From then on, the group of delinquents who lived nearby never came to mess with Chen Yuncheng again. Chen Yuncheng knew that they were talking in private, and they all said that the boy with Chen Yuncheng was a lunatic. No one wanted to provoke a desperate lunatic.
Chen Yuncheng lay on the bed and did not fall asleep. He put his arms under his head and looked at the scarf hanging in the room. The light in the room was quite dim, but it was not like he couldnât see anything, at least the outline of the scarf was still barely distinguishable.
He remembered the events of his childhood, and the way Ning Junyan strangled Guan Anlinâs neck tonight. He felt that Ning Junyan was still a little crazy. There was some paranoia and madness in his heart, but Ning Junyan didnât become a lunatic after all. He was measured and had a bottom line in his actions, and he was no longer someone who was not in his right mind like when he was a child.
The next morning, Chen Yuncheng didnât open the store. He planned to go out.
When he went out, Chen Yuncheng took off the scarf hanging in the house and put it on his neck. The moment he got out through the half-opened shutter door, he felt a bit awkward and was not used to it, so he went back and hung the scarf back in its original position.
Chen Yuncheng went to the second-hand car dealer where Zhou Yan worked as a salesman.
When he first entered, the sales staff in the store thought he was a customer who was going to buy a car and took the initiative to come over to serve him.
He turned around and didnât see Zhou Yan, so he asked the salesperson if there was a staff member named Zhou Yan there.
The salesperson asked, âAre you a customer of his?â
Chen Yuncheng said âumâ, âHe contacted me before.â
The salesman continued, âHe no longer works here.â
Chen Yuncheng seemed surprised, âWhy didnât he tell me.â
âHe hasnât been here very long,â the salesperson said.
Chen Yuncheng heard the disdain in the other partyâs tone, and continued, âBut he still asked me to see the car if I had time?â
The salesman said, âHe may ask you to go to other places to see the car. He has been dishonest from the beginning and stealing our customers.â
Chen Yuncheng said in surprise, âReally? Itâs all commission based anyway, so thereâs no point in stealing customers to other shops, is there?â
The salesman shook his head, âI donât know.â He didnât seem to want to continue talking about Zhou Yan and raised his hand to pat the second-hand Audi in front of him, âWhat do you think of this car? The performance is really good, I can give you a detailed introduction.â
Chen Yuncheng listened to him for a few minutes, then made an excuse to leave.
After leaving the second-hand car dealership, Chen Yuncheng called Zhou Yan as soon as possible. The phone rang a lot, but the other party didnât answer.
Chen Yuncheng then sent a WeChat message to Zhou Yan, âCall me back.â
But until the afternoon, Zhou Yan neither called Chen Yuncheng nor even replied to his WeChat.
Chen Yuncheng contacted Gu Yaojia in the hospital and asked her when Zhou Yan usually went to the hospital to see their children every day.
Gu Yaojia said to Chen Yuncheng, âHe will come every night when heâs done working except when he has a dinner party, he would come very late. He usually comes to the hospital at seven or eight oâclock.â After speaking, Gu Yaojia asked nervously, âCheng ge, is there something wrong?â
Zhou Yan arrived at the hospital after seven oâclock in the evening that day. When he got out of the elevator, he saw Chen Yuncheng waiting for him in the elevator room. He suddenly stopped, and his whole body became stiff.
Chen Yuncheng said to him, âLetâs go. Letâs talk somewhere else, donât disturb your wife and children.â
Zhou Yan didnât move, and with a pleading tone he said, âCheng ge.â
Chen Yuncheng walked in front of him. Chen Yuncheng raised his hand and place it on his back while at the same time reaching out to press the elevator.
Zhou Yan frowned tightly, but in the end, he gave up his resistance and followed Chen Yuncheng downstairs obediently.
The two of them came to the garden downstairs of the inpatient building. Because the weather was too cold in winter, there were not many people walking in the garden after dinner, and the garden benches were even empty, without a single person.
Chen Yuncheng and Zhou Yan sat down on the bench.
Chen Yuncheng said, âI went to the second-hand car dealership where you work today. They said that you didnât work for long before you quit, and when you were working there, you ate your way out while you were working there and took the customers who came to the dealership elsewhere.â He finished dryly in one breath, âAnd then you wouldnât answer my calls or return my texts.â
Zhou Yan raised his hand and pushed back the hair that fell on his forehead, showing a restless look.
Chen Yuncheng put one hand on the back of the bench, facing him from the side, âIâll ask again, what are you doing with Zhang Wenyong and those two X-ethnic people?â
Zhou Yan didnât speak and didnât look at Chen Yuncheng.
Chen Yuncheng said, âIf you donât say anything, I still have a way to find out.â
Zhou Yan bit his lip, and after a while, as if he had made up his mind, he raised his head and looked around. Seeing that there was no one nearby, he lowered his voice and said to Chen Yuncheng, âThose X-ethnic people are a car theft gang, they stole a car in the city, and originally drove it directly to the autonomous county over there to sell the stolen goods. Later, Zhang Wenyong somehow got in touch with them, so he found someone to modify the frame and engine numbers of those stolen cars, registered them under someone elseâs name over there in the autonomous county, and then sold them back as second-hand cars.â
Chen Yuncheng was silent for a while and asked, âAre you introducing them to clients?â
Zhou Yan said, âIt was Zhang Wenyong who introduced me to the job of second-hand car sales. He asked me to choose some greedy and careless customers and introduce them to cheaper second-hand cars. It didnât take long for the boss to notice, so he asked me to pack up and leave. I changed to another second-hand car shop and went to work. â
âHow many cars have you sold?â Chen Yuncheng asked.
Zhou Yan stretched out two fingers, he saw Chen Yuncheng looking at him, and whispered anxiously, âThis business is not easy to do, because people donât trust me, and Zhang Wenyong did not give me a high commission, but he was willing to lend me money for my childâs medical treatment.â
Chen Yuncheng said, âOf course he is willing to lend it to you, but he doesnât give you a high commission, because the money is all in his pocket.â
Zhou Yan grabbed Chen Yunchengâs arm and said, âCheng ge, just pretend you donât know about this. Otherwise, when the police will really investigate later, Iâm afraid itâll implicate you.â
Chen Yuncheng pulled his arm out of his hand, âNo need to wait for later, the police are already investigating.â
Zhou Yanâs face suddenly turned pale, and he looked at Chen Yuncheng in a panic, âWhat?â
Chen Yuncheng said, âIf you donât want to go to jail now, just go to the police station and report to yourself, and you may have a chance to get probation.â
Zhou Yan said, âNo, Zhang Wenyong wonât let me go.â
Chen Yunchengâs voice was a little cold, âThen go to jail with Zhang Wenyong.â
Zhou Yanâs face was pale. He suddenly grabbed Chen Yunchengâs hand and asked, âHow did you know? Did the police officer surnamed Long tell you?â
As soon as he said that, before Chen Yuncheng could answer, both of them heard footsteps approaching from the front at the same time.
Chen Yuncheng looked up and saw Ning Junyan wearing a dark coat with his hands in his coat pockets, walking towards them along the garden path until he stopped in front of them.
Zhou Yan also looked over, he didnât recognize Ning Junyan, and for a moment remembered Chen Yuncheng said that the police had been eyeing them. He instantly thought that Chen Yuncheng had lured the police to arrest him, so he stood up violently from the bench.
Chen Yuncheng got up slowly. He grabbed Zhou Yanâs arm and found that his muscles were so tense that he was a little puzzled. He said, âZhou Yan, this is Ning Junyan, do you still recognize him?â
Zhou Yan was stunned, looked blankly at the tall and handsome man in front of him, and repeated, âYouâre Ning Junyan?â
Ning Junyanâs eyes fell on Zhou Yanâs face, cold and emotionless, he just said, âZhou Yan, itâs been years since Iâve seen you.â