Chapter 74: Triggered

Chapter 74: Triggered

Shen Sui was pulled back once more into scenes from over a decade ago, each moment still vivid in her mind.

She couldn’t understand why she had been overwhelmed by such intense emotions at the time. Whether it was hatred, anger, or grievance, the feelings had been overwhelming, and even after so much time had passed, she still remembered the suffocating sensation that filled her chest.

Every day, she felt like she was screaming inside, but no one was listening. Ding Tao, however, paid no attention. To avoid her quarrels, he proactively chose to distance himself from her. The anger that had been ignored and left unresolved built up over time, growing stronger and more distorted, until it clouded her judgment completely, leading her to utter vicious words.

Even though she knew it was wrong, the only way she could describe it was as if she were under some kind of spell. Once someone acts on impulse, they often head straight for the worst possible outcome, without thinking about the consequences.

She couldn’t help but think that if Ding Tao had properly comforted her, showing enough respect to allow her to vent her frustrations, perhaps nothing would have happened.

But that wasn’t the case. All the regrets and what-ifs had shaped today’s outcome, as if it were a predestined retribution.

Shen Sui was overwhelmed by those chaotic thoughts, her face a mix of tears and laughter, when He Jueyun asked, "Did you really hate Dong Xuanxuan living in your house so much? If you truly did, you could have rejected him or spoken up. Or are you saying that the one most at fault was a five-year-old child with no capacity for action?"

Shen Sui gave a bleak smile and said, "Every woman would hate having a man in the house who likes to make decisions on his own. What is a home? It’s a group composed of our own people. Dong Xuanxuan wasn’t my son; he was proof of my husband’s betrayal. Why should I accept him? Do you men think that as long as you hold enough authority in the family, your wives will just accept it?"

Pressing her chest, struggling to breathe, she continued, "It’s impossible! If you hate someone, no matter how long you live with them, you’ll still hate them! You can’t get used to it!"

He Jueyun said, "Then you should hate your husband."

"But he’s my family! I treat him as family!" Shen Sui exclaimed emotionally, "When you resent someone, there’s no logic to it. Why do you think I would be rational when it comes to emotions? So I hated Dong Xuanxuan! The better Ding Tao treated him, the more I hated him. The more sensible he appeared, the more praise he received, the more I despised him!"

He Jueyun was shaken by her intensity, unable to connect her with the soft, gentle woman from before. When pushed to her limits, she let out an overwhelming wave of negative emotions.

What would Ding Xihua have become, growing up with her like this every day?

He Jueyun asked dryly, "Is it just because he wasn’t your child?"

"Yes!" Shen Sui said quickly, "Because he came into my house without my permission! Because he got along with everyone and turned me into an outsider! An outsider! He ruined my life!"

Silence filled the interrogation room and the screening room.

Xie Qimeng became aware of heavy breathing and realized it was his own, quickly closing his mouth.

For some reason, hearing those words made him feel panicky. Qiong Cang had also come into his home suddenly, but they hadn’t gotten along.

That period felt so distant, almost strange, especially since Qiong Cang had only stayed at his house for a short time.

As Xie Qimeng reminisced, he noticed He Chuanzhou looking back at him. His piercing gaze caused Xie to tense up and swallow.

He Chuanzhou said, "Many people’s emotions are irrational, which is why it’s often impossible to pinpoint the motive behind a crime. Behind the cases, there are all sorts of ridiculous reasons. Being able to stay calm and control your emotions isn’t always a bad thing. Of course, having a keen sense of emotional perception is also a talent… well, the ability to work hard is also a valuable trait."

Xie Qimeng: "..." Why did it feel like the last sentence was something He Chuanzhou squeezed out just to comfort him?

·

After Shen Sui had cried for a while and gradually calmed down, He Jueyun continued to speak with her.

"What did you say to Ding Xihua back then?"

Mentioning her son, Shen Sui became downcast again. She felt as if she had sunk to the bottom of a valley, her voice growing ethereal.

"I knew a long time ago that Xihua wasn’t like other children. He rarely cried and wasn’t affected much by other people’s emotions. He was exceptionally smart, sensible, and independent. I thought these were virtues, that I had taught him well. I found him very mature for his age, already like a little adult when he was just a teenager."

"When Dong Xuanxuan suddenly appeared, I was completely dumbfounded. Xihua had to go to school, and Ding Tao wasn’t home during the day. Dong Xuanxuan hadn’t completed his paperwork yet, so he couldn’t attend kindergarten. Even with a nanny, I’d still see him frequently. He had many bad habits. His mother struggled financially and was too overwhelmed to give him the care he needed. She often scolded and hit him, but..."

Shen Sui bowed her head, her tears choking her once more.

"But he is completely different from Xihua. He’s extremely sensitive to other people’s emotions. When he sees me, he’s always cautious. Even though he knows I dislike him, yet..."

Shen Sui pressed her lips together and let out a bitter laugh.

"When he sees that I’m sad, he still comes over to comfort me. He smiles at me, hugs my legs, and brings me food. I never expected that the one who truly cared about me in this family would be him."

Dong Xuanxuan was always hovering around her, grinning foolishly with his cute face. He called her 'Mom Ding,' told her she looked pretty, and even mentioned how much he missed his own mother, though he said she was a good person and he wanted to go home.

What was so good about his mother? She was just as irresponsible as Shen Sui herself.

Because of his mother’s unpredictability, Dong Xuanxuan had learned from a young age not to do things that would hurt others and to please those flawed adults. Seeing him, Shen Sui realized what true maturity really was.

He Jueyun asked, "Then why did you still..."

"I don’t actually hate him. I just hate Ding Tao because he favored this son over me," Shen Sui covered her face with her hands, her voice cracked, barely audible through her sobs, "Ding Tao wouldn’t answer my calls. I thought Xihua was mature, so I would tell him to pass messages to his father, hoping he could help persuade him. I would complain to him, and when I was impulsive, I spoke without thinking, never imagining he would take it seriously."

Shen Sui looked dazed. "Back then, Xihua repeatedly asked me if Dong Xuanxuan’s disappearance would make our family return to normal. I always said yes. I told him, 'Your father is focused on him now, you shouldn’t see him as your brother.' And then..."

He Jueyun, seeing she couldn’t continue, finished the sentence for her. "Then he died not long after."

Shen Sui nodded.

Shen Sui would always remember the scene when she and Ding Tao rushed to the riverbank and saw Ding Xihua standing on the shore, watching coldly.

He furrowed his brows, not because of grief, but because of confusion. The children his age were already panicking, unable to speak clearly, and the girls were on the verge of fainting from crying.

In that moment, Shen Sui’s heart sank as she realized, without a doubt, that her son had killed Dong Xuanxuan.

An icy chill enveloped her entire body. She tried to open her mouth to speak but found herself unable to make a sound.

She slapped herself hard, realizing the grave mistake she had made, but she didn’t dare to say it out loud.

Shen Sui said, "Dong Xuanxuan was very obedient to him. He took the boy to a relatively hidden spot, but a villager who was fishing nearby saw them."

"Ding Tao had no choice. This was his only son, so he had to protect him. He had his lawyer bribe the villager. Since Ding Xihua was under fourteen, he wouldn’t face criminal charges even if the truth came out, and the villager had no evidence. So, the villager took the money and left."

At that time, Ding Xihua held her hand and asked, "Why was that person looking at me like that?"

His coldness and confusion terrified Shen Sui. This teenager didn’t understand what killing or death meant. As an adult, she knew, but she didn’t know how to explain it to Ding Xihua.

She grabbed Ding Xihua by the shoulders and told him he needed to act really sad, just like the other kids, and play the part of a normal person.

Ding Xihua asked her, "Aren’t I already a normal person?"

Shen Sui, on the verge of madness, felt like half a murderer herself. Every time she closed her eyes, Dong Xuanxuan’s face haunted her. She couldn’t believe that Ding Xihua had dared to do such a thing.

She had little resilience left, her voice slipping out of control as she blurted out, "You’re not!"

She had forgotten Ding Xihua’s reaction, but it must have been one of disappointment and sadness. He listened to her, sadly sending Dong Xuanxuan off, and never brought it up again. Like Dong Xuanxuan, he learned to read the room and please others.

"I hoped we could all forget about it, as if nothing had happened," Shen Sui’s eyes were unfocused, "But it’s so hard. I couldn’t. He noticed my wariness towards him."

That’s why Ding Xihua filled his room with photos—because the only normal family he knew now existed only in those pictures.

Clearly, his intention was to mend things, following the advice his mother had given him.

Shen Sui softly rested her head on the table and whispered, "I didn’t dare to talk to him like that anymore, or even casually speak to him. Fortunately, he started boarding at school. I thought I had finally moved on, that it was all behind us after twelve long years... I never expected it to start again."

He Jueyun took a deep breath and couldn’t help but shake his head. "He learned the worst lessons from both of you."

Hatred, malice, lies, coldness, selfishness, irresponsibility...

He was used by his mother and then cruelly abandoned, losing both his family and any chance to fit into this world.

Perhaps this is when he realized that personally taking a life wasn't the answer, and manipulating others' emotions became his twisted form of satisfaction. He found a twisted form of revenge in the pain and obsession of others.

He Jueyun checked the time and realized Dong Xuanxuan had died just two days before Ding Tao blocked the ambulance, leading to Hong Jun's wife missing her chance at rescue.

After losing his son, Ding Tao felt a dark impulse when he heard the ambulance driver calling for help for a pregnant woman. He refused to move, setting the stage for yet another tragedy.

He Jueyun set down the file, his emotions mixed, and said, "Shen Sui, you don't deserve to be a mother."

Shen Sui sobbed, "I know I was wrong, but I don't know how to fix it. What can I do?"

"What about Ding Tao? You killed him too," He Jueyun said, "Are you truly repentant? Or are you always looking for excuses to escape?"

Shen Sui looked up, her vision blurred, and gazed at him.

He Jueyun's low, steady voice, almost hypnotic, tugged at her fragile nerves.

"You killed his son and then him, and in the end, you didn't even leave him the truth. Shen Sui, can you live with that guilt?"

·

In the other room, Qiong Cang and Ding Xihua stared at each other in silence, the initial pleasantries long forgotten.

"Aren't you going to talk to me?" Ding Xihua asked.

"I was thinking about where to start," Qiong Cang randomly picked a topic, "How's your prison life?"

Ding Xihua smiled faintly. "Are you really that confident?"

"You've already lost. Aren't you enjoying your prison rehabilitation program?" Qiong Cang said.

"I may not have lost," Ding Xihua gestured arrogantly. "At most, I'll serve five or ten years. When I get out, I'll still be young. I'll use my time inside to reform, learn, and avoid repeating the same mistakes."

Qiong Cang nodded, finding it quite reasonable, and said, "If that's the case, how about I talk to you about my student?"

Ding Xihua laughed, leaned on the table, and made a serious expression to listen. "I've heard about it. I'm very interested."