Chapter 22

I woke up once again.

In front of me was the cold hospital room, and Ji Ming sitting by the bed, looking haggard.

It was the first time I saw him like this, with bloodshot eyes, anxiously watching me.

But the world felt so quiet to me.

Never had it been so quiet.

I couldn’t hear anything, only see his mouth moving continuously.

After the doctor examined me, they diagnosed that my hearing was impaired.

They informed me through writing that it was due to the eardrum damage caused by the explosion, which would heal on its own, and my hearing would gradually recover.

I nodded mechanically.

After the doctor left, Ji Ming typed on his phone with concern, asking what I wanted to eat, watch, or do.

I shook my head, and with the memory of sound, struggled to utter a few words: “Let’s break up.”

Ji Ming was stunned for a moment, and I thought he didn’t understand, so I prepared to say it again.

But then he spoke, his lips moved.

I could read it, it was three words: “Why.”

Why?

Yes, why?

Why did I want to break up with him?

This was my first thought upon waking up, and even I didn’t know how it emerged.

Perhaps, it was because I never really liked him, it was all an act, all to use him to get back at Ji Group.

But now that the great revenge was achieved, there was no need to stay with him.

Yes, that was the main reason.

Yet somehow, I couldn’t make a sound, I wanted to tell him why, but I couldn’t speak.

My body felt as heavy as lead, the wounds on my arm from the explosion subtly ached, and I had no strength to type.

I had to turn my head, close my eyes, using rest as an excuse to avoid him.

When one can’t hear the sounds of the outside world, the clamor within becomes clearer.

Every day, countless voices argue in my mind.

When my eyes are open, they debate the present.

When my eyes are closed, they judge the past.

Ji Ming came to see me every day, helped check my wounds, and asked the doctors about my ear’s recovery.

My hearing was indeed slowly recovering, I could hear some sounds already.

Every time he came, I pretended to sleep.

It seemed like closing my eyes allowed me to escape everything.

Opening my eyes to see him brought a flood of thoughts.

Occasionally, I would squint to watch him when he wasn’t paying attention.

The dark circles under his eyes grew heavier day by day.

Seeing him so exhausted, I instead felt guilty.

Later, one day, I finally faced him awake, and he was pleasantly surprised.

But I told him, “You don’t need to come see me.”

He asked again, “Why?”

I said, “I don’t want to see you.”

It was the truth, but saying it caused a sharp pain in my heart.

After a long while, he finally replied, “Alright.”

In the following week, he truly didn’t come again.

Instead, Ye Shuo came to see me every other day.

He talked a lot, a sentence’s worth of content he could stretch into fifteen minutes.

My ears seemed to activate an automatic filter, always picking up the key points.

He told me the police thoroughly investigated the accident from back then, Ji Group’s guilt was confirmed, but the person involved had already passed away, Ji Group merely paid some fines and doubled the compensation for the victims’ families.

In the end, everything was resolved with money.

But the online public opinion caused Ji Group’s stock price to hit the limit down for several days.

Zhou Yuming’s residence was also searched, but unfortunately, nothing was found except for some old clothes and daily necessities.

His phone and the tools used in the crime were all buried in that explosion.

Even his social connections were pathetically simple.

The police had also come to the hospital, asked me about some details of the kidnapping, but didn’t inquire about my relationship with Zhou Yuming.

Zhou Yuming left cleanly, taking me out of it completely.

As if I were just an innocent victim.

Ye Shuo also told me that the sniper and the action team leader who responded at the chemical plant that day were both named and criticized for major errors.

Zhou Yuming’s ruthlessness and cunning were severely underestimated, and the intelligence gathering before the operation was insufficient.

Clearly, it was at a chemical plant, yet the storage quantity of chemical residues was not fully grasped.

…

And a bunch of other reasons.

Turns out, because of me, this incident implicated so many people.

He talked for almost an entire afternoon.

I told him he didn’t need to say anymore, and he really shut up.

A long time later, he said to me, “The pear blossoms at school have bloomed, want to go see them together?”

I looked at the budding branches outside the window and said to him, “Alright.”