Yu Qingyao never imagined that there could be so many bad people in this world.
A day in the city was about to end. Just as they were about to leave the urban village, at the alleyway turning out of it, a few gaudily dressed thugs blocked their path.
“Yo, the little beggar found a helper today?”
The leader, Huang Mao, looked the two up and down, then fixed his gaze on the pocket at Wu Yan’s waist. He took a deep drag of his cigarette and blew out a smoke ring.
“Little beggar, same as usual. I won’t ask for much, just give me two-thirds. That’ll be enough for us brothers to get a combo meal at the supermarket, right? Hahaha—”
The underlings behind him joined in their boss’s laughter, their voices especially raucous.
“I have no money.” Wu Yan took a step closer to Yu Qingyao, shielding her behind.
“No money my ass!” Huang Mao sneered and reached out to grab Wu Yan. “I saw you coming out of the scrap station with my own eyes. You’re telling me you have no money? Who’d believe that?”
But before his hand could touch Wu Yan, Yu Qingyao kicked it away. The force of her kick was so great that it twisted his hand in the opposite direction.
“Aooooow!” Huang Mao wailed, clutching his contorted right hand. “You damn bitch! Boys, get her!”
“Huh? Boss, my grandma just called and said she’s about to give birth. I gotta go!”
“Boss, I left the gas on at home. I’m heading back!”
“Uh, my husband said he’s pregnant. I need to go see him.”
The last excuse, from a green-haired thug, was especially unbearable to Huang Mao. He even momentarily forgot the pain in his arm and twisted his face as he stared at him.
“Aren’t you a dude? How the hell is your husband pregnant?”
“Ah, modern technology, boss. Anything’s possible.”
In just one minute, the once imposing group scattered, leaving only Huang Mao behind.
Yu Qingyao stepped forward, instinctively wanting to strike while the iron was hot. Although she had adapted to life in this world, her thinking on such matters hadn’t fully changed yet. In her view, scum like Huang Mao deserved to die.
She raised her leg high. The next second, the warmth at her wrist made her stop.
“Don’t kill him.”
Yu Qingyao turned to Wu Yan in shock. “Why? They’ve bullied you like this more than once, haven’t they?”
“If you kill him, you’ll get caught.” Wu Yan’s voice carried a weariness that Yu Qingyao couldn’t understand. “Didn’t you say Grandpa Zhang asked you to take care of me?”
Wu Yan’s words woke Yu Qingyao up. She had just promised someone to look after Wu Yan. If she got caught now, wouldn’t that be breaking her promise?
At that thought, Yu Qingyao abandoned the idea of killing Huang Mao. But she still had to teach him a lesson. As her foot came down, both of Huang Mao’s legs snapped with a crack.
“Find a good doctor to treat you. After ten or twenty years, at worst you’ll just be disabled.”
After the two left, the narrow alley fell silent except for the occasional cries of pain.
The tin shack under the night seemed hidden away. If Wu Yan hadn’t been so familiar with this road, Yu Qingyao wouldn’t have dared to guarantee she could find her way back alone.
As soon as they opened the door, Wu Yan tossed the empty hemp bag into the corner, then took out the money from her pocket and stuffed it into the hidden box under the bed. But when she opened the compartment, her movements paused, as if she were observing something.
Yu Qingyao followed close beside Wu Yan, doing whatever she did.
While cleaning up the room, Wu Yan suddenly spoke to Yu Qingyao, her tone unusually serious. “You said you would do one thing for me.”
“Mm. As long as it’s something you want and I can do, I will definitely help you accomplish it.”
“I want to use it now.”
Wu Yan took a locked wooden box out of the hidden compartment. The box was made of cheap material, with many chips on the corners and dense cracks on the surface. But it wasn’t dirty; on the contrary, it was quite clean, clearly well-preserved.
Wu Yan walked to the corner and pulled out a small key, inserting it into the lock of the box.
With a click, it opened, revealing a neatly folded navy blue coat and a knitted hat with loose threads.
“This was left behind by the person who took me in.” Wu Yan’s fingertips brushed over them, and she spoke thoughtfully. “I want to return them to him.”
Yu Qingyao didn’t interrupt, waiting quietly for her to continue.
“Last winter, he walked into a heavy snowy night.” Her long lashes shaded her eyes, blocking Yu Qingyao’s view of her emotions. “Before leaving, he left these for me. I searched for him for two whole months. The alleyways, wasteland, riverside—I found no trace of him. Later, someone said he ran toward the brick kiln in the east. I went there once. Heavy snow, remote road, and a pack of wild dogs.”
As she spoke, her voice unconsciously softened, even carrying a hope she herself hadn’t noticed. “I hope you can help me find him, so I can return these things to him.”
Listening to Wu Yan’s description, Yu Qingyao could imagine Wu Yan, dressed in thin clothes, wandering through the vast city under heavy snowfall, searching for the only family she had.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” Yu Qingyao walked to Wu Yan’s side and took her hand. “Let’s go now. No matter where he is, I’ll definitely help you find him.”
The brick kiln to the east was farther from the tin shack than the tin shack was from the city.
In the dim night, their fingers intertwined, as if they could feel each other’s heartbeats. The weeds by the roadside grew taller than Wu Yan. The wind swirled with grass clippings.
As they passed a downhill slope, a few gaunt, starving dogs suddenly sprang out, baring their teeth and barking savagely at the two, filthy drool dripping endlessly.
But for Yu Qingyao, this was a minor problem.
Yu Qingyao shielded Wu Yan behind her. Before the wild dog could pounce, she kicked it in the belly. The dog took the hit, its body arching backward like a bow, sending its companion flying several meters away as well. They let out whimpering cries.
“Okay, it’s fine now.” Yu Qingyao pulled Wu Yan back to her side.
They continued walking for nearly another hour until they finally saw the abandoned brick kiln. Over a dozen dilapidated kiln caves, most of the plaster fallen off. The wind whistled mournfully through them.
Inside, the caves were dark and damp, littered with rubble and trash. Yu Qingyao walked ahead, pushing aside the weeds and branches blocking the way. Wu Yan followed behind, her gaze sweeping every corner of the kiln, not missing any trace.
But there was nothing.
Just as they thought this trip would be fruitless, footsteps came from outside the kiln.
They turned to look. It was an old fisherman passing by with a fishing rod on his back. Seeing the two girls so late at night, he asked in confusion, “What are you two young girls doing here so late? This place has been abandoned for years. It’s not safe. I hear there are ghosts around here!”
“Then how dare you walk here?”
“Hey, don’t say that. For night fishing this late, this spot is the closest. Even with ghosts, I have to come, or someone else will steal all my fish.”
“From what you’re saying, you often walk this path?” Yu Qingyao caught the key point in the man’s words. “Then last winter, did you see an old man passing through here?”
“Of course! I’ve been walking here for years!” The man thought for a moment after hearing her question, then slapped his forehead as if remembering something. “Now that you mention it, last winter during my ice fishing, I did see an old man walking through here. I felt sorry for him being alone and was going to invite him to rest at my place, but it seemed like he didn’t hear me and just walked off on his own.”
“Then did you see where he went?” Wu Yan rushed forward, her voice already trembling.
“Are you the old man’s granddaughter?” The man saw how agitated Wu Yan was and his tone became somber. “Helpless. The old man refused help and didn’t survive that winter. After the snow stopped, a few of us from the village came and buried him nearby on that sunny slope. We couldn’t let someone that old be left exposed in the wilderness. If you want to pay your respects, you can go see it. We even made a grave mound for him.”
Wu Yan’s body swayed, and the cloth bundle in her hand nearly fell. Yu Qingyao immediately reached out to support her, thanked the man, and helped the unsteady Wu Yan walk toward that sunny slope.
The slope was covered in wild chrysanthemums. In the middle was a small earthen mound. There was no tombstone, but it had been kept very clean. According to the man, the villagers would occasionally come to check on it and add some dirt. After all, the man had died near their village, so they couldn’t just ignore it.
Wu Yan walked to the mound, slowly crouched down, and gently placed the cloth bundle on the ground. Finally unable to hold back, large tears fell into the soil.