It’s Him – Ch03

He is truly a good person

When her son’s phone rang, Teacher Zhao’s ex-wife was still playing Mahjong.

She was just one “Four-Wan” away and was about to win.

“Qin Jie, your phone is ringing.”

Qin Li glanced at it and saw it was her son. What could her son want?

She immediately said, “Don’t worry about it, keep playing, it’s your turn.”

“Four-Wan.”

Qin Li was overjoyed: “I’ve won, I’ve won!”

She picked up her tiles with a big smile, “See, aren’t these tiles impressive?”

The phone rang again, still her son.

Something was off. Her son, who usually followed her ex-husband and hated her bad temper, never called her twice in a row. Why would he call twice?

Only then did she pick up the phone.

“Son, what’s going on? I was busy just now, didn’t hear the phone ringing.”

“Mom, Dad hasn’t come back yet.”

“If he didn’t come back, he didn’t. He’s not a child. He must have something to do. Isn’t he busy at school?”

“It’s already eleven o’clock. I went to the school, and no one’s there. Mom, could you come home for a bit?”

“I’ll come in a moment.”

Qin Li was picking up her tiles, and this hand was quite good. She was in no mood to go just yet.

Her son was still talking: “Hurry and come. I’m afraid something happened to him…”

“You should give me time to come over by car.” Qin Li said.

Only then did her son stop insisting.

Qin Li hung up and decided to finish this round before checking on her son.

She had a very good impression of her ex-husband. Before they got together, he had a very good temper, never got angry, and always handled everything gently.

Back then, she had a father who always scolded and hit her, so she was determined to never marry a man with a temper like her father. That’s why she chose this man.

After they got married, things were still fine. They both had jobs, and when she had a temper, he didn’t say anything, patiently waiting for her to vent.

Everyone in the neighborhood said she was lucky to have found such a good man.

But later, things started to change. This man had no temper, which made her, as a partner, more prone to irritation.

It was still okay until she had a son.

Her son… as people online would say, was a high-demand baby, almost unable to fall asleep on his own. He had to be rocked and held, or he would cry nonstop.

Neither of them had an elder to help with the child. Her parents were biased, and his parents were both dead. They were both poor and couldn’t afford a nanny.

At that time, her ex-husband was working, and she was taking care of the baby alone. After a whole day, she couldn’t sleep for more than an hour. She was losing her mind.

She, a woman raised in a family that valued boys over girls, found that those were the hardest, most exhausting times of her life.

She could only discuss it with her husband: “Having a child is not like before. Can you come home earlier? You have classes at night, but at least let someone help look after the baby. I don’t expect much help during the day, but at least at night, come back and help me with the baby so I can sleep a bit.”

Her husband remained his usual mild self, neither agreeing nor refusing. He just held the baby and rocked him to sleep.

Her son, for some reason, stopped crying when he was held by his father. Even though she took care of him more, the baby always cried more in front of her. But when her husband held him, he stopped crying.

That scene hurt her deeply.

In that moment, she even regretted having such a burden as a child. She wished she could just strangle him!

The next day, even though her husband had no classes in the afternoon or evening, he said the teaching research group had a dinner and that he had to go.

Her husband was forced to attend the dinner. She got up to cook an egg but didn’t notice the water in the living room. She slipped and fell, unable to move due to the pain, lying on the floor gasping for air. The anger inside her was enough to destroy the world.

Just then, her son, who had just fallen asleep, started crying again. His sharp cries made her want to kill herself for giving birth to such a child.

That day, she, fueled by rage, took her constantly crying son to her ex-husband’s workplace and yelled at all his colleagues. According to others, she completely embarrassed herself.

From then on, everyone knew that Teacher Zhao had a temperamental wife, and people secretly said, “How could Teacher Zhao, with his good temper, marry such a tigress?”

She was not a good person either; she couldn’t stop arguing, and the man would always remain silent, letting her shout. She herself felt that her temper was growing bigger, like she was sinking into madness.

When her son turned four, something happened that ended her chaotic life.

She found out that her son, whom she had carried for ten months, ruined her career, made her cry every night, caused her to suffer from nervous exhaustion, and made her fight with the neighbors every day, had slashed a classmate’s hand with a knife.

Why?

“Because he didn’t listen to me,” the child said.

She suddenly realized that her temper had affected the child. Even though she had never hit him, she always yelled and argued, and the child followed her. If it continued like this, he would be ruined.

Her husband, still calm, apologized to the other parents, compensated for the medical fees, and calmly reasoned with the son.

Looking at her husband and son, she came to a conclusion: she had mental issues and wasn’t suited for marriage or motherhood. Instead of torturing each other, it was better to give father and son a peaceful life.

She divorced, and on that day, her son was visibly happy. Young children couldn’t hide their emotions and only knew that the tigress at home was finally leaving.

Later, reflecting on it, she realized it was her fault. Her mental state wasn’t right at that time, and she wasn’t a qualified mother. That’s why she didn’t fight for custody when she divorced.

They divorced, but Qin Li knew it was her problem. She had to admit that her ex-husband was a truly good person. He never criticized her in front of others and often let their son visit her.

Qin Li thought too much. In the end, she didn’t continue playing Mahjong. She decided to check on her son first.

“Qin Jie, you can’t win and run away, you know.”

“My ex-husband might be in trouble. I’ll go check on him. You all play on.”

“You’re still calling him your ex-husband? If something really happens to him, shouldn’t you be celebrating?”

“My ex-husband is a true good person. If something happens to him, I won’t just be unhappy. I’ll cry.”

When she arrived at her ex-husband’s home, her son was speaking with the police. Two officers stood at the door, taking notes.

“Mom—” As soon as her son saw her, he rushed over.

The police also approached, asking her about the situation, then told her, “It’s still within 48 hours, so we can’t open a case yet. But we will send some officers to look for him.”

Qin Li nodded, understanding, and her son immediately said, “Isn’t that enough?”

He pulled out his phone, showing a sketch of a face. Qin Li could clearly see that it looked exactly like her ex-husband.

“Look at this. Someone’s spreading rumors online saying my dad is the serial killer. Now that my dad is missing, something must have happened to him.”

The police took the phone and quickly looked at it. After a while, one said, “We are aware of this. We’ll contact the cyber police to see if we can trace the person who posted this and find out what happened. We’ll notify you if there’s any news.”

Her son kept talking: “It must be someone playing a prank. They made a sketch of my dad, and now people believe he’s the killer. It must be them who kidnapped him.”

Qin Li watched along, growing more incredulous. Her ex-husband, whatever else could be said, a serial killer? That was absolutely impossible. She even felt that, compared to her ex-husband, she seemed more like the killer. She asked, “No one would believe this, would they?”

The police, unsure, said, “We’ll check the surveillance. If he returns, we’ll contact you.”

After the police left, the house was left with just the mother and son. Qin Li felt a bit awkward and said, “I’ll make some dumplings for you.”

Her son shook his head: “I can’t eat. Mom, Dad’s temper, how could he offend anyone? It must be because of the sketch.”

Qin Li nodded and said, “Don’t worry. The police are checking the surveillance, right? There are cameras everywhere now. They’ll know soon enough who did it. Your dad will be fine.”

Such a good person, how could anything happen to him?

This was the truth. Every year when students graduated, her ex-husband would receive gifts from a bunch of students, and many would even shed tears.

“You go rest for a while. I’ll wait here for your dad to come back.”

“I can’t sleep.” Her son sat beside her, his head hanging, lost in worry.

Qin Li patted his head, feeling for the first time how much her son needed her. When she was younger, due to postnatal depression, she hadn’t been close to her son. But now, her son relied on her as though he was sharing all his emotions with her through their blood.

It was a strange feeling.

She patted her son’s head, and her heart overflowed with tenderness.

She called an old client, rescheduled an appointment, and took a day off tomorrow to stay with her son.

She felt that everything would be fine.

Her ex-husband was a genuinely good person.

No one would really harm him.

——————

In the same city, in a basement, there was a pungent smell of rotten vegetable leaves mixed with food waste.

Normally, after being in an environment for a while, one becomes immune to the smell. But this sharp stench constantly tortured people.

The man’s eyes were forcefully held open with tape. His hands and feet were tied, and his mouth was stuffed with a stinky cloth.

In the darkness, the man seemed to try to break free, but he couldn’t, and every part of his body hurt.

His eyes had started to bleed. He tried hard to close his eyelids to give his eyes some relief, but it didn’t work. The more he tried, the more his eyelids hurt. The tape seemed to have been made of something that pinned his upper eyelids shut.

Footsteps echoed in the darkness, followed by a blinding light. His eyes involuntarily watered.

The person holding the flashlight was hidden behind it, but he could feel that the person was holding a metal rod. The rod dragged along the floor, creating a screeching sound.

The person was getting closer, almost right in front of him.

Upstairs, a lively voice could be heard.

“Mom! I’m home! What’s for dinner?”

———

—In the context of Mahjong, “four-wan” (四萬) refers to a tile in the game. Mahjong tiles are divided into three suits: Bamboo, Characters, and Circles. Each suit has numbered tiles, ranging from 1 to 9. “Wan” (萬) is the Character suit, and “four-wan” specifically refers to the tile with the number 4 in the Character suit.