Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Xu Yayun Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Xu Yayun Back then, Zhou Jin’an had no idea what An Kexin was talking about.

All he knew was that this woman wasn’t Qiao En.

“You are not her, and you will never be her,” he said bluntly.

His rejection was straightforward.

An Kexin cried, sobbing uncontrollably in Zhou Jin’an’s arms.

“In what way am I inferior to her? Why must you be so stubborn?” she asked.

She shed her clothes, clasped Zhou Jin’an’s face, and kissed him, hoping to dissolve his grief with all the gentleness a woman could offer.

But Zhou Jin’an stood there, completely unmoved.

“Just go, don’t taint her place,” he said.

He turned and went back to the balcony, leaning on the sun lounger that Qiao En had favored, staring blankly into the night.

“Jin’an, since you love her so much, I don’t mind being her substitute,” An Kexin left these words behind as she left.

Yet Zhou Jin’an didn’t take in a single word.

Life continued, day after day, week after week, and soon a month had passed.

Many things had happened in that month.

Qiao En was gone, and the traces of her having been in this world were fading ever more.

That day, as usual, Zhou Jin’an called Qiao En’s cell phone.

He always felt that one day, Qiao En’s voice would come through on the other end of the line.

However, on that day, as he dialed that familiar number like always, the tone at the other end of the call changed.

It used to say, “The number you dialed is switched off.”

But now it said, “The number you dialed has been canceled.”

He immediately instructed Cheng Lu to investigate, only to find out that The Qiao Family had already gone to the police station to cancel Qiao En’s personal identification.

She wasn’t dead, he was certain of it.

Therefore, Zhou Jin’an went to The Qiao Family; he wanted to preserve Qiao En’s identity information.

Qiao En’s parents had moved back to the Tube Building by the time Zhou Jin’an arrived; Qiao En’s mother was chatting with neighbors in the courtyard, laughing.

Her laughter traveled a long distance and drilled into Zhou Jin’an’s ears.

“That’s Secretary Qiao’s mother over there,” Cheng Lu reminded him.

Zhou Jin’an looked over and saw her laughing heartily.

Qiao En was her daughter; even if she had died, how could a mother stop grieving so quickly?

“Mrs. Qiao, Director Zhou needs to speak with you,” Cheng Lu called out to Qiao En’s mother, who stood and walked toward them, her eyes wary as they settled on Zhou Jin’an.

“What are you doing here?” she recognized him, clearly not pleased to see him.

“Please go to the police station and restore Qiao En’s identity information,” Zhou Jin’an got straight to the point.

Qiao En’s mother sized up Zhou Jin’an and said, “You’re Director Zhou, right? My daughter is dead, and you have no right to ask me to do that.”

Saying so, she headed up the stairs to the single room where she lived with Qiao En’s father.

She led the way, and Zhou Jin’an followed her upstairs.

In the small room, Qiao En’s father was seated in a wheelchair, intently watching TV through bifocals.

“She’s not dead,” Zhou Jin’an declared emphatically.

Qiao En’s father glanced at Zhou Jin’an and immediately returned his gaze to the TV.

It was an old war drama, and he was very absorbed in it.

“How could I not know whether she’s dead or alive?” Qiao En’s mother’s eyes reddened again. “Please leave, I don’t want to see you.”

Qiao En’s mother issued a directive for him to leave.

But Zhou Jin’an didn’t; he pulled out a check from his pocket and swiftly wrote down a string of numbers.

“Is this enough?” he asked.

He didn’t offer much, just a total of one hundred thousand.

Qiao En’s mother took the check, looked at it closely, not understanding, then handed it to Qiao En’s father.

After inspecting the check, Qiao En’s father looked up at Zhou Jin’an and said, “Not enough.”

Zhou Jin’an added another one hundred thousand, and this time, Qiao En’s father nodded slightly.

“As soon as possible, okay?”

As he was leaving, Zhou Jin’an reminded.

Qiao En’s mother replied, “Okay, I’ll go tomorrow.”

However, early the next morning, Qiao En’s mother, along with Qiao De, showed up at the Chengnan Apartment.

Zhou Jin’an had just finished showering and was changing his clothes to head out.

Then Qiao En’s mother opened the door of the apartment.

“What are you doing here?”

Qiao En’s mother jumped in fright and yelled angrily at Zhou Jin’an.

“This is my sister’s house, you’re trespassing on private property, should I call the police?”

Qiao De glared at Zhou Jin’an and bellowed.

“This apartment now belongs to Qiao En, what does it have to do with you?”

Zhou Jin’an retorted.

Qiao De flashed the property deed, “My sister is no longer here, so naturally, the house belongs to us. This is a family matter, it’s none of your business.”

Zhou Jin’an bought that suite and had it registered under Qiao En’s name.

Qiao En’s mother and Qiao De were her family; she was unmarried, and now that she was no longer around, the house indeed was theirs to take over.

In that moment, Zhou Jin’an suddenly understood why The Qiao Family was so eager to have Qiao En’s identity information canceled.

He pulled over a dining chair, sat down, and looked deeply at the mother and son.

“Are you planning to sell this apartment?”

“Of course.”

Qiao De responded.

“Now that En’s gone, there’s no point in keeping the apartment, we plan to sell it.”

Qiao En’s mother added.

“For how much? I’ll buy it.”

Zhou Jin’an inquired.

Qiao En’s mother looked at Qiao De, who pulled up an app on his phone and showed the prices for the same area, “Four million, not a penny less.”

He intentionally raised the price.

Zhou Jin’an pondered for a moment and agreed.

“Okay.”

He took out a checkbook, quickly wrote a series of numbers, and handed it to Qiao De.

As he was about to take it, Zhou Jin’an pulled it back.

“Here’s a total of four million five hundred thousand. Don’t worry about transferring the property, just give me the deed. The extra fifty thousand is for you to restore Qiao En’s identity information today. If you can do it, the money is yours, if not, I will take back what I gave, with interest.”

He was generous, but not a fool.

No one could resist the temptation of money.

A gleam appeared in Qiao De’s eyes; he hadn’t expected to become the biggest winner after Qiao En’s death.

“Add another fifty thousand for a round number, and we’ll get it done right now.”

Greed is the devil, and he decided to extort a sum from Zhou Jin’an on the spot.

Qiao En’s mother tugged at his sleeve, “Ah De, that’s enough, don’t ask for more.”

“Okay.”

Zhou Jin’an’s eyes darkened, and he consented.

Qiao De’s lips curled in triumph; with that check, his life was set to soar.

By that afternoon, Qiao En’s identity information was restored.

When Zhou Jin’an dialed her number, that familiar voice rang out again.

“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off.”

Hearing that voice, he smiled contentedly.

He hadn’t managed to keep her with him, but after she was gone, he desperately clung to her belongings, her traces.

And he, he always waited in the same place, hoping for her return.

…

A thousand kilometers away from Rong City, there is a small town called Gu Yuan.

The classics record that Tao Yuanming, after resigning from office to return to the countryside, had once lived here for a while.

Gu Yuan, with its beautiful mountains and clear waters and simple local customs, is a small town nestled between the hills and the waters.

Qiao En is here now.

Only, she has changed her name and surname.

The information on her ID card shows.

Xu Yayun, female, 28 years old, from Gu Yuan.