IPMH Chapter 3

S-city, 9 am.

When Yu Feng woke up from his head and saw a glass of water on his bedside table, he immediately took a sip to soothe his dry throat.

His hangover was an uncomfortable experience, but Yu Feng was already used to it. After all, a hangover was better than a night filled with nightmares.

His mobile phone buzzed from the living room table. He lifted the quilt and left the bedroom barefoot.

“Hey?”

His secretary Wen had called early in the morning. “Boss, ten o’clock court hearing, are you up?”

Hearing those words, Yu Feng’s eyebrows furrowed and his heart started to race. He rubbed his forehead and said sourly. “I got up, I’ll be there on time.”

10 am, S-city Supreme People’s Court.

The case in court today was for murder.

The plaintiff was representing Yu Feng on behalf of Mr. Yu Yingfan, the president of a popular gaming company who was killed in his home in early April.

The defendant was his step-mother, Ms. Tang Yujun.

“I didn’t kill Yu Yingfan! He committed suicide, he said sorry for me and my sister and killed himself out of guilt!” The accused handcuffed to the chair fervently pleaded not guilty during the interrogation.

Yu Feng was sitting in the plaintiff’s side seat, he looked particularly resentful seeing his mother of more than twenty years. The other party also looked like she wanted to pounce and strangle Yu Feng.

The lawyer started to speak. “Your Honor, the night before the murder, Mr. Yu Yingfan confirmed the next day’s trip to Germany with his secretary. He was preparing for an important meeting in an attempt to gain cooperation with his company next year. All the signs indicated that Mr. Yu Yingfan was passionate about life with careful planning, there is no possibility of suicide.”

Tang Yujun did not wait for the judge to signal before yelling. “It was because he suddenly learned something and was stimulated!”

The plaintiff’s lawyer immediately asked, “What did Mr. Yu Yingfan know?”

The previously hysterical lady had nothing to say towards this question as if her voice was lost.

The lawyer continued. “Your Honor, here is some of the evidence that my client has obtained. He wants to sue Ms. Tang Yujun because twenty-six years ago she killed Mr. Yu Yingfan’s first wife, Ms. Tang Wanjun, her biological sister and the plaintiff Yu Feng’s biological mother.”

The whole court was in a frenzy. The audience members were surprised by the defendant’s inhumanity.

Sitting in the plaintiff’s seat, Yu Feng felt bone-chilling pain surrounding his body like coiling snakes.

“Mr. Yu?” His lawyer noticed something was strange and asked in concern.

Yu Feng took out a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead then shook his head. “I’m all right, you continue.”

The case today lasted more than three hours due to the inclusion of the older case. The secretary found his boss looked very pale as if he was about to collapse.

“Boss, how long has it been since you ate?” He was very worried. “I’ll go with you to get something to eat.”

“No, I can’t eat. Send me home.” Yu Feng answered.

At the courthouse gate, a white-haired, elderly couple stood with their arms supporting each other with tears in their eyes.

When they saw Yu Feng, they immediately accosted him. “Yu Feng, let your mother off, she still has years left to live! Can’t you just let her go?”

He looked at them and responded, “My mother died more than twenty years ago, killed by her own sister.”

After he spoke, he and his secretary left the crying couple behind.

“Some parents really don’t deserve to be parents.” The good-natured Wen upon seeing that scene could not help but bite out, “If they had not been so eccentric, they would not have raised such a selfish, self-centered eldest daughter…”

It was a terrible tragedy. Yu Feng looked up into the blue May sky above S-city and said nothing.

Sending Tang Yujun to prison was his thought-out decision. Now that it was all over, the wounds in his heart needed to heal slowly.

Back in his apartment, he took a bath, didn’t eat anything, turned off his phone and laid in bed to rest.

Meanwhile, at noon, Su Xing drove a tricycle filled with things and sauntered home.

He drove the tricycle into the yard and went upstairs with the fresh ingredients that needed refrigeration. He noticed that the owner was still sleeping which was normal after all that drinking.

On the second trip, Su Xing put the rice upstairs and also cooked some with his small rice cooker.

When the rice was cooked, he drained the water from the fried tofu pieces with meat that was almost done.

Su Xing thought for a bit, then took out leek and a packet of cornflour, ready to finish up.

Originally, Su Xing wanted to add two spicy packets to add some flavor to this home-cooked tofu and make it more appetizing.

But….

He was a bleeding heart, considering the house owner’s hangover, long-term drinking and smoking habits, his stomach would certainly not be good, unsuitable for spicy foods.

After half an hour, Su Xing’s home-made green onion, meat with tofu, the sweet and refreshing dish was finished.

He divided it in half and filled a bowl of rice in a red-brown wooden lunch box. He went towards the connecting wall between the cloakroom and gym to find a lock.

Su Xing carefully opened the lock, moved the small door of around thirty centimeters to see a screen of black. He hesitantly put the box inside and watched it disappear.

“…….” Su Xing locked the door and immediately ran through the house looking for the box.

He finally found the missing food box on the floor between the living room and kitchen. Su Xing walked over and opened the box, the food was still food, delicious and hot. The only difference was that this food could now be enjoyed by the owner’s side.

Su Xing placed the food in the bedroom and then left. Because he had not yet eaten, his stomach was protesting.

After eating at the owner’s table, Su Xing packed up the dishes and prepared to clean the yard on the first floor. A third of the yard was built with a well under it. In the morning, Su Xing checked the well to find that the handle was broken so he needed a replacement.

He searched inside a pile of mixed things inside to find a new well handle. He grabbed a pair of pliers, carefully studied the mechanism for a while before successfully installing the new handle.

Because he could not bring out water from the second floor, Su Xing could only take out a bucket from the tricycle and haul water from the nearby river. He pumped the handle on the well so that air pressure would suck up water from under the well.

This way after repeatedly spilling out water, Su Xing finally felt the handle catch and unclear water came gushing out. Su Xing smiled and held the bucket to be filled.

The water soon flowed to the rest of the yard, just in time to wash the dirty cement floor. A while after, Su Xing felt tired to death but the well water had only cleared up a little. He quickly picked up the bucket of water ready for his next use.

After washing his dishes and kitchenware several times with well water, Su Xing brought them upstairs. Then he came down with rolled-up sleeves to clean the yard. There was a pile of leftover leaves and branches, some of which had expanded under the water and was easy to shovel with tools.

On the second floor, Yu Feng was stuck in a dream of being suffocated by Tang Yujun in the swimming pool as a child. Unable to breathe, surrounded by cold water, Yu Feng woke up painfully with these feelings.

He sat on the bed and took deep breaths. He would no longer ask painfully in the past why a mother could be so vicious to her children. Now that everything has been resolved, he believed that he would slowly escape future torments from nightmares.

“Huh?” There was an unfamiliar food box on Yu Feng’s bedside table.

He frowned but then thought it was Secretary Wen who had come. Since he woke up hungry, he did not think much further and got up to eat. He opened the lunch box at the table to see two light home-cooked dishes that were still steaming hot.

Judging from his previous experience of eating takeaway, this lunch did not have a hint of marketing from the cutlery to the container to the food. But it smelled good.

Yu Feng had not eaten for a night and a day. He would not think too deeply faced with the smell of delicious food. He scooped up some rice and tender tofu.

It had to be said that Yu Feng was actually a little surprised at the delicious taste from the start.

As the boss of a popular gaming company, he had eaten many fine dishes over the years and had always felt that those expensive foods were delicious and could not get enough.

But in front of this ordinary home cooking, although there was nothing amazing, there was an indescribably comforting taste as he ate one mouthful after another.

Yu Feng had not eaten such an appetizing meal for a long time. He was satisfied with the silky sweet taste of the bright yellow small cabbage, he unknowingly ate most of the dish.

For a grown man, especially one who had been hungry for a day, these two dishes with a bowl of rice were not enough to fill his stomach. Yu Feng ate until his chopsticks had nothing to grab.

He was not yet satisfied so he called Wen and said, “Pei Wen, what’s with the food you ordered for me? There’s only enough to feed a cat or a rabbit.”

Secretary Wen who received his boss’s phone call could only say, “Boss…you are mistaken, I didn’t order a meal for you.”

Yu Feng responded, “Who ordered it then?”

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