CH 26

A farewell ceremony

Ji Chen’ai did not expect this to happen. He thought that after his death, Shen Shuya would continue to live with Ji Mingzhong in a compromising way like before. But now, sitting in front of him, Shen Shuya told him that she was unwilling to continue that life.

Ji Chen’ai’s death was a great blow to Shen Shuya. From the moment Ji Chen’ai was covered with white cloth until he was buried, she was on the verge of collapsing and her tears did not stop.

Ji Suming once told Ji Chen’ai that Ji Mingzhong was a selfish person, a horribly selfish person. It was during Ji Chen’ai’s funeral that he perfectly reflected this selfishness.

Ji Mingzhong didn’t comfort Shen Shuya. He didn’t realize that Ji Chen’ai’s death had anything to do with him. He even had some resentment against Ji Chen’ai- because of his death, their family reputation was affected.

On the day of Ji Chen’ai’s funeral, only two friends came. One was Yi Wenle, the other was Qin Xiaomu. They comforted Shen Shuya with a few words, then left with red eyes.

Because of her relationship with Ji Mingzhong, Shen Shuya had a stiff relation with Ji families. In the eyes of Ji Mingzhong’s family, Shen Shuya was nothing but a mistress with no proper title and she was unfavorable, combined with Ji Chen’ai, who was really insignificant. Due to this, Ji Chen’ai’s funeral was extraordinarily barren.

Shen Shuya held three handfuls of soil covered on the urn of Ji Chen’ai, and she muttered her apologies. When she raised her head, she saw the photo of Ji Chen’ai on the tombstone.

Ji Chen’ai’s photo was obviously so strange and cold that it made it difficult for Shen Shuya to breathe.

Almost at that moment, Shen Shuya felt her body detach from certain emotions. She raised her hand to wipe the tears on her face and kissed the tombstone in front of her.

After the funeral, Shen Shuya decisively divorced Ji Mingzhong. Facing Shen Shuya’s divorce agreement, it could almost be said that Ji Mingzhong was furious. He did not expect Shen Shuya to actually just dump him, which made him feel that he had lost face.

Ji Mingzhong angrily pointed at Shen Shuya and cursed: “You bitch, don’t think I don’t know that you cuckolded me first. Now you think your life is better, you want to make trouble? I tell you, we can divorce but you won’t get even a penny!”

Shen Shuya looked at Ji Mingzhong and suddenly wondered how she had spent her whole life with such a man. He was vicious, selfish and mean, completely different from the partner she imagined to spend her life with.

Shen Shuya woke up and let go of her previous self. She left the Ji family and began her own life. It was hard at first but she could survive. 

Ji Chen’ai knew that Shen Shuya was not doing well. He could see a thing or two from her rough hands and plain clothes. But in this woman, he could no longer see the shadow of cowardice. They all said that being a mother made you strong. Ji Chen’ai’s death completely remodeled Shen Shuya.

Ji Chen’ai couldn’t help thinking, if Shen Shuya had been like this, would he still choose to die? No one knew the answer to this question, but Ji Chen’ai still felt a kind of unspeakable relief.

It was a very happy thing that someone was willing to shed tears for your death.

Ji Chen’ai looked at Shen Shuya, then took out a bank card from his pocket. He said, “Auntie, this is a small token of my appreciation.”

Shen Shuya showed a puzzled expression.

Ji Chen’ai said, “I hope you can accept it for Ji Chen’ai’s sake.”

Shen Shuya said, “How can this be? You’re just a student…”

Before Shen Shuya’s words could be spoken, Ji Chen’ai interrupted her, he said, “Ji Chen’ai had contacted me before he committed suicide.”

Shen Shuya’s expression changed. Because of Ji Mingzhong’s covert operation, outsiders did not know that Ji Chen’ai died of suicide. Most of them thought that he was suffering from heart failure caused by drug allergy.

Since the person in front of him was able to say such words, it meant that Chen’ai really contacted him.

Ji Chen’ai said, “Some of this money is Ji Chen’ai’s, I just added a bit to make a whole number … it is not much, just a bit of my heart.”

Shen Shuya stared at Ji Chen’ai for a long time before she whispered, “You and my son… are so much alike.”

Ji Chen’ai’s hand that was holding the card trembled, but in the end, he didn’t say anything. He handed the card to Shen Shuya: “The password is 888888. I’m leaving here tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I guess there is no chance to meet in the future …”

Shen Shuya asked, “Is this money really left to me by Chen’ai?”

Ji Chen’ai nodded and did not say anything else. He called Zhou Yaoyun to come and pick him up. He transferred a portion of the money given to him by Yang Yuyi’s father. This card contained a total of one million, enough to allow Shen Shuya to live a stably for the rest of her life.

The dialogue with Shen Shuya untied the knot in Ji Chen’ai’s heart. However, he would never have a mother-son relationship with Shen Shuya again.

It’s okay to say that Ji Chen’ai was heartless. Having met Shen Shuya and listened about himself, it gave him a feeling of being detached from his previous life..

Shen Shuya watched as Zhou Yaoyun carried Ji Chen’ai away. She stroked the bank card Ji Chen’ai had given her while almost shedding tears of joy. She thought that the card did not contain much money, maybe 10,000, maybe 20,000, but this was the last thing that her son had left her.

Shen Shuya had already spent half her life, but now she had nothing.

Weak people would eventually pay the price for their weakness.

♚♚

Zhou Yaoyun didn’t know what Ji Chen’ai had talked about with Shen Shuya. He saw that Ji Chen’ai was in a good mood, so he proposed to go out to eat for dinner.

Ji Chen’ai happily agreed.

So Zhou Yaoyun booked a restaurant, and the two of them went directly by car.

Because Zhou Yaoyun was carrying Ji Chen’ai, it’s unavoidable to suffer some weird glances from others, but Ji Chen’ai had long been used to it, so it didn’t affect his mood.

After ordering the dishes, Zhou Yaoyun asked, “In a good mood?”

Ji Chen’ai nodded.

Zhou Yaoyun said, “My mother will come tomorrow, and probably I’ll…leave in these two days.”

Ji Chen’ai slightly frowned. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Where are you going?”

Zhou Yaoyun smiled, “I thought you didn’t care at all ……” He paused for a moment and then said, “I’m not sure, let’s see what the arrangements are over there.”

In fact, Ji Chen’ai also wanted to ask Zhou Yaoyun about his life experience, but he vaguely felt that it was inappropriate to ask this question like this and by looking at Zhou Yaoyun’s expression, he seemed unwilling to talk about it.

Ji Chen’ai had never been a person who wanted to get to the bottom about something, and seeing as Zhou Yaoyun didn’t want to tell, he’s too lazy to ask more questions.

This time, the kidnapping incident gave a lot of positive energy’s point to Ji Chen’ai. The women and children rescued from the human traffickers had all changed their fate and even their families’ fate which directly gave nearly two thousand points to Ji Chen’ai.

Although Ji Chen’ai had indirectly destroyed part of the human trafficking organization before, according to Xiao Qi, because it was indirect, the points he got were not that much. This time, Ji Chen’ai directly saved these people, so the points he earned were almost as many as the results of his efforts for a month or two.

Although these positive energy values were still not worth a fraction of the negative energy values, Ji Chen’ai was getting closer to his goal.

After dinner, the two of them went back home together.

♚♚

After taking a bath, Zhou Yaoyun suggested that Ji Chen’ai sleep with him. Of course the excuse was that he would be leaving soon, so if they didn’t take the time to have a good chat, there wouldn’t be any chances later.

Ji Chen’ai ridiculed him back by saying why didn’t they sleep together before.

Zhou Yaoyun felt wronged and said, “You don’t like me, but Zhou Yaoqin likes me. I don’t like him, so naturally I have to keep my distance.”

What Zhou Yaoyun said was so reasonable that Ji Chen’ai couldn’t refute him.

Zhou Yaoyun began to talk to Ji Chen’ai by asking what kind of life he used to have, and then asked him if he liked his current life.

Ji Chen’ai answered lazily, and almost fell asleep.

However, just as Ji Chen’ai was about to fall asleep, Zhou Yaoyun’s question suddenly woke him up.

“Chen’ai, why did you commit suicide?” asked Zhou Yaoyun.

This question reminded Ji Chen’ai of ridiculed faces and cold words. He slowly closed his eyes and muttered, “I forgot.” 

Zhou Yaoyun hummed. Unexpectedly, he didn’t continue to ask. There was a tacit understanding between him and Ji Chen’ai.

If you didn’t want to say it, I wouldn’t ask. Tell me when you want to tell me.

Ji Chen’ai closed his eyes and didn’t open them again. His breathing gradually became uniform and he sank into a deep sleep.

Zhou Yaoyun kept his eyes open and stared at the ceiling above his head. After seeing that Ji Chen’ai seemed to have fallen asleep, he gently called out, “Chen’ai?”

Naturally, the sleeping Ji Chen’ai did not answer.

Zhou Yaoyun slowly turned his head. After staring at Ji Chen’ai for quite some time and being convinced that he had really fallen asleep, Zhou Yaoyun rose slightly and brought his lips close to Ji Chen’ai’s face, and then gently planted a thin kiss on his lips.

Ji Chen’ai was still asleep and knew nothing about Zhou Yaoyun’s actions.

Zhou Yaoyun, who had succeeded in his purpose, revealed a brilliant smile as he said, “Chen’ai, good night.”

After saying that, he went back to bed and went to sleep with a satisfied smile.

♚♚

That night, Ji Chen’ai had a strange dream. In the dream, he turned into a white and fat marshmallow, floating around with the wind. Then, he found himself slammed into the window and a face belonging to Zhou Yaoyun appeared on the window glass. Zhou Yaoyun said in his dream. “Marshmallow, I’ve been looking for you for a long time!”

With that, he grabbed Ji Chen’ai and opened his mouth to say something. Ji Chen’ai shouted for help before he realized that he was actually dreaming.

Zhou Yaoyun, who slept next to him, had already been woken up by him. Now he was full of innocent expression. He said: “Brother, what did you dream about?”

Ji Chen’ai smiled sheepishly and perfunctorily replied: “Nothing.”

Hearing his reply, Zhou Yaoyun gave a thoughtful look at Ji Chen’ai.