DF Chapter 46
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There was only one elderly family member left, and with businessmen placing importance on appearances, it would seem improper not to hold a grand birthday celebration for the old man.
Cui Fei lived in a villa complex in the southern district, with lush greenery, small bridges over flowing streams, and an environment so beautiful it felt unreal. Zhen Yi sighed, “Now this is what I call a place to live!”
Grandpa was displeased. “Yi’er, that’s not right. Are you saying that if you don’t live here, you’re a little dog? Don’t belittle yourself.”
Zhen Yi laughed. “Of course. Grandpa’s little wooden house is truly where immortals live.”
Cui Fei’s house was grand, with many servants, yet it didn’t feel empty despite the few family members living there. Cui Fei was seven or eight years older than Zhen Yi, now in her thirties, while Qi Xingyuan was in his fifties, around the same age as Cui Fei’s mother.
Before marrying Cui Fei, Qi Xingyuan had a son, a daughter, and an illegitimate daughter, all grown adults and not much younger than Cui Fei.
However, the child he treasured most was his daughter with Cui Fei, Qi Hongdou, who was nine years old and in elementary school.
Zhen Yi had plans to meet Si Gui and Yang Zi for dinner, while Qi Xingyuan was going to pick up his daughter from her art class. They both left together, driving separate cars. Zhen Yi hadn’t expected Qi Xingyuan to personally pick up Qi Hongdou, but it wasn’t entirely surprising. Qi Xingyuan, as the CEO of a major internet company worth nearly ten billion, had passed the entrepreneurial stage and was now enjoying life, focusing on his family and love. Cui Fei and Qi Hongdou were undoubtedly happy.
Cui Fei would sometimes tell Zhen Yi on the phone how lucky and happy it was to meet a mature, wealthy man who understood women and, at a point where his life focus had shifted from career to love and family, was now ready to share that happiness.
Zhen Yi was indifferent to such talk. A man like that was probably shaped by the women who came before, leaving the final woman to enjoy the results without much effort.
If it were her, Zhen Yi would rather be the woman who molded a young man into a good partner. Not that she enjoyed self-sacrifice, but because she liked the challenge.
Cui Fei would laugh and say, “Xiao Yi, if you dedicate your youth to shaping a man, only for him to marry someone else, wouldn’t you regret it?”
Zhen Yi wasn’t fazed. “Love isn’t the whole of life. I don’t live for men. If he leaves, I’ll just find someone better. There’s not just one kind of happiness, nor only one kind of man. The last thing I want to be is a resentful woman.”
Cui Fei would then sigh, “Xiao Yi, I hope the person you love never lets you down.”
Cui Fei certainly lived a happy life. When Zhen Yi was in middle school, she lived at her aunt’s house, and at that time, Cui Fei was about to graduate from university. Qi Xingyuan was pursuing her wildly, overwhelming her with money and romance. As Cui Fei’s relative, Zhen Yi also received high-end gourmet food, clothes, and jewelry from abroad. By the time Zhen Yi reached high school, Cui Fei had married, and her life remained blissful.
However, Zhen Yi would occasionally think back to that summer when she and Yan Ge were forced to hide in the closet. Outside, at the dining table facing the bedroom, Cui Fei was passionately entangled with a young man, someone their age—young and full of energy.
It was then that Zhen Yi realized that what Cui Fei wanted wasn’t just the wealth and tenderness of a middle-aged man, but also the passion and wildness of a young man’s body.
Zhen Yi never mentioned this to anyone. She figured it was just a moment of indulgence for Cui Fei. After all, Cui Fei knew better than anyone what she truly wanted.
At the police station entrance, Zhen Yi picked up Si Gui, who immediately asked, “Yang Zi said you went off for some ‘spiritual retreat’? A month off work—must have been nice, huh?”
“It was bliss,” Zhen Yi said lazily, “So relaxing that I couldn’t keep my legs together from all the joy.”
Si Gui burst into laughter. “Zhen, welcome back! I missed you so much.”
Zhen Yi smiled but focused on driving.
“The K University Yao Feng murder case—I heard from my colleagues in Qingjiang District that they’re wrapping it up today. Everyone thought Yao Feng had mental issues, but it turns out he was faking it. Fooled a lot of police officers.”
“I saw him getting arrested at the psychiatric hospital. He had the guts to kill, but not the guts to take responsibility, so he pretended to be insane.” Zhen Yi scoffed. “What a coward.”
Si Gui agreed. “Thankfully, Professor Yan handled the assessment. He managed to deceive many, but not the professionals. The media once painted his backstory as some tragic tale of society pushing him to madness, but now their narrative’s been shattered.”
Zhen Yi smiled but didn’t comment.
“But Yang Zi had bad luck with this case—it didn’t do her any good.”
“Good?” Zhen Yi was puzzled by the choice of words.
“I ran into her at court the other day. She mentioned that the Yao Feng case should’ve gained a lot of attention but missed the mark. It could have been a chance to advocate for mental health rights, but no one expected Yao Feng to be faking it.”
Zhen Yi didn’t know how to respond. The two parked the car and walked toward the courthouse across the street. As soon as they arrived, they were met with chaos in the courtyard. The trial had ended, but the families of both the victim and the defendant were still fighting, crying and shouting at each other.
Zhen Yi saw Yang Zi being shoved out of the crowd and quickly ran over to help her up. Yang Zi’s eyes were red as if she was about to cry. “I told Yao Feng’s parents to leave through the back, but they wouldn’t listen.”
Zhen Yi turned to look, and with just one glance, her heart felt like it had been hit hard.
It wasn’t difficult to spot Yao Feng’s parents in the crowd. Their hair was gray, their clothes shabby, and their faces dark and weathered, etched with the lines of years of hard labor. They were hunched over, tears streaming down their faces. In the next moment, they both knelt down, kowtowing to the victims’ parents. Their calloused hands pressed against the cold concrete, blackened and yellowed from years of work.
“We’re sorry. It’s our fault for not raising our child properly. It’s our sin…” Their foreheads hit the cement with dull, heartbreaking thuds.
Zhen Yi quickly turned away, tears filling her eyes. Everyone around was crying—the victims’ families devastated by grief.
Suddenly, a sharp slap rang out, landing on an elderly face. Si Gui screamed, “Yao Feng has already been sentenced! Why are you still hitting people?”
“They deserve it!” The man who had slapped them roared. A second later, he turned to Yang Zi, grabbing her collar and nearly lifting her off the ground. “And you—you heartless woman—how dare you defend that beast in court.”
Zhen Yi and Si Gui rushed forward, twisting the man’s hand away and freeing Yang Zi.
“Who are you, his accomplice?” The man shouted angrily.
Si Gui’s voice was louder. “Are you a victim’s family member?”
The man’s expression changed, and he stammered, “M-my niece hurt her foot!”
Si Gui scoffed coldly. “So that gives you the right to hit people? You’re clearly in the right, but you insist on doing the wrong thing. Yao Feng killed someone, and he’s been sentenced. But now you want to assault people? Do you want to be detained? And you’re even threatening a lawyer!”
The man was startled into silence. Yao Feng’s parents were still kneeling on the ground, crying bitterly. “We deserve to be hit…” In that moment, it seemed like the entire world was filled with their sorrowful, aged sobs.
That evening, their dinner was rushed and heavy with emotion. The three of them returned to Zhen Yi’s apartment, squeezing onto one bed to chat.
Yang Zi couldn’t stop expressing her sympathy for Yao Feng’s parents. She said Yao Feng was scum, but what had his parents done wrong? They had raised their son through hardship, and now they were suffering the consequences. For those simple farmers, it was like their whole world had collapsed. She wiped her tears repeatedly on the blanket.
Zhen Yi wasn’t feeling great either and sighed, “It must have taken so much effort for his parents to raise Yao Feng. It’s truly pitiful. But the victims were also the treasures of their parents’ hearts. How can anyone say their outbursts aren’t justified? It’s a tragedy all around.”
Yang Zi, her voice trembling, said, “Yao Feng’s parents borrowed money to come to K City and scraped together ten thousand yuan to compensate the victims. But the victims’ families refused it, fearing it would lead to a lighter sentence. So many charitable people donated millions to the victims. The court didn’t ask for monetary compensation. Thankfully, because how could Yao Feng’s parents, who make only a few thousand a year, ever repay that?”
Zhen Yi listened quietly, saying nothing, feeling suffocated. She turned over, staring at the gray, hazy moon outside the window, like an old, uneaten dumpling. Yang Zi, new to criminal law, probably didn’t know that when it comes to compensation, everything could change over time. It wasn’t uncommon for those who refused compensation before sentencing to demand it later, after the sentence was handed down.
Turning over again, Zhen Yi asked Si Gui, “How did you know that man wasn’t a victim’s family member?”
“Experience. The ones making the biggest scene are often not the ones most directly affected. It’s usually the distant relatives, like the seventh aunt or the eighth uncle.”
