Qin Jinhuan shot straight up. “What happened?”

“Doctor Feng left the detention cell on her own, and Chief Rong is going nuts from being unable to find her. Right now, he’s driving all over town by himself in his search for her; I wasn’t able to stop him no matter how I tried. Considering that night has already fallen, Chief Rong is bound to get himself into huge trouble if we don’t stop him now!”

“Where is he currently?” Qin Jinhuan had already turned around and headed for the door as he spoke.

Having already heard Liu Xiaofan’s words, Mu Yu hastily grabbed her coat and followed Qin Jinhuan. “I’m coming with you, Huan!”

Qin Jinhuan had already gotten Rong Jian’s approximate whereabouts from his questioning, and his steps slowed down after he hung up on Liu Xiaofan. He waited for Mu Yu to catch up to him, and then he grabbed her hand before they rushed downstairs together.

More than 20 minutes later, Qin Jinhuan and Mu Yu charged their way over to the main street in the south of the city—his subordinates had already blocked off Rong Jian’s car there. The pair had only just gotten out of their car when Mu Yu heard Rong Jian’s hoarse yells of anger. After steadying herself, she saw him beating and punching at the cars in front of him in a crazed manner, profanity spewing from his lips all this while. She was deeply startled by this; it was her first time seeing Rong Jian lose control of himself until he was in such a state.

Once Liu Xiaofan spotted them as he frantically pulled at Rong Jian, he shouted joyfully; it looked like he had just seen his saviors. “You guys are here at last! Quick, talk Chief Rong down!”

“Huan—”

Before Mu Yu could finish, Qin Jinhuan had already whirled past her like a gust of wind. He charged his way over to Rong Jian and dragged him back.

“What’s gotten into you?!”

Probably due to the intensity of his emotions, Rong Jian stumbled a bit after being grabbed. Once he steadied himself and saw that it was Qin Jinhuan, fire immediately shot out of his eyes; he pointed at Qin Jinhuan’s subordinates and yelled at him, “Tell them to get lost!”

“Calm down!”

“I am very calm! I know very well what I’m doing!” Rong Jian had an emotional look. “Tell them to get out of my way! I’m going to look for Rubing! I want to look for her!”

“Get in the car.”

When Rong Jian heard Qin Jinhuan simply telling him to go home, he immediately refused. “I’m not going back! I must find Rubing tonight! I have so much to say to her! I must tell her everything tonight!”

“You don’t even know where she is. You’re just like a headless chicken now, so how are you going to search for her?”

Qin Jinhuan’s words were like a splash of cold water to the face, and it unnerved Rong Jian to no end. Just then, Rong Jian spoke as if he was comforting himself. “There’s only so much ground in An City. As long as I persevere, I will find her!”

“Well, what if she’s not in An City now?”

Rong Jian’s gaze dulled, and his question came out in halting bursts. “S-She has no other f-friends or family. Other t-than her home in An City, where else can s-she go?”

“I don’t know where she is, but I am certain that she doesn’t want to see you now. Go back and calm yourself; let her find a place where she can gather her own emotions too—”

“What makes you say that she doesn’t want to see me?” Rong Jian cut Qin Jinhuan off angrily, his emotions running high. “You’re not close to her. You don’t understand her at all, so why are you saying that she doesn’t want to see me? Quit blabbering here!”

“If she wanted to see you, you wouldn’t be throwing a crazed fit right now.”

“Huan!” Mu Yu discreetly pulled on Qin Jinhuan’s shirt, for she couldn’t bear to watch this unfold. “Chief Rong’s not in a good state of mind right now. Don’t be so harsh on him,” she softly reminded him.

“Am I not telling the truth?” Qin Jinhuan asked as he continued to look at Rong Jian none-too-kindly. “You’ll make Rubing even more reluctant to see you if you’re behaving like this.”

“You’re lying!” Rong Jian shouted back angrily.

“Is there any sense in lying to yourself?”

“I…” Rong Jian floundered for a while, and he eventually conceded defeat. He crouched by the side of the road with his head in his hands.

Although she didn’t see Rong Jian tear up, Mu Yu could still feel his pain. She felt sorry for him, and she pushed Qin Jinhuan—who was about to speak again—to gently chastise him. “Don’t keep pushing his buttons, okay? How about this? I’ll console Chief Rong while you find a way to locate Madam Feng.”

“He’s not a woman. He doesn’t need comforting.” Qin Jinhuan then turned around and raised his voice at Rong Jian. “Aren’t you looking for Feng Rubing? Get in. I’ll look for her with you.”

“You?” Rong Jian looked up in shock and expectation. “You know where she is?”

“I don’t. Aren’t you also looking for her blind? I’ll join in on your blind search.”

“I…” Rong Jian deflated as he waved a hand at him. “You should go back; I’ll look for her myself. Moreover, I’ve already gotten someone to check the CCTVs. I know that Rubing got off at the stop just right ahead, so she should be nearby. I will be able to find her.”

With that, Rong Jian headed toward his own car.

Qin Jinhuan stretched out an arm and stopped him. “Let Zijun look for her. Meanwhile, you should get something to eat first.”

“I’m not hungry. I’ll search for her myself.”

“You still don’t understand why she’s avoiding you?”

“I know! But I don’t care! I’m so frantic to find her because I want to tell her my true thoughts! I want to tell her that I don’t care about her past; what I care about is her right now! In the present! And her future!”

“Have you never told her this before?”

“I…” Rong Jian’s expression took an ugly turn. “I-I think I didn’t say it clearly back then.”

“That’s enough; lying to yourself and others is not your thing. If you don’t want to get something to eat, lounge around in my car. I’ll get Yu to have a talk with her once we find Feng Rubing.”

“Chief Rong.” Mu Yu spoke up hesitantly. “Have you ever thought about the actual reason why Madam Feng isn’t willing to accept you even though she has feelings for you?”

Rong Jian was taken aback. “Isn’t it because Qiqi’s her actual daughter?”

“That’s an important factor too, but I don’t think that’s the main reason. After all, no one would suspect that Qiqi is her daughter if she doesn’t mention it.”

“Well, what other reason could there be?” Rong Jian asked frantically.

Mu Yu lowered her gaze, and she paused for a long time before she spoke again. “Qiqi is Li Jianyun’s daughter, but Madam Feng refuses to tell us how she got into a relationship with him in the first place; even Li Jianyun’s own brothers who lived with him didn’t know that he was in a relationship with her. Have you never carefully thought about the reason for that?”

Rong Jian seemed to have hit an epiphany. He gazed at Mu Yu steadily, the expression on his face somewhat twisted.

“Rape!” Qin Jinhuan said the word that Rong Jian didn’t want to voice out loud.

“Yes!” Mu Yu nodded, her expression solemn. “Li Jianyun was a gambling addict, and he often lost money on his bets. It’s highly probable that he was a shady man. Moreover, Madam Feng was just fifteen back then; she wouldn’t have dared to speak up about her experience after she had been raped by him. After all, her family consisted of only her and her aging grandmother. Of course, there weren’t any lack of threats and intimidation tactics on Li Jianyun’s part as well. Madam Feng must have given birth to Qiqi because she had no other option. Furthermore, the reason why Madam Feng would rather bear the crime of being a murderer over letting the world know about what had happened between her and Li Jianyun is because she’s even more worried about the circumstances of Qiqi’s birth being revealed once that past incident is dug up. Also, she doesn’t want Qiqi to live for the rest of her life knowing that she’s a child born of rape. Li Jianyun must have known about Qiqi’s true identity once he recognized Madam Feng, so he threatened her with her sole weak point. That’s the true reason why Madam Feng just took it and didn’t report it to the police.”

“Damn it!” Rong Jian clenched his teeth tightly, for he felt that Mu Yu’s words were valid. His fists were curled up so tightly that his joints made cracking sounds.

“Of course, I’m not primarily talking to you about Madam Feng’s rape; what I want to actually speak about is the trauma that it left on her. All these years, Madam Feng was tormented and unable to escape the grip her nightmares had on her—that’s because she had to face her daughter like nothing happened when her daughter was a product of rape. Regardless of the past, Qiqi is innocent. She couldn’t hurt an innocent child, and she was also the one who gave birth to Qiqi. She must have felt very conflicted back then; she hated Li Jianyun’s depraved actions, and she also hated herself for being unable to harden her heart and throw away the daughter that was born. In Mandarin, the ‘Qi’ in Qiqi’s name sounds like the word for ‘abandonment’. I believe that Madam Feng must have wanted to abandon Qiqi many times, but she still kept her because of her love as a mother. Yet, Qiqi always felt that there was a gulf between them. Qiqi thought it was a mere communication barrier, but in truth, the actual thing standing between them is Li Jianyun. Li Jianyun made Madam Feng lose the ability to love others; she doesn’t even dare to get too close to men, for it makes her think of the fear she felt when she was raped. If she cannot put that part of her past behind her, she will always be avoidant with men, and she will bury her feelings for you for the rest of her life. I once saw this case where this girl was raped as a child, and it left deep scars on her psyche. Later on, she fell in love with a boy. She hid that part of her past from him and tried to stay with him, but they separated not long after they began dating. It wasn’t because the boy didn’t like her; it was because she would be reminded of that terrifying experience every time he got intimate with her. Although she loved the boy very much, she couldn’t overcome her resistance for intimacy from the opposite sex. Madam Feng’s thought process toward you is probably the same as well.”

“In that case, what should I do?” Mu Yu’s words left Rong Jian downcast. He asked her again indignantly, “Can I take her to see a psychologist?”

“That’ll definitely work; I’m just worried that she won’t want to see one.”

“Then I—”

“Start with Qiqi,” Qin Jinhuan suddenly interrupted.

“No! We can’t let Qiqi know about the circumstances of her birth. Rubing will have a breakdown!” Rong Jian expressed his disagreement.

“I never said that I’m going to get Qiqi to talk to Feng Rubing. I meant to say that you can start your conversation with Feng Rubing by using Qiqi. There are two ways to do this; one, you patiently and gently tell her that you don’t mind Qiqi’s circumstances and that you’re willing to raise Qiqi with her. Of course, you’ll have to tell her that you will keep Qiqi’s true identity a secret. Two, you can give Feng Rubing two choices—the first choice is to accept your feelings and see a psychologist with you, whereas the second choice is to announce the circumstances of Qiqi’s birth to the world.”

“Huh?!”

“What the f*ck? Won’t I just end up becoming a second Li Jianyun? What kind of sh*tty idea is that?”

Qin Jinhuan waved a hand dismissively. “Wouldn’t that be our last resort? If you can get through to her with pure sincerity, you won’t need to do that at all.”

Rong Jian let out a sigh. “I love her, but I don’t know where she is right now. My sincerity is worth nothing.”

As Rong Jian spoke, Qin Jinhuan’s phone rang abruptly. He answered the call, but his expression immediately changed after hearing just a few words. “How could that have happened?