Chapter 851: Chapter 632: Life Is a Play, Each Day a Scene (Part 2)

Night had fallen, Shuangshuang and Huang Huang were already asleep, and only then did Xiao Meng take her phone out to the balcony.

By September, the heat in the daytime hadn’t dropped much, but the night breeze had indeed turned a lot cooler.

Xiao Meng threw on a light cardigan and sat in the rocking chair on the balcony. The balcony light was on; the soft glow fell over her face, making her cheeks look rosier.

Xiao Meng was grinning from ear to ear in the video.

Listening to Yin Shixiu’s opinion on what had happened in kindergarten today, she laughed so hard she couldn’t stop.

"Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right, what kind of boy doesn’t even know how to throw a punch! But Shixiu, what if Huang Huang hurts himself while hitting someone else? When I see that, will you still be able to say things like ’when it’s time to strike, you strike’?"

Yin Shixiu arched his brows and said,

"Why don’t we sign Huang Huang up for a taekwondo class? Wouldn’t that seem more steady and reliable?"

"If he’s going to learn, he’s learning Chinese kung fu!"

Su Xiaomeng hurried to say.

"Haha! Learn from Jackie Chan then?"

Yin Shixiu teased.

"Right, doesn’t Jackie Chan have the Cheng Family stunt team! I wonder if they’d be willing to take Huang Huang if we sent him over..."

Xiao Meng rubbed her own chin, already lost in her fantasies.

"Speaking of which... Huang Huang might really dislike kindergarten. He resisted it a lot even before he went, and now that he’s gone... something happened on the very first day."

Thinking of this, Su Xiaomeng also felt a headache coming on. She looked at Yin Shixiu. "What should we do?"

"Let him go for a while first and observe. He’s always very resistant to strangers; letting him get used to it slowly will be good for him."

Su Xiaomeng nodded, indicating her agreement.

"There’s something I need to let you know, so you can keep an extra eye out in daily life."

Yin Shixiu said, "Rong Jing has already started using all sorts of methods to gather evidence. He must be convinced that I didn’t die."

"..."

Xiao Meng pressed her lips together lightly. After giving a response, she said,

"I figured as much. With Rong Jing’s connections and capability, finding a loose thread is only a matter of time."

"Mm."

Yin Shixiu nodded, the corner of his lips hooking up slightly.

"He’s always been that way. He often throws himself into things on intuition, and his intuition has never been bad."

"We should be grateful that both Wu Yao and Eric are extremely capable. They haven’t exposed any flaws."

"Shixiu..."

"Mm?"

"Have you thought about... when you’ll come back?"

"Soon."

Yin Shixiu answered almost without a moment’s hesitation.

Su Xiaomeng was startled.

Of course, she wholeheartedly hoped all this could end sooner. She didn’t want Yin Shixiu to be a dead man in other people’s mouths at all...

But she also knew that the timing of Yin Shixiu’s "resurrection" was extremely important.

"I’m not asking you to force yourself to come back. At home, Mom and Dad are helping me with the kids. At the company, there’s Chen Lan and the others helping me. I can already handle things very well now. I was just casually asking, I wasn’t begging you for anything. The fact that you’re still alive is already good enough."

Xiao Meng hurried to explain.

Yin Shixiu smiled.

"I’m not forcing myself. I know you can now calmly face any problem. It’s just that... the timing will come much faster than we imagined."

"..."

"Even if I’m sitting in a wheelchair, I still want to be by your side and the children’s. They only grow up once. If I miss it, I’ll never make up for it."

"Did you... make some new plan again?"

"Yes, but it’s a plan based on Wu Rong’s eventual outcome."

Yin Shixiu said calmly, "Let’s first see whether the cocoon Wu Rong spun can bind him tightly himself."

Xiao Meng took a deep breath, her gaze falling on the night sky beyond the glass.

The night sky was like a black curtain. At sunrise, it lifted; at sunset, it fell, turning each life into a play, every day another act...

Sometimes as plain as water, sometimes full of drama.

"Tomorrow... I’ll go over to Yin Shiqing’s place. I can’t stop thinking about that kid, Jun Jie."

"Mm."

————

The next day, Xiao Meng went to the company first and spent the whole morning dealing with the paperwork that needed handling.

After clearing her afternoon schedule, she drove toward Yin Shiqing’s house.

Su Xiaomeng very rarely drove herself. Driving itself was an energy- and brain-consuming task.

Xiao Meng wasn’t good at maintaining focus for long stretches.

She drove very slowly, with the car radio on.

The radio was playing an afternoon news program. The general content was some amusing incidents and the hottest topics on the internet.

At that moment, a very masculine voice was talking about today’s trending topic.

"You’ve probably all seen this trending post since early this morning. The family of a criminal police officer from the municipal public security bureau who died in the line of duty fifteen years ago unexpectedly published a long post today describing in detail what happened back then,

and calling on the relevant departments to re-examine the matter from back then concerning this officer being allegedly turned and betraying the Party and the people."

"Wow... it’s been fifteen whole years. I’m sure everyone who saw this post felt the same as I did—extremely shocked and astonished, and at the same time wanting to know the truth of the whole incident!"

Su Xiaomeng listened halfway, then switched the radio to another channel, a music station.

"Dancing Queen"...

The familiar music sounded again. In her heart, Su Xiaomeng silently gave this station a thumbs-up. Great taste!

The car stopped in front of Yin Shiqing’s villa.

She wore a plain-colored long dress with a cotton three-quarter-sleeve top. Her heels weren’t high, about three or four centimeters.

Taking off her sunglasses, she rang the doorbell.

————

Su Xiaomeng had known that a child like Yin Junjie wouldn’t have a good outcome, but when she actually saw the lash marks all over his body beneath his clothes, it was still a shocking sight.

Yin Junjie was very surprised when he saw Su Xiaomeng.

"Fourth Granny, what brings you here?"

When he opened the door, there was genuine delight in Jun Jie’s tone.

"I was passing by and thought I haven’t seen you in a long time, so I came by to check on you."

Yin Junjie looked even more astonished. In his usually calm eyes, a watery sheen rippled.

"Fourth Granny, come in quickly, I’ll pour you some tea!"

Yin Junjie said busily, "It’s just me and Fanfan at home. Grandpa and Grandma took Dad out to a gathering. It’s perfect—I haven’t seen you in a long time either, I really missed you!"

The happiness in his words and the joy in his heart were not concealed in the slightest.

However, even though the child was wearing long sleeves and long pants, when his thin arms lifted, it was easy to see the skin beneath his clothes.

On the exposed skin were deep red marks.

"Who hit you?"

Yin Junjie was about to go into the kitchen, but Xiao Meng hadn’t stayed in the living room waiting. Instead, she followed right behind him and asked.

"..."

"Your grandpa? Or your dad? What did they use to hit you? A whip, or a stick?"

Su Xiaomeng asked calmly.

Yin Junjie pressed his lips tightly together, all the color draining from his small face. He had his back to Xiao Meng at that moment. His steps paused for a second, then he walked into the kitchen and said lightly,

"Fourth Granny, what are you talking about! How could anyone hit me?"

Su Xiaomeng closed her eyes briefly. Seeing Yin Junjie skillfully take out teacups and put in tea leaves, just as he was about to pick up the hot water kettle, Xiao Meng grabbed his wrist.

She pulled up his sleeve...

Yin Junjie instantly had nowhere to hide.

"Fourth Granny..."

"You really are a brave kid, aren’t you!"

The words squeezed out from between Su Xiaomeng’s clenched teeth.

"H-how did you know..."

Su Xiaomeng glanced at the household staff outside the kitchen who were sneaking glances inside from time to time. She took a deep breath and said quietly to Yin Junjie,

"That Guo Shuai gave the stuff to the bureau chief, who is my uncle, Bai Sidong."

Yin Junjie’s eyes flew wide open in shock.

"He, he..."

"Guo Shuai didn’t suddenly grow a conscience. He wanted to give the thing to the former bureau chief to use as leverage. He just didn’t know the chief had changed, so it accidentally ended up in my uncle’s hands."

Su Xiaomeng knew that if she explained it this way, he would understand.

Because according to what Guo Shuai had revealed, he’d gotten that thing from Yin Junjie. At the time, Yin Junjie had been on his way to find her, clearly intending to hand it over to her.

Xiao Meng saw excitement instantly spread across Yin Junjie’s face!

This child...

Xiao Meng pressed her lips very tightly together, thinking of how many injuries he must have suffered...