When Spring Burns - Chapter 24

Sheng Tingmian held her quietly, keenly aware of the deep sorrow in He Jianxue’s heart, the endless longing she could never share with anyone.

She bore it all alone, silently healing herself.

Perhaps every night, her sister was tormented by regret, wondering why she couldn’t save her younger sister, questioning whether it was her fault.

If she had noticed the problem earlier, would the outcome have been different? Would her sister still be alive? The guilt kept her awake, unable to sleep.

Sheng Tingmian listened to her sister’s heartbeat, faint and steady, with the occasional subtle pause of held breath, a sign that her sister was in the process of healing her wounds. After a moment, Sheng Tingmian felt a pair of hands tighten around her shoulders, pulling her closer to her sister’s chest. She closed her eyes and obediently let her sister hold her.

People need strength to keep living, and she was willing to be the energy that sustained her sister before she could grasp a lifeline.

…

Because the police station required a statement, He Jianxue had no choice but to go.

Duan Yunzhi and the others actually had the audacity to hire lawyers to fight the case. However, as soon as they saw the ironclad evidence she provided, which left no room for denial, they immediately changed their tune, trying to play the emotional card.

In the interrogation room, He Jianxue faced the three of them as they wept and pleaded, tears streaming down their faces, begging for her forgiveness.

He Jianxue said, “Only one of you will be granted immunity.”

Upon hearing this, their minds raced, each trying to shift the blame and absolve themselves.

“A’Xue, your aunt was just momentarily blinded and made a mistake. Please forgive me, okay? I’ve watched you grow up since you were little. This matter has nothing to do with me.”

“Daughter, your father knows he was wrong too. I’ve failed as a father. It was all your aunt’s idea, she was the one who suggested crippling your legs…”

Before he could finish, Duan Peiwen’s expression turned venomous as she glared at Duan Yunzhi. “You bastard, Duan Yunzhi! You’re pinning it all on me? Do you think you’re any better? Without your approval, would I have dared to do such a thing?!”

Duan Peiwen slapped Duan Yunzhi. “You were never satisfied being a live-in son-in-law even when He Gulan was alive. As soon as she died, you used it as an excuse to move out of the He family. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, how many mistresses have you slept with? Do you still cherish any affection for He Gulan? Do you even remember that your daughter is paralyzed from the waist down?! What kind of scum are you to dump all the blame on me? Let’s all go to hell together!”

Duan Ziheng, with his hands spread on the table, quickly spilled everything. “Cousin, you probably don’t know who provided those drugs. It was Uncle who went to great lengths to get them from others. The medical team you hired before, he bribed the doctors and tampered with their statements, all to make you believe your legs were permanently paralyzed. They say even a vicious tiger doesn’t eat its own cubs, but Uncle has always hated you. Why? Because you don’t share his surname. He never saw you as his daughter from the very beginning. To him, you were only He Gulan’s daughter. The only reason he supported me was because he thought I could take care of him in his old age.”

Because a nephew often resembles his uncle, Duan Yunzhi felt Duan Ziheng took after him. Moreover, since Duan Peiwen’s marriage was arranged with Duan Yunzhi’s family as her backing, and Duan Yunzhi himself relied on the He family’s influence, she also chose to take in a son-in-law and have her children carry her surname. Since they shared the surname Duan, Duan Yunzhi felt particularly close to this nephew.

Duan Yunzhi saw both mother and son united against him, exposing his innermost thoughts. Humiliated and enraged, he spat out, “You, you two ungrateful wretches! After all I’ve done for you, you dare betray me to my face?!”

The mother and son listened to his accusations with their arms crossed, sitting in their chairs, letting his words go in one ear and out the other.

Duan Yunzhi was so furious he nearly choked. Finally, he turned to He Jianxue. “Daughter, don’t listen to their nonsense. They’re just trying to drag your father down. He Xiu’s arranged marriage was proposed by your cousin, he knows Lin Youlin. Lin Youlin took a liking to He Xiu, but she refused. Your cousin used your leg as leverage to persuade her into the marriage.”

Duan Ziheng had assumed the blame wouldn’t fall on him. Hearing this, he exploded, “So what if I suggested He Xiu’s marriage? After she married, she begged you, her adoptive father, for help, and you turned a blind eye! You told her to be sensible?!”

Noticing He Jianxue’s face darken like never before, Duan Ziheng’s heart sank. Could He Xiu’s death be He Jianxue’s biggest trigger? Did that mean he had no immunity?

Panicking, Duan Ziheng quickly shifted the blame, revealing what he had once witnessed: “This is mainly Uncle’s fault. If he had truly cared for He Xiu, how could we relatives have persuaded her? Uncle had multiple chances to save her, but he never did.”

He tried to win some sympathy, adding, “Cousin, please forgive me. I barely did anything. I’m still young, I can’t go to prison. Let me go, and I swear I’ll turn over a new leaf and live honestly.”

“Forgive?” He Jianxue stared coldly at the three of them. The thought of He Xiu pleading for help only to be abandoned made her chest burn with suppressed fury. “Bring He Xiu back, and I’ll forgive you. Otherwise, don’t even think about it.”

As she turned to leave, Duan Peiwen grew anxious and called out, “Didn’t you say one of us would have immunity?”

He Jianxue paused mid-step. “You don’t deserve to die even a hundred times.”

After leaving the interrogation room, He Jianxue hired the most formidable gold medal lawyer, demanding they argue for the “maximum penalties.” She also submitted evidence of the group’s embezzlement of corporate assets and involvement in private gambling deals.

“I want them to rot in prison.”

…

A month later, the three members of the Duan family were behind bars. The highest sentence was life imprisonment; the lightest still carried over a decade, a shocking scandal that rocked the city of Yan.

The shareholders of the He Group fell into a fearful silence.

Soon after, they heard that He Jianxue had terminated cooperation with the Lin family. Just as they lamented the loss, Lin’s main automotive business was exposed for faulty components and malfunctioning GPS systems. Overnight, their cars became death traps that everyone avoided, and their business plummeted.

When one shareholder saw Old Master Lin again, he looked haggard, like a man in his seventies or eighties. His company was bankrupt, buried under massive debt. Factory workers stormed his home, demanding their unpaid wages. The Lin couple refused to pay, planning to flee abroad to escape the turmoil.

But someone must have leaked their plans. The moment they stepped out, they were surrounded by a crowd. Seeing the couple still riding in luxury cars, adorned with expensive watches and South Sea pearl jewelry, living in a villa yet withholding wages, deeply enraged the workers.

The workers surged forward, some grabbing things, others smashing them. In the chaos, they inadvertently provoked Old Mr. Lin into an asthma attack. Mrs. Lin, witnessing the workers swarming into the villa to loot, trembled with rage and screamed on the spot. Her jewelry was stripped from her in an instant.

By the time she regained her composure, her elderly husband, having failed to take his medication in time, had already passed away in the car…

Mrs. Lin wept and wailed, “Oh, my son, if you were still alive, your parents wouldn’t have been bullied like this…”

…

Cemetery.

A bouquet of white camellias, pure as moonlight, was gently placed before He Xiu’s tombstone.

He Jianxue stood before the grave in a black trench coat, her eyes shadowed with sorrow.

“He Xiu, did your sister come too late?”

If only she had held on a little longer, could she have waited for her sister to stand up for her…

But who could say for sure? Perhaps by then, He Xiu had already sunk into utter despair, seeing no glimmer of hope, and chose to end her life in such a manner.

If there were a next life, she would never let He Xiu suffer even the slightest grievance again.

Sheng Tingmian stood quietly beside her. Her sister had been standing there for two hours, saying nothing, just gazing silently at the photo of He Xiu on the tombstone.

As dusk gradually fell and the night wind grew chilly, Sheng Tingmian couldn’t help but step forward and gently touch her hand. “Sister… don’t be sad.”

He Jianxue withdrew her hand without looking at her, her expression cold. “You go back. I want to stay with my sister a little longer.”

Sheng Tingmian’s slender, pale hand hung in the air. Sensing the subtle shift in her sister’s attitude, a sudden heaviness settled in her chest.

“Alright, I’ll go back first then.”

Biting her lip, Sheng Tingmian gazed at her sister’s profile, tall and slender, like a straight pine tree in the night.

She didn’t take her sister’s car back but called another ride to return to the He residence.

That evening, He Jianxue did not come back. Upon inquiry, Sheng Tingmian learned that she had returned to the corporation to handle affairs. Left with no choice, Sheng Tingmian slept alone in her sister’s bed.

Before bed, her aunt called to say that the little tomato plant she had planted had borne fruit, bright red ones. She had picked one to eat, describing it as both sour and sweet.

Sheng Tingmian slept restlessly that night. She dreamed that she was no longer a grass parakeet but had turned into a little tomato, covered in dusty gray soil, gazing across the street at a sacred and pure camellia tree in full bloom.

Before long, rain began to fall. The little tomatoes on her body stung from the raindrops, and she leaned against a withered bamboo stalk to keep from being blown over.

Yet, she saw a brilliantly blooming rose nestled under the camellia tree across the street, completely untouched by the rain.

Suddenly, she felt overwhelmingly sad.

The next day, Sheng Tingmian ate breakfast alone and headed to the theater. To her surprise, her aunt had picked the tomatoes and brought them to the theater for her to enjoy as a post-meal snack.

After all, she had grown them with her own hands. Sheng Tingmian picked one up and put it in her mouth. With one bite, it was so sour.

Hadn’t her aunt said they were both sour and sweet? Why was it only sour…

Returning to the He residence, she found herself alone again. He Jianxue was still at the corporation and hadn’t returned, claiming there was too much work to handle.

This went on for several days in a row. Even if Sheng Tingmian didn’t understand at first, she knew what it meant now.

She was being driven away, wasn’t she?

After all, she wasn’t a blood-related sister.

Suppressing her sorrow, Sheng Tingmian took out her suitcase from the room and began packing her clothes one by one. In her bag, she found a gold pendant engraved with a grass parakeet, so lifelike it seemed almost real.

She was no longer the autumn grass parrot, just a tiny tomato.

Sheng Tingmian reluctantly stroked the pattern on it, traced the four characters “Liangzhou Diqi,” and finally placed it on the table, leaving it behind.

However, just as she was about to leave, she ran into He Jianxue returning. With her capable and mature aura, draped in a black coat and striking red lips, she was instructing her assistant about work matters.

He Jianxue adjusted the expensive coat on her shoulders and, seeing Sheng Tingmian dragging her suitcase, asked in confusion, “Where are you going?”

Sheng Tingmian stopped, her demeanor gentle and refined as she lowered her gaze. “Miss He, I’m going back to my aunt’s place for now. Thank you very much for taking care of me during this time. I’ve completed my role as a younger sister and won’t disturb you any further.”

But as she spoke these polite words, the corners of her eyes couldn’t help but redden, tears welling up.

“Younger sister’s role?” He Jianxue pondered for a moment, hearing her deliberately distant address of “Miss He.” “When did I ever ask you to leave?”

“I’m leaving of my own accord.” Sheng Tingmian kept her head down, avoiding her gaze, and tried to pass by her. But in the next second, her wrist was caught.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” He Jianxue lifted her wrist, and it was this gesture that made her notice Sheng Tingmian’s reddened eyes and the tear tracing its way down her cheek.

He Jianxue was momentarily stunned, reflecting on whether she had truly been too harsh these past few days, failing to notice her younger sister’s emotions in time, just as she had once failed to notice He Xiu’s feelings.

She gazed into the girl’s beautiful eyes, trying to decipher her emotions, wondering if there was some unspoken grievance.

But after looking for a long while, all she saw were those lovely, lively eyes now brimming with tears. There was indeed a sense of grievance, but she couldn’t understand why. Could it be that because she hadn’t returned home these past few days, Mianmian had misunderstood and thought she was being driven away?

“Your sister has truly been busy with the company these past few days. I never meant to drive you away. You will always be my younger sister, that will never change.”

Seeing her weeping like a pear blossom bathed in rain, her nose reddened, He Jianxue couldn’t help but reach out to wipe her tears away. “Mianmian, if there’s anything your sister has done wrong, tell me, and I’ll change it.”