Blank Charge

Jin Zhou went home and found a glass bottle, inserted the flower into the bottle and placed it on the window frame of the living room.

The sky outside the window was dark and gloomy, which made the red flower in the bottle look strangely eerie.

A dead person holding a bouquet of Rhododendron flowers to visit his own grave. It seemed like a scene from a horror movie.

“That’s impossible.”

Jin Zhou sat on a chair facing the window, rubbing his chin and pondering.

Even if his eyes were failing him and he was experiencing hallucinations, the cemetery security wouldn’t be experiencing the same thing as him.

In the surveillance footage, there was indeed a man in black standing in front of Yang Shiyu’s grave, placing a bouquet of Rhododendron flowers. The figure and footsteps of the man in black were exactly the same as Yang Shiyu’s.

After ruling out all the impossibilities, there was only one possibility left.

Although Jin Zhou still couldn’t make sense of it, he had to start believing that Yang Shiyu might still be alive.If that was the case, his appearance in that way made more sense since he couldn’t reveal himself.

Leaving behind a mysterious message and then disappearing, just to stage a horror movie for Jin Zhou?

“That didn’t sound right.”

Jin Zhou stood up, took out the flowers from the bottle, and carefully examined them in his hands.

He believed that if it was truly Yang Shiyu who placed the flowers, there would be a hidden message he would need to figure out.

However, the petals, leaves, and stems had no symbols on them. That meant that the bouquet of flowers itself was not a carrier of information but the information itself.

Could it be that the reason Yang Shiyu left the flowers at the grave was simply to inform Jin Zhou that he was not dead?

But what really happened that night? And where is he now?

That kind of ambiguous information only confused Jin Zhou. It didn’t seem like Yang Shiyu’s style at all.

The clouds outside the window grew darker and lower, pressing down on Jin Zhou’s heart like thick fog.

He leaned back on the chair, grabbed a bag of QQ candy from the coffee table, and threw one into his mouth.

The sugar seemed to accelerate his brain’s processing speed.

Jin Zhou opened his phone and searched for the meaning of the  Rhododendron flowers. There were various fancy explanations, but no substantial useful information.

However, Jin Zhou suddenly thought that if Yang Shiyu had the intention of letting him know that he wasn’t dead, then Yang Shiyu would have been very aware of the question that Jin Zhou was most curious about: where he was.

Based on Jin Zhou’s understanding of Yang Shiyu, he wouldn’t deliberately make Jin Zhou worry. Therefore, if the message he left at the cemetery had already revealed that he was still alive, it should also clearly point to his current location.

“Could Rhododendron flowers also represent a certain location?”

Jin Zhou threw another QQ candy into his mouth, and his blocked train of thought suddenly became clear.

If he had to associate  Rhododendron  flowers with a specific location, the only place Jin Zhou could think of was Penglai Island.

Penglai Island, also known as the Penglai Immortal Island, was a legendary fairy mountain. The character “屿” in Yang Shiyu’s name represented a small island, which seemed to match Penglai Island.

It was too simple.

Jin Zhou couldn’t understand why Yang Shiyu would go to Penglai Island. Although they had agreed to live on an island in the future, Penglai Island didn’t seem to have any connection to the southern region.

Swallowing the QQ candy in his mouth, Jin Zhou contemplated as he looked out the window. The thick layer of clouds seemed to show signs of dispersing, and the sun revealed its vague outline behind the clouds.

“Could it be a code game?” The thought suddenly flashed through Jin Zhou’s mind.

It was a game he and Yang Shiyu often played during their tutoring sessions. Previously, when he went to the underground parking lot of the Tai Building, he accidentally saw Yang Shiyu’s car and left a puzzle that said, “Darling, come find me.”

If that was the case,  Rhododendron flowers would definitely point to a set of numbers.

With this in mind, Jin Zhou quickly opened Baidu on his phone. Although Penglai Island didn’t seem to be the final answer, it could provide a set of numbers.

Penglai Island’s coordinates:

Latitude: 37.81119

Longitude: 120.75988

But what was the cipher key? Jin Zhou’s actions suddenly stopped.

In a code game, numbers alone were not enough. There had to be a cipher key to convert the numbers into words.

“Damn it.” A flash of inspiration crossed Jin Zhou’s mind, and he suddenly stood up from his chair. “The farewell letter?!”

He quickly rushed to his room and took out the handwritten letter that he had never dared to read.

The letter was A4-sized, and its content was only one page, more than thirty lines.

Jin Zhou didn’t even have time to read the letter thoroughly. He immediately compared the numbers on his phone screen with the corresponding words.

Latitude 37.81119

First was 37, the seventh word of the third line.

“…I don’t like getting too close to people, but you are the only exception…”

This sentence didn’t start from the beginning of the third line but shifted from the second line to the third line. The seventh word was “I.”

Next was 81, the first word of the eighth line.

“…I’m afraid of you being in danger, but I enjoy having you by my side…”

This sentence shifted from the seventh line to the eighth line, and the first word was “with.”

Next was 11, the beginning of the letter, the character “希” representing hope. However, that character couldn’t be read together with the previous two characters, and there would be an additional number 9 afterward. So it should be 11/9, the ninth word of the eleventh line.

“…I long to go to a place in the south with abundant sunshine with you…”

The character “south.”

After all the latitude numbers were counted, the next was longitude 120.75988.

Jin Zhou quickly divided these numbers into three groups: 12/7, 5/9, 8/8, representing the twelfth row seventh character, fifth row ninth character, and eighth row eighth character, respectively.

“…even the lonely island in the sea wants the company of a small boat…”

The character “岛” (dǎo) meant “island.”

“…I thought I would return to your side after resolving this matter, but I didn’t expect it to drag on for so long…”

The character “等” (děng) meant “wait.”

“…do not live on with hate towards me, I will accompany you in a different way…”

The character “你” (nǐ) meant “you.”

When these six characters were connected, they formed a sentence: “I will wait for you on the southern island.”

Jin Zhou’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He quickly took out his phone and searched for the name of the place, discovering that it was indeed a sunny southern island.

Trembling, he set down his phone and took several deep breaths, barely calming the surging emotions in his heart.

“You son of a bitch, I better not catch you!”

Jin Zhou flew to the coastal city in the south overnight, but since there were no ferries at that time, he had to wait until six o’clock the next morning.

Still wearing a heavy fur coat, Jin Zhou could only take it off and drape it over his elbow.

Despite that, he was still sweating because he was wearing thermal underwear underneath the coat, and even though he rolled up the sleeves to his elbows and a morning sea breeze blew, it gave him  no relief.

“Young man, aren’t you feeling hot?” The ferry attendant struck up a conversation with Jin Zhou. “Why are you dressed like this?”

“I didn’t bring any clothes with me.” Jin Zhou fanned himself with his shirt collar.

To be honest, Jin Zhou didn’t want to be in that situation either, but he only had a small backpack with him and didn’t bring any clothes. With the stores closed at that hour, he could only endure wearing thermal underwear in that scorching weather.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” The attendant said kindly. “Go to a hotel on the island and ask the owner for some light clothes.”

Half an hour later, Jin Zhou got off the ferry and set foot on the unfamiliar island.

The South Island was neither big nor small, and there were shared bicycles by the ferry terminal, indicating a relatively convenient lifestyle there.

At that moment, it was already sunrise, and the end of the sea horizon was dyed red by the pale pink morning sun, a scenery Jin Zhou had never seen before.

He paused and watched for a moment, and the surroundings gradually brightened without him realizing it.

According to what the ferry attendant told him, the South Island was a tourist island, with beautiful scenery and enticing food. From what Jin Zhou could see, it truly was a beautiful little island.

Sanitation workers were cleaning the roadsides, and Jin Zhou continued walking towards the sunny side. Soon, he saw scattered people fishing by the ferry terminal.

Some were alone, while others were with their friends. As Jin Zhou continued walking, he suddenly stopped in his tracks because he saw a man in a white short-sleeved shirt chatting with an elderly man who was fishing.

Perhaps sensing Jin Zhou’s gaze, the man turned his head and looked at him, revealing a faint smile.

He started walking slowly towards Jin Zhou, and the scene before Jin Zhou’s eyes felt like it was in slow motion. Jin Zhou’s steps gradually quickened, turning from a brisk walk into a jog. At that moment, the emotions surging inside him couldn’t be suppressed any longer and erupted like a volcano.

You bastard!!

All types of curses were on the tip of his tongue. Jin Zhou was prepared to give Yang Shi Yu a harsh verbal assault, but just as they were only a step apart, he suddenly tripped over a stone by the roadside and lost his balance, falling into a strong embrace.

The familiar scent rushed to his nose, and Jin Zhou couldn’t control the tears welling up in his eyes. He didn’t want Yang Shi Yu to see him in that pathetic state, so in the position of being embraced by Yang Shi Yu, he fiercely punched him: “You fucker!”

“Cough, Zhou Zhou.” Yang Shi Yu covered his cheek and took a step back. “Don’t be too angry with me.”

“How can I not be angry?!” Jin Zhou pulled Yang Shi Yu back, hugging him tightly, refusing to let him see his reddened eyes. “You fucking lied to me!”

“No, I just woke up a few days ago, I didn’t lie to you intentionally.” Yang Shi Yu rubbed the back of Jin Zhou’s neck, trying to smooth his hair. “I can’t expose that i’m alive right now, and it’s not appropriate for me to openly meet you.”

“Why?” Jin Zhou stood upright and looked at Yang Shi Yu. At that moment, he wanted to know the whole story.

Yang Shi Yu didn’t answer immediately. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears at the corner of Jin Zhou’s eyes, furrowing his brows slightly. “Why did you lose so much weight?”

“It’s all because of you!” Jin Zhou growled angrily. “Do you know… do you know what I’ve been through these past few days… I…”

Another wave of sourness welled up in his nose, and his voice inevitably became choked.

Yang Shi Yu pulled Jin Zhou back into his embrace and rubbed his neck gently, soothing him, “It’s okay, I’m here.”

“You better explain it to me clearly!” Jin Zhou buried his head in Yang Shi Yu’s shoulder, wiping away the tears from the corner of his eyes.

“I wore a bulletproof vest that day, so the bullet didn’t hit me,” Yang Shi Yu explained, “But after falling into the water, I lost consciousness and was in a coma. Even Officer Ren wasn’t sure what to do, but in order to make WangTai confess, she saw it best to announce my death to the public.”

“Why?” Jin Zhou stopped the tears and looked up at Yang Shi Yu again, “Did they use your fake death to sentence WangTai to death?”

“No,” Yang Shi Yu shook his head, “I only found out about Ren Wen Li’s plan a few days ago. Do you remember those guests at the masquerade ball?”

Jin Zhou and Luo Xueqing had only recognized the TV station director. Since they couldn’t recognize the other guests, they handed the footage over to Yang Shi Yu. Jin Zhou knew that those guests were suspicious regardless of their high social status, but his target had always been WangTai, so he didn’t pay much attention to them.

“What happened to those people?” Jin Zhou asked.

Yang Shi Yu mentioned several names, all of whom were influential figures in the political and business circles.

“I understand,” Jin Zhou nodded thoughtfully, “If WangTai isn’t sentenced to death, I don’t think he will reveal his connections with these people. Only by making him think he will be sentenced to death can he reveal the truth.”

“Exactly,” Yang Shi Yu said, “If It wasn’t announced that i died, WangTai would never have been sentenced to death. Ren Wen Li’s goal wasn’t to fabricate my death and use that to sentence WangTai to death, but to make WangTai think that he was, so he would expose the other people.”

“I see,” Jin Zhou furrowed his brow and let out a sigh. Now that it made sense, he couldn’t blame Ren Wen Li for keeping it from him.

He then turned to Yang Shi Yu, glaring at him, and said, “Then why didn’t you call me? Why did you just leave a flower as a clue? What if I couldn’t solve it? Did you just want to see me anxious?”

“I knew you would solve it,” Yang Shi Yu smiled and pulled Jin Zhou into his arms.

Jin Zhou could let go of what happened before Yang Shi Yu woke up, but after that, it was clear that Yang Shi Yu deliberately teased him with this code game.

“You really are a damn scoundrel!” Jin Zhou pushed Yang Shi Yu away, went through his backpack, and pulled out a blank judgment document, slamming it forcefully against Yang Shi Yu’s chest. “I’m going to sentence you now, sentence you to a life without a wife!”

Yang Shi Yu instinctively caught the blank judgment document on his chest, then revealed a faint smile, “I never needed a wife in the first place. Having a husband is enough.”

“You…” Jin Zhou said amidst blushing, “It’s a lifetime sentence!”

Yang Shi Yu smiled, “It’s up to you.”