Going to the cemetery in the middle of the night sounded like an extremely scary thing to most people, but for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, they found it interesting. As for why, even they didn't know.
Zhan Zhao said they should go quietly, as today they were mainly going to observe. So, Bai Yutang bought two binoculars when they passed a sports store. Then, they got into the car and drove to a hillside next to the cemetery. After the car stopped, the two men took out their binoculars to look towards the cemetery in the distance.
"It's so dark, I can't see anything." Bai Yutang said as he looked through the binoculars.
"Look at Qiao Weiming's house over there." Zhan Zhao pointed towards Qiao Weiming's villa in front of them.
Bai Yutang looked towards that direction. "The curtains are open, but the lights are off. Is he not home?"
Zhan Zhao shrugged and said, "There are no cars in front of the cemetery. It seems like that person isn't here yet."
"Who on earth are you talking about, Cat?" Bai Yutang asked.
"Liu Fang." Zhan Zhao was silent for a moment before he replied.
"Liu Fang?" Bai Yutang frowned slightly. "I think he's very cynical, but you say he's a very calm person?"
Zhan Zhao smiled, then raised Bai Yutang's chin with his finger. "You look like a playboy, but you are actually very affectionate."
Bai Yutang touched his chin and smiled, "That's true."
Zhan Zhao shook his head, thought for a moment, and said, "Most cat owners are afraid of loneliness and noise."
"Indeed." Bai Yutang thought for a moment and nodded. "If you are really afraid of loneliness, getting a dog will make things livelier than getting a cat, but if you are afraid of noise, you probably won't get a cat."
"Liu Fang is not very good at concealing himself. He isn't like Qiao Weiming who deliberately hides things. But even so, he didn't reveal much information to us, so I think he no longer has many emotions left. However, one thing he said seemed strange to me." Zhan Zhao said.
"What is it?" Bai Yutang reached out, pinched the back of Zhan Zhao's neck and said, "Don't keep me hanging."
Zhan Zhao thought for a moment and asked, "Do you remember when we told him if Chen Jianxian is the murderer, he would probably be the next person to be killed?"
"Mmhmm." Bai Yutang nodded.
"What did he say?" Zhan Zhao asked.
"He said that it would be impossible." Bai Yutang replied, "he was 100 percent certain."
Zhan Zhao smiled, "Why?"
Bai Yutang thought for a moment and then said, "because he had saved Chen Jianxian's life before."
"That does explain why Chen Jianxian wouldn't kill him!" Zhan Zhao said. "He said it's 'impossible' that Chen Jianxian would kill him, not maybe."
Bai Yutang recalled and nodded. "Cat, do you mean that Liu Fang is sure Chen Jianxian won't kill him?"
Zhan Zhao nodded.
"Why?" Bai Yutang frowned, "now that I think about it, it's indeed really weird!"
"He had denied it very quickly." Zhan Zhao said. "According to him, he hasn't seen Chen Jianxian for a long time. Why is he so sure about a person he hasn't seen for that long?"
Bai Yutang touched his chin. "That is really weird... Unless, he is absolutely sure..." Speaking of which, Bai Yutang opened his eyes wide and looked at Zhan Zhao, "Cat... Is it possible that Chen Jianxian is the mute uncle?"
Zhan Zhao was stunned as he looked at Bai Yutang. "Why do you say that? This isn't normally like you."
Bai Yutang smiled weakly and said, "Because... I have had my doubts since a long time ago. The possibility of that guy pretending to be mute is very high. Also, when we asked his name, his answer was super quick, as if wanting to avoid the question."
Zhan Zhao nodded. "It's reasonable."
"Did you have such doubts as well?" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.
"Mmhmm." Zhan Zhao nodded. "What I care more about is what my dad had said."
"About Chen Jianxian's sudden withdrawal of the lawsuit?" Asked Bai Yutang.
"Yep." Zhan Zhao nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "Xiao Bai... How does Liu Fang look to you?"
Bai Yutang was stunned. "Are you changing the topic?"
Zhan Zhao said with a smile, "Just answer the question."
"Not too bad," Bai Yutang thought for a moment and said, "just a little too skinny."
Zhan Zhao nodded. "Did you notice the burns on his hand?"
Bai Yutang nodded. "I was also wondering about that. Not just his hand, he's entire arm has been badly burned. Even the inside... When the incident happened, it wasn't summer, so how can the injury be this severe?"
"Unless he had taken off his clothes." Zhan Zhao sighed and said, "If they were just ordinary classmates, would he risk his life by rushing into the fire and taking off his clothes to save someone?" At this point, Zhan Zhao reached out and unbuttoned Bai Yutang's sleeve. "This is what you would have done for me... I don't think ordinary classmates will do this for each other."
"Are you saying that the relationship between Liu Fang and Chen Jianxian may not be that simple?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "You think they are lovers?"
Zhan Zhao shrugged and said, "We might as well assume that they are. It's possible, isn't it? If Liu Fang really loved Chen Jianxian to that extent, then no matter how disfigured Chen Jianxian is, Liu Fang will still love him. Besides, science and technology are very developed. Liu Fang has money, and the mute uncle's injury is not particularly serious, so he can go through plastic surgery. In fact, he can do anything... Why did he give up on everything just like that?"
Bai Yutang leaned back on the seat and said, "Cat, these are all guesses. It's hard to know what a person is thinking."
Zhan Zhao nodded with a smile, "Actually, I have a bolder thought... I just need to see if it can be confirmed tonight."
Bai Yutang leaned over, "Cat, you have so many secrets."
Zhan Zhao smiled, "Of course."
They waited a little longer...
"He's coming!" Bai Yutang suddenly pointed to the intersection at the foot of the mountain. They saw a sapphire-blue Toyota driving slowly into the cemetery.
"He's coming out!" Zhan Zhao looked towards the same direction with his binoculars and saw the car door open. A man got out of the car with a flashlight in his hand and a bunch of white daisies. He slowly walked up the hillside. From his figure, he looked like Liu Fang.
"Cat!" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao and said, "He really has come to visit the grave!"
Zhan Zhao nodded. "Remember the location of the tombstone."
Liu Fang was very familiar with the path to a tombstone. He stared down at the tombstone for a long time, then put down the daisies. Afterwards, he took out his cigarette, stood by the tombstone and puffed out some spoke.
Time slowly went by, as Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang watched quietly in the car. Liu Fang continued to smoke in front of the tombstone.
"Whoa..." After waiting for about an hour, Bai Yutang shook his head and looked at Zhan Zhao. "This man... Is he here to kill himself?"
Zhan Zhao was puzzled, "Commit suicide?"
"Yep." Bai Yutang nodded, "Using cigarettes to kill himself."
"Huh..." Zhan Zhao shook his head and said, "I wonder how long he's going to stand there for."
"Cat!" Bai Yutang let out a cry and pointed to Qiao Weiming's villa.
Zhan Zhao looked towards the direction Bai Yutang was pointing at and saw a faint light from one of the windows. It looked like the reflection of something, such as the lens of a telescope.
"The reason Qiao Weiming lives next to the cemetery is to see him?" Bai Yutang shook his head. "What is he thinking?"
Zhan Zhao stared for a long time and said, "Qiao Weiming seems to be very committed towards Liu Fang."
"That's true." Bai Yutang raised his legs. "But what I'm curious about is how the two of them got entangled together."
"That is indeed a mystery." Zhan Zhao said with a yawn.
Bai Yutang lowered Zhan Zhao's seat. "This kid will probably stand there for a while. Cat, you take a nap first, I will wake you up when he's gone."
Zhan Zhao smiled and lay down. Bai Yutang took a pillow from the back seat and tucked it under Zhan Zhao's head, then covered him with a blanket.
Afterwards, he leaned against his own seat and stared at Zhan Zhao's sleeping face next to him. He often turned to look at Liu Fang in the cemetery and Qiao Weiming's apartment... Just like that, he kept watch until dawn.
Bai Yutang rubbed his neck. Liu Fang had smoked all night. Bai Yutang finally knew why the man was so thin. It was hard for Bai Yutang to imagine what Liu Fang's lungs were like.
In the end, the sun rose slowly. Liu Fang threw the last cigarette on the ground, then stepped on the cigarette butt and went down the mountain.
"Cat..." Bai Yutang gently pushed Zhan Zhao, "Liu Fang is leaving!"
"Hmm?" Zhan Zhao was in a daze, but he quickly sat up and looked down the hill. Sure enough, he saw Liu Fang go down the hill and drive away from the cemetery.
"Where is Qiao Weiming?" Zhan Zhao asked.
Bai Yutang picked up the binoculars and looked through them. "The curtains are closed."
Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "Okay, let's go to the cemetery."
Seeing that Zhan Zhao had not fully woken up, Bai Yutang reached out and pinched Zhan Zhao's cheek. Then, he opened a bottle of water and handed it to Zhan Zhao. "Wake yourself up first."
Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang in confusion, "Hmm?"
Bai Yutang shook his head, took a mouthful of cold water in his mouth, leaned over and poured it all into Zhan Zhao's mouth.
"Mmmm..." Zhan Zhao was now fully awake as he helplessly swallowed and looked at Bai Yutang. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet. Don't you always like cleanliness?"
Bai Yutang smiled and wet a tissue with mineral water. He then handed it to Zhan Zhao to wipe his face and said, "My penchant for cleanliness is immune against you. Even if you are a dirty cat rolling in the mud, I will still be happy to kiss you."
Zhan Zhao took the tissue to wipe his face and whispered, "Thick-skinned."
The two of them drove to the cemetery, got out of the car, and walked up the steps. Zhan Zhao remembered exactly where Liu Fang stood last night. There was a pile of cigarette butts and a bunch of daisies.
The two of them went to the tombstone and looked down. They froze when they saw that it was not a tombstone, but two plaques. One had Chen Jianxian written on it while the other had Liu Fang written on it.
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other for a long time in confusion.
"We can rule out one possibility... but there's still two others." Bai Yutang said helplessly. "Did Liu Fang make his own grave?"
Zhan Zhao shook his head quietly and said, "The daisy is on the right side of the plaque. It should be in front of Chen Jianxian's grave... On the other hand, the cigarette butt is in front of Liu Fang's grave."
Bai Yutang frowned. "He stood in front of Liu Fang to accompany Chen Jianxian the entire night?"
Zhan Zhao pondered for a while. "If this plaque belongs to Chen Jianxian... Then who on earth is that mute uncle?"