109 – Holding You

Chapter 109: Holding You

A few days later, Zhuang Zhiqiang passed away.

The old man met his end without ever reuniting with his daughter, who had been missing for many years. If there was any solace, it was that he found a small measure of peace just before he left.

After finishing Zhuang Zhiqiang’s funeral, the two of them prepared to leave for his hometown.

“Zhuang Family Village, Qingli County.”

While they knew Zhuang Zhiqiang’s registered domicile through officials, they hadn’t looked into exactly which county or region it was. Thus, they were quite surprised to find out he was from Qingli County.

Xie Qingcheng added a remark.

“That’s where Lu Yuzhu was appointed as the local doctor.”

“Do you think this is a coincidence?”

When He Yu asked, Xie Qingcheng shook his head silently.

“Something is definitely unusual. We need to resolve this step by step, but we must pick up the pace. It’ll be a headache if the opponent destroys the evidence first, just like with Sha Hong.”

It was a point that didn’t even need explaining. That night, both took leave from their work and boarded a plane to their destination.

After a little over two hours, the plane landed. They rented a car and headed toward Zhuang Family Village in Qingli County.

By the time they arrived at the village, dawn was faintly breaking. The two decided to stay at a local inn. Despite having mentally braced himself, He Yu suffered a massive psychological shock upon entering the room.

He had never seen an inn this dilapidated in his entire life. The room reeked of mold, and there wasn’t even a carpet. There was a crude brick floor, a moldy sink, and a mirror stained with limescale. To make matters worse, the bed sheets had suspicious brown stains on them.

He Yu turned around immediately, dragging his suitcase behind him.

Seeing this, Xie Qingcheng asked, “…What are you doing?”

“I absolutely cannot endure this kind of hardship.”

“Just bear it for one night.”

“I refuse.”

“Then where are you going to sleep?”

“I’d rather sleep on the street than sleep here.”

Xie Qingcheng wanted to ignore the fragile, greenhouse-flower-like He Yu. But then he remembered that He Yu had come all the way to this countryside to follow clues with him to find out what medication Xie Xue had taken.

Recalling this, he had no choice but to change his mind.

“…Fine. I get it.”

Brother Xie coaxed the greenhouse princess.

“I’ll see if there’s another way.”

Xie Qingcheng found a village farmhouse that looked reasonably clean and offered a thousand yuan to stay for two days. With his handsome looks, polite manner of speaking, and the addition of dazzling banknotes, the homeowner readily agreed to their request. The room provided was a small one with only one bed, but at least it was very tidy. The landlady took two new cotton quilts from the wardrobe, spread them neatly on the bed, and then brewed two cups of tea and brought them to the room.

He Yu, standing alone in the room, still looked displeased.

Seeing this, Xie Qingcheng said, “Sit down and have some tea.”

He Yu stepped forward and looked down. The water in the teacup looked somehow murky. Even though it had been boiled, it seemed to smell like earth. Like a haughty cat, he ignored the teacup and stepped aside. His attitude suggested he would rather die of thirst than drink this tea.

Fortunately, Xie Qingcheng had two packs of sterilized milk in his suitcase. He took one out and handed it to He Yu.

He Yu took the milk carton and stared at Xie Qingcheng.

“Did you give this to me so I’d drink it now?”

With this one sentence, Xie Qingcheng’s patience ran out.

“I brought it for you. If you’re not going to drink it, give it back.”

Only after rolling his eyes did He Yu finally tear open the straw and sip the sterilized milk, which he usually detested.

The two sat down and relieved some of the fatigue from their long journey. After catching their breath, they stepped outside and began their investigation into the Zhao Xue case.

Their first destination was the high school Zhao Xue had attended. Inside the empty school, yellow grass grew thick. A heavy iron chain was wrapped tightly around the firmly closed large iron gates. The long-rusted chain looked like the shed skin of a red snake.

“Inhang High School? That place closed down years ago. The benefactor stopped funding it, and the students studying there at the time lost stolen contenttheir place,” said the owner of unauthorized copya nearby convenience store, munching [stolen content]on peanuts as he watched the two peering into the school.

“That’s a shame,” He Yu remarked.

“Then do you know who the principal was and where they are now?”

“The principal? That woman who was there at first quit after a few years. Later, another principal came from the city, but they left when the school closed. The second principal didn’t interact much with others even while living in the village. Maybe because they were a reader, they were… refined, shall I say? So the villagers don’t know that person well. If you go straight ahead, you’ll find a village called Yi Village. Go ask there. There’s a rural school there that operates elementary, middle, and high school as a nine-year system. Since they had an exchange program with Inhang High School in the past, the people there will know better.”

The moment he heard the words “Yi Village,” Xie Qingcheng felt a strange discomfort, as if a certain prediction had hit the mark.

Following the store owner’s directions, the two walked for a few minutes and arrived at another small village in the lower part of Qingli County. A massive tree, as if piercing the sky, guarded the entrance to the village. Beneath that tree, elderly people were in the middle of playing cards. From inside a two-story loess-tiled house nearby, the clattering sound of mahjong tiles and the shaking of dice cups could be heard. To anyone, it looked like a rural illegal gambling den.

Right next to the gambling den, a stone monument with large characters engraved on it caught their eye.

[Yi Village]

Judging by the scenery before them, it was clear how prevalent the gambling culture was in the village. He Yu looked with contempt at the hunched-over elderly people, whose necks were practically buried in the earth, playing cards intensely, before turning back and saying, “This village is just…”

Before he could finish, Xie Qingcheng’s face entered his field of vision.

He Yu suddenly paused.

It was because Xie Qingcheng’s expression was as pale as a sheet of paper.

After a moment of blankness, He Yu realized something as keenly as Xie Qingcheng did. A clan village where the Yi family had lived for generations. A remote countryside, gambling addiction. A small gambling den at the village entrance…

A man’s name flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning.

Yi Beihai.

This was where the murderer who killed Qin Ciyan had lived.

Xie Qingcheng had seen photos of Yi Village in the newspaper. It was thanks to the numerous reporters who had flocked to Yi Village after the Qin Ciyan incident and photographed Yi Beihai’s former home. The gate of the loess house, which had not yet been demolished, was firmly closed. With cobwebs hanging in clusters and cracks in the walls, it looked quite shabby.

Xie Qingcheng walked up to the old house and stared at the loess bricks and tiles.

Slowly, his eyes reddened.

An emotion, whether it was hatred or pain, reared its head.

While he was staring at the loess [unauthorized copy]house in a trance, someone suddenly grabbed his wrist. It visit our sitewas none other than He Yu.

“Why—”

“Let’s go. Why are you staring at a haunted house? It’s bad luck.”

He Yu covered Xie Qingcheng’s eyes with his other hand and firmly turned his face away.

“Enough, let’s hurry to that school.”

His attitude was ambiguous, sounding like a consolation yet also like a stubborn demand.

“…”

Xie Qingcheng couldn’t accurately define He Yu’s behavior. He Yu had been truly strange lately. He acted stiffly, as if Xie Qingcheng owed him a five-million-yuan business deal.

Of course, he had stopped his previous hooligan antics.

“Let’s go.”

Lost in thought, Xie Qingcheng pulled his wrist from He Yu’s grip. He extremely disliked being controlled by someone. Read on Read BL NovelsEven more so if that [unauthorized copy]someone was a kid far younger than himself. However, knowing that He Yu was right, he straightened his cufflinks Read on Read BL Novelsand said calmly, “I’m fine. I can walk on my own.”

Using sheer willpower to tear his gaze away from Yi Beihai’s childhood home, he led the way with a hardened face, hands thrust into his coat pockets.

He Yu silently gazed at his back.

Though his expression as he turned away was infinitely dark, the man was straight, towering, and strong, as if nothing but death could break him.

Xie Qingcheng…

Repeating the name in his heart, He Yu also quickened his pace.

The two visited the Yi Village Hope School.

This school had been called the Yi Village Hope Elementary School when Zhao Xue attended, but it changed its name to the current one when it was reorganized and integrated into a nine-year school including middle and high school.

As soon as he saw the principal who greeted them, Xie Qingcheng predicted that the situation was pessimistic.

The principal was a young man under thirty. This meant he was not the principal who had exchanged with Zhao Xue’s school at the time. As a brief conversation took place, the mood of the two sank to the bottom. The former principal had passed away several years ago, and most of the other teachers had moved to different schools.

Teachers appointed to the countryside usually do not serve for long. There were a few who had stayed for about six years, but not a single one had been in visit our sitecontact with [unauthorized copy]the person in charge at Inhang High School.

“Is it difficult to access the files as well?”

“There was a record archive in the village, but there was a fire a few years ago. All the materials from the Inhang side were stored there, but now nothing remains…”

—A record archive that caught fire.

He Yu and Xie Qingcheng were convinced that all of this was closely linked to the Qingkang Psychiatric Hospital and the Huzhou University Control Tower incidents. The methods were too similar to be a coincidence.

However, one problem surfaced. The opponent had completely wiped out any clues worth tracking.

As time passed, the people involved in the case were swept away like sand in a tide. Trying to find them was truly like looking for a needle in a sandy field.

Despite struggling for a day, there were no significant findings. As the day drew to a close, the two returned to the farmhouse side by side.

Xie Qingcheng barely touched the dinner prepared by the landlady and went into the room.

Just looking at his exhausted profile, a heavy sorrow was evident at a glance.

After some thought, He [stolen content]Yu asked the visit our sitelandlady, “Ma’am, is there a decent restaurant around here?”

“There is one, but it’s a bit far. It’s about a thirty-minute trip.”

The landlady looked concerned. “Does the food not suit your taste?”

“Ah, no. I enjoyed it very much.”

He Yu smiled brightly.

“It’s just that my friend isn’t feeling well. I don’t want to burden you, so I wanted to pack some nourishing menu items from a restaurant if they have any.”

Hearing this, the landlady nodded in understanding.

“That gentleman, he’s your brother, right?”

“…Yes, something like that.”

“You really cherish your brother. You two are very close.”

He Yu only smiled silently.

The kind landlady, seeing that her husband was out in the fields, readily granted He Yu’s request, telling him to take the vehicle since he was going anyway.

However, the vehicle the man drove was none other than a tractor.

“…”

What more could one expect from this backwater? Riding a tractor was a hundred times better than walking alone for thirty minutes on a night road without streetlights.

And so, He Yu became ‘the rich young master who travels a thousand miles by tractor to deliver takeout to Dr. Xie.’

The shop they arrived at certainly had a diverse menu. Although small in scale, its cleanliness was a perfect ten. He Yu ordered several stir-fry dishes for takeout. Remembering that Xie Qingcheng had been coughing lately, he asked the shop to include some sweet simmered pear soup before heading back on the tractor.

When he entered the room, Xie Qingcheng was already asleep.

There was only one bed in the room. Perhaps not wanting to sleep with He Yu, Xie Qingcheng was lying on a quilt spread on the floor.

The sound of He Yu’s presence woke Xie Qingcheng from a light sleep.

“Where did you go?”

As He Yu approached the table and took out the takeout containers from the plastic bag one by one, the smell of food filled the room.

“The dinner didn’t suit my taste, so I bought some things from a nearby restaurant. Do you want some?”

“…No.”

He Yu’s hand, holding the chopsticks, paused. His voice became slightly ominous.

“I bought a lot. I’ll have to throw it all away if it’s left over.”

“Could you please not waste food like that?”

“Then get up and eat with me.”

What else could he do? Coughing, Xie Qingcheng put on the outer coat he had laid on the floor and sat at the table.

The moment he saw the various dishes laid out on the table, his brow furrowed slightly. His gaze shifted upward to He Yu’s face.

“What? Is it food you dislike?”

“No.”

Dislike? On the contrary, it suited his taste too well.

Mala chicken stir-fry, Mapo tofu, tomato beef soup, stir-fried sweet potato stems…

Every single one was a home-style side dish that Xie Qingcheng enjoyed.

At the same time, they were foods that He Yu did not particularly like.

As a picky greenhouse flower, He Yu ate sea urchins from Sardinia, Italy; oysters from Ireland; and beef from Australian clean-grazed cattle or Wagyu. He wouldn’t even touch the taste of mala and hated vegetables.

But the He Yu that Xie Qingcheng knew was not the kind of person who would intentionally go out to buy home-style side dishes for someone else.

This thought continued until He Yu took out the pear soup simmered in sugar water from the paper bag and handed it over with a serious face.

“…”

“What are you looking at? I bought this because [visit our site]your visit our site[stolen content]coughing at night might disturb my sleep.”

Xie Qingcheng glanced at He Yu. Being timidly hesitant was not in Xie Qingcheng’s nature. Since He Yu had bought it for him out of consideration, he should at least give a proper thank you.

“Thanks.”

He claimed to be proper, but He Yu’s intentions were impure. At those words, He Yu whipped his head away.

“Eat slowly. I’m going to wash up first.”

The farmhouse bathroom was very shabby. The moment he entered, He Yu got goosebumps all over his body, but he managed to wash up and dress before returning to the room. Not knowing when he had cleared away all the disposable containers, Xie Qingcheng was leaning against the window, gazing at the dark fields while languidly drinking the pear soup.

He Yu stepped forward. In his heart, he wanted to hug this man’s thin waist from behind. Then, he wanted to follow the red spot on the nape of the neck, the carotid artery, the sharp jawline, and finally kiss his lips.

He wanted to kiss him and ravish him. He wanted it a thousand, ten thousand times.

But he knew it was something he must never do.

He liked Xie Qingcheng, but he didn’t want to lose his sense of self. He hated the idea of causing another wound to Xie Qingcheng with this affection. Xie Qingcheng was already enduring countless emotions. If he recklessly poured heavy emotions into that body, he might be crushed and shattered.

As if feeling He Yu’s gaze, [visit our site]Xie Qingcheng turned around and coughed slightly. A strong [Read on Read BL Novels]atmosphere [stolen content]and fragile fragments mixed to form a strange shape.

“It’s late, go to sleep. We have to keep moving tomorrow.”

“Yes,” He Yu was about to answer, but he froze when he inadvertently saw the cigarette in Xie Qingcheng’s hand resting on the window sill. His face darkened instantly.

—Are you kidding me? Smoking at a time like this!

And he’s smoking while drinking pear soup, which is supposed to be good for a cough?

Young people drink goji berry tea rich in vitamins while staying up all night at clubs, and menopausal old folks contribute greatly to the national tobacco industry while drinking cough medicine.

Along with shock, anger surged.

He Yu quickly approached the window and snatched the cigarette from Xie Qingcheng.

“What are you smoking right now?”

“…Marlboro.”

“No, who’s asking about the [unauthorized copy]cigarette Read on Read BL Novelsbrand? I’m asking why you’re smoking!”

He Yu crushed the cigarette against the wall and threw it out the window. He was so annoyed that his insides were boiling.

“The smell of cigarettes is vibrating all over your body. Stop smoking now.”

Xie Qingcheng also gave up on the useless war of attrition and pushed He Yu away.

“I’ll stop, alright? Now I’m sleeping.”

“Why did you spread the quilt on the floor? This is a double bed.”

“…”

Xie Qingcheng thought this kid was truly oblivious to everything.

Was there a need to ask why he spread the quilt on the floor?

Honestly, even while having sex with He Yu several times, Xie Qingcheng hadn’t been greatly affected. However, the last time they had sex was truly fatal. The terrifying pleasure he experienced for the first time in his life was an undeniable reality. He had never felt such a sensation during his married life with Li Ruoqiu, nor when resolving it alone.

When he recalled the sex of that night, especially [visit our site]the Read on Read BL Novelssituation where he had been the proactive one, he felt breathless and dizzy.

Did He Yu use a supernatural ability on me then?

If not, how could such a situation occur?

The morning after the frenzied sex, as he watched He Yu sleeping soundly while smoking, an alarm bell rang in his head. It was a warning that he must never enter into such a relationship with He Yu again.

The best approach here was to minimize unnecessary contact.

Xie Qingcheng looked at He Yu with a calm and cool expression.

“You’re smart enough to know exactly why we shouldn’t sleep in the same bed.”

“…….”

“I’ll leave the bed to the kid. I’m going to sleep now. Thanks for dinner.”

As Xie Qingcheng prepared to lie down, the quick-witted kid beat him to it and claimed the spot on the floor.

“I’m not such a kid that I’d steal an adult’s bed,” He Yu said with a serious face.

“I am, after all, the student council president. It’s my role to respect and care for the elderly. So, please sleep in the bed, Hyung. You’re quite old, so don’t go throwing out your back.”

He was as stubborn as a mule. Xie Qingcheng didn’t want to waste his time like this.

He already had so many worries weighing on him that he didn’t even have the energy to bicker with He Yu.

He handed another blanket from the bed to He Yu, sighed, took off his coat, and lay down on the large double bed.

“Go to sleep. I’m turning off the lights.”

“Okay.”

In the silence of the night, neither of them could fall asleep until dawn.

He Yu was like most kids these days, staying up late and needing very little sleep, while Xie Qingcheng’s mind was too cluttered and restless for sleep to come. He tossed and turned in the darkness, letting out a quiet sigh. He simply couldn’t sleep comfortably.

Although Xie Xue’s condition was stable for now, the corner of his heart remained anxious, knowing she could be in danger at any moment if that new medicine wasn’t found.

And then there was Yi Beihai… This place was the hometown of both [stolen content]Yi Beihai and Lu Yuzhu. To think that minor characters he had dismissed as visit our siteinsignificant were causing such turbulent waves. Was it truly a mere coincidence that both of them hailed from this remote Qingli County?

Soon after, Xie Qingcheng thought of Qin Ciyan.

In that moment, his heart throbbed uncontrollably.

He squeezed his eyes shut, but sleep remained elusive.

As the early hours of the morning arrived, a torrential rain began to pour outside the window. As the wind swept in, the air inside the house became filled with an ice-cold humidity.

Covered by a thin blanket, Xie Qingcheng began to cough again. The coughs grew increasingly dry and sharp. Amidst the dizziness, he vaguely sensed a presence behind him. Before he could even turn around, a familiar warmth reached him.

He Yu had climbed onto the bed and embraced him from behind.