The video played back and forth several times before Zhang Yong finally noticed something was wrong. He turned to look at him: "Still haven't figured it out yet?"
"It's this one."
Qin Nan lowered his head to prevent Zhang Yong from seeing his expression: "The one at the Reed field was also this car."
"That's great." Zhang Yong exclaimed happily, starting to pack up the USB drive. "Thank you, you've been a huge help."
"No need."
Qin Nan leaned against the table as Zhang Yong waved his hand: "Alright, I'll be off then."
Qin Nan saw Zhang Yong out, watching him leave.
After Zhang Yong was gone, he sat back on his bed, staring blankly at the floor.
Zhang Yong was a criminal police officer.
A car that left the hotel, carrying Ye Sibei and Zhao Chuchu, then appeared at the Reed field.
A case where the involved party could withdraw the complaint.
And Ye Sibei, who always made an effort to present herself well, was meek, and never dared to talk back to anyone—she wasn't wearing her uniform on a workday, was unkempt, and had gotten into a fight that landed her in the police station.
What had happened was obvious, but he still couldn't believe it.
Was it her?
If it really was her...
He hadn't noticed.
Hadn't helped her.
He always thought he had done a lot, thought he had tried his best, but only today did he realize he hadn't even managed the most basic thing—"knowing his wife."
What kind of husband was he? What kind of family member?
He lowered his head, covering his face with his hands.
After a long while, he suddenly stood up, grabbed his jacket, and rushed out of the shop, driving straight to Fuqiang Real Estate.
He parked in the dark outside Fuqiang Real Estate, staring at the shop entrance. The sky gradually brightened, and the surroundings grew livelier. He saw the cleaner open the shop door, saw employees arriving one by one, and finally saw that black Crown sedan.
The car circled to the parking lot behind Fuqiang Real Estate. Qin Nan immediately got out and followed Fan Jiancheng into the backyard.
It was still early, and the parking lot was empty. Fan Jiancheng got out of the car and adjusted his clothes in the car window. Before he could finish, someone rushed over, grabbed his head, and slammed it against the car.
His head buzzed, his glasses twisted and fell off, and intense pain followed. A tremendous force pressed down on his head from above. Too scared to move, he gasped in fear as the man coldly asked, "Is this your car?"
"Wh... what car?"
Fan Jiancheng didn't understand. Qin Nan reminded him, "The one you're driving."
"Y... yes, it's mine," Fan Jiancheng thought of all possible scenarios. "Brother, did I accidentally scratch your car? I didn't notice. How much do I need to pay..."
"On April 9th," Qin Nan's voice was steady, "were you driving this car the whole day?"
Fan Jiancheng froze. In that brief moment of hesitation, Qin Nan kneed him hard in the stomach, then grabbed his hair, forcing him to look up. "Talk."
The pain twisted Fan Jiancheng's face instantly. Gasping, he hurriedly said, "It was me, brother. Whatever it is, we can talk it out."
Qin Nan remained silent, staring at him. Fan Jiancheng seemed to realize why he was there and tentatively asked, "Are you Ye Nianwen?"
Hearing the name "Ye Nianwen," Qin Nan understood in an instant—all his suspicions were true.Qin Nan didn't respond, so Fan Jiancheng took it as silent agreement and continued, "There's been a big misunderstanding. Your sister told me about your difficulties. So, you need money, right?"
Qin Nan kept gripping his hair without moving. Fan Jiancheng forced a smile, "You wouldn't be so reckless as to jeopardize your sister's reputation, would you?"
"How did you know I'm Ye Nianwen?"
Qin Nan's voice was low and hoarse. Hearing his tone, Fan Jiancheng assumed he had relented and sighed in relief. "The only men who'd meddle in her affairs are either you or her husband. Since her husband is about to divorce her, who else would care?"
Qin Nan froze. Fan Jiancheng tentatively tried to pry his hand away. "Don't worry, I won't call the police. Let's go inside and talk—"
Before he could finish, Qin Nan kicked him hard, sending him flying. He stared at Fan Jiancheng for a long moment before rasping, "She has people who care about her. If you dare bully her again, I'll fight you to the death."
With that, Qin Nan stormed out of the backyard. Just as he reached his car, he ran into Zhao Chuchu, who had just parked.
Zhao Chuchu was about to greet him when Qin Nan drove off as if he hadn't seen her.
Bewildered, she entered the company and immediately noticed the chaos inside. She grabbed Chen Xiaoyang, who was passing by, and asked, "What's going on?"
"Ah, you'd better hide," Chen Xiaoyang warned urgently upon seeing her. "Ye Nianwen just came to the office and beat up General Fan. You don't want him to see you."
Zhao Chuchu was stunned. Chen Xiaoyang waved her off. "I have a client to attend to. Gotta go."
As Chen Xiaoyang left, Zhao Chuchu took a moment to collect herself before rushing out to call Ye Nianwen.
When the call connected, Ye Nianwen was casually combing his hair. He answered nonchalantly, "Miss me, babe?"
"Nianwen, were you just at the company?"
"No," Ye Nianwen sounded confused. "Why?"
"I just saw Nan-ge come to the office, and then I heard people say you showed up and beat up General Fan. What's going on?"
Ye Nianwen froze. Zhao Chuchu glanced at her busy colleagues nearby and lowered her voice. "You need to ask Nan-ge what happened—right now!"
"Where is he?"
Ye Nianwen immediately grabbed his suit jacket and bag.
"He already drove off."
"Alright, I'll go find him."
As he spoke, Ye Nianwen bolted out the door. "What about my sister? Did she go to work?"
"No. She..." Zhao Chuchu hesitated. "She got fired yesterday."
Ye Nianwen paused. He opened his mouth to ask something but swallowed his words.
"Got it," he said, restraining his emotions. "First, help me convince Fan Jiancheng not to call the police. I'll call you back later."
"How am I supposed to do that—" Before Zhao Chuchu could finish, Ye Nianwen hung up.
She stared blankly at her phone, then steeled herself and returned to the office.
After hanging up, Ye Nianwen clutched his phone, steadied his emotions, and called Qin Nan. No answer. Standing at the door, he took a deep breath, dashed into the street, and hailed a taxi.
After beating up Fan Jiancheng, Qin Nan raced home.
His hand ached faintly from the punches, but beyond the pain, an unexpected surge of guilt and fear welled up inside him.It was guilt—if he had kept picking her up every day, maybe none of this would have happened.
He was afraid. When the topic of Ye Sibei’s reputation came up, he realized that the world might truly be as Fan Jiancheng had said—if this matter were pursued, the damage to Ye Sibei’s reputation would far outweigh his own.
Anger and pain surged within him. But when he rushed to the doorstep and saw the little bear doormat Ye Sibei had picked out, all his fury and agitation inexplicably subsided. He stared down at the two bears hugging each other for a long time before finally looking up, taking out his keys, and unlocking the door.
The door creaked open, and the smell of alcohol immediately hit him. The person inside seemed to be in a deep sleep, completely unaware of his arrival. Qin Nan glanced around, barely recognizing the place as his former home.
The dining table was a mess, liquor bottles were scattered everywhere, and clothes were strewn across the floor. The entire room looked like a garbage dump—disordered and filthy.
Qin Nan stood at the doorway for a moment, suppressing all his emotions. He gently closed the door and stepped inside, moving like a ghost as he silently took a seat on the sofa.
When sunlight fell on Ye Sibei’s face, she groggily woke up.
The hangover made her head feel like it was splitting open. As usual, she forced herself to sit up. The moment she stepped out of the bedroom, she saw someone sitting in the living room.
Startled, she stumbled back a step before realizing it was Qin Nan, who turned to look at her.
He held a cigarette in his hand, his fingers stained with blood—whether his own or someone else’s, it was impossible to tell. His gaze was calm, yet somehow different from before.
After a brief moment of shock, Ye Sibei quickly composed herself.
“Why are you here?”
As she spoke, she glanced around, wanting to tidy up but not knowing where to start.
The room reeked of smoke and alcohol, so she simply opened the balcony window before returning to the living room.
“You…” She hesitated. “Do you want something to eat?”
“Sit down first.”
Qin Nan kept his head lowered.
Ye Sibei awkwardly sat on the sofa beside him at his words.
The two remained in tense silence as she watched Qin Nan smoke with his head still bowed.
The atmosphere made her feel uneasy. She sensed that something was wrong but didn’t dare speak. Her eyes darted around, trying to distract herself, but every glance only reminded her of the liquor bottles everywhere. It made her even more nervous. She cautiously reached out. “Let me clean up a bit first…”
“When did you start drinking?”
Qin Nan’s hoarse question froze her in place. She forced a smile. “Just… recently.”
“Did you buy the cigarettes too?”
Qin Nan looked at the pack on the table. Ye Sibei didn’t answer.
“Ye Sibei,” Qin Nan finally raised his eyes to meet hers, “what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
The question triggered her instinct to resist. For a moment, she felt a surge of self-abandonment and shrugged with feigned nonchalance. “Work’s been stressful lately, so I needed to unwind. It’s not like I’m doing anything wrong—just some smoking and drinking. I’m an adult. It’s not illegal, right?”
Qin Nan said nothing, just kept watching her quietly. Ye Sibei couldn’t bear to meet his eyes, afraid of seeing disappointment or condemnation.
She kept telling herself—it didn’t matter. They were getting divorced anyway. His disappointment, his judgment—none of it concerned her anymore.For the first time, she felt a glimmer of relief about his decision to divorce, even wanting to speed up the process.
"Are you here to get the divorce papers? Or do you want to finalize it today?" Ye Sibei stood up. "I'll go get—"
"On the night of April 9th, Fan Jiancheng drove you home. Where did you go afterward?"
Ye Sibei froze.
In an instant, her mind went blank.
She stood rigidly in place as Qin Nan's calm voice came from behind: "Was it the Reed field outside Guantian Village?"
The moment the words "Reed field" were spoken, nauseating images surged forth. Ye Sibei's breathing quickened involuntarily. She hurried forward: "I'll go get the papers for you."
"Ye Sibei," Qin Nan looked up at her, "what's the point of hiding things now? Aren't you tired of keeping it all inside?"
Ye Sibei didn't respond. She kept her back to him.
She wanted to deny it.
Just as Huang Guifen had said, she had to keep hiding the truth.
But she couldn't bring herself to speak.
From the moment Qin Nan mentioned the Reed field, she knew there was no room left for evasion.
"On April 9th, your company had a dinner. You got drunk and got into Fan Jiancheng's car with Zhao Chuchu. Zhao Chuchu was taken home, but you were brought to the Reed field in Guantian Village."
"After you woke up, you reported it to the police, then later withdrew the case. Ye Sibei," Qin Nan pressed, "who was it?"
Ye Sibei remained silent. After a long pause, she sat back down, gave a faint smile, and reached for another cigarette. Holding it, she steadied herself slightly.
"You already know so much," Ye Sibei said dismissively. "What's left to say? Does it even matter who it was? I'm not reporting it anyway."
"Was it Fan Jiancheng?"
Qin Nan stared at her.
Ye Sibei took a deep drag of her cigarette and looked up at Qin Nan. She wanted to brush it off with some casual remark, but seeing the intensity in his eyes, the words died in her throat. After struggling internally, she finally spoke.
"I don't know."
She spread her hands, feigning indifference. "Can't remember."
"That night was my fault," she explained with a forced smile. "The company said we had to entertain clients, and I didn’t think to change out of my uniform. At the dinner, one of the executives insisted I drink with him. I didn’t want to cause trouble, so I drank six glasses. Then my mom called about our divorce, and we argued. After that, I don’t know what came over me—I ended up drinking even more."
As she spoke, her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Afraid he'd notice, she lowered her head, pretending to be composed. "Afterward, Brother Fan drove me home. I insisted on going up alone at the door, but I was too drunk to remember anything. Probably just got taken advantage of."
She used a crude, humiliating term often seen online, the harshness of it grating.
"When I woke up the next day, I was in the Reed field. I wasn’t in a good state. I hid in the reeds and called the police, asking them to bring me a coat."
Qin Nan said nothing. His gaze was unfocused as he mechanically smoked.
"Why did you withdraw the case?"
"I just... came to my senses."
Ye Sibei's voice was hoarse. "What good would reporting it do me? In the end, it would still be my fault. It's like when kids fight—if your classmate hits your left cheek, why go home and tell your parents so they can hit your right cheek too?""It takes two to tango. I wasn't careful enough to begin with."
Ye Sibei reflected on herself as she always did, but to Qin Nan, her words felt like knives scraping against his heart.
"It's not a big deal. Just forget about it."
Ye Sibei thought for a moment, then still murmured softly, "I just feel sorry for you."
Sorry.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Ever since they had met, these seemed to be the words she said the most.
Always apologizing, always reflecting, always blaming herself.
Even now—even when she was the victim—she was still telling him, I’m sorry.
Qin Nan found it somewhat laughable, and yet utterly tragic.
He didn’t dare speak, didn’t even dare look at her.
Suppressing his emotions, he finished his last cigarette before finally turning back to ask the question he had always wanted to ask but never had the courage to voice—
"What did you do wrong?"
Hearing this, Ye Sibei looked up at him in stunned silence, as if she couldn’t comprehend what he was saying at all.
Qin Nan stared at her bewildered expression, his voice trembling slightly. "Tell me—you were just living your life. You were just going to work, wearing clothes, doing your job, coming home..." By the end, he could barely continue, struggling for a long moment before forcing out the words, "What did you do wrong?"
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