Chapter 16: Are You Looking for a Job or Looking for Death?

In the early evening, the Shi family finished dinner. Shi Yi helped Zhang Ma clear the dishes and was just about to head back to her basement when she was suddenly blocked at the foot of the stairs by Shi Hang.

"Come with me."

Shi Hang's voice was extremely low, and his expression was so dark it seemed as if it were about to drip water.

Shi Yi did not know what had happened, but she nodded anyway, "Okay."

Shi Yi followed behind Shi Hang to the outside of the Shi Residence, where Shi Hang's black Maybach was parked at the entrance.

"Get in."

Shi Hang had his hands in his pockets and coldly spat out the two words.

"You... where are you taking me?"

"You'll know once you get in the car."

Shi Yi looked at Shi Hang's cold and rigid expression, which left no room for negotiation, so she had no choice but to pull open the car door and sit inside.

As night fell, the car drove south along a coastal highway.

Shi Yi sat in the back without saying a word. She really wanted to ask Shi Hang what exactly he was planning to do. Had she... done something wrong again these past few days to make him angry?

However, she understood Shi Hang's personality—even if she asked, he wouldn't tell her.

About an hour and a half later, the car turned into a remote village in the southern suburbs of Lanwan City and finally stopped in front of a house's courtyard beside a field ridge.

"Where... is this?"

Shi Yi was a bit bewildered; she did not recognize this place at all and was here for the first time.

Shi Hang did not answer her.

The next second, a "ding" sound was heard; the car doors locked, and the glass windows slowly rolled up.

Shi Yi's heart skipped a beat; she had an innate fear of such dark, enclosed spaces.

"What are you doing?!"

Shi Hang took his hand off the button and chuckled.

"What are you afraid of? Aren't there still lights outside?"

The "lights" Shi Hang referred to were merely a few faint rays of light shining through the windows of that house.

"Where exactly is this place?!" Shi Yi was getting a bit angry.

"Right, I forgot it's your first time here. This is the hometown of your Wang Yuanzhang. The Wang Yuanzhang from the orphanage, you remember her, right?"

Of course Shi Yi remembered.

Wang Yuanzhang from the orphanage was the only person, besides her grandmother, who had treated her with genuine kindness from childhood to adulthood. She cared for her, looked after her, and even liked and appreciated her from the bottom of her heart. During those years at the orphanage, it was only thanks to Wang Yuanzhang's protection that Shi Yi was able to grow up successfully.

"She doesn't know yet, does she, that you're back."

Shi Hang continued: "No, to be precise, she probably never knew that you had gone in..."

Shi Yi was instantly enraged. Wang Yuanzhang was the person she cared about most, and she gritted her teeth and said:

"Shi Hang, what on earth do you mean by this?!"

Back then, the Shi family wanted to frame Shi Yi for "negligent homicide" and make her go to prison for Shi Xi. Faced with meticulously forged evidence, the testimony of the entire family, and Su Yichen's betrayal, Shi Yi had almost no choice.

At the time, she only made one request—she could go to prison, but this matter had to be kept from Wang Yuanzhang.

Wang Yuanzhang was already advanced in age at the time and was about to retire. Moreover, her health was poor; she had heart disease, and if she found out about this, her body would not be able to take it, regardless of whether she believed her or not.

The Shi family promised her.

Thus, on the last day before she went to prison, Shi Yi personally said goodbye to Wang Yuanzhang, telling her that she was going to the United States to study medicine and that the Shi family had finally agreed to acknowledge her as their daughter and provided her with tuition.

Wang Yuanzhang believed it to be true, took Shi Yi's hand, and said with genuine emotion: "Xiao Yi, you are so promising! You must study hard in the United States, learn real skills, and become a good doctor in the future to save lives!"

"Heh, what do I mean?"

Shi Hang's cold words pulled Shi Yi back from her memories to reality. The next second, the car's screen suddenly turned on, displaying a video—it was a screen recording of a computer showing someone opening a browser, entering a recruitment website, and inputting their personal information.

And in the applicant name field, the words "Shi Yi" were clearly written.

"Shi Yi, can you tell me first, what do you mean by this?!"

Shi Yi's heart gave a violent jolt, "How... how did you find out..."

"How did I find out?" Shi Hang gave a cold sneer, "Heh, did you forget what I do for a living!"

Shi Yi's face turned pale, and she stammered: "Brother, I didn't mean to use your computer, I just wanted to... submit a resume."

"Submit a resume? Shi Yi, I kindly rescued you from the basement, hired doctors for you, and even arranged for you to stay in my room to recover because I was afraid Shi Xi would retaliate. Is this how you repay me?!"

Shi Hang suddenly raised his voice, shaking Shi Yi's heart until it began to tremble slightly.

She spoke in a panic, "I am very grateful that you saved me that day... but I really just wanted to, wanted to find a job. My phone can't access the internet, and my resume was torn up by Shi Xi..."

"I told you I would arrange a job for you! I even had Sun clear out an office for you! And the result?" Shi Hang curled his lips in a mocking smile, "You pull this on me, and it was that Su fellow who told me! Where do you expect me, as your brother, to put my face?"

Only then did Shi Yi realize that it was Su Yichen who had betrayed her again. Heh, she knew that nothing good ever came from encountering Su Yichen.

"Brother, I want to find my own job..."

"You want to find it yourself? Are you looking for a job or looking for death?!" Hearing Shi Yi still talking back, Shi Hang was furious, "Do you know what kind of place the Suozali Republic is? That place is hell, a living, breathing purgatory on earth!"

Shi Yi's gaze turned toward the car window and suddenly became somewhat desolate, not knowing what she was thinking... The next second, she curled her lips into a smile.

"I've already seen what purgatory is like... what does it matter if I go again?"

Hearing Shi Yi's words, Shi Hang's heart sank abruptly.

He did not know if Shi Yi was talking about the five years in prison or the full ten years in the orphanage; perhaps... it was both.

However, he quickly regained his composure.

Shi Hang had long expected that Shi Yi would not obediently listen and give up on the African Medical Team, which was why he had traveled so far to bring her to this place.

"Shi Yi, if you insist on going to your death, I won't stop you. However... I wouldn't mind opening the car door right now, going to Wang Yuanzhang's house for a visit, and having a chat with her, letting her know the truth about what happened back then, how about that?"

Hearing the words "Wang Yuanzhang," Shi Yi's face turned deathly pale:

"Shi Hang, what exactly do you want?"

"I'm not doing anything, just taking you to have a chat with your Mother Dean, to let her know that her most cherished student didn't go to the United States to study at all, but instead went to prison and served five years."

"And to know that every letter she received over the past five years didn't come from across the ocean, but from prison. And every word, every sentence in them, was a lie..."

"And also to know that her student killed someone, that she caused the death of a vibrant life, a girl who was only 18 years old, a budding flower..."