The night Yu Baiqing first met Ying Wan, he’d just received his monthly salary from his two jobs and was riding his secondhand bicycle back home.
Even till today, he still remembered that a day of teaching basketball to the neighborhood kids at the stadium would net him sixty-eight yuan. At night, he would don a onesie and give out flyers for an English language tuition center at a shopping mall. Before the doors to the mall closed, he would be able to scrape together twenty yuan.
On that day, with two thousand and six hundred yuan in his hands, he had first gone to a twenty-four hour ATM machine near his house. He deposited two thousand and kept six hundred for his living expenses. After that, he was just undoing his bicycle lock when he caught sight of a little fellow hidden behind a trash can.
Unlike the beggars that roamed the streets, the boy’s shirt and shorts were neat, though there was a substantial amount of dust on his sleeves and shoes. His tiny figure was curled up in the shadows of a corner, back leaning against a wall covered in posters advertising bars. His head was lowered as he counted the coins in his palm.
“…Eight, nine, ten–”
His fingers flicked against his palm a few times, confirming that he had not counted wrongly. The child clenched his fist and got ready to stuff the coins into his pocket. But just when he looked down, a coin accidentally slipped out from the cracks between his fingers.
The coin rolled along the floor, spun two times beside Yu Baiqing’s foot, and then came to a stop.
Yu Baiqing’s gaze landed on the fifty cent coin lying beside his foot. After a brief period of hesitation, he stooped over and picked it up from the ground.
He stretched out his hand towards the child. “Your money.”
The child cautiously stuck half his head out from behind the trash can, but never came out to take it.
Only then did Yu Baiqing take notice of the child’s eyes.
A clean, clear pair of eyes, without the slightest impurity. It was the first time in his nineteen years of life that someone had looked at him so earnestly.
Reflected in the child’s eyes were the faintly yellow street lights and Yu Baiqing’s silhouette as he stood under the street lamps.
He was just about to ask the child a question when he heard the child suddenly speak. “Big gege, keep standing there, don’t move.”
The hand gripping the coin stiffened midair. Shortly after, Yu Baiqing saw the child walk out from behind the trash can.
Holding the handle of the trash can with one hand, the child slowly lifted up his other hand a few meters away and started tentatively feeling the air.
For every step the child took, he would stand there and hesitate for a moment before lightly tapping the ground in front with the tips of his feet. Only after confirming that there were no obstructions blocking his way did he proceed with taking that step.
He was a little wandering blind person.
The distance between the child and the roadside narrowed bit by bit. His outstretched fingers touched Yu Baiqing, whose arms were still covered in sweat from having just taken off the onesie. The child’s pupils widened gradually in the dark. His eyelashes trembled slightly. As if finally confirming something, he held out a small palm towards Yu Baiqing.
An icy-cold coin fell into his palm. The corners of the child’s eyes curved into crescents. “Thanks.”
Yu Baiqing turned and prepared to ride off on his bicycle. Just then, someone behind gently tugged on his clothes.
The child had come behind him at some point. He had very light footsteps. Even Yu Baiqing, who was always on alert, hadn’t heard anything.
The child took out a few unwrapped sweets from his pocket. He held all of them out to Yu Baiqing.
Rays of moonlight illuminated the entire street. He didn’t blink, the crescent moon reflected in his eyes. “These are all for you.”
“Big gege, I don’t want to go to a welfare agency,” The child spoke very softly. He seemed to be simultaneously pleading and acting coquettishly. “Don’t tell the police that I’m here, okay?”
“…”
In less than half a month, Yu Baiqing would be a first year student at Fan City’s police academy. As long as he saved the money that he’d just gotten that night, he would have enough to pay for his first semester’s school fees.
In the end, when he returned home, he was only left with two hundred yuan out of his combined pay of two thousand and six hundred yuan.
Two thousand had been deposited into his card for his school fees, while the other four hundred was given entirely to the little blind person hiding behind the trash can.
It was the only time in reserve officer Yu Baiqing’s life that he had been bribed, and with five candies at that.
The next day on Yu Baiqing’s way to work, he specially took the long route.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Although he had promised the child that he wouldn’t make a police report, he was still concerned for the child. Such a small child was wandering alone outside; what if something happened? He had to check in on the little blind person again.
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Yu Baiqing nodded. He made his way to the teahouse. “Have you seen him?”
“Yeah I did, he slipped away a long time ago!”
“Did you give him money?” Shaking cigarette ash off her fingers, the lady boss pursed her lips in the direction of the trash can. “He’s a swindler. Every few days, he’ll come around here to trick honest people like you, and when he gets the money, he’ll move on immediately to the next place.”
Nobody knew the little blind person’s name. Everybody in the area who’d seen him all called him a swindler.
Hearing the lady boss’ words, Yu Baiqing slowly clenched the hand in his trouser pocket.
This morning when he went out, he’d specially bought ten soft fruit candies of different flavors from a roadside stall.
He had intended to give the candies to the child if he ever saw him again.
–
Yu Baiqing stared at the youth leaning against the door of room number seven.
The youth’s back was covered in water stains. His black shirt was plastered tightly to his chest. Beads of water rolled down his neck to his Adam’s Apple, tracing faint lines from his collarbone into his collar as if stained with a thin layer of perspiration. The bite wound on the corner of his mouth was slightly swollen. The remaining bloodstains on the surface of the wound had already congealed, making his lips appear even redder and his teeth whiter.
That person had a thick wad of hundred yuan bills in his hands. His fingers were still sandwiched between the half-counted bank notes. His fingertips subconsciously shivered.
Hearing footsteps in the distance, the youth’s expression stiffened for an instant before he immediately pulled up his messy, half-open collar, concealing his collarbones.
Noticing the familiar figure at the other end of the corridor, the three people who had just turned the corridor came to a halt simultaneously.
A stifling silence spread through the VIP zone’s corridor. Ruan Tianjie, who was standing beside Yu Baiqing, opened his mouth as if wanting to break this peculiar atmosphere. But after hesitating for a long time, he still eventually kept his mouth shut as if in defeat.
In the end, it was still Ying Wan who took the initiative to speak.
He looked in the direction of the three people. His chest was heaving slightly and his voice was a little unstable. “Supervisor Xu, is that you?”
Yu Baiqing paused just as he was about to take a step forward. His accelerated heartbeat abruptly came to a standstill before falling heavily back down.
He’d overthought.
Little Wan couldn’t see, how could he have recognized him?
A trace of doubt could be seen on Ying Wan’s face at the extended silence. Wiping the mark on the corner of his lips with his sleeve, he let out a deep breath and held up the bills in his hands, continuing to count them with a lowered head.
Supervisor Xu uttered awkwardly, “That–”
Veins bulged from the back of Yu Baiqing’s hand.
As if long anticipating this reaction, Ruan Tianjie took an agile step forward the moment there was a change in Yu Baiqing’s expression and grabbed hold of his arm.
Don’t.
He shook his head at Yu Baiqing.
He wanted to remind Old Yu that Little Wan did not know he was here. He definitely wouldn’t wish for Old Yu to see him in such a sorry state.
Yu Baiqing came to a halt. He didn’t continue forward, but his gaze remained frighteningly heavy.
Fortunately, Little Wan couldn’t see, otherwise who knew what sort of situation would pan out.
When Ruan Tianjie looked back on this moment, he sorely regretted it.
–
“You usually don’t give your di allowance?”
Ruan Tianjie quietly asked Old Yu, whose face was equivalent to a block of ice, as they followed the club’s supervisor into the VIP zone. “Otherwise, why else would your di man his stall during the day and still come to this sort of place at night?”
After driving from the municipal bureau to Bar Street, they immediately asked the Lower Ninth District’s plain clothes policemen about Ying Wan’s whereabouts tonight. The plain clothes officers standing guard at the entrance had looked at each in dismay, informing them that Ying Wan had vanished after going in. In the end, it was the bartender who told them that ‘N’ had headed towards the VIP zone after meeting with an unfamiliar gentleman.
Yu Baiqing couldn’t help worrying about his di. He’d originally intended to take out his police badge and barge in directly, but Ruan Tianjie persuaded him not to inadvertently alert the enemy.
After all, Yu Baiqing was still the subject of multiple disciplinary punishments. If any mishaps were to occur tonight, Old Yu might really lose his police badge.
Ruan Tianjie had a sudden burst of inspiration. He called his house and within ten minutes, the Ruan Family’s driver rushed to the club to deliver his dage’s VIP member card as well as two suits.
The idea he’d thought of was for Yu Baiqing to openly enter under the identity of a member. They could then find an opportunity to retrieve Little Wan.
…But he’d never expected such a situation to happen!
Of all people, Supervisor Xu remained completely oblivious to the changes in the surrounding atmosphere. His line of sight moved away from Ying Wan. Continuing from his previous statement, he smiled respectfully. “Which room would you prefer? I’ll bring you to the room now?”
Yu Baiqing turned and left.
Ruan Tianjie glanced at Ying Wan, who had not sensed anything and was still leaning against the room door. Sighing, he hastily followed after Yu Baiqing.
He had thought up many methods that Yu Baiqing might adopt. Given Old Yu’s personality, even if he didn’t directly charge into the room to settle accounts, he would still find a way to identify the person who’d put his di in such a state.
He’d even considered that Yu Baiqing might directly bring his di back home for a severe scolding.
After all, everyone who was familiar with Old Yu knew that he was the epitome of a ‘strict guardian’. No matter what happened, he would always assume the role of a dage in front of his di.
But in Ruan Tianjie’s eyes, Yu Baiqing’s behavior was the epitome of ‘psychological compensation’.
Yu Baiqing never talked about it, but he knew that Old Yu felt responsible for his di’s current display of morality and conduct.
“Ai, gentlemen–”
Seeing that his customers were leaving when they’d just arrived not long ago, Xu Kang was rife with anxiety, concerned that his service had been unsatisfactory. He stood rooted to the ground and hesitated for a long time before hurriedly chasing after them.
Since Yu Baiqing had left, Ying Wan ceased his pretense of counting money.
He sent Ah Bu a message and then shoved the bills into his pocket. Staring at the number seven on the door, he fell into a daze.
There was a serene, apathetic look on his face. No one knew exactly what he was thinking of at this moment.
…Sure enough, he shouldn’t have drunk alcohol.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, his sluggish brain had already started affecting his thinking. Just now when Yu Baiqing appeared in front of him, he should have been able to think of a better explanation for his ge, but he’d missed the optimal timing because of a moment of surprise and distraction.
Since he regained his sight, he had very few chances to scrutinize Yu Baiqing. As he stared at his ge’s face, he momentarily couldn’t distinguish what emotion his ge was feeling.
It wasn’t anger or shock. It didn’t seem like disappointment either.
If he had to describe it, it was more like a silent blankness.
Yu Baiqing had nothing good to say to him.
Ying Wan blinked lightly. The corners of his eyes felt prickly and slightly uncomfortable.
He felt his way along the wall till he reached the VIP zone’s storeroom, where the deputy supervisor handed him his cane along with a wet napkin to wipe the dry bloodstains on his mouth.
“The customer was rough tonight?” The deputy supervisor asked Ying Wan softly while glancing at the tightly closed doors of room number seven.
Ying Wan didn’t answer his question. “Do you have any hangover medicine? Give me one.”
He washed down the hangover pill with half a cup of beer. Then, he bid the deputy supervisor goodbye, picked up his cane, and left from the VIP zone’s exit.
An attendant helped him to open the door. Fresh air hit him in the face. The slightly chilly wind particular to the end of summer surged into his nostrils.
Feeling his mind clear up a little, Ying Wan took out his phone from his pocket. His fingers stopped on a phone number, but didn’t move for a long while.
He didn’t know how he should interact with Yu Baiqing after going home.
He stepped on the stairs outside the door, eyes squinting from the wind. His figure swayed slightly. He gripped his cane tightly and attempted to control his balance, but unexpectedly, his foot stepped onto air and his entire body fell forward uncontrollably.
A hand reached over from behind and grabbed his arm.
The palm was warm and the pulse that pressed against his skin beat powerfully, incongruous with the cold wind.
Subsequently, an extra article of clothing appeared on his back.
His ge had draped his suit over his damp shoulders.
A faint scent of cigarettes covered up the smell of alcohol from his body. This was the smell exclusive to his ge. He’d known it since young.
Ying Wan blinked in bewilderment as if unaware why Yu Baiqing had appeared here. Under the streetlights, his pair of eyes seemed somewhat dazed, as if veiled in a layer of fog yet also as if he could not believe his eyes.
He realized that Yu Baiqing had smoked. And it wasn’t just a single stick.
When he was young, he often worried about losing his way and not being able to find his way back home or recognize his ge.
After that, he really did lose his way near their house. He squatted at a small park not far from their house, wiping at his tears. Yu Baiqing searched the streets and alleys for an entire day. When he saw Ying Wan’s figure at the entrance to the park, he crouched down and spread out his arms for a hug.
Catching the little crybaby who pounced into his embrace, Yu Baiqing lifted up Ying Wan’s fingers and allowed him to touch his facial features.
Yu Baiqing tapped his high nose bridge. “This is ge’s nose.”
The fingers moved downwards gently, touching the soft patch between his lips. “This is ge’s mouth.”
“This is ge’s eyes.”
Wrapping his arms around Ying Wan’s thin shoulders, Yu Baiqing patted his back lightly. “In the future, regardless of where you are, Little Wan can immediately recognize ge, right?”
And now, those eyes were gazing at him quietly. No emotion could be gleaned from Yu Baiqing’s eyes, yet there seemed to be an endless gloominess hidden within them.
Ying Wan was drunk, yet didn’t seem drunk.
He only knew that he was wearing Yu Baiqing’s clothes. Like a thief stealing the warmth of Yu Baiqing’s body.
Ying Wan stared at the man standing in front of him, the distance between them minuscule. His Adam’s Apple moved and he called out the man’s name, “…Yu Baiqing?”
The man didn’t respond for a long time.
All of a sudden, Ying Wan felt like he was going crazy.
He wanted to kiss his ge’s eyes.
Ilyz: Decided to make some name changes to align better with the codename situation that’s going on (previous chapters have been edited to reflect these changes):
Hui Bei → Grayback
Gui Xiao → Owl
Zhi Zhe → Sage
Aghhhh just confess and get together alreadyyyy 😩 it’s not like y’all are related by blood ugh