Chapter 47 Thank You
The cement steps of Nan'an Village's former playground were frozen stiff. Luo Xin breathed into her palms and rubbed her cold fingertips. The playground had long since lost its running track and basketball hoop, leaving only a pitted, empty space where villagers had piled firewood for the winter. The wind whistled through the cracks in the wood, making a whining sound, like someone crying in the dark. "Are you really just letting it go?" Xiao Fang pressed her cigarette butt into a crack in the steps, the spark flickering in the darkness. "I can see Yu Hao can't hide his feelings for you." Luo Xin gazed at the lighted rental building in the distance. "It never even began, so how can it end?" Her voice was soft, rippled by the wind. "He's a police officer, and I am..." "You're Luo Xin." Yang Lian interrupted, pressing a heat pack into her hand. "You're not 'Xiao Xin from the Star-Moon Hotel,' so stop using it to tie yourself up." The warmth of the heat pack seeped through her palm, but it couldn't warm the chill in her heart. Luo Xin thought of Yu Hao's red eyes in the milk tea shop, and the words he wanted to say but swallowed back. His heart felt like it was being pricked by fine needles, and it hurt so much. Yang Lian rubbed his red, frozen hands and interrupted, "Why don't you do what I say? I'll take this responsibility for you, maybe you can still have a future." "No." Luo Xin refused flatly, "I can't let you take the blame for me. Besides, this matter involves a murder case. I can't do this." Yang Lian leaned forward, the collar of his windbreaker stood up, covering half of his face, "I'm a rotten life anyway, and I've never left my profession. Adding this thing, I don't care. But you, you've finally stepped out of the mud altar, how can you? Alas." Before he finished speaking, Yang Lian sighed deeply. Luo Xin gently hugged Yang Lian. "I understand your feelings, but I have to face this matter on my own. Besides, I don't want to lie to him." "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Xiao Fang's voice softened. "We may not be sisters, but we worked together at the Xingyue Hotel. How could I let you suffer that?" "What?" Luo Xin smiled, a hint of self-deprecation in her laughter. "That I was threatened by a prostitute? That I'm afraid he'll ruin Luo Xue? Can you kill him for me?" The firewood pile at the foot of the stairs suddenly made a loud "clatter," startling the three of them. Xiao Fang grabbed a nearby stick and looked over warily—a wild cat darted out, its green eyes flashing in the darkness before quickly disappearing into the alley. "You scared me," Yang Lian patted her chest. "But honestly, I'm relieved that Wang Shun is dead." She turned to look at Luo Xin. "Who do you think did it..."
The cement steps of the former playground in Nan'an Village were frozen stiff. Luo Xin blew into his palms and rubbed his cold fingertips.
The running track and basketball hoop in the playground were long gone, leaving only a bumpy open space where the villagers piled some firewood for the winter. The wind blew through the gaps in the firewood, making a humming sound, as if someone was crying in the dark.
"Are you really just letting it go?" Xiao Fang pressed the cigarette butt into the crack of the steps, the spark flickering in the darkness. "I think Yu Hao can't even hide his feelings for you."
Luo Xin looked at the lighted rental building in the distance. "It never even started, so how can it end?" Her voice was soft and was blown to pieces by the wind. "He's a policeman, and I am..."
"You are Luo Xin." Yang Lian interrupted her and stuffed a heat pack into her hand. "You are not 'Xiao Xin from the Star Moon Hotel'. Don't always tie yourself up with that."
The warmth of the hot pack seeped through her palm, but it couldn't warm the chill in her heart. Luo Xin thought of Yu Hao's red eyes in the milk tea shop, and the words he wanted to say but swallowed back. Her heart felt like it was being pricked by fine needles, aching intensely.
Yang Lian rubbed her red, frozen hands and interrupted, "Why don't you just do what I say? I'll take this on for you. Maybe you can still have a future."
"No." Luo Xin refused firmly, "I can't let you take the blame for me. Besides, this matter involves a murder case. I can't do this."
Yang Lian leaned forward, with the collar of his windbreaker standing up, covering half of his face. "I've been living a miserable life and have never left my profession. Adding this incident, I don't care. But you, you've finally gotten out of the mud, how can you do this? Alas." Before he finished speaking, Yang Lian sighed deeply.
Luo Xin gently hugged Yiwu Yang Lian and said, "I understand your feelings, but I have to deal with this matter myself. Besides, I don't want to lie to him."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Xiao Fang's voice softened. "Although we're not sisters, we worked together at the Xingyue Hotel. How could I let you suffer that injustice?"
"What?" Luo Xin laughed, a laugh tinged with self-mockery. "That I was threatened by a whore? That I was afraid he would ruin Luo Xue? Can you kill him for me?"
The firewood pile at the foot of the stairs suddenly made a loud clatter, startling the three of them. Xiao Fang grabbed a nearby stick and looked over warily—a wild cat scurried out, its green eyes flashing in the darkness before quickly disappearing into the alleyway.
"That scared me." Yang Lian patted her chest. "But honestly, I'm relieved that Wang Shun is dead." She turned to look at Luo Xin. "Who do you think did it?"
Luo Xin shook his head.
"Could it be your secret admirer?" Xiao Fang suddenly joked, "With your graceful demeanor in KTV, many customers gave you flowers."
"Don't joke." Luo Xin's face was a little hot. "How could I be so lucky?"
"Of course not?" Yang Lian chimed in, "That taxi driver from last time, what was his name? He always comes to support you. And that guy..."
"Impossible." Luo Xin shook his head firmly. "I haven't told anyone about Wang Shun's... affair with me."
"Who cares who he is?" Xiao Fang threw the stick back into the firewood pile. "At least we've gotten rid of a pest for the people. Guo Zhong wasn't a good guy either. He whipped him so harshly back then, he deserves to die."
When Guo Zhong was mentioned, all three fell silent. That man, with his always fawning smile, was actually a mountain weighing down their lives, taking away half of their hard-earned money every month.
"Honestly," Luo Xin's voice lowered, "Thank you." She looked at Xiao Fang and Yang Lian, her eyes a little warm, "For such a small matter of mine, you still wanted to take responsibility for me."
"What are you thanking me for?" Xiao Fang waved her hand. "The three of us all crawled out of the mud. If we didn't help each other, we would have been swallowed up by this world long ago."
"What are your plans for the future? Are you going to stay here forever?" Luo Xin looked at her.
Xiao Fang paused, her voice softening. "My barber shop's business isn't doing well. Let's wait and see what the market is like. If things don't improve, I'm planning to leave after the New Year and go to the south to work with my cousin."
"I'm going back to my hometown the day after tomorrow," Yang Lian continued, a rare smile on her face. "I saved some money this year and I'm going to buy an oxygen concentrator for my mother. I'm also going to set aside some for my brother's wedding. His girlfriend is so beautiful, I can't let her down!"
Luo Xin looked at the light in her eyes and suddenly felt a little envious. Yang Lian had hope, Xiao Fang had a place to go, but she was the only one who felt like a weed growing in Nan'an Village, not knowing where to grow.
"What about you?" Xiao Fang looked at her. "How are you planning to spend the New Year? You can't stay in the rental house alone, right?"
"How else can we spend it?" Luo Xin smiled. "Luo Xue is on winter vacation. Mother and I will make some dumplings and watch the Spring Festival Gala. That's it."
"Why don't you come back to my hometown with me?" Xiao Fang invited enthusiastically. "My mother ate your dumplings when she came to visit me last time. She kept talking about you, saying your dumplings are better than the ones in the restaurants in town."
Luo Xin was about to speak when Yang Lian suddenly pointed towards the entrance of the playground.
Under the dim street light, a wretched figure was looking over here, holding a flashlight in his hand, the beam sweeping across the ground.
"Liu Bing?" Xiao Fang frowned. "He's been following me for several days."
"Maybe he's attracted to you." Yang Lian joked.
"Forget it." Xiao Fang sneered, "I'd rather be single for the rest of my life than marry an old bachelor like this who gossips about other people all the time."
She paused, her eyes darkening, "I think he thinks I'm involved in the murder case, and wants to get some clues to show his courtesy to Yu Hao."
"Who cares?" Yang Lian stomped her hands on the ground. "Let's just talk about our own business and let him watch."
The three of them smiled at each other, and their laughter echoed in the empty playground.
Liu Bing's flashlight beam shook, and he seemed a little embarrassed. He turned and walked towards the chess and card room, his footsteps making a crunching sound on the snow.
"This guy is so boring." Xiao Fang curled her lips.
"Okay, it's getting late." Luo Xin stood up and patted the dust off his pants. "Let's go back. I'm worried about Luo Xue being home alone."
Yang Lian and Xiao Fang also stood up. The three of them walked side by side to the alley entrance. Their high heels and sneakers made different rhythmic sounds on the snow, like a discordant song.
When they were about to reach the fork in the road, Yang Lian suddenly stopped and said, "Luo Xin, after the New Year... are you really not planning to leave Nan'an Village?"
Luo Xin looked towards her rental apartment. A warm yellow light shone in the window. It was left there by Luo Xue. "We'll talk about it later." She smiled. "When Luo Xue is older."
Some places, even if covered in scars, become inseparable concerns. Just like Nan'an Village, just like Yu Hao, just like those heartbreaking yet hard-to-let-go pasts.
The three of them said goodbye at the alley entrance. Xiao Fang walked towards the barber shop, Yang Lian returned to Hong Langman’s dormitory, and Luo Xin went home.
The snow started to fall again, and tiny snowflakes landed on their hair, like a layer of clean sugar sprinkled on this late-night secret.
*
Yu Hao stood at the door of Luo Xin's house, and the white breath he exhaled condensed in the cold air.
He didn't know why he came here. It seemed as if his legs had their own will, leading him through the snowy night to this place that was once so familiar to him.
He stood at the door for a long time, smoking a cigarette. Behind a nearby electric pole, a thin figure huddled there. It was Sun Lei.
The boy was holding a wooden sculpture in his hand, staring straight at the window of Luo Xin's house, like a silent stone statue.
Yu Hao didn't say hello, and Sun Lei didn't move. The two of them were like sentinels who had reached some kind of tacit understanding, guarding the same window at a distance of more than ten meters.
At this moment, the window grilles shook, and a small figure flashed by - it was Luo Xue, who was standing on tiptoe to look out the window.
Yu Hao's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and almost subconsciously, he raised his hand and knocked on the unit door.
"Who is it?" Luo Xue's clear voice came from inside the door.
"It's me. Your Uncle Yu." Yu Hao's voice was a little hoarse.
The door was immediately opened, and Luo Xue's little face appeared in the crack of the door, her eyes lit up instantly: "Uncle Yu!" She opened the door and threw herself into Yu Hao's arms.
Yu Hao squatted down and held the girl's small body in his arms. Luo Xue had a faint scent of shampoo on her body, and her hair was still a little wet, obviously she had just taken a shower.
"Mom said she went shopping, and I'm the only one at home." Luo Xue took his hand and walked into the house, "Uncle Yu, come in quickly, it's so cold outside."
The warm air from the house blew in, bringing with it the scent of home. Yu Hao stood at the door, suddenly hesitant.
This place, which he had been in and out of countless times, now felt strange and distant to him.
"What's wrong?" Luo Xue tilted her head to look at him, "Uncle Yu, are you feeling unwell?"
"No." Yu Hao forced a smile, took off his coat and hung it on the coat hook by the door - the hook he had installed for Luo Xin last year.
Luo Xue had already run to the coffee table and grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the snack box: "Uncle Yu, have some melon seeds! I just fried them, they're so delicious!"
Yu Hao took the melon seeds and sat down on the sofa. The sofa cover was new, a light blue fabric with a small snowflake pattern printed on it. He guessed that Luo Xue must have chosen it.
Luo Xue sat down beside him and chattered about the holiday—the new book she read in the library, meeting Sun Lei, the new activities at the Children's Palace...
Yu Hao nodded and looked at the girl's rosy face. She looked more and more like Luo Xin, especially the way her eyes turned up slightly when she smiled.
Yu Hao responded mechanically, but his mind was drifting far away.
"Uncle Yu, why aren't you talking?" Luo Xue tilted her head to look at him, her brows furrowed in a frown. "Are you unhappy at work?"
"No." Yu Hao smiled, trying to sound normal, "I'm just a little tired."
"Uncle Yu, you have to take care of your health when catching thieves and solving cases. Don't let yourself get too tired." Luo Xue comforted him.
Yu Hao patted her head gently, his heart filled with melancholy.
He listened to Luo Xue talk about wanting her mother to take her to the park to skate, and how she wanted to make a lot of money when she grew up to buy her mother a big house. Every word she said was like a little hammer, gently knocking on his heart.
He suddenly didn't dare to think about how Luo Xue would react if she knew those things, knew about her mother's past, and knew about the deadlock between him and Luo Xin.
This sensitive and sensible child is probably sadder than anyone else.
"Luo Xue," Yu Hao said softly, "Uncle may be very busy recently and won't be able to visit you often."
Luo Xue paused while peeling an orange, then smiled widely. "It's okay! You're busy with your work. The police are there to catch bad guys." She stuffed an orange slice into his mouth. "I'll take good care of Mom, don't worry."
The sweet and sour taste of the orange spread on the tip of his tongue, but Yu Hao couldn't taste it.
He looked at Luo Xue pretending to be strong, and suddenly remembered that Luo Xin was the same twelve years ago. He was obviously scared to death, but always said "I'm fine".
"So good." He rubbed Luo Xue's hair, and his eyes became even hotter.
After sitting for a while, Yu Hao stood up. He wanted to leave before Luo Xin went home.
"Uncle Yu, you have to take care of yourself too." Luo Xue followed him closely, with a smile and maturity on her face that did not belong to her age.
Luo Xue is so well-behaved, so well-behaved that it makes people feel distressed.
Yu Hao had already put on his coat.
Luo Xue was about to say something when Yu Hao walked out the door. The wind from the corridor blew in, bringing with it the chill from outside. He gently closed the door and told Luo Xue to lock it.
Yu Hao glanced back. Luo Xue was leaning against the window glass, looking out, her small hand leaving a blurry mark on the window.
Yu Hao waved at her and turned to walk towards the alley. His back revealed an indescribable loneliness.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
