Chapter Sixteen: The Wronged Paper Cup
The doorbell continued to ring. Through the door, Ju Nian could almost picture Han Shu's stubborn and somewhat impatient expression. She glanced back; Tang Ye seemed oblivious. A moment later, the doorbell was punctuated by rhythmic, rapid knocking, shattering any remaining hope she held. For some reason, they were convinced someone was inside.
The urge to ring the phone and open the doorbell seems to be an innate human instinct; otherwise, anxiety arises. However, Ju Nian didn't want to imagine what Han Shu's reaction would be if he saw her standing inside the door. She had vaguely heard about Tang Ye's recent troubles and could guess that Han Shu's visit was on official business, which was certainly not good news for Tang Ye. Therefore, she was even more afraid of causing trouble for Tang Ye. With no other choice, she quickly walked to Tang Ye's side, squatted down, shook his arm, and woke him up in a low voice.
Tang Ye seemed to be in a deep sleep. It took him a while to realize his situation after opening his eyes. When he heard Ku Nian say that there were people from the procuratorate outside the door, he didn't seem particularly surprised. Seeing that Ju Nian looked a little frightened, he even comforted her as he forced himself to stand up, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."
Ku Nian was truly panicked, stammering, "Han Shu... at the door... sigh..."
Tang Ye paused for a moment, then understood. Hearing the increasingly loud knocking, he tentatively pointed to his bedroom and said to Ku Nian, "Why don't you go inside and hide for a bit?"
Ku Nian was speechless. She almost doubted whether Tang Ye had lost his mind. If Han Shu and his men had really searched the house, why would they have missed the bedroom and study? Her previous experience at Tang Ye's house was enough to convince her that there was nowhere to hide in those rooms, and jumping out of the window was wishful thinking. She had been caught red-handed by Han Shu in Tang Ye's bedroom. Given Han Shu's temper, could things get any worse?
The porridge in the kitchen was boiling, and the sound of it splashing filled the air. Ku Nian had a sudden thought and hurriedly went into the kitchen. After entering, she closed the door behind her. She didn't know how long she could hide like this, and she didn't understand why she always had to consider hiding whenever she appeared at Tang Ye's residence.
The kitchen was right next to the entrance hall. Through the door, Ju Nian heard Tang Ye open it, and then a strange male voice said with a hint of sarcasm, "So you were in there. We almost thought you had run away."
Tang Ye said, "I'm sorry, I fell asleep and kept you all waiting. Only guilty people flee; I don't think I need to."
The sound of footsteps approached, and the door was closed again. Someone read the contents of the search warrant to Tang Ye. Ku Nian recognized the voice as Han Shu's; his tone was flat and cold, devoid of any authority. Tang Ye remained silent, seemingly accepting the situation calmly and quietly.
Han Shu said he was investigating a major case involving a corrupt official. Was Tang Ye one of the people involved? Could the seemingly kind and cautious Tang Ye really be connected to those corrupt and bribery scandals? Ju Nian extinguished the stove fire, held her breath, and leaned against the counter. She lifted the lid of the pot, and the bubbling in the water had gradually subsided. The milky white porridge water only occasionally had one or two bubbles rising, reminding her of the undercurrent beneath the seemingly calm surface.
The footsteps gradually faded away from the kitchen, and the voices became less distinct. Occasionally, one could still hear a prosecutor's loud question, while Tang Ye's voice was muffled. Ju Nian waited in the cramped, enclosed space of the kitchen, waiting to be discovered or not—a decision beyond her control. Since this was the case, what was the use of rushing? Thinking this, her pounding heart slowly calmed down. She didn't know how much longer she would have to wait, so she unconsciously picked up the spoon beside her and gently stirred the pot of porridge.
About ten minutes later, the questioning seemed to have come to an end, and the search area shifted to a storage shelf near the entrance. The sounds of things being rummaged through and the occasional chatter among the searchers could be heard. Ju Nian even heard someone laugh and ask, "Hey, are you going to eat at that boiled fish place near the entrance after get off work? Section Chief Han, are you coming?"
"Where would I find the time for that?"
“I said, even in carrying out a revolution, there should be a balance between work and rest.”
"What do you know? Han Ke is a model husband now, he even works overtime until nine o'clock and still has to rush to his date..."
Han Shu seemed to chuckle, and surprisingly didn't deny it, "Is there anything you don't know?"
His voice was right outside the door, and Ju Nian actually knew that those so-called "dates" were probably all spent at the hospital.
They chatted for a few moments, then quieted down to get back to work. Suddenly, the loud-voiced prosecutor exclaimed "Eh!" and said...
"Did you check the kitchen?" Ju Nian suddenly straightened up and froze, even her breathing seemed to stop.
"It seems not. Old Hu, don't you usually like to search for things in the nooks and crannies?" another inspector said.
"That's true. I've found cash in horse saddle tanks more than once. Who knows what's hidden in the kitchen?"
"If you can't find any rules, at least get me a glass of water."
Just as they were half-joking, the kitchen doorknob was turned. Knowing there was no way to avoid it, Ju Nian still gasped and her heart jumped into her throat.
The door was finally opened, and the prosecutor, who seemed to be called "Old Hu," poked half his body in. He probably never expected to find someone inside before opening the kitchen door. When he suddenly met Ju Nian's gaze, he was startled and reflexively took a step back, and the door was closed again.
There was silence outside the door for a few seconds.
"Old Hu, are you seeing a ghost?" Han Shu's surprised voice came.
To Ju Nian's even greater surprise, Tang Ye, who had been unusually silent all along, suddenly spoke up, as if suppressing a hint of anger, and asked, "Do I have any privacy at all?"
Ju Nian didn't know why he would say such foolish things. Now that things had come to this point, did he really think that this would stop the people outside from being dutiful and curious?
As expected, Han Shu sneered and retorted with a single sentence, "The law certainly protects the privacy of law-abiding citizens, but that doesn't include certain parasites."
This time, it was Han Shu who pushed the door open forcefully. Ju Nian knew this would happen.
Now, he stood at the doorway, staring intently at the person inside, his face completely expressionless. Ju Nian, momentarily at a loss for words, held the porridge-stirring spoon, its handle frozen in mid-air.
After a while, Han Shu raised his hands to straighten his peaked cap. Although the brim was already perfectly straight, he was still not satisfied and moved it a little more. Then he simply took off the cap, held it in his arms with one hand, and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Han Shu repeated his question.
Ju Nian stared at her toes, unsure of what to say to ease Han Shu's anger, even though he seemed so righteous. It was like when they were in school, he was on duty, she was late, he caught her and he was angry, he couldn't catch her and he was even angrier.
Ju Nian whispered, "I'm cooking porridge."
She was indeed cooking porridge, and the air was filled with the aroma of rice. Han Shu took a long time to process this answer, but Lao Hu, who had come with him, turned to Tang Ye at the door first and asked, "What's going on? There's a living person hiding in the kitchen. What kind of trick are you playing?"
Tang Ye glanced at Ju Nian. "She's just a friend of mine. She knew I was sick, so she came to visit me."
"What's the meaning of visiting you while the door is closed in the kitchen?" Another prosecutor, just as clueless as Lao Hu, questioned her.
Tang Ye's eyelids drooped slightly, perhaps because of his long eyelashes, or perhaps because of his current physical condition, there was a faint shadow under his eyes. "I don't want her to know about my affairs. Are you satisfied with this answer?"
"If only you had known this would happen, you wouldn't have done it in the first place." Old Hu stepped aside from Han Shu and walked into the kitchen, inspecting every place he could find. In the end, he didn't even miss the pot of porridge in front of Ju Nian. He took the spoon and stirred it in.
"Nothing was found at the house, Section Chief Han, what do you think?"
Han Shu put his hat back on, glanced back at Tang Ye, and casually said to his two other colleagues, "What do you think? Should we take the suspect back to the office for interrogation? Lao Hu, what do you say?"
The prosecutor, Lao Hu, nodded hurriedly, "That's right, based on the evidence we have now, we can definitely summon him for questioning."
Tang Ye's face paled slightly, and his body swayed almost imperceptibly as he braced himself against the wall in the entryway with one hand.
"Then, please." Han Shu turned his back to Ju Nian and said politely to Tang Ye. Then, as if he remembered something, he smiled and said, "Oh, we should let you say goodbye to your 'friend,' since we don't know when we'll see each other again."
Tang Ye opened his mouth slightly but couldn't say anything, only coughing violently. It took a while for him to calm down, his face flushed red.
"May I go get a coat?"
"It's cool inside, of course." Han Shu gestured for him to proceed.
Tang Ye nodded and took a few steps toward the bedroom. He tried to make his steps more steady, but it was in vain. The high fever and long-term lack of food made his steps unsteady.
Old Hu had already packed his things and opened the door when another person started discussing with him about that delicious boiled fish restaurant.
"The food at that restaurant was really good, and the prices were reasonable, so I went for the spicy one."
"Whenever you mention spicy food, I feel like my throat is about to catch fire."
They were talking amongst themselves, almost ignoring a soft, low-pitched voice.
He's still sick.
Ju Nian knew she lacked confidence, but Tang Ye was indeed in a vulnerable state and couldn't withstand any more trouble. After she finished speaking, she noticed that three people in uniforms were looking at her at the same time, including Ku Hanshu, of course.
Ju Nian lowered her head, but still hadn't given up. She mumbled again, "I'm sorry, but he's really very sick right now."
Han Shu said indifferently, "Do you know what he has done? If I were you, I would stay away from him."
Ju Nian wanted to say, "You were never me." She thought that perhaps she was a person with very low moral standards. No matter what Tang Ye had done, she only knew that Tang Ye had never hurt her, and that he was indeed sick.
But of course she wouldn't try to provoke Han Shu's patience. She turned around, found the water she had boiled earlier, took out Tang Ye's paper cups, and poured a cup for each of them.
She first offered the first cup to the prosecutor, who was getting a bit older and kept complaining of being thirsty. She spoke to her cautiously, almost humbly, saying, "Please have some water."
Unfortunately, the other party was young and impetuous, and saw through her intentions, refusing to accept her attempts to get close. "No need." He raised his hand, and his fingers just happened to brush against Ju Nian's hand holding the water. She lost her balance, and the water in the paper cup spilled out, splashing onto the back of Ju Nian's hand. Although it wasn't scalding hot, the temperature was still hot enough to make her skin turn red.
"Are you blind?!" Han Shu shouted at that moment.
Ju Nian's face was redder than the skin on her hands. She quickly said, "I'm sorry," and used her free hand to shake off the water.
"I wasn't talking about you!" Han Shu was so angry that his fair face looked as if it had been scalded by water.
He wasn't referring to her, so he was obviously talking about a careless colleague.
The young man had probably just graduated from school. He hadn't meant it that way; he just wanted to show his stance to his colleagues and the suspect's "family" who were pleading for leniency. Unfortunately, his actions were too exaggerated, and he made a mistake. He hadn't expected his direct superior to react so strongly, and he was now stuck in an awkward position, standing there helplessly.
Old Hu, having lived a long and successful life, quickly tested the water temperature on the kettle with his hand, trying to smooth things over by saying, "It's alright, it's alright, not too hot."
Han Shu tried his best to look away from Ju Nian's hand. His reaction just now was almost instantaneous, without thinking. He regretted it after saying it. He was usually very concerned about his image and demeanor and would never lose his composure in front of his colleagues, especially his subordinates. So he coughed lightly twice and then gently added to the young man, "Be careful. Didn't you say you were thirsty?"
"Hehe." The young man chuckled awkwardly and said to Ju Nian, "Sorry."
"It was my mistake." Ju Nian quickly took the opportunity to refill the water and hand it over. This time it went very smoothly, especially for Lao Hu, who took a big gulp as soon as he received it.
Han Shu was the last to receive water from Ju Nian. Their fingertips lightly touched as they exchanged the small paper cups, but Ju Nian noticed a striking red mark on the back of Han Shu's outstretched right hand, which extended all the way into his white sleeve.
She showed a slightly surprised expression. After taking the water, Han Shu quickly withdrew his hand and gently tugged at his sleeve with his other hand.
At this moment, Tang Ye put on a coat and walked back to the doorway where the group of people had gathered.
"Okay." In between words, he still held his fist to his mouth and coughed intermittently as he turned to the side.
Ju Nian's eyes held an even stronger pleading tone. She was no stranger to interrogation, so she knew all too well how long and agonizing the process could be.
Han Shu used both hands to hold the paper cup in his hands. She should know how much he hated the smell of paper cups, but she didn't know that he hated even more the careful handling of paper cups. If he held them too lightly, the cup would slip from his hands; if he held them too heavily, they would break and spill all over his body. What was the right way to handle it?
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Lao Hu spoke up and said, "Section Chief Han, in my opinion, it's better to wait and see how he is. There's no rush, and he can't run away anyway."
"Is that so?" Han Shu replied thoughtfully, glanced at Tang Ye, and then said, "Old Hu has a point. Since you're so sick, let's leave it at that for today. But if you're smart, you definitely won't want to try to leave the city during this time."
"He won't." Ju Nian felt relieved and looked at Tang Ye for confirmation. Tang Ye turned around and nodded.
"I'll go get the car first. Zeng, let's go downstairs first. Oh, right, Han Ke, don't forget the document on the table."
Before Han Shu could retrieve the documents placed on Tang Ye's living room table, Lao Hu and Xiao Zeng had already gone downstairs.
"Thank you, Han Shu." Tang Ye's voice was weak, but still sincere.
"Please don't." Han Shu laughed mockingly. "There are some things you should know in your heart. I'm not letting you off the hook. To be honest, I'm looking forward to the day when I bring you to justice. Also, since I was able to find out that Ye Bingwen of Jiangyuan Guangli's money was transferred from your overseas account, it's not difficult to find past records. You know what you did, but let me tell you, Tang Ye, you can't handle this money, and you can't bear it. If you still refuse to tell who's behind you, this burden will be enough to crush you."
Tang Ye said, "Since you can find out everything, what does it matter whether I admit it or not, whether I confess or not?"
Han Shu said, "That's true. Although you don't say it, sometimes I really do find some interesting things, like Guangli's Vice President Xi..."
Tang Ye's previously calm face turned ashen, his chest heaving violently, but he made no further sound.
"Do you want to know?" Han Shu asked mischievously, leaning slightly towards Ju Nian beside him.
Ju Nian could only pretend she hadn't heard anything.
“I’ll take you, Prosecutor Han.” Ju Nian walked out and pressed the down elevator button for Han Shu.
Han Shu seemed to readily agree and walked behind her, while Tang Ye's door slowly closed. The red floor numbers flashed, and they were about to arrive. Han Shu's slight sense of victory over Tang Ye vanished, while Ju Nian waited patiently and single-mindedly for the elevator to arrive.
“I know…you think I’m targeting him…” Han Shu drawled, his tone a little strange, “It’s not surprising, my godmother thinks so too…I’m just that petty person in your eyes, so just think that way, it doesn’t matter.”
Ju Nian turned to look at him and said, seemingly out of the blue, "What happened to your hand?"
With just that simple sentence, Han Shu's eyes turned red. He looked at the ceiling and thought, "Damn useless, but it's true, I'm really damn pathetic."
"Did I get a cut again?" Ju Nian asked, but the answer in her heart was pretty much certain. From childhood to adulthood, besides Dean Han, who else could have made such a cut with chopsticks in Young Master Han's hand?
Han Shu didn't answer. Actually, ever since she saw the scars on his hands, although his pride made him deliberately hide them, he still hoped she would look at them more, hoped she would ask about them, because the old man had hit him hard; it really hurt. Only if she understood would it be worth it.
"The transfer to another hospital for Fei Ming has been arranged, and he'll be transferred tomorrow. Since I've run into you here, I won't go to the hospital tonight."
The elevator doors finally opened before him, and Han Shu rushed inside as if fleeing. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would do something even more embarrassing in front of Ju Nian.