Standing Next To You-Chapter 580: That old-looking beggar, who is he?

Bei Sangyun sat beside him, and the dog immediately began barking, baring its teeth. Fei Chuan rushed to her side, ready to protect her. But Bei Sangyun calmly extended her hand toward the dog. The dog sniffed her fingers, and after sensing no threat, it wagged its tail. All the fierceness vanished in an instant.

Lin Fei was stunned. The dog was usually aggressive with everyone except him and the vet. From what he could tell, she’d likely been abused by humans before—she was hostile and unfriendly to strangers. But with Bei Sangyun, one gentle gesture was all it took for the dog to trust her.

"You seem to have an affinity with dogs. It’s rare for her to like anyone else," Lin Fei said.

Bei Sangyun gently petted the dog. "What’s her name?"

Lin Fei paused. He hadn’t given her a name yet. "...I’m still thinking about it."

"I hope you give her a pretty one," Bei Sangyun said with a smile.

Lin Fei nodded, and the two fell into a brief, awkward silence.

A breeze passed through. Leaves drifted down from the tree they sat under, scattering softly around them.

Bei Sangyun watched as a lively couple jogged past. Then she saw a harmonious family of three playing with a dog in the distance. A laughing elderly woman in a wheelchair was being pushed by a smiling middle-aged woman nearby.

"This place is nice. The people here seem kind too," she commented. frёewebnoѵēl.com

The apartment complex Lin Fei had chosen wasn’t high-end like the ones wealthy people lived in. It was an ordinary place, with regular families living quiet, normal lives.

"It really is," Lin Fei agreed. "During our first few jogs around here, she barked and growled at just about everyone. But no one yelled at her or got angry. They were patient... some even offered her treats to win her over."

He told her about the neighbors he’d met during that first week.

As someone used to dealing with people of his own status—where every word was laced with hidden agendas and schemes—these simple, casual interactions were refreshing. There were no masks, no pretense. Just genuine warmth and pure curiosity.

Whenever he passed by with the dog, people from the same floor or those he’d casually spoken to would greet him. And gradually, Lin Fei found himself greeting them back.

He smiled as he gently patted the dog. "She’s adjusting too. She doesn’t growl at them anymore."

Then he looked at Bei Sangyun and Fei Chuan. "But I’m guessing you two didn’t come here just to check on where I live."

His tone was calm, but his gaze was sharp—discerning. The old Lin Fei, the one with razor instincts, was still there beneath the surface.

"There must be something I have that you need," he added.

The last time he spoke to Bei Sangyun, he thought it would be years before they crossed paths again. But here they were—just a few months later—talking face to face.

Bei Sangyun admitted. "We came here to ask you something. And... I also wanted to see how you’re doing. It looks like you’re recovering well and settling in nicely."

Lin Fei smiled. "I am. No more withdrawal symptoms. So, what is it? If it’s something I can help with, I will."

Bei Sangyun glanced at Fei Chuan, and the latter stepped forward. He asked Lin Fei about the necklace he had given him—where he got it, when, and why he decided to pass it on him.

"I didn’t lie when I gave it to you," Lin Fei replied. "I really got it unexpectedly from someone. It was during the last banquet at the Lin family. My car almost hit a man. At first, I thought he was a beggar trying to scam us, but instead, he handed me that necklace."

He paused, then looked between them. "Why are you asking about it? Is there something wrong with the necklace?"

Bei Sangyun exchanged a glance with Fei Chuan before answering, "That necklace was once part of the Princeton Auction House’s collection before it... vanished. We both investigated its disappearance, but it left no trace. Not even evidence of it being smuggled out. And the strangest part? The auction house never noticed it was gone. It was like—for them—it never existed. Even though there were clear records proving they had it."

Lin Fei was stunned.

Vanished?

His thoughts immediately returned to the beggar-like man who had suddenly appeared and disappeared that day. He had thought it might’ve been a hallucination. Even when he ran after him, the man vanished in the blink of an eye. On a long, straight road with no turns or places to hide, the man had simply disappeared.

The whole encounter had haunted him.

So much so that he’d checked the dash cam footage from that day—trying to confirm whether what he saw was real. But even after watching the recording again and again, the man never appeared on the footage. All it showed was the car stopping. Lin Fei stepping out. Running. Then returning with a confused look on his face.

No trace of the old man. Not even a shadow.

He played it over and over, but the result never changed. He even asked the driver if he remembered anything about that day—particularly the moment they almost hit someone on the road. But the driver didn’t remember much. He thought they might’ve hit a small animal, maybe something darted across the road. But an old man? No, he didn’t recall seeing anyone.

That only deepened Lin Fei’s confusion. He remembered it clearly—he spoke to the man, took the necklace from him. That couldn’t have been a hallucination.

To be sure, he even visited Chuan Xingyu in prison. She had been in the car with him that day. She had even yelled at the man for making them late—at least, that’s what he remembered.

But just like the driver, Chuan Xingyu denied everything. She said there had been no old man, no near accident. According to her, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

It was two against one. Was his memory unreliable?

He began to question everything. In the end, the event remained a mystery. A strange, haunting encounter.

The only proof he had that the old beggar-looking man truly existed...Was the necklace he gave to Fei Chuan.

"...I wasn’t hallucinating, then," Lin Fei muttered. He looked at Fei Chuan. "That necklace... do you still have it?"

"It’s with me," Bei Sangyun answered on Fei Chuan’s behalf. "I’ve been looking for it. I can’t explain everything yet, but strange things have been happening to me—and I think they might be connected to that necklace. That’s why, if you remember anything about the day you received it, it would help us a lot."

Lin Fei’s expression grew solemn. He told them about his strange encounter with the beggar-looking man—how the man’s existence wasn’t recorded on any camera, and how no one else seemed to remember seeing him. Except Lin Fei.

"I thought at first it was a side effect from years of drug use," Lin Fei said quietly. "But the necklace... it’s solid proof that what happened that day was real."

Bei Sangyun’s brows furrowed in thought. Then she asked, "This beggar-like man you mentioned—can you describe what he looked like?"

"He looked disheveled. At first, I thought he was old because of his gray hair and the beard covering most of his face, but... his voice was younger than he looked. He was thin and tall—about the same height as me. His hair was—"

"—shoulder-length?" Bei Sangyun cut in.

Lin Fei was stunned. He nodded slowly. "Yes. Exactly. Have you met him too?"

Bei Sangyun fell silent. The man she met at the temple... the one with graying shoulder-length hair and a beard that obscured his features. The description matched.

"...Yes," she finally said. "It must be the same man I met at the temple. Did he say anything to you? Or do anything strange?"

Lin Fei tried to recall the moment in more detail. The memory felt strange and surreal, but one thing stood out clearly.

"...That man knew my name," he said. "And he mentioned things I liked—things that only a handful of people knew. He even warned me about the pills I was taking. At the time, I assumed he’d seen me taking my medication from a distance. But now... maybe he knew more about me than I realized. He’s a complete mystery."

Bei Sangyun narrowed her eyes, deep in thought.

"Also," Lin Fei added, "when he handed me the necklace, he said to ’give it to him.’ That I’d stolen it a long time ago, and it was time to return it. It was all so cryptic."

Bei Sangyun’s expression shifted sharply at that.

"When Fei Chuan helped me that time, the only thing I had on me was the necklace," Lin Fei continued. "Since I didn’t know who the ’him’ he referred to was, and because the necklace wasn’t meant to be mine in the first place, I gave it to Fei Chuan. I figured... it’d be in better hands with him than with me."

Both Bei Sangyun and Fei Chuan fell silent, processing everything Lin Fei had said.

Especially Bei Sangyun.

Stole the necklace...

She had an absurd thought. Could the "theft" the man referred to be the moment her necklace had gone missing in the previous life? She’d always known someone stole it, but she hadn’t had the time or energy to investigate it properly back then.

Could it have been Lin Fei who stole it? But why? And how did that mysterious man know about it? Or know about that life?

Who was he?

"...Did you bring the necklace with you?" Lin Fei suddenly asked. "Can I see it?"

Bei Sangyun, still processing her thoughts, hesitated for a moment before reaching into her bag and handing the necklace to Lin Fei.