When A Snail Falls In Love

Chapter 68.3

Several months later, the pair once again attended a cocktail party. There were already people asking them when the wedding would be.

Every time this happened, Feng Ye would look at Yao Meng and smile without saying anything. At first, Yao Meng would turn away wordlessly. Later, she began to clasp Feng Ye's hand and give a slight smile, while her face turned red.

When autumn arrived, so did Feng Ye's birthday. Yao Meng prepared a dinner party for him that was definitely not magnificent, but was amply sweet and warm.

She held it at her home, and invited the schoolmates and friends they had in common. The entire evening, she clung to Feng Ye's side like a helpless little bird (小鸟依人 – lit. like a bird relying on people; fig. cute and helpless-looking).

That night, Feng Ye was the most impressive, most admired man in the room. His sullied reputation had been restored to snowy innocence, and his past sweetheart had been restored to his side. At the end of the evening, no one knew who it was who first started the uproar, but everyone present clustered around the two of them, chanting in unison: "Get married! Get married! Get married!"

When Feng Ye pulled out a ring from his pocket, and knelt before her on one knee, Yao Meng had some misgivings, as she had never thought that he would propose so quickly – even though she had already given countless hints.

This was running too far ahead of the plan she and Xu Xu had drawn up, but she could only go with the flow.

Actually, there was no need for pretense. When she saw Feng Ye kneeling before her, the memory of Lin Qingyan proposing to her came to mind, and her tears flowed uncontrollably.

Feng Ye smiled slightly as he looked at her. He did not get up, and there was an expression in his eyes that was disconcertingly hard to decipher.

At first, their friends continued with the uproar, teasing her for crying tears of joy. However, as she continued to cry more and more fiercely, they realised that something was odd, and looked at each other in blank dismay.

"I'm sorry . . ." She uttered the only sincere words she had said to Feng Ye for a long time, "I can't marry you. I can't marry you, because I still can't forget that person. That angel, that devil, that man who was once my husband."

A while later on that night, when all the guests had dispersed, Feng Ye walked into Yao Meng's bedroom.

She had cried until her eyes were swollen. Her back was towards him as she said, in a cold and detached tone, "I'm sorry. Let's break up."

Behind her, there was silence for a long time, before Feng Ye rasped: "Xiao Meng, he murdered many girls, he is totally undeserving of your love."

Yao Meng turned and looked at him, and spoke the cruelest words: "It was only today, when I saw you proposing, that I understood – no one else could evoke such emotions in me, only he alone. Feng Ye, I'm sorry, you cannot take his place, he is the only one. Right now, the only thought I have, is that I would be willing to pay any price, if only he could come back to life, and I would forgive him. His having killed so many people is of no concern . . ."

Feng Ye's expression underwent a succession of changes. Rage, ridicule, and finally, the icy mask of a smile. He turned and strode out.

Yao Meng was kidnapped by Feng Ye about half a month later.

Actually, it could not be considered a real kidnapping, as she was wearing a tracking device as well as a miniature camera. Furthermore, there were countless highly experienced criminal investigators watching over her from afar.

When Feng Ye invited her to meet him for coffee, he drugged her. Before she lost consciousness, Yao Meng saw him placing a white necklace around her neck. Dimly, she could see that the necklace was made of small, white beads strung together. The beads were of a dull white colour, and somehow seemed familiar.

She mistily realised what they were, but had no strength to take the necklace off.

Later, when Feng Ye was finally brought to trial, the necklace became the most conclusive evidence of him having murdered more than thirty victims.

Feng Ye's car was surrounded on all sides by the police just before he reached the airport. In that instant, he gazed at Yao Meng in his arms, and seemed to realise only then that it had all been a show. The probing with the dolls had been part of a plan. The steady building up (细水长流 – lit. thin streams flow forever, fig. to work steadily at something little by little) of affection had been part of a plan. The refusal of his proposal in front of a crowd, causing him to be thoroughly discredited (颜面扫地 – lit. for one's face to reach rock bottom, fig. to be thoroughly discredited), was part of a plan. Even those harsh words – 'you cannot take the place of Lin Qingyan' – had been part of a plan.

When the police arrested Feng Ye on kidnapping charges, it was entirely reasonable for them to search all the properties under his name at the same time. Finally, in a gloomy secret underground room, they discovered the photographs and possessions of countless victims.

This most cruel and clever murderer, who had used two other psychopathic killers as stepping stones, had finally, unguardedly, stepped into the snare set by the person he loved.

When all the dust had settled, Xu Xu and Ji Bai visited Yao Meng.

After Feng Ye's arrest, Yao Meng had remained in seclusion, politely refusing the request of both media and friends to visit her.

When Xu Xu and Ji Bai walked in, Yao Meng was sitting under the grapevine in the garden, staring blankly into the distance. Her expression was quiet and calm, but she had become noticeably thinner.

Yao Meng smiled as she asked how their baby was doing, and also asked after her former colleagues at the station. She did not say a single word about Feng Ye.

As she did not raise the issue, Xu Xu also did not inquire.

When it was time for them to leave, Ji Bai went first, walking in front, while Yao Meng lingered at the back with Xu Xu as they said their farewells. She smiled faintly as she said: "Xu Xu, thank you, and please thank our colleagues at the station on my behalf. It was your meticulous planning, coupled with your accurate grasp of Feng Ye's psychology, which provoked him to make his move against me, thus revealing his true colours (露出马脚 – to reveal the cloven foot; to unmask one's true nature). I'm feeling good, really good. To put such a person behind bars makes me feel as if my life has not been that disastrous."

Xu Xu was silent the entire time, until they left the house, and she was sitting with Ji Bai in the car. When Ji Bai noticed her solemn expression, he ruffled her hair and asked: "What are you thinking about?"

Xu Xu replied: "I didn't tell Yao Meng that Feng Ye did not intend to kill her that day."

From Feng Ye's car, the police had retrieved both Feng Ye and Yao Meng's passports, tickets for an international flight, and a ring.

Xu Xu said: "We wrongly estimated Feng Ye's mentality. When Yao Meng thoroughly rejected him, and said those words, he really did not bear a grudge against her . . . he loved her even more, and wanted even more to possess her. Perhaps, subconsciously, he thought that if Yao Meng could forgive Lin Qingyan, she could also forgive him."

Ji Bai: "So what?"

Xu Xu nodded: "You're right, so what? I think it's right not to tell Yao Meng. This person cannot harm Yao Meng anymore, nor can he harm anyone else."

Both of them looked out of the window at the fresh, clear sky, and the tranquil sunlight. The tremendous turbulence (风波 – wind and waves – disturbance, storm) that Tan Liang, Lin Qingyan and Feng Ye had brought to Lin City, the case within a case, plot within a plot, had finally died down into a calm peace. It was only to be hoped that there would be peace from now onwards, without another occurrence of such stormy waves (惊涛骇浪 – terrifying waves, a stormy sea), that every life would be treasured. Moreover, that the souls which had been lost and tormented in the darkness, would one day also find release into the light of day.