The end of a blue duckweed (7)
Lin Youyuan brushed past him, leaning on the wall. “Don’t think I’ll be grateful just because you paid my medical fees. You did it willingly, so I won’t repay you.”
Song Yiwu stopped, shaking his head with a bitter smile, remembering the scene in the police station where he had been so arrogant.
He had been reprimanded for it, but the young man didn’t take it to heart. He was open-minded and cheerful.
“I don’t want you to repay me, but the people you fought with haven’t been caught yet. We need your cooperation in the investigation.”
Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, Lin Youyuan was already supporting himself against the wall, walking away.
The officer shook his head, tapping his notebook twice in the palm of his hand. The young nurse, seeing that it was really him, approached with a look of joy on her face.
“Officer, our department discussed it, and we can’t accept your money. We’ll give it back to you.”
Song Yiwu waved his hand, stepping back: “No, no, it’s not right. You can’t get medical treatment without paying…”
Su Yue suddenly remembered her wallet. She reached into her pocket and found it gone, her face turning ashen.
“The money… the money… the money is gone…”
Song Yiwu frowned: “Don’t worry, take your time and tell me what happened?”
The young nurse stammered: “I… I’ve been in the hospital all morning, I didn’t go out… The wallet was in my right pocket. It also contained donations from other colleagues that were to be returned to you…”
Song Yiwu bit open the cap of his pen, listening and taking notes at the same time: “From this morning until now, who have you been in contact with? Especially those who could get close to you, outsiders.”
As the young nurse listened, she suddenly remembered that when she was changing a patient’s dressing earlier, Lin Youyuan had leaned against her chest, his hands restless.
She had thought he was just taking advantage of her, but who knew it was…
The young girl blushed deeply. Song Yiwu looked down the hallway, thinking about the figure that had just walked by, and suddenly closed his notebook, running off.
“Catch the thief!”
Su Yue also ran behind him, shouting.
Lin Youyuan heard the commotion behind him and started to run, stumbling down the stairs and falling at the hospital entrance. He got up and ran forward.
But being injured, he didn’t get far before he was pinned down by the flower bed.
Song Yiwu snatched the wallet from his hand and handed it to the nurse beside him: “Here, check it. Is anything missing?”
The wallet was a handmade velvet pouch.
Su Yue held the worn and dirty pouch, opened the drawstring, and cried with joy.
All the money was there, and most importantly, the two-inch photo inside was still there. It was the only picture of her deceased mother.
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The young girl took it out and looked at it repeatedly, brushing off imaginary dust before putting it back in.
“Not a single cent is missing. Thank you, Officer Song.”
Song Yiwu cuffed Lin Youyuan: “You, always up to no good, either stealing or fighting. Do you think doing this can fill your stomach? Huh?”
By this time, the young man was already desolate, his hair a tangled mess, wearing the hospital gown that was too short, exposing his frostbitten hands and ankles. Not having bathed for a long time, he emitted a foul odor.
Lin Youyuan, eyes red, roared: “Mind your own business! Who the hell do you think you are…”
Before he finished speaking, a luxury car stopped at the hospital entrance.
A wealthy young man opened the car door, helping out a well-dressed woman, who happened to be the opera singer.
When their eyes met, the woman looked away uncomfortably.
The man threw his cigarette butt at Lin Youyuan’s head: “Oh, isn’t this the famous Second Young Master Lin of Jiangcheng? How did you end up like this? Even got yourself handcuffed. Tsk tsk, how pitiful.”
“Just wondering, will your father or brother stand up for you this time?”
The mention of his family sparked overwhelming hatred in Lin Youyuan’s heart, making his blood boil. He struggled to crawl forward, his eyes bloodshot.
“Was it… was it you who framed my father and brother?! Why hasn’t my brother come back?!”
“Who knows? Maybe he’s dead. But what does that have to do with me?” The man said, squatting down and patting Song Yiwu’s shoulder.
“Officer, this guy has a record. His father and brother are still under investigation. Don’t be careless, make sure to investigate thoroughly. If you do well, promotions and a bright future…”
Before he finished speaking, the young girl ran over, eyes wide and a hint of anger on her face.
“Just because he has a record doesn’t mean he committed a crime now. This is a misunderstanding, the wallet is still here. He didn’t steal it. If you falsely accuse him, you’re breaking the law!”
The young girl’s words were driven by her memories of her unjustly accused mother, a shared sense of injustice.
Lin Youyuan hadn’t expected anyone to speak up for him.
He was stunned, looking at her small figure, feeling a surge of immense power that shook his heart.
Perhaps in youth, expressing gratitude and affection for someone was always clumsy and cautious.
Lin Youyuan started to think about her, often hanging around the city hospital, waiting for her to get off work, and silently accompanying her for a while.
“Why do you keep following me?!” The girl was angry.
Lin Youyuan smirked: “I live around here too.”
“Liar! Officer Song said you don’t live here. If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police.”
Lin Youyuan gritted his teeth. Damn it, it’s him again, haunting me and ruining his chances.
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“I didn’t live here before, but that doesn’t mean I can’t move here. The law doesn’t forbid moving, does it?”
Lin Youyuan, with his dyed yellow hair, holding a cigarette, smiled slyly, blocking her way.
The young nurse stomped on his foot, hit him with her bag, and walked on: “Rogue, scoundrel!”
Lin Youyuan raised his cigarette, watching her back, laughing mischievously: “Hey, the rogue likes you. What do you say, consider it?”
The girl had already disappeared without a trace.
Lin Youyuan tossed the finished cigarette on the ground before turning to leave.
Not long after that.
A rainy late night.
Su Yue was getting off work as usual, and he didn’t follow her this time.
The girl breathed a slight sigh of relief but encountered a knife-wielding robber on her way home. At the critical moment, Lin Youyuan rushed out and subdued the assailant. When Song Yiwu responded to the public’s emergency call, he took both of them back to the police station.
The girl sat inside, giving her statement.
Song Yiwu poured him a glass of water, glanced inside, and nodded his head.
“It’s rare that you’re in here not because of stealing or fighting. So, do you like her?”
Lin Youyuan bit the paper cup, took a sip of water, and slouched in the chair, sitting and standing without any proper posture.
“Bullsh*t, would I like her? I just saw injustice and acted, isn’t that allowed?”
Song Yiwu smiled slightly and patted him on the shoulder.
“Honestly, if you really want to pursue a girl, you need to get your act together. Without a proper job, it won’t work.”
Lin Youyuan muttered, “What’s wrong with me? I’m fine on my own, no one else to feed…”
The iron door clanged open.
The girl came out.
Lin Youyuan noticed her out of the corner of his eye, quickly put down the paper cup, and stood up in a flash.
Song Yiwu escorted them to the door: “Recently, there’s a theft gang roaming around this area. Be careful. Here’s my contact information—”
He handed each of them a business card, but the latter part of his words was directed at Lin Youyuan.
“If you have any clues, you can also reach out to me.”
After all, he mingled in the streets and alleys, interacting with all sorts of people and having wide sources of information.
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Lin Youyuan took the business card, flipped it over and looked at it, still acting nonchalant: “So, if I help the officer catch a criminal, is there a reward?”
Song Yiwu smiled slightly: “Since it’s a wanted case, if the tip-off helps catch the criminal, there will naturally be a reward.”
Outside the police station, Lin Youyuan swaggered ahead, and the light rain began to fall again.
He looked up, only to have an umbrella cover his view.
The girl handed him a blue handkerchief: “Here, take this, wipe yourself.”
Lin Youyuan wiped the wound on his forehead, seeing blood on his fingertips, he smiled: “No need…”
Before he finished speaking, the soft cloth was already shoved into his hand.
The girl’s face was slightly red: “Thank you for today.”
That was the first time Lin Youyuan felt the joy of being a good person.
The young man’s eyebrows curved, but not wanting her to see too clearly, he struggled to suppress the smile on his face and turned away.
“Hmph, no need to thank me. I said I lived around here too. I was just passing by and lending a hand.”
“The rain’s getting heavier. I’ll walk you home first.” The girl held the umbrella handle, walking the same way as him.
Lin Youyuan, with hands in his pockets, stared at the puddles in front of him splashing raindrops: “What kind of man lets a woman walk him home? You go on ahead, I’ll walk myself.”
“No way, you’re injured. What if it gets infected?”
Lin Youyuan frowned, snatched the umbrella from her hand: “Why so much talk? Lead the way. I’ll walk you home first, and then take the umbrella. I’ll return it another day.”
“After that, Song Yiwu, your mother, and I became good friends. Later, Zhao Junfeng joined us. He had just started his job then, and because he was from the countryside, he was taciturn and not very talkative. As Old Song’s partner, he went through thick and thin with us a few times and quickly became one of us…”
In his slow recounting, Lin Yan seemed to see that time filled with laughter, blood, and tears.
Lin Youyuan used the information he gathered from mingling in the streets to help them, and even the police, capture many wanted criminals, theft gangs, murderers, and more.
Living on the edge of both the underworld and the lawful society, he was naturally not well-liked and was often beaten black and blue.
But only when injured did he receive some special treatment.
On nights off, they would meet at Su Yue’s house, bring a few bottles of wine, pool money to buy some meat and vegetables, and have her cook a meal.
They would sit around the table drinking and playing games, even the usually introverted Zhao Junfeng would often drink until his face was red.
Su Yue, wearing an apron, busied herself at the stove, the smoke from the rustic stove filling the air. The clanging of pots and pans, she would chop a big handful of chili and scallions, dumping them all into the hot oil, coughing and bringing out the dishes at the same time. There were braised meat, chicken legs, and a plate full of river shrimp, all laid out on the table.
“Oh, not bad, we even have shrimp today. Did you get a raise or something?” Lin Youyuan had just picked one up, but before he could eat it, someone knocked it away with chopsticks.
“Shoo, you’re injured, no shrimp for you. Have some vegetables. Here’s some radish soup just for you.”
Su Yue placed a large bowl of soup on the table.
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Song Yiwu lit a cigarette and smiled: “Su Yue is right, better avoid it. It’s not even the New Year yet, just a bit of extra allowance, so we thought we’d have something nice to treat everyone.”
Zhao Junfeng grabbed a shrimp with his hand, devouring it, making everyone’s mouth water.
“This morning, Brother Wu and I went to the farmers’ market. Fresh, tasty, Yueyue’s cooking is really good!”
Lin Youyuan gritted his teeth and knocked his hand with chopsticks, “Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating, can’t you save some for me!”
Su Yue brought out a dish from the kitchen and kicked him.
“All you do is bully honest people, drink your soup!”
Lin Youyuan reluctantly sat back down. After a while, he winked and made a face: “Hey, you spend all your salary on feeding us. Where will you get the money to marry a wife?”
Song Yiwu wasn’t young anymore, and his family was worrying about this matter.
He stubbed out his cigarette on the table and hit him with the sole of his shoe: “Eat your food and stop talking so much, will you?”
One chased while the other fled, and Zhao Junfeng was forced to join the fray. When the room was in chaos.
Su Yue pointed out the window: “Look, fireworks!”
The group of boys rushed up to the rooftop.
Su Yue’s home was by the river, an old house left by her grandmother. At that time, the riverside wasn’t yet developed into expensive riverside properties. The residents were either fishermen or poor people. Her mother had taught at the village school, and like Lin Youyuan’s father, had been taken in for investigation and never released.
As for her father, he had fallen into the water while fishing and was found tangled in fishing nets when he was pulled out.
Since then, Su Yue had never left this place. She stayed in the old house, waiting for her parents to return.
They leaned on the rusty railings. The fishing village below had few lights on, with occasional dog barks.
A group of children ran through the alley, pushing iron rings. A man next door was scolding his wife.
In a house with lights on not far away, a black-and-white TV was playing, with faint sounds coming through.
A long whistle sounded from the river.
Fireworks rose into the night sky, lighting up the opposite shore, making it as bright as day. There were already tall buildings there, homes for the wealthy, a stark contrast to this side, and it was also where Lin Youyuan’s old home had been.
The boy watched, his eyes growing misty. He smashed his beer bottle and pointed to the sky.
“I, Lin Youyuan, will definitely become rich!!!”
Su Yue also faced the wind, imitating him and shouted: “I, Su Yue, will definitely have a good marriage!!!”
Song Yiwu put his fingers to his lips and whistled: “I, Song Yiwu, will definitely become a good police officer!!!”
Zhao Junfeng scratched his head: “I… I don’t have big wishes, just hope my family stays safe and sound.”
At that moment, the boys, who met during their humble beginnings, these lonely and fragile souls, drew closer together. In that instant, looking at each other’s flushed faces, they all believed they would be lifelong friends.
But what they didn’t know was that on that winter night in 1967, the boys who stood on the rooftop, making wishes to the river and fireworks, would eventually see their wishes come true, but they would all betray their original intentions.