Qiming Chapter 29

Chapter 29

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Xu Chengyue felt uncomfortable when he heard nothing from the other end of the phone. What were they doing? Shopping? Eating? Drinking coffee? He imagined the scene between the two of them and reluctantly turned his head to the side, asking the director of the orphanage, "Do you know who deliberately caused the circuit to short out?"

"I'm not sure, and I can't confirm if it was done on purpose..." Ms. Wu's words trailed off, and she spoke softly, "All the staff here think it was intentional, it's too much of a coincidence."

The circuitry in the archive room had shorted out during a time when no one was around, burning through to other classrooms and eventually turning into a sea of flames that reduced everything to ashes.

He seemed to see Yuan Man, covered in scars, walking out of this sea of fire, standing under the grey sky, parting the clouds to reveal the sun, and walking unhesitatingly towards the outside world. She reached out her hand, waving it through the firelight, dust, and ashes in the air, drawing a clear line.

"Most things were burned, right?"

"Yes, thick smoke was everywhere, and the fire spread to other classrooms, burning everything." Ms. Wu shook her head regretfully, then led him to tour the renovated orphanage.

The renovated orphanage was mainly white, with six classrooms, an activity room, two teachers' offices, and specialised music and art rooms, all concentrated in a three-story building. The first floor was for activities and resting, the second floor for classes, and the top floor housed the offices and archive library.

Next to this three-story building were the children's dormitories, with photos of the children participating in various activities on the first floor. Under the blue sea and sky in the photos, everyone smiled happily.

"Only photos from the past three years?"

Ms. Wu nodded, handing him several albums, "These two buildings were donated by a kind person who remained anonymous, we still don't know who it was."

"It should have been donated by Du Yusheng, the man who discovered Yuan Man back then," Gu Yunfeng's voice suddenly came through his earpiece, "After burning down someone's building, it's only right to build a few more."

It sounded like Gu Yunfeng had found a quiet place to be alone, speaking in a clear and orderly manner, "Professor Xu, find Cao Yan's photo and ask if she's seen her."

As he walked across the long lawn, several five or six-year-old children ran out of the activity room, heading straight for the long swing nearby. Listening to their laughter, the fire that had consumed everything three years ago seemed more like a heavenly gift, burning away disasters and bringing new life to everyone.

He pulled out a recent photo of Cao Yan from his phone's album and handed it to Director Wu, "Can you recall if this woman has been to Xingyu in the past two months?"

This was a photo of Cao Yan taken just after her release from prison. Her long, grey-black hair was neatly combed, her face was sallow, and she had high cheekbones, looking thin and withered. Her eyes were filled with disdain for the world, and her face was full of hostility.

Director Wu took the phone and stared at the photo for a while, looking ahead thoughtfully, and then nodded to him, "I do have an impression of her, this woman came here just over a month ago."

"What did she do?"

"She was inquiring about a little girl named Yuan Man. She said that this person had lived at Xingyu for more than ten years. I later heard from others that she was a little star." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and continued, "I didn't think she seemed very confident, so I declined, saying it was a personal matter and couldn't be disclosed. Besides, I only came here three years ago. I don't know the children who left before I arrived, and their records were destroyed in the fire, so naturally it's impossible to trace them."

"What happened next? She must have been unwilling to just leave it at that."

"I asked her to register her name. Now all our visitors must use valid identification to register. I have a record of her registration, but it's all on paper, so it's a bit of a hassle to find." She smiled apologetically. "Officer Xu, do you need it? I have it in the archive room."

"Alright, let's go find it." Following Ms. Wu to the archive room on the third floor, he tapped the microphone on his collar, but seeing that Gu Yunfeng still hadn't responded, he had to continue asking himself, "Did this woman exhibit any unusual behaviour after registering?"

"She checked all the names in the register and then inquired in detail about one of the visitors."

"It was someone registered under the name 'White Knight'." She lifted her head and said slowly, "This is the one thing I remember very clearly, the look on her face when she saw the name was like seeing her first love."

She took out a key and opened the door. The characteristic damp and musty smell of the dark, humid room hit them. The archive room was a north-facing room, receiving no sunlight throughout the year, and was rarely entered. Inside were several bookshelves over two meters high. Ms. Wu dragged out a special small ladder and took several booklets from the top shelf.

"White Knight. That's a pseudonym, right?"

"Mhmm. That person came even earlier when registration didn't require valid identification. I'll have to look up the exact time. There are several visitor logs from the past three years. Sometimes when charities hold events, the visitors can fill dozens of pages."

"That's really a lot of trouble for you." He took one of the booklets and flipped through it page by page, looking for this unforgettable, middle-school-esque name.

Through the window of the archive room, one could see the road, the main thoroughfare, bustling with cars and people. There was a nearly ten-meter-wide green belt beside it, where someone had planted a dozen or so sunflowers, reaching for the sky in the crevices, fighting to grow despite the poor conditions.

The register was flipped through from three years ago to one year ago. Finally, in March 2022, the name appeared.

"Here it is, name: White Knight. Here's the contact information and the visiting unit." Director Wu pointed to a few bold characters under the visiting unit.

The visiting unit read Yuepu Steel.

"Yuepu Steel? The state-owned steel enterprise in Yuepu District?" He bent down slightly, found a chair, and sat down, resting his arm on the table by the window.

"Yes, yes, that's the one." She immediately called the teacher who was on duty that day and, after asking a few questions, told Xu Chengyue, "White Knight was a middle-aged man, about forty or fifty years old."

"Do you remember any physical features?"

"No, I don't remember at all." She shook her head. "But the teacher who received him that day said this gentleman also came to inquire about Yuan Man."

"Like Ms. Cao Yan, he asked about Yuan Man's birth, how she came to this orphanage, and whether she was truly an orphan."

She smiled and said, "But isn't that a silly question? All the children who come here are real orphans. Even if their parents are still alive, it doesn't change the fact that they were abandoned."

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The oil painting of the girl in the white dress, the phonograph, the music box, the wedding dress, the gemstone bracelet, the crystal pendant, and a bunch of little dresses. Unable to carry them all, Gu Yunfeng had to buy a suitcase to put all these exquisite things that young girls loved into.

He swore never to do this again. In the few hours he had just spent shopping with the girl, he was penniless except for a credit card with a limit of twenty thousand. Seeing the hidden price tags in the corners, he stood far away, closing his eyes and saying everything looked good, absolutely stunning.

As a result, when it came time to pay, Yuan Man swiped the card gracefully while he carried a bunch of bags, bowing his head and enduring the inhumane stares from all around.

At that moment, he truly felt like he was being kept. There wasn't a single item in those bags that was his, except for the suitcase used to hold everything.

Walking out of the mall, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, discovering for the first time that the air on the streets of Nanpu City was so fresh that even the exhaust fumes seemed sweet. In this hard-won free time for Yuan Man, she chose to indulge herself completely. Her life would either explode with freedom or be manipulated like a puppet on strings.

"Officer Gu, do you know why I asked you to accompany me shopping?"

"Because I'll let you do whatever you want." He replied without hesitation, "You do whatever you want, and I'm just here to help the lady bring her wishes home."

She laughed, turned around, and lightly hopped onto a high, wide railing, swinging her slender legs back and forth. "I'm very happy and relaxed when I'm with you."

"When I was little, I was always bullied in the orphanage." Her shining eyes suddenly dimmed. "People who were close to me didn't have good fates, including Uncle Du. He passed away last year, I didn't see him off when he left, and I cried at home all day."

"He showed you a bigger world." He comforted her. "They just had bad luck, not everyone will be unlucky."

"When I was in my teens, I was bullied by five or six girls from the orphanage. I think they were jealous. They dragged me to a corner and beat me up. Fortunately, I managed to escape when they weren't paying attention." She said with lingering fear, "Otherwise, I might have been beaten to death."

"I know I have a disgraceful origin and have brought disaster to many people." She looked at the bustling crowd on the street, half her face covered by a mask. The clouds gradually covered the blinding sun, and the wind blew from the river, lifting the scattered petals and leaves, and dispersing the fine dust in the corners.

"I'm actually a little afraid of this world. I'm used to being a weak nobody. Suddenly, one day, standing on stage and becoming a star watched by thousands, this feeling is so exciting that it feels unreal." There were too many people absent in her life. She stretched out her hands, and the sunlight between the clouds shone through her fingers into her eyes. In the unfamiliar faces and the throngs of people, she seemed to see her scarred childhood, the humiliating years of her youth, and the imminent adulthood where she would become a puppet.

She turned her head, her gaze soft, looking at Gu Yunfeng's handsome profile in the sunlight. "Will you always protect me, Officer Gu?"

She so longed to hear the answer she wanted, but in reality, Gu Yunfeng hesitated, tightened his grip on the handle of the suitcase, and nodded, saying, "Of course, as long as you still live in Jinping District, under my jurisdiction."

After speaking, he smiled lightly. Their eyes met, and the breeze dispersed.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: July 8, 2024 by Angel

Edited: August 13, 2024 by Angel