mentioned this matter in front of her.
In fact, many of the things that Shen Li had heard of that had happened in the past were from Xu Yin and Yu Pingchuan.
Gu Tinglan had never expected her to take the initiative to ask about it.
Shen Li was quiet for a moment before she said in a quiet voice, “When I… saw Bright Moon today, I missed her so much.”
No.
She missed Gu Tingyin, the one who had held her child tightly in her arms until death. The one who had originally belonged to her, but she had never even called her “mother” before.
It was more than just today that she missed her.
Gu Tinglan felt a dull pain in his chest. It was as if his heart had been crushed by something.
They had never talked about what happened in the past to Shen Li, and Shen Li had never said such words to them.
She missed Gu Tingyin very much.
Everyone knew that there was a scar there.
No one touched it. They all pretended that it did not exist, as if this would reduce some of the pain.
But how was that possible?
That wound had been there for many years and could not be healed.
It was so painful, how could she not feel it?
Actually, she should have asked Shen Zhijin about this.
But she could not.
She could not.
So, after much thought, she had decided that she could only ask Gu Tinglan about it.
“I remember that Uncle went to Lincheng to investigate this matter, right?”
Gu Tinglan was silent for a long time before he said, “Yes.”
He sorted out the chaotic thoughts in his mind.
“I’ve mentioned to you before that the fire actually started from the house downstairs. The man had forgotten to turn off the valve after cooking in the morning, causing the natural gas to leak. Later, when he went to the bathroom to take a shower and turned on the water heater, it exploded. The kitchen and bathroom were next to each other, so…
“At that time, your mother… and the baby were upstairs. The fire started very quickly, but your mother had just given birth and was still weak. She had to protect the child, so… she couldn’t run out.”
Gu Tinglan closed his eyes.
“In the end, she… suffocated to death.”
Shen Li did not speak for a long time.
Gu Tinglan took a deep breath and said, “Ah Li, your mother’s expected date of delivery was July 10th. Our family also said that they would go over when it was closer to the date. However, we didn’t expect you to be born half a month earlier. After receiving the news, the family immediately rushed to Lincheng. However, as you know, it takes some time to get to Lincheng from Hong Kong City.
“Your mother arrived at the hospital in the morning. The delivery had gone smoothly, but… the child had a very serious congenital heart disease. The hospital in Lincheng couldn’t treat her, so the family discussed transferring her to Yunzhou. At that time, your father… went to contact the hospital in Yunzhou. Bringing them to Yunzhou would require a lot of preparation, so he only left for a short while, really just a short while…”
Gu Tinglan’s voice choked up.
“… We waited for him to make all the arrangements. But by the time he returned, it was already…”
No one would have thought that the fire would start at that time.
Shen Li sat on the chair with her eyes slightly lowered and her shoulders straight, but her fingers were trembling.
“That’s why your father couldn’t forgive himself all these years.”
Even if it really was not his fault.
Who could have predicted what would happen next?
If it was not for the fact that so many people had stopped him, Shen Zhijin would have already died inside.
In the end, he had knelt in despair outside the scene of the fire, watching his life burn with his own eyes, before finally turning into a void of black ash.
It had vanished like smoke.
From now on, there was no difference between living and being dead.
Shen Li listened without moving.
She suddenly remembered the night they had conducted the paternity test. She had advised Shen Zhijin that the weather was too cold and that he had not recovered from his injuries, so it was better for him to go home first.
He had said that he had no right to ask her to do anything, but he should have the right to wait for that night.
At that time, she had not known, but now that she thought about it, she knew how much unspeakable pain was hidden under those words.
He had not even had a chance to start over and was forced to suffer day and night.
He had endured it, suffered, and remained silent, day and night.
She lowered her head slightly, her long eyelashes fluttered, and a small dark mark appeared on her jeans.
She closed her eyes and tried to make her voice sound calm.
“It was morning. Why had that person suddenly gone to take a shower?”
Gu Tinglan’s voice was serious.
“We’ve always had our suspicions about this. However, the dead could not testify, and the police did not find anything. Thus, they could only leave it at that and conclude that it was an accident. It was only a few years ago that we accidentally discovered that the kidnappers who tried to kidnap your mother had a secret relations.h.i.+p with a man named Dylan. This person might have been involved in the kidnapping, and he might even be the mastermind behind it. It’s a pity that the contents of their conversation have been erased. All that could be found out was that it was a foreign number and that the number corresponded to a non-existent person.”
This was where the trail of clues ended. The other party had obviously hidden their ident.i.ty.
Shen Li remembered this person.
“Uncle, didn’t you say that when the fire broke out, that person had returned to China?”
“That’s right. Because at that time, on a flight from abroad to China, that person used that fake pa.s.sport again.” Gu Tinglan shook his head. “It’s a pity that by the time we found out about this, it had already been more than ten years since the incident. Back then, investigative methods were limited. Moreover, that person must have disguised himself when he entered the country. That’s why even though we know he’s returned to the country, it’s like throwing a stone into the ocean, and we can’t find any more information.”
“In the years that followed, the fake pa.s.sport was never used again, so we had no way to start. But he seems to be involved in both the kidnapping and the fire, so…”
Therefore, he could not help but be suspicious.
Shen Li thought for a while and suddenly asked, “Uncle, are you familiar with s.h.i.+ Yang?”