Chapter 135 Filling in all the gaps in his life
Huo Yanzhi took Ruan Yao's hand and walked into the park that held the memory of their first encounter.
A decade or so is enough time for a city to undergo a complete transformation.
The park has been renovated, with a brand-new synthetic running track and many new fitness equipment added.
Fortunately, the colorful children's slide still stands in its original spot, only the paint is a bit faded.
The brand-new red, yellow, and blue plastic has replaced the peeling metal sheet of my memory, but the winding curve is exactly the same as it was more than ten years ago.
As if to suit the occasion, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky. Unlike the torrential rain of more than a decade ago, this drizzle was gentle and damp, enveloping the whole world in a poetic, misty atmosphere.
Huo Yanzhi opened the black umbrella he carried with him, tilting the canopy slightly towards her, shielding Ruan Yao completely beneath him.
The two walked side by side in silence to the slide.
This was the first time he had ever willingly and proactively touched upon that long-forgotten past.
"That day, the rain was much heavier than it is now." Huo Yanzhi's voice was low, blending into the pattering rain, sounding somewhat ethereal.
“I escaped from where I was being held. I had been hungry and cold for days.”
He looked at the wet, open space as if he were looking at himself in another time and space, "I stole their snacks and they surrounded me and beat me up."
"I was lying in that muddy water, looking at the gray sky, with raindrops hitting my face. It was very cold. I was thinking, it would be good to die like this."
His tone was so flat, so flat, that it was heartbreaking.
Ruan Yao could imagine the despair a child under ten years old must have experienced to have such a thought.
She turned around and gently hugged him.
Huo Yanzhi stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and pulled her closer to him.
"And then, you appeared."
He lowered his head, his chin resting on the top of her head, his voice trembling slightly.
"Back then, I thought you were like a fairy, wearing a pink dress, clean and tidy, not afraid of me, a dirty and smelly beggar."
Ruan Yao buried her face in his chest, her voice muffled.
"You're not a beggar."
“You looked really fierce back then, like a wounded little wolf.”
She tilted her head back and looked at his sharply defined jawline.
"I'm afraid you'll bite me."
Upon hearing this, Huo Yanzhi chuckled softly, the vibration of his chest traveling through the thin fabric to her face.
He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, a gesture both precious and reverent.
"But it was that little wolf who had the strength to live because of the piece of candy you gave him..."
The rain gradually stopped.
The two sat on the newly installed park bench for a long time without saying a word.
They simply nestled together quietly, watching the fiery clouds on the horizon fade from their vibrant colors to a serene state, and seeing a group of children chasing and playing on the slide in the distance, their laughter ringing out.
Huo Yanzhi opened the large bag of strawberry candies, and Ruan Yao, like a leader of children, distributed the candies to each of the kids, earning them sweet "Thank you, pretty sister" in return.
The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the sky a warm orange hue.
When leaving the park, Huo Yanzhi's steps were lighter than ever before.
The cold rain that had enveloped him for two lifetimes seemed to be completely dispelled at this moment by the warmth of the girl in his arms.
All the darkness, humility, and unbearable things of the past were reconciled under her gentle gaze.
Nancheng is no longer his nightmare.
On their way back, they passed a building with the national emblem on it.
It was the police station that Ruan Yao remembered.
Huo Yanzhi stopped in his tracks.
As he looked at those solemn words, long-forgotten memories were awakened once again.
Back then, it was Ruan Yao who pointed in this direction and told him to go find the policeman.
It was here that he drank his first mouthful of hot water after escaping and ate a hot meat bun.
"What's wrong?" Ruan Yao followed his gaze.
“Back then, it was the police here who helped me contact my family,” Huo Yanzhi said softly.
He wanted to go inside and take a look.
See if the policeman who gave him the meat bun is still around.
Ruan Yao immediately understood, and she squeezed his hand tightly.
"Let's go inside."
The police station was quiet, with only a few young police officers on duty.
Upon seeing them enter, a young policeman immediately stood up.
"May I ask what brings you here?"
Huo Yanzhi looked around. This place was very different from what he remembered. There were brand-new electronic devices everywhere.
“I’m looking for someone,” Huo Yanzhi said. “I’m looking for a policeman who worked here more than ten years ago.”
"More than ten years ago?" The young policeman was taken aback; the time span was too large.
Just then, the door to the inner office opened, and an elderly policeman in uniform, with gray hair and a slightly overweight build, came out.
"Xiao Li, what's going on?"
The old policeman's voice was a little hoarse. He was holding a thermos filled with strong tea. When he saw Huo Yan, he habitually glanced at him.
Huo Yanzhi's gaze fell on the old policeman's somewhat worn name tag on his chest.
—Zhang Jianguo.
That's the name.
Huo Yanzhi's heart skipped a beat.
"Are you Officer Zhang?"
The veteran policeman was somewhat surprised when his name was called. He adjusted his glasses and looked carefully at the man in front of him.
The man was tall and imposing, wearing a well-tailored trench coat, and exuded an extraordinary aura; he was clearly no ordinary person.
"Yes, that's me. And who are you?"
"Do you remember?" Huo Yanzhi's voice carried an extremely subtle fluctuation. "About ten years ago, on a rainy day, you helped a boy who had run away from the mountains and had been trafficked?"
The old policeman was stunned.
More than ten years is too long.
He comes into contact with so many people and handles so many things every day, how could he possibly remember them all?
He tried to search deep in his memory for that rainy day, that little boy...
The image gradually became clearer.
He remembered.
That day, when he returned from a call, he found a child unconscious not far from the police station.
He took the child back to the station, gave him water and steamed buns, and later, from the child's intermittent descriptions, he learned that it was a case of human trafficking.
Before long, the case alarmed the entire southern part of the city.
It was only then that he learned that the disheveled child he had casually rescued was actually the only son of the Huo family, a top-tier wealthy family in Beijing, who had been missing for half a year.
The old policeman's hand, holding the thermos, froze in mid-air.
He stared in shock at the extraordinary man before him, comparing him to the thin, wary little boy he remembered.
"You...you are...that child?"
Huo Yanzhi nodded solemnly.
"Officer Zhang, this is Huo Yanzhi."
He stepped forward and bowed deeply to the completely stunned old policeman.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you, I might not have made it to my family's door."
"Ouch! What are you doing! Get up, get up!"
The veteran policeman was startled by his generous gesture and quickly stepped forward to help him up, almost dropping his thermos in the process.
He was so excited that his face turned red, and he waved his hands repeatedly.
"No, no, no! This is what we should do! It's just a small favor, a very small favor!"
He never dreamed that a child he had saved twenty years ago would reappear before him in this way, and become such an extraordinary person.
The other young police officers in the station were all dumbfounded.
They looked at each other, exchanging frantic glances.
Huo Yanzhi?
Is it Huo Yanzhi from the Huo Group?
The legendary young master of the Beijing circle actually has this kind of connection with Uncle Zhang, who is about to retire in their institute.
The world is too fantastical.
The old policeman pulled Huo Yanzhi aside, excitedly asking him all sorts of questions, recalling many details from back then.
"You've really made something of yourself! You look even more energetic than you do on TV!"
"Back then, I could tell from your eyes that you were destined for great things!"
Huo Yanzhi rarely smiled, and patiently answered every question from the old policeman.
Ruan Yao stood to the side, quietly watching this scene, a gentle smile always on her lips.
She was genuinely happy for Huo Yanzhi.
Her lover is gradually filling in all the gaps in his life.
However, in this warm and harmonious atmosphere, Ruan Yao suddenly felt a churning in her stomach.
A strong feeling of nausea rushed straight to my throat without warning.
Her face turned pale instantly, and she quickly reached out and covered her mouth tightly, barely managing to suppress the urge to vomit.
Her subtle movements and sudden pallor did not escape Huo Yanzhi's notice.
His gentle expression from just a moment ago was instantly replaced by tension and worry.
"Yaoyao? What's wrong?"
Ruan Yao shook her head weakly, and was about to say that she was fine when her stomach churned violently again.
"Hmm..."
She couldn't hold it in any longer and bent over to retch.
"Quick! Xiao Liu! Go and call the station's medic!" The veteran policeman was also startled by the commotion and hurriedly shouted to a young policeman next to him.
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