Chen An originally wanted to ask Zhong Yueshan for Zhong Ming’s phone number, but it was already late—the old man was probably sleeping, so he simply drove to Zhong Ming’s bar.

Last time he came here, his heart was shattered. This time wasn’t much more comfortable either.

Chen An asked the bartender at the counter whether Zhong Ming was in the shop. The bartender glanced at him, placed both hands on the black-gold metal counter, and said mysteriously: “Our boss likes women.”

Last time, Zhong Jin had expressed a similar sentiment. Did Zhong Ming really have such appeal to men?

Chen An waved the ring on his ring finger and said: “I’m his friend, my name is Chen An. Can you contact him? Tell him I have serious business with him.”

The bartender said something into his earpiece. Just as he finished, someone patted his back.

“What a rare guest, President Chen.” Zhong Ming said, “I heard from the old man that you and Lele are getting married. The old man is so depressed about it that he’s making me go on blind dates overnight.”

Seeing Zhong Ming this time, Chen An found him much more pleasing to the eye, and his words more pleasant to hear. He asked: “Can I chat with you for a bit?”

Zhong Ming smiled crookedly: “Don’t tell me—a premarital investigation? Let me state first, Lele and I—”

“Lele’s in trouble.” Chen An interrupted his diverging thoughts.

Zhong Ming’s eyebrows tightened. He put away his playful smile and said: “Come with me.”

The two went to the office.

The office was decorated very simply. Two sets of office desks and chairs, one file cabinet, one small coffee table plus a three-person leather sofa set—nothing else.

Zhong Ming invited Chen An to sit on the sofa. He took out two bottles of Evian water from under the file cabinet, handed one to Chen An, and asked: “What happened to Lele?”

Chen An twisted open the bottle but didn’t drink: “Someone installed a micro camera in the house.”

“Shit.” Zhong Ming cursed.

“Lele doesn’t know about this yet, and I don’t dare let her know. I can only come ask you—did she make any enemies before, or is there any particularly crazy pervert who likes her?”

“Shit.” Zhong Ming took out another pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from the file cabinet. After opening it, he used his eyes to ask Chen An. Chen An waved his hand, so Zhong Ming took one for himself and stood by the window smoking.

Gray-white smoke rose. Zhong Ming leaned half against the window and said: “Things Lele doesn’t want to tell you—you’re making me speak up. Isn’t that putting me in a difficult position?”

Chen An’s heart suddenly sank.

So during those seven years, such a person really did exist.

He came to ask Zhong Ming, initially just to probe around to be prepared for any contingency, but all along this drive, his heart had been drumming with anxiety.

Because of the hidden camera incident, doubts both new and old that had settled for several months were like tea leaves being stirred—they all floated up.

For instance, in junior year, when Aunt started getting sick, she had to both study and care for a patient. Would she, stretched thin, work at a hotel for so long just to keep herself from overthinking? “Brief Moments” was a movie that started filming at the beginning of this year. Aunt had just passed away not long before—would she act in a movie just for fun? Why hadn’t she changed jobs when her boss was so disgusting? When Huang Wei made a mistake and she got angry enough to smash a cup, did it touch on some past event? Was her simple dress and not buying jewelry just because her salary wasn’t high or her interest was minimal…

The truth was like a pool of boiling black water, and those small doubts were like bubbling froth above the black water.

Zhong Ming cursed again. He stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette on the window frame and threw it in the trash can.

He took out his phone and said to Chen An: “What I know isn’t necessarily comprehensive either. I’ll talk about this together with Chen Xiaomu.”

He dialed a call to Chen Xiaomu and put it on speaker.

“Brother Zhong, calling me in the middle of the night—bad influence.”

Zhong Ming got straight to the point: “Xiaomu, Chen An is here with me. He’s come to ask about some of Lele’s old matters.”

Chen Xiaomu said: “Holy shit, Lele said he has a heart condition. Don’t talk nonsense, or if Lele becomes a young widow, will you take responsibility?”

Chen An cleared his throat and said to Chen Xiaomu: “Chen Xiaomu, I won’t die before Lele. Whatever you say, I can handle it.”

A sharp shrieking sound echoed in the low-ceilinged office: “What the hell… Zhong Ming! Fuck you—”

Zhong Ming interrupted during Chen Xiaomu’s furious voice: “Lele’s in trouble.”

Chen Xiaomu suddenly quieted down: “What happened?”

Chen An said rapidly: “Someone installed a pinhole camera in the house. Lele doesn’t know about this yet. Please keep it secret from her, and please tell me clues for tracking this down.”

After hearing this, Chen Xiaomu cursed profusely: “Damn, again? Is Qin Rui that crazy bastard never going to stop? Why hasn’t heroin taken him away yet? Wasn’t tormenting her in Beijing enough—now he has to run to Taixi to torment her?”

In Chen Xiaomu’s passionate outburst, Chen An swallowed and asked: “Who is Qin Rui?”

Chen Xiaomu fell silent. Zhong Ming also fell silent.

Because it was so quiet, the office could faintly hear music from outside. It seemed to be this year’s dark horse TV drama theme song, “The Silent Truth.”

Very fitting. Chen An waited for a truth in the silence.

Now he stood very close to the truth, and was certain the truth was hideous.

After a while, Chen Xiaomu spoke faintly: “Chen An, do you know Lele has an older brother?”

“Yes. Lele said her brother is two years older than her, likes making friends, and enjoys sharing his social circle with her.”

Chen Xiaomu seemed to hear a huge joke: “That’s what Lele said? Makes sense—he does like sharing. Chen An, protect your little heart and listen carefully. Her brother Qin Rui is an utter scumbag. He likes making friends—a bunch of no-good friends. He created a huge group chat and sold daily hidden camera footage of Lele at home. One friend particularly, particularly liked her, paid him a large sum of money, and had him install a camera in Cheng Lele’s room.”

Before entering the bar, Chen An had speculated countless possibilities. Among them, what he thought most reasonable was that after Aunt got sick, the economic burden was too heavy, the existing pension wasn’t enough for treatment, and Cheng Lele was forced to scrimp and save, working hard and frugally.

Although the truth doesn’t shift according to one’s will, this was the bottom line Chen An could accept.

But the truth Chen Xiaomu presented was like a bomb dropped by a surprise bomber attack. It exploded, making his ears ring with buzzing sounds. Before his retina was a large expanse of white light. He gripped the armrest of the leather sofa tightly and shook his head forcefully.

In the white light appeared a blurry figure. He stared ahead desperately and gradually saw Zhong Ming anxiously gripping his shoulders, saying something.

The sound came from a very distant place, fragmented and intermittent, mixed with sharp noise—like monks’ murmuring chanting mixed with the noise of fingernails scraping a blackboard. Chen An rubbed his ears. The noise disappeared, and he heard Zhong Ming shouting: “Chen An, are you okay? Are you okay?”

Chen An stared at him blankly, pupils contracting, gradually regaining consciousness.

Chen An suspected he had just experienced auditory hallucinations. He licked his lips and confirmed in disbelief: “You’re saying that Lele’s brother, who lived under the same roof with her, secretly filmed her for years and installed a camera in her room to livestream to his friends?”

Zhong Ming pushed the water in front of him without speaking.

“That is to say, what I now call ‘trouble’ was once Lele’s every single day?”

No one answered him.

The truth was a long nail dipped in poison, unexpectedly driven deep into his heart. Dark red blood slowly flowed out.

“What happened after? Did she move out? Did she report to the police?”

Another spine-chilling silence.

Chen An looked at Zhong Ming. His heart sank inch by inch. He heard himself speaking in an almost pleading tone: “Please tell me.”

“Chen An—”

“Please tell me!” Chen An raised his voice, his gaze sharp as a torch.

Zhong Ming took out another cigarette, lit it, took two puffs and stopped. He handed the cigarette pack and lighter to Chen An: “Calm down first.”

Chen An didn’t hesitate anymore. He took them and quickly lit one.

The two held cigarettes, swallowing clouds and exhaling fog, saying nothing more. Chen Xiaomu was probably frightened by Chen An’s reaction and also maintained timely silence.

When smoking down to the cigarette butt, Zhong Ming finally spoke faintly: “Since you want to hear, let’s start from the beginning. Seven years ago, when Lele left you, it wasn’t simply because she resisted the change in your relationship. Before filling out college applications, Aunt suddenly told her she was marrying far away to Beijing and wanted her to go to school in Beijing. You understand what kind of person Lele is. Even if Aunt didn’t say it, she couldn’t possibly let her mother go to another city alone. She didn’t dare tell you directly, afraid you’d once again give up the foundation you’d built in the provincial capital because of her, sacrifice your great prospects to struggle with her, making your family chaotic again. That’s why she came up with that terrible idea of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of her own.”

Chen An finished smoking and lit another. The nicotine calmed him somewhat. He frowned listening and said in a low voice: “She thought too much.”

“Yes, but Chen An, you’re someone with a criminal record. Back then you secretly changed your college application against all odds, and the two families became sworn enemies. Lele isn’t foolish—wasn’t she under pressure? She saw you as her closest brother, but suddenly discovered you wanted her to go to the provincial capital to be together romantically. Her widowed mother, whose depression had just improved, then turned around and said she’d found true love and was marrying to Beijing. Would you panic if it were you? She was just a child then. What perfect solution did you want her to come up with? Don’t blame her.”

Chen An lowered his eyes. The hand holding the cigarette fiercely pinched the tiger’s mouth of his other hand.

“Actually, not long after she arrived in Beijing, she regretted it. She felt she’d done things too absolutely, blamed herself for being too rash. She originally wanted to find you. But their family’s situation was really… Back then, Aunt married to Beijing with a high amount of pension and savings. Turns out their house only had two rooms. For Lele to have a place when she returned, Aunt demanded they change houses. That stepfather claimed he didn’t have enough savings. Aunt said she’d make up the difference. Then, that stepfather took Aunt to see a second-hand three-bedroom apartment. They hurriedly paid a deposit, only to return and learn that second home loan rates and down payments are different. They had to sell their own house first to free up the first home quota.”

Chen Xiaomu, who had been quiet for a long time, suddenly shouted: “He deliberately set a trap! Not one good person in that whole family!”

Zhong Ming ignored Chen Xiaomu and continued: “But selling a house takes time. The deposit was already paid there, the contract signed. If they breached it, they’d have to pay double the deposit. The stepfather proposed putting the purchased three-bedroom under his son’s name, then transferring the property rights later. Aunt agreed. With this manipulation, the Qin family got everything for free—all of Aunt’s savings were transferred under Qin Rui’s name. When they moved to the new home, Lele found out about this. She felt the Qin family was problematic. After the paperwork was done, she privately urged the stepfather multiple times to transfer ownership, but he refused with various excuses. He was certain Lele didn’t dare argue about this matter clearly in front of her mother. Because Aunt had a history of depression and had come from far away—she couldn’t handle any stimulation.”

Hearing this, Chen An slowly closed his eyes: “They withheld Lele’s allowance, didn’t they?”

“Worse than that. Because Aunt had a job and could subsidize the household, they acted very friendly in front of Aunt. That stepfather claimed he ran a company—actually just an empty shell. Every day he listened to music and lived off others, only knowing how to mooch. Aunt’s salary was managed by the stepfather. He didn’t lack in Aunt’s expenses, but didn’t pay Lele’s tuition.”

Chen Xiaomu shouted again: “They just decided Lele was a filial daughter! Lele swallowed all her grievances! So she had to work at a hotel right in her freshman year! On her first day of work, she got wine thrown at her because she made a mistake!”

What internship, what easy work—all lies to deceive him. When eighteen-year-old Huang Wei had cola thrown at her, Lele said she was still young and blocked it for her. But when eighteen-year-old Lele had wine thrown at her, was there anyone to block it for her?

That steel needle seemed to be buried in his brain, stirring so Chen An couldn’t think. The tiger’s mouth was pinched deeper and deeper, almost seeping blood.

But the tragic story continued: “At that time, Lele was busy working—really didn’t have time to think about you anymore. Later, Aunt got sick. The scholarship money Lele had saved up was a drop in the bucket even when all thrown in. She demanded the Qin family sell the house for treatment. They refused and told her to sell the Taixi house. She refused to sell. With both sides at an impasse, the camera incident happened. After Lele discovered it, she unilaterally arranged to meet this pervert through the camera.”

Chen An suddenly looked up: “What was she going to do?”

Chen Xiaomu took over: “At that time she was also driven to lose her rationality. She provoked the pervert hiding in the dark, told him if he had the guts to stand in the sunlight and let her see him. The so-called sunlight meant that crowded café in Sanlitun. Originally thought no one would come. I happened to be in Beijing with a film crew then. Just in case, I went with her. Didn’t expect that person would really dare come. That person—fair-skinned, refined and weak, you couldn’t tell at all he was a pervert. Whatever Lele asked, he answered. He honestly explained the whole process of how he connected with Qin Rui, said Qin Rui had a group chat that sold secretly filmed footage of her daily life. Lele had him show this group and the videos collected by the camera. He obediently did it all. Lele and I focused on gathering evidence and taking photos. After photographing, a server said I was the hundredth lucky customer or something, gave me a piece of paper to register as a member. I took it and saw on the paper, written faintly in pencil: ‘The drinks were drugged.’ I was completely stunned. We were both busy checking his phone and taking photos—completely didn’t notice the drinks beside us had been tampered with. Then we held on to the end, forced him to leave first, then retrieved surveillance footage, called the police, preserved evidence. But the other party produced a psychiatric diagnosis certificate—nothing happened to him. Yet such a mentally ill person could study well at school, his future completely unaffected. Lele was preparing to find a pro bono lawyer to check whether this certificate had problems. That pervert’s parents came to the door, wanting to give compensation money for private settlement.”

Chen Xiaomu paused and asked: “Chen An, would you think Lele accepting this money shows she has no backbone?”

Chen An wanted to speak, but his throat felt stuffed with cotton. He picked up the water bottle and discovered his hands were shaking badly. Blood from the tiger’s mouth area seeped out into a full drop, appearing especially striking under the pale fluorescent light.

Zhong Ming didn’t want Chen Xiaomu to make things difficult for Chen An anymore: “The survival period for multiple myeloma isn’t long. That Aunt could live so long was the merit of this money. At that time, a new drug specifically for multiple myeloma was introduced that wasn’t covered by health insurance—seems it was called Zhaoke. One injection cost over forty thousand yuan. The effect was surprisingly good. After Aunt took a few injections, her body recovered fairly well. Under the stepfather’s coaxing, she went to work. But this drug still needed several injections each year. The compensation money quickly ran out. Later that stepfather somehow dug up a bucket of gold. Lele negotiated with him, asked to borrow money for treatment with very high interest, to be repaid within a few years—equivalent to private high-interest loans. She also made demands—for the stepfather to play the good husband role from beginning to end. If he played it well, after repaying the loan, she’d give him another sum of money.”

Chen An asked in a hoarse voice: “So she worked desperately, desperately hard to make money, didn’t dare change jobs, went to act in films, and did many jobs I don’t know about?”

“Should be. During that period, we rarely contacted each other because she was really too busy. At the end of last year, Aunt’s condition suddenly worsened. Even that drug didn’t work anymore. When she passed away, it coincided with the worst of the pandemic—nothing could be done, and she had no money to do anything. That stepfather’s only mercy was taking out part of the state-provided funeral expenses to buy her a cemetery plot. After that, Qin Rui used drugs. The stepfather hid the property deed and refused to let him sell the house. Qin Rui forced Lele to pay early. Lele reported him for drug use. The stepfather wanted to make trouble at Lele’s company. Lele said if he made trouble, she wouldn’t repay a penny—no money, just one life to give. Anyway, it was a complete mess when she came to Taixi.”

By the time Chen An was on his fourth cigarette, the seven years of suffering were finally fully recounted. The music outside had also changed several rounds. The song now drifting in was Eason Chan’s “Long Time No See.”

The air in the cramped office was very stale. Zhong Ming opened the window wider. Cold wind rustled in.

Zhong Ming stood at the air vent and said: “After that, you should know everything.”

Chen An nodded. Yes, he knew everything. After that, she bravely walked to his side, said she’d done wrong and asked for forgiveness. He had still blamed her for speaking too casually. He deliberately cut half her budget—she silently accepted, dismissed the cleaning staff, and ran to clean the men’s restroom herself. He played half-heartedly at being on the verge of bankruptcy—she asked if he needed her to sell her house. That house that she had struggled against fate in Beijing, crawled and rolled in the mud pit almost unable to stand up, yet never once thought of selling.

He had even been complacent about it.

How foolish, how arrogant, how laughable.

Zhong Ming patted Chen An’s shoulder and comforted: “Chen An, don’t blame yourself for this. Although you weren’t by her side, actually these seven years, she held her breath to honorably see you again—that’s what sustained her. To put it crudely, you were her hope. To put it elegantly, you were her faith.”

Chen An said nothing. Zhong Ming knew the information shared today was too heavy and too dense for Chen An. While putting away the cigarette pack, he said: “If you two really hadn’t separated back then, Lele might not really have been able to walk together with you. Lele herself has said that seven years ago, she might not have realized your influence on her. Her will and determination weren’t enough to support her completing this test-tube baby experiment.”

“Test-tube baby?”

Seeing Chen An’s startled expression, Zhong Ming quickly said: “A metaphor. Lele compared the process of working hard to make herself like you to test-tube babies, cultivating rice, and such. Not easy to understand, right? Let me give a simple example. I suspect if she were a straight man and you were a gay guy who liked her, she might also bend herself for you.”

Chen Xiaomu’s phone still hadn’t hung up. Hearing this, he commented: “Brother Zhong, you’re a perfectly good straight man—don’t let those pursuers make you talk about gay stuff all the time, okay? Normal straight men don’t think from that angle.”

The atmosphere lightened slightly under their banter.

Chen An stood up and added Zhong Ming as a WeChat friend: “When investigators need to understand details later, they might need to find you.”

“No problem.”

“Thank you for taking care of Lele all these years. If there’s anywhere you can use me in the future, or anywhere Peace and Joy needs to step in, don’t be polite.”

Before leaving, Chen An remembered something else: “Also, since she doesn’t want me to know these things, just act like I never came to find you today. Whatever she wants to do, let her.”