Chapter 43
Shi Haiping sat on the sofa with his head down and narrated Shi Nan’s life experience.
Shi Nan felt that it was unreal.
He was not Shi Haiping’s own son.
His dad might be a human trafficker.
He is Xiao Bei whom Song Linsheng has been looking for.
Every piece of news is like a heavy hammer hitting Shi Nan’s heart. He doesn’t know why things have become like this. The father who he respects and adores, and who is exhausted from working part-time for him is not his own dad. There is even an old trafficking case involved in it.
A sense of unreality swept over Shi Nan, and he didn’t even know what mood he should use to face Shi Haiping.
Shi Haiping looked at Shi Nan, choked up and was unable to speak.
Shi Nan suddenly looked at Shi Haiping: “Have you ever kidnapped a child?” “
” No, no.” Shi Haiping hurriedly shook his head and said eagerly, “Nan Nan, trust me. I have never kidnapped a child.”
”Oh.” Ying Ting suddenly sneered, “When the murderer killed someone, the person next to him handed him a knife. So the person who handed the knife is innocent and good, right?”
” You really forgot that you handed the knife back then.” Ying Ting said.
Shi Nan was expressionless and Shi Haiping remained silent. Song Linsheng frowned, he wanted to say something but he didn’t say anything in the end.
Ying Ting stood up and looked at Shi Haiping coldly: “More than ten years have passed since then, and many memories have become blurred. But I still dream of blood flowing like rivers in my dreams at night, and I dream of the five dead policemen and those crying children. I lost the most important requirement in life, peace of mind.”
Ying Ting slammed the door and left.
Shi Haiping stood up tremblingly: “Nan Nan, don’t embarrass yourself because of me. I’m leaving first.”
Shi Nan faltered a bit. Looking from the back, Shi Haiping was just like a kind and gentle old man. But more than ten years ago, he used to take care of a house where a dozen children were locked up, and those children were all trafficked.
Song Linsheng glanced at Shi Nan, then picked up the car keys and followed out.
”You don’t have to send me off, I can go back by myself.” Shi Haiping murmured.
”Get in the car.” Song Linsheng opened the door and pushed Shi Haiping in.
On the way, Song Linsheng took a look at Shi Haiping in the rearview mirror. In his memory, Shi Haiping was a little thin, with a baby face and two dimples when he smiled.
When those people beat them, he stood aside and waved his hands anxiously, asking them to beg for mercy.
He would also secretly throw some steamed buns and tomatoes at them. Once Ying Ting had a high fever, he even secretly gave him a fever-reducing medicine. If it wasn’t for the fever-reducing medicine, Ying Ting, who was covered in bruises, might not be able to survive.
However, when some children escaped, he would also catch them back.
If a child is lost, he will be punished.
Song Linsheng turned his eyes away.
”I’m sorry, Xiao Song, for ruining your plan.”
Song Linsheng frowned slightly, ruining his plan?
What was the plan?
”I didn’t expect today’s scene. Originally, according to what you said, it could be kept a secret from Nan Nan for the rest of his life, but maybe God sees that I have done too many bad things, so he must punish me, so…” Shi Haiping smiled wryly: “He is right. I have a guilty conscience. I have had a guilty conscience for more than ten years. When I close my eyes, what appears is that house, those children, and the policeman who died in front of me. I couldn’t sleep a single day in peace.”
”Since you have found Nan Nan’s parents, let them recognize each other as soon as possible, and reunite their family of three. I am sorry for Nan Nan.” Has he found his parents?
Song Linsheng roughly guessed it.
The other one knew that Shi Nan was Xiao Bei for a long time, and found Xiao Bei’s parents, even asking Shi Haiping to hide Shi Nan’s past. He arranged everything, but he didn’t expect that Ying Ting would see Shi Haiping and not only see him but also recognised him.
”You have to live well now.” Song Linsheng said, “You have to understand that if something happens to you, it will be a huge blow to Shi Nan.”
”Really?”, Shi Haiping smiled wryly, “He may never want to see me again in this life.”
”The love between father and son for more than ten years is not just empty talk. You take care of yourself and don’t let Shi Nan get hurt because of you again, do you understand?” Shi Haiping was dazed for a moment, he nodded slowly: “I see.”
After sending Shi Haiping to the door of his house, Song Linsheng drove back to Shi Nan’s house.
There was no one in the living room, and the bedroom door was closed.
Song Linsheng came to the kitchen and cooked a bowl of noodles for Shi Nan.
When they came to the door of Shi Nan’s bedroom, Song Linsheng knocked on the door first, but there was no sound in the room.
Song Linsheng tried to push the door, but the door was unlocked, so Song Linsheng walked in with the bowl.
Shi Nan was lying on the bed, with his back facing the direction of the door, unable to see his expression.
”I’ve been on the plane for a long time, I’m hungry, let’s have something to eat first.” Song Linsheng said.
The person on the bed didn’t move.
Song Linsheng stood by the bed and looked at him for a while, then sighed.
Song Linsheng sat down by the bed, raised his hand and rubbed Shi Nan’s head.
”He was very good to me, very good.” Shi Nan said suddenly, his voice a little hoarse, “At that time, my family was poor and I was not in good health. He worked three jobs to make ends meet. When others saw him as a single father with a child, they will sympathize with him and always give him the leftover clothes of the children at home, but he never asks for them. He says that although we are poor and cannot afford clothes worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, new clothes worth tens of dollars are still affordable. Since he can afford it, his children don’t wear leftover clothes from other people’s children.”
”Is it really bad for others to wear leftover clothes? No. When I was in junior high school, the children in the school all compared each other. It was because I didn’t want to wear other people’s leftover clothes as I felt ashamed.” Song Linsheng heard a hint of crying in Shi Nan’s voice.
”There are also people who introduce him to someone. He always asks me if I like it. I had a rebellious nature at the time, and I always felt that my stepmother would abuse me, so I said I don’t like it. As long as I don’t like it, he will not agree. Later, I wanted him to find a partner. But he got this disease, so I didn’t bother him.”
Shi Nan sniffled: “The family was really short of money that year. He heard that selling kidneys could be exchanged for money, so he found a little clinic and planned to sell the kidney. If I didn’t find it in time, his kidney would be gone.”
”Song Linsheng.” Shi Nan turned over and buried himself in Song Linsheng’s arms, hugging his waist tightly. He choked up and said, “I never thought that he is not my father, he is so good to me. My biggest wish in this life is to let him live a good life. Just why, why is this?”
”I’m sorry.” Song Linsheng hugged him, and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”
Shi Nan calmed down in Song Linsheng’s arms before looking up at him: “Did he really do a lot of bad things?” There were tears in Shi Nan’s eyes, still worrying and expecting. Song Linsheng knew he wanted a negative answer.
Song Linsheng thought for a while: “I don’t know what to say. He wasn’t the one who abducted us back then, and I don’t know what he did before that. When I saw him, his duty was to take care of the abducted children.”
”That’s a very, very remote mountainous area, where it is dry all year round, and there are no green vegetables to eat, but there are a lot of cattle and sheep raised. They will give us uncooked meat and sometimes throw raw meat at us directly. At that time, we all called him Brother Xiao Hai, because he would secretly give us steamed buns and pancakes, and occasionally he would quietly throw a few tomatoes and carrots.”
Perhaps due to recalling the past, Song Linsheng looked a little tired: “How many bad things has he done? I don’t know. I don’t know if he has done any good things or not, but I am grateful to him for raising you healthy and safe.”
When Shi Nan heard this, he couldn’t tell what he felt. He was disappointed and thankful that he hadn’t hurt those children.
Song Linsheng said again: “Shi Nan, don’t get entangled, and don’t use other people’s mistakes to punish yourself. I just hope you can be happy.” Shi Nan was silent for a while, not knowing what he was thinking. Song Linsheng got up and went to the window.
Over the years, he has been thinking about whether that decision was right or wrong, but he couldn’t come up with a result.
If Xiao Bei had a good life, his sense of guilt might be a little less. But if Xiao Bei’s life was not good, he’d feel that it was all caused by himself.
The two of them didn’t speak, and after a while, Shi Nan opened his mouth softly: “When I was a child, I often had a dream. In the dream, there was a cherry tree and a pretty little brother. I pestered him to play with me. He seems to be annoyed by me and always refuses.”
”When I was young, I thought it was just a dream. As I got older, I had fewer dreams, so I gradually stopped thinking about it, Song Linsheng…” Shi Nan raised his head, “That’s not a dream, right?”
Song Linsheng turned his back to him, and sighed after a long time: “You didn’t annoy me.”
Shi Nan looked at the white wall in a daze: “Did you already know that I am Xiao Bei? “
Song Linsheng shook his head: “I just found out.” Song Linsheng took out his mobile phone and opened WeChat. Ten minutes ago, the private detective sent him a message, saying that Xiao Bei had been found, and also sent him a photo of Shi Nan.
Song Linsheng said helplessly: “If I received this message one day earlier, I would not let the matter develop to this point.”
”If you received the message one day earlier, what would you do?” Shi Nan stared at him closely, as if to see some clues from his expression.
Song Linsheng turned to look at Shi Nan and sighed inwardly.
Shi Nan lowered his eyes. He didn’t know, but that person in the evening must have known it a long time ago, and he might even have known everything since they met.
”Shi Nan, I believe that no matter what he did, it was for your own good.” Song Linsheng said.
Shi Nan didn’t speak, and couldn’t tell what was going on in his heart.
Song Linsheng came to the bedside, picked up the noodles on the table and fed them to Shi Nan with chopsticks, coaxing him softly: “Eat the food first.”
Shi Nan tilted his head, and said somewhat dejectedly: “I don’t want to eat.”
Song Linsheng didn’t speak, just held the bowl and held up the chopsticks. After a long time, Shi Nan sighed: “Why are you so annoying?”. He doesn’t give up until he gets it.
Song Linsheng walked out with the bowl in his hand but was hugged from behind.
Song Linsheng was taken aback for a moment, his whole body was a little stiff, and he didn’t know what to do.
Shi Nan whispered behind him: “Although everything today feels like a nightmare to me, if I am really Xiao Bei, I’m still very happy that you found him.” Song Linsheng was in a daze for a moment. He then turned around and hugged Shi Nan.
T/N: Thank you for reading (~˘▾˘)~
Let me know if you find any mistakes and I’ll correct it. You can also ‘buy me a coffee’ if you like it…..
