CH 24

Did you know?

After leaving the hospital, the man who entered Ji Chen’ai’s ward got into a car and quickly disappeared. In the car, he changed out of his police uniform then took out a phone and said, “I just went to ask, he doesn’t know anything.”

The conversation was unknown, the man answered twice before he scolded, “If I know anything that has to do with eating inside and outside [1], watch, I won’t settle things with a single shot.”

[1] 吃里扒外 [chī lǐ pá wài]:  live off one person while secretly helping another;

The two said some irrelevant things, and the man finally said, “This matter is not something we can fully control, you won’t be implicated, right?”

The man on the other side of the phone answered the imposter’s question, and his original gloomy expression cleared up a little, he said, “Okay then, I’m on my way there, see you later.”

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

✤✤

After discovering this, both Zhou Yaoyun and Xu Yidai’s complexions didn’t look good. They both seem to look somewhat scared out of their wits by Ji Chen’ai. For a moment, they didn’t know what to say.

Human trafficking, like drugs, is a profiteering industry. Human trafficking does not even require capital, as long as you are ruthless enough, and have some brain, it is enough to do the job.

The lowest price for a child is tens of thousands of yuan. After excluding shipping cost, the rest is all net profit. Selling one child a month brings in more money than many working-class people.

Of course, with the improvement of national legislation, the punishment for human trafficking is becoming heavier and heavier. However, as long as this chain of interests is still in place, the industry of human traffickers will never go extinct, just like drugs.

The fact that Ji Chen’ai is tampering with this will certainly touch the bottom line of some people, so it is very natural to be retaliated against.

But even so, Ji Chen’ai is not going to stop. When the fake policeman came in, Xiao Qi directly called the real police and told Ji Chen’ai that his negative energy value exceeded the standard, and to be careful.

Ji Chen’ai simply took the opportunity, pretending to be a frightened and weak teenager. He rushed into Zhou Yaoyun’s arms shivering and pitifully looking at the man, but his heart was full of bloody thoughts.

Ji Chen’ai wants the man before his eyes dead. The worse he dies, the better.

The first experience of killing someone did not have a serious impact on Ji Chen’ai. Even after he killed someone, he fell directly to the ground and fell asleep. Xiao Qi felt very helpless looking at his heartless appearance.

When Ji Chen’ai woke up, Xiao Qi asked, aren’t you afraid?

Ji Chen’ai asked Xiao Qi back, what does he need to be afraid of?

“As a human being, shouldn’t you feel guilty after killing your own kind?” said Xiao Qi.

Ji Chen’ai speaks bluntly, “I’m not the same kind as this scum.”

Ji Chen’ai clearly understood that if he didn’t have Xiao Qi, then he would probably become a waste. Old Four would have left him with a mouth that was unable to speak, eyes that were unable to see, and broken hands.

The softness in Ji Chen’ai’s heart has long been used up. With Xiao Qi as backing, he completely put away his compassion in the face of these people.

Nevertheless, Old Four is still dead. He died the night he was admitted into the hospital. According to what Xu Yidai told him privately, Old Four looked terrible before he died. His eyes opened wide, full of panic as if he saw some terrifying demon.

Ji Chen’ai doesn’t care how he died, if they’re going to mention demons, Ji Chen’ai is afraid that no one can compare to Old Four himself.

All the injuries on Ji Chen’ai’s body are abrasions, they can be handled with a bit of disinfectant and he can be discharged from the hospital that day, but Zhou Yaoyun disagrees.

This incident greatly stimulated Zhou Yaoyun. He didn’t expect that due to his negligence, such things would happen to Ji Chen’ai. Had it not been for the sudden infighting among the traffickers, he would have never seen his brother again.

At first, Zhou Yaoyun wanted to tell their parents about the incident, but he was directly stopped by Ji Chen’ai. According to him – since the matter has been perfectly solved, there is no need to let family members worry anymore.

Zhou Yaoyun looked at Ji Chen’ai and finally put down the phone.

The incident caused a lot of trouble. Two human traffickers, originally one dead and one injured, but the injured one didn’t survive for more than 2 days. After media coverage, the police responded quickly and tried to deflect the situation by exposing the murderer– the ‘human trafficker’ that Ji Chen’ai has seen once.

The public’s attention was drawn to the murderer, so some clues were artificially diluted.

Ji Chen’ai knows why. He used Xiao Qi to check the telephone number and bank account that Old Four gave him. After making use of its powerful function to inquire, Xiao Qi gave a name – Xu Yunchong.

This is a name that Ji Chen’ai had heard before. Before he was disabled, he followed Ji Mingzhong to some banquets. At the banquet, Ji Chen’ai had seen this person named Xu Yunchong once.

And the reason why Ji Chen’ai remembered this person so clearly was because he was too conspicuous. His age was only ten years older than Ji Chen’ai, but the position he stood in, had surpassed Ji Mingzhong.

Ji Chen’ai thought that after his death, he would have no intersection with the original world, but he didn’t expect that Xu Yunchong was just the beginning.

✤✤

On the day Ji Chen’ai was discharged from the hospital, he saw a person he thought he would never see again in his life – Shen Shuya.

He hasn’t seen her for half a year. The woman who once had a well-maintained appearance has become older, slightly haggard.

She was sitting alone outside the waiting room. Her hair was simply combed up, her expression indifferent as she stared ahead, completely different from the delicate, flower-like woman Ji Chen’ai remembered.

Ji Chen’ai is being pushed out by Zhou Yaoyun. He glances at Shen Shuya and says nothing.

What happened at home after Ji Chen’ai died? Is Shen Shuya still as naive as before? Is the atmosphere at home still awkward? Ji Chen’ai threw these questions to the back of his mind as he walked out.

After being discharged from the hospital, Zhou Yaoyun cooked a delicious meal for Ji Chen’ai.

Zhou Yaoyun sat at the other end of the table and watched Ji Chen’ai happily wolfing down the food. He propped his chin up with folded hands, his gaze looked gentle, he said: “Brother.”

Ji Chen’ai gave him a puzzled look.

Zhou Yaoyun continued, “Is it delicious?”

Ji Chen’ai pulled a napkin and wiped his mouth before nodding his head.

“This is probably the last meal I will cook for you,” said Zhou Yaoyun.

Ji Chen’ai was stunned. He asked, “What.. what do you mean?”

“I’ve been thinking for a long time. I think it would be safer for you to live with mom and dad. The current me can’t protect you,” replied Zhou Yaoyun.

Ji Chen’ai put down the chopsticks in his hand and looked at Zhou Yaoyun, “So what you’re saying is that you aren’t going to take care of me anymore?”

Zhou Yaoyun said, “Brother, have you forgotten something?”

Ji Chen’ai felt that the current Zhou Yaoyun looked strange… very strange. He looked at Ji Chen’ai with sadness, cheerfulness, love, and indifference in his eyes.

Ji Chen’ai said, “What are you… talking about?”

Zhou Yaoyun walked up to Ji Chen’ai’s side, squatted down and looked straight into Ji Chen’ai’s eyes. He sighed softly, “Should I call you Ji Chen’ai, or should I call you Zhou Yaoqin?”

Ji Chen’ai was dumbfounded on the spot.  Forget about Zhou Yaoyun knowing that he is not the real Zhou Yaoqin, but how did he know that he is Ji Chen’ai?

“I like you very much and being together with you makes me so happy,” said Zhou Yaoyun.

“Don’t you hate me? I took your brother’s body…” replied Ji Chen’ai.

The coldness in the eyes of Zhou Yaoyun can be seen plainly. He held out his hand, wiped the sauce from the corner of Ji Chen’ai’s mouth, and then said, “It seems that you only have a part of Zhou Yaoqin’s memory?” 

Ji Chen’ai feels that Zhou Yaoyun is simply a monster. Not only does he know that he (Ji Chen’ai) is not Zhou Yaoqin, Zhou Yaoyun also guessed correctly that he only has a part of Zhou Yaoqin’s memories. Even after knowing these things, he is still so calm.

Zhou Yaoyun smiled brightly as he said, “Give me some time, I really like you.”

Ji Chen’ai asked, “So…?”

Zhou Yaoyun said, “So I want to protect you.”

No one had ever said these words to Ji Chen’ai. Shen Shuya had not said them to him, Ji Mingzhong had not said them to him, Ji Suming was even less likely to say them to him. In this world, Zhou Yaoyun was the first person who seriously said to Ji Chen’ai that they wanted to protect him.

Ji Chen’ai didn’t answer Zhou Yaoyun’s words. He secretly enables ‘The End of Liar’ skill and repeats the question he asked just now.

Ji Chen’ai asked, “You don’t hate me for taking over your brother’s body?”

Zhou Yaoyun answers, “Yes.”

Ji Chen’ai asked, “You like me?”

Zhou Yaoyun answers, “Yes.”

Ji Chen’ai asked, “You want to protect me?”

Zhou Yaoyun answers, “Yes.”

Two people, one asked, one answered as if they were fulfilling some sacred contract.

Finally, Zhou Yaoyun smiled and said, “I know you like to keep people from lying, but can you not use your ability?”

Ji Chen’ai was completely convinced by Zhou Yaoyun.

Looking at Ji Chen’ai’s stunned expression, Zhou Yaoyun smiled and said, “In the future, don’t be so careless at home.”

It took a long time for Ji Chen’ai to reply with a hum.

Finally, Zhou Yaoyun said, “Wait for me to come back.”

Ji Chen’ai didn’t reply yes or no. He narrowed his eyes slightly as if to estimate whether Zhou Yaoyun was lying to him. However, he soon remembered that he had enabled ‘The End of Liar,’ and there was no way for Zhou Yaoyun to lie in this situation.

If Zhou Yaoyun could not lie, does it mean that he is really asking him (Ji Chen’ai) to wait for him?

Somehow, the originally expressionless Ji Chen’ai suddenly had a faint smile on his face as he let out a low hum and curled his eyes at Zhou Yaoyun.