Aurora City Police Station.
It was a normal rainy afternoon when Gu Feng's colleague knocked five tis on his office door and ca in without waiting for his reply. The matter seed urgent based on the hurried footsteps so the forty-six-years-old chief raised his head that was buried in docunts and looked at the approaching man.
"Hello, sir. I apologize for disturbing you."
The man seated at the large table nodded.
"Officer Duan, is there anything you need?"
Gu Feng's gaze went to the box in the young policeman's hands and saw the logo of a local courier service provider on it. There was still no expression on his face, but his mind was busy wondering who the sender was and if it was for him.
The latter put down the box wrapped in plastic on the free spot atop the table. While fiddling his cap, he said, "Chief, the package is from the convalescence center. It's for you. But the sender's na is not familiar to ."
'... You're not the receiver. Why would you be familiar with the na?'
Gu Feng had always been a man of few words, so despite his mind having so much to retort to the other, he kept his silence, hands reaching out to the box and the note.
Officer Duan wordlessly went out, perceptive enough to know he should not bother his superior anymore.
Gu Feng waited for the sound of footsteps to cease and glanced down at the note. A few creases instantly appeared on his forehead when he saw the na. Dr. Amanda Lim.
"It's really from the ntal hospital," he mumbled.
There were many cases of criminals faking their dical records just to escape their jail ti. Most politicians love to have doctors forge dical certificates for them saying they were gravely ill and would have to be confined in the hospital for years. Others faked insanity and braved the ntal hospital, unaware that once they enter, if they were not insane, then it would just be a matter of ti before they beco so.
Twenty years ago, he was one of the people who escorted Tang Lan to the ntal institution. He t doctor Li thrice since there was a ti when the police were skeptical about that woman's ntal state.
Even though Tang Lan showed enough indicators that she was really a lunatic, his superior still wanted to check on her in the convalescence center, so they sent him there a few tis. That was how he got acquainted with the doctor who started harassing him monthly about that woman's ntal progress.
The man was not puzzled why Amanda Li suddenly changed from phoning him to sending him a parcel..
There was no change in his expression as he unwrapped it and picked up the first thing he saw inside, the only letter not sealed inside an envelope.
'Dear Mr. Gu...' Gu Feng skimd over the perfunctory words and focused on the important content. As he read it, his eyes remained placid, like a dead whirlpool of water that hadn't been touched for years.
'Her remains are now back to her family.' He stopped his eyes at this part for a while, not really surprised since he was already inford yesterday. It was just that mories, both good and bad began to pour into his brain, causing him to feel a bit nostalgic.
After taking a deep breath, he continued reading.
'Her remains are now back to her family. However, before she passed away, her condition stabilized a little. Maybe she felt that death is near, or maybe it was as you lot suspected, she's not crazy or had recovered long ago but continued acting crazy. In any case, before her death, she wrote a few letters addressed to so people I don't know. This is my last request to you. Please pass the letters to them.'
After putting that one away, he then checked the other envelopes. The one addressed to him imdiately went to the trash bin near his desk. The rest he put back inside the box.
When office hours ended, Gu Feng didn't know why he chose to deliver two of those by himself while he had the rest sent via courier service. He just found himself picking the two envelopes and setting out of the office.
After getting off the police car he borrowed, he looked at the huge townhouse before him.
It had not been long since he last ca here. His wife liked visiting the place since he was friends with its owners - Na Yu and He Chen. The latter was the man he used to hate and envy, whom he had almost sued for using violence against him before.
He rembered that He Chen only escaped from his anger due to Song Wuying telling him of his condition. Though the bad impression never faded away, Gu Feng understood that He Chen mostly likely saw the slight difference in the kind of look he was giving Na Yu and only beat him up out of fear that his lover would be stolen.
That happened twenty years ago. Many things had taken place since then. Gu Feng married Song Wuying while He Chen tied the knots with Na Yu. Their wives beca best friends so the two n had no choice but to et each other from ti to ti. But of course, they never beca friends themselves, since He Chen disliked him while he was too busy with work and family.
Two years ago, He Chen passed away due to the many complications caused by his illness. Gu Feng accompanied his wife and attended the funeral where he saw Na Yu heartbroken from seeing her husband lying inside a coffin.
'His passing makes think we've all gotten old already.'
Gu Feng shrugged off the mories and knocked on the door.
"Mr. Gu." Surprise briefly flickered in Na Yu's eyes when she opened the door and saw him. He watched her expression change from surprise into suspicion, then serenity. He noted that even though more than twenty years had passed, she was still the beautiful woman he used to love.
"Good day, Mrs. He." A small smile ford on his lips.
After nodding once, she looked into his eyes and said, "It's probably the first ti you visited without bringing Sis Ying. How may I help you?"
Gu Feng knew it would not be good to stay long in front of a widow's door lest the people nearby thought bad of her. Therefore, he imdiately passed what Tang Lan wanted to be passed onto her and her late husband, He Chen.
"It's Tang Lan's?" she exclaid after looking at the back of the envelopes.
"Yeah. She just passed away and her doctor requested to deliver those."
Na Yu creased her forehead and imdiately tore the seals to read the letters.
Gu Feng didn't plan to pry so he said to her, "I have to leave now. I only dropped by for that. May you have a nice---"
A tearing sound cut his words off, which was followed by the sound of papers being crumpled.
While his eyes followed the balled pieces of paper thrown into the garbage can, Na Yu was frowning, obviously put in a bad mood by what she read. He saw it a second after and rembered the woman had an eidetic mory so even a glance would allow her to rember the whole text.
Gu Feng pursed his lips and repeated what he was saying earlier. Afterward, he started walking away. Na Yu's voice rang behind, telling him to say hello to his wife, Song Wuying, for her.
The man looked back one more ti to see her closing the door. After that, he resud walking towards the police car.
To be honest, his curiosity got the better of him and prompted him to check what Tang Lan had written for those two.
In his opinion, the woman was still insane. Because while she taunted Na Yu by emphasizing she was the first love and detailing what that man did for her to love him, she was pleading for forgiveness and being dramatic on the one written for He Chen.
'Tang Lan said she loves and had her doctor regularly pester to visit her. But when she died, she wrote to He Chen if God would allow it, she would go back in ti and live happily with him.'
'When she penned that, did she know that He Chen was already dead? Probably not. Her goal must be to cause disharmony in their marriage life, unaware that he's no longer in this world.'
'Even in her deathbed, that woman wants to create trouble.'
He felt a pang of regret in his heart. 'Maybe I should have just ignored her will...'
Gu Feng drove back to the office and recovered the letter addressed to him. After confirming that all the words Tang Lan wanted to tell him were completely contradictory to those on the other letters, Gu Feng laughed. The woman he used to take for a younger sister was really a ridiculous person. And he too, was ridiculous, for considering her after he gave up on Na Yu.
There were many things he would probably regret in his life. After all, like every other people, he was human, prone to making bad decisions at tough tis. But as he looked back to everything he experienced so far and took in his family's warmth when he got ho, he felt so glad that when he was still in his mid-twenties, he didn't fall in love with Tang Lan...
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