PSP Chapter 21: The Truth

Chen Ge: "Dead?"

The old lady nodded.

Chen Ge: "What about Li Guofu and those people?"

The old lady: "I left early. I can’t remember whether I left in the middle of the night or in the morning." She felt disgusted at even mentioning those people.

The old lady was getting old, and after being tortured until midnight, she fell asleep in a daze. She didn't know when the voices on the other side stopped, but she did remember the child curled up on her lap, lethargically waking up. There were tears in his eyes.

Qi Anle had listened soberly all night. After, he fell seriously ill but never cried again.

The old lady didn't sympathize with Qi Mei. Qi Mei was pitiful, but also pathetic and hateful. She just felt sorry for this five-year-old child.

Chen Ge couldn't believe it, "What happened later? The death of a living, breathing person was really so quiet, so concealed?"

"Hmph," the old lady snorted coldly, "What could I do? Call the police? How could I report this kind of thing? That Li Guofu had ties with the police--even if they came to investigate, it would only be a formality. That was it."

Qi Mei had already cut off contact with her family, and Zhou Xiaohui would not ask for trouble by informing them. Qi Mei’s funeral was organized by the school teachers in the end, and the culprits even dared to come, burning incense and bringing flowers before her death photo¹ without any semblance of guilt.

Poor Lele.

They disagreed with the old lady's point of view, but they were smart and didn't say anything to refute her opinion. Lu Qi’s frown deepened.

"Nai²." A child's voice came from the bedroom.

As the people on the sofa turned towards the sound, they saw a child about Qi Anle's age, standing at the door of the bedroom and watching them nervously. Shen Qingcheng and Lu Qi had an impression of this kid: it was the one who had pushed them into the security office.

The old lady apologized and went to take care of her grandson first. She prepared breakfast for the child and let him out to play for a while after watching him eat, "Just go to the slide, don't run too far."

The child nodded, walking with his side pressed against the wall to avoid the players. As soon as he got to the door, he ran away impatiently.

The old lady said, "I'm sorry, Leilei is a little shy."

Naturally, they all said it was okay.

It seemed that Qi Mei's death was caused by several men. They continued to inquire about it, Shen Qingcheng asking, "How much do you know about Qi Anle?"

"I don't know much, it was just that I spent a little more time with him than usual that month I took care of him." The old lady shook her head. "Every other time, Qi Mei watched him closely, as if someone was going to steal her child."

Speaking of this, the old lady was a little puzzled, "Even you guys know that Qi Mei obviously kept a sharp eye on her child, so how come when I talked to her about Lele being bullied by his classmates at school she didn’t seem to care? "

Chen Ge: "I guess she couldn’t do anything about it. In her diary--oh no, it was an account, just written like a diary--she wrote that she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to find good teaching conditions like the ones in this kindergarten if she changed schools."

The old lady was even more puzzled, "It’s just a kindergarten, how much could possibly be taught here?" It was just a place for parents to leave their children to be watched. She really didn't understand Qi Mei's thought process.

It was too late to say anything about it now, anyway. She said, "I never saw Lele again after Liu-laoshi picked him up." How was she supposed to know that those people were so black-hearted³ that accidentally killing Qi Mei was not enough, they wouldn’t even spare her child?

"Think about it again, are there any details you missed?" Lu Qi asked. Based on his current description alone, Qi Anle was completely unable to pose a threat to Li Guofu, Liu Wangyu and others, and there was no need for them to make a move.

The old lady thought about it carefully, and said hesitantly, "It seems that there really is."

Shen Qingcheng: "What is it?"

The old lady: "I found several records of outgoing calls to the police on my desk, but I didn't take it to heart at that time, because I didn't see any police coming, so I thought it was a bored child playing with random things. Now that I think about it, it seems like Liu-laoshi took Lele away just after I found out about the calls."

The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was right. Someone in Li Guofu's bureau⁴ must have told Li Guofu about this!

Shen Qingcheng and the others could naturally come up with the same thing that the old lady thought of. A child who didn’t understand anything would not pose a threat, but a child who knew to call the police might.

At this point, the truth had basically surfaced, so they stood up and said goodbye. The old lady said, "We must give Lele justice. I’ll be troubling you all." She seemed to regard them as undercover police officers.

Without explanation, they got up and left Room 606. There was no need for them to dispense justice. The last man standing, Liu Wangyu, would not be able to live for more than a few days without the protection of the jade Buddha.

When they got downstairs, it was very dark, the sky was covered with a thick layer of dark clouds, and the rain that had been brewing for several days was finally going to fall. Shen Qingcheng looked up at the sky, the wind forcing him to squint, "It's about to rain."

Lu Qi: "En."

Chen Ge looked at the two people, who seemed quite leisurely, and asked, "What are we going to do next? The task should have been completed, right? Is it possible to submit the task?"

Shen Qingcheng was surprised, "Is it over?"

Chen Ge: "If it isn’t, then what? Qi Mei was deceived into being pregnant and gave birth to Qi Anle, then in order to raise him was deceived again, cheated and killed. Qi Anle called the police and wanted to avenge Qi Mei, but he aroused the vigilance of her killers and he died too. Qi Mei blackened⁵ and killed the murderers--well, except for Liu Wangyu. But all the doubts are cleared up."

Zhou An’an and the others? The mission did not stipulate that clues must be shared.

Liu Wangyu? The game also did not stipulate that they act on behalf of the heavens⁶.

It looked like it was over, but it didn’t feel like it was over. He asked again, "Then I’ll just submit it?"

Chen Ge, who had been quite confident at first, was a bit ashamed to ask again.

Feeling a little guilty, he couldn't help but stop submitting and look at Lu Qi.

"En." Lu Qi snorted, and decided that he also was ready to submit. He didn't want to be the only one staring at his screen, so he raised his gaze.

Shen Qingcheng: "Meeting like this is fate. I think we are quite suitable. Do you want to add me as a friend and join us in the next copy?" It would be great if he could take him to lie down⁷.

Chen Ge groaned in his heart. He had thought that Shen-ge was just habitually talking and playing, but he turned out to be sincere? They were predestined and compatible, and he was already trying to make an appointment for the next copy!

No, wait, was he being left behind?

He hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, I also think it was quite convenient for us to work together to pass the level." Of course, he was just a little brother who was pretending to help paddle⁸. "How about friending me and continuing to cooperate in the next dungeon? My code name is Gargoyle⁹."

Shen-ge, Lu-ge looks like an emotionally restrained person. Lu-ge definitely won’t accept you so directly. You have to be more tactful. Xiaodi¹⁰, I can only help you so much.

Shen Qingcheng nodded, indicating that Chen Ge was right, "My code name is Alluring Beauty."

Lu Qi glanced at him, "No need."

Shen Qingcheng: "Eh?"

Lu Qi: "No need."

Shen Qingcheng: "Why don’t you say that again!"

TLN:

¹ She probably had a closed casket funeral with a picture of her in life set somewhere near the head of her coffin.

² Nai (奶) literally means “milk” but in this context is more likely the first half of nainai (奶奶), which means “paternal grandmother”.

³ Heixin (黑心) is literally “black-hearted” but means having a sinister/vicious heart or behaving in such a manner.

⁴ As in he has a police contact.

⁵ (黑化) Basically to become corrupted, to lose morals, etc.

⁶ Honestly a bit unsure whether this means they had no obligation to act like a merciful god and save him, or whether this means they didn’t need to execute fate when Qi Mei was there to do it for them? (游戏同样没规定他们替天行道)

⁷ (能带我躺过那就再好不过了) In gaming terms, he wants to be hard-carried.

⁸ Technically, he says he’s huaishui (划水), which means thrashing/splashing water, as opposed to paddling. Basically, he’s pretending to do work while not actually pulling his own weight.

⁹ Probably should’ve made a note of this when he was first introduced, whoops. Gegewu doesn’t seem to have an actual meaning, it’s just word mash (格格巫). Ran it through Google Translate, which resulted in Gargamael (as in the Smurfs villain). I don’t quite remember what made me choose Gargoyle earlier, but it does sound kind of similar, so that’s what I’ll be sticking with for now. Suggestions are welcome.

¹⁰ 90% certain he’s calling Qingcheng xiaodi because he views himself as the senior in this respect.

That transition from “it’s okay, kids are kids” back to discussing Qi Mei’s death was so abrupt that I added a line break to smooth it over a bit.

That kid was seriously smart, wow. I’m not even sure I could count at that age, and he was out there making police calls? Damn.

So…many…footnotes…