Chapter 250 - 244: Song Shujing
"Uncle, aren’t we going in?" Li Xiaoru asked.
Lu Xingye glanced inside, then set her down. "I won’t go in. You can go by yourself, Xiao Ru. I’ll wait for you out here."
Li Xiaoru pushed open the door and went inside. "Aunt Jing, I’m here to see you!"
Li Xiaoru happily walked up to Song Shujing.
"Xiao Ru, you’ve gotten taller again." Song Shujing smiled, patting Li Xiaoru’s head. She turned, took a doll from her cabinet, and handed it to her.
"WOW! Aunt Jing, you have so many pretty dolls in your cabinet."
Hearing this, Song Shujing instantly grew tense and waved her hands at the girl.
"N-no, you can’t. They... they’re my sister’s. They’re my sister’s."
With that, Song Shujing blocked the cabinet, treasuring its contents so much she wouldn’t let anyone even glance at them.
"Aunt Jing, I won’t look. I only like the one you gave me." Li Xiaoru quickly backed away, then began to soothe her just as her grandfather had before.
Lu Xingye watched from the doorway for a moment before turning to the nurse’s station to get more information. The woman’s name was Song Shujing, and she had been sent here by her family six years ago.
"Young man, what’s that woman to you? If you’re not related, you’d best stay away. She’s a lunatic.
I heard she was sent here because she strangled her own daughter, who was just one month old.
Now she carries a pillow around every day, saying it’s her daughter. She’s a real nutcase."
The nurse, hearing him ask about Song Shujing, looked him up and down. He was a handsome young man, and aside from that old man, no other relatives had ever come to see Song Shujing over the years.
Seeing this, another nurse quickly spoke up:
"Are you Song Shujing’s family? Her fees haven’t been paid for several months. If this continues, we’re going to have to kick her out."
If the money didn’t come in, they wouldn’t be able to answer to their superiors. If no one showed up, the director really would kick Song Shujing out.
Hearing this, Lu Xingye took out his phone. "I’ll pay."
After paying the fees and returning, he saw Song Shujing playing with Li Xiaoru while holding the pillow. All the while, she watched the girl with a kind and gentle expression.
Her every move was a bit childish, but she wasn’t as bad as they’d made her out to be.
Lu Xingye leaned against the wall. ’Jiang Li didn’t say anything about it afterward. She probably doesn’t want to acknowledge her. In that case, I have no right to make this decision for her.’
Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Xingye called out to Li Xiaoru inside. "Xiao Ru, it’s time. We have to go."
"Aunt Jing, that other lady looks exactly like you. Xiao Ru really isn’t lying! If I see her again, I’ll definitely tell her."
After saying her piece, Li Xiaoru hugged her new doll and left with Lu Xingye.
After leaving, Lu Xingye went to ask around the area. Both Song Shujing and Uncle Li were locals, and quite a few people knew about their connection.
Seven years ago, Song Shujing married the village chief’s son and got pregnant not long after.
She later returned from giving birth at the hospital, and on the day of the baby’s one-month celebration, she strangled the child.
The whole village saw it. Everyone was scared to death.
After that, the village chief’s family sent Song Shujing to a mental hospital.
The reason Uncle Li covered Song Shujing’s expenses was that she had saved his and Li Xiaoru’s lives.
As for how that happened, no one knew.
Lu Xingye took Li Xiaoru back. He learned that Jia Sheng’s interrogation was complete, but he’d never seen what Kun Sha looked like.
The new information they did get, however, was that Kun Sha had returned a long time ago, along with the time and place Kun Sha had contacted him for a job.
They were still investigating, so they’d have to wait for concrete results.
"Xingye, we haven’t heard anything from Jiang Li in days. Why don’t you contact her? See if something’s happened."
Zhou Tiancheng looked at Lu Xingye.
Lu Xingye glanced at Zhou Tiancheng, then looked down at the files he was organizing. His entire posture screamed a single word: No!
"Hey, you’re really holding a grudge, aren’t you? It’s been a whole day. I was just worried. I mean, if this keeps up, what if Jiang Li’s mind gets twisted and she becomes a terrorist who’s a danger to society...
What then?"
We should at least find her and get her some counseling early on. We can’t wait until it’s too late.
"She won’t. I trust her!"
Lu Xingye shot to his feet, too agitated by Zhou Tiancheng’s words to focus on anything.
"I’m not working overtime. I’m going home."
"Hey!" Zhou Tiancheng watched Lu Xingye, stubborn as a mule. The guy couldn’t take even a little criticism.
"Serves him right!" Ji Qinghe retorted.
"If someone called you mentally ill and tried to force you to see a psychiatrist, how would you feel?"
Zhou Tiancheng looked at her and sighed in frustration. "That’s not what I meant. I’m worried about other people. I’m afraid that one day, Jiang Li will end up on the opposite side from us."
Ji Qinghe looked back at him. "If she wanted to be on the opposite side, she would have made her move long ago. Tiancheng, sometimes you can’t just look at the surface.
We’ve all seen what Jiang Li has been through. After so many cases, I believe she knows what she’s doing.
As for those people... if it were you, and someone had stuck a knife in your gut, would you still try to reason with them?
To put it another way, can you guarantee Jiang Li’s safety? If she wasn’t so strong herself, she probably would have been... long ago."
Ji Qinghe looked at him. "Sometimes, you have to stop thinking about your official position." The only thing to be said was that Jiang Li had been forced into this situation.
Zhou Tiancheng sat down, resting his forehead in his hand. "Qinghe, I know what you and Xingye are saying. People have feelings. Jiang Li has helped us so much lately; she’s already become a friend.
But if one day Jiang Li starts targeting innocent people, I won’t stand by and do nothing." That was his duty.
"I know. But I believe that day will never come."
...
Jiang Li had been hiding at home for the past few days. Drawings were scattered all over the floor, and the walls were covered with sketches of faces. Finally, she looked at a photo of the two strangers who had appeared recently.
The photo was a bit blurry and hard to make out.
’They appeared right after I learned Kun Sha was back. They’ve been following me, but they haven’t made a move. Are they waiting for the right moment?’
’What do they want?’
Jiang Li propped her chin on her hand, her mind replaying the little girl’s words from that day. He was the one Lu Xingye had saved.
’Does Lu Xingye know something, too?’
「The next day」
Jiang Li cleaned up her room and walked out the door. Yu Huannian and Miao Anji had both been busy with their own things these past few days and were rarely home.
She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed out, wandering through a nearby mall and park, using reflections to keep an eye on who was behind her.
After a while, she spotted the two familiar figures.
She turned and walked into a store, then slipped out a side exit. The two were standing not far from the entrance, furtively peering inside.
She watched them for a moment, then walked up behind them. "What do you want with me?"
The two jumped, startled by the voice that had suddenly appeared behind them. They spun around in fright to look at her.
When she got a clear look at their faces, Jiang Li’s eyes widened in shock, and a flicker of excitement immediately flashed in their depths.