Journey of Lies

The car drove onto the main road, and Ren Jiayi's driving skills were much better than they were in college.

Jiang Xia glanced at Sheng Zhi in the back seat. After getting in the car, he gave the hotel address and then covered his face with his hat and fell asleep.

Ren Jiayi was playing Italian folk songs in his car. Jiang Xia had dozed off on the plane and wasn't sleepy at all.

Or perhaps she was simply curious about Chiang Mai, wanting to experience it firsthand and understand why Xu Xiujie had fallen in love with the city.

The highway looks like a national highway, and it's not much different from the highways in Bangkok, but there are fewer cars.

"Xiaxia, do you want to stay at my place? I have another room, it's ready to move in after a little tidying up, and we can stay a little longer."

"No, I want to stay in Xiu Jie's house," Jiang Xia said softly.

Ren Jiayi sighed softly, turning her head to look at Jiang Xia with eyes full of heartache: "What exactly happened?"

Jiang Xia shook his head, his expression somber.

"I won't ask anymore, and you shouldn't think about it either. You look so thin. Eat more these days, so your aunt and uncle will be at ease when you go back."

Jiang Xia forced a smile and decided to steer the conversation towards Ren Jiayi.

"Tell me about yourself, what's the deal with this European boyfriend? How long have you been together?"

"I've been an Italian for four or five years now, with ups and downs, it's quite exhausting."

"It's been so long, are you planning to get married?"

Ren Jiayi laughed and said, "I'm against marriage now."

"A non-marriage advocate?" Jiang Xia was somewhat surprised. He gently pulled on the seatbelt and turned to ask her properly, "Never to get married?"

"Yes, I'm pursuing freedom now."

Watching Ren Jiayi enthusiastically describe her vision of freedom.

Is your boyfriend like that too?

"He's fickle, but I don't care. If we're not comfortable together, we'll find someone more comfortable. We've been much more stable these past two years."

These are things Jiang Xia dares not think about. Living and dating for a lifetime without getting married seems incomprehensible to her, yet she also feels there's nothing incomprehensible about it.

"And you?" Ren Jiayi lowered her voice and glanced at the sleeping man in the rearview mirror. "You've changed a lot too. Back in school, you were never this familiar with girls you had just met."

Hearing Ren Jiayi say this, Jiang Xia felt a little embarrassed. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear, sat up straight, and said, "We were originally staying at the same hotel, but he helped me when we encountered Yu Zhen."

Jiang Xia's answer was vague, and she was about to change the subject when Ren Jiayi asked again, "By the way, I saw on the news that many places are uninhabitable these past two days due to the earthquake. Where have you been staying these past two days?"

"I..." Jiang Xia was speechless.

"Aren't we there yet?"

Sheng Zhi stretched in the back row, glancing at the time as he asked, "I slept for half an hour, but I feel more and more sleepy."

Ren Jiayi didn't press further, and looking at the navigation, said, "We're almost there, just turn there."

Jiang Xia breathed a sigh of relief; she couldn't lie without blushing.

A few minutes later, the two dropped Sheng Zhi off at the hotel entrance, arranged a time to have dinner together that evening, and then got into their car and left.

The car slowly drove through the block, and the number of motorcycles around gradually increased, with rows of motorcycles frequently seen on both sides of the road.

Ren Jiayi slowed down and explained, "Many people rent motorbikes when they come to Chiang Mai. The regulations here are lax; there are only a few roads going up and down the mountains. Riding a motorbike is a great experience. You can go with your friends..."

Jiang Xia paused for a moment, then interrupted, "Jiayi, we're just ordinary friends."

"Okay, okay, I just wanted to tell you that things are very open-minded here. Even if Xiu Jie leaves, you have the right to pursue new relationships. Besides, you and Xiu Jie didn't even get a marriage certificate, right?"

Jiang Xia gripped her phone tightly and mumbled a reply, "I'm not in the mood for sightseeing in Chiang Mai. You know, Xiu Jie bought that house here a few years ago during the pandemic, and now his aunt and uncle want to sell it as soon as possible. Jia Yi, do you have any reliable real estate agents to recommend?"

"There are a few, let me ask around for you," Ren Jiayi said as she drove. "Selling a house can be quick or slow sometimes. How long do you plan to stay in Chiang Mai? Have you taken leave from work? Oh, by the way, I didn't even know what you were doing for work."

"I've been working in HR since graduation. I was originally entitled to a two-week wedding leave, including my honeymoon. But after this happened, the company changed it to bereavement leave for me, starting at two weeks. If it's too difficult to sell the products, I'll extend it with personal leave."

"Xiaxia, you still care so much about Xiujie's affairs, as if nothing has changed over the years."

Jiang Xia fell into deep thought. After ten years of dating, if caring really made a difference, how could he not know that his partner had suicidal thoughts?

Recalling the surveillance footage retrieved by the police station, Xu Xiujie stood on the bridge, lost in thought, for a total of 35 seconds.

The police said that, based on their experience, those 35 seconds were not long; it was almost as if they had planned it all along, and those 35 seconds were just waiting for the vehicles behind them to drive away.

"We're here, it's the building in front of us."

Jiang Xia snapped out of her daze and looked up at the direction Ren Jiayi was pointing.

The car turned in from a main road, and the semi-open community seemed to be a different world from the outside.

This place isn't luxurious; the community in front of you consists of several rows of detached and semi-detached villas.

"There are many such neighborhoods in Chiang Mai, and they are inhabited by foreigners from all over the world. During the two years of the pandemic, it was as if Chinese tourists disappeared from Chiang Mai. Of course, many tourists from other countries also left."

"Jiayi, are you familiar with this place?"

Ren Jiayi lightly applied the brakes, slowly bringing the car to a stop at the entrance. "Not very familiar with it."

After turning off the engine, Ren Jiayi couldn't help but ask, "Xiaxia, are you really going to stay here? It's probably pretty dirty since no one cleans it. Why don't you stay at my place instead?"

"I know you're afraid that seeing Xiujie's things will trigger your emotions," Jiang Xia said with a faint smile, looking at the villa with its tightly closed gate and the pure white exterior walls that Xu Xiujie liked. "I have mixed feelings. I just can't accept the fact that he's gone. Let me stay here. I'll tidy up in the next couple of days so that it will be convenient for potential buyers to come and see the house."

As they spoke, the two got out of the car and came to the door.

The detached houses in this community are about three and a half stories high, and the townhouses are three stories high. The exterior style is modern and light-colored. The Thai sun is very strong, and when it shines on the white walls, they look like flawless white paper.

Xu Xiujie returned to China six months ago. The house has been uninhabited for six months, the lawn in the backyard is overgrown with weeds, the swimming pool on the side is not filled with water and is not clean.

However, compared to the neighboring households, it looks much better.

"The occupancy rate here isn't high, probably because it's not in a good school district," Ren Jiayi explained.

Chiang Mai has several good international schools, and many foreigners bring their families to settle here. Considering the convenience of their children's schooling, they choose houses near the schools.

"In that case, isn't the house price a bit high?" Jiang Xia opened the gate latch, and to her surprise, the latch was quite clean, probably from being washed by the rain.

"I have seen Xiu Jie's contract for buying the house back then. It cost more than 700,000 yuan. He said that the Greek homeowner was in a hurry to return to his country and sold it to him for almost half price."

"That's a great deal, but I don't know how much the house is worth now. If you're in a hurry, I'll find a real estate agent and we can meet and talk about it in the next few days."

Jiang Xia nodded, looked around, and then walked to the door to enter the password to open it. She had memorized the password before boarding the plane.

It was a string of unfamiliar numbers; it wasn't Xu Xiujie's birthday, nor did it look like anyone else's birthday.

"Beep beep beep—Incorrect—"

Incorrect password?