Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 85 (Part 3)
This is the last part of the final chapter from the main story, but don’t worry, there’s a dozen extras hehe
Translated by Pure
Chapter 85.3 The end
After their wedding night, Xiao Chi and Lin Jingzhe packed their luggage in preparation for their honeymoon. The two bosses took a whole week's leave from their respective companies and planned to take this opportunity to go out and relax.
The irksome part was that there were many family members who forced their way into their supposedly private fun. The first ones to bear the brunt were Shen Tiantian and Xiao Miao. These two girls were simply scheming; although they were just attending a wedding, they also took a long vacation from school. When they heard that Xiao Chi and Lin Jingzhe were heading out, they insisted on following.
How outrageous! Who brings two children with them on their own honeymoon?
However, the elders of the two families not only did not stop it, but actually agreed with the two girls’ insistence. Xiao Miao and Shen Tiantian were young and naive, so it was understandable, but the others also all decided to start packing their luggages.
Being busy at work all year round, it was a rare opportunity to go out and completely relax. Shen Juanying even persuaded the unhappy Xiao Chi by saying, "Everyone is just taking this opportunity to go on vacation, we definitely won’t disturb you two."
After saying that, she actually turned around and went to invite the parents of Zhou and Gao Family. Mother Zhou usually spent all day supervising the factories and her pickled vegetables, Hu Yu was under great stress from the upcoming postgraduate entrance examination, while the fathers also have never been abroad before, so they were all very interested. And from out of nowhere, Gao Sheng and Zhou Haitang were added to the final itinerary.
Xiao Chi's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, his frustration was beyond belief.
"Beach dress, the beach dresses! Oh and swimsuit, swimsuit!" The destination of their trip was Hawaii; the sunny beaches, scorching sun and blue waves were calling them. The women in the family were in great spirits and packed an abundance of things without bothering with Xiao Chi's darkening expression. Even Grandma Xiao went to get a new perm and bought a few floral dresses. Why should she be worried about Xiao Chi's mood if she could go out to play?
This trip included around a dozen people, and the living room at home was filled with suitcases. On the morning before departure, Xiao Chi led Lin Jingzhe out. When he crossed these ‘obstacles’, his expression looked as stinky as Father Xiao’s athlete's foot. Yu Shuyuan was not afraid of her son and while she was trying on different combinations of clothes in front of the mirror, she took a moment to glance at the two young men who were putting on shoes in the entrance hall, "The flight’s at noon, where are you two going?"
Xiao Chi glanced at his mother in annoyance, "Going to Dongping to deliver wedding favors."
"Oh." Dongping was the name of a prison in Yan City. Yu Shuyuan's excitement was slightly dispelled by these words. Holding a summer dress that was more vibrant than a butterfly, she fell silent for a moment before nodding. "Ok, go and see how he’s doing. But don’t forget your flight at 2:30 noon!”
"I know." Xiao Chi replied briefly, "You guys can go first. After delivering the wedding favors, we will drive directly to the airport."
Qi Kai was sentenced in mid-October, with many old ‘debts’ settled— from the financial crimes committed by the now bankrupted Dominion Properties to the smuggling case in Qunnan that shocked the country a few years ago. In addition to some other matters after Qi Kai and Shi Nanxing's contact with Sha Peng, he should have been given a death penalty. Fortunately, Qi Kai has been following Shi Nanxing for so many years, so he was aware of many private affairs. If these things were revealed one by one, it would greatly benefit the police force. Therefore, only a few months after he was arrested and returned to China, the second round of inspection activities by the private investigation team achieved very satisfactory results. Countless clandestined smuggling routes in the country, many of which even the police had no idea about, had been completely wiped out.
Furthermore, numerous domestic underground drug trading chains had also been eliminated. Since the current internal economic recovery had only begun a few years ago, the current law-breakers’ roots weren’t as profoundly rooted as compared to the later generations. Especially in the drug business, which automatically concurred a capital punishment if caught, few of the most vicious criminal gangs nationwide would dare to get involved. The deposit that Shi Nanxing needed to pay Sha Peng to have him pave the path was not for a new route, but to use Sha Peng's relationship to establish a connection with the domestic narcotics distribution team. The drug lord that Sha Peng knew was undoubtedly not a small ‘player’; he controlled more than four-fifths of the domestic drug trade chain and was extremely cunning. In September, relying on the clues that Qi Kai desperately recalled, the domestic anti-narcotics police finally caught him and brought him to justice. This ‘big catch’ was now locked up and under strict surveillance. Following the clues, large-scale underground criminal dens in more than five major cities, including Yan City, had been wiped out.
The expression of the gangsters would immediately change the mention of drugs, and even places such as dance halls where people used to play wildly have been severely purged. Especially in those cities in the southwest. The Shi Family went completely crazy, hundreds of members of the drug trafficking team were arrested and executed by them. The sentencing was very strict; as long as the number was over the limit, the criminals would be shot without further means of discussion.
Unexpectedly, this move netted in many other crime offenders, the circumstances were unimaginably vile. This matter directly alarmed Yan City, and both Shen Family and Xiao Family heard the news. It was said that some bills may be revised at the General Assembly after the beginning of next year to tighten the sentencing criterions for drug trafficking. It was necessary to take advantage of this situation to catch all these rats in the gutter to prevent them from resurrecting.
Qi Kai, who provided vital intelligence related to these two military campaigns, had contributed a meritorious deed and was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of death. He was now detained in Dongping Prison in Yan City.
The high walls and barbed wire fences of the prison were depressing and oppressing. Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi sat in the visiting room and waited for a while before Qi Kai was brought in by prison guards in handcuffs.
Though Qi Kai was donned in a prison uniform, he looked much more energetic than before when he was living a life of luxury. His hair was now shaved down to a thin buzzcut, and his eyes were full of spirit. After seeing Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi at the table, a very faint smile appeared on his face. "Oh, you again?"
His greeting was exactly the same, but his tone was no longer as eccentric as before.
"I had an inkling that it was you guys. Other than y’all and Hu Shaofeng, no one comes to visit me." Qi Kai sat down, put his hands on the table as per policy, looked back at the prison guard outside the door, and asked in a low voice, "Do you have a cigarette?"
"I brought one for you." Lin Jingzhe took out a whole cigarette box from his bag and handed it to him.
Qi Kai quickly caught it. "Thanks."
Although Xiao Chi was obviously more familiar with him, he just leaned back on his chair calmly and silently looked elsewhere. He only frowned and glanced back at Qi Kai in warning when the latter was about to light up the cigarette.
Qi Kai had no choice but to put it away. With a mutual tacit understanding, he ignored Xiao Chi’s unsightly face and continued to only converse with Lin Jingzhe.
Lin Jingzhe felt relieved seeing that he was in good spirits. He took out the wedding candies wrapped in red silk from his bag and threw them at him. "It's for you, you can eat it whenever."
"Woah!" Qi Kai immediately sat up straight, he looked carefully at the ‘Double Happiness’ embroidered on the silk bag, and exclaimed in surprise. "You two got married?"
"The wedding was held a few days ago." Lin Jingzhe answered. "We’re going on our honeymoon in the afternoon, but we wanted to give you a wedding favor before that."
Qi Kai's expression became a little complicated, and after a moment of silence, he softly said, "Congratulations."
At the same time, he opened the wedding favor bag, rummaged through it a few times, and immediately said in a disdainful tone, "What the heck, this wedding favor is lacking. They are all hard candies, not even a single chocolate."
Lin Jingzhe smiled and said nothing, but after Qi Kai complained for a while, he took out a hard candy and stuffed it into his mouth. While eating, he complained perfunctorily, "The stuff they feed us inside is unimaginable. I never would have f*cking thought that there would be a day I would crave for chocolate. Damn, I have to work on the sewing machine again in the afternoon, how boring is that?”
Lin Jingzhe good-naturedly said, "I'll bring some for you next time."
Qi Kai poured out all the candies from the silk bag, untied a string that had been worn around his neck, and put the two simple small cloth bags that had been attached to the string into the wedding favor bag. With the same string, he looped the wedding favor bag on it and hung it all back around his neck.
On the two small cloth bags were rather ugly patterns drawn with black pen. One seemed to have a flower on it while the other had something similar to a long-handled umbrella or a crutch; they were all crookedly drawn.
Lin Jingzhe just pretended not to see it and began to bid his goodbyes, "Okay, I gave you the cigarette and candy. Our flight is at two o'clock in the afternoon, it’s about time we go."
"Where are you going?" Qi Kai asked.
"Hawaii."
"The f*ck." Qi Kai's leg began to throb at the mention of their destination. "Haven't you been there before? You two have no fucking creativity at all."
Xiao Chi randomly found something to throw at Qi Kai, he found his foul mouth unpleasant.
Lin Jingzhe just smiled and said, "Let's go."
Qi Kai grabbed the hard candy on the table and held the cigarette under his arm. He stood up to avoid Xiao Chi's attack and hurriedly walked out the door, cursing as he walked, "Where the f*ck’s your humanity."
*****
Lin Jingzhe glanced at his watch and estimated that they should be able to catch the flight. He laughed a few times amidst the passing wind outside the car window and said, "We’re about to go on our honeymoon, cheer up a little, okay?"
Xiao Chi's discontented face had continued for several consecutive days. At this time, when he turned to look at Lin Jingzhe, his countenance had visibly brightened up as he said, "Turn off your phone."
"What?" Lin Jingzhe was confused, "What if our parents call me later?"
"Turn it off." Xiao Chi leaned over and grabbed it to help him turn off his phone, then threw it on the back seat.
Lin Jingzhe remained bewildered as they passed through the crowded airport hand in hand. In a daze, he followed him through the formalities, passed through border crossing inspection, and walked forward with rapid strides.
They had nothing but their passport and related documents. During the security check, Lin Jingzhe muddlely asked, "Shouldn’t we wait for our parents?"
"Why should we wait? They can do whatever they want." Xiao Chi led him and ran all the way to their boarding area. They made it just in time and were taken to the plane by the ground crew.
So early? Lin Jingzhe looked at his watch and found that it was just past one o'clock. Just as he was about to ask a question, he heard Xiao Chi's cell phone ringing like crazy.
However, Xiao Chi didn't answer it; he just declined the calls and threw it aside. Fifteen minutes later, the sound of takeoff roared. It was then Lin Jingzhe finally realized something. He sat up straight and looked around. Sure enough, he didn't see the rest of their family in the cabin.
Lin Jingzhe: "..."
He helplessly pulled at Xiao Chi's pigtail and inwardly complained, ‘Why are you so naughty? Stomach must be full of rotten thoughts...’
At Yan City Airport, Yu Shuyuan looked at her large mobile phone in shock as her outgoing call was hung up. The airport staff had taken away all their luggage and they were about to board the plane.
Shen Juanying was a little anxious, "Why aren’t those two children here yet? Are they running late? Are they going to make it?"
Shen Tiantian was extremely anxious because of her missing brother. She wanted to call Lin Jingzhe, but his phone was turned off.
Grandma Xiao’s calm demeanor was unlike the rest. She didn’t bother with their ‘headless fly’ like fret and watched a certain plane taking off outside the glass. After a while, she looked away and shook her head with a smile. She took out a chocolate from her pocket that she got at the wedding reception that day, and with her back as a cover, she carefully unwrapped the candy and silently stuffed it into her mouth.
Fortunately, at this moment, no one cared whether she had brought candy or not. It was almost time to board the plane but Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi remained unfound. The four families were busy asking around for their news.
Finally, the ground staff members who went to investigate hurried over with distressed faces and reported to Yu Shuyuan, "Deputy Secretary Yu, the two gentlemen you mentioned boarded a plane heading to Melbourne, which just flew away five minutes ago. "
He pointed his hand outward, and everyone subconsciously followed the direction.
"..." There was no need to think whose idea it was. Shen Juanying put down her phone with a dark face and didn't want to say anything.
Lin Runsheng glanced at his wife helplessly, the rims of his eyes quickly turning red.
Shen Juanying quickly wiped her husband's tears.
Shen Tiantian, Xiao Miao, Gao Sheng, and Zhou Haitang: "... F*ck."
Grandma Xiao chewed the sweet chocolate in her mouth, filled with endless delight.
Joyful felicitations, may Bodhisattva bless you.
