TDU Chapter 388
Chapter 388 Deprived of Peace
Jiaqi’s parents never once asked about my age. Instead, they spoke to me with heartfelt earnestness, pointing out Jiaqi’s shortcomings and asking me to be tolerant of them.
I kept smiling and agreeing, feeling as if I were floating on cloud nine.
I had thought it would be a gathering that would leave me embarrassed, yet somehow, the one embarrassed turned out to be Jiaqi. I couldn’t help but laugh.
His parents listed his faults, and his sister recounted his childhood blunders—so much so that, for the first time, I saw an awkward expression on Jiaqi’s face.
Today marked the beginning of my new life.
“Chenze, Jay Chou is coming to Chengdu in five days. Last time I couldn’t go with you to Richie Jen’s concert, shall we go together this time?” Jiaqi asked.
“Mhm, if I have time, of course I’d love to.”
{Ring, ring—}
Jiaqi’s phone began to ring, the caller ID showing the Qingyang District Public Security Bureau.
“Hello?” Jiaqi sat down beside me with a smile, answering the call. “Yes, this is Lawyer Sun, what’s the matter?”
A muffled voice came from the other end. Though I sat close to him, I couldn’t make out the words clearly.
“What…? Alright, I understand. I’ll come by first thing tomorrow morning. Try to merge those two cases together.” The smile on Jiaqi’s face gradually faded. “Yes, I understand. It’s a pity for that woman, but at least justice will be served.”
After hanging up, Jiaqi’s expression was tinged with melancholy. A few seconds later, he turned and gave me a subtle look.
I followed him out onto the balcony, looking at him in confusion.
“Chenze, I’m not sure if this counts as good news, but since it’s related to you, I have to tell you.” Jiaqi began with a faint smile.
“What is it?”
“The police discovered a woman’s body buried in Butcher Ma’s backyard. After examination, it turned out to be a female university student who went missing many years ago.”
“A… female university…. student?” My voice trembled slightly at those four words.
In our village, female university students were a rare sight.
“Yes.” Jiaqi lit a cigarette and held it between his lips. “Sigh… I don’t know if this can be considered good news or not. In any case, giving Butcher Ma the death penalty is now set in stone. Tomorrow I’ll head over to the police station to look into the details. They said the body had been buried in his backyard for over ten years…”
I felt my head grow dizzy.
“Jiaqi… that fe–female university student… what was her name?” I asked.
Her name was mentioned earlier, but I didn’t catch it. They said she was there doing volunteer teaching.” Jiaqi looked at me in puzzlement. “What is it, Chenze? Did you know her?”
A female university student doing volunteer teaching… how could I not know her?
She was my guiding light.
Under the glow of that light, I managed to leave the village and spent the rest of my days striving toward a better life.
I never imagined that the light which guided my steps forward had forever remained behind.
All these years… she had been buried in Butcher Ma’s backyard…
How terrified and helpless must she have been?
My body began to tremble.
Inside Butcher Ma’s shack, I had once seen an entire wall covered in scratch marks.
Those scars had clearly been there for quite some time.
Now it all made sense…
Teacher Ning Wan’er, did you once feel the same despair I felt?
No… your despair ran deeper than mine.
Because you knew there was no one in this world who would ever come to save you… you knew you would never escape that village.
You could only slowly accept your own death, only to remain there forever.
My beacon, the guiding light of my life. The woman who gave me all my hope, on some day more than ten years ago, died in that cramped little room, in despair no different from that of livestock.
“Jiaqi… I–I feel terrible…” My eyes were swollen red, and it felt as though the entire sky above me had collapsed. “I may lose control, I want to go home first…”
“Chenze… if something’s troubling you, you can tell me.” Xiao Sun gazed into my eyes. “Anything at all, I can help you resolve it.”
Resolve it…?
The cruel truth is… this was something that no longer needed resolving.
Teacher Ning Wan’er is dead, and now Butcher Ma is about to pay with his life. From every angle, isn’t this matter already resolved?
Then why… why do I still feel such despair?
Ding—
The phone I hadn’t heard from in ages suddenly rang out with a WeChat notification.
It was a message from Chengcai.
“I just called the cops, and hear you’ve woken up?”
How strange. Chengcai, who never contacts me, has actually taken the initiative to talk to me. But it doesn’t matter anymore. People like him can no longer affect me. I’ll just block all their contacts right now.
I sighed, swiped left on the screen, and was about to delete the conversation when another message came through.
I hesitated slightly, then opened it.
“Does your boyfriend know what you’re really like?”
What followed was a screenshot of a chat record between Chengcai and Butcher Ma.
Butcher Ma: “A woman used by city folk really is a slut, look at this.”
Below were photos of me. The very ones I thought I had erased from this world are now appearing before my eyes, one after another.
Worse still, there were videos. Videos that trampled every shred of dignity I had left.
It feels as though I truly cannot escape this village… this man-eating village.
Can’t you let me go?
Can’t you act as though you never saw me?
Can’t you just pretend I’m already dead?!
“Chenze, what’s wrong?” Jiaqi asked in confusion. “Whose message is it?”
“I—”
Just as he was about to lean closer, I immediately locked my screen and shoved it into my pocket. In my panic, I even knocked my elbow, yet felt no pain at all.
I was terrified, so terrified. I couldn’t let Jiaqi see those pictures of me. Even if the whole world were to see… I could never allow him to.
“Ah…?” Jiaqi noticed me flusteredly tucking my phone out of sight. Instead of anger, a trace of awkwardness crossed his face. “Sorry, Chenze, I didn’t mean to pry into your privacy…”
“N–No… it’s not like that…” I waved my hands in panic.
Ever since we confirmed our relationship, Xiao Sun always sat by my side whenever he made or answered calls. Perhaps it was to give me a sense of security, or perhaps to put me at ease, but he would always make these small gestures unconsciously.
He never kept anything from me. Yet this time, I had hastily hidden my phone from him, that was unfair to him.
“Jiaqi… it’s not what you think, I—”
I hadn’t the faintest idea how to explain. I only felt the urge to cry, and the urge to curse this wretched world.
But I couldn’t cry. If I cried, Jiaqi would worry.
The fault lies with me alone, but I keep involving others. That’s unjust.
So the best choice right now… was to quietly go home, find a corner where no one was around, and weep my heart out. Just as I had, every single day, for the past ten years.
“I know, I know…” Jiaqi nodded earnestly. “Chenze, it’s alright, I’m not blaming you. Everyone has things they don’t wish to share. When you feel ready to tell me, I’ll be waiting right here.”
That day, I felt as though the whole world was spinning.
What should I do?
I couldn’t remember how I left Jiaqi’s home. By the time I came back to my senses, I was already standing in my own living room, staring blankly at my phone.
Chengcai was calling.
If I didn’t resolve this matter, my life would never know peace.
I fetched the recorder from the drawer and turned it on. Then I opened my phone’s recording function, pressed speaker mode, and took the call.
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
