Chapter 58:
It Wasn’t Like He Was a God
HE YU STOOD quite a way off from the commotion, at a rather distant corner, and no one really noticed him.
This tiny alley could hardly be considered a tourist spot or a viral place of interest, but it had been completely surrounded by an impenetrable mob, with many members of the crowd holding their cell phones aloft and raising a ruckus.
Meanwhile, Xie Qingcheng had returned by taxi to Moyu Alley just moments earlier.
Because his and He Yu’s shared fit of madness last night had dragged on for too long, by the time he woke up, it was no longer early. And with the argument, payment, and back-and-forth that had ensued afterward, the sky had already begun to darken by the time he made it back to Moyu Alley. On a normal day, everyone would already be at home eating dinner by now.
But that was not the case at Moyu Alley today.
When Xie Qingcheng drew closer, he found a group of civil police standing at the gates. They were preventing the throng of people holding up phones and taking photos and videos from entering the area.
Seeing that it was a one-way road, the taxi driver said, “I’ll have to park here.”
“Here is fine, thank you,” Xie Qingcheng replied as he paid the fare.
As soon as his long legs stepped out of the taxi, blinding flashes of white light filled his vision. For a second, he thought he must be feeling so terrible that his vision was blurring—only to realize that the lights were coming from the crowd, who were frantically snapping photos and videos of him while being held back by the police officers. With such an enthusiastic spectacle, someone not in the know might even think that some celebrity had arrived.
“It’s him!”
“Xie Qingcheng, could you tell us what the broadcasting tower murder case has to do with you?”
“Why would a criminal organization play videos of you? Why only you and not anyone else? Do you have some connection to Cheng Kang Psychiatric Hospital?”
“People on the internet are saying you were involved in the plan to imprison and molest mentally ill women. Aren’t you going to dispel the rumors?”
“Xie Qingcheng, why would you insult Professor Qin Ciyan? He was a national hero like no other! Do you have no conscience?! How can someone like you be a doctor, a teacher?! Go put yourself behind bars!”
Xie Qingcheng had already had a rough idea of the situation before he arrived. Thanks to the Huzhou University broadcasting tower case, his home had become an unfortunate epicenter of chaos. Someone had leaked and spread Xie Qingcheng’s home address online, so the little internet celebrities with their video cameras and bystanders with simple ideologies all began to show up like piranhas scenting blood, pouring into Moyu Alley in droves.
Not only had his house been defaced with paint, but his next-door neighbors had been affected too. Auntie Li had rushed outside to argue with them, but she had been recorded and the video had been subsequently spread online. The netizens said that she was Xie Qingcheng’s mom, just some harpy throwing a tantrum. Xie Xue had been smeared even more absurdly. People were claiming that she was Xie Qingcheng’s mistress, the “other woman.” The person who uploaded that video got a ton of views for it.
Later, Xie Xue had called the police in tears. Chen Man was among the police officers who arrived on the scene, and they chased all those people out of the alley. The ones making an especially big racket were taken directly to the police station to drink tea.
After that, some of the troublemakers stopped splashing paint and disturbing the residents, but a number of them stayed camped out by the gates. They knew that Xie Qingcheng would eventually come home, and look! Wasn’t he here right now?
“Get his picture!”
“Xie Qingcheng, look over here at the camera.”
Look, my ass. Xie Qingcheng ignored them completely as he slammed the car door, pulled aside the police cordon, and walked in with an aura befitting a VIP. As a result, the shabby little Huzhou taxi took on a quality akin to the luxury car of a mafia boss.
“Ge! Ge!”
It was surprisingly quiet in the alleyway. Xie Xue was sitting on a little stool in front of their house, but the moment she saw Xie Qingcheng, she jumped up and launched herself at him. Her velocity combined with her 45 kg body weight nearly broke Xie Qingcheng’s already painfully aching back, causing him to stumble back a few steps.
Ordinarily, her big brother could catch her with one hand and even spin her around several times with ease, but Xie Qingcheng couldn’t even handle her tackle hug now. Startled, Xie Xue looked up at him with puffy red eyes. “Ge, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“It’s nothing.” Xie Qingcheng coughed quietly. “I lost my footing.”
Chen Man also walked over. “Xie-ge.”
All their neighbors were gathered in the courtyard. The uncles and aunties were waving their palm-leaf fans, shooing away the mosquitoes and flies. They all turned to look at Xie Qingcheng when they saw him return, but no one spoke.
Dressed in a floral nightgown, Auntie Li was sitting beneath an old camphor tree, wiping her tears. She had gotten her shoes mixed up when she’d shoved her feet inside them in a hurry to shuffle out the door.
Xie Qingcheng, still holding Xie Xue, patted her on the head and back to console her, then looked around. Because of all the internet celebrities who had poured in earlier, the shabby but quietly elegant alleyway had been rendered a hideous mess. Uncle Liu’s flowerpots had been smashed, Auntie Zhao’s fence had been torn down, and even the doghouse for Mrs. Wang’s son’s husky had been flattened into a pile of wood by the crowd’s stampeding feet.