Chapter 122

After waking up from his coma, Qin Cheng felt as if the whole world had changed. His professor, Li Guoxian, was not only involved in Jiang Bo’s murder, but he was also involved in a murder case that occurred 10 years ago at the tomb in Ninghua Village…..

‘ Has someone else died in the tomb in Ninghua Village? ’

The incident, which took place a few days before Qin Cheng woke up, stirred up social media, sparking a furor among netizens. Qin Cheng deliberately read many publications, comments and blog posts. Among all these people, someone discovered that Li Guoxian had previously worked at N University before he switched to X University. Coincidentally, Li Guoxian left N University the same year that the renowned archaeologist and professor, Qi Shengkang, passed away.

“Actually, this has always puzzled me. Li Guoxian has never been the type of person who is indifferent to fame and fortune. Although X University’s archaeology is the strongest in the country, the University’s prestige is only limited to archaeology. If we talk about Universities with renowned reputation and fame, University X is behind University N. Li Guoxian has never seemed to be the type obsessed with research, so why would he so suddenly switch to University X? Unless, at the time, he had to leave…..”

This comment was part of a blogger’s analysis of the Ninghua Village murder case. In Qin Cheng’s opinion, although this comment had some argumentative gaps, and sounded somewhat far-fetched, there was one thing Qin Cheng agreed on.

Even if Qin Cheng used to admire Li Guoxian’s archaeological knowledge and achievements, after following him as a mentee over the years, Qin Cheng was well aware that Li Guoxian was in fact a man who valued fame and wealth above everything else…..

However, all of a sudden, the mentor close to Qin Cheng became a murderer. This, of course, triggered that many stories from the past, as well as exposing the people who were behind the cover-up of the murder…… It would be reasonable to say that it would be hard for Qin Cheng to accept all of this, but for some reason, when Qin Cheng became aware of the whole thing, he was pretty quick to accept it all.

After waking up from his coma, QIn Cheng stayed in the hospital for two more days. Feeling that there was nothing wrong with his health, Qin Cheng didn’t want to stay in the hospital for too long, so he packed his things and prepared to begin the discharge proceedings.

But before he could leave the hospital room, Zhang Jun and Wu Hai walked through the door.

“Are you planning to get discharged from the hospital? Has your health and body been doing well?” When Zhang Jun saw the bag Qin Cheng was carrying, he said: “If you’re still feeling unwell, or confused, why don’t you rest in the hospital for a few more days?”

“I’m fine. I’m quite satisfied with my current condition.” Speaking of this, Qin Cheng shook his arm and said: “Although it should be reasonable that, after having been in a coma for so long, my muscles should be atrophied, it’s really strange that I don’t seem to have any major issues.”

“……”

“…..You probably have good luck.” Suddenly, Zhang Jun remembered a saying; ‘To keep up a lie, you need to tell a thousand more lies to support it’.

“Maybe.” Qin Cheng smiled politely, looked at the two men following him, and said: “I’ll go do the discharge paperwork. Thank you for taking care of me all this time.”

“Ah, no, thanks for what—hey, no, hold on!”

After passing the two men and walking toward the door, Qin Cheng stopped when he heard their words, then asked: “Why? Is there anything else I should know?”

“No, it’s not that….” Zhang Jun rushed forward whilst scratching the back of his head. “I just thought that it would be better if I did the discharge paperwork for you.”

‘ After being in a coma for so long, Zhang Jun and the others were willing to take care of me, which is already an unusual thing to begin with, but I still owe them this favor. However, although I’m genuinely grateful for everything they have done for me, I can’t let them pay for the hospital discharge fee, no matter how high the cost is. ’

“Right, I forgot about the hospitalization costs during this past period of time. I’ll have to make a list, and pay you guys back for the hospitalization expenses.”

“No, no, no!” Zhang Jun couldn’t help, but think: ‘ You have only been hospitalized for a few days! Ah, if Qin Cheng does the discharge paperwork on his own, everything will be exposed. ’

“I still want to do it. We’re all still students, how can you guys even afford to pay for the 7 or 8 months worth of hospitalization fees?”

“It’s really not necessary.” Wu Hai, who had not spoken until now, stepped forward and said, “You were injured during your work. The archaeological team and the University are responsible for it, so the hospital fee has already been paid.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right!” Zhang Jun looked at Wu Hai and nodded. “Wu Hai is right. I have been put as the one responsible for your hospitalization, so it’s my duty to do the paperwork for you. I’ll settle the bill later.”

“….Oh, so that was it…..” After thinking about it, Qin Cheng nodded his head and said: “Then, thank you…..”

In reality, Qin Cheng had never been a particularly talkative person. Therefore, although he wanted to ask them what they would be doing later, at this moment, Qin Cheng didn’t believe that they were familiar to the extent of being able to ask them something as personal as that.

The three grown men stood in the hospital hallway, not saying a single word. Not only was this strange, but they were also blocking the way. Qin Cheng was the tallest of the three, and at the moment he looked like a pole just standing there, which only made people stare at him sideways.

“ Cough , well….we can’t stand here forever, can we?” Zhang Jun touched his nose and said: “I’ll go do the paperwork so that you can be discharged. You guys can go to the hospital entrance first and wait for me there.”

Wu Hai nodded and waited until Zhang Jun left, walking next to Qin Cheng as they went towards the hospital’s entrance.

After the beginning of the winter solstice, the weather became even colder than before, making the last days of 2014 in Xi’an to be filled with snow. Probably because of the historical settlements in Xi’an, where Summers feel gray and gloomy, it was completely different in Winter. The ancient buildings, that can be seen everywhere, were covered by the white snow, leaving only the curved eaves exposed to the view. While the red lanterns and wooden columns give people a sense of a vivid, elegant beauty, as the past and the vicissitudes of the city were vaguely being revealed under the white snow……

When the cool breeze reached Qin Cheng’s face, he exhaled softly, causing a dense, white fog to disperse in front of his lips. Today was a snowy afternoon, so there were fewer cars on the street. Seeing the ancient city walls of Xi’an slightly covered under the snow in the distance, Qin Cheng felt an inexplicable emptiness inside him…..

‘ People often say that when it snows in Xi’an, it’s as if Xi’an has turned into Chang’an ¹ again. It’s, indeed, an interesting sight to see. ’

“If you and Zhang Jun aren’t busy later, the three of us could go and eat together.” After snapping back to his senses, Qin Cheng glanced sideways at Wu Hai and added: “Since tomorrow is the New Year’s holiday, you guys should still be in Xi’an, right?”

Wu Hai nodded: “Zhang Jun and I actually came here to invite you to eat. Also, didn’t we tell you that because you were in a coma all this time, your dorm room at the University has been reimbursed? We’ll take you to your new rented apartment later.”

Qin Cheng nodded. ‘ Yesterday, Zhang Jun and Wu Hai did come to visit me to talk to me about this issue, telling me that because of the new 1st year students who entered in July, there aren’t enough rooms in the dormitory. Since I have been in a coma all this time, my room in the dormitory had to be assigned to other students. Zhang Jun and Wu Hai found an apartment outside the campus for me. ’

“Hm, that’s good. I’ll be troubling you guys then.”

“It’s no bother.” To tell the truth, Wu Hai didn’t like this Qin Cheng, who was so polite and alienated from him. Wu Hai thought: ‘ If it hadn’t been for the moments we shared these past few months, my perception towards Qin Cheng might still be negative. In the past, we never really talked, and we even regarded each other as a thorn in the side. I’m afraid that the current Qin Cheng still sees me the way he did in the past, before we became friends. ’

“I didn’t expect that you and Zhang Jun would have such a good friendship.” Qin Cheng said as he looked at Wu Hai.

“We have been interacting and talking more for the past few months, so we naturally became closer to each other. Besides, it’s easy to get along with Zhang Jun, as he has such an easygoing nature.”

“That’s true,” Qin Cheng nodded, when all of a sudden, he saw Zhang Jun walking towards them. Qin Cheng raised his head and said: “Zhang Jun is coming.”

“Have I made you wait for too long? There were too many people in there, so the line was a bit long, sigh.” Zhang Jun walked over to Qin Cheng and hugged him by the shoulders as he usually did. “I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten anything since noon. It’s about time for dinner…..let’s go eat something.”

Qin Cheng looked at Zhang Jun’s claws on his shoulders and wanted to break free. But in the end, Qin Cheng restrained himself and said: “What do you want to eat? My treat.”

“What, treat us? Just now Yalan called me to tell me that she had cooked a full table of dishes at home. Let me invite you guys to eat! Come on, let’s go~ let’s buy some beers on the way.”

“Go where?” Qin Cheng, who was being dragged by Zhang Jun, was somewhat staggering as he walked, showing how unfamiliar the ‘current’ Qin Cheng was with them.

“Where else could we go? To my house of course!” Zhang Jun replied as a matter of fact. “It’s not like you have never been there before. Are you still feeling shy?”

“When have I ever gone there?” Qin Cheng was a bit confused. “I don’t even know where your house is.”

“Hmm, after the National Day ² ,” Zhang Jun replied, when all of a sudden, Wu Hai secretly poked him with his elbow.

‘ Ah….now I remember. The last time Qin Cheng visited my home was after the National Day’s holidays….. Of course Qin Cheng wouldn’t remember this….. ’

“What’s wrong?” Qin Cheng looked at Zhang Jun, who had suddenly stopped talking, and couldn’t help, but frown. “Did I make a mistake, or was it you who made the mistake?”

“I remembered wrong, I did remember wrong!” Zhang Jun smiled. “It seems that the one who visited me that time was Wu Hai, right?”

“Hm, it was me.”

“Then, this time, we’ll bring Qin Cheng along.”

“Alright.”

Zhang Jun’s house wasn’t far away, and after a 20-yuan cab ride, they arrived at the place.

Although it wasn’t extremely cold outside, Qin Cheng was lightly dressed, so when he got out of the cab and walked for less than five minutes, his whole body felt like it was freezing. When Wu Hai realized that Qin Cheng was lightly dressed, he let Zhang Jun go ahead with Qin Cheng, while he would take a detour to buy the beers.

Zhang Jun’s house was on the seventh floor of an old residential area. The tallest building was only 7 stories high, and there was no elevator. So, when Qin Cheng and Zhang Jun climbed up the stairs, they stopped feeling cold.

Qin Cheng, who hadn’t exercised for a long time, could hardly breathe when they finally reached the seventh floor. Zhang Jun, seeing Qin Cheng like this, couldn’t help, but laugh: “You don’t have any physical strength, huh? We’ll have to go play football and exercise more often in the future.” As he said this, Zhang Jun pointed to a door on the right and said: “Well, this is my house. Now that you’re familiar with the place, you can come visit me more often.”

“Alright.”

Zhang Jun took out the key and proceeded to open the door. However, before he could do so, Zhang Jun didn’t expect that someone from the other side would open the door. The person who opened the door was the other unknown girl that Qin Cheng had seen the day he woke up in the hospital, who was with Zhang Jun’s group. The girl’s face was slightly flushed and she was wearing glasses just like him. That day, she introduced herself to Qin Cheng as ‘Xia Tong’, a name that Qin Cheng thought was pleasant to the ears and suited her quite well.

As soon as Xia Tong opened the door, her eyes met Qin Cheng’s gaze. When she noticed that Qin Cheng was looking at her, her face became even redder than before: “I just so happened to be standing by the door, and when I heard your voices, I thought I’d open the door for you….”

Upon seeing that Qin Cheng was wearing a thin summer coat, Xia Tong rushed to say: “How can you wear such a thin coat? It’s 7 degrees below zero today and it’s snowing outside! You two, hurry inside, the house is warm.”

As she looked up at Qin Cheng, Xia Tong hurriedly moved away to let them walk in.

“What ‘you two’?” Zhang Jun looked at Xia Tong’s red face and joked. “It’s more than clear that only Qin Cheng is lightly dressed. I’m wearing a cozy jacket.”

Xia Tong was too embarrassed to answer, and she was even more embarrassed to see Qin Cheng. Therefore, she simply lowered her head and tried to change the subject: “How come I don’t see Wu Hai? Didn’t he say he was coming with you?”

“He’s gone to buy beer, he’ll come later.”

“Beer?” The person to speak was He Yalan, who happened to be coming out of the kitchen to serve the dishes on the table. “I don’t want to drink beer on such a cold day.”

“If you don’t want to, then only the 3 of us, the men, will drink.”

“You can’t do that! Qin Cheng has just been discharged, how can he drink alcohol?”

Qin Cheng looked at Xia Tong, who had retorted beside him, and couldn’t help, but smile: “It’s alright, I can drink.”

“No can do…..”

Although Qin Cheng wasn’t much of a talker, at the end of the day, he wasn’t a dull person either. Naturally, he could tell that the girl in front of him had some feelings for him.

To tell the truth, he didn’t hate it.

With her head down, the girl’s long hair slightly covered her flushed ears and cheeks. Seeing her like this, the corners of Qin Cheng’s lips slightly raised. At the same time, he unconsciously opened his mouth to whisper to her: “It’s alright, I’ll—”

‘ Do whatever you tell me to do…. ’

However, Qin Cheng was unable to say those last words, as an indiscernible feeling of suffocation arose within his heart. It was a kind of bitterness that was born from deep within him, making his whole being feel as if it were falling apart. It was almost as if…. there was a voice inside him desperately shouting at him: you can’t say those words…. you can’t say those words to the girl in front of you…..

This made Qin Cheng fall into a temporary state of confusion, preventing him from saying those words.

That throbbing sensation left as quickly as it came. By the time Xia Tong spoke again, Qin Cheng was already free of that strange and oppressive feeling.

“What?” Since Qin Cheng had spoken extremely low, Xia Tong was unable to hear what he had said. Therefore, she raised her head and asked: “What did you say just now?”

Qin Cheng shook his head, pondered for a moment, and finally replied: “It was nothing. I don’t mind drinking beer.”

After that, Qin Cheng didn’t want to say anything else. Since Xia Tong didn’t want to bother him either, she didn’t ask any more questions regarding that matter.

When Wu Hai finally returned soon after, the five people sat around the square dining table, and began to eat.

The winter season was the perfect time to eat a hot pot. The thinly sliced beef and lamb boiled together with a variety of fresh vegetables, accompanied by a side dish of crispy fried peanuts along with other fried dishes to accompany the alcohol, could be comfortably eaten by five people.

Although it was not easy to get drunk from drinking beer, the more you drink, the more you talk. Qin Cheng raised his glass, toasting Zhang Jun and Wu Hai: “If it hadn’t been for you two, I’m afraid the past few months I, Qin Cheng, went through would have been extremely difficult. Although it isn’t good to overly express thanks, I am truly deeply grateful to both of you.”

Although this gratefulness was because Qin Cheng believed that Wu Hai and Zhang Jun had been taking care of him for several months whilst he was in a coma, Zhang Jun and Wu Hai also took it to heart about the times they took care of Qin Cheng when he was doing things for the sake of the tomb. At that time, Qin Cheng did many stupid things, and put his life in danger many times. Had it not been for the help of Zhang Jun and Wu Hai, it was certain that he would have…..

Thinking precisely about that, Zhang Jun drank the whole glass of beer in one gulp: “….This last time hasn’t been easy, but it’s finally all over.” Saying this, Zhang Jun paused. Then he added: “We’re postgraduate students, specifically from the small class led by Li Guoxian….. Jiang Bo, our Senior, is gone, and although Lin Hongxing managed to endure a little longer, he ended up dying as well. Then there’s Zhang Qishuo….. and Tang Jiaming…. To be honest, I’m really scared.”

Right after Zhang Jun said this, he poured himself another glass of beer and finished it in a few gulps.

“In fact, Wu Hai and I have been very afraid….afraid that someday, you would be gone too.”

When Qin Cheng heard this, the hand holding the glass of beer suddenly stopped. A moment later, Qin Cheng resolutely raised the glass and clinked it with Zhang Jun’s glass. After taking a sip of beer, Qin Cheng fell silent.

‘ Suddenly, so many people around me have died, and that’s something no one would ever want to happen to anyone. People are like that, after all, no matter how badly or good we got along in the past, I would never wish death upon anyone at such a young age…. ’

“So, um, Qin Cheng….you must take care of yourself. Don’t do anything stupid. Living….is a good thing.” What Zhang Jun said was actually meant for the Qin Cheng of the past, the one who still had his memories intact. But now that Qin Cheng no longer remembered anything, it was also good to emphasize it to him.

“Hm, I’ll make sure to have a good life.” Although Qin Cheng replied that it was a good thing to be alive, without understanding why, he immediately felt an emptiness in his heart….

Ko-fi goal for extra chapters~~ (´｡• ω •｡`)

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I’ll be updating the extra chapters from the Ko-fi goal this week ~ (￢‿￢ )♡

Footnotes

<ol><b>长安</b> <b>cháng ān</b> ; Ancient name of Xi’an, the Capital of China during the Tang Dynasty [618-907]. <b>国庆节</b> <b>guó qìng jié</b> ; The National Day is celebrated on October 1st of every year, commemorating the founding of the People’s Republic of China that took place on October 1st, 1949.</ol>