Extra 9. Spring 2018
Xu Cheng yanked Jiang Xi out from Jiang Hao’s arms and drove a palm hard into his shoulder. Jiang Hao was shoved back two or three meters.
Xu Cheng did not spare him a glance. He turned at once to look at Jiang Xi. Her head had not taken much of the slap, but the back of her hand was flushed red.
Xu Cheng’s face was iron-dark, his gaze like a blade, as he strode straight toward Jiang Hao.
Startled by his force of presence, Jiang Hao shrank back again and again.
Jiang Xi hurriedly grabbed Xu Cheng’s arm. “Forget it—” Sensing the force still surging forward in him, that she could not hold him back, she lowered her voice. “You’re a police officer. You can’t hit people.”
The draft that cut through the corridor carried a chill. The fire in Xu Cheng was doused halfway, his body cooled, his mind steadied. He stared at Jiang Hao and took out his phone. “Fine. I’ll call the police. Just a few days out and already picking fights and stirring trouble. Seems you haven’t had your fill of prison meals.”
Jiang Hao panicked. He had always been all bluster and no substance, a hollow shell; after more than ten years in prison, what he feared most were criminal police.
Many years ago, when Xu Cheng had nothing, he had already been wary of him. If he could avoid it, he would not provoke Xu Cheng. All the more so now, when their positions had reversed.
Fearing Jiang Hao might come looking for trouble after his release, Lu Siyuan had earlier asked the prison guards to give him a rundown of who Xu Cheng was now. There was no kind of vicious criminal Xu Cheng had not seen; what was Jiang Hao, in comparison.
Jiang Xi knew as well that he was strong on the outside but weak within. Seeing his face full of fear and timidity, she felt a flicker of pity. “Xu Cheng, let him go.”
Xu Cheng said nothing, his gaze fixed on Jiang Hao.
Jiang Hao hunched his chest, lowered his head, and pleaded, “Don’t, don’t call the police… Xu Cheng, back when I was doing well, I never made things hard for you…”
“Xu Cheng…” Jiang Xi tugged lightly at his sleeve; the hand holding the phone lowered.
“If you come to harass her again, I won’t be polite.”
Jiang Hao nodded frantically and turned to leave.
Xu Cheng drew Jiang Xi into his arms, stroked her head, then called out, “Jiang Hao.”
Jiang Hao flinched and stopped.
Xu Cheng walked over, jutting his chin forward to signal him to move a little farther ahead.
Uneasy, Jiang Hao followed him another ten-odd meters. Xu Cheng said, “Leave a number.”
Jiang Hao looked at him, suspicious.
Xu Cheng said, “You want to ask her for money?”
Jiang Hao started, then explained, “I’ve been out for a while. I really can’t make a living, otherwise I wouldn’t… You, how did you even guess that?”
“What else would you be looking for her for?” He gave a cool, faint smile. “Don’t tell me you care about your sister and miss your family.”
Jiang Hao said resentfully, “How much does she care about family? An ungrateful wretch.”
The smile on Xu Cheng’s face, which had never been real to begin with, stilled for a moment. He glanced back at Jiang Xi, who stood with her head lowered, arms wrapped around herself. In the dusk, her gray-white silhouette looked especially thin.
“Jiang Hao, these years she hasn’t had it any easier than you. She’s only just had two or three years of comfortable days.” Xu Cheng said, “Inside, at least your life wasn’t in danger. No one was hunting you. You didn’t have to worry about your next meal after finishing the last. You didn’t have to take care of a younger brother or sleep on the streets, did you?”
Jiang Hao said nothing.
“If Jiang Huai were still here, seeing you lay hands on her, he would kick you.”
At the mention of Jiang Huai, Jiang Hao’s expression loosened further.
Xu Cheng took a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to him.
Jiang Hao accepted it. Xu Cheng struck the lighter and held it up before him; Jiang Hao hesitated twice, then leaned in to light it.
Xu Cheng did not release the flame in his hand, letting it burn.
For no reason, Jiang Hao felt a chill of dread. “I… I won’t harass her anymore.”
“You’d better not.”
Jiang Hao said, “You really like her. I could tell back then.”
“Mm, I like her a lot,” Xu Cheng said. “The kind of liking where I would give up my job just to marry her. So Jiang Hao, if you dare do anything to hurt her again, I’ll take it as you wanting to stake your life against mine.”
The cigarette Jiang Hao had just drawn into his lungs halted there.
The flame flickered in Xu Cheng’s pitch-black pupils; the ruthlessness in his eyes was like a wolf.
The acrid smoke poured from Jiang Hao’s mouth and nostrils. His whole body went cold; he shrank and nodded.
Xu Cheng watched him in silence for a long while, then released the lighter and curved his lips slightly at him. His fingers moved swiftly over his phone. Jiang Hao received a text with an address, Lao Yong Food Stall.
“Haven’t eaten, have you? Go to this place. The owner cooks very well. You can eat there for free a few times. They’ve been hiring lately. If you work hard, you’ll get by.”
Jiang Hao froze, his lips trembling. Xu Cheng patted his shoulder and left.
That day, Jiang Xi asked, “If everyone finds out I am Jiang Xi, what will you do?”
Xu Cheng said, “If you don’t want to acknowledge it, then you’re not. No one can prove you are. If you want to acknowledge it, I will be with you.”
Jiang Xi smiled, open and at ease. “Alright.”
A few days later, Xu Cheng heard from Lao Yong that Jiang Hao was doing odd jobs there, and had even taken an interest in learning to cook, doing fairly well.
When Jiang Xi learned of it, she felt some measure of relief.
No matter how distant she had grown from him, they had been raised together in the Jiang family. And there was still that bond of Jiang Huai between them. Rather than see him destitute, she would rather he had a place to settle and make a life.
After the Spring Festival, they returned to Dicheng, and before long it was early March, the beginning of spring.
The Siqian case went to its second trial, the final judgment. The original verdict was upheld.
That day, far away in Yucheng, the sunlight was brilliant, while in Dicheng, a heavy snow began to fall, rare as it was.
Fan Wendong, Zhang Yang, and the others came to Dicheng and, together with Xu Cheng, represented the Yucheng Public Security Criminal Investigation Team in receiving a collective First-Class Merit citation; Xu Cheng himself was awarded another Second-Class Merit.
Before going onstage to receive the award, Xu Cheng went to wash his face. Passing through the corridor, he saw the heavy snow swirling beyond the window, and all at once he missed Jiang Xi. He took out his phone and called her.
The call had only just connected when Jiang Xi’s voice came, bright with happiness and surprise. “I was just sending you a message, one character away from hitting send. What a coincidence of hearts.”
Xu Cheng looked out the window. “A Xi, today’s snow is so beautiful.”
Jiang Xi’s voice grew even more delighted. “That’s exactly what I was going to tell you!”
Xu Cheng smiled. “You’re by the window too?”
“Yeah!” Jiang Xi leaned against the window, looking up at the goose-feather snow. “So beautiful.”
Separated by distance, the two of them watched the snowfall together for twenty seconds.
Someone called for Xu Cheng. He said, “I have to go.”
“Mm. Okay…” she said. “Xu Cheng, I was just thinking of you.”
“I was thinking of you too.”
He put away his phone, took one more look at the snow, and walked toward the auditorium.
Dressed in uniform, Xu Cheng stood on the brilliantly lit stage. Flowers filled the world before him, applause rose and fell. He received the award, he saluted. Standing at the center of honor, he thought of the past three years, of how, because of the Yuan Libiao case, the Lushan Zhao case, he had stood in this place again and again.
Each time, he thought of Jiang Xi.
Today, more than ever.
When he took the bouquet, the certificate, the medal; when he saluted, he was thinking of her. He missed her so much.
So much that time seemed to slow, each second stretching into a year. So much that when he stepped down from the stage and returned to his seat, he could not hear the congratulations of his colleagues, could not see their smiling faces. So much that as he sat there, his heart pounded wildly, refusing to calm…
So much that he endured the end of the ceremony as if sitting on pins and needles, with no time to entertain leaders or superiors, no time to meet Fan Wendong and Zhang Yang. He ran out of the venue, sped off in his car, and drove straight toward Jiang Xi’s school.
On the way, the snow fell heavier and heavier, drifting thick and dense.
As dusk approached, Jiang Xi was still immersed in her painting when she suddenly received a call from Xu Cheng. He was breathing hard, as if he had run from very far away. “Jiang Xi, come down. I’m downstairs.”
She froze, then ran to the window and looked down—
Xu Cheng, in his police uniform, stood in the vast falling snow, looking up at her with a smile. In his other hand, he still held the bouquet he had received during the award ceremony.
Jiang Xi immediately went downstairs, hurrying as fast as she could toward him. “How did you—”
“Jiang Xi, let’s get married,” Xu Cheng said.
She parted her lips, eyes wide. Snowflakes fell like shredded paper.
He lowered his gaze and looked at her intently. Snow had already gathered on the epaulettes of his police uniform. “Jiang Xi, today I received so many flowers, congratulations, so many honors, so much applause, but I… all I could think of was you. I only wanted to see you…”
“Today’s snow is so beautiful.”
“As for those nine years we missed, I don’t even know how to begin speaking of them…”
In his work, he moved with ease, sharp-minded and composed. Facing criminals, he was decisive and unyielding, resolute and strong. With clues, he was meticulous, keen of hearing and sight. He was tenacious, fearless, brave, and persistent…
Yet he was also empty, solitary.
Many times, he would stand alone, looking out at the sky beyond the office window. Alone, he would drive home, looking at this city crowded with people. Sometimes, though surrounded by many, though inside his own home, everything felt unfamiliar, distant.
Until he was with her again…
“Since reuniting with you, more than once I’ve thought about how my life should go. Should I continue being a police officer, or try another profession? Should I let you fly far and have a long-distance relationship with you, or follow you, stay by your side, watch you paint, watch the scenery… I’ve thought about many futures, but no matter which one, none of them can be without you. Because I don’t dare imagine how I would live through losing you again.
Jiang Xi, what the future will be like, no one can say for certain. It may be plain and smooth, it may still have hardships and storms. But no matter what, as long as we face it hand in hand, even an unpredictable future will not be too hard, and it will all be happiness.”
A mist of tears welled in Jiang Xi’s eyes. She spoke lightly, teasing, “Aren’t you afraid I might get you killed?”
He smiled too, a glimmer of brightness flashing in his eyes. “It’s fine. I won’t die.”
“These years, for responsibility, for duty, I’ve walked such a long, long road. Sometimes, truly… I get so tired.”
“I know.”
She knew the desolation in his heart. She had seen his silence when investigating a series of colleagues; she had also seen his resolute refusal to meet Yu Jiaxiang, to accept his apology.
At such times, she was very grateful that she was by his side, that at least she could give him an embrace.
Snow fell onto his hair, onto his lashes.
“Jiang Xi, life is too short. Being with you, every second counts. I don’t care whether it might get me killed or get you killed. I just want to be with you.”
Jiang Xi’s eyes reddened, her nose reddened too. With tears in her voice, she said, “We were always going to be together. I was just thinking before, that there might be a better way—”
“Not better.” Xu Cheng cut her off. “I know what you said to my aunt.”
Three years ago, that day when he learned his aunt had gone to see her, he quickly contacted his aunt and told her not to make things difficult for Jiang Xi anymore. At the time, he had said to his aunt, “I just like her. I like her to death. In this life, either I don’t marry, or I marry her. If she’s willing, I’ll marry her immediately. If she’s not, I’ll still guard her for a lifetime.”
Jiang Xi was stunned. No wonder afterward Xu Minmin never tried to persuade them to separate again, and had always been friendly and courteous to her.
“Jiang Xi, knowing what you said to my aunt, I was very moved. But I think it’s not good. I don’t want you to spend your whole life being my girlfriend. I want you to be my wife.”
At this point, his voice caught, and he choked up,
“I want to become your spouse, your legal family. In all the important occasions and critical moments of the life ahead, our relationship will be protected by law. I can’t accept that if you fall ill, I can’t sign the surgery consent form; if you need to handle any formalities, I can’t step forward on your behalf. Jiang Xi, for me, don’t you also want to have this kind of right?”
Her tears slipped down at once. She nodded again and again.
Xu Cheng smiled again, his breath coming out in large puffs of white, soft and dispersing among the swirling snowflakes.
He stepped forward and placed the bouquet into her hands. “Three years ago, I already wanted to propose to you. I wanted to tell you that the things you were worried about don’t matter. If they happen, I can resign at any time. But the Qiu Sicheng and Siyuan cases weren’t finished, and I couldn’t just leave them. Today was the final judgment. It’s over. Jiang Xi, we’re both free now.”
She nodded hard. “I know. So I’m not afraid at all anymore.”
Their eyes met. Against the great snowfall, Xu Cheng’s eyes were clear and bright.
He took out the ring he had brought from Yucheng last month and had carried on him since that morning. His hand trembled slightly. “I bought a pair more than ten years ago. I tried it, but my knuckles have grown, it won’t fit anymore. Tomorrow we—”
But Jiang Xi quickly spread her fingers and reached them out. “Try mine first.”
Xu Cheng slipped the smaller ring onto Jiang Xi’s ring finger. It fit exactly, settling perfectly at the base of her finger.
Jiang Xi threw herself into his arms at once, tears falling hard, yet she laughed openly. “From the moment you bought this ring, I was already married to you!”
She pressed herself firmly against the epaulettes of his criminal police uniform, hard and upright, just like him.
Xu Cheng held her tightly. His heart trembled; he could not speak. Lowering his head, he kissed her fiercely.
Snow fell in flurries.
My love, today’s snow is so beautiful…
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