NOS Chapter 106

Chapter 106 Epilogue: My Hometown, Jin A Lin

Chapter 106 Epilogue: My Hometown, Jin A Lin

At the end of March of the following year, Za Mu Er welcomed the last snowfall of this spring. After the snow completely melted, the Ning Nie Li Qi River thawed. With a thunderous sound, the ice cover in the center of the river cracked, and large chunks of floating ice rushed down from the upper reaches, bringing the late spring into this small northern town.

Further south, on the Wu Na River Plain, there was already bright spring sunshine in early March. By mid-May, the temperature had warmed up, and Songlan was filled with blooming lilacs. The clear waves of the river echoed with the sound of rushing water.

Outside the Songlan Detention Center in the north of the city, a policeman in a navy blue uniform got out of the car. He looked around and saw the person waiting for him not far away.

“I’m here,” Guan Yao waved.

Yu Chunming adjusted the hearing aid hanging on his left ear, took a few steps closer, and asked, “Why did you come?”

“Can’t I come?” Guan Yao retorted.

Yu Chunming raised his eyebrows, as if he hadn’t heard.

At the end of November last year, Li Guanglai and Qian Guowei were arrested. This was supposed to be a great thing, but Yu Chunming, who was seriously injured, suddenly fell into a coma on the way back to the city. After a hurried examination, the doctor discovered that his left ear canal, which had not fully recovered, was bleeding severely, and his right eardrum was also damaged.

In short, he was basically deaf.

“What do we do now?” Guan Yao, who was guarding him at the time, asked blankly.

“What now?” The doctor wiped the blood off Yu Chunming’s face and replied, “Once he’s completely healed, we can implant an artificial cochlea. He won’t be deaf, don’t worry.”

Guan Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

However, he didn’t expect that Yu Chunming’s fragile body would suffer injuries and illnesses one after another, repeatedly, until March of this year, and he still hadn’t fully recovered. The implantation of the artificial cochlea had to be postponed again and again.

As a result, Officer Yu, who learned everything quickly, immediately mastered the skill of only hearing what he wanted to hear, and not hearing anything he didn’t want to hear.

For example, right now, Guan Yao tried to persuade him with painstaking words, but he couldn’t stop him from insisting on coming to the detention center.

“Walk slowly, doesn’t your leg hurt?” Guan Yao asked gently, following behind Yu Chunming.

Yu Chunming naturally didn’t hear him.

Guan Yao continued, “I went to the Municipal Bureau this noon to handle some procedures. I asked Yu Chang to take care of you. What time did he go this morning? Did he watch you eat lunch? What did you have for lunch?”

Yu Chunming still didn’t hear him.

Guan Yao took a deep breath. He quickened his pace, feeling unhappy, and pulled the man into his arms: “I’m asking you a question.”

“What did you say?” Yu Chunming looked innocent.

“Never mind,” Guan Yao let go of him. He paused for a moment, then deliberately said, “Deputy Director Yu is also here, don’t blame me for not reminding you.”

This time, Yu Chunming immediately became all ears.

“What did you say?” He frowned.

But before Guan Yao could answer, a rather stern voice came from down the hallway. Yu Zhenshan said, “He’s here.”

Yu Chunming stopped in his tracks, standing still.

Guan Yao’s hand was on his waist, stopping him from turning around and leaving. The usually mischievous Officer Guan lowered his voice and whispered into Yu Chunming’s hearing aid, “This is the consequence of you pretending to be deaf and mute with me every day.”

“Guan Yao!”

“It’s almost time.” Yu Zhenshan on the other side was a little displeased.

Yu Chunming tugged at his uniform, which Guan Yao had pulled crooked, and slowly walked up to Yu Zhenshan.

Yu Zhenshan looked at him and asked, “What time did Yu Chang go this morning? Did he watch you eat lunch? What did you have for lunch?”

Yu Chunming glared back at Guan Yao, then answered very concisely, “Dumplings made by Teacher Wang.”

Yu Zhenshan frowned, then turned around and opened the door of the meeting room, which had been tightly closed: “He’s inside.”

Yu Chunming’s eyelashes drooped slightly, and he nodded.

Yu Zhenshan added, “Guan Yao and I will be outside.”

Yu Chunming suddenly wanted to laugh. He softened his tone and answered seriously, “I know.”

The person waiting for him in the meeting room was Qian Guowei, who now had a shaved head and was wearing slippers and a uniform yellow vest.

Ever since the first trial ended in March, Qian Guowei had been clamoring to see Yu Chunming, especially when he withdrew his appeal in the second trial and accepted the first trial’s verdict. He made the most noise then.

But law enforcement agencies never allocate resources based on noise, especially for serious criminals like Qian Guowei. He and Yu Chunming were not related by law, and even if he were to be executed immediately, he wouldn’t have the right to meet.

But when the news reached Yu Chunming’s half-deaf, half-not-deaf ears, he actually agreed.

Therefore, this meeting was arranged in mid-May, within the twenty-four hours before Qian Guowei’s execution.

The meeting room was bright, and the sunlight from the window, which was fitted with a sturdy security net, shone in.

Yu Chunming’s face looked particularly pale in the sunlight. Qian Guowei stared at him for a long time, but ultimately didn’t speak first.

“If you have something to say, say it. You’ve been clamoring for so long, what do you want to do by seeing me?” Yu Chunming became annoyed by his silence.

Qian Guowei lowered his head and touched the tip of his nose with his hand, which was cuffed to the table. He said, “Are you really… Jiang Min’s son?”

Yu Chunming frowned.

Qian Guowei didn’t dare to look up at the eyes that resembled Jiang Min’s. He struggled for a long time before finally uttering a sentence: “You and Jiang Min… you really look alike.”

Yu Chunming replied coldly, “I don’t need you to tell me that.”

Qian Guowei nodded repeatedly, feeling that the navy blue uniform across from him was dazzlingly bright. He asked, “Will you forgive me?”

Yu Chunming seemed to have heard a joke. He asked incredulously, “What did you say?”

Qian Guowei cleared his throat and repeated, “Will… will you forgive me?”

Yu Chunming raised an eyebrow: “What do you want me to forgive you for?”

“…The things of the past, just those things of the past.” Qian Guowei, who had been locked up for a long time, had none of the high spirits he had when he was “roaming” outside. His lips moved a few times, and his voice was like a mosquito, “Those things between me and your mother.”

“Oh,” Yu Chunming pretended to be enlightened. He said, “Those things between you and Jiang Min, it’s not my place to forgive. You can wait until you go down there and ask Jiang Min yourself if she’s willing to forgive you.”

After saying that, Yu Chunming glanced at the time: “It’s just right, it’s almost time. You’ll be able to see her tomorrow morning.”

Qian Guowei’s mouth twitched, and he whimpered softly.

He said, “I don’t want to die.”

Who wants to die? Did Jiang Min want to die? Did Li Shengnan want to die? Did Wang Xi want to die? Did the victims of the 9.24 fire want to die?

No one wanted to die, and they shouldn’t have died. The ones who really deserved to die were someone else.

But Yu Chunming rarely accumulated virtue and didn’t say these words out loud. He sized up Qian Guowei, smiled, and asked, “You wouldn’t be… coming to me to beg for mercy, would you?”

Qian Guowei’s shoulders trembled. He really looked at Yu Chunming with a hopeful gaze.

At the end of March, he and Li Guanglai were sentenced to death in the first trial. Li Guanglai pleaded guilty in court and didn’t appeal. Qian Guowei was unwilling and wanted to continue with the second trial. By April, Li Guanglai had already turned to ashes, and Qian Guowei realized that the chances of the second trial changing the verdict were almost non-existent, so he silently withdrew his appeal.

Now, because the chain of evidence was conclusive, the Supreme Court’s death penalty review had ended, and he had finally awaited his own ending.

But Qian Guowei was still unwilling.

“Jiang Xin, Jiang Xin…” he cried anxiously, “Please, please save me, okay? I don’t want to die, I really don’t want to die. You’re a policeman, can you save me? I, I’m your own father! I saved you on the Black Water River!”

Yu Chunming looked at him indifferently.

Qian Guowei continued, “Jiang Xin, you may not know, but after your mother gave birth to you, Lin Zhimin specially asked for a photo of you and sent it to me. I’ve kept it all along, but… it’s just that you look so different from when you were little, I didn’t recognize you… If I had recognized you that day, how could I have been willing to shoot you… Jiang Xin, save me, okay? I beg you to save me!”

Yu Chunming twitched the corner of his mouth and said nothing.

In the past few months, he had been sick. At first, he thought it was because his injuries hadn’t healed, but after the injuries healed, the illness became more serious.

He couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, and every night when he closed his eyes, he seemed to see Jiang Min who couldn’t rest in peace. Guan Yao guarded him day and night, but his illness didn’t get any better.

Until—

After Jiang Min was cremated and buried.

“Jiang Xin, that shot of mine went off course, it really went off course. I didn’t want to kill your mother, and I definitely didn’t want to kill you,” Qian Guowei explained incoherently, “Jiang Xin, I beg you, I really don’t want to die!”

Yu Chunming’s head ached from all the noise.

Qian Guowei still refused to give up: “Jiang Xin, I’ve been thinking about you all these years, give me a chance, please give me a chance!”

“Time’s up,” the policeman guarding the door said at this time.

Yu Chunming stood up and was about to leave without looking back.

Qian Guowei was held up by two policemen, still shouting in his mouth: “Jiang Xin, you’re my own son, you’re my own son! I…”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence because Yu Chunming’s figure was blocked by a middle-aged policeman in a white shirt. He frowned and said, “Who’s your own son?”

Qian Guowei opened his mouth, looked up at Yu Zhenshan, and couldn’t say a word.

“Take him away.” Deputy Director Yu waved his hand and ordered.

His subordinates obeyed the order and were about to drag the struggling Qian Guowei away.

But at this moment, Yu Chunming suddenly turned around and said to Qian Guowei, who was paralyzed on the ground with fear of the death penalty, “Oh, I forgot to say just now, my name isn’t Jiang Xin, my surname is Yu, Yu Chunming.”

Qian Guowei was taken away. It was said that the execution time was eight o’clock tomorrow morning, but that didn’t matter, because Yu Chunming didn’t plan to come to see him off, nor did he plan to claim his ashes, so what did it matter to him when he died?

Since they had to meet, then they would meet. After the meeting, the past would dissipate like smoke.

After leaving the detention center gate, Guan Yao, who had been silent all the way, suddenly said, “When I went to the Municipal Bureau to handle the procedures today, I ran into Han Chen.”

Yu Chunming’s eyes flashed, but he didn’t speak.

Guan Yao knew that he could hear him, so he continued, “Han Chen is preparing to resign.”

Yu Chunming was surprised: “Resign?”

“Yes, resign.” Guan Yao nodded. “I also asked Team Leader Wang, and Team Leader Wang said so.”

Yu Chunming found it very strange: “Han Chen would actually resign, what got into him? Wang Zhen is about to enter the Provincial Department, wouldn’t it be easy to pull him out of the prefecture-level city later?”

Guan Yao followed behind Yu Chunming all the way, and even thoughtfully reached out to open the door for him next to the car.

“Do you want to see him?” Guan Yao asked.

Yu Chunming paused and turned around: “Do you want me to see him?”

“No.” Guan Yao never lied.

Yu Chunming raised the corner of his mouth, grabbed the man’s hand, and pulled him into the back seat of the car as well: “If you don’t want me to see him, then I won’t. Anyway, even if I want to see him in the future, I probably won’t be able to.”

Guan Yao’s eyes smiled. He asked, “Aren’t you curious why Han Chen is resigning as soon as he’s transferred back to Songlan like a restless monkey?”

“Why?” Yu Chunming did seem a little incurious, but he still asked according to Guan Yao’s words, “Did this kid have a sudden attack of conscience?”

“It’s because Zhang Lei woke up.” Guan Yao looked at Yu Chunming and said word by word, “Your apprentice, Zhang Lei, he woke up.”

Yu Chunming was stunned. He looked at Guan Yao, and a trace of confusion appeared in his eyes.

But Guan Yao leaned over and kissed the corner of the person’s mouth in front of him. He said, “No matter what happened in the past, it’s all over now, Chunming, let’s look forward, okay?”

Yu Chunming’s eyes twitched slightly, almost tearing up. He buried his face in Guan Yao’s neck and whispered, “Okay.”

The afternoon sun shone on the car window, illuminating the shadows of the two people.

Yu Chunming couldn’t help but tighten his arms. He said, “Are we going home?”

“Going home, going home to pack our things.” Guan Yao breathed a sigh of relief. He stroked the back of Yu Chunming’s neck and replied, “I’ve already bought the train tickets. We’ll leave tomorrow. Changqing said that when he went to Lin City to receive the commendation, he passed through Jin A Lin Mountain and saw that the azaleas under the birch trees were all in bloom.”

“The azaleas are all in bloom?”

“Yes, the azaleas are all in bloom.” Guan Yao teased, “Changqing was so excited, he said he wanted to get out of the car and pick a bunch of Dazi fragrant flowers to give to that police officer.”

Yu Chunming chuckled, “That police officer also grew up in Jin A Lin Mountain, why would she care about that stuff?”

“That’s hard to say,” Guan Yao said with a cheerful smile, “Changqing said that the police officer is divorced, don’t single old girls all like flowers and plants?”

Yu Chunming raised his hand and slapped him: “Stop giving your apprentice bad ideas!”

Guan Yao dodged the slap with a smile. He sat up straight for no reason, and then said seriously, “Chunming, if I get out of the car and pick a bunch of Dazi fragrant flowers for you, would you like it?”

Yu Chunming’s mind wandered, and he stared at Guan Yao’s eyes in a daze.

He suddenly remembered that a long time ago, when he was still Jiang Xin, Jiang Min had drunkenly said that the reason why Li Hongge changed her name to Li Hongge was because she was born as Li Hongge at the foot of Azalea Peak. There grew wild Dazi fragrant flowers all over the mountains, and the bright and dazzling colors were like the rising sun, shining on the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in the north of the motherland.

But now, the sun has set.

A month ago, Guan Yao, who had returned from a business trip in Changlian, said that Duan Mei was dead. The stubborn and rascal old woman had swallowed a sleeping pill that she had saved for a long time on a certain night. She had no family, no children, and naturally no one knew why she did this.

Yu Chunming said that Teacher Duan probably knew about Li Guanglai’s death.

Guan Yao immediately understood.

No one would delve into who spread the rumors about Li Shengnan’s suicide note, and no one would explore who had rekindled the dispute between Qian Guowei and Li Guanglai more than ten years after the situation had calmed down.

Everything had settled.

Thus, with the departure of every Li Hongge, this confusing case that had tormented three generations finally came to an end.

At the end of May of this year, in the early summer of Jin A Lin Mountain, passing through the Dazi fragrant flowers under the birch trees, listening to the rustling birdsong, Guan Yao and Yu Chunming followed the wooden plank road in the forest and walked all the way to the top of Mopan Mountain.

Yu Chunming’s physical strength was not good. He was exhausted when he reached the top, holding Guan Yao’s hand. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said breathlessly, “The Dazi fragrant flowers on Mopan Mountain have all withered. You brought me here, and I can’t see anything.”

“How can you not see anything?” Guan Yao pushed aside the bushes and plucked a bunch of azaleas from the shady depths. He turned his head and held the flowers up to Yu Chunming, “I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”

Yu Chunming smiled and took the flowers. He replied, “That’s right.”

(End of the full text)

[The author has something to say]

It’s over!

I’m very emotional writing this. I didn’t expect that so many readers would like it. Thank you for your support!

I’ll use this article to commemorate my beautiful undergraduate life in Northeast China a few years ago. I hope I have the opportunity to go back to that black land to take a look in the future.

There should be an extra chapter in a couple of days.

PS: I’ve updated a sample reading for “South Crossing South Crossing”. Welcome everyone to collect, comment, and feed starfish~