Chapter 56 - The Crucial Clues

Wenxu Jiang merely stayed at the hospital for a day. He was led back and forth to have his body checked like a puppet on a string, his mind went totally blank. The doctor advised him to quit smoking and alcohols but Wenxu knew it wouldn’t help at all because there was a certain person that he couldn’t quit.

His beloved one, the boy he couldn’t get off his mind since schooldays, whose smile was sweeter than flowers. And when he smiled, there was a cute little dimple on one side of his cheeks. And then, they got together. The two of them together had gone through the greatest hardship that others couldn’t stand throughout their entire lives. However, when life got better, everything changed. Zhishu smiled less and became quieter. His eyes looked increasingly sad day by day. It was all Wenxu’s fault. He puckered his lips and huffed hard. He didn’t want to cry at the moment.

Not until his cellphone rang for quite a while did Wenxu call to his mind. He took it out and answered the phone.

“Mr. Jiang? This is the Estate Management Department.”

“What’s the matter?” Wenxu Jiang answered weakly.

“Here’s the thing, at the beginning of this month, you asked for CCTV footage regarding something. There’s still a small part remaining unchecked. Would you still like to watch it? It will be hard to find if you want to leave it for the next time.”

Wenxu was going to say forget it. He didn’t have time for this pointless stuff. But deep inside, he still kept the last bit of faith. He would rather be troubled with trivialities than miss the slightest chance.

He drove home without even taking the medical examination reports.

“Mr. Jiang.” CCTV Security staff greeted him. This is a high-end community with a civilized security team. “We spotted something odd during the replay so we called you to have a double-check. Come and have a look, please.”

Wenxu’s heart jerked. His fingers were quivering.

Due to privacy protection, apart from the lanes across the community, inside the buildings, only elevators and escape ways were equipped with CCTV monitors, and there weren’t any near doorways of each apartment. But even so, Wenxu Jiang was sure that the car showing up and the guys going upstairs that day were related to Ziyu Ai.

“This, can you magnify it?” Wenxu tapped on the computer screen that paused on a man in a camel coat.

The enlarged face of the man felt weirdly familiar to Wenxu. It felt like he saw him somewhere but he couldn’t remember, let alone confirm his identity. A quick thought flashed by in his head—the man on the screen looked handsome; the eyes and brows and lower jaw on his emotionless face somehow looked like… Ziqian Ai.

Wenxu couldn’t stay calm anymore as his heart twitched. “Play the video back. Pause on those car plates.”

He took note of the numbers of every car plate himself and called the director of road and transport bureau right after he walked out.

That day, the entire police station was busy analyzing the video. All they had been told was some criminal gang had driven off to the south.

Wenxu Jiang fell out with Ziqian Ai for good. He had a piece of paper on which Ziyu Ai’s car plate was underlined sent to Ziqian Ai along with one statement. “We’ll see until I track them down.”

*

During winter in the south, it felt warmer outside the house than inside on a sunny day. Zhishu went out to enjoy the sunshine which he didn’t normally do.

Ziyu Ai was pruning the branches of the plants, the leaves were thick but there wasn’t any bud at all.

“When will I see the blossoms?” Zhishu looked at the doctor while lazily sitting on a little stool holding his chin. “There are only leaves.”

Ziyu Ai stopped what he was doing. He walked to Zhishu, leaned over and touched his forehead with the back of his hand that hadn’t got dirt on it. He then heaved a sigh of relief, lowered his hand and stroked his face. “Soon after the budding,” He thought about it and smiled, “I’m sure they will bloom in April”

Zhishu spiritlessly looked away, “Still months away. Don’t know if I can wait that long.”

The smile on Ziyu’s face was instantly gone. “Don’t say something like that ever again.” He said.

Zhishu sighed and gave the doctor a comforting smile. “I was just saying blahs. It was meant to push them to bloom sooner for me.” Zhishu was fully aware of the mental torment Ziyu Ai had undertaken these days if his love was genuine. Granted, taking care of a patient was exhausting and nerve-racking, but the mental torment as in watching the one you cared emaciating and decaying was the real pain.

Ziyu Ai squatted in front of Zhishu but didn’t buy the consolation at all. His eyes were complicated when looking into Zhishu’s eyes. He then very slowly got close to him, made very slight contact on Zhishu’s lips.

He didn’t avoid it.

Ziyu’s tears fell off at once, leaving him no chance to conceal his sadness. Feeling rather awkward, he turned his head away. “Do you want me to sing to you?” He said to Zhishu in a low voice.

Zhishu drooped his eyelids, the way he looked at the doctor was heartbreakingly gentle. “Don’t do it again, I’ll feel guilty.” Guilty about the unforgettable one in his heart, and the limited time he still had for him.