Chapter 95: Hold Her Close
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“...”
Silence filled the ward once again.
Outside this ward, one could see the main street across, crowded with people and vehicles.
This was a bustling world; a prosperous world that ordinary people enjoyed.
As Kong Xinqiong listened on, after a short silence, a drop of tear trickled down her cheek.
She did not wipe off the tear but tried to speak. Her voice was hoarse like a broken pot.
“... I don’t know... anything. Just do whatever the police needed to do.”
Accompanied by a sigh so soft as if no one heard it, she closed her eyes once more like a snail who shrunk back to its shell. She seemed to want to resist till the end.
Tang Yuanchu closed his eyes in disappointment, then looked at Bai Muchuan in anticipation to receive any possible instruction.
Bai Muchuan was unmoved. “Do think it over carefully. However, don’t try to attempt suicide. You won’t be able to die.”
...
Silence prevailed once again.
The three of them were silent, even the picture of the camera was still.
Hence, a sudden phone call from Xiang Wan sounded extraordinarily loud to the ears.
Bai Muchuan frowned when he took a look at his mobile phone. He nodded his head at Tang Yuanchu and walked out of the ward.
“Hello!”
“Hello, Bai Muchuan.” Xiang Wan’s voice was soft and sweet. When she called him by his full name, there was a mild, lingering charm to it. “Can I come to the hospital?”
“Hm?” Bai Muchuan answered with a high tone, puzzled.
“... Didn’t you say Kong Xinqiong has awakened? I’d like to visit her.”
“Oh? She’s your relative?” Bai Muchuan’s cold, harsh voice made Xiang Wan’s nerves tense up.
This fellow has a split personality or something?
Sometimes, he behaved like a rogue, but even if he was sharp-tongued, he was easy to talk to.
When he didn’t want to open up, he would be so austere and distant like a freak who kept everyone at arm’s length. Nobody could get close to him...
Xiang Wan was a little peeved by his rebuttal.
She did not get angry, however, and did not hang up the phone immediately as well. After all, such acts belonged to those unreasonable or pretentious modern princesses doted on by many. It was not suitable of her to behave in that way, and she had no right to act like that in front of Bai Muchuan. But, she could make a deal with him.
“I’ve come into contact with Kong Xinqiong several times. She’s not easy to talk to, she’s a tough nut.”
“So?” Bai Muchuan grunted a laugh.
“Well, from your tone, I believe you haven’t get her to come clean about the case, right?”
“So, you think you feel that you’re unique and irreplaceable?”
What the? What has this got to do with unique and irreplaceable?
Xiang Wan was baffled but continued the conversation nonetheless. “So, I brought some food over to lend you a hand.”
“...”
Brought some food.
If Tang Yuanchu were to hear this, he would most probably be perplexed.
Why did these two talk about food with a suspect?
Nevertheless, Bai Muchuan was not surprised but asked coldly, “How did you know?”
Xiang Wan chuckled, where her tone revealed a tinge of proudness and playfulness of a young girl. When coupled with her soft and sweet voice, it could make one feel like being bathed in the spring breeze under the blossoming peach trees.
“I also have a keen sense of observation, alright? Back in Kong Xinqiong’s house, there were a couple of pictures hanging on the wall, and all of them were beautiful pictures of food. At her bedside table, there were also a couple of nice cookbooks of various cuisines. The most beautifully renovated part in her house was the kitchen as well. A woman with such a poor quality of life, yet she owned a complete set of cooking utensils, what does that mean?”
She loved food!
When one loved something, one would be reluctant to part with it...
“Will it be useful?” Bai Muchuan sneered. “The doctor has said that she can’t eat anything for now. Even if she can eat, do you really think that you can invoke her desire to live just by some food?”
“Maybe not!” Xiang Wan smiled. “But we won’t know if we don’t even give it a try?”
“...”
Bai Muchuan was silent for a long time.
“There are a lot of things that require initiative.” She seemed to puff a sigh. “If you don’t act on it and directly negate the result, isn’t it a show of weakness as well?”
The voice via the phone line sounded very soft and weak.
It was evident she was talking about the case, yet it seemed not at the same time.
Bai Muchuan squinted his eyes as he looked at the long corridor. “You’re not weak?”
“Hur!” Xiang Wan chortled. “Who do I show my weakness to? Do you believe that I have more guts than most men.”
“In what way?” he asked.
“Anything!”
“What?”
“Yes, anything,” she affirmed.
Even though they were connected through a phone line, Bai Muchuan could imagine a pretty face, smiling and nodding her head heavily.
He paused for a while.
Xiang Wan spoke again, expressing her opinion about what she meant by “anything”.
“I don’t understand you, but I can honestly admit that I’m very comfortable when I’m with you. Therefore, I’m willing to wait, I’ll wait and see when are you going to stop being aloof, when you are going to pluck up enough courage to admit your feelings toward me. Nonetheless, don’t expect that I’ll be waiting endlessly. You should know, the pace of life is fast, and there are many other beautiful things in life to pursue: nice games, good food, colorful lipsticks, lots of good-looking young men... I’m unable to guarantee that while I’m waiting for you, I might get attracted by others. While you’re still wavering, I would become someone else’s bride.”
Bai Muchuan’s body went stiff.
A long speech, like a burning iron, was branded on his heart.
He squinted at the blurred figures reflected in the window, saying each and every word clearly.
“Your words... hm, what do you mean?”
It was rare for him to speak so hesitantly and so vague.
It was also rare of him to breathe so rapidly and his heart beating so fast...
He heard a muffled chuckle by Xiang Wan.
“This is what I mean by initiative. If I don’t take the initiative because I don’t have the guts to try, how will I get to know you are not so indifferent toward me after all? Bai Muchuan, you gotta admit—my thinking is right.”
“...”
Bai Muchuan took a deep breath. “This is what you wanted to say?”
“No, I actually wanted to tell you that I’m already at the ground floor of the hospital with bags of food on my hand... as well as your lunch. Detective Bai, I know you haven’t eaten your lunch yet. So do you want to eat lunch together with me as well as let me have a try if I can persuade Kong Xinqiong?”
This woman!
She’s indeed assertive.
She’s also daring.
As well as hateful!
Bai Muchuan’s eyes were as if spewing flames as he felt he was being “taken liberties” by Xiang Wan and wished he could strangle her to death.
“No!” Je almost gnashed his teeth. His face showed he was about to burst out in anger, yet he was powerless against her. “Bring back your food and share it with your boyfriend!”
His head was aching after he growled at her.
With a hand supported by the window, he put down his hand slowly and lowered his head.
Momentarily, a woman’s voice came from the direction of the stairs from the corridor.
“But I don’t have a boyfriend!”
Bai Muchuan was so startled that he suddenly turned his head and saw the woman who suddenly appeared in front of him.
“You...”
“What about me? I’m sincere and not pretentious at all, right?” She laughed then said with a straight face, “In order to make sure my call doesn’t get disconnected inside the lift, I carried all these heavy things and climbed the stairs... ain’t I sincere?”
“...”
Bai Muchuan stared fiercely at her.
He kept staring at her with fire in his eyes.
Xiang Wan let out a chuckle. “Aren’t you glad? Aren’t you surprised?”
Hmph! Bai Muchuan looked at the beads of perspiration on her head, raised his hand and gave a knock on her forehead.
“Are you an idiot?” he growled.
“... If you have time to scold me, can’t you lend me a hand to take the food? It’s so heavy!” Xiang Wan’s mood seemed to be very good that day. Her eyes seemed to emit warmth and looked at him provokingly yet her tone was tenderly sweet. “I’m dog-tired from all these, you don’t feel heartache at all?”
“If you’re not dog-tired, I would have to make you work till you become one!”
Bai Muchuan strode toward the stairs angrily, grabbed the bags of food from Xiang Wan’s hands and placed them on the ground. Then he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards his chest.
“... Hey!”
Xiang Wan was unable to react to his sudden change of attitude as the powerful force pulled her toward his firm chest.
Close.
Really close.
His manly scent surrounded her sense of smell mixed with a strong feeling of invasion—it felt like passion, like dominance, as well as ferocity. Almost immediately, it seeped into the living cells through her limbs and she almost lost it...
But why did it have to stop by a finger’s breadth?
This was because with this brimming ambiguity, when the spark of emotion was just about to ignite, Bai Muchuan’s strong hands had moved to her shoulders from her waist, forming a distance between them.
... What is he doing?
Xiang Wan lifted her head, bemused and stared at his well-defined, fuming face.
“What exactly are you angry at?”
“What do you think?” Bai Muchuan squinted his eyes dangerously. “Xiang Wan, you’ve become naughty.”
“You sure?” She blinked.
“Definitely!”
Not only had she learned to flirt with him, she also refused to admit and acted innocent.
The two of them looked at each other.
Not sure whose heart was in a disorder.
It was an instant, yet at the same time, eternal.
They lost track of time. The coldness in Bai Muchuan’s eyes faded. When he grunted a laugh, he was back to the imposing and tsundere Detective Bai.
“Forget it! Since you have a good attitude, I won’t make a fuss over this!”
“...”
He won this round.
That was really unexpected! Xiang Wan squinted her eyes in defeat.
“Hurhur!”
...
With the addition of Xiang Wan, the ward got livelier.
Kong Xinqiong was on her guard when she faced the two detectives. When she saw her neighbor, Xiang Wan, especially at this moment after she had survived from a suicide attempt, she felt somewhat stirred to see a familiar face.
“Do you want to eat something?” Xiang Wan asked the same question as Bai Muchuan.
She placed the food inside the ward.
Thus, the whole room was filled with the aroma of Maocai, a spicy soup with lots of ingredients like a wide variety of vegetables, mushrooms, and choice of meat.
Maocai was a favorite amongst the people of Jin City. The fragrance of the dish was domineering and could easily stimulate appetites.
Nonetheless, Tang Yuanchu was stupefied at Xiang Wan’s actions.
Kong Xinqiong could not even eat plain porridge, let alone the spicy and flavorful Maocai? Why did Xiang Wan ask Kong Xinqiong to eat without rhyme or reason?
Kong Xinqiong kept quiet, while Tang Yuanchu couldn’t take it anymore.
“Teacher Xiang... you should let me have it. I haven’t taken my lunch...”
He didn’t stand on ceremony with her. He immediately took a pair of chopsticks.
However, the moment he grabbed the chopsticks, he received Bai Muchuan’s disapproving gaze.
Next, he obediently gave the pair of chopsticks to Bai Muchuan.
“Captain Bai, your chopsticks.”
Hm! Bai Muchuan seemed to be satisfied.
“You eat too.”
He took the chopsticks slowly and picked up a vegetable gracefully, delivering it to his mouth where he chewed on it leisurely.
Maybe his eating posture was too dashing that even Tang Yuanchu gulped. He grabbed another pair of chopsticks and started to eat.
“The taste is really not bad. Teacher Xiang, come eat with us too!”
“Okay.” Xiang Wan smiled as she saw Bai Muchuan eating the food with relish. She was glad as he had noticed her little trick, and cooperated with her as if he was eating a world renowned delicacy with poise.
“It’s really nice. Many people talked about this nice little restaurant called ‘Toilet Chuan Chuan’, it’s Maocai has a heavenly taste. I wanted to go try it since long ago, but I really can’t bring myself to queue and wait as the queue was too long...”
She was telling the truth, not making it up.
Bai Muchuan and Tang Yuanchu knew about this, too. Apparently, Kong Xinqiong knew about this as well.
She raised an eyebrow but did not open her eyes.
“It’s so good! Really good! I wonder how they make this dish. It’s so different from the other restaurants!” Xiang Wan was gasping due to the spiciness of the dish. She joked around and periodically sticked her tongue out.
From the corner of her eye, she would glance at Kong Xinqiong from time to time.
Bai Muchuan noticed that as well. “Be careful not to swallow your tongue!”
“I won’t. My tongue is all good...” Xiang Wan suddenly stopped here and turned to Kong Xinqiong, who was lying on the bed. She puffed a sigh as she said, “Sister Kong, why do you take it so hard? There’s so many good food you haven’t tried, so many colors of lipsticks you haven’t tried on, and so many beautiful sceneries you’ve not been to...”
Bai Muchuan: “...”
Tang Yuanchu: “...”
Even Kong Xinqiong furrowed her eyebrows slightly.
The three of them now looked at Xiang Wan which she had totally no idea why.
Of course, she did not know that Bai Muchuan had said something similar earlier. She thought for a moment, sighed, and chatted with Kong Xinqiong leisurely as if she was talking to a friend.
“You can have a good life ahead, yet you chose this path, are you really having no regrets?”
“...”
“I think you must have had regrets, right?”
“...”
“Even if you want to die, shouldn’t you die after knowing what actually happened? Why leave regrets for yourself?”
“...”
All these words that Xiang Wan said was as if both she and Bai Muchuan had read the same book and said almost the same thing.
It was only then Tang Yuanchu realized that the two of them had a kind of tacit understanding with each other.
...
Xiang Wan had said every word and sentence slowly but firmly.
There was no pressure, no agitation and did not put her in a spot.
Even if Kong Xinqiong did not reply her, she did not mind at all.
She continued to eat her food as she stayed in the air-conditioned room, enjoying the cool air. She was perspiring due to the spiciness, but her tone started to get lower as she continued talking...
“Well, there are times that one really need to bow down to fate.”
“...”
“I guess when you killed someone, you must have been feeling helpless? Sister Kong, I really feel sorry for you.”
The ward suddenly became silent.
Bai Muchuan’s eyes were as if a pair of ice blades. He saw her lips were tightly pursed. Even the silent Kong Xinqiong stared at her with eyes wide-opened.
“... Nobody... is willing to kill another,” she replied, out of the blue.
Her words were spoken in a hoarse voice that seemed to be filled with endless pain...
Xiang Wan’s eyelid trembled and asked casually, “How did Wu Hongliang die?”
Kong Xinqiong was taken aback.
That sudden question left her in shock.
Xiang Wan had learned this tactic of catching someone unaware from Bai Muchuan.
Kong Xinqiong thought for a moment and spoke slowly..
“He... deserve... death...” These three words sounded as if she was chanting a magic spell.
She and Wu Hongliang had been married for many years and had a son together. It was not known if they had gotten married because of love. To kill one’s own spouse of many years required a lot of more courage than one could imagine. The pressure after the deed was done was also not something that ordinary people could take.
All these years, she had never lived a day in peace.
She had a secret. She lived in the house as if guarding a corpse...
By now, Xiang Wan could understand why Kong Xinqiong always look so ashen and cold whenever she saw her.
In this relaxed atmosphere created deliberately by Xiang Wan herself, she appeared to be very relaxed. Even if she was listening to something brutal, she did not allow herself to show any emotions that should not appear.
She wiped her mouth with a piece of tissue casually. “Why did you kill him?” she asked again.
It was easier for women to open up when they were not being interrogated officially.
Kong Xinqiong looked down. “He wanted to kill me.”
Bai Muchuan said, “More details!”
“...”
The moment he opened his mouth, Kong Xinqiong stopped talking.
To others, he was too unfriendly!
Xiang Wan took a look at him and smiled gently at Kong Xinqiong. “No hurry, take it slowly. If you can’t remember, it’s fine, too.”
Everyone wanted to be respected by others. It was the same for Kong Xinqiong as well.
She seemed to have difficulty in talking. Her mind was not as active as a normal person, but she was able to detect and show her feelings without problem.
“Wu Hongliang, he... did not, he did not... abscond with the money...”
It was tiring for her to speak, and it was the same for those listening to her as well.
The few of them exchanged glances with each other and did not interrupt.
Kong Xinqiong seemed to be thinking and hesitating at the same time.
“After he killed Tan Ziyang, he seemed to be a changed person. He became short-tempered and started to hit me frequently...”
Prior to the cheating, Kong Xinqiong was the head of the household. Wu Hongliang listened to everything his wife said. He would always wear an honest smile and treated people kindly and politely. Even so, Kong Xinqiong would always shout at him in front of others from which his workers labeled him as a henpecked husband behind his back. For a mild person like him, who would have thought that he would kill someone?
Every dog has its day.
Kong Xinqiong had an affair. Wu Hongliang committed murder.
These two events spurred a major change in their relationship, causing a reversal in their roles.
Kong Xinqiong was found out for cheating, and the feeling of guilt had trodden her. She became careful around her husband.
On the contrary, Wu Hongliang’s inner beast was awakened when he killed someone. He no longer held back like before, and became violent as well as brazen.
Due to the pressure from the fear of getting caught any moment by the police—which would, in turn, get him a death sentence—he had fully vented all these feelings onto his wife, Kong Xinqiong.
He thought that he had killed someone all because of her and hated her to the core. Besides, the period where everyone had thought he had absconded with the funds, he was actually hiding at home from everyone. As he could not integrate with society by hiding at home for a long period of time, he was unable to live like a normal person. Hence, he had indirectly transformed into an evil, trapped beast.
“He hits me everyday, as if he wanted me dead... and I’m not allowed to scream or yell... Otherwise, he would make me and our son perish together with him...”
Whenever a weak woman would speak of her sad past, it would make people particularly sympathetic toward her.
Xiang Wan’s mind was filled with scenes of how Kong Xinqiong was being beaten to a pulp by Wu Hongliang.
Bai Muchuan then asked a question in a low tone.
“That wall, he dug it himself, right?”
“Yes!” Kong Xinqiong’s mouth was trembling. “He had secretly dug it... so as to hide the corpse.”
Well, Wu Hongliang had never expected he would get buried in there as well?
Bai Muchuan furrowed his eyebrows. “Why didn’t he seal all of Tan Ziyang’s body at ‘The Palace’?”
“I... I don’t know.” Kong Xinqiong shook her head. “Maybe he had no opportunity to do so? There were many workers at the site, and he was scared of being found out. At that time, he was so nervous that whenever he went to the site, he would vent his anger on me when he came back...”
“But nobody noticed it, right?” Xiang Wan frowned. “Why did he choose to hide the corpse at home?”
Kong Xinqiong lowered her head.
A long while later, she answered weakly, “He mutilated the body at home. There was no other place to hide. Moreover, we did not own the house anyway...”
“How did he kill Tan Ziyang?” Bai Muchuan asked again.
By this time, Kong Xinqiong was totally immersed in a question and answer session.
“I’m the one who asked Tan Ziyang to come to my house...” She seemed to be recalling. “I didn’t know... that he wanted to kill Tan Ziyang. He told me to... invite Tan Ziyang for a meal and drink, to thank him for introducing this major project to us... I’m from the same hometown as Tan Ziyang... He suspected us... At that time, I didn’t know...”
Kong Xinqiong had said this with some difficulty.
Nevertheless, the general picture was clear.
Bai Muchuan took a look at Xiang Wan, waiting for her to swallow her food first then asked slowly.
“Did you know that when you sealed Wu Hongliang into the wall, he was still alive?”
“...”
When Xiang Wan imagined all these disturbing scenes, her stomach didn’t feel too comfortable.
She pursed her lips tightly in discomfort and glared toward Bai Muchuan when they heard Kong Xinqiong’s sobbing sounds.
“I... know... but... no... in the beginning, I didn’t know...”
...
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