Desperate Pretense At Being Poor

Chapter 73 – World of Cherry Blossoms (1)

People can forget a lot of things in the time span of 20 years.

Memories are like clouds wrapped in a warm halo.  No matter how hard one tries to remember, in the end, one can never fight against the loss over time.

The memories of Fu Yuqing in Fu Zhihuan’s mind had become hazier and hazier leaving behind only small fragments.

For example, he could still remember Fu Yuqing standing in the garden of the kindergarten wearing a princess dress.  She stomped her feet with a red face and fought angrily with the other children while the bow tied at the back of her pink bubble skirt swayed……..

“All of you are talking nonsense!  My elder brother is the most awesome!”

“He can do anything!”

Fu Zhihuan stopped a few meters behind her and called out.

“Xiaoqing, let’s go home!”

When Fu Yuqing heard his voice, she immediately turned her head around.  Upon seeing Fu Zhihuan, her eyes instantly lit up, the corners of her lips curled and her face was full of joy.

She trotted over and crashed into Fu Zhihuan’s waist.  Rubbing her face against his clothes in a coquettish manner, she shouted out in a crisp voice.

“Elder Brother!”

""

All children would yearn for the sun shining through the clouds in the early morning, the tender shoots on the branches in the early spring, and the fresh spring breeze.

They would love their loved ones unreservedly and look forward to their future with longing.

Fu Yuqing was like all the other children, living a life full of passion and sincerity.

She had once lived this kind of life.

She had held Fu Zhihuan’s hand countless times, raised her small face, and just like all other children, she wanted to show off her family that love her.

She had proudly said to others countless times.

“My elder brother is truly amazing, he can do anything!”

Sometimes having a good memory is not something to be happy about.

During these 20 years, Fu Zhihuan would always think of Fu Yuqing and her proud childish voice.

Only that…….

Is she still proud of him?

“Fu Zhihuan?”

A warm hand gently covered the back of Fu Zhihuan’s hand and Wen Ruan’s worried voice sounded in his ear.

“Are you alright?”

This question pulled Fu Zhihuan’s thoughts back to the present and he looked at Jin Chenhe’s face which was full of despair and devastation.  He tightened his lips and his eyes darkened.

But in the end, he did not say anything and released his hands.  He slowly straightened up, stepped back, and sat down on the chair again.

Zhou Ruqing’s eyes were red from crying but when she saw her husband fall, she reached out her hands to support him and helped him back to the chair, and murmured.

“Sorry……..sorry……..”

Wen Ruan looked anxiously at the couple in front of her and thoughts flashed through her mind but in the end, she did not say a word.

At this moment, she could not even offer her opinion or comfort Fu Zhihuan with words like ‘don’t be sad’, let alone persuade him to forgive or not to feel angry.

Perhaps, after losing his daughter, the grief-stricken Jin Chenhe is indeed in despair but wasn’t Fu Yuqing in despair back then?

Moreover, it was very likely that Fu Yuqing did indeed regain consciousness while she was in the trash bin.

But at that time, she was lying cramped up in the stinky trash bin with wounds all over her body and unable to move.  Even if she were to shout until she becomes hoarse, no one would hear her cries for help.

How deep was Fu Yuqing’s despair at that time?

Fu Zhihuan’s eyes were tightly closed and his right hand was gripping the chair’s armrest until blue veins were bulging visibly.  A long time later, his low and depressed voice sounded.

“Speak…….who was the one who paid you to do it back then?”

Upon hearing this, Jin Chenhe finally showed a little liveliness in his empty eyes.   However, he showed an extremely sad expression and said word by word.

“Mr. Fu, I’m sorry…….I was hired by an employee of the amusement park named Xiao Li, but……..he is already dead.”

“Dead?”  Wen Ruan was slightly startled.

“Um.”  Jin Chenhe nodded and sighed.

“Actually, at that time there was not only one child that went missing in the amusement park but the other child was luckier.  I was scared out of my wits when I saw the child in the trash bin.  It would have been good if the child I saw had been alive but at that time I thought she was already dead………of course, I was terrified.”

“So when it was time for the second round of transportation for the trash bins, I skipped work and hid at home.  After Xiao Li found out, he hurriedly moved the trash bin himself.  But at that time, the amusement park was on lockdown and before he could leave, he was blocked.

“Then when he realized that he couldn’t escape, he committed suicide.”

Fu Zhihuan’s tightly closed eyes did not open and his hands started to clench into fists when Jin Chenhe was halfway through his confession.  His thin lips were tightly pursed and there was a suppressed aura all over his body which made one feel a chill running down the back.

At this point, the clue was cut off once again.

If the murderer was Xiao Li who committed suicide in fear, the police would have long ago announced that the case was solved because the murderer’s DNA was found on his sister’s body.

So it could be concluded that the murderer was not Xiao Li.

But Jin Chenhe could only provide all the information and clues that he knew and it was only up to here.

“Amusement park?”

Wen Ruan who had been silent all this while suddenly spoke up.  She took a deep breath and asked slowly.

“Which amusement park?”

Jin Chenhe blanked out for a while.

“World of Cherry Blossoms.  It was famous because the park was full of cherry blossom trees but actually, the internal facilities and security had always been quite poor, so not many people patronized that place.  After a few similar cases happened, it closed down very quickly.”

A long silence ensued.

Fu Zhihuan seemed to realize something and suddenly opened his eyes.  He sat upright and then turned to look at Wen Ruan beside him.

Wen Ruan’s eyes were lowered and they were flashing with unexplained emotions.  Her breathing was very heavy and even the heaving movements of her chest were very distinct.

About five seconds later, she raised her head and turned to look at Fu Zhihuan.  She said softly in a trembling voice.

“Do you remember the matter I mentioned to you before?”

Fu Zhihuan already knew the answer in his heart.

“I remember.”

Wen Ruan let out a laugh but it did not reach her heart and there was a touch of bitterness in her voice.

“That lucky child should be me.”

***☆☆☆***

Jin Chenhe surrendered to the police.

After leaving the café, he requested Fu Zhihuan to send him to a nearby police station.

And Zhou Ruqing accompanied him.

Perhaps he did not expect that the retribution for the sin he committed 20 years ago would one day fall on his child.

He had indirectly destroyed countless families for money and in the end, his own family was destroyed by those people.

No one can escape.

Fu Zhihuan did not go with them.  After watching the two people walk into the police station, he did not drive away in a hurry instead, he placed his arms on the steering wheel in silence and his eyes were devoid of light.

""

Wen Ruan sat quietly beside him and did not speak.  A long time later, her eyelashes fluttered and she said in a voice that was a little choked up.

“Sorry……..”

Fate has always been unfathomable.

For example, it was only after Jin Chenhe told them everything that she realized her luck was more or less related to another child’s tragedy.

When he heard, Fu Zhihuan turned to look at her, and then a little while later, he placed his hands around Wen Ruan’s back, gathered her into his arms, and hugged her tightly.

He stroked her head and found a comfortable position on his shoulder for her to lean on and then said softly.

“You don’t have to apologize.”

Tragedy is never caused by the victim.

Suddenly she had a thought and raised her head.

“Since there is Jin Chenhe’s confession, your sister’s case can be re-investigated together with my case back then……..perhaps, some clues might be found.”

“Mm……..”

Fu Zhihuan had thought of this but 20 years had already passed.  It would be very difficult to find evidence even if the case is reinvestigated now.

But at this moment, he just followed along with her words and said.  “It will definitely happen.”

From his voice, Wen Ruah knew Fu Zhihuan was trying to comfort her.  She lowered her head in frustration and pressed her forehead against his chest.

“What’s going on?  Why did it turn into you comforting me now?”

Although his mood was not very good, he still managed to chuckle when he saw her aggrieved expression and patted her back to make her feel better.

Then his low and gentle voice sounded.

“Wen Ruan……..”

“Ah?”

“Thank you for accompanying me.”

As he spoke, his arms slowly tightened around her.

After hearing from Wen Ruan that she was also kidnapped on that day, the emotion that surged in his heart was the kind of fear that made one’s internal organs throb silently in pain.

It turned out that he almost lost her 20 years ago.

Wen Ruan lifted her hand to hug Fu Zhihuan and just as she was about to speak, her eyes fell on the Tao Xun sitting on the dashboard.

Yesterday, after giving the Tao Xun to Fu Zhihuan, she replaced the original decoration on the dashboard with it.

Wait a minute……..

Wen Ruan was stunned for a moment and then the next second she was suddenly enlightened.  She instantly straightened up, looked at the Tao Xun, and suddenly said in a heavy tone.

“……..Do you think that in this world there would be so many coincidences?”

Fu Zhihuan followed her gaze and his eyes darkened.  He seemed to understand something.

“I mentioned to you before that I can also play the Tao Xun but I am not very good at it.”

When she spoke up to here, she reached out her hand to open the decorative box then carefully took out the Tao Xun and asked.

“When did Fu Yuqing learn to play this?”

“When she was four years old……..it’s exactly twenty years ago, the same year the accident happened.”

Wen Ruan looked up.  “It was the same year for me too.”

Perhaps many people will believe in coincidence.

But the investigation system will never believe in it.

In any homicide, all coincidences must happen for a reason.  All these are considered evidence that will lead the investigation step by step in the murderer’s direction and will never be deemed as coincidences.

***☆☆☆***

The teacher who taught Wen Ruan to play the Tao Xun was an old man from the folk music art class.

At that time, most of the children were sent to these art classes by their parents in the name of ‘self-cultivation’ but many of the children were not interested to learn.

So the old man was not strict and would spend half of his time teaching Tao Xun while the other half, he would be sitting on a chair waving a big fan while he engaged in idle chat with the children.

The old man’s tales were very interesting.  He knew a lot of stories stretching from the Three Kingdoms period to modern history and his narrations were as vivid as a storyteller’s.  Therefore all the children liked him very much.  Every day the children would gather around him to hold lively chats with him and tell him about their activities.

For example, what they were going to have for dinner and where they were going to play tomorrow.

The old man would always listen to them with a smile and never interrupted the children.

Until one day, the old man suddenly stopped telling stories.

He said that his wife was sick and was hospitalized.  He would always sigh whenever his wife was mentioned and from time to time, he would frequently talk about the first time he met his wife which was under the cherry blossom trees on the university campus.

The old man seemed to like cherry blossoms very much.  He thought about it for a long time and said that his wife has always wanted to go to the newly opened World of Cherry Blossoms but unfortunately, she would never have the chance since she had to stay in the hospital.

At that time, those children’s faces would be awash with tears whenever they listened to the story of the ugly duckling.  Now when the old man whom they loved very much talked about his wife who was seriously ill, how would they not feel sad?

So one day, Wen Ruan patted her chest and said.

“I’ve arranged with my mother that tomorrow we will be going to the amusement park!  I will take pictures of the cherry blossoms for grandfather and grandmother!”

Children’s feelings are always pure and kind.

Back then, Fu Yuqing was the same too.