When Xiao Yanzhi rushed over, Sheng Jingxi told him that Jiang Li had already gone back.
"I noticed that her mood wasn't right, but she refused to say anything when I asked," Sheng Jingxi said. Not wanting Sheng Shuocheng and Cheng Yingchun to worry, he specifically chatted with Xiao Yanzhi outside the door.
On this snowy night, the streetlights emitted a warm, golden glow.
The wind picked up in the evening, and the heavy snow swirled everywhere with the wind, landing on the ground, the streetlights, and the coats of the passers-by in a hurry.
Xiao Yanzhi stood in front of the door, with his back to the cold wind. He nodded slightly, his eyes downcast, looking extremely calm. "I see."
Just as he was about to leave, Xiao Yanzhi seemed to remember something and asked again, "What did she say?"
"Everything seemed normal. She said she was very happy and felt that there were no regrets in her life," Sheng Jingxi replied. As he spoke, his warm breath quickly turned into white mist. "Dude, aside from this blood - related connection, I haven't known her for a long time. I'm actually not very familiar with her. But I can sense that she gives me the same feeling as my mother did back then: she lacks a sense of security and has a lack of trust in the outside world."
Xiao Yanzhi looked at him, his face gradually turning stern.
"My mother tried to commit suicide many times because of psychological problems. I really don't want my sister to follow in her footsteps," Sheng Jingxi continued. "Before, when we were in the hospital, she talked to me about some things between you two. She should... care about you quite a bit."
After saying this, Sheng Jingxi felt a bit embarrassed and turned his head slightly. "Anyway, I feel that her state is very bad. She needs your help."
"Help her. I hate seeing girls cry the most."
The wind outside was bitterly cold. The snowflakes, like knives, came rushing towards them.
Xiao Yanzhi stood still on the spot. His black woolen overcoat was straight, and some snow had landed on his collar before he could brush it off.
After leaving Sheng Jingxi, Xiao Yanzhi immediately told the driver to take him to Jiang Li's place.
All the way there, he closed his eyes and concentrated.
He should have expected this earlier.
In Vienna, on that night on the cruise ship, Jiang Li had nestled in his arms and whispered those words.
"I'm just afraid that when I wake up, everything will be gone."
She was such an insecure person.
The joy and happiness of reuniting with her family were not enough to ground her, nor could they help her let go of and reconcile with the self that had suffered so much in the past.
Years of not being loved, along with being deceived and hurt, had long made her feel unworthy of love.
The root cause of her problem was that she felt she didn't deserve love and happiness.
That's why she would push him away.
She thought she would bring him misfortune.
"Drive faster," Xiao Yanzhi frowned and whispered the order.
The uneasiness in his heart made his heart start to beat erratically. After much thought, he finally called Sister Chen.
"She hasn't taken any psychological medications for a long time," Sister Chen said in surprise when she heard his inquiry. "Wasn't she already recovered?"
Recovered?
Where on earth did she look recovered?
Xiao Yanzhi tightened his grip on his phone, and his fingertips started to turn cold. "Keep an eye on Jiang Li. Don't let her go anywhere. I'll be there soon."
Sister Chen sensed something was wrong. She looked back at the living room, only to find that the person who had been sitting there was gone.
"Jingyi, where's Jiang Li?" Sister Chen held the phone in one hand and quickly called out to Jingyi. "Where did she go?"
Jingyi was cleaning up in the kitchen. She poked her head out and said, "Sister Jiang Li said she wanted to go out for a walk. She just left a little while ago. What's wrong?"
"Go out for a walk in such a heavy snow? Is she crazy!" Sister Chen's face turned ashen. Without waiting to hang up the phone with Xiao Yanzhi, she shouted, "Go look for her! Wake up Xiaoye and go find her together!"
On the other end of the phone, Xiao Yanzhi listened to the whole conversation and tiredly rubbed his temples.
His heart tightened, and his breathing became labored. The news headline from his dream kept flashing before his eyes, stabbing at his soul.
Several people hurriedly put on their coats and grabbed flashlights to look for Jiang Li.
The snowflakes outside were as big as cotton wadding pulled out of a quilt. They fell in large chunks, almost covering people's eyes.
Xiaoye and Jingyi searched around the building for a long time, but there was no sign of her anywhere.
"Did you call her?"
"Sister Jiang Li didn't take her phone when she went out."
Xiaoye started to cry in desperation. Her hot tears mixed with the snow. "She didn't even take her phone. It's snowing so heavily outside. Could it be that she's made up her mind not to come back?"
Jingyi was surprisingly calm at this moment. Her voice trembled, but she still managed to comfort, "No, Sister Jiang Li won't leave us alone. She promised me."
She promised her that she would live well.
She couldn't break her promise.
...
No one knew where Jiang Li was.
Xiao Yanzhi immediately sent people to check the nearby surveillance cameras to find out where Jiang Li had gone.
She had wrapped herself in a thick coat and left the community alone. She got into a taxi, and the license plate number was captured on the surveillance camera.
He let out a sigh of relief and immediately told Xue An to contact the taxi driver to ask where he had taken the passenger.
—
During this period, Jiang Li's insomnia had become increasingly severe. Since she didn't want Sister Chen to notice anything, she didn't even buy melatonin anymore.
When she couldn't sleep and had nothing to do, she would choose to go out for a walk.
This was the largest garden in Huacheng. In spring and summer, it would be filled with all kinds of beautiful flowers, attracting many tourists. But now, it was covered in ice and snow, with only some bare branches left, looking lifeless.
Jiang Li walked aimlessly in the snow.
She stopped in front of the rose garden.
The snow today was really heavy. She had never seen such heavy snow in Beicheng.
Huacheng was supposed to have a warm winter, but this year it was so cold.
It turned out that nothing was truly constant.
No one would come here at night, especially with the heavy snowfall. The only sound around was the rustling of the snowflakes.
It was very desolate and empty.
When she stepped on the fresh, soft snow, it made a crunching sound.
She stretched out her hand to catch the snowflakes.
Although she was so afraid of the cold, at this moment, she took off her purple coat, revealing the snow - white cheongsam inside.
Even though the cheongsam was made of fleece material, in such an environment, it was hardly any use.
The wind blew in from all directions, almost piercing through her body.
But she didn't feel cold.
The world was a pure white expanse of snow. She walked into the snow. Her fair skin and the white cheongsam almost merged with the snow.
At this moment, she felt that her heart and body had become extremely peaceful.
It seemed that from this moment on, her floating and unstable heart finally found a bit of grounding.
This sense of silence allowed her to clearly hear the most eager voice in her heart.
She was a lonely traveler. Those moments of beauty and warmth were only temporary. Only silence and death could be her only redemption.
Roses should wither in winter.
She decided to follow her heart.
"Jiang Li."