Liang Yuanze arrived very quickly, faster than the police. He carried He Yan out of the car, wrapping her in his own suit jacket and carefully taking her to his car. He Yan was still trembling, and Liang Yuanze could only hold her tightly, whispering soothing words in her ear, "It's okay, Yanyan, it's okay. I'm here. The police will be here soon. When they arrive, I'll take you to the hospital."
The police quickly arrived, their flashing lights non-stop. They removed the thin man's body from He Yan's car, loading it into a body bag and taking it away. A female police officer came to check on He Yan's condition, attempting to further investigate the case. Liang Yuanze, suppressing his anger, said composedly, "My girlfriend has been seriously injured and needs to go to the hospital for treatment."
The female police officer was very understanding and immediately arranged for someone to take He Yan to the hospital, allowing Liang Yuanze to accompany her. He Yan's body gradually calmed down, but her voice was hoarse; she nervously urged Liang Yuanze, "Don't let my parents know, don't let them know."
Liang Yuanze's eyes were even redder than He Yan's, and he tightly held her hand, assuring her gently, "Don't worry, I won't let them know. Yanyan, don't be afraid, I'm here."
It was as if He Yan's soul and energy had been exhausted in that life-and-death struggle just now, leaving only a shell that obediently followed their arrangements, going for a physical examination, injury examination, treatment, and even accepting the female police officer's interrogation. Only when facing Liang Yuanze would her eyes flicker slightly, murmuring to him, "Yuanze, did I have a nightmare?"
Liang Yuanze hugged her tightly, firmly telling her, "It's just a nightmare; it'll be over soon."
He had never lied to her, and things indeed improved day by day. Every time he came to see her, he brought good news, and on the fifteenth day, he came back to tell her, "The person who escaped, 'Brother Jie', has been caught. All three of them are heinous fugitives with a list of crimes and blood on their hands. You'll be okay, Yanyan, you'll be okay."
She was first stunned, and then she began to cry out in pain. The invisible fear that had been pressing on her heart finally found an outlet for release. "I'm scared, Yuanze, I'm really scared. I'm afraid that person will come back for revenge. You didn't see the look in his eyes at the time. He's going to kill me."
Liang Yuanze still hugged her tightly and told her in a slow and steady voice, "No, he can't come out to harm you anymore. He will be sentenced to death. The lawyer said he absolutely will not escape the death penalty. Don't be afraid, Yanyan, I will always be with you. After this is over, we will get married, buy a big house, have two children, and raise a dog and a cat, so our home will always be lively!"
He Yanyan's gaze fell into emptiness, staring blankly, and gradually the scene he described to her unfolded before her eyes.
"Don't be afraid, Yanyan. Time will heal everything, slowly, and eventually that nightmare will be forgotten," Liang Yuanze said softly.
Four years later, in Nanzhao City.
Nanzhao City is surrounded by mountains and water, and has long been known as a place of beautiful scenery. He Yanyan's parents originally did not intend to leave their hometown again in their old age, but they really liked the environment here. In addition, He Yanyan settled down with her husband here, so they resolutely sold their old house and moved to Nanzhao.
The house was bought in the neighborhood opposite to where He Yanyan now lived. It was just a narrow road away, taking less than ten minutes to walk. Even Liang Yuanze couldn't help teasing her, "Your natal home is so close, convenient to run, but I'm afraid you will soon be complaining about your parents' nagging."
He Yanyan glanced at him, curled up in the sofa, flipping through a magazine with a deliberate drawl, "Honey, I've spent all of my salary again this month. I don't even have money to get a beauty card."
Liang Yuanze smiled helplessly, "My dear wife, don't you have my salary card? Do you still need to ask me for money?"
"A greeting is still needed," she pouted, then stretched her legs out to kick Liang Yuanze's foot, "By the way, Yuanze, when should we go to the hospital for a check-up? They say the man should also get checked. Both parties being in good health will make the baby stronger!"
They had been married for two years, and after getting through the honeymoon period when they couldn't bear to be apart all day, they were now preparing to have a baby.
"Do I have any problems with my body..." Liang Yuanze grabbed her restless leg and caressed it lightly, but leaned over and said ambiguously, "Don't you already know?"
He Yanyan chuckled softly and lightly kicked him, "Get lost. If you don't go to the hospital, I won't go either!"
Liang Yuanze always obeyed her, and within a few days, he went to the hospital with her for a check-up. Both of them were in good condition, and the doctor only gave He Yanyan some vitamins to take during the pregnancy. By the time they left the hospital, it was almost noon. Liang Yuanze went directly to the company, while He Yanyan took her time to go shopping and then casually drove back to the school.
The school where she worked was not big. It had just been upgraded to a university, working hard to develop a few academic departments. However, there were not that many office buildings, so several faculty members from different departments were all squeezed into one building. As usual, He Yanyan parked her car under the shade of the trees behind the office building. As she got out of the car, a black off-road vehicle pulled up and parked closely next to her car.
The car was very unfamiliar, unlike the one belonging to the school's faculty. He Yanyan's steps involuntarily slowed down, and she looked at it for a moment.
The car door opened, and a man with sunglasses stepped out of the car, wearing a shirt and jeans. He had a tall and slender figure, and looked very thin, but He Yanyan, who frequented the gym, knew that this type of physique was typical for appearing slim in clothes but having flesh underneath. Although the man sounded thin and looked slim, his clothes likely concealed strong muscles underneath.
But she wasn't interested in him. She was deeply in love with Liang Yuanze, and had reached the point of seeing other men as vague figures, regardless of their appearance.
The man, however, supported the car door and looked at her, calmly asking, "Miss, excuse me, is the office of the Foreign Languages Institute in this building?"
His voice had a distinctive tone, low and melodious, but with an indescribable coolness. It should be extremely comfortable to hear in the summer, but when He Yanyan heard it, she shivered. The short-lived nightmare that had been pressed deep into her memory seemed to reappear.
Under the moonlight, the man's blade-like gaze swept over her face, his expression indifferent. He said, "Be clean, don't leave any troubles behind."
That voice, she would never be able to forget it for her entire life.
He Yanyan, as if seeing an evil spirit, was unable to shout "help" and could only stare in fear at the man in front of her, panicking and retreating. In her panic, the heel of her high-heeled shoe got caught in the gap of the floor tiles, destabilizing her, and she fell heavily to the ground.
The man took off his sunglasses and walked towards her, asking, "Miss, are you alright?"
She kept moving her body backwards, screaming in fear, "Don't come near, don't come near. There are many people here, they will come over immediately!"
The man had to stop and helplessly explain to her with a smile, "Miss, I don't know why you reacted this way, but I mean no harm. If I have caused you fear, then I apologize, I will leave now."
As he spoke, he slowly stepped back, then kindly leaned forward and asked her, "Are you okay by yourself? Do you need me to call someone else over?"
He Yuanyan did not speak, only shrank her body and looked at him with a terrified and guarded look.
"OK! OK! I will leave right away," the man reassured her in a soft voice, glanced at his watch, pointed to his car, and added, "Miss, I will probably be back to drive in half an hour."
He said nothing more and left in large strides.
The sun was shining brightly in the sky, but He Yuanyan's whole body felt as if she had just come out of an ice cave, shivering from the cold. She was still sitting on the ground, her skirt covered in dust, and the palms of her hands were stinging from scraped skin. However, He Yuanyan didn't care about these things. She tremblingly took out her phone from her purse and dialed Liang Yuanze's number.
"He's here! He's here!" she repeated in a bird-like panic.
"Who?" Liang Yuanze asked.
She replied anxiously, "It's him, I saw him! He's come back to find me!"
Time seemed to have gone back to a long time ago, when she woke up countless times from her nightmares, panicking and telling him "they" had come. Liang Yuanze fell silent for a moment, then comforted her gently again, "Yanyan, it's okay, they are all dead, all three of them are dead. Don't be afraid, tell me, where are you now?"
Whether it was her husband's calm voice that reassured her or the intense summer sunlight finally driving away the cold from her body, He Yuanyan gradually calmed down and replied, "I'm at the school, just behind the administrative building."
"Are there people around?" Liang Yuanze asked again.
She looked around, people were constantly passing by at a distance, and some students had seen her and were hesitating to walk over to her.
"Students are coming over," she replied.
Liang Yuanze chuckled gently and teased her, "Quickly wipe your face, be careful not to make the students laugh at you. It's so hot, are you feeling a little dizzy from the heat, mistaking someone for another?"
The reason was indeed convincing. He Yuanyan murmured a low "uh-huh" and before hanging up, the boy who had come to check on her had spoken to her, "Miss He, are you okay?"
He Yuanyan knew this boy, he was a third-year student in the English department and was a member of the student union who often came to the administrative office to help out. "I'm fine, I'm okay," she replied, hurriedly said goodbye to Liang Yuanze and then explained to the boy, "I accidentally twisted my foot while walking just now."
She smiled awkwardly and tried to stand up on her own.
The boy hastened to support her and asked, "Can you still walk? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
He Yuanyan's heels weren't too high, so the twist wasn't severe. She stood there and moved her ankle a bit, then tried to put her foot on the ground. It was a little painful, but nothing serious. She waved her hand, declined the boy's support, and walked slowly into the administrative building. As soon as she entered the office, a colleague called her, "Ms. He, you've come at just the right time, a student's parent is looking for you."
She looked up and saw the man standing with his hands in his pockets by the window. As he turned to look at the door and his gaze fell on her, her first reaction was to seize the door and flee, but her body was like prey being targeted by a natural enemy, frozen there and unable to move.
However, he nodded slightly to her and politely greeted her, "Ms. He, hello."
Her colleague didn't notice He Yuanyan's unusual behavior and gave her a simple introduction to the situation, "This is a classmate's brother who came over to handle his sister's leave of absence."
He Yuanyan didn't speak, just stared blankly at the man.
Two voices were fiercely arguing in her mind, one was screaming frantically, "It's him, it's the criminal, they have the same voice, the same face!"
Another voice of reason was telling her, "He Yan, please calm down. The criminal has already been executed, this has been confirmed by Yuan Ze. A dead person cannot come back to life. This is a completely different person, he just happens to look like that criminal."
The man chuckled lightly, somewhat helpless, "Ms. He, I'm not a tiger, I don't eat people. I am Yu Jia's cousin, my name is Fu Shenxing. Look, here's my ID." He said, and actually took out his ID from his wallet, walking towards He Yan to hand it over to her.
He Yan subconsciously shrank back, he noticed and stopped halfway, leaned over to place the ID on the table between them, and gestured to her, "You can check it."
Colleagues looked confused, staring at He Yan, and asked, "Ms. He, what's wrong?"
He Yan didn't answer, but actually picked up the ID on the table, keeping a wary eye on the man, while also lowering her head to carefully examine the ID: Name Fu Shenxing, male, 28 years old, address written as Nanzhao local, the man in the photo was very young, looking barely twenty years old, with neatly groomed short hair, handsome features, and a gentle temperament.
She carefully looked at the back, which indicated the issue date of the ID, and it turned out to be the time when he was twenty years old in the ID photo.
Such a gentle and refined young man certainly didn't seem like a ruthless criminal from the underworld.
He Yan sighed silently, steadied her emotions, and handed the ID back, apologizing, "I'm sorry, Mr. Fu, it's my fault, it may have caused some misunderstanding, I'm really sorry."
Fu Shenxing faintly smiled and did not ask about the misunderstanding, and simply said, "Ms. He, due to Yu Jia's health, she has been on sick leave. Her family is discussing giving her a year off from school to seek treatment abroad. Her family is from out of town, and her parents cannot come here, so they asked me to come and handle the leave procedures for her."