Before coming to Nanwu, Yun Li had already contacted Jiang Yuan's parents in advance and arranged to visit them this afternoon.
Yun Li didn't linger long at South River Garden. Using the excuse of meeting a female classmate at South Science and Technology University, she borrowed Fu Shize's car to go out.
Since Fu Shize had told her about Jiang Yuan's matter last time, the two hadn't discussed the topic again.
His demeanor always gave the impression that nothing seemed to trouble him.
Yun Li recalled the nearly depleted sleeping pills in his drawer.
When she first joined the company, Zhou Tiao had told her that Jiang Yuan was an only child. The members of Unique were like brothers to him, and after his passing, Zhou Tiao and the others had pooled money for his parents.
At the time, Jiang Yuan's parents repeatedly confirmed with Zhou Tiao that Fu Shize hadn't contributed any money before they were willing to accept it.
Fu Shize was aware of this matter.
Zhou Tiao also mentioned that for many years, someone had been secretly sending money to Jiang Yuan's parents.
Yun Li pressed her lips together tightly.
This situation was as if Jiang Yuan's parents, unable to accept their son's death, had forcibly shifted the blame onto Fu Shize.
But what had he done wrong to bear this guilt and the accusations imposed on him for so many years?
The address Zhou Tiao gave her was only half an hour's drive from South River Garden. As she navigated there, her heart was filled with unease.
The neighborhood where Jiang Yuan's family lived was built in the 1990s. The old buildings were worn, with rust stains on the walls and the outdated protruding security windows. Located in another old district of Nanwu, the area was mostly inhabited by elderly people after the industrial relocation.
Upon arriving downstairs, Yun Li rang the doorbell, and Jiang's mother quickly answered.
The apartment was on the sixth floor with no elevator. By the time Yun Li reached the third floor, she saw Jiang's father and mother coming down to greet her.
Jiang Yuan was a few years older than Fu Shize, so his parents should be around fifty now, but their aged appearance made them look like they were in their sixties.
They warmly invited her upstairs, asking about her well-being. Jiang Yuan had attended West Science and Technology University, and when Yun Li first contacted them, she had mentioned she was from West Fuling, so they didn't doubt her identity at all.
The apartment wasn't large—a modest two-bedroom at first glance. The decor was simple and plain, with furniture that had seen better days. However, a 27-inch LCD TV stood prominently in the living room.
"It's been a long time since any of Yuan Yuan's classmates visited us," Jiang's mother said with a faint smile, gesturing for Yun Li to sit by the coffee table.
Hearing this, Yun Li looked at her, the wrinkles around her eyes inexplicably stirring a pang of sorrow in her heart.
The table was already laden with various fruits.
Jiang's mother turned on the TV for Yun Li. "This TV was a gift from one of Yuan Yuan's classmates two years ago. But my husband and I were never home, and we missed the call, so we still don't know who sent it."
Yun Li asked, "How have you both been?"
Jiang's father smiled. "We're doing fine. Life just goes on. When we miss our son, we go to his room and look at his things."
"May I see Senior Jiang's room?" Yun Li didn't directly state her purpose for visiting. Jiang's mother seemed accustomed to such requests and led her to the room.
Jiang Yuan's room was small, with an old-fashioned window on the south side. Two potted plants sat on the windowsill. The bed was still made, and beside it stood a wooden student desk piled high with textbooks from elementary, middle, and high school.
The room was arranged as if someone still lived there.Several group photos were pasted on the wall, each secured haphazardly with uneven strips of tape at the corners. Without protective lamination, the photos had oxidized, yellowed, and faded.
Among them, Yun Li noticed Fu Shize appearing in several—pictures of Jiang Yuan’s parents taking the two of them fishing and playing sports.
Seeing Yun Li looking at the photos, Jiang’s Mother said, “Most of these are of me, his father, and a friend who grew up with Yuan since childhood. He was Yuan’s classmate—do you know him?” She sighed. “Yuan treated him like a younger brother, and we saw him as our own son. But after Yuan passed, we haven’t seen him in many years.”
“...”
“He was a good kid too.”
Yun Li asked, “Does he not visit you two?”
The woman fell silent for a moment, her eyes dimming. “He did. We told him not to come anymore.”
Yun Li cautiously probed, “Did he do something?”
“That child was naive. Maybe he unintentionally hurt Yuan without realizing it.” Jiang’s Mother gazed at the photos. “Yuan was ill. He promised us he’d look after him, but he was busy back then—perhaps he didn’t pay enough attention.”
Her tone was calm but firm. “As parents, we have no right to accept his apologies on Yuan’s behalf.”
From Jiang Yuan’s parents’ perspective, his final diary entry undoubtedly conveyed how Fu Shize’s excellence had overwhelmed him. They couldn’t reconcile Fu Shize’s claim that he had watched Jiang Yuan take his medication when, in the end, Jiang Yuan hadn’t.
It was as if Fu Shize had never truly cared about Jiang Yuan—neglecting to ensure he took his pills, overlooking his emotional state, solely focused on his own ambitions.
Before coming, Yun Li had harbored some resentment toward Jiang Yuan’s parents out of protectiveness and sympathy for Fu Shize. She had expected to face stubborn, bitter parents who blamed the world for their loss.
In that case, she might have found justification in reopening their wounds.
But they were composed—because from their standpoint, this was simply the truth.
Yun Li asked, “May I look at his books?”
“Of course.” Jiang’s Mother quickly shifted from her earlier mood, softening. “Mostly textbooks, but here are a few diaries from Yuan’s childhood. You’re welcome to read them.”
She pulled several notebooks from the shelf, their covers adorned with Ultraman.
Jiang Yuan hadn’t kept a strict diary schedule, writing roughly once a week to document significant events. The entries were largely carefree and innocent, filled with amusing anecdotes about growing up—and frequent mentions of Fu Shize.
From these diaries, Yun Li gleaned only one clear message:
—Jiang Yuan had seen Fu Shize as a younger brother.
She flipped through the pages until the entries abruptly stopped at the end of his freshman year. Up to that point, his writing had carried no trace of negativity.
Pausing, she looked up. “Did he stop keeping a diary in college?”
Jiang Yuan’s depression likely emerged during his Ph.D. years.
“We brought all his belongings back from his dorm,” Jiang’s Mother replied, also seeming puzzled. “His father and I couldn’t find any other diaries.”
After a moment’s thought, Yun Li asked, “Did he have a computer?”"Yes, there is." Jiang's mother immediately opened the drawer, revealing a thick notebook inside. Neatly arranged beside it were some souvenirs. Yun Li noticed an item with the Unique logo among them.
"This is the team Yuan Yuan joined. He won so many championships with them." As she spoke of Jiang Yuan's past and handed the item to Yun Li, a glimmer of pride flickered in Jiang's mother's eyes.
After examining it for a while, Yun Li realized it was a USB drive. The connector bore obvious signs of frequent use.
"Auntie, why don't I help you look? Maybe we can find the diaries from his later years."
Jiang Yuan's parents didn’t seem like people who often used computers or phones. Hearing Yun Li offer to help find the diaries, they thanked her repeatedly.
It took an unusually long time to boot up the computer. The old laptop lagged severely, but Yun Li waited patiently for several minutes. When the desktop finally appeared, it displayed a picture of a drone. Yun Li froze—it was the same drone Yun Ye had taken with him.
Before she could dwell on it, Yun Li plugged in the USB drive.
The drive contained nothing else but a single Word document.
Yun Li opened it and found Jiang Yuan's diaries from his sophomore year onward. His entries had become less frequent, reduced to about once a month. She skimmed through them quickly. The latter half of the diaries recorded his experiences starting from his senior year.
The immense sense of disparity and pressure stemmed from his research life. Jiang Yuan grew increasingly busy. Despite his heavy workload, his advisor continuously encroached on his personal time, repeatedly belittling and undermining him—whether in life, research, or work.
At first, Jiang Yuan believed he could turn things around through his own efforts. But his advisor systematically stripped him of his time and achievements. He made Jiang Yuan babysit, buy meals, and run errands for him. He dismissed all of Jiang Yuan’s work as garbage, yet turned around and claimed credit for it. If Jiang Yuan resisted, his advisor threatened to expel him.
Jiang Yuan reported the abuse to the department and even wrote letters to the university president, but nothing changed. Instead, it only provoked his advisor to publicly humiliate him further.
His confidence and vigor were gradually eroded, leaving him broken. Yet, his parents held sky-high expectations for him, even hoping he would become a professor to elevate their modest financial situation and social standing.
Every time he picked up the phone to confide in them, their earnest inquiries made him swallow his words.
"Everything’s fine here."
From the very first year, Jiang Yuan had struggled to cope. He was in agony, desperate to change things. But everyone else in the lab endured in silence—he was the only one who resisted fiercely.
Standing alone against the tide, he felt like a ridiculous clown.
Soon, he began doubting his own incompetence—that he couldn’t balance everything, that he couldn’t satisfy his advisor.
He once mentioned dropping out to his parents, but they vehemently opposed it. Early on, he vented some frustrations to Fu Shize, but later, fearing Fu Shize would see him as weak, he buried everything deep inside.
Amid the diaries from those years, there were occasional happy moments—competing in tournaments with his best friend, playing basketball, hiking together.
...
[I think the two luckiest things in my life are having parents who love me and a best friend like Aze.][After thinking for a long time, I finally decided to see a psychologist and was diagnosed with depression. It made me even sadder, and I feel so sorry for my parents. But at least I know that no matter what happens to me, Aze will help take care of them. That’s still a fortunate thing in the end.]
……
[The medication does help. I rarely think about those negative things anymore. There’s a competition coming up soon, and I should be able to win another championship this year.]
……
[I’ve been feeling a bit better lately. My advisor seems to have given up on pressuring me and told me to focus on writing my paper. The medication makes it hard to concentrate, so I plan to stop taking it for a while and finish the paper first. Once I meet the graduation requirements for my Ph.D., I’ll resume the medication. My parents and Aze would definitely disagree. Aze stands guard at my office door every day like a sentinel, making sure I take my meds. If he finds out I stopped, he’ll flip out immediately. Well, everyone cares about me so much, so I don’t want to disappoint them either.]
This was the last entry in Jiang Yuan’s diary.
As Yun Li read through the diary, she only realized she was crying when she felt the tears on her cheeks.
Just as Fu Shize had said, Jiang Yuan had treated the world with kindness and loved those around him, yet he had suffered unfair treatment.
Seeing her tears, Jiang’s Mother, who had just brought in some fruit, panicked. Yun Li wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Her phone vibrated just then—a message from Fu Shize: ["Lili, when are you coming back?"]
“I found Senior’s diary. I just read it,” Yun Li sniffled. Hearing this, Jiang’s Father immediately rushed into the room. For both of them, after their son’s passing, they had been desperately searching for anything related to him.
Yun Li had found six full years of his diaries for them.
The two put on their reading glasses, their eyes already weak, straining and aching after just a short while staring at the screen. Seeing this, Yun Li explained the basics of navigating the document to them, then went downstairs to a nearby print shop to make two copies.
On her way back to the neighborhood, Fu Shize called her. The line was a bit noisy, and his tone was casual: ["Can you pick me up from the supermarket on your way back?"]
“Aze.” Yun Li hesitated for a long moment before speaking with difficulty. “Today, I wasn’t at South Science and Technology University to see my advisor.”
“……” Fu Shize fell silent briefly. ["You’re at Grain Garden?"]
“Yes…” Yun Li lowered her eyes. “I found Jiang Yuan’s diaries from his last few years. Should I drive over to pick you up?”
["No need, I’ll take a taxi there."]
Fu Shize didn’t ask why she was at Grain Garden or what the diaries contained. Instead, he asked: ["Did they give you a hard time?"]
“No…”
["Mm, you’re outside?"] Hearing the background noise in her call, Fu Shize naturally inferred. Yun Li hummed in agreement, and he said calmly: ["Stay where you are. Wait for me to get there."]
Yun Li hung up, still standing there in a daze.
She had thought that at a time like this, Fu Shize would be more concerned about the contents of the diary—not her.
But he hadn’t mentioned it at all. It seemed his only reason for coming was to ensure nothing happened to her, which was why he told her to stay outside.
Yun Li didn’t listen to Fu Shize. She went back inside and handed the printed diaries to Jiang Yuan’s parents.
She patiently sat with the elderly couple as they read through them.
By the end, Jiang’s Mother’s face was streaked with tears. Covering her face, she sobbed: “Why didn’t you tell Mom about all this? Why didn’t you listen to the doctor…”She suddenly felt a pang of numbness. Jiang Yuan had mentioned to her before that he wasn’t adjusting well to doctoral life and wanted to drop out to find a job directly.
Like many parents, they hadn’t truly listened. They only focused on their son’s bright future.
But…
If only Jiang Yuan had said one more word to her.
No matter what, what she cared about most was that her son could live safely and peacefully.
Yun Li silently stood by their side, waiting until both of them had calmed down before speaking softly, “Uncle, Auntie, please don’t grieve like this. Senior loved you both so much—he wouldn’t want to see you like this…”
She paused, then mustered her courage and continued, “Actually, the reason I came today is because of Fu Shize. Because of what happened to Senior, Ah Ze has been carrying immense guilt and even took a long leave from school because of it.”
“Uncle, Auntie, what happened back then… it really wasn’t Ah Ze’s fault. He’s someone who values emotions deeply—he practically treated Senior like his own older brother. If you look at Senior’s diary, he even wrote about it. Ah Ze watched him take his medicine. He wanted Senior to live just as much as anyone else.”
Yun Li went on, telling them bit by bit about Fu Shize. Her phone kept vibrating repeatedly. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
Jiang’s Mother went to open it and visibly froze when she saw Fu Shize. He stepped inside silently, and only when he saw Yun Li sitting safely on the sofa did the slight tension in his brow ease.
It had been over three years since Fu Shize last saw Jiang Yuan’s parents.
He hadn’t stepped into this house in years, either.
On the surface, the elderly couple’s lives seemed to carry on as usual.
Out of habit, Fu Shize assumed they wouldn’t want to see him.
For so many years, the endless guilt he carried—toward Jiang Yuan, toward them—had weighed on him like a suffocating burden. Now, standing before them again, he didn’t know what to say.
Yun Li watched as he lowered his head slightly, strands of hair partially obscuring his eyes. In this cramped, oppressive space, his thin shoulders were stiff with tension.
“You should leave first,” Jiang’s Mother said, still standing by the door, her voice unsteady.
“...”
Caught off guard by the sudden dismissal, Yun Li’s voice trembled. “Uncle, Auntie… Senior never blamed Ah Ze. Please, don’t blame him either, okay?”
Their expressions remained heavy, and they repeated, “You should leave first.”
“Uncle, Auntie…” Yun Li murmured blankly. Fu Shize walked to her side, took her hand, and led her toward the door.
Just as they reached the threshold, he stopped, turned his head slightly, and uttered the only words he could.
“Please take care of yourselves.”
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