"Since it's so interesting, I'll record it for you later to savor. Director Zou, you don't mind, do you?"
"She's just a woman who doesn't know her place. Why would I care? Record away. Good brothers share everything."
Although Zhan Bei Jue and Jiang Nan Fang were an old married couple, they had been separated more often recently, and their passion was still quite strong.
Moreover, it was Zhan Bei Jue's birthday yesterday, and she wanted to please him.
Jiang Nan Fang indulged him, and they didn't sleep until almost dawn.
As they were sleeping soundly, Zhan Bei Jue's phone buzzed on the bedside table.
It was annoying. He hated being disturbed while sleeping.
He didn't answer.
Jiang Nan Fang, unable to bear the noise, tried to get up and check. He pushed her back down.
"Don't bother. Even if the King of Heaven himself came, I need my rest. Go back to sleep."
They turned over, snuggled together, and drifted back to sleep in a daze.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Nan Fang's phone rang again.
She couldn't stand it anymore. She fumbled for her phone, brought it to her ear.
A male voice came from the other end, "May I ask if you are Jiang Nan Fang?"
The voice was quite unfamiliar.
"Who are you?"
"I'm from the Binjiang Road Police Station. Do you know someone named Shen Min Er?"
Instantly, their sleepiness vanished, and they opened their eyes together.
Min Er was discovered by a passerby who was out for an early morning run.
Her appearance was so tragic that the passerby thought a murder had occurred and frantically called the police.
When she was taken to the hospital and revived, the staff asked her name and where she lived.
Min Er seemed to have lost her soul, not saying a word.
Finally, a psychologist was called. After much comfort and guidance, she only managed to utter two names.
Zhan Bei Jue and Jiang Nan Fang rushed to the hospital. Looking at her lying asleep on the bed through the glass of the ward, they were filled with confusion.
"What happened?"
On the way, he had called Zhou Jin Bei, who said Min Er had gone to the company to work overtime last night.
Could it be that working overtime late had caused her health to deteriorate?
Jiang Nan Fang asked the staff.
He replied, "We're still checking the surveillance footage. We don't know exactly what happened."
"We only know that powder was detected in her blood, and there are signs of assault."
"She was found on the main road, barely clothed. Preliminary suspicion is that she encountered a bad person while out alone late at night."
Zhan Bei Jue couldn't believe his ears.
"You said what happened when she was found?"
Although the staff member didn't interact much with Zhan Bei Jue usually,
his reputation in the Nancheng business district was immense, and they had heard of him.
Coupled with his terrifying expression now, he quickly and patiently answered again.
"Based on past case experience, she was likely forcibly given drugs and then assaulted."
"Fortunately, the evidence was not destroyed. The doctor has taken it for DNA testing, and the results will be out soon..."
As he was speaking, the doctor walked over with several report sheets.
"The tests are out. DNA from four people was extracted, and based on her injuries, it can be basically confirmed..."
Zhan Bei Jue's entire body trembled, his face darkened, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
He snatched the report from the doctor's hand.
"Four people? You said you found DNA from four people?"
He couldn't imagine what kind of hellish scene Min Er had endured last night.
He felt as if his skull was about to explode.
"Where was she found? Tell me! Who reported it? Where was she found?"
He couldn't wait another second. He wanted to go to the scene himself and personally drag out those damned scumbags!
"Are you a patient's family member? Please calm down, don't make a scene, this is a hospital!"
The doctor snatched the report back from his hand.
"Also, this is evidence. Please do not tamper with it."
Zhan Bei Jue's eyes blazed with anger. His pupils were dilated, and his facial muscles twitched.
He slammed his fist into the wall and, gritting his teeth, asked again.
"I'm asking you, where was she found!"
The staff member was startled by him.
He hesitated whether to speak.
Jiang Nan Fang called out softly.
"I saw her move. Min Er seems to be awake."
Everyone's gaze turned towards the inside.
On the hospital bed, her pale face truly opened its eyes.
Zhan Bei Jue, like a tyrant, pushed the door open with a bang and rushed in, collapsing by the bedside.
"Min Er, you're awake?"
He wanted to ask her what had happened last night, who had hurt her?
But as he met her vacant, lifeless eyes, and saw the prominent slap marks on her face, the torn cracks at the corners of her mouth,
he couldn't ask anything.
There was nothing left to ask.
A desolate voice exploded in his mind, and he felt as if he were going mad.
Min Er stared at the ceiling for several seconds before coming back to her senses.
Her gaze fell on his face, and after a few more seconds of daze,
"You're here?"
Zhan Bei Jue had never felt so distressed, wronged, or heartbroken.
The vibrant young girl who was full of life yesterday was now so broken today.
A thousand words were stuck in his throat, and he couldn't speak.
He felt as if his heart had been dug out with countless holes, it was so painful, so cold, and he wanted to kill someone.
"I'm sorry. I'm late. Are you okay?"
"Not okay."
Min Er looked at him, and two clear tears flowed from the corners of her eyes into her ears.
She murmured as if to herself,
"It hurts. Brother. Can you hold me?"
Zhan Bei Jue desperately wanted to hold her, but he didn't know how to proceed.
She was like a broken porcelain doll now, liable to crack if touched.
If he didn't pick her up, he couldn't hold her tightly.
If he picked her up, he was afraid of hurting her.
His whole body trembled, and he felt utterly helpless and useless at this moment.
After staring at her for a few seconds, he wiped her tears and buried his head in her shoulder.
"Of course. I'm here, always here. You can hold me as long as you want."
Min Er's hands trembled under the covers.
At first, it was gentle, but then it became like a convulsion, uncontrollable.
After trying for a long time, she managed to raise her arms, wrap them around Zhan Bei Jue's back, and then a more pitiful whimper escaped her lips.
"I'm not clean anymore, I'm not clean anymore... I'm rotten, I'm broken, I'm not me anymore."
"It hurts so much, Brother, I called you for so long, why didn't you come find me?"
"I feel so bad. I feel so bad, do you know? It's so cold, so dark, why didn't you take care of me?"
A few broken questions, like the most sorrowful words in the world, pierced the ears of everyone present.
Even the doctor, who had seen his share of life and death and considered himself numb, couldn't help but be moved.
Their eyes welled up with tears, unable to look directly at this heartbreaking scene.
Jiang Nan Fang felt it even more deeply.
Regret, hatred, and disgust for herself were her first reactions.
Zhan Bei Jue hadn't wanted to celebrate his birthday.
If she hadn't insisted on making a fuss, if she hadn't invited Min Er over,
wouldn't she have had to work overtime so late?
Wouldn't she have encountered this kind of thing?
Her whole body was cold.
Looking at the two embracing each other tightly, she felt no jealousy.
All she felt was irrecoverable regret and endless despair.