Fell In Love With My Older Sister’s Friend - Chapter 98

At the police station near Lincheng University.

Inside the interrogation room, the woman’s wounds had been simply treated. She spoke intermittently, her emotions collapsing, repeating only a few phrases.

Fortunately, the entire process was clearly recorded by surveillance video, and the scene was perfectly preserved, the evidence conclusive, so the officers didn’t have to spend too much effort.

Across from Lin Qingyue sat a younger officer and an older officer the younger one looked stern, while the older one was more composed.

She frowned, disliking the atmosphere of the interrogation room, but felt helpless.

She answered each question the officer asked, her expression dazed, covering her face as she sobbed. Even with a swelling, her extremely beautiful face was filled with endless sorrow and terror.

Her dress was covered in dried bloodstains, and there was a large patch of gauze on her back. The assessment determined it was a minor injury, requiring a few days of hospitalization.

However, Lin Qingyue proactively stated she would cooperate with the police investigation first. Her peach blossom eyes betrayed an involuntary pain, and she would occasionally let out a low moan, but she suppressed it.

She was like a startled bird, utterly terrified.

The young officer felt a pang of sympathy but quickly adjusted his tone, coldly tapping the desk: “What is your relationship with him?”

Lin Qingyue paused briefly: “No relationship. I… I don’t even know why he…”

The young officer interrupted her: “The surveillance video says he was your father?”

Lin Qingyue slowly shook her head: “My father died long ago.”

That was true.

When she was seventeen, she ran away from the mudslide that swept through her mountain village, crying to the rescue workers that both her parents were dead, and she was the only survivor.

When applying for her ID card and household registration book, she registered her name as Lin Qingyue. The household registration book was empty, containing only her page.

At that time, the systems were not networked, and the procedures were not as standardized. Whatever Lin Qingyue said, the police believed.

The young officer pondered: “Then it was robbery. But between you two…”

Lin Qingyue’s peach blossom eyes drooped she was utterly exhausted. If she could, she wished she could be like Nezha, cutting off her own flesh to repay her father.

She was willing to let every drop of blood flow from her body to sever ties with that man.

The police checked the man’s identity information: an old bachelor, no wife or children, with a record of past brawls.

Lin Qingyue suddenly felt a sense of relief. Her mother had been bought, so she had no household registration, and consequently, neither did Lin Qingyue.

In that barren, backward mountain village, there were too many such unregistered people, so legally speaking, she had absolutely no relationship with that man.

The young officer felt a headache coming on. His experience was still insufficient, so he sought help by looking towards the older officer.

The older officer swept over Lin Qingyue’s entire body with a look of pity, but only let out a slight snort.

He knew the gap between legal regulations and practical judgment, and he knew that whether to refuse to file a case or detain her was entirely up to them.

Lin Qingyue was not wrong; she was only wrong because that was the way the world was righteous people might not necessarily get good rewards, while those who committed evil acts always seemed to have someone making excuses for them.

In the end, the police station made the decision not to file a case, citing it as self-defense.

The young officer looked at Lin Qingyue with a touch of admiration and muttered to his supervisor: “This is the first self-defense case this year. No counter attack, no pursuit, no weapon, and we have surveillance footage it’s all too coincidental.”

So coincidental that it made one think everything was designed by her, yet the woman in front of them was clearly trembling, looking completely terrified, unable even to speak a full sentence.

She was still tightly gripping the safety pendant that was almost snatched from her.

The young officer felt something was not quite right and instinctively wanted to investigate further, to see if it was incitement to a crime.

He was immediately tapped on the head by the older officer: “The case is closed, stop overthinking. That man deserved what he got.”

Who told him to go out and commit robbery for no reason? He deserved to be fought back against.

The older officer looked up at Lin Qingyue’s departing figure as she left the police station. The woman’s legs were still shaking, and her dress had a dark red stain, but she walked one step at a time, her back ramrod straight.

Like justice stubbornly persisting.

With such courage, she endured several blows from a beer bottle; any deeper and her spine could have been injured.

This woman was not simple.

As Lin Qingyue stepped out of the police station and took in a breath of the cool air, the next second, an overwhelming wave of dizziness washed over her.

The smell of blood filled her nostrils hers and the man’s a field of crimson that was frightening to behold.

But she had finally taken this step, in such a decisive and tragic manner.

In a way that could easily lead to her being imprisoned.

She could bear it no longer and bent over, vomiting until tears streamed down her face.

The wound on her back seemed to have ripped open again, causing piercing pain. She had been enduring it until now, but finally, the pain made her tears burst forth.

She desperately wanted Xu Luzhi to hug her.

She longed to rush to Xu Luzhi, to tell her that she could finally stand proudly in the sunlight.

Lin Qingyue opened her chat interface, and the first thing she saw was the message she had sent: the blinding text, “Let’s break up.”

Her heart ached. She didn’t want to break up at all. She was just worried that if she were detained, then arrested, going through the first and second trials to serving time be it a short year or two, or three to five years Xu Luzhi wouldn’t be able to contact her.

She couldn’t let the little one worry about her, much less jeopardize Xu Luzhi’s future.

Lin Qingyue’s eyes darkened. She wanted to send Xu Luzhi a message to let her know she was safe, wanted to tell her she didn’t actually want to break up, wanted to tell her how much she missed her.

But then she suddenly became afraid again.

Afraid of dragging Xu Luzhi down, afraid Xu Luzhi would be scared of her with blood on her hands, afraid Xu Luzhi would think she was too cruel.

When you use your true heart, you are always filled with anxiety about gains and losses.

Lin Qingyue suddenly remembered the injury on her face. She quickly turned on the front facing camera a large swelling on her cheek, hideously ugly.

She irritably turned off the camera. So ugly, so ugly she didn’t even want to look at it herself.

And the large wound on her back she didn’t know if it would leave a scar.

Lin Qingyue recalled Xu Luzhi’s obsession with her beauty, and an inexplicable anxiety arose in her heart.

If she wasn’t beautiful anymore, would Xu Luzhi stop liking her?

After waiting for Xu Luzhi to grow up a bit more, wouldn’t she realize there were many people more beautiful than her, people who were also talented and rich?

And the current Lin Qingyue possessed nothing except for herself, completely unburdened by secrets she had nothing else to give Xu Luzhi.

What’s more, she had just personally told Xu Luzhi that they were breaking up.

The little one must be heartbroken, but it didn’t matter; she would forget her in a few days.

As long as she disappeared from Lincheng, Xu Luzhi wouldn’t be able to find her, and things would naturally take their course. After a while, she would find a girlfriend truly suited for her.

Or a boyfriend.

Lin Qingyue endured the pain in her body and the pain in her heart, slowly walking back home. She quickly packed a few things compared to the single bag she arrived in Lincheng with, this was many times larger.

Many items were left behind by Xu Luzhi.

Lin Qingyue bent over, a spasm of pain shooting through her back. She hissed, picking up a pair of cute little bear slippers from the floor Xu Luzhi’s exclusive pair.

There was also the water cup, the toothbrush, the bowl… these inconspicuous little things had permeated her life little by little, and she couldn’t bear to part with any of them.

The most conspicuous thing was the gardenia on the bay window, already lush and flourishing, swaying in the breeze.

Lin Qingyue burst into tears again. The large room was empty, and a silent loneliness swept over her heart, making her feel inexplicably panicked and lost.

The last time she felt this empty was when she woke up one morning and her mother was gone.

When she asked that man, he immediately slapped her and said irritably, “Your mother ran off, damn it!”

Lin Qingyue remained silent and was sad for a long time, but she never resented her mother. The beautiful and elegant woman visibly withered after coming to this small mountain village, her appearance becoming haggard.

She was glad her mother had finally left, even if she hadn’t taken her along.

Lin Qingyue absently packed her things. There were too many items to fit in one suitcase, so she simply put everything back in place, taking only a few necessities.

At worst, she could keep renting this apartment as a storage unit.

She had to go find her mother. Her girlfriend was gone; she couldn’t lose her mother too.

Lin Qingyue forgot to change her clothes and dragged her suitcase to Lincheng Railway Station, buying the soonest ticket to Weicheng.

Mother, whom I’ve thought of day and night, I can finally come to find you openly.

Are you well?

After getting off the train, Lin Qingyue stood somewhat lost in the railway station square, unsure of where to go.

The scenery before her was familiar, yet she felt the anxiety of someone returning home after a long absence instead, she became hesitant to approach.

The information she had gathered was a year old. What if it wasn’t actually her mother? How would she face herself then?

The sun was a bit too bright, making Lin Qingyue dizzy. A kind older woman approached and reminded her, “Child, is your back injured?”

Lin Qingyue was startled and reached back to touch the wound. Sure enough, blood had soaked through the bandage, staining her hand red.

No wonder it hurt so much, a searing pain.

She thanked the woman and went to the nearest hospital, deciding to be admitted for a few days.

During the several days in the hospital, she slept through most of the time, except for eating, drinking, and washing. She was so quiet that even the nurses worried she was in a coma.

Lin Qingyue was simply too exhausted.

For eight years, she had slept with vigilance. In her midnight dreams, the shadow of the man’s oppression lingered.

It wouldn’t go away, forcing her to constantly suppress herself, even requiring her to wear a veil during her guzheng performances.

She was afraid of being found.

At the same time, she had to travel to poor areas under the guise of “budget travel.” In reality, she was secretly inquiring about her mother’s whereabouts, eventually choosing Weicheng, where the accent was similar to her mother’s, and searching for seven years.

When she finally got a lead, she was found again. She fled in panic, solely to ensure that her mother would not have the slightest possibility of being discovered.

Being on high alert for twenty-four hours had truly worn her out, leaving her with no energy for romance.

Until Xu Luzhi infiltrated her heart so suddenly, little by little, in a way she couldn’t escape.

She loved Xu Luzhi she loved her so, so much.

But Lin Qingyue didn’t have the energy to think about anything else right now. She could only sleep soundly on the hospital bed, constantly having the same recurring dream.

In the dream, for the first time, she saw a sky so clear that the bottom could be seen, sunlight so beautiful, and gardenias blooming everywhere by the roadside, large clusters of them.

At the end of the road, her beautiful mother stood there, opening her arms to her.

She wanted to tell her mother, “Don’t be afraid anymore, you never have to be afraid again.”

But Lin Qingyue couldn’t wake up. She wanted to sleep forever, never to wake up, to live happily in the dream.

She drifted in a daze for a full week before finally being discharged by court order.

Her wounds had healed somewhat and would no longer easily reopen. The swelling on her face had also subsided. She changed into a new dress and looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in the mirror.

In such a short time, she almost didn’t recognize herself. The enchanting Lin Qingyue was gone, replaced by a woman whose peach blossom eyes revealed unmistakable fragility and brokenness.

It was as if her family had just been shattered, looking so wronged that a single glance felt like she was about to cry.

How desperately she wished to throw herself into a warm embrace.

Lin Qingyue closed her eyes and took a deep breath, only smelling the overwhelming scent of disinfectant.

She picked up her suitcase and headed directly to the place she had inquired about a noodle shop in the outskirts of Weicheng City.

She paused outside the shop for a while, which soon drew the attention of those inside. A fair-skinned, plump young man in a chef’s hat came out and smiled broadly: “Do you want something to eat?”

The woman’s face looked somewhat dispirited and haggard, yet her beauty was undeniable, stunning at first glance and heart wrenching. The young man had noticed her long ago and dared to come out and ask.

Lin Qingyue nodded as if waking from a dream, her voice hoarse as she said, “One bowl of yangchunmian [plain noodle soup], please.”

“Coming right up.” The young man happily went back inside. Lin Qingyue sat down, and soon a bowl piled high with noodles was placed before her. Lin Qingyue stirred it with her chopsticks and discovered a poached egg nestled underneath.

She said quietly, “I don’t think I ordered an egg.”

The young man smiled sheepishly: “It’s a gift for you. You don’t look well.”

He was broad and plump, looking simple and honest. Lin Qingyue thanked him and, when scanning the code to pay, added a few extra yuan.

She wasn’t used to owing people favors, but this simple kindness, given purely out of concern and not for any other reason, warmed Lin Qingyue’s heart.

She took a bite of the noodles and a small sip of the broth; her mouth felt warm, and her body warmed up too. The noodles were delicious, and her entire being felt instantly comforted.

Lin Qingyue ate the noodles slowly, then casually asked, “Um… Master, I heard there was also an auntie working here? Why don’t I see her?”

“Oh, you mean my mom? She went to get supplies,” the young man replied enthusiastically, walking over and stopping at a respectful distance from the table. “Did you need her for something?”

Lin Qingyue shook her head: “No, nothing.”

The hope she had just raised shattered heavily. Clearly, this young man was older than her; her mother couldn’t possibly have such an older son.

She could only say that much before she couldn’t speak anymore. The chopstick full of noodles she had just picked up fell back into the bowl, splashing a few droplets of broth. Lin Qingyue remained silent, her heart aching in waves.

This wasn’t the first time, perhaps not the tenth time a lead turning out to be wrong. Maybe her mother didn’t want to be found either.

But she wanted to find her mother she only wanted to confirm that her mother was living well, and then leave all the money she had saved over the years to her.

Her own birth was a mistake and a sin; she needed to clear her debt.

Lin Qingyue didn’t realize she was crying until several tissues appeared before her eyes, accompanied by a gentle female voice: “Miss, did you need something from me?”

She silently took the tissues and quickly wiped her eyes. Through her blurry vision, she saw a kind looking auntie whose temperament resembled her mother’s in some ways, but whose facial features were entirely different.

However, the accent and verbal habits were almost exactly the same. The word “Miss” (guniang) had the emphasis on the first syllable. When her mother spoke, she would draw out the second syllable with a long, soft, lingering sound.

She shook her head and murmured, “I’m sorry, I must have the wrong person.”