Chapter Seventeen (Part 3): Parting
There were still several hours before dawn. Lu Yin had spent half the night outside, and after hearing him tell the whole story, both her body and mind had been pushed to their limits. Once she had gotten it all out of her system, it was not long before she fell asleep fully clothed.
Lu Qiang carried her into the bedroom, took off her padded coat and jeans, then pulled the quilt over her securely.
He found his phone in the living room. There were two missed calls from Genzi. He casually took out a cigarette, walked onto the balcony, and called him back, letting him know that everything was fine.
It was still dry and cold outside. The streetlights had gone out, and the white snow made even the sky look less dark. Lu Qiang lowered his eyes. The handprint on the outdoor air-conditioning unit was still there, the one he had left earlier.
After finishing the cigarette in his hand, Lu Qiang turned and went back inside.
He breathed warm air into his palms, clenched his teeth and briefly closed his eyes, then pulled at his collar and gave it a sniff. He quickly stripped completely and headed for the bathroom.
When the hot water poured over his body, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder. Lu Qiang abruptly opened his eyes and turned his head. The wound on his left shoulder had been soaked by the water, and a faint red color spread outward. Each small, neat tooth mark was clearly visible.
Lu Qiang walked over to the sink and wiped away a layer of condensation with his hand. His solid chest was clearly reflected in the mirror. He touched the wound on his shoulder. Just how upset did she have to be to bite him this hard? He rubbed at it for a while, then scooped up a handful of cold water and splashed it over his face. He shook his head, sending tiny droplets of water across the mirror. The condensation spread again, completely blurring his vision.
Lu Qiang braced himself against the counter, half bent over. Lu Yin’s words had left him distracted for a moment.
After showering, he roughly dried himself and jumped straight into bed. Lu Yin was already fast asleep, lying on her side with one hand tucked beneath her ear, her position somewhat awkward. The bedroom was warm. She had been chilled through and then warmed back up, leaving her whole face flushed red. Lu Qiang propped his head up and watched her for a while. He pulled the strands of hair that had gotten into the corner of her mouth free, pressed his lips to her forehead, then lingered on her lips for a long time before pulling away.
He reached back to turn off the light and lay down beside her as well.
This sleep was relatively peaceful. He did not know what time it was when he was awakened by a faint itch on his forehead.
Lu Qiang opened his eyes halfway. Her features came into view, her lips slightly pursed, her eyes clear as she carefully studied him.
Lu Yin had woken earlier than he had. Outside the window, the sunlight was dazzling, and the white snow dyed heaven and earth a brilliant silver. The dry shadows of the trees swayed back and forth across the wall, carrying a somewhat wavering, unreal quality.
Lu Qiang caught the hand on his forehead and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Awake?” His voice was extremely soft. He had smoked too much the day before, and when he first opened his mouth, his throat was so hoarse that barely any sound came out.
Lu Yin did not answer. Her gaze moved upward and settled on his forehead again. There was a thin, elongated scar at his right temple, where the deadened skin differed from the surrounding area, reflecting a very faint light.
“How did you get that scar?”
Lu Qiang said, “Didn’t you ask me before?”
She repeated, “How did you get it?”
“From a knife.”
The last time she had asked him, Lu Qiang had given her the same answer. Back then, she had thought it was just something he had done for fun and had never looked any deeper into it. Yesterday, after he mentioned it, she had roughly figured out the whole story.
Lu Yin said, “Because you had to make the whole act convincing, and he had a wound on his head, so you cut yourself in the same place?”
“Yes,” Lu Qiang said. “Even if the cuts didn’t match exactly, we still had to make it look right on the surface.”
“You really could bring yourself to do that.”
“It didn’t hurt much,” Lu Qiang said.
Lu Yin gave a bitter little smile. Her nose stung with emotion, and she did not know whether she should feel sorry for him or call him an idiot.
She looked away and propped herself up on her arm, intending to get up, but she could not move an inch.
Lu Yin asked, “Aren’t you thirsty?”
Lu Qiang looked into her eyes, with no intention of letting her go.
After a long while, she sighed and quietly settled back down. “Yesterday, when I ran away in the middle of the night, it was because I couldn’t make sense of things for a moment. You explained it, and I can accept the result. That was your past. No matter how unwilling I am, I can’t change it.”
She paused here, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, where tiny patches of light kept shifting. She continued, “If I were given another chance, I would definitely stay far away from you. If we had never started, I wouldn’t have to force myself to accept any of this.”
“I’m a rather stubborn person. At first, I hesitate and waver, but once I make up my mind, I don’t want to just fool around. I’ve thought about things far into the future from the very beginning,” she said slowly. “So I don’t intend to break up with you. But from now on, you won’t disappoint me, will you?”
Her expression was very calm, the corners of her lips curving into an almost imperceptible arc. Her gaze was steady as she stubbornly waited for his answer.
Lu Qiang looked at her for a long time.
Lu Yin repeated, “Let’s live our lives properly together, okay?”
Lu Qiang’s throat bobbed. Finally, he closed his eyes and said softly, “Okay.”
Lu Yin leaned over and lightly touched her lips to his. “Want some water?”
***
Later on, Lu Qiang met up with Genzi and went to the Public Security Bureau. Da Long had spent the entire night squatting in the interrogation room. His beard was unkempt, his eyes bloodshot from staying awake, and his entire body looked utterly dejected. When he saw Lu Qiang, he nearly cried. All the swagger he had shown when beating people was completely gone. He looked like a defeated rooster.
Liang Yarong continued to refuse to back down and demanded police intervention, so Da Long was temporarily detained.
It was still early when they came out of the Public Security Bureau. Tan Wei followed them out and called out, “Lu Qiang.” She stopped two meters away.
Lu Qiang turned around and swept her a cold glance.
Tan Wei looked somewhat uneasy. She put both hands into her pockets and straightened her back. “Um, is she okay?”
Lu Qiang lifted his leg to leave.
In her hurry, she followed him for two steps and grabbed the fabric over his elbow. “I just wanted to say... I’m sorry.”
Lu Qiang did not appreciate it. He suddenly lowered his eyes, and Tan Wei immediately pulled her arm back as if she had been shocked by electricity.
Tan Wei regretted it the moment she finished speaking. Unable to save face, she forced herself to remain calm. “I was only concerned about you two out of the goodness of my heart, and I worried about you all night. What kind of attitude is that?”
Lu Qiang said, “I’m possessive. I hate other people touching what’s mine. Even having crooked ideas about it isn’t allowed. Watch your mouth. If you let one more useless word out, don’t blame me for tearing it apart.”
With that, he started walking. No matter what, he did not want to stoop to arguing with a woman.
Tan Wei, however, was furious. She shouted, “Lu Qiang.” She bit her lip. “Don’t forget that I saved your life. Even cats and dogs know to repay kindness. I only said a few extra words. Killing someone is nothing more than a drop of blood at the head. What exactly do you want me to do?”
“I want you to stay the hell away from me,” Lu Qiang said. “If you take off that police uniform, I, Lu Qiang, will be eternally grateful and repay you for that shot in prison for the rest of my life. Don’t bring up your duty as an excuse.”
Tan Wei froze where she stood.
Lu Qiang glanced at her. “Live up to the uniform you’re wearing.” He looked at Genzi. “Let’s go.”
Genzi had come in his beat-up van. Once the two of them got in, he could not help asking, “Qiang-ge, weren’t you a little too harsh? She’s just a young girl, how pitiful.”
Lu Qiang snorted. “How come I didn’t see her being pitiful when she was running her mouth?”
As Genzi drove, seeing that Lu Qiang’s mood had improved, he dared to tease him. “You’ve changed! Qiang-ge, sister-in-law has made you turn over a new leaf!”
Lu Qiang said, “Don’t get all sarcastic with me.”
Genzi grinned foolishly and rubbed the back of his head. “Where are we going next?”
Lu Qiang paused. “Didn’t I just tell you to ask for the hospital’s address?”
“To the hospital?”
Lu Qiang gave a grunt of acknowledgment. “Da Long’s still in there. We should at least go take a look.”
Genzi nodded, stepped on the accelerator, and sped up. They missed the morning rush hour, and the whole way was exceptionally smooth.
Lu Qiang went into the lobby first and waited for Genzi to park. The hospital was packed in the morning, bustling with people, with family members lining up to pay everywhere. Lu Qiang walked a couple of steps to the side, pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Before he could take a full drag, a young nurse approached from a distance, frowning at him. “No smoking in the hospital.”
With half a mouthful of smoke held in, Lu Qiang raised a hand toward her, turned around, and walked back outside.
The snow accumulated on the road had been shoveled to both sides, exposing the original grayish ground. The steps were still somewhat slippery, and everyone coming up took careful, mincing steps. He moved closer to the wall and exhaled the smoke from his mouth.
The parking lot was some distance away. By the time he finished the cigarette in his mouth, Genzi still had not returned. He lowered his head and reached for another cigarette. Before he could look down, someone suddenly came out of the entrance, wearing a black trench coat and casual pants, striding toward the outside.
At the entrance, he bumped into a passerby. Looking displeased, he brusquely shoved the person aside. In the instant he turned sideways, Lu Qiang saw how disheveled he was. There were marks on the front of his shirt and pants where they had been soaked with water. He stepped down the stairs and hurried several paces before suddenly stopping. He lowered his head, then raised it again and looked in a certain direction. He stared for a long time.
Genzi appeared at some point and waved a hand in front of him. “Qiang-ge, what are you looking at?”
Lu Qiang looked again, then headed inside. “Nothing.”
Liang Yajun was staying in a high-end private room. This was also the room Liang Yarong had deliberately changed him to last night after seeing Lu Qiang. It was on the top floor of the hospital.
The corridor was quiet and deserted, the windows bright and spotless, the surroundings exceptionally tranquil.
There was a small lounge outside the ward. Lu Qiang placed his hand on the door and paused before knocking twice and pushing it open. He had not even stepped one leg inside when, from the corner of his eye, he saw an object fly toward him. He pulled his arm back, and the heavy object struck the door with a dull bang.
A few seconds later, he pushed the door open again.
Wu Qiong was sitting on the sofa. She suddenly turned her head. “I told you to get lost. Don’t show your face in front of me and disgust me.”
For that instant, her expression was somewhat ferocious. She casually grabbed a cushion to throw, but froze when she saw who was standing in the doorway. After an awkward moment, she opened her mouth, yet could not say a single word.
What had happened back then was not Lu Qiang’s fault, but he could not escape having unintentionally helped bring it about. He had taken Qiu Zhen’s punishment in his place. At first, she had hated him so much that she had nearly gone mad. During the month she lay in the hospital, she had been completely hopeless, her emotions deeply depressed. The hospital had issued several critical-condition notices. After enduring prolonged torment and brushing past death, she had stubbornly survived.
Afterward, she underwent a long period of psychological counseling, and her mood gradually stabilized. Even that trace of complicated affection she had felt toward him was taken away along with it.
For the past few years, she had wanted nothing and asked for nothing, and her emotions had never spiraled out of control again, until she encountered Qiu Zhen a few days ago.
The nightmare had come after all.
Wu Qiong clasped her trembling hands and forced herself to remain calm. “You should leave. My mother went downstairs to buy food. She’ll be back soon.”
Lu Qiang stood at the doorway without moving. “How badly is he injured?”
Wu Qiong looked at him for two seconds, then turned her gaze elsewhere. “Multiple external injuries. A mild concussion, a fractured nasal bone, and a comminuted fracture of the tibia in his left leg.”
“Is he awake?”
“No,” Wu Qiong said. “They gave him anesthetic. He’s unconscious.”
“Da Long will pay the medical expenses. Have them take good care of him.”
Wu Qiong lowered her head without speaking.
Lu Qiang paused. “He’s still sitting in the detention center. As for the assault and fighting, whatever compensation is owed, pay it. It’s fine to have him come over and apologize in person too. There are some things he didn’t know about, so he was innocent of them. There’s no point in refusing to let this go.”
Only then did Wu Qiong relax slightly. She lowered her hands. “That’s not up to me.”
Lu Qiang said, “I hope you’ll think it through.”
He did not stay long. After leaving the ward, Genzi ran downstairs first to pay the medical expenses. Lu Qiang deliberately lagged a step behind and took the next elevator. Just as the doors were about to close, someone pressed the button from outside.
Wu Qiong had followed him out, her breathing somewhat unsteady. “There are a few more things I want to say.”
After a few seconds, Lu Qiang straightened away from the wall and followed her out. The two of them found a quiet place to talk.
There was a smoking room around the corner, its window facing the hospital lawn. There was no trace of green in winter, only a vast expanse of snow-covered white.
The two of them stood a meter apart. Lu Qiang happened to have a cigarette out, and the room was not very large. It did not take long for smoke to swirl all around them.
Lu Qiang kept one hand in his pocket. “What did you want to say?”
Wu Di said, “About what happened with your friend, I can persuade my mother to stop pursuing it.”
Lu Qiang took a drag of his cigarette and narrowed his eyes. “And then?”
She lowered her head, rubbing her hands together in front of her a few times. “He...” Wu Qiong drew a breath, struggling to steady her emotions before saying, “Qiu Zhen... suddenly ran into me on the street some time ago. After that, just like before, he kept haunting me, appearing from time to time and saying all sorts of inexplicable things. I was terrified. I couldn’t escape him no matter how hard I tried. My mother isn’t in good health, and I didn’t dare tell her.”
Lu Qiang glanced at her, his gaze dropping to her hands. They were trembling slightly, and she was desperately trying to control them, her knuckles clenched white.
After a long while, Wu Qiong looked at his profile. “Let’s consider what happened back then over. I accept it. He used to listen to you more than anyone. Could you... make him stop harassing me?”
Lu Qiang did not answer her. He narrowed his eyes at the view outside, the cigarette clenched between his lips unmoving. If not for the wisps of smoke curling upward, it seemed as though the whole world had been frozen in place.
The snow outside was blindingly white. From this height, the people below looked like ants, slowly crawling along their own paths.
When the cigarette was almost burned to the end, the ash could no longer hold together, and a large chunk fell onto the windowsill.
Lu Qiang took the cigarette down and flicked it straight into the trash can. “I can’t deal with his affairs anymore.”
***
After that, Lu Qiang never showed up again. He had Genzi bring money over twice. Aside from the injury to his leg, Liang Yajun had basically recovered from his other injuries. After being discharged, he went into a rehabilitation center, and after being put through the whole ordeal for a month, he finally agreed to go home.
Not long afterward, Da Long was released as well. Wu Qiong eventually managed to persuade Liang Yarong to let the matter go. Otherwise, given those medical examination reports, if she had insisted on pursuing the case to the end, Da Long would inevitably have spent a year or more in detention.
After being fired by the logistics company, all of his hospital expenses were paid upfront by Lu Qiang. Once he got out, he invited several people out for a drinking binge. His foul temper had mellowed considerably. After downing several glasses of baijiu, he hugged Lu Qiang’s leg and wept bitterly, not knowing how he could ever repay him.
Lu Qiang laughed and cursed him out for a while, then turned toward the window. Fine flakes of snow drifted and swayed through the air.
That winter seemed particularly cold. Heavy snow and light snow came without a break, and the entire city seemed covered in white, cold, silent, and desolate.
With a week left until Spring Festival, Lu Yin’s uncle called again to confirm when she would be coming home. She had originally planned to spend the New Year with Lu Qiang in Zhangzhou, but thinking about it carefully, she had only gone home once since graduating. No matter how unwilling she was, her uncle was still her family.
After discussing it with Lu Qiang, he was silent for only a brief moment before smiling and telling her to go home.
Lu Yin said, “It’ll only be five or six days. I can be back in Zhangzhou by the fourth day of the New Year.”
“I’ll come pick you up.”
She packed a few changes of clothes. “Then where are you going for New Year’s?”
“I’ve got Genzi. The few of us can get together for a game of mahjong.”
Lu Yin still felt somewhat guilty. She kissed his cheek. “Wait for me to come back. Next year, I’ll spend New Year’s with you.”
At the thought of next year, Lu Qiang smiled. Promises always made people sink into beautiful anticipation, but there was still a gap between them and reality.
He leaned in and kissed her. “Okay.”
She left at night, with Lu Qiang seeing her off. Her uncle’s home was farther south, in a small county town. The train was more convenient than flying, and the journey took more than a dozen hours, but sleeping through it made the time pass quickly.
Lu Yin carried a small suitcase. Her handbag had been stuffed full of snacks by him for her to eat on the way.
She had caught the peak Spring Festival travel rush. People of all kinds were lying and sleeping wherever they could in the waiting room. Lu Qiang swept his eyes over the scene and could not help frowning. In the end, he bought a platform ticket and accompanied her onto the train.
He had bought a lower berth. He put her luggage away, then turned to leave.
Someone tugged at the corner of his clothes. Lu Qiang turned around. She was sitting on the berth, looking up at him.
Lu Qiang bent down and smiled. “Can’t bear to part with me?”
Lu Yin pursed her lips and asked softly, “Will you miss me?”
People were surging all around them. Lu Qiang lifted her chin and gave her a wicked smile. “No. If I get worked up, I’ll just find another woman.”
Lu Yin only heard the first two words. Her throat tightened painfully. She gently bit her lower lip, and even the shadow above her head seemed somewhat blurred.
Lu Qiang froze. “You really can’t take a joke.”
Lu Yin quickly blinked a few times and gave him a forced smile. “Go on. The train’s about to leave.”
Lu Qiang lowered his head even further and looked at her for a while. “I’ll come pick you up on the fourth day.”
The conductor at the door blew the whistle. Lu Qiang kissed her lightly. “I’m going.”
Lu Yin sniffed and, remembering something, quickly pulled aside the curtain. The platform was dim and shadowy, with only two or three figures remaining. A few seconds later, Lu Qiang appeared at the window. Both hands were in his pockets, an unlit cigarette between his teeth, and he curled the corner of his lips at her.
The two of them were separated by a thin pane of glass, yet they were about to drift farther and farther apart. Five or six days was not a long time. Lu Yin was simply afraid of parting.
Outside the train window, Lu Qiang took out his phone and tapped away at it for a while. Then he raised it toward Lu Yin, signaling for her to look at her text messages.
He did not wait for the train to pull away. He left her with his back turned, his tall, broad body hunched slightly, head lowered, walking neither hurriedly nor slowly, as though he was no longer quite so eager to get home either.
Lu Yin lowered the curtain and rubbed her eyes before remembering to pull out her phone.
She glanced at it, took a long moment to process the words, then angrily threw it aside, feeling that she had completely wasted her emotions just now.
The screen read: “I have hands too, you know. I can miss you.”
After a while, Lu Yin picked it up and glanced at it again. Her cheeks could not help but grow warm.
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