A mother naturally puts her son first.
Qin Yueru took a sip of barley tea and soon noticed that Tang Li’s party had gotten up to leave. It wasn’t until half an hour later that Han Jifeng came to pick her up to go home.
On the way back, Qin Yueru suddenly said, "I ran into Tang Li just now."
Han Jifeng was focused on driving.
He seemed unreactive, but Qin Yueru caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye that his grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly.
"She was out eating with classmates," said Qin Yueru. "I haven’t seen her in months, but she seems to have become even more sensible. I actually quite girl, and though she’s still in school, if you think she’s suitable, you could start dating."
Han Jifeng did not verbally reject this suggestion.
Qin Yueru felt there was hope, and genuinely smiled, "With your job being so busy, an ordinary girl might not understand you, but Ah Li is a nice and accommodating girl, with a good temperament and intelligence, she won’t cause any trouble for you."
As she spoke, Qin Yueru turned her head to look at the road ahead, her eyes somewhat distant, "My health isn’t good, and you’re often not at home. If you could marry sooner, there would be someone to keep me company."
After a while, Han Jifeng suddenly asked, "Do you really like her?"
"It doesn’t matter if I like her; what matters is whether you like her."
Qin Yueru said, "A wife is for you to live with, not for me. If you think Ah Li is good, then try getting along with her. It’s not about getting married straight away. If it’s not suitable, it’s normal for you guys to part ways."
Throughout the trip, Han Jifeng didn’t initiate further conversation.
When they reached the Han Family residence, he took his car keys and went straight to his bedroom.
He closed the door behind him, took off his coat, sat on the edge of the bed, but his eyes were drawn to the documents on the table. Those were photocopies of the material he used to report Xia Zhengguo’s corruption, which he had obtained from a chief at the Ministry of Justice.
—In a few more days, Xia Zhengguo would be officially removed from his position.
Han Jifeng leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees with his hands clasped. In his mind, fragments of disjointed dreams replayed.
If he initially thought he was just having a lengthy dream, after obtaining the evidence of Xia Zhengguo’s embezzlement, the scenes in the dream became more vivid. If everything that he had dreamt were to eventually occur, what was his current existence?
When Qin Yueru mentioned Tang Li in the car, he remembered the woman held by the kidnapper with an arm locked around her neck and a handgun pressed against her temple. Her left leg was impaired, and her hands, gripping the kidnapper’s wrist, bore scars from burns.
He stood on the cold, biting rooftop, his expression stern, listening to the kidnapper’s demands, then made a "fire" signal to the opposite rooftop.
The bullet didn’t kill the kidnapper but passed through the head of the hostage he held.
Han Jifeng raised his hand and rubbed his face.
In that dream, he had not intended the SWAT to deliberately kill Tang Li; it was merely an accident. Yet, this accident also became his inner demon.
The cellphone vibrated with a buzz in the silent bedroom.
It was a message from Lai Shengxia.
[Will you come to my wedding with Qin Yansheng?]
He opened his social media, where Lai Shengxia had posted a status five minutes ago – a photo of Triangel porcelain dolls, with a monologue: "I feel more and more that student days were the simplest. I miss them, but can’t return."
Han Jifeng didn’t reply to the message. According to the development in his dreams, Lai Shengxia and Qin Yansheng would not marry until two years later. The message now was merely a probe.
—A probe to see if he still harbored feelings for her.