Chapter 162: Jumping at Shadows
Chen Mo could feel Su Yuqing trembling as she held him, and he could sense her fear.
He said nothing more, simply remaining still and letting her hold him.
When Su Yuqing gradually calmed down and her embrace loosened, Chen Mo reached for a handkerchief, gently wiped away her tears, and said with a warm smile, "I’m perfectly fine. You don’t have to be scared."
Su Yuqing nodded, her heart settling considerably.
But the fear of losing the most important person in her life wasn’t so easily dispelled.
Just then, Su Yuqing received a text message on her phone.
It was from her mother.
It asked if Su Yuqing wanted to go see Li Tie.
In their estimation, only a personal visit from Su Yuqing could cure Li Tie of his twisted affliction.
’Uncle Li Tie really was so good to me...’ Recalling how he used to look after her and Li Mingyu, and the times he took them out to have fun without a care, Su Yuqing still found it hard to accept that he had become a bad person.
"Don’t force yourself," Chen Mo said after seeing the message, gently taking her hand.
"It’s okay. I should see him. What happened today is related to me, in a way. If I can talk some sense into him and get him to abandon his twisted thinking, it would be a good thing for me, for him, and for anyone else who might get dragged into this." As she finished, she gave Chen Mo another pained look.
’If it weren’t for me, he would never have had to face such danger.’
’And he’s still sick on top of all this.’
Li Tie definitely wouldn’t get the death penalty for this. If his underlying obsession wasn’t dealt with, he could become even more paranoid and unhinged in prison. When he was eventually released, he would be a huge threat to both Chen Mo and herself. Based on this, Su Yuqing felt it was necessary to intervene.
Seeing that Su Yuqing had made up her mind, Chen Mo didn’t try to stop her.
After all, Chen Mo had always wanted to help Su Yuqing grow—to help her mature on the inside.
He would support her as long as she was firm in her own choices.
"It’s getting late. You should go tomorrow," Chen Mo said, glancing at the time.
"It’s fine. Don’t you have to get an IV drip tonight? You got home late anyway, and it’s not good for me to be home alone. I’ll go with my mom to the police station to see Uncle Li Tie first, and then I’ll go to the hospital to be with you."
"Hmm..." Chen Mo paused to think. It seemed like a reasonable plan. "Alright, let’s do that then."
With Su Yuqing’s mother and stepfather going with her, Chen Mo didn’t have to worry too much.
Su Yuqing quickly contacted her mother.
「A short while later...」
DING-DONG!
As the doorbell rang, Chen Mo started to get up, but Su Yuqing immediately stopped him. She rushed to the door herself and peered through the peephole.
The security footage Chen Mo had shown her earlier included audio.
In the video, a DING-DONG was followed by Chen Mo opening the door and letting Li Tie inside.
Su Yuqing was now a bundle of nerves, terrified that someone else had come to hurt Chen Mo.
She would rather be the one standing in their way.
After Chen Mo had returned, his PTSD had finally started to improve over the past several days. He was no longer hyper-vigilant about everything concerning Su Yuqing.
Now, after this incident, the roles had reversed, and it was Su Yuqing who was constantly worried about him.
Chen Mo gave a resigned smile, getting up and moving to stand behind her.
When she opened the door, her mother, Li Fengzhi, and her stepfather, Li Gang, were standing on the doorstep.
The moment Su Yuqing opened the door, the first thing they saw was Chen Mo standing behind her.
Both of them immediately gave him an apologetic look.
Li Gang went a step further, bowing directly as he apologized. "Chen Mo, I am so sorry. I’m apologizing to you on behalf of my younger brother. This incident has caused you immense psychological distress, and we will do everything we can to compensate you."
Li Gang was a tactful speaker.
His underlying goal was to obtain the victim’s forgiveness, which could lead to a lighter sentence for Li Tie.
But the young man had just been hurt. To show up and immediately ask for forgiveness to his face would be just asking for a verbal thrashing.
That’s why Li Gang only expressed his concern for Chen Mo and brought up the matter of compensation.
These were the things a victim most wanted to hear after being harmed.
It was far better than making excuses like, "He’s just a kid," "He’s mentally ill," "He’s just an old man," or "He’s a good, kind person at home, he would never do something like this."
You could use those lines to fool yourself, but no one else wanted to hear them.
You have to own up to your mistakes and face the consequences.
That was the proper attitude.
Chen Mo knew exactly what Li Gang was getting at, but since the man hadn’t said it outright, he simply gave a dismissive wave of his hand.
"This wasn’t your fault. You don’t need to apologize to me."
"No, no. As his older brother, I have a responsibility to guide him. It’s my failure to teach him properly that led to you facing such a dangerous situation today. When I get back, I will make sure he understands the error of his ways." Li Gang spoke like a patriarch apologizing for a wayward child.
There was no other choice. Right now, he was the one with something of a "familial connection" to Chen Mo, so he had a much better chance of persuading Chen Mo to be lenient than if the family’s actual elders came to plead the case.
While Chen Mo and Li Gang were speaking, Li Fengzhi was looking around the apartment.
She hadn’t once come over to see her daughter’s living situation since she had moved out.
Now that she had the rare opportunity to be here, she was naturally very curious about it.
Noticing Li Fengzhi looking around, Chen Mo said with a light chuckle, "Let’s not talk in the doorway. Please, both of you, come in for some tea."
Li Gang and Li Fengzhi had originally only come to take Su Yuqing to the police station to talk to Li Tie.
They hadn’t intended to stay for long.
But now that Li Fengzhi wanted to see her daughter’s living space, she readily agreed.
As the couple entered, they were reminded of the security footage they had seen at the police station.
This very doorway was where Chen Mo and Li Tie had fought. There was even a small, noticeable dent in the door where a head had slammed against it.
When they reached the living room, they were surprised to find that although only two young people lived here, the apartment was kept very clean.
It smelled very pleasant as well.
From the living room, Li Fengzhi’s eyes immediately fell on Chen Mo’s bedroom.
She glanced toward the bedroom.
Chen Mo knew what she was thinking. He smiled and said, "Would you like to see Yuqing’s room?"
"Yuqing’s room?"
Li Fengzhi was taken aback. She had simply assumed this boy had lured her daughter away and that they were already sleeping together.
As the implication sank in, a wave of relief washed over her, and her opinion of Chen Mo instantly improved.
’So they’re living in separate rooms.’ This showed that the young man was respectable and had a sense of propriety.
He hadn’t taken advantage of the situation as she had expected.
When an unmarried young man and woman live under the same roof, it wouldn’t be surprising if something happened. She never expected their living arrangement to be so platonic.
Upon entering Su Yuqing’s room, she saw a high-end silk comforter on the bed. The room was tidy and clean, and she could instantly recognize traces of her daughter’s daily life and her particular way of arranging things.