Huo Rou listened to him with mockery in her eyes, but her heart grew cold.
If old Mr. Qin had suspected anyone else, she could have persuaded herself to believe him, to have a calm conversation, and to listen to his reasoning.
But the moment he opened his mouth, it was about the Jiang family.
Huo Rou felt a bitterness in her heart. She stared blankly at the long, slender fingers of Qin Ningyi on her sleeve.
She couldn't convince herself to walk through life with these hands.
She knew the Jiang family was not at fault. If they were, she wouldn't have befriended them. What else could Qin Han be thinking? He was still the same person who, for the sake of loyalty, believed a traitor was innocent.
Accomplices, all of them.
"The Jiang family has been targeting Cheng Guozhong for no reason. They have something to hide!" old Mr. Qin gritted his teeth, suppressing the pain in his body, struggling to speak. "If I hadn't kept a close eye on them, Cheng Guozhong would have already..."
"Heh." Huo Rou let out a cold laugh at this. Her eyes were filled with utter indifference, even a hint of determination. "Of course, the Jiang family wouldn't target him without reason."
Seeing that she was listening, old Mr. Qin breathed a sigh of relief. He had been investigating this anomaly with the Jiang family for years, all to find the real traitor.
It was possible that the real traitor wanted to ensure Cheng Guozhong could never speak again for their absolute safety. And he would certainly not be the one to act directly...
That was why old Mr. Qin had been fixated on the Jiang family for so long, believing that the Jiang family, targeting Cheng Guozhong without cause, must be connected to the real traitor. As long as he persisted, he was sure he would find it.
To give everyone an explanation!
"Child, how have you been all these years?" old Mr. Qin softened his voice, looking at her with affection. "I never expected Ningyi to like you. If I had known, I should have had him bring you back sooner..."
That night, he went to Fenghuo for Cheng Guozhong, and secondarily, for Huo Jinyi's daughter. He wanted to see her. He heard the little girl was living a hard life, and he had intended to take her back to his own home.
Unfortunately, due to the matter of Cheng Guozhong that night, his request was denied by the higher-ups. By the time he returned from Yizhou, he could no longer find any trace of Huo Rou.
It was understandable that the higher-ups wanted to protect her.
Huo Rou, however, gave a bitter smile upon hearing this. "If only I had known Qin Ningyi's grandfather was you."
She gently brushed away Qin Ningyi's stubborn fingers, her voice cold and resolute.
"I would never have come."
"Arou..." Qin Ningyi whispered her name, his voice trembling.
Huo Rou closed her eyes.
She wished that Qin Ningyi had never pulled her out of that group of children that year.
She wished she had remained in the endless darkness.
She wished...
If she hadn't met Qin Ningyi, Cheng Guozhong might have been a corpse by now.
An An walked to her side, his worried gaze fixed on her. His small hands fidgeted with her hem. "Mom, are you okay?"
Huo Rou's gaze was unfocused. Hearing An An's voice, her eyes flickered, and she knelt down to embrace him.
She had only him again now.
Huo Rou picked up An An and whispered softly in his ear. An An looked at Qin Ningyi with complicated eyes, then reached out to gently cup Huo Rou's cheeks. "Mom, let's go."
He knew his mother was unhappy, very unhappy. If she wasn't happy here, then they would go home, back to the village, and live their lives as before.
"No, Arou." Qin Ningyi grabbed Huo Rou's arm.
Huo Rou looked at him with extreme complexity. "Qin Ningyi."
She softly called his name, speaking powerlessly. "His request, they let go of the person who killed my father. My father just died before my eyes..."
"But the people who killed him all got away scot-free." Huo Rou's eyes lost their light, returning to the look she had given him the day An An fell into the water.
Cold and distant, veiled by an impenetrable mist. "Qin Ningyi, I can't."
Huo Rou swallowed the grievance in her heart, finally putting away the dark thoughts that had been swirling within her...
She truly couldn't.
The moment she thought of the pool of blood beneath her father on that rainy night, she felt as if she could see her father's last glance, even from so far away.
He looked at her, as if smiling.
Someone covered her eyes, but she couldn't forget the whistling sound of bullets in her ears.
She couldn't forget the elation she felt upon discovering the traitor, the remorse in Cheng Guozhong's eyes as he crawled to her on his knees, she couldn't forget Qin Han's words.
The justice she had waited for was gone. The outcome she had painstakingly waited for had changed.
How could she possibly be with Qin Han's grandson?
"I wish I could kill him." Huo Rou turned her head away from An An's gaze and mouthed the words to Qin Ningyi, one by one.
Qin Ningyi listened to the sorrow and helplessness in Huo Rou's voice from earlier, and watched her mouth the words now. His heart ached with a dense pain, he almost forgot to breathe.
Yes, this was a dead knot. Even he couldn't convince himself.
And how could he bring himself to trouble her?
"But, I can't."
Huo Rou's tone was filled with despair.
She had fought so hard to stay away from the darkness. She had to restrain herself, to not act recklessly.
As Huo Rou pushed the door open, she bumped into Qin Qianjian, who was coming with medicine.
"Sister-in-law." Qin Qianjian said the word "sister-in-law" quite naturally now.
But he was met with Huo Rou's dark, vacant eyes.
They were chilling.
Qin Qianjian intended to ask about the situation, when he heard Huo Rou say with utter coldness, "I am not your sister-in-law."
Behind her, old Mr. Qin's heavy breathing could be heard, still trying to explain things to her.
Qin Ningyi chased after her, at a loss, all words now seemed pale.
Huo Rou turned, her gaze passing over him to Qin Han. Qin Han opened his mouth as if to say the words "Jiang family," and the contempt in Huo Rou's eyes intensified.
The Jiang family had loyalty, and they understood right from wrong. How could he slander them so casually?
She knew Qin Han had been Cheng Guozhong's superior, but could loyalty supersede right and wrong?
She spoke faintly, "You think he'll live the rest of his life peacefully after escaping Jiushan Prison? Qin Han, he won't..."
The justice she couldn't attain, the outcome she couldn't achieve, she would have to do it herself.
"How much he suffered these years, he will suffer even more in the future."