Chapter 555 - 554: Palpitation

Mrs. Tang was suddenly overcome by hunger and cold.

Lin Huanzhu’s aunt, Liao Jin, had come by once while Mrs. Tang was shivering. She had originally intended to take responsibility and wheel Mrs. Tang back, but when she arrived, Mrs. Tang was in the middle of cursing Lin Huanzhu.

Upon hearing this, Liao Jin turned and left without a second thought, washing her hands of the matter.

Eventually, Mrs. Tang was too tired to curse anymore. As the sky slowly darkened, she began to shiver and cry for help, but unfortunately, no one came.

In the end, her cries were heard by Lin Huanzhu, who had just woken from an afternoon nap and was on her way to find Liao Jin.

When Lin Huanzhu went over and saw that Mrs. Tang was still in the same spot, she barely managed to stifle a laugh.

’For Tang Yuanxiao to just abandon his mother like this... that’s exactly what I expected.’

Still, Lin Huanzhu had to admit, she thought it was a great move.

Mrs. Tang, of course, had no idea what Lin Huanzhu was thinking. Cold, hungry, and seeing Lin Huanzhu before her, she could no longer afford to hold a grudge.

She looked at Lin Huanzhu with a mixture of resentment and fear. "Help me. Help me get back."

"Get back where?" Lin Huanzhu asked, feigning ignorance.

"Please, help me." Mrs. Tang pleaded. Seeing her weakness, Lin Huanzhu didn’t press her further. She finally wheeled Mrs. Tang over and handed her off to a caregiver.

Mrs. Tang finally had some water to drink, a meal to eat, and a fresh change of pants.

Once she was warm and lying in bed, Mrs. Tang breathed a sigh of relief. But when she thought of Lin Huanzhu, she felt no gratitude, only contempt.

"Tsk. So what if she’s capable? She’s still just a woman, and she still wants to marry Tangyuan..."

The thought of Tang Yuanxiao angered her, and Mrs. Tang took a deep breath, muttering, "That heartless boy. The moment Su Li is involved..."

"It’s infuriating! Why are all the women around Tangyuan like this?!"

Never mind Cui Yun, that sham of a wife. Mrs. Tang now despised the ones who came after, Su Li and Qin Shanshan. As for Lin Huanzhu, the only woman currently by Tang Yuanxiao’s side, Mrs. Tang found it impossible to like her.

"Not a single one of them is normal... A she-devil like that wants to marry into the Tang Family? In her dreams."

Lin Huanzhu had no idea that her act of charity—wheeling Mrs. Tang back—had earned her no gratitude. Instead, Mrs. Tang felt she had now seen Lin Huanzhu’s true colors.

Mrs. Tang had initially been terrified of Lin Huanzhu—she was a cop, after all. But now, she wasn’t so scared anymore.

Her perception of Lin Huanzhu had shifted slightly. ’So what if she’s a she-devil? She’s still fawning all over my son!’

Tang Yuanxiao was unaware of this bizarre and peculiar shift in his mother’s mentality, and Lin Huanzhu, the subject of it, was even more in the dark.

True to his word, Tang Yuanxiao was determined to make his mother behave. The next day, he came to find Lin Huanzhu, but he didn’t go to see his mother.

He was looking for Lin Huanzhu mainly to thank her.

Tang Yuanxiao bought some fruit and waited at the entrance to the sanatorium for about ten minutes until Lin Huanzhu got off work.

"You really came to thank me, huh? Have you eaten yet?"

Lin Huanzhu asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Tang Yuanxiao shook his head. "Not yet. My class ran a little late today."

"Let’s get something to eat then. I’m starving." Lin Huanzhu turned and started walking. "My aunt has the day off and went to the countryside, so there’s no one home to cook."

Tang Yuanxiao and Lin Huanzhu always had sweet rice balls whenever they met, but this time, for once, they didn’t.

They found a small restaurant and ordered some stir-fried dishes. Halfway through the meal, Lin Huanzhu suddenly had an impulse to drink.

"Let’s get some drinks," Lin Huanzhu said, and immediately went to the owner to get some alcohol.

Tang Yuanxiao, who hadn’t been quick enough to stop her, was speechless.

Tang Yuanxiao was no stranger to drinking with his buddies and colleagues. It was normal to relax with some meat and alcohol on their days off. But drinking with a woman—and just the two of them at that—was a first for him.

Once they started drinking, however, Tang Yuanxiao had the odd sensation that he was drinking with one of his buddies.

Lin Huanzhu could really hold her liquor. She was uninhibited, even more so than most men, and as they drank, Tang Yuanxiao’s spirits lifted.

The main dishes were cleared away and replaced with some snacks to go with the alcohol. With just some peanuts between them, Tang Yuanxiao and Lin Huanzhu really started to drink.

Fueled by the alcohol, Tang Yuanxiao started telling Lin Huanzhu about his situation with Su Li and his mother for the very first time.

"...I don’t want a divorce. I want to be with Su Li and Momo, but with my mom around, it’s completely impossible..."

"I can still remember how Su Li looked after my mom beat her so badly she ended up in the hospital. Every time I see the way my mom looks at Su Li, a chill runs down my spine... How can the world be like this..."

Lin Huanzhu listened sympathetically and patted his shoulder. "Your mom is definitely a piece of work... She needs someone who can keep her in check."

"Su Li... Su Li is a good girl. It’s normal that you can’t forget her. Don’t be too sad about it. If I were a man, I’d like her too."

Tang Yuanxiao swatted her hand away. "Oh, get out of here. You’re not allowed to like Su Li."

As they talked, they both began to open up, and for the first time, Lin Huanzhu told Tang Yuanxiao her own story.

"A couple of days ago, I saw someone I suspect is the killer. I’ve spent the last two days tailing him and searching, but in the end, the trail went cold..."

"It’s been like this for years. Always. It feels like I’ll finally find a solid lead, and then... it just turns into nothing."

The bitterness on Lin Huanzhu’s face was so heavy that Tang Yuanxiao couldn’t bear to watch, so he refilled her glass.

Lin Huanzhu raised her glass and downed half of it in one gulp.

"Don’t drink like that... you’ll get drunk too quickly," Tang Yuanxiao tried to object, but it was too late.

"I want to get drunk. It’s better to forget everything. When I’m drunk, at least I can sleep..."

Lin Huanzhu was drinking too hard. A flush crept up her face, and her thoughts grew hazy.

"This is the last year. I have to catch him... I’m out of time. I’m out of time! It’s been twenty years... The statute of limitations is about to expire..."

Lin Huanzhu, who always projected such a tough, macho air, found her eyes welling up with tears as she spoke.

Seeing the tears on Lin Huanzhu’s face, Tang Yuanxiao felt a pang in his heart.

"You’ll catch him. I’ll help you."

After a long pause, that was all Tang Yuanxiao could manage to say.

When Lin Huanzhu heard him say, "I’ll help you," the tears flowed even faster.

"I want to catch him so badly. My grandparents, my parents, my two older brothers... they can’t rest in peace..."

The tragedy that befell the Lin Family had shocked countless people at the time.

They had been a perfectly happy family, but they were murdered by a vicious killer. Of the entire family, all six of them were killed, leaving no one alive but Lin Huanzhu.

No one was spared, from the elderly to the children. Each had been stabbed multiple times, and blood flowed like a river...

A huge amount of police resources were poured into such a brutal case at the time. But in the end, all they had was a composite sketch of an unnamed killer. A massive, months-long manhunt yielded nothing.

The killer was never caught.

After Lin Huanzhu grew up, she continued the investigation herself, but even after all these years, she still hadn’t found the killer.

Twenty years had passed since the tragedy. After this year, the statute of limitations would expire.

Lately, Lin Huanzhu had been juggling her job with a desperate search for the killer. It was as if she had been transported back twenty years, unable to get a good night’s sleep.

That night, Lin Huanzhu got completely wasted. She clung to Tang Yuanxiao, crying uncontrollably and telling him far, far too many things.

The next day, she woke up with a splitting headache, vaguely recalling her drunken experience, and wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it.

’That messy, crying woman who got snot and tears all over Tang Yuanxiao last night—that definitely wasn’t me!’

Lin Huanzhu was too mortified to face Tang Yuanxiao and decided she would have to avoid him for the next month.

She had just made this resolution when, to her surprise, she walked out of the sanatorium and saw Tang Yuanxiao standing right there.