Jian Si had already packed a few bags. There wasn’t much, but there were still many things left in the house where the murder took place.
Having shed the identity of a suspect, Jian Si should have felt relieved, but thinking of Jian Hedong and Feng Piaopia, she felt the weight on her heart growing heavier.
"Sis, did Uncle really commit murder?" Zhengzheng looked dejected, sitting on his small suitcase, hanging his head and sighing.
Normally, such matters shouldn’t be discussed with children, but Zhengzheng was not an ordinary child; he had the ntal strength to bear it. Besides, ordinary lies couldn’t deceive him. If he looked for his Uncle in the future, Jian Si couldn’t think of a good enough lie to cover things up.
Of course, Jian Si did not ntion the horrific details but simply said it was a mont of rashness. Although Zhengzheng was involved in the case, it was for a short ti, and the complications of grievances and entanglents were better left unknown to him.
"Uncle was just confused for a mont." Jian Si lowered her head to look at him, wanting to stroke his head, but then felt a warmth on her knee—Zhengzheng’s face was already resting against it,
Zhengzheng was crying very sadly, his shoulders trembling non-stop. He had read criminal law thoroughly, knew the principles of a life for a life, and also deeply understood that he might never see Jian Hedong again.
Just like Jian Si, Zhengzheng was grateful for Jian Hedong’s shelter and care for them as siblings over the years. Without a father’s love, he had long grown accustod to Jian Hedong’s presence and even secretly swore to himself that when he grew up, he would beco a powerful man, earn a lot of money, and then give Jian Hedong a stable and happy life.
Jian Si hugged his shoulders and cried silently.
Having packed their things, the siblings just waited for Nan Yu to co and help them move.
Jian Si didn’t inform Nan Zhan about the move in advance, which was actually a deliberate choice. She had her own plans. This was a place she definitely couldn’t continue to live in.
"Brother Yu isn’t coming because sothing ca up?" Zhengzheng sat beside her, looking up with eyes still misty with tears.
"He won’t let us down, he promised ." Jian Si took Zhengzheng’s hand, "Zhengzheng, you’re going to have to live frugally with again. The new house isn’t as big, there are not as many tasty, fun, or useful things, and we’ll have to squeeze into one room without eating at and fish every day."
"Sis, you don’t need to say these things. In short, wherever you are, I am there."
"Zhengzheng, you’re so good." Jian Si held him, feeling guilty yet relieved.
Just then, there was the sound of a door opening from outside. Jian Si spoke with delight: "Brother Yu is here."
"It’s not Brother Yu." Zhengzheng said calmly, "He doesn’t have the keys here."
Jian Si froze for a mont, then saw Nan Zhan pushing the door open and entering. His face was stern, and he looked very unhappy.
Jian Si didn’t expect Nan Zhan to co back suddenly; hadn’t he said yesterday he had a al appointnt today and had to go to the office in the afternoon?
As if seeing through Jian Si’s thoughts and then glancing at the bags piled up at the door, Nan Zhan’s expression grew even darker. Passing by her, he dropped a line: "I have sothing to say to you."
A sense of foreboding suddenly hit Jian Si. She patted Zhengzheng’s hand: "Wait for ."
Zhengzheng, shrewd as always, glanced between the two of them for a mont before nodding: "Go ahead, have a good talk and don’t be impulsive."
Jian Si: "...".
Jian Si went to Nan Zhan’s door and knocked. His deep voice ca from within: "Co in."
Before entering, Jian Si had already thought of an excuse, so before he could speak, she hurriedly said: "Thank you for taking care of us these days. Now that the case is closed and my status as a suspect has been cleared, I’ve rented a place outside and plan to move out today."
Nan Zhan was standing by the window smoking. His long fingers held the cigarette, and the wafting smoke slowly dispersed.
Having said this, Jian Si nervously clenched her hands. She wasn’t sure what Nan Zhan’s reaction ant, but it was clear he was not pleased.
"You can leave if you want, I won’t stop you." Nan Zhan suddenly turned, his obsidian-like eyes bright as stars, "But Zhengzheng stays."
"What?" Jian Si’s premonition ca true, and she instinctively took a step back, "Are you joking? Zhengzheng is my brother, on what grounds do you tell him to stay?"
"Your brother?" Nan Zhan chuckled coldly, extinguishing the cigarette with a flip of his hand, and approached her with the calm, determined steps of a hunter. He continued until Jian Si was trapped between his chest and the door behind her, then casually stopped, "Are you sure he’s just your brother?"
In front of a man like Nan Zhan, it seed as if the thoughts in her heart were already seen through. Jian Si, having spent so ti with him, naturally knew how easily her lies would crumble before him.
So, Jian Si didn’t bother to make up lies, she simply looked straight into his eyes with an unyielding determination, "What do you want?"
Nan Zhan’s presence almost pinned her against the door, leaving her no choice but to anxiously grasp at her denim shorts, trying to appear calm. Yet, under his overwhelming aura, she felt as though she was retreating step by step without him even needing to speak.
"I’ve said it—You can leave, but Zhengzheng stays," Nan Zhan repeated what he had said earlier.
"Impossible." Jian Si flatly rejected his demand, "No one can take Zhengzheng away from ."
"Oh, really?" Nan Zhan let out a cold, amused chuckle, "Including his biological father?"
It was like a thunderclap over Jian Si’s head, her eyes, so stark in their black and white, widened to their limits as she stared at him, as if trying to see right through him.
He truly knew everything, in the end, she couldn’t keep it from him.
But in her mory, that night, he had been deeply drunk the entire ti, and hadn’t even opened his eyes from beginning to end. When did he manage to rember her face, and for so many years at that?
A re passerby, why would he rember her so clearly? She was just a random person,
"I don’t understand what you’re saying." At this point, Jian Si had no other option but to stick to her story; after all, being unreasonable was a woman’s specialty, and she would deny it adamantly, what could he do about it.
"Jian Si, don’t waste unnecessary ti arguing with . If I’m confronting you about this, I have absolute confidence," Nan Zhan’s chest moved half an inch forward, a small distance but enough to make Jian Si struggle for breath.
He stared at her, her face growing paler, and said each word clearly, "Not long after eting Zhengzheng, I went for a paternity test. Your rebuttal is aningless in the face of science."
Jian Si felt as if her strength had been suddenly drained, her legs almost giving out beneath her.
Yes, she had always underestimated this man’s powers of observation. She thought she had covered up the relationship between herself and Zhengzheng well enough since, apart from a few people who knew back then, everyone thought Zhengzheng was her younger brother, with no suspicions raised.
But the thick blood bond between father and son made Nan Zhan the exceptional one, with or without mory of her, he would have his doubts based on his instincts.
She regretted moving in; had she continued to keep her distance, Zhengzheng’s identity would not have been revealed.
"Nan Zhan, please don’t take Zhengzheng away," Jian Si finally softened, foregoing any pointless argunts, almost pleading as she clutched at the front of his shirt, "I beg you, he’s all I have, don’t take him away."
Nan Zhan looked at the pair of small hands before him, white and delicate, almost transparent, and devoid of strength. Yet she gripped so tightly as though she’d never let go if he did not consent.
But Nan Zhan was Nan Zhan, he had made his decision long ago. His son would not live a diocre life, and certainly not one of poverty.
He would not make demands like the Nan Family parents did, but he would provide his son with superior conditions, allowing him to grow up in an environnt where getting a Transforrs toy wouldn’t feel like owning the whole world.
He would cultivate him and let him endure hardships appropriately; he would fulfill all his needs, but also let him have his own space and dreams.
"It’s not possible, Jian Si." His tone was firm but strangely gentle, "Do you want Zhengzheng to continue suffering with you? You’ve seen how happy he’s been these days. I can give him everything he wants: endless books, inexhaustible food, countless clothes. We’ll live in a bigger house. He’ll have a room full of toys. I’ll send him to the best schools for the finest education. Maybe he’ll study abroad and beco whatever he wants to be. And all of this, Jian Si, you cannot provide."
"No, Zhengzheng doesn’t want those things," Jian Si argued desperately, her eyes turning red, "I’m begging you, Nan Zhan, don’t take him away."
"He’s my son, don’t use the word ’take’," he said, gently but firmly removing her hands, "I can give you a substantial alimony, enough to live without worries for the rest of your life, but Zhengzheng must co with ."
"You have no bond with Zhengzheng, why must you have him follow you, just because he is your son? Nan Zhan, compared to material things, Zhengzheng values affection more. I won’t hand him over to you." Jian Si, overco by emotion, couldn’t hold back her tears.
"Affection can be built, that’s not your concern."
"Fine, then we’ll take it to court and see who the judge will award custody to."
Nan Zhan, as if hearing a ridiculous joke, one arm stretching above her shoulder against the wall, partly persuading and partly warning, "Jian Si, you need to understand sothing. I, Nan Zhan, have never lost a lawsuit. Are you sure you want to take to court?"
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