It was already late at night when He Xiaoyun was brought back to the Special Investigation Bureau.
Xu Zhihan was still in the infirmary.
Song Zhixia had initially refused to let him see anyone.
Her reason was simple: he had only recently woken up, and his mental exhaustion had yet to ease. He was in no condition to hear distressing testimony.
Xu Zhihan leaned against the headboard and looked at her.
Song Zhixia's face was stony. "Looking at me won't help."
"I wasn't looking at you," Xu Zhihan said.
Song Zhixia said, "Then why are your eyes glued to me?"
Xu Zhihan fell silent for two seconds. "You're noisy too."
Song Zhixia laughed in exasperation. "Does everyone on your Seventh Team have this problem?"
A team member beside her whispered, "Mr. Xu isn't on our Seventh Team yet."
Song Zhixia looked over.
The team member immediately shut up.
That was the scene Lu Wenchuan walked in on when he brought He Xiaoyun inside.
Xu Zhihan sat on the bed, his face pale and his gaze cool. Song Zhixia stood beside him with his medical chart in her hand, looking worse than the patient.
Lu Wenchuan knocked on the door. "Did I come at a bad time?"
Xu Zhihan looked at him. "You always do."
Lu Wenchuan nodded. "Then I suppose you're used to it."
Standing behind Lu Wenchuan, He Xiaoyun heard his reply, and her tense shoulders relaxed a little.
She raised her head to look at the man on the hospital bed.
Xu Zhihan looked at her too.
The moment their eyes met, tears spilled down He Xiaoyun's cheeks.
"You've grown up."
Her words were very soft.
Xu Zhihan's expression barely changed, but a sudden heaviness settled in his chest.
It was the emotion lingering in this body again.
He didn't know He Xiaoyun.
But this body seemed to know her.
Long ago, a little girl had crouched in the courtyard of the Xu Family Old Residence and handed a piece of candy to a frail child. She had said, "Don't tell my mom. She won't let me give you things to eat."
That memory was very hazy.
So hazy it seemed veiled in mist.
Xu Zhihan pressed down on his fingertips and said calmly, "Sit."
He Xiaoyun froze for a moment.
She seemed not to have expected Xu Zhihan to speak to her like that.
Lu Wenchuan pulled over a chair for her.
Song Zhixia looked at them and ultimately did not stop them. She only said coldly, "Twenty minutes. Any longer, and I'm throwing people out."
Lu Wenchuan smiled. "You're so compassionate, Dr. Song."
Song Zhixia said, "Starting with you."
Lu Wenchuan shut up.
Even after sitting down, He Xiaoyun still clutched the old cloth bundle.
Xu Zhihan glanced at it. "What's that?"
He Xiaoyun lowered her head, set the bundle on the table, and carefully opened it.
Inside were an old jade clasp and a yellowed photograph.
There were four people in the photograph.
Lin Wan, He Guilan, He Xiaoyun, and the young Xu Zhihan.
Xu Zhihan had been about five or six then. He stood beside Lin Wan, his face very pale, but his eyes were not as cold as they were now. Lin Wan rested one hand on his shoulder and held a little boy's hand with the other.
That boy was Xu An.
Xu Zhihan looked at the photograph, his fingertips going still.
Lu Wenchuan saw it too.
It was the first time he had seen what Xu Zhihan looked like as a child.
Thin and very quiet, as though the slightest touch could make him ill.
But back then, his eyes had not been as cold as they were now.
For some reason, Lu Wenchuan felt a pang of discomfort.
He Xiaoyun said hoarsely, "Auntie Lin left these with my mom. She said that if anything ever happened to her, my mom should take them, leave the Xu family, and find people who used to be with the Lin family."
Xu Zhihan asked, "Why would anything happen to her?"
He Xiaoyun's face grew paler.
"Because the Xu family wanted to use you as a vessel."
The infirmary fell silent.
Song Zhixia's expression turned serious too.
He Xiaoyun continued, "I was little then, and there was a lot I didn't understand. I only heard my mom say that the Xu family had brought someone in. They said your soul was weak, but your fate was very unusual, so you could nurture things inside you. Auntie Lin refused. She wanted to take you away."
Xu Zhihan's gaze grew a little colder.
Lu Wenchuan asked, "Then what happened?"
"Then Auntie Lin got sick." He Xiaoyun's voice began to tremble. "It happened so fast. One day she could still talk, and soon afterward she couldn't even get out of bed. My mom suspected someone had switched her medicine, so she secretly investigated."
Xu Zhihan looked at her. "And she traced it to Zhou Man?"
He Xiaoyun nodded.
"My mom found out Zhou Man was in contact with Zhou Qiliang. Back then, Zhou Qiliang ran a small pharmaceutical company that supplied medicine specifically to the Xu family. Auntie Lin's medicine, and the medicine you took afterward, all passed through his hands."
Song Zhixia's expression turned cold.
That matched the report.
He Xiaoyun's fingers trembled as she continued, "My mom went to Zhou Man and tried to make her stop. She also said she had evidence, and if Zhou Man wouldn't leave you alone, she would call the police."
Lu Wenchuan asked quietly, "Was that when something happened to He Guilan?"
He Xiaoyun closed her eyes briefly.
"Yes."
Her voice was very soft.
"My mom called me the day before she died. She told me to hide and not to go back to the Xu family. She said it wasn't safe to stay there anymore, that there was something suspicious about Auntie Lin's death, and that Xu An had disappeared too."
Xu Zhihan looked up. "When did Xu An disappear?"
He Xiaoyun said, "Not long after Auntie Lin died. Zhou Man said Xu An was sick and had been sent away for treatment. But the last time I saw him, there was a red string tied around his hand, and someone was taking him into the basement."
Xu Zhihan's fingers slowly curled inward.
His face remained calm, but his eyes were icy.
He Xiaoyun said quietly, "I wanted to save him, but I was too little. After my mom died, Zhou Qiliang found me and said he would take me somewhere safe. Then I was sent to that Sanatorium."
At this point, she finally began to break down.
"They said I was crazy, that everything I'd seen was a lie. Later, I really did start losing track of what was real. I was afraid that if I said anything, they'd give me another injection."
Xu Zhihan looked at her.
He rarely comforted anyone.
Nor did he know how.
After a few seconds, all he said was, "You're not crazy."
He Xiaoyun froze.
Xu Zhihan's voice was quiet but steady.
"Everything you saw was real."
He Xiaoyun covered her face and began to cry softly.
This time, Xu Zhihan did not complain about the noise.
He lowered his head and looked at Xu An in the photograph.
The little boy stood beside Lin Wan, wearing a faint smile.
Who could have imagined that he would end up sealed in the Xu family's basement, crying for fifteen years?
Noticing that Xu Zhihan looked increasingly unwell, Lu Wenchuan said, "Let's stop here for today."
He Xiaoyun hurriedly wiped away her tears. "There's one more thing."
She picked up the old jade clasp and handed it to Xu Zhihan.
"Auntie Lin said this was for you. She said that if she couldn't take you away, this should tell you not to trust Xu Chengyuan."
Xu Zhihan took the jade clasp.
It felt slightly cool in his hand.
The moment he grasped it, an image suddenly flashed through his mind.
Lin Wan sat beside the bed, her face pale and her voice soft.
"Xiaohan, don't be afraid."
"Mommy will take you away."
The image flashed for only an instant before abruptly fading.
Xu Zhihan closed his eyes briefly.
The emotion in his chest that belonged to the body's original owner stirred again.
This time, it hurt badly.
Song Zhixia immediately noticed something was wrong. "Xu Zhihan?"
Lu Wenchuan also stepped forward. "What's wrong?"
Xu Zhihan opened his eyes, his face deathly pale, but did not release the jade clasp.
"Nothing."
Song Zhixia said coldly, "It had better be nothing."
Lu Wenchuan looked at him and said quietly, "Put it down for now."
Xu Zhihan did not move.
Lu Wenchuan did not try to snatch it away. He only softened his voice.
"Xu Zhihan, put it down for now. You can't handle this in your current state."
Xu Zhihan glanced at him.
This time, he actually listened.
He set the jade clasp on the bedside table.
Lu Wenchuan breathed a sigh of relief.
Song Zhixia gave him a slightly odd look.
There weren't many people who could get Xu Zhihan to listen.
Xu Zhihan leaned back against the headboard, his voice very low.
"Does Zhou Man know He Xiaoyun is still alive?"
Lu Wenchuan said, "Not yet."
Xu Zhihan lowered his eyes.
"Then let her know."
Lu Wenchuan raised an eyebrow. "What are you planning?"
Xu Zhihan looked at the old photograph.
"Make her tell us herself."