Ye Sibei glanced around warily as she spoke. Noticing her tension, Zhao Shuhui smiled gently. "Don't be nervous. I just wanted to talk with you."
"I made myself perfectly clear yesterday."
Ye Sibei stepped aside. "Once the police have filed the case, it's not up to me to withdraw it. There's no point wasting your efforts on me."
"Yesterday..." Zhao Shuhui's eyes reddened. "Both Tao Jie and I acted impulsively yesterday. Please give me a chance to talk properly. I want to apologize to you. Will you hear me out?"
Ye Sibei remained silent. Zhao Shuhui immediately dropped to her knees. "I'll kowtow to you—"
"Stop this!"
Ye Sibei's sharp command halted her. Zhao Shuhui looked up with tearful, pleading eyes. Knowing she wouldn't relent without being heard, Ye Sibei scanned their surroundings before turning toward the stairs. "Let's find somewhere to talk."
When Zhao Shuhui had approached Ye Sibei, Qin Nan had just finished tightening the last bolt after greeting Da Chun. Gripping his wrench, he pushed off forcefully and slid out from under the car. Da Chun extended a hand to help him up.
"What brings you here?" Qin Nan smiled, gesturing to the side. "Have a seat. Have you eaten?"
"Not yet. I've gathered the guys—we came specifically to take you out for a meal."
"Give me a minute then." Qin Nan set down the wrench and headed inside. "Let me change."
After a quick rinse and change of clothes, Qin Nan informed Chen Jun before following Da Chun out.
Da Chun had booked a private room at a nearby restaurant—an unusual choice that made Qin Nan raise an eyebrow. "I thought we'd just grab drinks at some roadside stall."
Da Chun chuckled. "We always drink at those low-end places. Since I'm treating today, I figured we should do it properly."
"What's the occasion?" Qin Nan glanced at him while driving. "Did you strike it rich?"
"Hardly." Da Chun looked uncomfortable. "Just getting the gang together. You'll understand when we get there."
Within minutes, they arrived. As they entered the private room upstairs, Qin Nan recognized the familiar faces—childhood friends from the village, brothers who'd shared everything down to their underwear.
All eyes were on him, but no one smiled. Qin Nan took his seat while Da Chun closed the door and sat beside him.
Surveying the group, Qin Nan pulled out a cigarette and gave a faint smile. "Judging by everyone's expressions, this is about me. What's going on?"
He lit the cigarette, took a drag, and met their gazes calmly. "Go on. Speak."
"Here should do."
Ye Sibei chose a quiet café and led them to a private booth. The remote location meant few customers. They sat facing each other, ordered drinks, and lapsed into silence.
After a moment, Zhao Shuhui spoke first. "I've looked into you. You're 27, a college graduate. Your husband owns an auto repair shop. Your younger brother just graduated. Your parents run a breakfast stall without even a proper storefront."
Ye Sibei stared down at her warm cup. "What's your point?"
"I'm 36. I married at 25. Due to health issues, I couldn't conceive naturally. After years of struggle, I finally had Wenwen through IVF at 28."Ye Sibei looked up at her. The woman before her, despite carrying a designer bag and wearing high-end clothes, didn't look her age of thirty-six at all. She appeared more weathered than most. As Ye Sibei watched, Zhao Shuhui smiled: "When I was pregnant with her, I had to take many injections and medications. I'll never have another child. Wenwen is my entire life."
"From the moment she was born, I've been the one caring for her. When she was little and often sick, I quit my job to stay home with her. We were in and out of the hospital constantly, and I stayed by her side day and night without rest. Then she gradually grew up, so adorable. Look." Zhao Shuhui pulled out a stack of photos from her bag, smiling as she looked at them. She pointed them out to Ye Sibei, "This was when she first learned to walk, with Jiancheng supporting her. And this one—she was three years old. Jiancheng and I went to her kindergarten parent-teacher conference together, and the teacher gave our whole family little red flowers. Here she is at four... five... six... seven... and now."
Ye Sibei couldn't bring herself to look at the photos. She lowered her gaze to her cup, but Zhao Shuhui's voice kept piercing her ears. Noticing Ye Sibei's avoidance, Zhao Shuhui seemed disappointed and put the photos away.
"She's lovely, isn't she?" Zhao Shuhui asked earnestly. Ye Sibei responded softly, "Mm."
"Then do you know what will happen to our family if Jiancheng goes to prison?"
Zhao Shuhui's hoarse question hung in the air. Ye Sibei didn't dare answer. Tears fell from Zhao Shuhui's eyes: "I have no income. Wenwen's school fees alone are fifty thousand a year. She won't be able to continue at that school or keep up with her extracurricular classes. I don't even know if I can support her. And wherever she goes, Wenwen will be known as the daughter of a rapist. Everyone around her will mock and insult her. When she grows up, her background check will list a rapist for a father. She might not be able to become a civil servant or work for any state institution."
"Ye Sibei," Zhao Shuhui looked up at her, "there are many ways to resolve this. You can state your demands. Why must you take the most extreme path?"
Ye Sibei listened to her plea but didn't respond directly. Instead, she asked, "So, you believe what I'm saying, don't you?"
Zhao Shuhui hadn't expected this question. She lowered her head awkwardly: "No, Jiancheng wouldn't do such a thing. I'm just worried something might happen to him."
Her words betrayed her, revealing she was already considering the possibility of Fan Jiancheng's imprisonment. Watching her self-deception, Ye Sibei felt a pang of sorrow.
"Your husband hurt another woman. He betrayed your marriage. And you still defend him?"
Then, realization struck her: "Is this the first time you've done something like this?"
Ye Sibei's words cut into Zhao Shuhui like a knife, bringing her pain and shame. She took a deep breath: "I just want to find a solution that works for everyone. I'm not a bad person. But if you refuse..." Zhao Shuhui raised her head, staring at Ye Sibei, "don't force my hand."
"I don't understand," Ye Sibei found it absurd. "This is a man's wrongdoing. Why is it a battle between us two women?"
"Because I'm a mother."
"But you're also a human being."
Ye Sibei leaned forward slightly, locking eyes with Zhao Shuhui: "As a person, can't you even distinguish right from wrong?""Your daughter's tuition is fifty thousand a year, your daughter attends extracurricular classes, your daughter is a delicate flower. So I should endure everything to maintain your family harmony, ensuring you and your daughter live in luxury forever, while I was born lowly, born to suffer this torment, is that it?"
"We haven't been without consequences," Zhao Shuhui interjected anxiously. "We can discuss terms!"
"The terms I want to discuss are the ones you can't accept," Ye Sibei said calmly. "All negotiable terms fall within your acceptable range, and within that range, the criminal will never repent."
"But the child is innocent!"
Zhao Shuhui cried out urgently. Ye Sibei paused for a long moment before lowering her head: "You should say that to Fan Jiancheng. It's getting late."
Ye Sibei stood up: "I'll be leaving now."
"Ye Sibei!"
Hearing Zhao Shuhui's shout, Ye Sibei turned to see her kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face: "Please spare our family, I beg you to spare Wenwen. We've already paid the price, I beg you! You can't be so cruel, so heartless!"
Ye Sibei remained silent, her eyes red. She turned her back to Zhao Shuhui and after a long pause, spoke hoarsely: "If I were your daughter, would you ask me to spare him?"
Zhao Shuhui froze. Ye Sibei answered her own question in a broken voice: "You wouldn't."
"I don't have a mother like you to protect me, so I have to protect myself. And my answer is the same."
"I won't."
"I won't spare him."
With that, Ye Sibei walked out of the private room.
While Ye Sibei was talking with Zhao Shuhui, Qin Nan sat at a table with a few brothers. After Qin Nan finished speaking, the table fell silent. After a while, Da Chun poured Qin Nan a glass of water: "Brother Nan, we grew up together. You're the only one in your family, and before Uncle passed, he specifically told us that even though we're not blood brothers, we should look after each other like we are."
Qin Nan nodded: "I remember Grandpa's words."
"Then in that sense, we're all family," said a slightly older man named Wang Gui, the eldest of the group. "I should count as your elder brother."
"Brother Gui is right."
Qin Nan had an inkling of what they wanted to say. He looked up at Wang Gui: "Just say what you want to say directly, no need to beat around the bush."
Everyone looked at Wang Gui, who sensed it was his duty as the eldest to speak. He organized his thoughts and began: "Ah Nan, I didn't get much schooling, so don't take offense if I say something wrong. We've all heard about your wife's situation, though we're not sure how much you know. We thought it wouldn't be right to keep it from you, so we wanted to tell you."
"Please go on."
Qin Nan nodded, switching to a more respectful tone. Wang Gui hesitated: "We've all heard that your wife's company isn't exactly... reputable. That night, she was out drinking with clients, and what happened... happened after drinking late. Ah Nan, a man should marry a virtuous woman. Women who stay out late drinking with men... it's something people will laugh about."
Qin Nan lowered his head, his tone devoid of emotion: "So what do you think I should do?"
They exchanged glances. Da Chun spoke hesitantly: "Brother, you don't have children yet... maybe you should think it over."Qin Nan looked up at Da Chun, who lowered his head awkwardly to pour wine. Qin Nan stared at him: "That day when Sibei went to your company to find you, what did you say to her?"
"I didn't say much," Da Chun quickly defended himself, but when he raised his head and met Qin Nan's gaze, he fell silent.
Qin Nan kept looking at him, as if he already knew everything. After a moment's thought, Da Chun admitted frankly: "I told her not to hold you back."
Qin Nan silently watched him. Da Chun spoke bluntly: "Bro Nan, we've been brothers for so many years. In my heart, you're like my own elder brother. Sister-in-law went out drinking alone, then came back saying she was raped—whether it's true or not, from now on you'll be the laughingstock in everyone's eyes. If you have a child and return to the village, what will people say? And if it happened once, won't it happen again? I was thinking of you. I've said my piece—hit me or curse me, I'll take it." He patted his head, "Go ahead and hit me, Bro Nan. If I say one more word, I'm a bastard."
Qin Nan didn't speak. He took a drag of his cigarette.
He faintly understood Ye Sibei's feelings—that powerless sensation of being besieged by the whole world.
If he, an outsider, felt like this, what about Ye Sibei?
After returning from the water plant that day, she hadn't said a single bad word about Da Chun. How much gossip and slander had she silently endured alone outside?
His chest felt weighed down by a boulder. He looked around the room.
His parents had been away since childhood, and he was raised by his grandfather. Now that his grandfather was gone, everyone at this table was his family. He gazed at them for a long time before standing up.
"I have to drive later," he picked up a teacup, "so I'll toast you all with tea instead of wine. Thank you all for your care over the years."
After taking a sip, he set down the cup and added: "Ye Sibei is my wife. I know her character. In the past, she hardly ever attended these kinds of drinking gatherings—I picked her up every night. She's not the kind of person you're making her out to be."
The table fell into uncomfortable silence, clearly thinking he was in denial but unwilling to say so. Qin Nan couldn't help laughing: "Yes, she went to a drinking event. Yes, she drank. So what? Is that wrong? If any of us brothers here drink tonight and get hit by a car on the way home, whose fault is that? Should we blame them for drinking and not being careful?"
"A-Nan," Wang Gui said coldly, "that's going too far."
"And what you said wasn't too far?" Qin Nan turned to Da Chun. "Sibei and I are both victims. Instead of helping us, you keep questioning us. Have you ever considered how your words make us feel?"
"Let me make this clear," Qin Nan scanned the room, his eyes slightly red. "I've lost my family—you're all my brothers. But Ye Sibei is my wife. Today, she's the victim. She was hurt, and as her husband, it's my duty to stand by her through thick and thin. If you consider me a brother, then do me this favor—I'm not asking for your help, just treat this as if it never happened, so she and I can live normally. If you think I've lost my mind, then consider me crazy. If that's the case, then our brotherhood ends here."
With that, Qin Nan grabbed his jacket and walked out.
He drove home, gripping the steering wheel tightly the entire way.For some reason, he recalled what he had once said to Ye Sibei—"I'll take you to report it to the police."
Back then, Ye Sibei had resisted, screamed, as though he was ruining her life.
He could understand, but he had never truly grasped just how difficult this path was.
At the time, he had been able to say "report it to the police" so easily, but only now did he realize what a monumental and agonizing choice those words had been for Ye Sibei—someone who had already foreseen the future yet had been struggling to endure it all along.
Suddenly, he desperately wanted to see Ye Sibei, to hold her, to tell her—he was beginning to understand her suffering, and he would bear it with her.
Unconsciously, he sped up. By the time he got home, he happened to see Ye Sibei walking toward the stairs.
He hurriedly parked the car, and Ye Sibei, noticing his arrival, stopped in her tracks.
He opened the door and stepped out. Ye Sibei stood before him.
She looked no different than usual—her slender frame, her calm and gentle demeanor. She stood in the glow of the sunset, smiling at him, and asked softly, "Why are you back so early?"
Qin Nan felt a pang in his chest.
He couldn’t help but wonder—all those days, all that time in the past—what had she endured before coming home each day?
Ye Sibei studied the young man standing by the car. Instinctively, she sensed he had been shaken by something. Suppressing all the chaos and confusion from her encounter with Zhao Shuhui, she chuckled lightly, "What’s with the daze? What’s wrong?"
Qin Nan didn’t answer. Slowly, he walked up to her and pulled her into an embrace.
His arms were solid and warm. Ye Sibei froze for a moment, then, feeling his hold, suddenly all her confusion about right and wrong, all her guilt, melted away.
Hesitantly, she returned the embrace. Qin Nan felt her touch and, unexpectedly, his eyes stung.
"Sibei," he murmured, his voice thick, "Was life... very hard for you before?"
"Maybe," Ye Sibei smiled. "But from the moment you asked that, maybe it won’t be so hard anymore."
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