It’s true. Once Hang Menglin set her mind on something, no one could talk her out of it.

The logic all made sense, but her chest still felt unbearably stuffed. Luo Ye took a long deep breath, then another long deep breath, and finally felt a bit better.

"Do you know what the Hang Family have been doing, Brother Qi?" Luo Ye changed the subject.

"No. They entrusted Hang Menglin to me and then left together. Judging from Aunt Ye’s (Hang Menglin’s mom) expression, she probably wanted to stay, but... in the end they still left."

"That must be because Mr. Hang didn’t allow it, right?" Luo Ye shook her head speechlessly. "Do they really not understand that, at this point, even if the First Leader stepped in, it’d still be impossible to completely cut them out of this? What the hell are they trying to do with all this running around?"

"I’m puzzled too. Before this, even though Mr. Hang was a bit cold and unfeeling, he was at least clear‑headed. This time, I don’t know what kind of evil bug bit him..." Qi Bin shook his head. "Anyway, the Hang Family has never been a solid iron plate.

Mr. Hang’s autocratic style led to most of the younger generation lacking their own judgment. That just shows how important a family’s leader really is.

The original Hang Family wasn’t much different from the Wen Family, but now? They’re worlds apart, although they’d never admit it."

Luo Ye blinked: "Why do I feel like Brother Qi is deliberately saying nice things for me to hear?"

"No!" Qi Bin looked completely serious. "I’m telling the truth. It’s not because you’re from the Wen Family that I’m intentionally praising them. There’s something you might not know very well.

Back when your second aunt had her accident, it happened to be during the student movement. The Wen Family and that person were extremely close at the time. If it hadn’t been for your grandpa’s forbearance, some people might have used that opportunity to eliminate the Wen Family once and for all."

"What?" Luo Ye shot to her feet in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Of course!"

"How come I don’t know a thing about this?" Luo Ye felt a chill spreading all over her body. If... She really didn’t dare imagine that "if."

"You used to misunderstand Grandpa Wen, didn’t you?"

"Yeah. I always felt that no matter what the reason was, when Second Aunt was killed, you can’t just turn a blind eye and let the murderer go.

Now I finally understand why Grandpa did what he did. If it weren’t for his foresight, the other sons and daughters of the Wen Family probably would have faced inevitable disaster too. Thinking about it now, making that kind of decision must have been extremely painful for him."

"No question. At the time the outside world was cursing him to high heaven. You can imagine the pressure the old man was under. The key is, at the beginning your second uncle also misunderstood him, and things were pretty tense between them." Sensing Luo Ye’s confusion, Qi Bin explained, "My grandpa and your old man had a pretty good relationship. After the Feng Family’s Fourth passed away, he chatted with me and mentioned those old days. He was really full of sighs."

"Oh oh oh..." Luo Ye nodded repeatedly. "I remember now, Grandpa also told me he and Grandpa Qi used to see each other a lot."

"When I was little, Grandpa often took me to Wen’s Mansion. Sigh! People... you can lose anything but your health. Now the thing he wants most is to see his old friends. Every time I go home, he keeps talking my ear off about the past."

"Is Grandpa Qi’s health still okay?" The Qi Family’s old man had a stroke seven years ago and had been paralyzed in bed ever since.

"Still alright. His mental state is pretty good." Qi Bin thought for a moment, then suggested, "Ye’er, give Yu Na a call. Hang Menglin kept thinking about her. If she can come see her off on her last journey, Hang Menglin would be happy."

She dialed Yu Na’s cell, but the other end said the phone was temporarily unavailable. She tried a few more times and got the same mechanical voice. "Maybe the battery’s dead. I’ll try the dorm phone." Luo Ye muttered as she dialed the dorm area number.

"You damn Luoluo, you’ve been gone so long, and you finally call but it’s not for me and Demon. You damn thing, I hate you!"

Luo Ye rubbed her ear and couldn’t help a wry smile. "Qiu, can you be a little gentler? I have serious business with Yu Na. Give her the phone."

"Tch. If she were here, would it even be my turn to talk to you? Forget it, I’m ignoring you!" Xing Nong’s voice was full of displeasure.

"Luoluo, the call the dorm manager transferred over was picked up by me, and Qiu’er snatched it away in one grab. Yu Na went out on a mission the day before yesterday. She can only use the on‑site walkie‑talkie; you can’t reach her by phone." The one speaking now was Li Xiaobei.

"Do you know when she’ll be back?"

"Seems like another two days."

"Little Bei, when Yu Na gets back, tell her to call me as soon as possible. And tell Qiu by the way, the thing I hate most is petty people!"

"Okay."

"Hate me all you want, who’s afraid of who?"

On the other end came Li Xiaobei’s giggles mixed with Xing Nong’s unhappy muttering. Clearly, Mou Qiu’er had given the phone back to Li Xiaobei, but hadn’t been willing to move her ear away.

"I’m hanging up."

For now, Hang Menglin’s situation couldn’t conveniently be talked about, so after Luo Ye finished speaking she hung up. She had no idea that on the other end, Xing Nong was so angry her forehead was practically smoking—this young lady had been hoping Luo Ye would coax her a little.囧!

"Yu Na’s mission won’t be over for another two days. Counting the time, it should still be in time." Luo Ye glanced at the time. "The Hang Family should be about to show up."

"No matter what channel, they should know by now." Qi Bin sighed. "I’d actually rather they just didn’t care at all and let me handle this."

Luo Ye raised an eyebrow. "Is that even possible?"

Qi Bin let out a disdainful cold snort. "Hang Menglin basically died in the line of duty. How could they pass up this kind of opportunity?"

A sudden chill ran through Luo Ye. "They’re not going to ship her coffin back to Sha City, are they?" Because they hadn’t reached Hang Menglin’s family, up till now it was still uncertain where the mourning hall would be set up.

"That’s a real possibility. There’s no helping it. They’re Hang Menglin’s family. No one else can make the decision for them. Forget it, we’ll just take it one step at a time." Qi Bin got up in a slump. "Life and death really are separated by just a thin line. This time day before yesterday, I was still chatting with her. And today, she’s become like this..."

Luo Ye sighed and followed behind him without a word. As they walked out of the conference room, they saw Shan Gang looking this way from a distance. When he saw the two of them come out, he quickly came over. "The Hang Family are here. They’re in the morgue."

"The first thing that old man said was that he wants to see Captain Luo," Li Jinqiang added.

Ye nodded. "Since he’s looking for me, I’ll go take a look."

Shan Gang hurriedly said, "You’d better not go. That old man doesn’t seem very reasonable. The two of us were standing guard here just to block you."

"It’s fine." Luo Ye’s expression went cold. "Even if he didn’t come to me, I’d go find him. What a piece of work. He thinks he’s fit to call himself an elder?"

Li Jinqiang shrank his neck. "Captain Luo, at a time like this, and he’s that old, you..."

"I won’t beat him up, don’t worry."

Qi Bin: "..."

Shan Gang: "..."

Li Jinqiang: "..."

Luo Ye glanced back at them. "Why are you all making that face? I really won’t beat him up. Now hurry up and move."

----

First watch is up, making up for yesterday.

Special thanks to Eternal Post-rainy Season’s Xiao Yu for the tip, and special thanks for the Pink for Nuan, and to the guys who are subscribing through the official channels. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast a Recommendation ticket or a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)