Chapter 94

The work to salvage Luo Lang’s body did not go smoothly. The terrain was dangerous with rocks everywhere, and the SWAT team took an entire day to descend the cliff to the bottom. Moreover, the valley was extensive, the winds were very strong and the river was turbulent. To search for a body which might not exist at all was much easier said than done.

However, according to the forensic pathologist, judging from Luo Lang’s injuries, there was a very slim chance that he had survived. Possibly, he had one more life left to lose.

Many people were busy, many were anxious, and many were clapping their hands in excitement, ready to celebrate. The conclusion to this earth-shaking case shook the entire police world.

Yet, for the Special Cases Unit, previously the busiest among them, the atmosphere was extremely quiet and stifling.

In fact, from the day that Luo Lang jumped off the cliff, the atmosphere in the group had been terrible, too quiet.

In the gathering darkness, the night was desolate. The sky above the small town was exceptionally quiet and vast.

The wound on Fang Qing’s head was still bandaged. He sat by the window and lit up a cigarette before saying, “I have to go back to Beijing immediately.”

An Yan played with the Rubik’s Cube in his hand; he had solved and re-solved it so many times that his interest had waned and he was sitting there, listless. When he heard Fang Qing, he also looked up and said, “Laoda, I also want to go back for a visit . . . Gu Fangfang has graduated and is looking for a job . . . I have not been back for so long.”

Jian Yao also looked towards Bo Jinyan.

He was still wearing his sunglasses and a well-ironed suit; the electronic reader was still on his finger. The expression on his face was warm as he said, “No problem. We’ll arrange for a car early tomorrow morning, and you can all return to Beijing.”

The other three did not speak for a moment.

“What about you?” Jian Yao asked.

Finally, they were back to the problem of the stalemate between the two of them.

Bo Jinyan leaned on his walking stick and said, with an indifferent expression, “I already have a very long-term work plan and arrangement.”

Fang Qing said, “Eh?”

An Yan said, “You can’t go by yourself.”

Jian Yao said nothing.

Fang Qing took one look at the expression on their faces, then said, “Jinyan, I’ll only be gone for a few days. Even if you want to battle dragons and tigers, waiting a few days won’t make a difference. Wait for all of us to be present, then we can talk about it further. As long as we’re together once again, what obstacle can remain insurmountable?”

An Yan nodded continuously as he said, “I agree.”

Bo Jinyan also laughed and said, “Naturally, I will need all your help.”

At this, Fang Qing and An Yan felt more at ease.

However, Jian Yao looked at Bo Jinyan’s inscrutable face and kept silent.

——

It was night.

The police officers who had been working at a frenetic pace for the last half a month had all gone to sleep. However, the light was still on in Bo Jinyan and Jian Yao’s room.

A bedside lamp cast its illumination with a soft glow. This room in the guest house was very simple, but it held the warmest memories Jian Yao had experienced in the past year. After she had showered, she returned to sit by the bed to comb her hair. She noticed that Bo Jinyan had already changed into his pyjamas and was standing by the window, thinking about who knew what.

Was her Jinyan starting to worry about something?

She walked over to him and hugged him from behind. He lowered his head, smiled and said, “Hey, I’ve always liked your hugs. It’s like a little bird clinging on to me, and it’s also like a tree, sturdy and warm.”

Jian Yao could not help but smile. She turned him around slowly in her arms, gazed at him and said, “Jinyan, do you have something to tell me?”

Bo Jinyan went quiet.

After a heartbeat, he said, “Jian Yao, I can’t tell you anything now.”

Jian Yao’s heart wrenched. She unconsciously let go of his hand but he re-captured it. She said, “Let go!” He held it even more tightly and said, “I’m not going to.”

Jian Yao turned so her back was facing him. “You want to go off by yourself again, don’t you?”

Bo Jinyan said nothing. After a while, he hugged her and called out softly, “Wifey . . .” Jian Yao ignored him and moved to push him away. However, every part of his body seemed to be glued to her. In the end, they both fell onto the bed.

He touched her face and said, “You don’t have to worry at all; I already have a foolproof plan.”

Jian Yao laughed bitterly. “If I’m not by your side, watching you, how can you say it’s a foolproof plan?” Bo Jinyan bit his lower lip, then kissed her. Their slightly cool, dry lips collided and sought each other. Jian Yao’s hand gripped his shoulder for no reason. She said softly, “Jinyan, what are you searching for in this life?”

He replied, “What I’m searching for, what I’m protecting, will never change. Even though I can no longer see, even though I left you once, I pledge to be faithful.”

Jian Yao looked at his pale face, his delicate features, his jet-black hair like floating clouds, and felt what seemed to be endless pain in her heart. She said, “Then, don’t leave me any more. How can you leave me again?”

A sharp pain attacked Bo Jinyan’s chest like a bolt out of the blue, and attacked his eyes as well. He enclosed her hands in his and said, “Jian Yao, I will definitely return. This is my promise to you.”

Jian Yao’s tears rolled down her face. There was only one thought in her mind: she had to bring him home.

She just wanted to bring this lonely person home.

——

The next morning, a car was parked outside the guest house.

Fang Qing and An Yan were already seated inside. Although travel-weary, they were duty-bound not to turn back.

An Yan kept distractedly looking out of the window to the room where Bo Jinyan had spent the night, but did not say anything. Fang Qing stuck his head out and looked at Jian Yao while asking, “Are you not leaving with us?”

Jian Yao smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry, just go. I will wait with him for you guys to return. Let’s show off the power of the Special Cases Unit.”

Fang Qing also nodded, but his tone became a few shades deeper. “I’ll come back as soon as I’ve settled matters with Xiaozhe. Tell Jinyan, this enemy is not his alone, but also ours. This entire year, I’ve thought about capturing those beasts and bringing them to justice. Three people of mediocre talent can work together to best Zhuge Liang*. You must wait for us to return.”

*T/N 三个臭皮匠，抵个诸葛亮 (san ge chou pi jiang, di ge Zhuge liang) – literally, three smelly cobblers can defeat Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang is acknowledged as the best strategist of the Three Kingdoms era. The analogy describes how three ordinary people, working and brainstorming together, can surpass the master strategist. It also carries the idea that two (or whatever number) heads are better than one, or that the wisdom of the masses exceeds those of the wisest individual. Read more about Zhuge Liang here.

An Yan said, “Sister-in-law, I’ll be faster than him, I’m just going to take a look at Fangfang, then I’ll return.”

Jian Yao laughed and said, “Ok, ok, you guys just go, don’t worry about it.”

They finally left in the car.

Jian Yao returned to the room, which had one person less, Bo Jinyan. Early that morning, he had left without a sound – while she was in a deep sleep due to her having cried until she was exhausted. Just like the first time, he left quietly and cleanly, taking only some clothes, his walking stick, his electronic reader, his sunglasses, and a handgun.

Jian Yao leaned on the doorframe for a while. Then she took her luggage and walked out. Her face was calm. It was not worried, not angry, not sorrowful, not ready to blame.

A few hours later.

It was some city in some county in some province in southwest China, in some small, dirty, noisy train station. In this day and age, there were still ‘green leather trains’* running here, but there were already fewer of them than before. Those trains only went to the most remote and backward places.

* T/N 绿皮火车 (lü pi huo che) – literally, green leather trains. This probably refers to slow trains that typically are not equipped with air-conditioning.

He sat on a chair in the waiting room, not moving a muscle.

Young workers, farmers and the occasional backpacker walked by, and most of them stole a glance at him. Even though he wore a casual jacket and track pants, the walking stick in his hands and the sunglasses on his face still attracted attention, especially as his face was pale and he exuded a chilly aura. Although he carried a backpack, he seemed to be different from all the rest.

The sun gradually declined and the sky grew dark. It was almost time for the train to depart.

He looked extraordinarily quiet and patient.

Until footsteps came unhurriedly towards him.

The other people looked at him once again, curiosity in their eyes. After all, a woman walking towards a blind man with every appearance of being a very refined individual was a rare sight in such a place.

However, that woman’s gaze was calm. She appeared to be in her twenties, and walked along as if she were on an ordinary street, not looking at the people around her.

She walked to the blind man and squatted in front of him, lifting her head to look at him, then holding his hands. Her clear and peaceful eyes differentiated her from all the other women in the world.

They were whispering, but no one could make out what they were saying.

“Jinyan, I’ve told you before, I want to be the only person in the world you don’t have to protect, but the one who protects you.”

He had been sitting alone for too long. His fingers were icy, and he remained silent.

She said, “You have your plan, and I have mine. I pledge to be faithful. My plan is to be with you.”

She said, “I will go with you to the places of danger. Wherever you go, I will go. A day, a year, a lifetime; as long as we’re together.”

Bo Jinyan bowed his head. His sunglasses covered his moist eyes. He let go of his walking stick and hugged her tightly.

“Jian Yao . . . I promise you, we’ll never be separated again.”

. . . . . .

Ah, I have no interest in dating, but if you kiss me every 10 minutes, I will do anything with you.

You can’t see anymore, so let me be the one to kiss you. I will kiss you every 10 minutes, I will go with you to deal with all the dangerous things in this world.

. . . . 

That man living a solitary existence in a villa deep in the mountains,

That man who took such a long time to propose* with a red face.

*T/N 牵着乌龟 (qian zhe wu gui) – bringing a turtle along; probably part of the saying 牵着乌龟去散步 – bringing a turtle along for a walk. Obviously, this is going to be a slow walk. The idea seems to be that taking a slow walk helps one to realise the beauty that is in the world, and that one does not have a lead a frantic, ambition-fuelled lifestyle. Jian Yao probably is only referring to Bo Jinyan being very slow in proposing.

All the bright eyes in this world cannot compare to the bright moonlight in your heart. 

Please don’t leave me again.