Song Qingchun knew that snooping through other people’s stuff without permission was unethical, but after a moment of hesitation, she still grabbed the box with the familiar packaging.
The box was wrinkled like it had been soaked in water… but it seemed unopened.
Song Qingchun held the box in her hands and studied it several times. The longer she stared at it, the greater the sense of familiarity, like she had seen it somewhere before. However, no matter how hard she tried, she could not find it in her memory.
Song Qingchun lowered her head and was ready to place the box back into the basket when she saw a colorful shirt inside the basket. She knew it was a shirt Su Zhinian would wear, but it was smudged with color dyes. The man with the cleanliness obsession had probably shoved it in here to throw it away later.
But why did she feel those colored dyes look so familiar?
Song Qingchun lifted the shirt up, and in that moment, a piece of paper fluttered out from within. Song Qingchun lowered her head to look at it unconsciously. It was a plane ticket. She picked it up and noticed it was a plane ticket from Japan to Beijing.
Japan to Beijing?
Something clicked in Song Qingchun’s heart, and she turned to look at the date. The date was the same as the day she returned from Japan to Beijing. Not only that, it was the same flight as well!
Song Qingchun’s dark pupils widened with shock. Then she remembered Cheng Qingchong calling her when she was travelling at Japan to see whether she had seen Su Zhinian… Could it be that Su Zhinian was actually in Japan when they were all looking for him? But why would he be in Japan? Is it for…
Song Qingchun stopped her mind from completing the thought. Her brain was a mess of information. Her fingers that held the ticket even started to shake. After a long time, as if she had just remembered something, she suddenly stood up, grabbed the soaked box, Su Zhinian’s shirt, and the plane ticket, and raced out of his house. She hailed a cab and headed home.
…
The car stopped at the Song family home. Song Qingchun searched for the house key as she ran toward the front door. There was too much rubbish inside her bag, causing her much difficulties in searching for the keys. In the end, she gave up and slammed on the door instead.
It was her sister-in-law, Fang Rou, who opened the door. She was significantly surprised when she saw the state Song Qingchun was in and asked with concern, “Qingchun, what’s wrong with you? Why are you in such a state?”
“It’s nothing.” Song Qingchun brushed her off and rushed upstairs without taking off her shoes. She ran into her own bedroom and dropped the stuff on her bed. Then, she ran into her closet and started to rummage through it. From the bottommost drawer, she pulled out a white cotton dress.
Song Qingchun placed the dress on the bed and placed Su Zhinian’s shirt next to it.
The dye on the dress and the dye on Su Zhinian’s shirt were similar!
No wonder she felt Su Zhinian’s shirt was so familiar. So, he was the one who saved her when she was robbed at Japan!
Therefore, her speculation earlier was right. Su Zhinian followed her to Japan after he found out she was going there!