The 72-square-meter apartment had two bedrooms and a living room, with the TV turned on, its sound filling the entire space.
The sounds of chopping vegetables and the TV blended together, saturating the room.
"Welcome to Truth Rush . Today, we’ve invited Fan Sheng, the defendant in the 'Nancheng Sexual Assault Case,' as well as the lawyer representing the case, Meng Xinsheng. We’ll delve into the full story behind the 'Nancheng Sexual Assault Case.'"
From the TV came Fan Jiancheng’s warm, familiar voice: "Hello everyone, my name is Fan Jiancheng. I’m the defendant in the Nancheng Sexual Assault Case."
"Hello everyone, I’m lawyer Meng Xin."
Ye Sibei finished mincing the pork, set it aside, and began mixing in the seasonings.
"On April 9, 2018, in Nancheng, G Province, a woman was found disheveled and hiding in the reed field, where she reported to the police. Shortly after, she disappeared again. Several days later, she reappeared at the police station, accusing someone of assaulting her. The police worked overnight to identify the suspect, arresting her employer, Fan Mou, as the primary suspect. After DNA testing confirmed Fan Mou as the perpetrator, he was released four months later without charges. What hidden truths lie behind this? What entanglements exist in between? What kind of relationship did this woman have with Fan Mou, and why would she falsely accuse her employer with such a crime? Welcome to today’s Truth Rush , where we’ll peel back the layers of this mystery one by one."
After a chilling recap of the case, enthusiastic applause followed.
Ye Sibei shaped the seasoned pork into meatballs.
"Actually, this matter isn’t complicated. Miss Ye was an employee I personally recruited, and I’ve always treated her well. At the time, she was short on money..."
Fan Jiancheng repeated his usual narrative, after which Meng Xin briefly discussed the legal aspects of the case.
During the interactive segment, the host posed a question to Meng Xin: "Lawyer Meng, a new term has emerged online—'Immortal Ye'—referring to women who extort money by setting up honey traps to falsely accuse men. It’s often used mockingly, such as warning men who flaunt their wealth, 'Watch out, Immortal Ye might come for you,' or dismissing women who report assaults with, 'Look, another Immortal Ye has arrived.' What are your thoughts on this phenomenon?"
Meng Xin fell silent for a long moment before finally responding, "I believe that winning a case doesn’t equate to the truth. A victory could simply mean insufficient evidence. As bystanders, we should neither slander the accused nor the victim. We must control our words and actions to minimize harm."
Just as Meng Xin finished speaking, the door opened. Ye Sibei turned to see Qin Nan entering. "You’re back early?" she asked.
Qin Nan, wearing a sweater, glanced at the TV and immediately walked over to change the channel.
"Don’t watch this stuff."
He hung his bag on the coat rack and closed the door behind him.
"It was just a random show," Ye Sibei said, her back turned as she stir-fried the vegetables in the pan. "It’s not a big deal. How did things go today?"
"Chen Jun borrowed the money."
Qin Nan walked over to Ye Sibei and began washing the vegetables in the sink for her. "His relatives scraped together 100,000. I’ll let him keep the small change—after working with me for so long, I’ll knock off 30,000."
"Alright."Ye Sibei didn't seem to care much as she recounted her day: "Went downtown during the day, bought some groceries. I sent my resume to all the companies hiring in the provincial capital, but still no job offers yet."
Qin Nan nodded: "It's fine. You can stay home and prepare for the civil service exam. I've found a job paying twelve thousand a month. Once I hand over the shop to Chen Jun next month, I'll start."
"That's really high pay," Ye Sibei turned to glance at her, then sighed, "Makes me wonder if my college education was wasted."
"I'm a seasoned professional," Qin Nan couldn't help but smile at the praise, "You can't compare with me."
They chatted while cooking, then sat down to eat together.
During dinner, Ye Sibei kept glancing at her phone. She had an anti-spy screen protector, so Qin Nan couldn't see what she was looking at. Pretending not to notice, Qin Nan kept the conversation going.
Since losing the lawsuit, Ye Sibei seemed like a different person—as if the incident had been completely erased from her life, as if it never happened.
She went out every day, sometimes not returning until eleven or twelve at night. Qin Nan didn't know where she went; when asked, Ye Sibei would say she was just clearing her mind.
She changed her phone password. Qin Nan couldn't unlock it and had no idea what she was doing.
Online, the storm had already brewed. While a small number of netizens still sympathized with her, far more were overwhelmingly critical.
Compared to the crime itself, netizens seemed to despise deception even more.
They accused her of exploiting public sympathy, wasting public resources, called her a false accuser, and condemned everyone who had supported her.
Many posted various discussions about how to protect men from false accusations by women, dubbing her "Immortal Ye." Anyone who defended her would be met with, "What, you want to be an Immortal Ye too?"
"Immortal Ye warning."
"People like Immortal Ye deserve to be hacked to pieces as a warning to others."
This reversal had become a massive online carnival.
Yet compared to before, Ye Sibei displayed an unusual calmness. She could read all these comments impassively. Sometimes when Qin Nan caught her scrolling through posts and snatched her phone away, she would look up reassuringly: "It's fine, I'm just looking. Haven't I seen enough people running their mouths?"
This version of Ye Sibei made Qin Nan both fearful and helpless.
She didn't dare ask questions, but she couldn't ignore it either, so she quietly observed, afraid Ye Sibei might do something reckless.
She couldn't quite grasp what Ye Sibei was thinking, yet she had an inkling.
After dinner, Ye Sibei put on a variety show, leaning against Qin Nan's shoulder as they discussed the exact date for moving to the provincial capital.
"How about November 1st? The start of a new month—auspicious."
Ye Sibei thought for a moment, and Qin Nan agreed: "Sounds good."
"I'll rent a place these next few days and start moving things gradually. We can load everything into the car and drive there when it's time."
Ye Sibei's voice carried a note of longing: "Once we're in the provincial capital, you'll work while I study. You'll take care of me, right?"
"Of course."
After settling the plan, they watched TV for a while until Qin Nan felt sleepy and got up to shower. Coming out, she saw Ye Sibei had warmed some milk: "Have some milk, it'll help you sleep better. You haven't been sleeping well lately."
"Mm."
Qin Nan nodded, then glanced at the bathroom: "Aren't you going to shower?"
"I will."
Ye Sibei went to shower, leaving Qin Nan staring at the glass of milk.Ye Sibei had never taken the initiative to pour a glass of milk before bed. After a moment's thought, she took the cup to the kitchen, poured the milk down the sink, rinsed it clean, then placed the empty milk cup by the bedside before lying down.
When Ye Sibei came out of the shower and saw the milk cup on the bedside table, she felt slightly reassured.
She turned off the bedroom light, walked to the living room, switched on the desk lamp, and opened a notebook before pulling out her phone.
The day after losing the lawsuit, she had ordered a GPS tracker online and attached it to Fan Jiancheng’s car. Every day, she used her phone to monitor his movements, and within two weeks, she had mapped out his daily routine.
She selected some of the places he frequented, then found the time to quietly follow him, confirming what he did there, who he was with, the location, and the environment.
Fan Jiancheng took Changren Road home after work every day. On Tuesdays, he would go to a hotel not far from his company. She followed him once and discovered he was meeting Tao Jie. She secretly took photos.
Every Saturday, Fan Jiancheng would visit a spa center, staying there all afternoon—his relaxation time.
On Sundays, he would take his child to tutoring classes. Fan Wenwen had several, and each session lasted the entire day.
Ye Sibei followed him to all these places and eventually discovered tonight’s location.
Every Wednesday, Fan Jiancheng would leave the city and go to an extremely remote spot in the suburbs. Ye Sibei had never been there before, but for the past few weeks, Fan Jiancheng had gone there every Wednesday night.
He would leave at 6:30 p.m., a half-hour drive away, and wouldn’t return until the early hours of the next morning.
A few days ago, she had gone there during the day based on the map and found only abandoned buildings with no sign of people. She didn’t know what Fan Jiancheng did there at night, but she figured she had to go at that time to understand.
She scribbled in her notebook, using symbols to organize her thoughts.
After a while, she checked the time, turned off the desk lamp, and went back into the bedroom. The sound of Qin Nan’s snoring filled the room. Ye Sibei called softly, "Qin Nan?"
When he didn’t respond, she relaxed, assuming the sleeping pills in the milk had taken effect.
She quietly took the car keys from the bedside, grabbed an umbrella, and tiptoed out. The moment she gently closed the door, Qin Nan opened his eyes.
He quickly got up, watching Ye Sibei go downstairs. After a moment’s thought, he rummaged for a raincoat, threw it on, and hurried after her.
Outside, the night rain fell—a fine, endless drizzle typical of October. Ye Sibei walked downstairs with her umbrella, got into Qin Nan’s car, and sat down.
She drove cautiously out of the neighborhood. Qin Nan, wearing his raincoat, rushed downstairs, hopped on his motorcycle, and followed her.
The two of them moved through the rain, one after the other. As Qin Nan watched Ye Sibei’s direction through the downpour, his heart was full of questions.
What was she doing? What did she want?
Hadn’t she already decided not to appeal? Hadn’t they agreed to give up, to leave this city and start a new life together? What else was she trying to accomplish?
He didn’t dare think too deeply. The fine rain felt like needles against his skin, the pain intensifying as his motorcycle sped up.
Ye Sibei drove carefully. What should have been a thirty-minute drive took her nearly fifty minutes before she finally reached the place she had scouted during the day.
She didn’t dare drive straight in—she knew a car would be too conspicuous at night and would quickly be noticed.
She parked far away, braved the rain, and stepped into the waist-high grass, pushing through as she moved forward.Qin Nan stopped his motorcycle and followed her from a distance.
The two of them pushed through waist-high grass, trudging forward with difficulty. As they got closer to the location, Ye Sibei reached the edge of the grass and saw Fan Jiancheng’s car.
Apart from Fan Jiancheng’s vehicle, there were cars everywhere—some local, others from nearby towns.
The unfinished building stood silent in the night, with only faint lights flickering in the distance.
Ye Sibei gritted her teeth and emerged from the grass, sprinting toward the lights. Qin Nan followed behind. She passed through the first floor of the abandoned building, getting closer to the lights, when she heard voices from afar: “Open! Open! Open the dice!”
Hearing the noise, Ye Sibei didn’t dare go any further. She crouched low, climbed to the second floor of the unfinished building, and looked down from above.
In the distance, she saw a small courtyard that had been empty during the day but was now brightly lit.
A crowd had gathered inside—dice rolling, curses flying, the mingled laughter of men and women—like a ghostly carnival, teeming with demons and monsters.
Ye Sibei watched silently from afar, while Qin Nan observed her back from another building.
They waited for a long time. At two o’clock, the courtyard door opened, and Fan Jiancheng walked out, chatting amiably with a bald man. Fan Jiancheng waved and left, while the man called after him, “General Fan, come play again next time!”
“Big! Bet big!”
Excited shouts came from inside the room, and Ye Sibei vaguely understood—this was probably an underground gambling den.
She watched as Fan Jiancheng made his way back, walking about five hundred meters from the courtyard to his parked car. Fan Jiancheng had parked even farther away, swinging his car keys and humming a tune as he reached his vehicle.
For a moment, Ye Sibei wanted to lunge at him, sink her teeth into his neck, and watch him collapse, blood gushing, twitching on the ground.
But in the end, she didn’t. She just watched silently as he got into his car and drove away.
Only after Fan Jiancheng had left did Ye Sibei come down and return to her own car. She took a moment to steady herself, swallowing back her tears before driving home.
Qin Nan made sure she was safe, then immediately got back on his motorcycle. Ye Sibei drove slowly, but he raced ahead, arriving home first. He cleaned his clothes, dried his hair, turned off the lights, and lay back in bed.
His eyes were closed, but his hands trembled slightly.
He knew what Ye Sibei was planning—he should have known long ago. She couldn’t let go, and she never would.
She had lost all hope in this world. She didn’t believe in people, in the law, in gods or buddhas.
She only believed in herself.
Qin Nan felt something lodged in his chest, so painful it made breathing difficult.
After a long while, he heard the faint sound of the door opening. Ye Sibei came in quietly, tidied her clothes in the dark, dried her slightly damp hair, and then, carrying the chill of late autumn, slipped under the covers.
Qin Nan turned over, pretending to have just woken up, and pulled her into his arms.
“Why are you so cold?” he murmured.
Ye Sibei buried her face in his chest, her voice soft. “I was reading earlier and didn’t wear enough.”
As she spoke, she reached out and gently stroked his back. “Go to sleep.”
Qin Nan didn’t say anything. He closed his eyes, wanting to say so much, to persuade her—but not a single word came out.
He just held Ye Sibei, his voice slightly hoarse. “Sibei.”
“Hmm?”
“Next month, we’ll leave this place. We’ll start over in the provincial capital. We’ll have a good life.”
“I know.”
Ye Sibei hugged him back. “You, me—we’ll both have a good life.”
OpenNovel