Extra
Happy Birthday [Bonus Chapter]
“From now on, I will never be absent again.”
The screech of tires scraping against asphalt ripped through the air. A chain-reaction collision had choked the road, and the faint wail of sirens echoed in the distance.
The scene shifted. A sea of flames engulfed the person beside her. She reached out desperately, but her hand closed on empty air.
She blinked again, and now she was sinking into a dark forest. Dense seaweed pierced through her body, stealing her breath.
Her mouth gaped, gasping for air. She tried to swim up, but it felt like a pair of invisible hands were dragging her down.
Just as she was about to suffocate, someone gently supported her waist. Soft, long hair brushed against her cheek.
A sliver of light pierced the deep sea. The seaweed was pushed aside.
It was Lin Yan.
A smile touched her lips unconsciously. She gripped Lin Yan’s wrist and followed her toward the light.
Blinding.
Incredibly blinding.
It looked like the shadowless lamp of an operating room.
Figures in green scrubs hurried back and forth.
“Is the defibrillator ready?!”
“Still no ECG!”
“Get the CPR machine on her! Don’t stop chest compressions!”
“Another shot of adrenaline!”
“We’ve been trying to resuscitate her for half an hour. Even if we bring her back, she’ll be in a vegetative state from the lack of blood flow to her brain.”
A white sheet was slowly drawn over.
“Beijing time, 7:47 a.m. Patient, Lin Yan. Cause of death: excessive blood loss due to trauma. Resuscitation efforts have failed.”
Song Yuhang’s eyes flew open. Her forehead was covered in beads of sweat as big as beans,1 and the heavy, tight feeling in her chest hadn’t eased in the slightest. She glanced down. Lin Yan’s arm was draped over her. The culprit herself had her eyes closed, her breathing even, fast asleep.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but the big stone in her heart had finally landed.2 Gently, she moved Lin Yan’s hand, fumbled for the phone on her pillow, and checked the time. It was just after five in the morning. The winter sun rose late, and the world outside was still pitch black, but all her desire to sleep had vanished.
Song Yuhang sat up, tucked the blankets snugly around Lin Yan, then leaned down to press a soft kiss to her forehead before getting out of bed.
The alarm woke Lin Yan at seven-thirty. The spot beside her in bed was already cold; Song Yuhang had been an early riser for over a year now.
She got up and pulled open the curtains to see snowflakes drifting down outside.
Downstairs, congee was already cooked in the rice cooker.
The corn in the steamer was still piping hot when she took it out.
The fruit had been washed, cut, and arranged on the table.
Underneath a vase on the dining table was a sticky note.
The police officer’s handwriting was neat and elegant:
“I’ve gone to the station. The congee is staying warm in the rice cooker, and I already stir-fried the vegetables—they’re in the wok. Remember to heat them up if they get cold.”
She lifted the lid of the wok. It was a refreshing dish of stir-fried zucchini. She had no idea what time Song Yuhang had gotten up to prepare such a spread.
Lin Yan shook her head. Just as she finished heating the food and returned to the table, her phone rang.
She answered it while she ate.
“Hello…”
“Lin-jie, there’s a case in C City. The victim was dumped in a reservoir and was only discovered ten days later by some fishermen. The body is already in the ‘giant view’3 state of decomposition. Most importantly, the head is still missing. The local medical examiner is having a tough time and asked if you could come over to assist with the autopsy, to see if you can find any valuable clues.”
Duan Cheng had barely finished speaking when someone took the phone from him.
“Yanyan, C City is pretty far. Do you need me to drive…”
Lin Yan finished the congee in her bowl in a few quick gulps and headed for the closet.
“No need, I’ll drive myself. Don’t you have an unsolved case on your hands? Tell Duan Cheng to grab the gear and meet me at the highway entrance.”
After changing, Lin Yan noticed the overcoat Song Yuhang had taken off was still tossed on a stool. She was about to throw it in the washing machine when she felt something in the pocket and pulled out a small, unlabeled medicine bottle.
She twisted off the cap and sniffed. Her brow slowly furrowed. After a moment of hesitation, she found a small pvc4 bag, dropped two of the pills inside, and tucked it into her own purse.
She put the medicine bottle back exactly where she found it.
She left the coat on the stool, too.
Dusk began to fall.
The snow outside had stopped.
Song Yuhang walked out of the interrogation room, turning to look at the crimson sunset through the barred window before dialing Lin Yan’s number.
“Hey, how are things on your end?”
Lin Yan put the call on speaker, setting her phone on the washstand.
“Just got out of the autopsy room. This case is pretty complex. I might have to stay in C City for two days.”
“Oh…”
After they cracked the Ding Ye case, Lin Yan’s reputation in the field had skyrocketed. Whenever a neighboring city had a difficult case, they would call her. Business trips were a regular occurrence. On top of that, she’d recently been promoted and was now in charge of the entire Technical Investigation Department, so she was so busy her feet didn’t touch the ground.5
Even though they worked at the same station, they often missed each other completely. The days they could go home together were few and far between.
“So you won’t be back until the day after tomorrow?”
Lin Yan gave a faint hum of agreement, rinsing the foam from her arms and using her elbow to shut off the faucet.
“Yeah. Well, I’ve got to get back to work.”
“Okay. Be safe.”
“You too.”
After hanging up, Lin Yan checked the time, changed into her casual clothes, and walked out the main doors of the Public Security Bureau with her bag.
Incense burned quietly in a tranquil tea room.
A small pot of sacred bamboo sat on the table.
The doctor was a little surprised to see her walk in.
“What is it? Has your bipolar disorder been acting up again…?”
Lin Yan shook her head with a wry smile and took the transparent bag of pills from her purse, sliding it across the table.
“It’s not me.”
“Based on your description, her insomnia has gotten so severe she needs medication to control it. How long has it been like this?”
“The insomnia… it probably started right after I came back. I never knew she was taking medication…”
Lin Yan felt a pang of guilt. She was practically half a doctor herself, yet she’d been so absorbed in her work that she’d completely overlooked her partner’s struggles.
“I always just thought she felt insecure.”
The doctor shook his head.
“From the symptoms you’re describing—insomnia, vivid dreams, forgetfulness, talking in her sleep, high anxiety—it’s most likely Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD.”
“Captain Song, eating instant noodles in the duty office again? It’s New Year’s Eve! Why aren’t you out on a date with Lin-jie!” a junior officer asked as he came in.
Song Yuhang smiled.
“She’s on a business trip in C City.”
The junior officer sighed. “My girlfriend was supposed to come see me today, but I have to work. We’re about to get engaged, and I’ve barely taken her to see a movie.”
Through the window of the duty office, a figure was faintly visible at the entrance to the Public Security Bureau, holding something and waiting expectantly.
“I’ll give you the night off. I can cover your shift. Go be with your girlfriend. It’s not easy for us cops to find someone.”
“Captain Song!” The junior officer was thrilled but also seemed embarrassed. “I… I couldn’t…”
“She’s already here. Go on.”
The junior officer glanced back, his face lighting up with joy. Forgetting to even change out of his uniform, he bolted out the door.
“Hey! Thanks, Captain Song!”
Perhaps it was from the poor sleep last night, or maybe the heating in the room was turned up too high. The night was quiet, and for once, there was nothing to do.
Song Yuhang rested her head on the desk, her consciousness slowly fading.
In her dream, it was another endless chase.
But this time, it wasn’t Lin Yan.
A younger version of herself was running through a wheat field, chasing after her father and brother.
“Dad, Gege…”6
“These are the captain’s belongings. Sister-in-law, you still have two children to look after. Please accept my condolences and take care of yourself.”
The words were accompanied by a blood-stained photograph.
The family of four in the picture was smiling so brightly it hurt to look.
“It’s New Year’s Day. We were all supposed to have dinner together. Why isn’t my brother here yet?”
“Your brother was called out on a last-minute mission. He’ll be here soon.”
The next time she saw him was in the cold hospital morgue. Ji Jingxing was kneeling on the floor, a sobbing wreck.
That sharp, piercing cry tore through her eardrums. Song Yuhang felt wave after wave of dizziness, and then her vision went black as she plunged back into the abyss.
Peng! A massive explosion.
A flicker of firelight glowed outside the window.
An explosion!
It’s an explosion!
Lin Yan!
Song Yuhang’s heart seized. Already drenched in sweat, she shot up from her chair, her hand instinctively flying to the empty gun holster at her waist.
Another loud pengpa echoed.
Song Yuhang flinched. Peering through the window, she saw colorful fireworks blooming across the night sky.
At that exact moment, the clock struck midnight.
She let out a breath and sat back down, her chest still painfully tight. The cold sweat had already soaked through her shirt.
She reached for her medicine bottle, but just then, her phone rang, its shrill tone jarring in the quiet room.
“Hello?”
“Captain Song, we’ve got a lead on the suspect we put under surveillance a few days ago. He’s appeared in a village about fifty kilometers from Jiangcheng City. What are your orders? Do we move in?”
“Get a team together. We’re making the arrest immediately!”
After finishing her work in C City, Lin Yan declined the local director’s dinner invitation and started driving back that same night.
“Hey, Duan Cheng, are you at the station? I’m calling Song Yuhang but she’s not picking up…”
“Captain Song just left for a mission. An emergency arrest.”
“Got it.”
“Hey, Lin-jie, is your case over? You’re coming back this early?”
Lin Yan was about to say yes, but then she remembered that Duan Cheng was the notorious big mouth7 of the entire Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau and quickly changed her tune.
“No, I’ll be here for another two days. Just checking in.”
“Alright, well, if that’s all, I’m hanging up. Fang Xin is waiting for me at the gate. I’m rushing off to a date.”
He was showing off his affection8 right to her face, wasn’t he?
Lin Yan rolled her eyes. She was about to give him a piece of her mind, but he had already anticipated it and hung up the phone.
On New Year’s Eve, the traffic heading into the city flowed like a long river, now clogged at the highway toll booth.
It was just past midnight, and fireworks were still lighting up the sky.
From the overpass, the night scene was like a series of unfolding scrolls: the dark ocean, the brilliant fireworks, the city lights, the cross-sea bridge, and the Ferris wheel.
“Wow—”
A passerby exclaimed, getting out of their car to take a picture.
Lin Yan pushed her own car door open and pressed the shutter on her phone.
Even though she knew Song Yuhang was on a mission and wouldn’t see it, she sent the picture anyway with a message: “Happy New Year.”
Song Yuhang didn’t see the message until the next afternoon.
Her team had driven over a hundred kilometers, apprehended their target, and then spent the rest of the night on a surprise interrogation. The moment she finally got her phone back, the tight knot in her brow loosened.
She started to type a reply but decided it was too slow. Instead, she held down the voice message button: “Happy New Year. Though I guess I’m a little late.”
“Are you back? I was on an arrest last night. Are you tired from C City? Did you eat properly?”
Lin Yan replied while folding dumplings.
“I. Am. Back.”
Song Yuhang’s eyes lit up.
“You’re home? Wait for me, I’ll change my clothes and be right back.”
Arriving home, she assumed Lin Yan would be alone. She tossed her bag aside, kicked off her shoes, and made a beeline for Lin Yan at the dining table. Sweeping her into her arms, Song Yuhang spun her around once and, as if that wasn’t enough, started kissing her cheek.
“How was it only one day? For me, a day feels like a year.”9
Lin Yan looked exasperated, but a smile played on her lips. She used her flour-dusted hand to turn Song Yuhang’s head away.
“Alright, that’s enough! Auntie is still here!”
Song Yuhang turned and froze.
Song Yuhang’s mother, Ji Jingxing, and little Xiao Wei were all sitting on the sofa. Their expressions were varied, but all equally spectacular.
Only Xiao Wei broke the silence first, laughing as she ran over and threw her arms around her. “Paternal Aunt!”10
Song Yuhang, her face still flushed with embarrassment, knelt to hug Xiao Wei back. “Ma, Jie, what are you all doing here?”
Ji Jingxing stood up.
“Lin Yan invited us. She said it’s the New Year, so we should all have a reunion dinner11 together.”
Song Yuhang’s mother added, “Lin Yan went out to buy groceries first thing this morning. She knows you love dumplings, so she folded them all by hand.”
“Hey, I know mine aren’t pretty,” Lin Yan chimed in, “but you have to eat every… last… one.”
The dumplings on the table were all sorts of shapes. Some were round and plump like yuanbao,12 while others were barely pinched together. It was obvious at a glance whose handiwork was whose.
Song Yuhang looked from the dumplings on the table to the faces of her family, and her eyes grew slightly misty.
Lin Yan nudged her with an elbow.
“Don’t just stand there spacing out. Go wash your hands so we can eat. We have to go take a full family photo13 after dinner.”
The old family photograph on the table was already yellowed with age. Song Yuhang gently placed the new frame she was holding beside it.
After she washed up and went back to their room, she didn’t see Lin Yan.
Song Yuhang’s heart tightened. She grabbed her phone and ran downstairs. “Lin—”
Before she could finish, Lin Yan spun around in a fluster, a lighter still in her hand. “Ah… why did you come down?”
Hidden behind her back was a small cake.
“I… you…”
Song Yuhang’s throat felt tight. She couldn’t speak.
Seeing that the surprise was blown, Lin Yan gave up and played her hand. She lit the candles and held the cake out.
“Happy birthday. New Year’s Day is a good day for it—a time for bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new.14 I hope that every day from now on can be a happy one for you.”
Song Yuhang’s eyes slowly filled with tears.
“You… how did you know it was my birthday? I’ve never told anyone. I don’t celebrate it.”
Lin Yan smiled.
Many years ago, in that dim archive room where they had faced off like the tip of a needle against an awl point,15 the first signs of each other’s pasts had come to light.16
That night, while searching for the files on the Fenyang Pier shredded corpse case, Lin Yan had stumbled across someone else’s file, too.
It detailed the deepest, most difficult-to-heal scar in Song Yuhang’s heart.
Perhaps there are as many coincidences in the world as there are accidents.
Chunan had died on her birthday, and Song Yuhang’s father and brother had been killed on hers.
Song Yuhang had never celebrated her birthday since. It was countless similar coincidences like these that formed the links in fate’s chain.
And though the Lin Yan of back then was reluctant to admit it, that was the moment she had truly started to develop feelings for Song Yuhang.
“You walked with me through my darkest days, so I should be there for you, too. I’m sorry this ‘happy birthday’ came a little late, but I need you to believe me: from now on, I will never be absent again.”
Lin Yan’s eyes shone.
“As for what you said before, about getting married… I’ve given it some serious thought…”
She paused, and Song Yuhang held her breath.
“The truth is, I hate all the unnecessary and overelaborate formalities.17 I don’t think there’s any meaning in that kind of absurd, empty formalism. Without feelings, it’s just a cold, blank piece of paper.”
“But if it’s you… if this will make you feel better, stop the anxiety and the insomnia, and make you feel grounded and secure in the fact that I’m back for good…”
“Then, I’m willing.”
The author has something to say:
This is a bonus chapter I’ve posted before, but some of my little treasures18 said they couldn’t see it anymore, so I decided to move it over to Jinjiang~ Consider it a supplement for Captain Song’s birthday~ Thank you, everyone. I was not expecting to receive so much attention when opening this novel again. I wish you all the best.
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