Mindful

Liang Cheng hugged Qiao Yuanlin and woke up early in the morning, and had no plans to get up for the time being.Last night I impulsively came out of the closet, which almost scared the parents out of their minds, so I consciously tucked my tail and made things.

They waited for Qiao Wenyuan and He Jie to go out before talking, and they slept for a while before returning to the cage. It was past nine o'clock, and there was no movement at home.

Liang Cheng left the bedroom to investigate. It turned out that the two parents were at their worst before dawn, and they probably avoided them because they were embarrassed.

In this way, it was almost noon when they set off from Pinghai, the sky was overcast, the air was moist gray-blue, and there was a light snowfall in the forecast.

Qiao Yuanlin was wearing a beige cashmere coat that matched his brown hair. The pockets were so big that half of his forearms were stuffed inside to keep him warm. The canvas bag under his feet exposed a corner of the file.

After driving on the expressway for three hours, Liang Cheng drove silently and stopped at the last service area. He got out of the car and smoked a cigarette as far away as possible.

After smoking and returning, the navigation changed to a more precise address, Liang Cheng stretched out his smoke-stained fingers, pinched Qiao Yuanlin's face and turned to him.

Mouth squeezed, Qiao Yuanlin muttered: "It hurts."

Instead, Liang Cheng increased his strength, rubbed his calloused fingertips on the slippery flesh, and said, "It's too late to turn around now."

Qiao Yuanlin resolutely said: "I don't, it's the best."

Liang Cheng let go, leaving a blush on that fair face, which made him appear pure and innocent. He glanced at the name of the neighborhood displayed on the navigation, and asked, "Dating at home?"

Qiao Yuanlin said "um", those words can't be talked about outside, and he thinks that Lin Chengbi must be very nervous, so he can be less defensive at home.

Half an hour later, the Mercedes-Benz drove off the highway and entered the urban area. The destination was located in a bustling location, not difficult to find, and much wider than the old city where Wang Ruizhi lived.

Today is a working day, and the underground parking lot in the community is lonely and deserted. Liang Cheng parked and turned off the car, and he didn't intend to get out of the car.

This mother-child meeting is not suitable for foreign objects to be present, especially him.

Qiao Yuanlin unbuckled his seat belt and said, "Then I'll go up."

Liang Cheng put the phone on the center console, and said: "Call me anytime, don't quarrel, don't get excited."

Qiao Yuanlin assured them one by one, got off the car and entered the elevator, the number jumped to the sixteenth floor, there was no noise from floor to floor, elevator to door, only his dull footsteps.

At the end of the door, he put his hand into his coat pocket again, as if he was not ready to ring the bell.

After waiting for about a while, Lin Chengbi took the initiative to open the door.

In a warm four-bedroom room, there is a scale line for measuring height on the entrance wall, a basket of toy cars is placed under the side cabinet, Qiao Yuanlin flits to the living room, and a Lego building is placed on the corner table next to the sofa.

He also loved to play when he was a child, and asked: "Is it Kang Kang?"

"He couldn't make it, and kept crying, begging his father for help." Lin Chengbi brought hot water, "He's not as smart as you."

Qiao Yuanlin sat down, there were snacks and cut fruits on the tea table.Lin Chengbi sat down in the armchair opposite, she said calmly, "I remember you like to eat a kind of dark chocolate biscuit, but you can't buy it in the supermarket here."

Qiao Yuanlin picked up an egg yolk pastry and peeled it off: "I like to eat this too."

Lin Chengbi asked: "How did you get here, high-speed rail?"

Qiao Yuanlin replied, "My friend drove me here with me."

Lin Chengbi guessed the identity of this friend, she has never been tactful, so she ended the unnecessary pleasantries and said, "Yuan Lin, what's the matter with you and that Liang Cheng?"

Qiao Yuanlin bit the sweet bean paste: "I told you on the phone."

"You look at me, look at your mother." Lin Chengbi said, "This is not a child's play, does your father know? What about He Jie, she married your father and made her son and you unclear?"

Qiao Yuanlin licked off the puff pastry residue from his lips, wiped his hands, took out the document booklet from the canvas bag, and handed it over.

Lin Chengbi caught it and opened it. She flipped through the interview materials of Zhao Jianzhe and Liang Cheng's interview one by one. The indifferent mask was broken inch by inch, and her whole face tensed up.

Qiao Yuanlin took back the initiative and said, "You don't have to ask forcefully, and you don't have to meddle in my private affairs. You are not my guardian, so you have stopped bothering me a long time ago, have you forgotten?"

Lin Chengbi closed the document calmly, and held it up in the air: "What did Liang Cheng tell you to ask you to come and question me?"

Qiao Yuanlin said, "I know everything."

"How much can you understand with one-sided words?" Lin Chengbi said, "Don't believe in nonsense. Does he really like you or has another purpose? Be careful to be deceived by things."

Qiao Yuanlin was not in a hurry: "I believe you will not lie to me. You did the interview and wrote the manuscript. So, is this your opinion on the manslaughter of an abusive adoptive father?"

Lin Chengbi pressed the document on his knees and said, "Zhao Jianzhe and I are college classmates, and we were blinded by him for a while."

"The interview can be deceiving, after all, he is alive. This waste manuscript was written 11 years ago. How could he deceive you with Zhao Jianzhe's dead body? Did he give you a dream at night?"

Lin Chengbi's eyes widened, she couldn't believe Qiao Yuanlin was talking to her like this, she asked angrily: "You are very good, did Liang Cheng encourage you to settle the score?"

Qiao Yuanlin leaned back with all his strength, and his tone suddenly became lighter: "It doesn't matter if this bad debt is counted, I want the evidence that Zhao Jianzhe gave you back then."

Lin Chengbi suddenly turned her face away, a strand of short hair fell from behind her ear, she was lucky enough to think that she could hide it for the rest of her life, but it seemed that things backfired.

After a while, she shook her head: "I don't have any evidence."

Qiao Yuanlin smiled suddenly, full of helplessness and sarcasm, and said, "The reason why Zhao Jianzhe gave it to you is because you are the same as him."

Lin Chengbi stopped him loudly: "Yuan Lin!"

Qiao Yuanlin asked, "Do you feel insulted?"

Lin Chengbi gripped the armrest: "Don't treat me like this, I'm your mother."

Qiao Yuanlin said: "Zhao Jianzhe turned black and white, falsely accused the orphaned siblings, and let the charges be confirmed, so he can be sure. You know the truth but write a distorted report with the intention of misleading the public." , is as despicable as his."

Lin Chengbi defended: "No, why should I—"

Qiao Yuanlin said, "Because you have a guilty conscience."

He ignored Lin Chengbi's frantic eyes on her, and looked up at the family portrait on the wall. There was a family of three smiling. There was also a picture in Bo Yuyuan's house.

He stared at the photo: "You remarried and had a child in this city, started a new life, will you remember me occasionally."

Lin Chengbi hoped that he would soften his heart, and immediately said: "How can I not remember, you will always be my child."

Qiao Yuanlin said, "But I hate it."

Lin Chengbi was stunned, tears rolled down unconsciously, this was the first time she cried in front of Qiao Yuanlin.She thought that Qiao Yuanlin's love was unconditional and endless, but this child who always coaxed her said... disgusted.

"Mom." Qiao Yuanlin finally called out after entering the door, but said, "This is probably the last time I call you."

Lin Chengbi's line of defense collapsed in an instant, bowed his waist and covered his face, his voice leaked intermittently from between his fingers: "I'm going to ask him... I'm going to ask Zhao Jianzhe."

That day, Lin Chengbi was invited to the house by Zhao Jianzhe, and asked her to keep a document. She was unwilling at first, but reluctantly agreed for the sake of her friend.

When she met He Jie when she was leaving, she felt that He Jie looked strange, but they were not familiar with each other, and they were in a hurry to go to work.

On the way, Lin Chengbi was still worried. If it was an important document, she would not be responsible for damage or loss, so she opened the document and had a look.

She was terrified, and had countless thoughts. She wanted to go back to question Zhao Jianzhe, but suddenly received a call from the hospital and learned that Qiao Yuanlin fell ill and fell into a coma on the way.

"I rushed to the hospital right away. Remember, I was watching over you that day." Lin Chengbi said, "Unexpectedly, Zhao Jianzhe died that night."

Everything seemed predestined, Qiao Yuanlin asked: "If nothing happened to me, would you return that document to Zhao Jianzhe, or would it be exposed?"

Lin Chengbi bent lower and remained silent.

Qiao Yuanlin had already preset the answer, nodded his head and said, "He's dead, and you're still hiding it, so what if it's confirmed that he's not dead, are you collaborating with him?"

"What can I do?!" Lin Chengbi was mottled with tears, and his facial features were wet and distorted. "I became famous in the industry and got promoted by virtue of the interviews I gave him. When I exposed it, I slapped myself in the face and smashed my own brand! He and I are the same My friend, he is guilty, how can I prove that I didn't know anything 16 years ago?! I can't be wronged as an accessory!"

Everything she has worked so hard for will be shaken, her career, her achievements, her innocence will all be questioned, and she cannot afford that price.

And Zhao Jianzhe had planned for this step a long time ago, Liang Cheng discovered the documents, and if something happened, his home and law firm would be searched.He gave it to Lin Chengbi. He knew how smart Lin Chengbi was, so he would definitely read it, and then keep it a secret because of the interview.

It's just that he never expected that he would die, but even if he died, Lin Chengbi's choice remained the same.

She smiled bitterly: "You are right, I am the same as him."

After the accident, she also struggled. The longer the delay, the smaller the chance of proving her innocence. She really became an accomplice.I thought that no third person knew about this, but suddenly a Liang Cheng appeared.

Qiao Yuanlin said, "So you want to leave Pinghai?"

Lin Chengbi looked at him anxiously: "You really know everything."

Later, she became more and more uneasy. She was afraid that the incident would be exposed, and that the young man who killed the thing would retaliate against her after he was released from prison.She decided to escape from Pinghai, and started preparing for job-hopping more than a year in advance.

During this period, the conflict between her and Qiao Wenyuan gradually escalated. Qiao Wenyuan's career and children's school were both in Pinghai, and he refused to leave, which eventually ended in divorce.

After Qiao Yuanlin listened quietly, she asked, "Can I feel at ease here?"

Lin Chengbi said: "I have lost too much..."

Qiao Yuanlin slapped the pile of Lego, and the built building fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, and said, "When you are guarding your husband and son in your new home, do you think of Liang Cheng, the pair of orphans, and the fact that you were taken care of by you?" The one who abandoned me? Think about the conscience you lost first!"

Lin Chengbi stumbled to his side and begged, "Son, you can't do this to me!"

Qiao Yuanlin shook her off, stood up condescendingly, and asked, "Has the document been destroyed? There is no content in it expressly related to you. Once it reaches the point where it has to be exposed, it will help you. You keep it, right? "

Lin Chengbi lay on the sofa, with rare fragility supporting a trace of stubbornness: "Do you have to force me like this?"

Qiao Yuanlin replied: "Give over the 11-year-late physical evidence to the police and explain the ins and outs, otherwise I won't just let it go."

"I'm your mother, your own mother!" Lin Chengbi yelled hysterically, "You deal with me for a bunch of foreign things?!"

Qiao Yuanlin stared at her, eyes tearing open: "Let me tell you, first, Liang Cheng is not a foreign object, I love him, and the pair of orphans are my friends. Second, I am a reporter, and my duty and mission are yours. Taught me. Third, it is because you are my mother that I want you to atone for your sins!"

Lin Chengbi tugged at the hem of his clothes: "Everything is calm, they are all dead..."

"Their deaths are paid for by good things! But the death is not clear enough, so let's treat it as a supplementary interview. I want you to expose them and add an epitaph to them!"

Lin Chengbi was so frightened that he let go: "Yuan Lin...Yuan Lin, I can't, your brother is still young..."

Qiao Yuanlin said: "So don't let him be like me, who looked up to her mother for more than [-] years before recognizing her mother."

Lin Chengbi sat limp and limp on the ground, his former sophistication turned into embarrassment, and he could only shake his head repeatedly.

The veins on his forehead were throbbing wildly, Qiao Yuanlin understood what Sun Zhuo once said to him, things don't necessarily need role models, what really drives him is a benchmark of conscience.

As dusk came, Lin Chengbi wiped away her tears and got up, tucked her hair and said, "Kangkang will be out of school soon."

Qiao Yuanlin looked at her obsessed look, and asked, "Are you going to catch up with me? Is this your choice again?"

Lin Chengbi choked up and said, "Just pretend I haven't met today, and I don't know anything."

The orange afterglow spilled into the living room, blurring Qiao Yuanlin's red eyes, and he said softly, "Okay, see you next time, it should be at my memorial service."

Lin Chengbi was startled suddenly, and the calmness he was trying to maintain collapsed instantly.

Qiao Yuanlin took out the portable medicine box from his bag, opened it and dumped the full pills on the ground.He presupposes all circumstances to achieve his goal, including himself.

"I haven't taken medicine for many days." He asked, "My brother is still young, but I am not young. Are you ready to say goodbye to me in the past 25 years?"

Lin Chengbi's face lost all color, and she plopped down on her knees, picking up pills from the scattered building blocks in panic. The sunset glow fell on her head, unable to cover a few strands of graying hair.

Qiao Yuanlin watched this scene and said, "I have come to bear this retribution for you."

Lin Chengbi cried bitterly: "Don't...don't!"

Qiao Yuanlin turned around and walked out of this room, and entered the elevator. The door of the elevator was closed, reflecting his pale appearance, blood was bleeding from his lips, and he was dizzy red from the tears flowing from the corners of his eyes.

In the parking lot, Liang Cheng paced back and forth, it was snowing outside, and the chill came in waves.

He saw Qiao Yuanlin's figure and rushed over, holding that face with both hands and wiping the marks on it, but he didn't have the courage to ask about the result.

Qiao Yuanlin threw herself into his arms and said, "I made a bet with her."

Liang Cheng asked, "What are you betting on?"

At the exit of the safe passage ahead, Lin Chengbi ran down with disheveled hair, like a mother who had lost her child. When she saw them, she stopped and trembled.

Qiao Yuanlin turned her head when she heard the sound, and replied, "Bet on her, the last bit of love for me."