Small ashes
In February, the air in Beijing carries a hint of warming.
Lu Chenyang and Yu Sheng returned to Beijing two days before the Lunar New Year to spend a rare family reunion with their grandmother.
But just the day after sending his grandmother back to the sanatorium following the Lantern Festival, Lu Chenyang booked the earliest flight and flew to Y City with Yu Sheng.
Two people go on the same day, and three people return on the same day.
One Yu Sheng, one Lu Chenyang, and one... a small urn of ashes.
Perhaps it was because I laughed too much in front of my grandmother a few days ago, exhausting my future emotions. Perhaps it was because of today's long journey that stirred up too many long-standing pains.
Lu Chenyang was unusually silent tonight.
He silently prepared dinner, silently helped Yu Sheng wash up and take a bath, silently massaged Yu Sheng's calves that would ache on rainy days, silently prepared breakfast for the next day, and silently gave her the usual goodnight kiss before bed.
He's meticulous in every aspect, but he doesn't talk much or smile. He's like a well-behaved puppet.
Yu Sheng tentatively moved the arm that Lu Chenyang was holding tightly even in his sleep, being careful not to wake the person beside him. He gently pulled his arm away and took the phone.
I opened the memo app, which had already recorded hundreds or thousands of notes and had become a diary, and typed in new text.
Police Dog Care Guidelines
February 12:
—Today is a sad day for the little dog. We went to Y City before dawn. He had been planning this for a long time.
—I didn't expect him to decide to go back so quickly. He said he was going to pick up Xingxing and take her home. Xingxing, I know her. I still have that little cloth bag and a five-pointed star pendant necklace made of stone. Grandma gave it to me when he was in a deep coma, so I could pass it on to him. Grandma didn't ask anything, but she understood everything.
—I haven't dared to give it to him yet, afraid that it would remind him of his painful memories, and I feel sorry for him.
—Upon arriving in Y City, the car from the Tomono branch was already waiting. It was a seven-figure car ride, and for the first time, I felt dizzy and nauseous. It's hard to imagine how he, so young, managed to walk that long and arduous road alone.
—I saw a star. In a small urn. It was crammed together with a dozen or so other unclaimed and unattended urns on the top shelf of the dimly lit morgue.
—Dark and cramped. They all lived inside. They were unwanted, forgotten ashes.
—We laid the stars to rest in a cemetery on the outskirts of Beijing.
I handed him the small cloth bag, along with the five-pointed star-shaped stone pendant tied with a hemp rope.
He was initially surprised. He picked up the pendant and tried to put it around his neck, but he had grown up and the cord was too small to fit.
—I know he's upset. Bai Hua once said that if a patient is willing to talk about it, it's a very good sign and can alleviate their pain.
—I said to him: Tell me the story of the stars.
He stared blankly at the tombstone for a long time, then began to recount his memories from when he was three years old. Actually, I could piece together most of the events from the handwriting in the cloth bag I kept as a child. Xingxing had written a lot inside; it could be considered Xingxing's diary, a plan to help Lu Chenyang escape, and also a record of information about other abducted people in Qingdi Village.
But he mentioned Xingxing's death, which I had no idea about. The writing in the cloth bag only mentioned Xingxing's plan to get him onto that pig-transporting truck.
The person next to her moved slightly, and Yu Sheng immediately put down her phone and hugged the person tightly again.
"What two pathetic creatures." Yu Sheng smiled bitterly. "Indeed, we're the perfect match, a match made in heaven, yet both of us are so tragically pitiful." Although Yu Sheng didn't feel sorry for himself because he had a very reliable lover, Lu Chenyang didn't.
Even when Lu Chenyang was at his lowest point, Yu Sheng was still the one who received meticulous care. It was as if Lu Chenyang was born to walk towards him and protect him.
Yu Sheng gently kissed Lu Chenyang's chin, which was covered in stubble, and closed her eyes.
All was silent except for Lu Chenyang's steady breathing. His thoughts were drawn back to that afternoon, back to the moment when Lu Chenyang stood before the tombstone, telling Xingxing's last story.
The image became clear in his mind, and he seemed to see the stars as well. The older brother who, with his thin body, struggled to lift the young and ignorant Yangyang, trying to pull him out of hell.
The truck carrying pigs, bearing a glimmer of hope, drove away from hell. The stars walked back.
He knew perfectly well what awaited him, but he didn't care at all. He let those people do as they pleased, his ears only listening to the ticking of the clock on the wall, calculating in his mind where Yangyang was and how far away he was from here.
Run away, Yangyang.
In the dead of night, all was quiet, and everyone was fast asleep. Only Xingxing sat alone under the tree in the courtyard.
The cold, dappled sunlight swept down through the leaves, illuminating the only red dot on the star.
He washed himself clean and sat on the small stool under the tree.
Yangyang usually sits on this little stool while washing clothes for Yang Tieshuan.
He kept track of time, looking up at the moon in the sky, waiting and waiting, until the brightest star appeared on the horizon.
Xingxing smiled, got up, and went back inside. He pulled out an egg he had secretly hidden under the stove. He had intended it for Yangyang to take on the road, but he had forgotten it in his haste.
He had never eaten it before and didn't know what it tasted like. He didn't even peel it; he opened his mouth as wide as possible, stuffed the whole egg inside, and chewed vigorously.
The eggshell crunched between his teeth, breaking into powder, and the yolk stuck in his throat, choking him until his eyes widened.
It's delicious.
That way, he wouldn't be a starving ghost.
It's time to go.
Let all those who don't deserve to live go together.
...
Yangyang was taken to the city police station three days after leaving Qingdi Village.
He wore the "shoes" the stars had made for him, walking until the soles wore out and his feet were bleeding. But without the stars to carry him, he had to keep walking.
He finally found the dark, hard road with white and yellow lines that Xingxing had mentioned.
He remembered Xingxing's words and searched for cars with out-of-town license plates.
He had some difficulty distinguishing them; all the blue metal plaques seemed to look the same.
He waited and waited, until the sun rose again, and finally saw a car with white license plates pass by, unlike any of the previous cars. He rushed towards it.
When he was led back to Qingdi Village by a group of uncles and aunts in uniforms, he saw that most of Yang Tieshuan's dilapidated courtyard had been burned down, leaving only a blackened half-wall of mud, crooked and ugly.
"Stars! Stars! Stars!" Yangyang was frantic. Forgetting about the new shoes he had just changed into that morning, he frantically searched for stars in that dark mud wall.
Find the stars!
The star said she would wait for him here! Where did the star go?
The stars are gone!
Back Mountain Gully! Yes, Xingxing said he would wait for him there with Lu Yaqing!
Let's go to the back gully!
The star truly became a star. Only a shell remained, which had once bound his free soul.
The star that Yangyang saw again was no longer the one that could carry him, wash his face, and steal food for him.
It was a pile of charred charcoal, a pile of charcoal with a head, a body, and limbs.
But it's missing an eye and half its head; nobody knows where it went.
Yangyang seems to have stopped crying; her eyes are staring blankly, unfocused.
Before the policewoman behind him could lift him up, he crawled over, took off his brand-new shoes, and put them on Xingxing.
Even stars have shoes now.
I can walk very, very far. My feet will never hurt again.
Xingxing's body wasn't as warm as before; it was stiff and cold. But it was still very comfortable to hold.
He didn't want to get up; he'd just hold onto this and sleep. Maybe when he woke up, he'd still see the stars.
*
Yu Sheng couldn't sleep, so she turned her head to look at Lu Chenyang beside her, whose breathing was gradually becoming steady and who was slowly falling asleep.
He carefully sat up and tucked Lu Chenyang in with the disheveled blanket. He tiptoed out of bed and gently closed the bedroom door.
The project on Cooari Island in Australia has broken ground, and there is an important video conference early tomorrow morning that he must attend in person.
However, after what happened today, he really couldn't let go of Lu Chenyang.
Although Lu Chenyang's condition has improved considerably after this period of recuperation, and his separation anxiety has been alleviated, all of this is based on the premise that he can see Yu Sheng immediately whenever he wants.
I've never woken up to an empty room like this before.
What's more, it was in this apartment where he had been "abandoned" for two months and had endured countless chaos and pain.
Yu Sheng was truly unable to feel at ease.
He went into the study and dragged out the package that had been signed for several days ago.
Grandma couldn't open it before, but now she finally has the chance. The box is big, but fortunately it's not heavy, and he can carry it.
He glanced at the time on his phone. Hmm, if he hurrys, he should be able to install it before dawn.
The next day, Lu Chenyang stretched his numb neck. He had slept terribly that night. He thought he would dream of stars and Yu Sheng.
Unfortunately, he was wrong. There was nothing in his dream except for a scorched black expanse.
"Ah Sheng." He habitually rolled over, his arm sweeping to the side, but instead of the warm body he expected, his palm touched a cold sheet. The person had been gone for a long time.
He withdrew his arm somewhat dejectedly, placing it limply over his forehead to shield his eyes.
He remembered that Yu Sheng had mentioned a meeting this morning yesterday. At the time, he had confidently assured her that he would be fine on his own, and even comforted Yu Sheng, telling her not to always treat him like a patient, and that Bai Hua had said he was recovering very well.
Now... I'm starting to regret it.
He reached for his phone on the bedside table, certain that Yu Sheng had left him a message. But what his fingertips touched was a flat, round, cylindrical object.
Lu Chenyang squinted his eyes, which were not yet fully adjusted to the light, and looked to the side in confusion.
Lu Chenyang: "...?"
When did a pet button appear in my house? It even has a black puppy paw print printed on it.
Did Yu Sheng buy it?
Driven by human curiosity, Lu Chenyang, with a hint of skepticism, stretched out his finger and gently pressed down.
"Good morning, Officer Lu. Kisses~~ Mwah~~"
Yu Sheng's familiar and cheerful voice immediately rang out, ending with two clear and exaggerated kissing sounds.
Lu Chenyang: "..."
Is this... they really treating him like a puppy?
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