Volume One, Chapter 16: Yu Mingliang Has Died

Gu Nanzhou hadn’t shared these words with Gao Chen; some matters required his personal verification. If things turned out as he suspected, he would show no mercy. But if the opposite were true, he would devote his entire life to protecting her.

Watching Gao Chen’s foolish grin, he knew the man was already scheming again.

“Now that you know what it is, don’t set your sights on her unless necessary,” Gu Nanzhou said, unwilling to believe that the National Security Bureau lacked anyone fluent in French.

Detecting a hint of jealousy, Gao Chen smirked inwardly but thoughtfully lit a cigarette for Gu Nanzhou. “Come on, man, she’s family now. We wouldn’t let her work for nothing.”

He admitted he had judged her by appearance before. Now he swore that Xia Niannian would forever be the goddess in his heart.

After a brief chat, Gao Chen drove off overnight with the items Xia Niannian had given him, leaving behind a note that troubled Gu Nanzhou.

Xia Niannian’s intention was clear—she didn’t want him to know who gave the note. Now, however, he had to take the initiative to clarify matters.

…

“Mother! Someone’s dead! Someone’s dead! Hurry, someone come!”

At dawn, Li Meihua’s scream roused not only the villagers but even the dogs from the neighboring village.

When the scattered crowd arrived at the village entrance, they saw Li Meihua collapsed on the ground as if she had lost all strength, while not far off lay a curled-up figure.

“Isn’t that Yu Mingliang? How did he die here?”

Someone suddenly shouted from the crowd, and everyone recognized the frozen body as the young man recently assigned from the city.

He wore only a vest on his upper body; his pants and jacket were beneath him, curled tightly. Without the wounds on his face, no one would have recognized him.

Deaths in the village weren’t uncommon, but to freeze to death in the fields in the middle of winter, in such a position, was unprecedented—even the village chief, despite his long life, had never seen anything like it.

“Such a disgrace to our ancestors!”

A woman at the front cursed loudly, covering her eyes and pulling away her daughter-in-law who wanted to approach.

In this bitter winter, to die in the fields over such shameful matters was well deserved.

…

Yang Jianshe examined the body and confirmed no breath remained, then hurriedly sent his son to the town to report the incident. If it had been a local villager, he could have handled it himself, but this was a city youth sent here not long ago.

“Go home and cook. Stop staring,” he tried to disperse the onlookers, but no one listened—instead, more people pushed forward.

Xia Niannian frowned. She had only just learned about Yu Mingliang yesterday, and now he was dead. It seemed too coincidental.

Before she could step forward to check for injuries, a familiar voice sounded nearby, and a large hand covered her eyes, pulling her out of the crowd.

“Public security will arrive soon.”

Gu Nanzhou’s low, gentle voice whispered in her ear, unlike his usual stern tone.

Xia Niannian immediately understood and nodded, stepping aside.

Seeing the arrival of the military and police, the villagers wisely retreated ten meters, fearful of being mistaken for suspects.

Li Meihua was dragged by her two sons from the field to the village entrance. She leaned against a large tree, utterly distraught, eyes vacant, hands trembling, muttering repeatedly, “Someone’s dead, someone’s dead…”

Coincidentally, Hou Aixiu stood closest to Li Meihua. She spat on the ground, rolled her eyes, and mocked, “Isn’t it strange? Why is it always her who finds these things?”

The women who knew the story smirked quietly, occasionally glancing at Li Meihua on the ground.

Hearing the insults, Li Meihua tried to stand, but her legs felt heavy as lead. She could neither rise nor retort, barely able to steady herself against the tree.

“Don’t know which shameless woman couldn’t hold it in, freezing her ass off out there doing those filthy things.”

“Must be those city girls. No one in this village dares to stay out past dark, only those educated city folks, always chasing after this and that.”

“I think so too. Last night, when I went to the back gate to fetch firewood for the stove, I saw that Liu Hongmei from the city sneaking out of the village.”

Hearing this, Xia Niannian wrapped her coat tighter and looked to Gu Nanzhou, whispering, “Could he have hallucinated from excessive use and frozen himself to death out there?”

No matter how reckless, no one would fail to find shelter and freeze to death in the field.

Gu Nanzhou nodded, “That possibility can’t be ruled out.”

…

This was the Northwest, deep winter, with nighttime temperatures around minus twenty degrees Celsius. Freezing in one’s sleep was plausible.

Previously, someone here had died after drinking and sleeping outside all night.

Yet Yu Mingliang’s sudden death was suspicious enough to prompt thoughts of murder.

Gu Nanzhou glanced at Xia Niannian, who stared ahead without blinking. Feigning casualness, he asked, “Did you teach yourself French?”

Hearing this, Xia Niannian gently shook her head, recalling her childhood in the metropolis. “My family was well off then, and many French people lived nearby. My grandmother hired a French tutor for me, hoping I would grow up to work as a translator for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Her eyes reddened slightly, as if suppressing something.

That had been the original owner’s grandmother’s wish. But since being brought home early, she had almost forgotten her French.

She could understand it when listening, but writing and lengthy conversations would be difficult.

Gu Nanzhou hummed softly, feeling an inexplicable sense of relief. He casually took the note Gao Chen had given him from his jacket pocket and placed it before Xia Niannian.

“Can you help me translate this?”

Without hesitation, Xia Niannian took the note. Her slender index finger accidentally brushed Gu Nanzhou’s knuckle, the cold touch sending a sharp pang through his heart.

Was he feeling sympathy for her? How was that possible? They had barely met.

Xia Niannian focused intently on the note, unaware of the burning gaze from the man beside her.

Within half a minute, the translation was complete. She stepped closer to Gu Nanzhou and, lowering her voice to a whisper meant only for him, spoke quietly.