nashuaworldcup Chapter 1430 Yunrui's Sincere Inscription: The Death of Qi Zhifang
Chapter 1430 Yunrui's Sincere Inscription: The Death of Qi Zhifang
On a late autumn afternoon, Qi Ruixiang was squatting in the corner of an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city, adjusting the volume of his voice recorder.
This is the hideout of a suspect who was involved in a financial fraud case, a place he had gone to great lengths to find out. He had been waiting here for three whole hours in order to get firsthand footage.
His trousers were splattered with mud, and his fingers were red from the cold wind, but he was oblivious to it all, his eyes fixed on the factory's mottled iron gate, afraid of missing any movement.
Just then, his phone vibrated, breaking the silence. Qi Ruixiang instinctively pulled out his phone, and froze the moment he saw the caller ID—the three words "Gu Yunqian" were prominently displayed on the screen.
The recorder in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud" and rolled to his feet, but he didn't bother to pick it up. His finger hovered above the answer button, but he didn't dare to press it for a long time.
Confused was Qi Ruixiang's most immediate feeling. He and Gu Yunqian hadn't been in contact for almost a year.
He gripped his phone so tightly that his fingertips turned white, his mind churning.
Has something happened? Or is it related to the previous case? Countless guesses swirled in his mind. He took a deep breath and finally pressed the answer button, his voice slightly hoarse: "Hello?"
Gu Yunqian's voice came through the phone, still calm and collected, revealing little emotion. He simply said, "Qi Ruixiang, are you free? Come to the Gu family's old residence." There were no further pleasantries, no explanations. After saying this, it was as if he was waiting for Qi Ruixiang's reply...
The wind carrying dust from the journey brought Qi Ruixiang a fine sheen of sweat as he stood at the entrance of the Gu family's old house.
He took a bus, then the subway, and then walked for half an hour to get here. His clothes were covered in dust from the road, his hair was a little messy from the wind, and his face showed the fatigue of his journey. Pushing open the familiar carved wooden door, he found Gu Yunqian standing under the grape trellis in the courtyard, waiting for him.
Their eyes met, creating a stark contrast. Gu Yunqian wore a well-tailored, dark gray custom-made suit, with an expensive watch peeking out from the cuffs. His hair was meticulously combed, and he exuded the composure and dignity of an elite.
Qi Ruixiang, with mud splattered on his denim jacket, rolled-up jeans, and grass clippings on his sneakers, looked exactly like a rough man who had just returned from a tiring day.
This scene was strikingly similar to their first meeting. Back then, Qi Ruixiang was a down-on-his-luck former reporter who resorted to livestreaming to gain popularity, dressed in cheap clothes, staking out news outside.
Gu Yunqian, also dressed in a smart suit, looked down at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
Qi Ruixiang had no interest in small talk, nor did he want to dwell on these empty feelings of distance. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and cut straight to the point: "What is it that you called me here for?" He could sense that Gu Yunqian's initiative to contact him was no small matter. After all, with the Gu family's capabilities, they didn't need his help as an outsider for most things.
Gu Yunqian looked at his travel-worn appearance, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. He then stepped aside and gestured for him to come inside. "Let's talk inside." He led Qi Ruixiang into the living room, gesturing for him to sit on the sofa. He then turned and took a black file folder from the coffee table drawer, handing it to Qi Ruixiang. "You might be interested in what's inside."
Qi Ruixiang frowned deeply, filled with doubt. He looked at the file folder, then at Gu Yunqian's calm face, wondering what the other was up to.
He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took the file bag; it felt rather heavy. His fingertips traced the edge of the bag, his doubts growing stronger: What could possibly be inside?
He took a deep breath and slowly opened the file folder.
When he saw what was inside, he froze, his eyes widened, and he almost dropped the file folder in his hand.
"You... how could you have these?" Qi Ruixiang's voice trembled as he looked up at Gu Yunqian, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Just as Qi Ruixiang was so shocked that he couldn't speak and his mind was in a mess, the door from the living room to the hallway was suddenly pushed open.
A woman in a beige dress walked in, her long hair flowing over her shoulders, exuding a gentle and refined air. It was Yan Wanqing. She carried two cups of tea in her hands. When she saw Qi Ruixiang, a faint smile appeared on her face, and she said softly, "Long time no see."
Qi Ruixiang was completely stunned when he saw Yan Wanqing.
He sat frozen on the sofa as if under a spell, his eyes fixed on her, forgetting even to breathe. Yan Wanqing? What was she doing here?
The atmosphere in the living room instantly became strange. Gu Yunqian stood to the side, his expression calm and showing no sign of anything amiss; Yan Wanqing held a teacup, smiling at him, but her eyes held a hint of something indescribable.
Qi Ruixiang, clutching the interview transcripts in his hand, was filled with questions. Shock, doubt, and confusion intertwined, leaving him momentarily at a loss for how to react.
Sunlight streamed through the living room's floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on the floor, but it couldn't dispel the chill in his heart...
The atmosphere in the living room instantly became eerie.
Before Qi Ruixiang could recover from his shock, Yan Wanqing had already placed the teacup on the coffee table, her smile fading, and her tone becoming firm as she got straight to the point: "I got these things." Her gaze fell on the file folder in Qi Ruixiang's hand, and each word clearly reached his ears, "It's also what you've been searching for all these years—about the cause of your mother's death."
The name "Qi Zhifang" struck Qi Ruixiang like a thunderbolt. The file folder in his hand fell to the sofa with a thud, its contents spilling out and covering his legs. He jerked his head up, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at Yan Wanqing. His body trembled violently with overwhelming emotion, his lips moving, but he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time: "You... what did you say? My mother... the cause of my mother's death?"
On the surface, he focused on the "prison interview" track, interviewing one celebrity after another who had become prisoners, seemingly finding a new direction in life. But only he knew that it was all just a disguise.
Under the guise of interviews and leveraging the growing influence of his account, he frantically collected various clues in order to uncover the truth behind his mother Qi Zhifang's mysterious death.
He thought this road would be long and lonely, and that he would have to go to prison countless times and stand in court countless times before he could find a clue. But Yan Wanqing told him that the answer was right in front of him.
The enormous impact left Qi Ruixiang's mind blank. He instinctively reached out to grab the papers scattered on his lap, but his fingers kept slipping due to trembling, and he failed to grasp them several times.
His breathing became heavy and rapid, as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. Yan Wanqing, Gu Yunqian, and even the entire Gu family living room before him began to blur. Only the words "Qi Zhifang's cause of death" swirled repeatedly in his mind, assaulting his nerves...
He opened his mouth, wanting to ask for details, to know how his mother died, to know what exactly happened back then, but the words caught in his throat and turned into intermittent sobs...