Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Huo Shaoheng’s words were like heavy hammers hitting Chen Lie until he blacked out and almost fainted. Rubbing his forehead, he felt very solemn. Thinking about it over and over again, he couldn’t understand why Ye Zitan would do such a thing. Chen Lie stopped rubbing his forehead and asked numbly, “Huo Shao, you really want me to question her?” He truly couldn’t understand, so he had to ask her himself.
What if Ye Zitan told him she was innocent? Holding onto this last shred of hope, Chen Lie arrived at the Disciplinary Committee Building and went to visit Ye Zitan with Huo Shaoheng. He had just been released from this building himself that morning. The cells in that place were about the size of solitary confinement rooms, but the difference was that there was a bed, desk, chair, and a small bathroom with a toilet. The conditions were about the same as in a single person jail cell, but regardless of how good the conditions were, it was still a jail cell, and people typically would never want to stay in it.
Chen Lie sat down in the interrogation room. This interrogation room was different from typical ones because the entire small square room was divided in the middle by a pane of transparent glass. He sat on one side while Ye Zitan sat on the other.
Ye Zitan immediately stood up as soon as she saw Chen Lie come in. Leaning forward, she splayed herself against the glass wall and asked frantically, “Dr. Chen! What’s going on?! Please help me!” The glass wall wasn’t soundproof and obviously had amplifying functions. They didn’t need the aid of receivers or headphones to clearly hear each other.
Chen Lie gazed sadly at her, unable to understand how all this had happened. Ye Zitan’s pretty, oval face appeared very haggard. Her hair was messy, and her previously neat clothes were completely wrinkled. Laying against the glass wall, her beautiful eyes stared at him unblinkingly, pleading and filled with hope. Chen Lie realized this was the first time she had looked at him with such intent and desperation… He also looked at her, and his eyes were full of grief and despair, as well as deep confusion and regret. Sighing deeply, Chen Lie directly asked the question looming over his head, “Dr. Ye… I want to ask you, what did Nianzhi do to you to make you hurt her like that?”
Completely taken by surprise, Ye Zitan was unable to hide her emotions in time. She took a step back in shock, and her eyes flickered elsewhere. After some time, she finally stammered, “Dr. Chen, I don’t understand what you mean.”
Chen Lie had secretly liked Ye Zitan for many years now, he knew all her mannerisms by heart. Her series of microexpressions just now did not escape his knowing eyes. The last bit of hope in Chen Lie’s heart faded. He had been hoping that if there was even a shred of possibility that Ye Zitan was framed, he would defend her innocence until the end, even if it meant destroying his relationship with Huo Shao… But Ye Zitan wasn’t able to conceal her discomfort and shock in time, thereby fully exposing herself. If she wasn’t feeling guilty, then why did she avert her eyes? If she wasn’t guilty, then why did she retreat in shock?
Chen Lie looked at Ye Zitan, his eyes growing red as he stepped forward. Bracing his hands on the glass wall, his voice was nasal as he asked, “Why? Tell me why! If you betrayed Huo Shao, I would still ignore my conscience, even though it would mean wronging my good friend. But Nianzhi… Nianzhi… She’s so young and pitiful, how could you be so heartless and cast salt on her wounds?! How could you bear to harm her with outsiders?! What benefits did they give you?! How could you be cold blooded enough to do this kind of thing!?”
Ye Zitan didn’t expect the previously doting Chen Lie, who had always treated her unbelievably well, to say such things to her. She had a hard time accepting his sudden change in attitude. How could someone who loved her for so long say these things to her? Ye Zitan stared blankly at Chen Lie and asked quietly, “Chen Lie, the person you love most in your heart is actually Gu Nianzhi. Is that right?”
Chen Lie was rendered speechless. What the hell?! What nonsense is she spouting?!
Chen Lie slapped the glass wall hard and huffed, “Ye Zitan, I know that you never had feelings for me, but you can’t… You can’t insult me like that!” You can choose not to love me, but I can’t respect you or myself if you twist my feelings for you like that.
“If you love me, then why would you defend anyone else?” Ye Zitan gazed at him sadly. “It’s not like you don’t know about my current situation. You’re my only hope now…”
Chen Lie stared blankly at Ye Zitan. He looked at the woman he had secretly liked for almost ten years and discovered he actually never knew her at all. Not only had she made a mistake, but she also had no feelings of regret. “Ye Zitan, tell me why you did this! Was it because I didn’t treat you well, or was the Army General Hospital not treating you well? Was it Nianzhi?” Chen Lie had a very scientific mind, so even though he hadn’t yet cut off and reconciled his messy feelings, he still tried his best to analyze the situation with strict logic and clear theory.
Looking down, Ye Zitan said somewhat frantically, “Why did I do this? What did I do? I’m being locked in here…”
“You’re still not admitting it? Your phone is in their hands…” Chen Lie was in a foul mood. “Ye Zitan, if you were having difficulties…”
But before he could even finish speaking, Ye Zitan already cut him off reflexively. “Impossible! There can’t be any evidence on my phone!” She had clearly deleted everything completely…
Chen Lie stared at her with renewed shock. “I hadn’t even said it was evidence, and you already assumed that? So it was you. Don’t you know that it’s useless to delete all the evidence? Don’t you know what methods the Special Operations Forces has? Even if you smash the microchip, they still have ways of restoring it…”
Ye Zitan stammered for a bit and finally, fear appeared on her face. She shook her head frantically and retreated until she backed up against the wall and had nowhere to go. Cradling her head, she knelt down by the wall and began to wail.
“What’s the use of crying now? I really don’t understand! You’re not 30 yet and already a major! I was in the process of writing a report to the hospital to promote you to lieutenant colonel next year, so why are you dissatisfied?!” Chen Lie yanked his hair in frustration and paced on the other side of the room. He turned to look at Yi Zitan curled up against the wall on the other side of the room, then thought about Gu Nianzhi lying unconscious on the hospital bed. He felt absolutely horrible. Who could accept that the girl he truly loved turned out to be a cold blooded criminal who betrayed his comrades and friends? But he couldn’t retract all the love he invested right away. He still had feelings for Ye Zitan, but this love didn’t overtake his logic. This pained him even more. “You still won’t tell me? Fine, what good would knowing do? It’s always the same reasons—it’s for money or a person… Dr. Ye, you’ve never been a superficial woman, so it must be for someone. How did they tempt you? Did they attract you with a handsome man?” Chen Lie continued to interrogate her stoically. He understood that he wasn’t handsome and a man who could attract women, so he only dared to secretly love Ye Zitan. He never confessed out of fear that he would lose her as a friend if he said anything.
Ye Zitan jerked her head up at his words and bit her lower lip as she looked at Chen Lie. It was like his words hit the part of her heart she felt indignant about. Widening her eyes, she said, “Dr. Chen, don’t be so overly modest. With such an exceptional person like you by my side, how could I fall for a handsome man?” She had never been attracted to a man for his appearance.
Chen Lie froze. “What do you mean?”
“What do I mean?! Ye Zitan was infuriated. She rose up and stormed to the glass wall, brandishing her fists at Chen Lie on the other side. “You’re asking me what I mean?! You’re so amazing! So outstanding! You excel at all surgeries! You write so many high quality papers every year! And develop so many new treatment patents! I wouldn’t be half as successful as you, even if I didn’t eat and sleep so I could be in the lab 24 hours a day!”
“What… Are you talking about?!” Chen Lie was shocked speechless. Ye Zitan’s words surprised him even more than when Huo Shaoheng had told him she was the mole.
Ye Zitan grew calmer as she revealed the secret in her heart. Smoothing her hair, she smiled wryly. “Or should I say that Dr. Chen must look down on me?” She pressed her head against the glass wall and looked ahead as she muttered, “I was born to a normal family, so I knew that in order to become the cream of the crop, I must work especially hard. From the time I was young, I studied and wrote essays for academic competitions while my peers played. During college, all my classmates from the dorm were enjoying their college years and falling in love with boyfriends, but I left early and went home late everyday to study in the library and try to be in the lab as much as possible. I worked so hard and was always at the top of the class. But when I was assigned to the Military General Hospital, I met you, Chen Lie. You’re someone I can’t surpass no matter what!”
Chen Lie never imagined that he would be one of the reasons Ye Zitan became a mole! He gaped at Ye Zitan and suddenly found himself speechless.
Huo Shaoheng’s expression darkened as he opened the door from the surveillance room next door. He didn’t mince words with Ye Zitan. “Someone else’s excellence is your reason for betraying your comrades? Ye Zitan, don’t blame your mistakes on others.”
Ye Zitan’s arrogance dissolved as soon as she saw Huo Shaoheng. She curled up her entire body and slowly slid down the glass wall until she knelt on the other side.
“Tell me, what did they promise you? Who was the person to contact you?” Huo Shaoheng motioned to Chen Lie for him to leave. Now that Chen Lie had received all his answers, he didn’t want to stay there for even a minute more. His legs were like jelly as he left the interrogation room in shock.
Huo Shaoheng stood there with his hands folded behind his back, and Zhou Qiyuan opened the door to interrogate Ye Zitan. Even though he had asked her many times these past few days, she still refused to say anything. It was only when Huo Shaoheng had Chen Lie question her today that they breached her emotional defenses.
“Ye Zitan, who was the first to contact you? How did they contact you?” Zhou Qiyuan began his routine interrogation.
However, Ye Zitan refused to answer Zhou Qiyuan and only looked at Huo Shaoheng. “Huo Shao, I’m very sorry that Nianzhi died. She’s the one I feel the most regret towards.”
Huo Shaoheng asked, “Who told you Nianzhi died?”
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