16 "This road is destined to be one of poverty, hardship and thorns"

"What's wrong with you? You can sprain your ankle even on flat ground?"

Tao Wanjia said helplessly, and walked over after saying this, "Does it hurt?"

He Yu nodded again under her gaze.

Tao Wanjia observed him for two seconds and then took action. She was 1.72 meters tall, and her shoes were a bit high today. Supporting a man who was nearly 1.9 meters tall did not seem difficult at all, but rather a bit easy.

He Yu was originally being supported forward by her strength. He caught a glimpse of her beside him, frowning and crying out in pain. He raised his arm, passed it across her neck and placed it directly on her shoulder.

"Tao Wanjia," he said in a calm tone. After thinking for a moment, he proposed a condition to her. There was a rare ripple on his face.

"After all, I got hurt because of you, so you have the responsibility to take me home."

They were so close that he could see her serious profile with just a flick of his gaze, her thick eyelashes casting a faint shadow under her eyes. Their shoulders were pressed together, their clothes rubbing against each other's, their breath tangled in the cold wind.

"Speak some truth, He Yu."

Tao Wanjia felt the suppressed strength on his shoulders, turned his head and glanced at him, speaking helplessly.

"What do you mean it was because of me? I didn't ask you to follow me like a thief."

She found him quite interesting. On the surface, he seemed completely different from before, but underneath, he still seemed childish. When they were little, he'd locked the door to the equipment room to prevent her from playing basketball with the boys from the next class. Now, he was still very good at making excuses, always putting his problems on others, using threats and feigning pity to get people to comply.

There is an unstable paranoid factor in his character. Although all the turmoil seems to be caused by her, Tao Wanjia still feels that he is the same as before.

So simple that there is almost no growth.

This is what happens to people who grew up under protection. They have never experienced setbacks, so they regard the only failed relationship they have experienced as an insurmountable hurdle.

When she was distracted, she had already reached the side of the road. A car passed by. Tao Wanjia's shoulders sank, and He Yu pulled her back hard.

"You don't have to let the car hit me even if you don't want to send me off, right?"

Hearing He Yu's words, Tao Wanjia turned his head to look at him and found that he looked a little serious. It was rare that he was left speechless by his criticism.

After a moment of silence, she thought of a solution that would satisfy both parties. She lowered her gaze, stared at his feet, and suggested, "How about I take you to the hospital?"

"Need not."

He Yu refused quickly. He didn't want her to leave so early.

He lifted his hand to flick the dial of his watch, which was buried in his sleeve. It was already 1:30 in the morning. Time always seemed to pass quickly after midnight. He considered for a moment and asked her to help him to the nearby bus stop.

"I can't walk anymore, let me rest for a while."

Tao Wanjia felt he was being unreasonable. On a night with temperatures exceeding 10 degrees Celsius, he didn't bother going to the hospital first with his injured foot, instead wasting time by making excuses. Frowning in disbelief, he glanced at him again, then, feeling completely bewildered, remained motionless for a while.

"Why don't you go over there?" He moved the hand on her shoulder, and the hot breath he exhaled brushed past her ear, "Is it..."

"He Yu, is there any truth in your mouth?"

Tao Wanjia interrupted him, threw away his arm and distanced himself from him.

Her face darkened, and her dark eyes seemed to be frozen.

"You're the one who said it hurts, and you're the one who said it's okay. Are you a chameleon? You change your face every now and then. I don't have that much American time to sit with you freezing on the street late at night. If you want to go to the hospital, I'll take you in a taxi. If you want to go home, I can help you contact your assistant. Anyway, I don't have time to waste with you."

She was like a colorful lantern swaying on a branch in the cold wind. Everything tonight seemed beyond her control. Tao Wanji was awakened by the cold wind and realized clearly that he was still standing there because of her. The guilt and hesitation she realized belatedly made her panic. Facing the pair of eyes that had been looking at her clearly from beginning to end, she could only look away coldly.

She must stay sober at all times and must not let him disrupt her plans, nor leave any ties for herself when she leaves in the future.

He Yu fell silent because of her words, and his eyes became even dimmer against the thick darkness.

He looked at her, knowing that if he continued to act, she would become more and more annoyed. He ignored the pain in his feet and stood up straight, his words like sand blown into the wind.

"Feel sorry,"

He untied his scarf and wrapped it around her, breathing in the cold air and slowly looking away, "I just want to stay with you a little longer."

Tao Wanjia hesitated slightly as the warm, dry cloth covered him. He hadn't expected him to speak so openly. A man who once had an insanely strong self-esteem was now being played like a clown by her time and again.

She looked up, not sure if it was because the night blurred her vision, but in the dim light she felt that He Yu's eyes were as red as the tip of his nose.

But she didn't look at it any further, hailed a taxi and left.

The man's figure in the rearview mirror was lonely, like a mountain shrouded in fog.

After Tao Wanjia got home, he went straight to the bathroom and poured hot water over his body to dissolve the tears of the same temperature.

That night she had intermittent dreams for a long time, all of which were about what happened in South City before.

After graduating from university, I started an internship at a newspaper. New reporters have a three-month internship, with a performance-based system. Every day, I'm like a spinning top, scattering around the neighborhood, looking for news and writing articles. Under such pressure, people gradually lose their patience. In the midst of this, other interns who graduated from prestigious universities began to complain.

"We study journalism to conduct investigations that can create a stir, not to write tabloids about street fights and rising vegetable prices."

The teacher who taught this group of interns was Pei Qiang, who had not yet been promoted at that time and was just a senior investigative reporter.

He didn't rush to lecture this group of impetuous and eager young people, but instead listened carefully to their respective opinions on the news. After the chatter ended, he walked in and pointed to a row of award-winning reports from previous years on the opposite wall of the conference room.

He said in a deep voice, "No matter how big or small the news is, everything in this world is equally important. As journalists, all you can do, all you need to do, is record it truthfully. As for your journalistic ideals, come back and discuss them with me after you've been doing this for twenty years."

Having ideals is commendable, but being too impulsive will lead to losing one's original intention.

Tao Wanjia didn't understand what he said at the time, and she hadn't really touched upon her ideal yet. Her performance was not outstanding among the interns, and she was always the last one to submit a manuscript. When she thought she would definitely not be able to get a regular job and was about to look for another way out, it was Pei Qiang who kept her.

Just because she was the only one who filled in the Investigation Department in both of her choices of assigned departments.

Most other people left themselves a way out, but she didn't.

"Why do you want to do an investigation?" Pei Qiang asked her.

She answered honestly, "Because I feel free."

During the monthly progress meeting, the investigative department's office was deserted. Their job was to complete the manuscript, even if they didn't have to work, as long as they submitted the report according to the selected topic. Tao Wanjia, a newbie, didn't know the truth yet, but he just thought those investigative reporters, who were supported by the newspaper and traveled all over the country whenever there was a news story, were very cool.

Because freedom is what she has longed for since she was a child.

Pei Qiang looked at her and admired her honesty. Because this answer was different from the one she had with others when they talked about journalistic ideals, he said more based on the standards of accepting an apprentice.

"Investigative journalism is a tough job. You have to be patient, see clearly, and write truthfully. Compared to journalists working on positive stories, this line of work carries much higher risks. It tests both your personal qualities and your resolve. You might face the prospect of having your stories, painstakingly sourced over time and energy, go unpublished, be questioned, and be criticized and reviled. Even with all that, would you still want to do this?"

Tao Wanjia still nodded after listening.

And so, she was left in the In-depth Investigation Department.

Over the years, she'd made rapid progress, from a clueless intern reporter to a seasoned veteran, adept at undercover investigations. She'd traveled extensively, enduring hardships and witnessing both the rise and fall of an era. Those colleagues who had joined the newspaper with such ambition, ready to take on the world, had retreated in the face of the tide. The people around her had changed hands one after another, leaving her alone, holding on.

Pei Qiang said that chasing after people is something only crazy girls and wild boys would do, and being an investigative reporter means taking the risk of being skinned alive.

She was never afraid and never backed down.

But the world was far more complicated than she had imagined. When that day finally came, it was beyond her expectations. The leader who had previously withstood the pressure for her was also drenched by the rain and had to persuade her to temporarily take shelter from the wind and rain.

That was when she was on a train that changed routes on its way back to South City. Tao Wanjia stood in the aisle of the carriage filled with the smell of cigarette smoke, looking out the water-stained glass window at the mountains that were covered in dark gray due to the cold.

She insisted, "You told me back then that investigations can gradually get closer to the truth where logical reasoning fails, and that in-depth reporting is the conscience of society. So why should we give up on that?"

Pei Qiang remained silent for a long time beside the receiver until the train swayed into the tunnel.

In the darkness, all vision is blocked and it is impossible to see the direction.

"Xiao Tao, I can risk my own life, but I can't help but think about you."

Amid the shrill, blurry current in her ears, she heard an unprecedented sense of helplessness in his voice.

"You are still young and have a long way to go."

Not everything in this world will yield results if you work hard. Most of the time, you will end up with nothing.

The phone signal was cut off, but the train still didn't come out of the tunnel. The darkness was boundless, enveloping her from beginning to end in the noisy enclosed space.

She did not choose a safe path. This path was destined to be one of poverty, hardship and thorns.

When Tao Wanjia woke up the next day, he still remembered these events vividly.

After breakfast, she couldn't wait any longer and logged into her account which she hadn't been online for a long time.

In the group chat of fellow enthusiasts that had been silent for a long time, many people sent out New Year's greetings. Tao Wanjia echoed one of them. Ten seconds later, a familiar avatar sent her a private message.

She is an investigative reporter from a sister unit, and they have worked together in the past.

You are finally online, how are you doing recently?

Tao Wanjia hesitated for a moment and replied that everything was normal.

That's good, that's good. I've already finished the topic you assigned me last time. I'll treat you to a celebratory drink when you come back.

It took her a while to remember which topic it was, and she replied before exiting the page.

Investigations require a strong network of informants. Although she has not yet fully mastered Zhao Kuo's superb skills after working with him for many years, she has her own way of discovering news.

Messages that had not been dealt with for a long time popped up one after another. After logging into her mailbox, she scrolled down again and again and finally found a valuable clue.

Tao Wanjia opened the email and stared at the small print at the top—a report on excessive pollution discharge from a factory upstream of the Muzhen Reservoir in Rongcheng, Qi County.

She opened her computer to search for the location, and her eyelids jumped when she saw that the factory was Deng Zixiong's.