Chapter 822: Remember Her (3)

As the sound of Yang Sheng's footsteps moved away gradually, only Qi Lei remained in front of the tombstone alone.

With his tall figure standing in the hazy rain, the entire world seemed more bleak and melancholic. His dark figure was engulfed in the thick evening mist as he was desolate.

Qi Lei looked on quietly at Wang Qin's picture on the tombstone. He slowly bowed down and reached out to wipe the rain from the picture. As he wiped it, he suddenly stopped, and his bloodshot eyes could not help but begin to tear up.

He sniffled quite a few times, and his raspy voice choked on his sobs as he said softly, "I used to find you annoying, and think you were too snobbish, so I didn't want to say much to you. I just hoped you could calm down and be someone who's aloof from worldly affairs. That's not such a bad thing. Which woman is as silly as you? To be giving up her entire life? Is it worth it? We don't need those kinds of things. Just based on your son's abilities, I could've let you live without worries. Why did you go and fight for those things? You can't have it with you in life or in death now..."

As Qi Lei said this, he crouched down weakly and lifted a hand to cover his hot eyes. He sighed deeply. "Mother, how can you be so silly? Someone like Qi Qiming doesn't qualify you guarding him. I don't qualify either..."

Qi Lei did not even have the chance to regret it now. She would not be able to hear him even if he wanted to say more. In his core, he really regretted how cold he had been before.

If he had been willing to be nicer to her and had spoken more to her, cared more about her, at least, she would not have left so regretfully.

"Mother, I owe you too much in this lifetime. In the next lifetime, if I'm lucky enough to be your son, I'll treat you well..."

Qi Lei's dark eyes became hazy as he felt into a daze. The cold, bleak wind and rain continued to come at him, keeping him that slightest bit clear-headed.

It was not sure how long had passed when he suddenly felt like the rain before him was disconnected from the world. He sniffled and then turned to look.

Xi Xiaye's slender figure was standing right behind him as she propped up a large, black umbrella over his head. She put the bouquet in her arms down onto the tombstone before straightening up slightly.

"VP Wang was a loving mother. She must have really loved you. Qi Lei, you must remember her forever." Xi Xiaye looked at Wang Qin's familiar face. Her eyes colored with gentleness as she consoled him softly.

Qi Lei slowly got up and nodded quietly. "I know. It's just that I never understood her, and always let her down. Now that I think about it, I really was a wretched son."

"There are some things we can't change. Since we are here now, the best we can do is to live a little better, and not let her down further," Xi Xiaye answered calmly and turned slightly before looking up to Qi Lei. "As mothers, we all have simple wishes. She just wanted you to live better."

"I let her down," Qi Lei lamented in a raspy voice.

"Okay, no need to feel guilty anymore. To her, you doing well is better than anything. You still have much to do, and you have a long journey ahead, so you'll have to pull yourself together, understand?" Xi Xiaye watched Qi Lei in silence as her eyes were filled with sincere concern. "I promised VP Wang that I'd take good care of you. I just don't know if you'd give me and Mu Yuchen the chance to."

When he heard this, a sad smile flashed across Qi Lei's gloomy face. "You should first think about how to clear Mu Yuchen of his suspicion. I'm an adult and I can take care of myself. This is good too. I'm alone now with nothing to worry about. It's like I've returned to my life alone studying abroad back then."

"Do you believe that he didn't do it either?" Xi Xiaye asked earnestly.

"He doesn't have a motive. In fact, anyone with a brain wouldn't make such a low-level mistake. This incident wasn't about targeting someone. They just wanted to make life hard for the two of you, so you should worry about yourself. In fact, I know that for you, he..."

Qi Lei's expression was calm, and his eyes were filled with clarity. He paused and then smiled. "I was standing not too far away from you before the lights dimmed. His first reaction was to look for you..."

When Xi Xiaye heard that, the emotions that had been surpressed deep down in her heart for a long time could not help but spill at the moment. She blinked the hot tears in her eyes away and silently lowered her gaze before turning to look towards the sky as she said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you. I've been worried that you'd misunderstand him because of this incident."

"I'm not that dumb. Now, the most important thing is to find evidence and clear him as a suspect. Get him out first."

Xi Xiaye nodded silently. "It's at this moment that I find myself so powerless. I've gone to the police station quite a few times, yet I couldn't meet him, and I've got no way of getting any evidence to clear him of suspicion. Well, let's not talk about this now. Go home. It's getting dark, and it's quite cold here."

Qi Lei took one last look at the photograph on the tombstone, and finally, he nodded. Without another word, he turned to make his way down the stairs.

...

A day passed just like that. Soon, it was evening inside Su Chen's office.

"Chief Su, this is the picture you wanted, and the various CCTV footage from the routes nearby the South River dock. The police have checked it quite a few times, but they didn't detect anything out of the ordinary. Oh, all the boats that were berthed at the dock have also been recorded. Take a look. Right, Master Mo's also here."

Secretary He passed a folder respectfully to Su Chen.

Su Chen stopped what he was doing, and reached out to take it. He flipped it open to look through in detail as he said, "Let him in!"

He had just said that when Zhou Zimo pushed the door open to enter and sat down casually on the sofa.

"How's it going? I heard that you have a new discovery. Chen's been inside for quite a few days now. This fellow can really just sit there while those of us outside exhaust ourselves. I wonder if he's doing this on purpose!"

Zhou Zimo touched his head. His eyes could not conceal a hint of fatigue as he looked at Su Chen sitting at his desk.

Su Chen looked quite calm as he browsed through the document and all the pictures that came with it meticulously. He spread them out on the table and examined them closely. They were all images of Gu Qiwu going to the Qingshan Cemetery, and the scene of Gu Qiwu and Qi Qiming meeting at the South River.