Kiwi Beyond the Cage 011

**Knife in the Fog (V)**

“……”

What a tragic life Meng Qingde had.

Among the four children of the Meng family, she was the only girl. The love from her parents and brothers always came with a price tag; what they wanted was never a daughter or sister, but a docile pawn they could manipulate at will.

In the eyes of her family, what was she?

A disposable pawn.

Whether she was used for a political marriage, as a plaything, or as a costly gift, as long as she could bring profit to the Meng family, no one cared if she lived or died.

Sheng Linrong’s appearance was the final straw that plunged her into hell, and she had no reason not to clutch it.

Sheng Linrong said: It wasn’t a political marriage, it was love.

Sheng Linrong said: Every day after marriage was like being in the heat of love.

Sheng Linrong also said: Don’t listen to others’ nonsense. He did have a girl he liked when he was young, but they didn’t end up together. There was no lingering obsession. The past didn’t matter; what mattered was now, it was them.

Meng Qingde believed it all.

She was starved for love, yearning for redemption, but she wasn’t so base as to beg for someone’s love. If Sheng Linrong’s act hadn’t been so convincing that even he believed it, Meng Qingde wouldn’t have thrown herself into the trap, suffering unbearably.

Sheng Linrong did love her once.

For a brief moment—a year at most… or perhaps less, before he grew tired.

In the eyes of her lover, what did she become?

A voluntary prisoner in a cage, a cheap ornament without dignity.

Had she never received genuine affection, Meng Qingde could have endured her husband’s infidelity. But when she regarded Sheng Linrong as her husband, her savior, his abandonment was a death blow. To win back his heart, she was willing to sacrifice everything.

Her abject concessions only emboldened Sheng Linrong’s recklessness.

The life she offered for his child met with Sheng Linrong’s indifference.

When she became sharp and resolute, trying to salvage their shattered marriage, all she received were insults and quarrels. The so-called “home” turned into a battlefield where husband and wife faced each other like enemies. What became of the child then?

A nuisance, forced to absorb the negative emotions of adults.

So, what did she become in Sheng Long’s eyes?

“Where are you?”

“Tell me, where are you?!!” Ji Wei’s voice in the receiver was urgent and trembling, as if she were running.

Meng Qingde couldn’t help but smile. At this moment, the person who cared about her most was the one she hated the most. But reflecting on her own actions, what right did she have to hate Ji Wei?

“Do you hate me?” Meng Qingde suddenly wanted to know what kind of person she was in Ji Wei’s eyes.

Ji Wei answered without hesitation: “No.”

Meng Qingde was stunned.

Ji Wei spoke between gasps, “My brother told me you’re just a stranger.”

Perhaps in her childhood, Ji Wei had hated Meng Qingde, not understanding her targeting and insults, resenting her indifferent旁观. But once she regarded Meng Qingde as a stranger, those emotions vanished.

Just a stranger who didn’t like her—ignore her. Any feelings, whether love or hate, were a disgrace to herself.

As a stranger, Meng Qingde had every reason to stand by and watch her perish; she had the right to let her sink into the mire and走向destruction.

“So that’s how it is.”

Meng Qingde understood.

Ji Wei had run out of the hospital, “Where on earth are you…”

It wasn’t that she cared about Meng Qingde’s death; no matter how惨she died, Ji Wei wouldn’t be sad. But she couldn’t die in this way.

Already dreading what was to come, Ji Wei felt hopeless to save her, “No matter what Sheng Long has told you, don’t you dare to…”

“I have no choice.”

Gazing at the camera on the stand, Meng Qingde slowly lowered her arm, “Every year on your birthday, I’ve been cursing you to vanish and die miserably, and I’ve never given you anything.”

“Ji Wei.”

“This time, I’m giving you a birthday gift.” No, it’s two.

Beep beep—

The call disconnected.

Ji Wei, still in her hospital gown, stood there dazed.

The July summer was clamorous, the cicadas’ helpless screams piercing the eardrums, as if enduring the torment of the scorching sun.

Escaping the air-conditioned room, a blast of searing heat hit her. Yet Ji Wei shivered with cold.

“Wei Wei.” Someone stopped in front of her.

A towering figure blocked the sunlight, casting a shadow over her. He cupped Ji Wei’s face, his cool fingers like a popsicle in the heat, and asked anxiously, “Why are you out here?”

Ji Wei was forced to lift her face, her eyes reddened with emotion.

“You know where she is, don’t you,” Ji Wei clutched Sheng Long’s sleeve, her voice tinged with excitement, “You must know where Meng Qingde is!”

“Where have you hidden her, what are you going to do to her…”

Sheng Long’s lashes half-lowered, he held her hand, trying to soothe her, “Xiao Wei, calm down.”

Ji Wei couldn’t calm down, “Do you have any idea what you’re doing!”

“Sheng Long.” She called his name, meeting his clear, amber-like eyes, “Have you lost your mind…”

Sheng Long said, “I’m very clear-headed.”

“It’s you who’s ill.”

After receiving Meng Qingde’s call, Ji Wei couldn’t wait for the crowded elevator and sprinted down the stairs. Seeing the fine beads of sweat on her forehead, Sheng Long raised his hand to wipe them away, “Go back inside.”

He softened his tone, “Your illness isn’t cured yet.”

Since Ji Wei fell ill, during her lucid moments, Sheng Long mostly dared not touch her, for fear of aggravating her condition. Now, face to face, Ji Wei, tearful, looked up at him, and Sheng Long was momentarily transported back in time, back to when they lived in the Sheng family home.

“Wei Wei…” Sheng Long lowered his head, gazing at her.

Ji Wei stood in his shadow, her pale face bloodless, her lips trembling faintly.

As she pushed Sheng Long away, an SUV screeched to a halt in front of them, “Ji Wei!”

The car door slammed shut, and Ou Yang Lin rushed to her side, “Nothing’s happened, right?”

Ji Wei lowered her face, shaking her head.

“Oh, thank goodness…” Ou Yang Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

The abrupt disconnection of the call, the countless failed callbacks, had raised alarm—she’d feared something had happened to Ji Wei. Confirming she was safe, Ou Yang turned to Sheng Long, dressed in formal attire, clearly just back from work. After a nod, she grasped Ji Wei’s hand, “You said on the phone…”

Ji Wei, in turn, held her wrist, “Have you found Meng Qingde?”

She was already aware of Meng Qingde’s disappearance.

Ou Yang shook her head, recalling the brief call, and lowered her voice, “Do you… know something?”

Ji Wei, avoiding Sheng Long’s gaze, uttered a soft affirmative.

Ou Yang Lin explained that after Meng Qingde vanished from the Sheng family villa, they reviewed numerous surveillance feeds, but found no trace of her.

Though the complex had four gates, they discovered an overgrown, muddy path littered with footprints—a path so obscure it barely qualified as such. Yet it led to a mountain forest. If Meng Qingde had fled via this trail, the risk of accident was high.

They followed the path, hopeful at first, only to uncover an unrelated burglary, wasting days of effort.

“Did you not search the villa more thoroughly?”

“Of course we did,” Ou Yang Lin opened the car door, gesturing Ji Wei in. “She vanished too cleanly. The first place we searched was the villa.”

The Sheng family villa was vast—an estate, really. They combed every room inside and out and even monitored it at night, persisting until the sixth day amidst accusations of incompetence from the Meng family.

Ji Wei, well-acquainted with the villa’s layout, understood their plight. “The villa’s structure is more complex than you can imagine.”

As she stepped into the car, someone seized her wrist from behind.

The person said nothing, only gripping her arm firmly. Ji Wei didn’t turn around, nor did she retract her foot already inside the car. The tension broke when Ou Yang Lin glanced back and raised an eyebrow, “Mr. Sheng?”

Staring at Ji Wei’s slender back, Sheng Long forced a indifferent smile, “I’m coming with you.”

Ou Yang frowned, “But—”

“It’s my family home.”

The SUV sped down the road. For a long while, the car was filled with oppressive silence.

Ji Wei mentioned the villa’s intricate design, with countless hidden rooms unforeseen by outsiders. She suspected Meng Qingde was still there, though she wasn’t certain.

Ou Yang Lin informed the team; Officer Wang had already arrived with his men, following Ji Wei’s leads.

Whether Ji Wei’s claims held truth, they had no choice but to investigate. Glancing into the rearview mirror, she observed the two in the backseat—Ji Wei hung her head in silent resolve, while Sheng Long sat calmly, his expression inscrutable.

Ji Wei’s actions were a slap in Sheng Long’s face.

As the villa’s owner, he’d provided no useful information to the police in all these days. Now, he relied on his girlfriend to lead the police back to his home in search of Meng Qingde. If she were truly there, how would he explain it?

At a red light, Ou Yang Lin tapped the steering wheel, growing more convinced the couple wasn’t romantically involved. At least the lucid Ji Wei still harbored aversion toward Sheng Long, perhaps even… fear.

With clearance, Ou Yang Lin drove straight into the villa grounds.

The spots Ji Wei suspected had already been searched by Officer Wang—indeed, unexpected secret rooms filled with paints and brushes. Without food or water, survival for six days was impossible.

“All… nothing?” Ji Wei whispered, could she truly be gone?

Where else could she be?

In the distance stood a massive double-layered glass greenhouse, its interior decayed and muddied, a scene of utter desolation as if it had weathered a battle, abandoned for years.

No matter how devastated its interior, its exterior remained stunning. Specialty colored glass shimmered under the sun, casting fleeting sparks that occasionally blinded the eye.

Ji Wei, about to speak, was interrupted when Sheng Long suddenly grasped her hand.

An unrefusable interlock of fingers, Sheng Long looked toward the glass greenhouse and answered for her, “I thought of a place too.”

The greenhouse, its basement.

In the windowless room, shrouded in perpetual darkness and dampness, piles of frames, pigments, and countless discarded paintings lay in disarray.

The police had searched here before, but the greenhouse’s door was locked from the outside, impossible for Meng Qingde to manage alone. If she had an accomplice, locking her inside this way meant they never intended for her to live.

A sense of dread welled in Ou Yang Lin’s heart, mirrored in Ji Wei.

Bang—

The greenhouse door was thrust open, sending dust swirling.

Pushing aside the walls covered in dead leaves, Sheng Long leisurely found the basement entrance, reassuring the tense group with confidence, “If she’s hiding here, she’s likely still alive.”

The basement entrance opened, “After all—”

“There’s food and water inside, enough to last six months.” Left over from his youth.

A group of police officers charged in first.

The pungent mix of blood and paint hit Ji Wei before she even stepped into the basement, and she already sensed death.

“Wei Wei,” Sheng Long enfolded her in his arms.

Up close, Ji Wei heard his steady heartbeat, showing no significant emotional fluctuations, “Happy birthday.”

The third birthday gift was complete.