A few months later, Huang Dan heard from Jiang Huai that Ah Yu had died in the drug rehabilitation center, the day before she was due to come out.

She has worked so hard to get rid of drugs successfully, why does she have to make that kind of choice and give up the life she asked for?

Huang Dan couldn’t figure it out, and so did Jiang Huai. They bought tickets and went to Ah Yu’s hometown.

Ah Yu’s body was cremated, just a small box, and the ashes were to be scattered in her hometown, which was written in her suicide note.

Huang Dan and Jiang Huai traveled long distances, and when they appeared in Ah Yu’s hometown, they were all disheveled, like two monkeys.

Looking for a place to wash his face, Huang Dan took a breath, “Very poverty-stricken.”

This is his first impression of Ah Yu’s hometown.

Jiang Huai poured a handful of water on his face, he wiped his face, “Yeah, very poverty-stricken.”

That kind of poverty is not the bumpy mountain roads, the small flat houses, the worn clothes and pants of the villagers, and the vicissitudes of life, but something mixed in the air.

Huang Dan doesn’t know where Ah Yu’s home is, nor does Jiang Huai.

They asked people and found Ah Yu’s home.

Garbage, bricks, and firewood are piled up around the house. It is dirty and messy.

There was a girl with a ponytail cooking.

There is no kitchen and no pot table, just a pile of bricks, the pot is hung on top, and there is vegetable porridge in it. The heat rushed to the girl’s face. She raised her sleeve to wipe, and the dirt faded away, revealing her dark face, eyebrows and eyes are somewhat similar to Ah Yu.

Seeing Huang Dan and Jiang Huai, the girl warily asked who they were looking for.

Her accent was not very standard mandarin, she was very nervous, and kept wiping her hand with her pants.

Huang Dan introduced himself, saying he was Ah Yu’s friend.

When the girl heard that he was her jiejie ‘s friend, she became happy and ran to call her didi and meimei.

Huang Dan scanned the room, “It’s not easy for Ah Yu.”

Jiang Huai lit a cigarette, “Umm.”

Not long after, the three children stood in front of Huang Dan and Jiang Huai. The youngest boy was less than ten years old, and his big eyes were full of timidity.

The oldest is the girl who cooks, she is the second child in the family, she is eighteen years old.

On the way here, Huang Dan discussed with Jiang Huai whether to hide Ah Yu’s death, saying that she just went to a far away place, or tell her family the truth.

The final result of the discussion was the latter.

Because Ah Yu’s meimei is an adult, she understands what life, old age, sickness and death are, and this kind of lie cannot be biased against her.

When the three children asked about why jiejie didn’t come back, Huang Dan said she was back.

Huang Dan unzipped the backpack and took out the small box inside.

The girl cried when she saw the box.

The third child also cried, but the youngest boy didn’t know that the box contained his jiejie. When he saw the two jiejie crying, he cried too.

For a moment, the dirty little hut was filled with the cries of three children.

Huang Dan took off his black-rimmed glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose, “Why did Ah Yu leave?”

Jiang Huai smoked, “I don’t know.”

The three children cried for a long time, and the little boy was the first to stop. He didn’t know that the jiejie was gone, so he wasn’t sad.

Huang Dan glanced at the two girls who were still sobbing, and he sighed. Children from poor families mature early, and Ah Yu’s younger siblings are only so young, they already have traces of being tempered by life.

The little boy pulled the girl’s clothes and said in a low voice that he was hungry and wanted to eat.

The two jiejie ignored him.

Huang Dan spread out his hands, and in his palm was a handful of white rabbit toffee, “Take it and eat it.”

The little boy’s eyes lit up immediately, and he raised his hand but put it back again.

Huang Dan said, “It’s for you.”

The little boy raised his hand again and grabbed the toffee, “Thank you uncle.”

Huang Dan saw the little boy grabbing the toffee and ran to the two girls, saying that you are one and I am the other. He turned his head and walked outside, feeling that the room was quite depressing and it was very uncomfortable to stay inside.

Jiang Huai followed.

The air outside is also stuffy, and every speck of dust here seems to weigh a thousand catties, making it hard to breathe.

Huang Dan said, “I don’t like this place.”

Jiang Huai agreed, “I don’t like it either.”

He flicked the cigarette and watched a pinch of ash fall into the mud, “Let’s return after finishing the work early, this place is waiting for people…… How should I put it, it is……”

Huang Dan finished his words, “Desperate.”

Jiang Huai bit his cigarette, “Yes, it is despair.”

When they went back into the house, the crying had stopped, and the small box was placed on a slightly cleaner cabinet, and a photo frame was placed there.

The one in the photo frame is an elderly, and the girl said that with her grandma around, jiejie would not be alone.

Both Huang Dan and Jiang Huai were invited to eat green vegetable porridge, squatting next to the pot with the three children to eat.

A gust of wind blew, and the fire swayed, and dust flew into the bowl.

Huang Dan looked at the black ash on top of the porridge, and then at the children who seemed nothing had happened. He pursed his lips and put it into his mouth as well.

Won’t get sick after eating something unclean, this is what Jiang Huai said to Huang Dan after eating the bowl of porridge.

Huang Dan pee in the latrine, “Do you have paper on you?”

Jiang Huai squinted, “Wipe the pee too?”

Huang Dan frowned, “My stomach hurts.”

Jiang Huai touched his stomach, “Tell Gege , why are you disobedient? Why are you bullying my honey?”

Huang Dan didn’t have the mood to talk more, so he squatted down when he found a place, “Stay far away, I’m afraid to fumigate you.”

Jiang Huai said it was okay, he resisted fumigation.

Huang Dan simply chatted with him, “Ah Yu’s younger siblings are quite sensible.”

Jiang Huai leaned against the tree, and rubbed his feet against the turf, “What should motherless children do if not be sensible? Wait for God to reach out? God is busy and can’t take care of it.”

Huang Dan knew that the man was thinking of his parents.

It’s a pity that the pictures he saw only stayed when the man was six years old, and he didn’t know where his parents were now, whether they were dead or alive.

Jiang Huai asked after a while, “Are you alright? ancestor, you’ve been squatting for a long time.”

Huang Dan came out of the latrine, smelling all over his body, “I was not the only one who ate porridge, why are you alright?”

Jiang Huai put one hand in his pocket, “You are delicate.”

Huang Dan, “……”

His hand was held, and a man’s voice was next to his ear, with a smile, “It’s okay, Gege allows you to be delicate.”

Leaving the latrine much behind, Huang Dan said, “I didn’t wash my hands.”

Jiang Huai stared at him angrily, “Why did you say it? I’ve already ignored it.”

Huang Dan, “……”

Jiang Huai talked with Ah Yu’s meimei for a while, and then scattered her ashes on the land, and Huang Dan accompanied him all the way.

Falling leaves return to their roots, which is probably the reason why Ah Yu chose to come back here.

Ah Yu’s father was being treated in a hospital in the city. Huang Dan and Jiang Huai went there. The middle-aged man is thin and skinny, just relying on one breath to support

Everyone has the right to choose life and death.

Ah Yu’s father doesn’t want to die, he wants to live, so he is still insisting, even knowing that his child will have a hard time because of his huge medical expenses.

A few days after that incident, Huang Dan received a letter.

It was sent by Ah Yu during her lifetime.

There wasn’t much content in the letter, so Huang Dan read it without missing a single word.

Ah Yu knew that Huang Dan and Jiang Huai would go to her hometown. She said in the letter that she was sick, but she didn’t say what the disease was. She only said that there was a sum of money in the card, and the password was the day when she and Yan Er met, which she engraved on the wall of the shared house.

Part of the money in the card is for younger brothers and sisters, and part is for father’s medical expenses.

Later in the letter, Ah Yu said that she didn’t want to get medical treatment anymore, and she wanted to be selfish for a while.

So she avenged herself before she was taken away by the illness, and after quitting her drug addiction, she went to another world to find Yan Er cleanly.

——I’m glad I’m leaving.

This is the last sentence Ah Yu wrote.

Huang Dan thought, when the young woman wrote this, she must be smiling.

After Jiang Huai came back, Huang Dan showed him the letter, “You can take care of things tomorrow.”

“Okay, let’s go tomorrow.”

Jiang Huai folded the letter and put it on the table, “Ah Yu can go to Yan Er, I have a companion.”

He didn’t know it before, but now he knows how having a partner will change his life.

The premise is that the partner is who you want.

After autumn, the weather turns cooler, and the cold winter is getting closer and closer.

Huang Dan received a call from Mother Lin and asked him to go back, saying that it was his uncle’s grandpa’s birthday.

Mother Lin was chatting with someone over there, her voice was quite messy, “Son, when you come back this time, Mom will introduce a girl to you. She is a high-achieving student, graduated from a key university, and is now a sales manager. She is also pretty. “

Huang Dan heard Mother Lin’s voice in one ear, and the sound of water on the balcony in the other ear, and the man was cleaning his sneakers.

“I don’t have time.”

“Why don’t you have time on weekends? Don’t make excuses with Mom. Your Biao di has booked tickets for you. You are in your twenties. Don’t be so ignorant.”

Mother Lin babbled a few words, then hung up the phone.

Huang Dan squeezed the phone, turned around and saw the man standing behind him, he heard everything for sure.

Jiang Huai held the shoe brush in one hand and the foam of washing powder in the other. The corners of his lips were hooked, but there was no smile in his eyes. “Graduated from a key university, sales manager, beautiful person, your family really finds it for you.”

Huang Dan said, “Go wash your shoes first.”

Jiang Huai threw the shoe brush into the pool on the balcony, “Wash what, come here!”

Huang Dan came closer, “Wash later then.”

He touched the man’s thin lips that were drawn into a straight line, “You come home with me.”

Jiang Huai’s breathing stagnated, “What did you say?”

Huang Dan said, “I’ll ask Biao di to return the ticket. I’ll buy four here, and I’ll buy both of our round-trip tickets.”

Jiang Huai stared at the person under his gaze, “Why do you want me to go with you? Are you afraid that your family will think too much?”

“Lin Yi, as long as we stand together, even if we don’t make any gestures of intimacy, there are still some things that cannot be hidden.”

Huang Dan said, “I’ll tell my family when I go back this time.”

Jiang Huai’s brows were knotted, the breath around him was chaotic, something was wrong with him, he was afraid.

He was afraid that Huang Dan would be shaken by his parents’ persuasion, and he was even more afraid that Huang Dan would choose the former between filial piety and affection.

Huang Dan said, “Don’t worry, I don’t want anyone else.”

Jiang Huai lowered his head and asked, “What do you mean by not wanting anyone else?”

Huang Dan said, “Precisely as you mean.”

Jiang Huai’s body shook, and he said hoarsely, “You can’t lie to me.”

Huang Dan looked up, “I’m not lying to you.”

Jiang Huai wanted to hug the young man, but remembered that his hands were dirty, so he went to wash his hands, and when he had hugged and kissed the young man enough, he pressed him down on the sofa.

The pair of white sneakers lay in the pool for about two hours before being picked up and scrubbed again.

White sneakers are troublesome to wash, they need to be covered with toilet paper, otherwise there will be a layer of yellow color attached to them after drying.

Jiang Huai squatted on the ground and spread toilet paper on the shoe, “Give me another piece.”

Huang Dan pulled a section and handed it over.

Jiang Huai wrapped two white sneakers into white and fat rice dumplings, “Book tickets first, and then go to buy clothes.”

Huang Dan asked, “Want to buy clothes? You’re fine like this.”

Jiang Huai snorted, “I can still be a little better.”

“……”

Seeing that the man was so serious, Huang Dan couldn’t say anything, so he went with him.

The two of them went shopping from one specialty store to another and bought two pairs of pants at Hai Lan’s store.

Black for Jiang Huai and gray for Huang Dan to wear.

Clothes are sold on the second floor of the Textile Market. There are for men, women and children, most of them are of average quality, and the price is even higher. Those who don’t know how to bargain will be slaughtered, but they don’t know it, but those who know how to do it can find high-quality and cheap things.

Huang Dan took a fancy to a T-shirt, and thought Jiang Huai would look very handsome wearing it.

Jiang Huai asked how much the T-shirt cost.

The shop owner opened her mouth and said, “This one is one hundred and seventy-five.”

Just as Huang Dan wanted to take out the money, Jiang Huai gave him a restraining look, “Fifty.”

The shop owner was dumbfounded, with a smile on her face, she was a little stiff, she had never seen such a ruthless buyer, “Handsome guy, how can you bargain so much?”

Huang Dan was also in a daze, this was no longer a half-cut, he secretly looked at the man, and if he could tell the price, he was already very powerful.

Jiang Huai glanced at the T-shirt lightly, “I think this dress is only fifty, right?”

The second half of his sentence to Huang Dan to answer.

Huang Dan swallowed, nodded without changing his face, “Yeah.”

The shop owner still smiled, “You two handsome guys, I can’t even get it at that price.”

Jiang Huai hung up the T-shirt, put his hands in his pockets, and said lazily, “Forget it, let’s go to another store to see.”

Huang Dan went out with him.

The shop owner shouted from behind, “Handsome guy, if you want to buy that T-shirt sincerely, we can talk about the price again.”

Huang Dan said, “Fifty is too few, you can call eighty, and she should be able to sell.”

The T-shirt felt good to the touch, and the style was very stable. He planted a handful of grass in his heart and wanted to buy it.

Jiang Huai raised his lips, “Don’t worry.”

They hadn’t reached the end when the shop owner’s voice came over, “Okay, I’ll give it to you!”

The shop owner put the T-shirt in a bag, “Handsome guy, I didn’t make any money here, so you should take care of me next time.”

“Of course.”

Jiang Huai paid for the T-shirt and left, raising his eyebrows at Huang Dan proudly.

Although Huang Dan didn’t say anything, the look in his eyes was admiration and a little unbelievable.

Jiang Huai patted him on the shoulder, “Learn well.”

Huang Dan said, “I want to buy a belt.”

Jiang Huai took Huang Dan to buy, this time it was half price.

He said that at what price and how much you cut, you divide them into items and shops. The water here is very deep.

Huang Dan has learned one thing, which is to bargain.

Seeing that the young man was still looking at him, Jiang Huai raised his eyebrows, “Why, have you been fascinated by me?”

Huang Dan said, “You know a lot.”

Jiang Huai’s eyes darkened, and he lowered his voice and said, “Hurry up and take your gaze back, or I will find a place to fuck you.”

Huang Dan said, “We did it before going out.”

Jiang Huai gritted his teeth, “So just be honest with me and don’t seduce me, huh?”

Huang Dan really didn’t seduce, “Go to eat after shopping, and go back after eating. If we are in good shape, we can do it.”

Jiang Huai’s face twitched, “Why do I feel so weird every time I hear you mention this? In your heart, what is sex?”

Huang Dan said, “It’s just doing what lovers do.”

Just as Jiang Huai was about to speak, he heard the young man say, “You love me, and I love you, so we can do it.”

He thought he liked that statement.

On the 7th day, Huang Dan and Jiang Huai took the train back to City Y.

Father Lin and Mother Lin knew that Jiang Huai was a policeman, so there was nothing to say about his good attitude, and he couldn’t be polite.

Huang Dan told them not to tell other relatives.

Father and Mother Lin agreed, and the old couple also knew that it was better not to disclose it.

Huang Dan saw the girl Mother Lin had mentioned on the phone, she was indeed very beautiful, but since the other party appeared, her eyes were on Jiang Huai, and she didn’t take her eyes off for a moment.

Anyone who is not blind can tell that the girl’s favorite is Jiang Huai.

Mother Lin was not happy, “Son, you bring friends back, mom has no problem, but why do you bring back someone who is much better than yourself in everything? Isn’t this making yourself inferior?”

Huang Dan was speechless.

Father Lin paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, “Forget it, forget it, children and grandchildren have their own blessings.”

Mother Lin said, “Grandchildren? you don’t even have a daughter-in-law.”

Father Lin choked, stared and said, “If the daughter-in-law is gone, then gone, as long as the son is happy.”

Mother Lin said, “He doesn’t even have a girlfriend, can he be happy?”

Huang Dan waited for the old couple to stop talking before he said, “Mom and Dad, I’m very happy now.”

Coming out of the closet is mostly a matter of character.

Huang Dan’s character is good, after he told about his relationship with Jiang Huai, he imagined kneeling down in pain and being beaten all over the floor looking for his teeth.

Father Lin and Mother Lin did not threaten him, telling him to break up with Jiang Huai, otherwise he would not come into the house.

The old couple were dumbfounded.

Jiang Huai outside waited impatiently, the girl didn’t have foresight yet, so she came up to say hello.

“Mr. Jiang, are you also in City S?”

Jiang Huai’s complexion was stern, and he put on a posture of repelling others. He just raised his head slightly too lazy to answer. His heart was restless, and he had no intention of speaking

The girl is a delicate person, seeing that Jiang Huai is not interested in her, she left in time with pride and self-esteem.

The door opened, and Father Lin came out, telling Jiang Huai to leave.

Jiang Huai frowned and remained motionless, he wanted to see the young man safe and sound, “Uncle Lin……”

Huang Dan, who came out from behind, interrupted Jiang Huai, “You go first.”

Jiang Huai still didn’t move, his eyes swept over the young man, he walked normally, which meant he didn’t kneel down, and there was no palm print on his face, which meant he wasn’t beaten, he let out a breath.

Huang Dan took out his mobile phone from his pocket and pointed it out to the man.

Jiang Huai’s gloomy face eased after seeing the text message. He glanced at the young man, turned and left.

At night Huang Dan sneaked out to look for Jiang Huai, “My parents will figure it out.”

Jiang Huai asked in a deep voice, “Why don’t you let me handle it?”

Huang Dan knew about his parents from the memory of the original owner. If Jiang Huai came out, the degree of difficulty of coming out would soar from two stars to five stars.

As soon as his ears hurt, Huang Dan frowned, “I can handle it.”

Jiang Huai kissed the tip of his nose and said in a low voice, “Don’t go back at night.”

Huang Dan pushed him, “No, that would be a failure.”

Jiang Huai frowned, tidied up the young man’s clothes, and said, “Honey, you just have one chance, if not, I’ll come.”

Huang Dan squeezed the man’s hand, pinching the callus in his palm, “Trust me.”

The battle of coming out lasted for half a month before it stopped.

The victor was Huang Dan, and he returned to City S with Jiang Huai.

On the day of leaving, Father Lin and Mother Lin were all cold-faced to Jiang Huai, telling Jiang Huai not to bully their son.

Jiang Huai laughed, “How dare I bully him.”

There is pampering in his eyes, Father Lin and Mother Lin have experienced it in the past, the old couple saw it clearly, there is no need to say what they have prepared all night.

On Jiang Huai’s 40th birthday, he made a wish on the cake, hoping to be with Huang Dan forever.

Huang Dan asked him what he wished for.

Jiang Huai refused to admit it, “I didn’t make any wishes.”

Huang Dan is used to it, he always lies, and he is a two faced person.

Less than a month after Jiang Huai’s birthday, Huang Dan was kidnapped.

That day was so ordinary that when he thought about it afterwards, he was in a cold sweat. Just as Jiang Huai detained a drug dealer, the phone rang, but it was not the voice of his lover.

The phone has been hung up, but Jiang Huai is still standing there stupidly.

A colleague patted him on the shoulder. He seemed to be strangled by someone, his eyes were wide open, and he had difficulty breathing.

According to the request of the other party, Jiang Huai went to a place alone.

It was on the rooftop. When he received the call, he looked down. There were several figures in his field of vision, including his lover.

Huang Dan’s hands were tied, and his head was raised high. He was shaking his head, trying to tell Jiang Huai that as long as the time was not up, he would not die.

But his mouth was covered with tape, so he could only make a fuzzy murmur.

A minute or two later, Huang Dan heard the people around him calling and told Jiang Huai to jump down, otherwise they would kill him.

At the end of the call, a gun was pointed at Huang Dan’s eyebrows. He widened his eyes and saw that the sky had darkened and water was still dripping on his face.

That time his life was hanging by a thread, Jiang Huai survived the catastrophe but broke a leg.

Huang Dan waited for the man to collapse emotionally, unable to stand up, but the other party accepted the reality calmly, without even the slightest depression.

Jiang Huai comforted Huang Dan in turn, “You’re alive, and I’m alive too. I’m very lucky.”

Huang Dan touched the man’s chin, which hurt his hand. He went to find a razor and shaved off the man’s beard. “I will take care of you in the future.”

Jiang Huai laughed, “Fool.”

With a missing leg, Jiang Huai retreated from the front line, and the bureau asked him to become a civilian.

However, Jiang Huai insisted on taking down his police officer’s card. His attitude was firm, and it was useless to persuade anymore.

His superior dropped the teacup angrily, “Have you forgotten what you said when you first joined the team? You said that you will protect every citizen until you die!”

Jiang Huai said, “I haven’t forgotten.”

He flicked the dust that didn’t exist on his body, “At that time I was alone, with no worries, but now it’s different.”

There was a brief dead silence in the office, Jiang Huai said in a low voice, “The citizens are protected by you people, but he only has me.”

After saying that, Jiang Huai didn’t say any more, just walked out of the building on crutches. He didn’t look back, but he knew that the buddies including Buzz-cut head were wiping their eyes.

A week later, Jiang Huai took Huang Dan to his hometown.

That hometown is better than Ah Yu’s hometown, the air is not so oppressive, the mountains are good, the water is good, and the people are simple.

Jiang Huai has one leg, and he still does the housework, and he doesn’t want Huang Dan to intervene.

Huang Dan couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone others, but he was learning, he learned to cook, he learned to go to the mountains alone at night to fetch water, and struggled to find his way home.

Learning many things, Huang Dan learns very hard and is very serious.

One winter, when the ground was frozen, Huang Dan went to the nearby to fetch a bucket of water and brought it back. He didn’t pay attention to his feet, and his body fell forward.

Jiang Huai under the eaves was sitting on a chair with a book in his hand. When he saw that Huang Dan was about to fall, he subconsciously stood up from the chair. Just as his uninjured foot took a few steps, he fell heavily to the ground.

Jiang Huai’s teeth smashed his lips, and the taste of rust filled his mouth, but he was still lying on his stomach in a daze.

Huang Dan fell and cried at that moment. While crying, he went to pull the man on the ground up, “Why did you run out? You didn’t hurt, did you?”

Jiang Huai lowered his eyelids, “I’m useless.”

Huang Dan frowned, “I don’t like to hear that, so don’t say it in the future.”

He looked at the man’s lips, “It’s broken, go and rinse your mouth.”

Jiang Huai grabbed the young man, breathing tremblingly, “I had a dream last night, I dreamed that you were gone, and you said that you had enough of me as a cripple, and would never come back.”

Huang Dan wiped off the blood from the corner of the man’s mouth, “Dreams and reality are opposite, unless I die, I will not leave you.”

Jiang Huai gasped, with a suppressed sob in his throat.

Huang Dan patted the man on the back, “I won’t go anywhere except you.”

Jiang Huai bent his straight back and buried his face in the young man’s neck.

There was warm liquid in Huang Dan’s neck, he hugged the man even tighter, the tears couldn’t stop, they covered his face.

Since then, Jiang Huai has followed Huang Dan everywhere, and will never let him touch anything he can do by himself.

Huang Dan’s physique is afraid of pain. Living in this place is full of hardships.

One day, Huang Dan wanted to kill a chicken to make soup, but he accidentally cut his finger.

Jiang Huai bandaged his wound helplessly, “How did you manage to cut off your fingers by killing a chicken?”

Huang Dan said, “The chicken was struggling.”

Jiang Huai smiled angrily, “I pointed a kitchen knife at your neck, will you not struggle?”

Huang Dan, “……”

The chicken’s life ended in Jiang Huai’s hands, and he also stewed the soup, adding wolfberries, which add flavored and very fragrant.

Huang Dan and Jiang Huai finished their chicken soup happily, and lay down together to watch the sunset outside the window.

They turned sideways at the same time, facing each other, and kissed deeply and shallowly.

After kissing for a while, Huang Dan lay on Jiang Huai’s chest, put his arms around his neck and continued to kiss.

The sunset came quietly and did not leave.

A fiery red flower bloomed in the courtyard.

One year, two years… ten or twenty years, Huang Dan and Jiang Huai have been living there, just the two of them, and a big teddy bear.

Teddy bear is old, they are old.

Many years later, there was another grave on the mountain, and not one person was buried in it, but two people. Their hands were tightly clasped together, and they would not let go even if they died.

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T/N: Arc 3 complete. A short break needed. Next update will be after 10 days.