Chapter 48: Experience

Mother Liang unpacked the cardboard box, and right at the very top was a stack of test papers.

She flipped through them one by one, her finger resting on the red annotations, and said with a note of nostalgia, "Xiao Yuan is exceptionally bright. These are the tests Professor Liang made for him. Look, most of them are correct. Professor Liang said his abstract thinking was far superior to that of an average person, if only he had received the proper education."

During that period, Liang Ming had been sent away to study in another city, and her younger daughter, Liang Tan, boarded at school during the weekdays. The house had felt chillingly desolate, and she forced herself to maintain a facade of calm every day just to hold the crumbling family together.

That day, she had come home early from work and encountered Xu Yuan studying at the desk in the living room. Professor Liang emerged from the kitchen carrying a fruit platter, and upon seeing her, he stammered, "An acquaintance asked me to look after him for a bit... I was just finding him some of Tan Tan's discarded study materials. His foundation is weak, and he's missed out on a lot of elementary school concepts. I'm helping him catch up."

Xu Yuan stood up, clutching a notebook in his hands, and bowed to her stiffly and nervously.

Mother Liang had been even more flustered than Xu Yuan. She lacked the emotional energy to deal with a strange child, while simultaneously harboring a deep resentment toward her husband—why couldn't such tenderness be given to their own son?

Sensing her sorrow, Xu Yuan stayed for less than half an hour before packing up his books and announcing he had to leave.

It was then that Mother Liang noticed the bruised, purplish skin on the side of his face half-hidden by his hair. Meeting his look of guilt and apprehension, a fierce wave of pity surged within her. She blamed herself for transmitting her negative emotions onto someone so young and proactively asked him to stay for dinner.

Mother Liang said, "I knew he must have had a hard life before, because he was exceptionally observant, walking on eggshells every single second. His hand shook continuously as he held his chopsticks, and when a grain of rice fell onto the table, he picked it up and ate it, lowering his head to apologize to me. I regretted it even more then."

Fang Qingzhou recalled when Professor Liang had invited her to his house for dinner. Her mentor's wife had immediately expressed warm hospitality, looking her up and down repeatedly as if checking her body for wounds.

Back then, Fang Qingzhou had assumed such excessive care stemmed from loneliness, but now she realized it was not the case.

Mother Liang continued, "The hot weather in City A arrives early. The long-sleeved sweatshirt he wore was fleece-lined, but Professor Liang was too careless to notice. I sorted through Liang Ming's childhood clothes and picked out a well-fitting short-sleeved shirt for him to change into before he went back.

"He was too embarrassed not to change, lingering in the room for a dozen minutes before coming out. I was wondering what was taking him so long, but when he walked closer, I saw a scar over ten centimeters long on his arm, and large patches of dark bruising stretching from his shoulder to his back, visible beneath the fabric of the short-sleeved shirt. I stepped forward and pulled back his clothing to inspect, only to discover cigarette burn scars and all sorts of overlapping new and old contusions. I couldn't help it; I burst into tears."

Mother Liang took Xu Yuan to get a haircut and brought him to the hospital for a full medical checkup.

He wasn't used to having such short hair, feeling as though everyone passing by was staring at the injury on his forehead. He couldn't help raising his hand to touch it, trying to shield himself from the surrounding gazes.

Fearing he would scratch the scab open, Mother Liang took hold of his hand.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass in the hallway, Xu Yuan cautiously glanced up at the pale, translucent reflection.

Noticing his small gesture, Mother Liang asked gently, "What is it?"

Xu Yuan lifted his head to look at her, speaking shyly in a soft voice, "This is my first time seeing such a big hospital. It's so huge. I feel like I'll get lost, and I don't know how to see a doctor."

"It's my first time going to a shop to get a haircut. My first time letting someone else wash my hair."

"My first time eating such delicious food."

Mother Liang smiled faintly.

As she led him to wait for the elevator, Xu Yuan whispered under his breath, "It's the first time anyone has ever cried for me."

"He probably thought I didn't hear him, but I did. I almost started crying again when we stepped into the elevator." Mother Liang pulled out a bag containing the medical report from back then. Holding it in her hand, her nose stung with emotion. "What kind of family would treat him this way? I don't understand."

Having listened for a long time, Liang Ming could no longer contain himself. He leaned in and asked, "Wait, hold on! How come I didn't know anything about this?"

Mother Liang took the tissue handed to her by her son and gave him a light slap. "How was I supposed to tell you? What if you minded? You and your dad already had so many conflicts and emotional baggage. You were both like gunpowder, flying into a rage just hearing the other person's name. You walk out the front door, and immediately we take in a new child, living harmoniously with him and even telling you how sensible he is, making him feel like part of our family. Just how stupid would I have to be?

"'Congratulations to Professor Liang for finding his ideal son.' 'Wishing your family a joyful reunion and complete happiness. This outsider won't intrude.'—I could already guess what you'd say, and then you'd sling your backpack over your shoulder and leave, never to return home."

Liang Ming could not refute this. After all, his biological mother had nailed his sarcastic tone to perfection.

Liang Ming began rummaging through the box's contents again and muttered, "But I never saw him when I came back home either. I didn't see anything belonging to him around the house."

"Professor Liang rented an apartment for him. Whenever you came home, he wouldn't come over; he was also afraid of affecting our relationship." Mother Liang stepped out of the camera's frame to wipe her nose. "He proactively considered everything for me, as if he knew what I was thinking. He was far too mature for his peers, never making things difficult for me, and always helping me make decisions in advance."

Hearing this, Zhou Suirong leaned in closely, resting his chin on Fang Qingzhou's shoulder to watch the screen with her.

Mother Liang said, "Actually, you did run into him once. At the time, I took you out to eat, and he happened to be sitting by the roadside eating from a boxed meal. I didn't know how to greet him, and my expression panicked a little bit, which he noticed. He pretended not to know me and lowered his head. After I placed my order, I decided to let him come inside, but he had already left."

Liang Ming fished out a hand-drawn greeting card. The writing inside was neat and rigid, expressing gratitude solely to Teacher Liang and Mentor Kong's wife.

There were various other miscellaneous small objects as well, with very few bearing personal markers, not even leaving behind a single name.

Their owner was like a hermit crab, always ready to abandon its shell. Hiding within this sanctuary, life was constantly marked by caution and lingering hope. Desiring permanence, yet acutely aware of its transience. Thus treating reality as a rope suspended from a beam, halting before beauty and waking up from pleasant dreams.

Seeing these items once more, an unspeakable compassion and desolation surged within Mother Liang, beating against her like alternating waves. They dredged up the emotions she had no time to process back then, amplified by time and circumstance to strike back manifold.

She pressed down on the back of Liang Ming's hand, signaling him to put those things down. "I actually knew it wasn't right. I let him appear whenever I occasionally needed companionship, and then made him leave whenever our bond grew close. Wasn't that essentially treating him as your replacement? But I truly didn't mean it that way; I hoped even more that the two of you could become friends. I knew that separating him from your life was extremely cruel to him, but selfishly, I couldn't refuse. My sympathy for him could not surpass my regard for you. Back then, my heart and mind were entirely consumed by how to get you back, and anything that stood in the way was ruthlessly weeded out."

During that period, she had lived every day feeling detached from reality, swallowed whole by a mess of tangled troubles, unable to register any other emotions. Only now did she belatedly perceive the misfortune that young boy had endured, feeling a deep sense of shame because of it.

"I was outrageous too, expecting a teenager to turn around and take care of me."

"Mom!" Liang Ming protested loudly, "I know you have massive opinions about my rebellious phase. Didn't I already turn over a new leaf?"

Whether Mother Liang appreciated this kind of humor was hard for Fang Qingzhou to say, but she certainly wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity to mock Liang Ming.

Fang Qingzhou pointed out, "And yet you claimed you excelled at comforting people."

"Why are you holding such a grudge?" Liang Ming retorted. "You say something then, let me hear it."

Fang Qingzhou answered matter-of-factly, "He probably felt nothing but gratitude toward you."

A mouthful of old blood choked in Liang Ming's throat. He thought to himself that he knew that much, oh, he knew it all too well.

Yet he was begging them—please don't repay kindness with murder! Just how twisted could someone's psychology be? It had scared him so much he hadn't slept a proper night in two days.

Mother Liang could hardly bear the two of them taking turns displaying the art of linguistic sparring. She changed the subject and said, "Professor Liang said his previous household registration couldn't be used. He pulled strings everywhere, finding a school for him to audit classes temporarily and handling his residency registration. Fortunately, background checks weren't as strict back then. Just as the procedures were finally completed and I said we could celebrate, Xiao Yuan disappeared."

Fang Qingzhou asked, "Does Mentor's wife remember when exactly that happened?"

Mother Liang replied, "Around September, I think. I remember the Mid-Autumn festival holiday was approaching, pretty much like now. I had ordered a cake and asked Xiao Yuan to help pick it up, but by nightfall, he still hadn't returned. Professor Liang and I made several phone calls, but couldn't reach him, and we were so panicked we wanted to call the police. Later, Professor Liang went out to search for him himself.

"Near dawn, Professor Liang returned looking gloomy and told me Xiao Yuan had gotten into some trouble and had to leave City A. He had already asked a friend to help look after him. After a while, Professor Liang told me again that Xiao Yuan had been taken to Country Y by his relatives, and due to various reasons, it was inconvenient for him to contact me.

"If Xiao Yuan had reliable relatives to lean on, he wouldn't have drifted to our doorstep. I also guessed that Xiao Yuan might not have been undocumented at all, but rather something had gone wrong somewhere. Whatever the reason, I believe he was more compelled by circumstance than harboring malicious intent. I'd rather remain ignorant of the details, so I didn't ask."

Mother Liang continued, "Shortly after he left, I was worried sick about him, but Professor Liang maintained intermittent contact with him, saying he was doing well. Every year, Xiao Yuan would also mail me gifts from Country Y—items that looked quite expensive. I don't study luxury goods, so I couldn't name their price. Professor Liang told me to keep them for now. I didn't dare leave them at home, so I deposited all of them in the bank. Do I need to turn them in?"

Fang Qingzhou almost missed a beat responding to that question: "There's no need to turn them in. That is money he earned himself."

Mother Liang said with lingering worry, "I saw the news saying... his name is Xu Yuan, right? Was his father actually driven to death by the police? Did he escape all by himself? What are you trying to do by looking for him now? Are you trying to clear his father's name?"

Fang Qingzhou replied, "No, those are just online rumors. Please make sure you don't step forward to make any public statements."

Mother Liang said desolately, "I know. Talking nonsense will only cause trouble for him. He doesn't even go by the name Xu Yuan anymore."

Fang Qingzhou asked, "Could you let Liang Ming... Brother Liang, take the phone?"

Liang Ming was still lingering nearby. Having clearly heard this, he emitted an intriguing chuckle at the respectful designation of "Brother."

He took the phone, speaking as he walked outside: "What is it, little sister Fang?"

Fang Qingzhou asked, "Have you taken stock of Professor Liang's assets?"

Leaning back against the windowsill, Liang Ming enjoyed the pleasant breeze and said, "Take stock of what? The old man committed suicide; he handled everything himself. Stocks, patents, options—he sold everything he could and turned it into cash for me. Now I just have to live off my savings."

"Oh," Fang Qingzhou inquired, "how much is there?"

Liang Ming experienced once more the sensation of having blunt audacity slapped directly across his face—almost on par with that past remark of *"Could you recount the process of how you killed someone?"* Speechless, he replied, "I'm not telling you! Are you just asking blindly? Couldn't you at least beat around the bush?"

"I just wanted to know how deep his relationship with Yan Jianyuan went, and whether there were any business dealings between them." Fang Qingzhou thought for a moment and said, "Never mind. That's not important either. Thank you for telling me all this. There's a lot of online information these days, so please tell Mentor's wife not to read the news."

"Hey..." Liang Ming dragged out his syllables, unable to form a complete sentence and spouting nothing but filler sounds.

Fang Qingzhou's patience with him was only marginally larger than a grain of rice: "What is it?"

"Sigh... I was just feeling emotional. In my eyes, he wasn't a qualified father, but in the eyes of others, he might be even greater than a savior. I don't understand why it has to be this way." Liang Ming sighed heavily, troubled. "Yet why do the kids in our family always have something wrong with them?"

Fang Qingzhou stated sincerely, "Because this isn't a problem."

Guessing her train of thought entirely, Zhou Suirong spoke in unison with her: "This is philosophy."

Fang Qingzhou excelled at solving problems, and for those difficult to resolve, she was equally skilled at pulling out the floorboards and burying the problem itself.

As for getting to the bottom of things, she didn't care much. Provided it effectively settled her vexations, she wouldn't even mind giving the dirt a few extra thumps with a shovel after burying it.

When it came to speculative musings lacking precise answers, she was accustomed to dumping them all into the lap of mysterious philosophy and metaphysics.

Deeming little Zhou increasingly clever, Fang Qingzhou nodded approvingly toward him while hoping some fool on the other end of the line might grasp the concept: "Understood? If not, I'm hanging up."

Liang Ming let out two strange screeches to stop her: "Why didn't you ask me if I caught any fish?"

Not doubting him, Fang Qingzhou kindly offered him a chance to show off and asked, "Did you catch any fish?"

Liang Ming burst into triumphant laughter: "Didn't I just catch you? Hahaha!"

Fang Qingzhou: "..."

She shouldn't have been kind enough to give Liang Ming positive reinforcement.

Switching out of the chat interface, Fang Qingzhou saw that Captain Feng had sent her a message a few minutes prior, asking if she could track Zheng Jiahou's location.

She clicked on the link, jumped to the livestream broadcast, uttered an inquiring "Oh?" at the scene, and then magnified the screenshot after capturing it.

The camera's placement angle captured a portion of the vehicle's rear windshield, but no distinctive scenery was visible outside the glass—only a vast expanse of sky and a patch of swaying tree branches.

Light shone in from Zheng Jiahou's left side, illuminating half of his arm.

Based on the angle of the light and the direction in which the wind blew the leaves, Fang Qingzhou opened the map to cross-reference.

If she only considered the area surrounding the village...

Fang Qingzhou replied to him: Understood, stall for time.

Following her lead, Zhou Suirong opened the livestream and happened to catch Zheng Jiahou saying:

"Liang Yizheng's uncle always firmly believed his nephew had been bullied and injured by classmates, because that was what the school told him..."

·

The case-handling division, which had been noisy and chaotic all morning, ushered in a brief moment of peace.

Several individuals each occupied a corner to watch the livestream.

Due to varying internet speeds, their successively triggered voices carried wave-like echoes.

Liang Yizheng had his volume turned up the highest.

Upon hearing the word "uncle," he lowered his crossed legs, and his upper body, which had been slouching against the back of the chair, slowly straightened up.