Ninety-six.

Hu Yongnian was indeed suspected of attempted murder.

Back when the Zhang family of four narrowly escaped that car accident, the truth was that before he went to the airport to pick up Zhang Momo, Hu Yongnian had already taken the chance, during a meal with Zhang Junru, to slip sleeping pills into his tea. The fact that they had not crashed on the way there was already a stroke of luck amid disaster, and it was precisely because of that that one could explain why, when Zhang Momo saw her father at the airport, he looked so worn and drained.

The police revealed this to Zhang Momo while taking her statement. They had already gathered enough evidence about what had happened all those years ago, or rather, Xiang Zuo had long since investigated in secret and openly, collecting complete testimony and physical evidence before handing it over to the police. Even in this latest abduction of Zhang Momo, the moment he received the text message sent from her phone, he notified the police. He did not know exactly where Hu Yongnian had hidden Zhang Momo, but he knew very well that Zhang Momo would never have asked to meet him on her own.

And so the criminal was inevitably taken into custody. With kidnapping and hostage-taking added to the list, there was no need at all to wonder about the outcome of his trial. The only thing that puzzled the police was that the manner of kidnapping Hu Yongnian described bore no relation whatsoever to the actual extent of the injuries sustained by the hostage.

That sinful old man insisted that he had not laid a hand on Zhang Momo. Then where had the poor girl’s mild concussion, severe fracture of the left leg, and the bloodstains on her forehead, mouth, and wrists come from? There was only one person who could answer that question, and she refused to say a word.

Zhang Momo said nothing. She only wanted to laugh; yes, only laugh.

Lying in a hospital bed, wrapped in white bandages from head to toe, her unlucky leg broken and bound up like a dumpling, propped high in the air, every part of her body aching so badly that she could not sleep, Zhang Momo still only wanted to laugh.

She did not know whether she ought to feel guilty. Upon learning of the crimes Hu Yongnian had committed, the strongest feeling she had was not outrage, but the sense that a hell pressing down on her had finally been torn away. The car accident had indeed been caused by her driving; but since there had been all those preceding and succeeding causes and consequences, it was as if a accomplice had come forward to share the blame with her, and the evil on her shoulders no longer seemed so heavy. Such thoughts could not be spoken aloud, and even she herself despised them, yet she truly did feel as if she had been relieved of a great burden and could breathe again.

What Xiang Zuo had done for her was far more than she could ever have imagined, and that made her heart fill with a sweetness so complete it felt like joy. But this joy was hers alone, and that was enough. No one else needed to understand it. The better he treated her, the less she could allow others to know about everything between them. So she still could not say anything. Even when, upon waking, the first thing she saw was Xiang Zuo, and even the faint stubble on his chin filled her with indescribable contentment, there was no need to add anything to that contentment. It was enough just as it was.

The most futile rescue attempt in history had been carried out by her into a brutal act of self-destruction, and that was something she could all the more never speak of. So she remained silent. How could she tell a second person that she herself had made herself into such a miserable state? Everyone said she was kind-hearted, that even toward such a filthy old man she could repay wrongs with virtue. Only she knew how foolish that conclusion was.

She smiled, while Xiang Zuo suffered.

No one knew how long he had sat by her hospital bed, only that what he received was always her expressionless silence. Everyone felt that this girl had lost her mind in this harrowing kidnapping, and whether she had been frightened into nervous collapse still needed further examination. Xiang Zuo, however, could not think that far at all. He simply sat beside Zhang Momo’s bed, unable to think of a single thing to do.

Whether they should first contact the prosecutor’s office about the trial of Hu Yongnian so that the old bastard would receive the punishment he deserved, he forgot. Whether Zhang Momo’s only relative, Zhang Nianqing, who was abroad, ought to be informed of the matter, he forgot that too. Needless to say, Zhang Momo’s originally planned engagement ceremony had now been postponed indefinitely, and whether that should bring him even the slightest comfort, he still forgot. He even could not remember to hire Dong Fei again as a nurse to take care of Zhang Momo’s meals and daily needs.

This man, who had always thought of everything, now remembered nothing at all. It was as if he had lost his memory, or his intelligence had returned to that of a five-year-old. He simply sat dumbly by her bed, watching her wake, drift, and ignore him.

Three days passed. When Zhang Momo finally emerged from her daze and called out, “Xiang Zuo,” he even doubted whether his hearing was playing tricks on him. So flustered he could barely speak clearly, his body reacted before his mind did, and he rose at once, leaning over her bed.

She looked at him, her gaze utterly clear. She looked for a very long time, her eyes filled with an inexplicable smile.

“I want to ask you a question.”

He lifted his brows.

“Suppose there is a girl who has done many wrong things. For money, she deceived you and nearly ruined you. In a haze, she stabbed you more times than anyone could count. Her character is truly defective, and her nude photos are all over the internet. If she says she wants to come back to your side and make up for every wrong she ever did, would you be willing to give her that chance?”

He exhaled a long breath. For some reason, he remained silent for a long while. Only when her face also turned pale did Xiang Zuo’s stiff features finally soften with relief. He took her hand, his fingers tracing the red abrasions covering her slender arm one by one.

“I wouldn’t.”

Zhang Momo’s hand trembled, and a blade of ice pierced straight into her heart. Just as a sour wetness rose in her eyes, she heard the man before her say, “I wouldn’t give her a chance to make it up to me. I’d make sure she could never repay it, never settle it for the rest of her life, until her dying day and beyond…”

Before he had finished speaking, he had already pulled Zhang Momo from the hospital bed into his arms. The movement tugged at her wounds, and an “ow” caught in her mouth. She smiled through the pain. His embrace was too warm, too tight, and it would make a person hurt. But what did any of that matter? As long as he was still holding her, what else in the world still mattered?

Song Jiakai stood outside the ward and quietly turned away. This room was too crowded to hold a third person.

A note from the author: Brothers, this is where we say goodbye. Thank you to everyone who followed this story and everyone who ever followed it before. Come back in three months to read my new novel. This time I’ll finish the whole manuscript before posting it, and I won’t do anything so cruel to my readers or myself again.