Chapter 169
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Chapter 169 Time Boils Rain
Only, if Ye Binglan knew that Su Rui was just an orphan who grew up in Ninghai’s Fourth Welfare Institute, who knows what she would think.
“Since you treated me to breakfast last time, dinner is on me today,” Su Rui said with a grand wave of his hand, exuding confidence.
“Let me treat you.” Ye Binglan waved her white purse, her smile intoxicatingly sweet: “I got my bonus.”
“That won’t do, you don’t earn money easily,” Su Rui insisted, “I’ll pay.”
Indeed, Ye Binglan’s efforts far exceeded the compensation of her few thousand yuan salary. This girl was persevering with her dreams with extraordinary determination.
“Alright then.” Ye Binglan playfully spread her hands and said to the waiter: “I’ll have a teriyaki chicken cutlet rice too.”
“Looks like we have similar tastes, it must be fate.”
Looking at Ye Binglan’s face, Su Rui noticed that unlike before, she didn’t look exhausted. It seemed this girl had been getting decent rest lately.
“It’s just teriyaki chicken rice, I wouldn’t call that a coincidence or chemistry,” Ye Binglan laughed. “Your way of getting close is too cliché. If that’s the case, at least half the people here are eating the same thing as you.”
“Not too busy lately?” Su Rui looked at Ye Binglan in her floral dress, finding her breathtakingly beautiful.
“It’s okay, we don’t have many cases recently. Having a rare day off, I came out to shop for clothes.” Ye Binglan’s complexion was indeed much better than usual, which had a lot to do with Su Rui’s “violent” behavior at the police station last time.
Since that incident, Ye Binglan no longer felt so mentally exhausted. At least she knew there was someone in this world who could fight alongside her.
The chicken cutlet rice came quickly. The two chatted while eating, turning this simple meal into a half-hour affair.
“Do you want me to accompany you shopping?” Su Rui noticed Ye Binglan was only carrying a purse and hadn’t bought any clothes.
“I’ve seen most of what I wanted to see, nothing I really liked.” Ye Binglan swung her lively ponytail and smiled: “I wear my police uniform most of the time anyway, so even if I buy clothes, I wouldn’t get to wear them.”
Su Rui couldn’t help but feel moved. Looking into her beautiful eyes, he said very seriously: “You really have it tough. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Ye Binglan nodded: “I can only do my best.”
“Let me take you home, it’s almost eight o’clock,” Su Rui checked his watch.
“It’s only eight o’clock, still a few hours away from when we usually eat our overtime midnight snacks.” Ye Binglan’s casual remark revealed how difficult her work was. This world always has too many misconceptions about police officers.
It seemed Ye Binglan didn’t want to go home. Talking with Su Rui made her happy, leaving her with a sense of wanting more. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed a conversation this much, making her reluctant to leave.
As if seeing through Ye Binglan’s thoughts, or perhaps sharing the same idea, Su Rui smiled: “How about we find a coffee shop and continue our chat?”
Ye Binglan thought for a moment, shook her head, and smiled mysteriously: “Come with me, I’ll take you on a tour of Ninghai.”
“A tour of Ninghai?” Su Rui pointed to a bus at the roadside and said with a smile: “You’re not planning to take me on a bus tour of Ninghai, are you?”
Ye Binglan nodded with a smile: “Exactly that. Don’t think it’s too humble.”
“Of course I don’t think it’s humble.” Su Rui kept the second half of his sentence to himself. He didn’t tell Ye Binglan that Lin Aoxue’s BMW 740 was still in the parking lot.
“Let’s go then.” Ye Binglan seemed quite excited.
The two boarded the last city loop bus. This type of bus circles Ninghai, taking over two hours for a complete trip. The bus driver had a tough job too.
Su Rui and Ye Binglan sat in the window seats of the last row, watching the scenery outside while chatting softly. Their legs touched, their bodies close, looking just like a sweet couple.
The two talked about almost everything, except for their family backgrounds and certain secrets.
“What did you do abroad before?”
After chatting for an hour, Ye Binglan finally learned that Su Rui wasn’t a top-tier young master from the capital. As for being able to get the capital’s Disciplinary Committee to investigate Deputy Director Zhang Yuanxing with just one phone call last time, that was entirely due to Qin Longlong’s prestigious family background and connections, not much to do with Su Rui.
Of course, this was just Su Rui’s explanation. He simply said he had been in the military before and later worked abroad for a while. If he told Ye Binglan about his affairs in the Western underworld, this policewoman would probably handcuff him after hearing it—after all, there was still an unsolved murder case in Ninghai that Ye Binglan and her colleagues hadn’t cracked.
“I did all sorts of jobs, carrying bricks, cement, twisting steel bars.” Su Rui spread his hands: “I’ve done all the dirty and hard work.”
“I don’t believe you, with your delicate skin.” Ye Binglan couldn’t help but laugh.
At that moment, the bus stopped. She looked at the station name and quickly said: “Let’s get off, I want to show you a place.”
Su Rui curiously followed Ye Binglan off the bus. When he saw the station name, he was stunned.
Because the station name was—West Hua Street.
This was the place Su Rui had visited with Lin Aoxue before, also the former site of Ninghai Fourth Children’s Welfare Institute.
“Over a decade, truly how things have changed.”
Walking alongside Su Rui on the quiet West Hua Street, Ye Binglan sighed: “In today’s Ninghai, it’s really hard to find buildings from even just over a decade ago.”
Su Rui nodded and said: “That’s true. In recent years, there’s been demolition everywhere, construction sites all over. Now tall buildings are springing up, and the former urban-rural fringe areas have completely changed.”
Every city is like this. When wanderers return to their hometown, they can’t even find their homes anymore.
At this point, Su Rui looked into Ye Binglan’s eyes and asked very seriously: “Why did you bring me here?”
Ye Binglan smiled, a smile that appeared extremely moving in Su Rui’s eyes: “Because I want to share with you.”
Su Rui’s heart stirred: “Share? Share what?”
“It’s rare to meet a friend I can talk to so easily. I want to tell you my story.” Ye Binglan put her hands behind her back, slightly tilting her head up to look at the unusually clear night sky, her eyes revealing a reminiscent look.
“These stories, I’ve never told anyone before.”
“Okay.” Su Rui nodded very seriously.
If your friend is willing to share her unknown past with you, it means she already has absolute trust in you. This trust is built on sincerity and genuineness, and is priceless.
The two stood in front of a convenience store, watching the few passersby under the night sky, their gaze distant.
“My household registration is in the capital. From four and a half years old until I went to university at eighteen, I grew up in the capital,” Ye Binglan recalled. “But before I was four and a half, I grew up on this land.”
Su Rui had already guessed this when Ye Binglan got off at West Hua Street station.
“Strange, isn’t it? My memories from before I was four and a half are still very clear to this day.” Ye Binglan smiled and said: “Perhaps heaven wanted me to remember these things. After all, one should never forget their roots.”
A wistful look appeared in Ye Binglan’s eyes: “Once, I grew up with many friends. We all had one thing in common—we had no parents.”
Su Rui’s body shook, and he looked at Ye Binglan with disbelief! His body seemed to be under a spell, frozen in place, unable to move even slightly!
Ye Binglan didn’t notice Su Rui’s unusual state and continued: “We were all orphans. Although we had no parents, we didn’t lack love. Looking back now, that period was the happiest and most carefree time in my twenty-some years.”
Su Rui could already feel his breathing becoming noticeably difficult! His heart was almost jumping out of his throat!
“But later, there was a big fire at the welfare institute. It was almost burned to rubble, and many teachers and friends didn’t survive that fire.”
At this point, Ye Binglan’s tone carried a hint of sadness, as if the mercilessness of that fire was still vivid in her mind. For someone who has truly experienced life and death, that feeling is etched in their bones. Even though Ye Binglan was only four and a half at the time, she remembered everything very clearly.
“I was lucky to survive, and along with some other surviving friends, was transferred to another welfare institute. Not long after, I was adopted by my current parents.” Tears were already welling up in Ye Binglan’s eyes: “My current parents are good people who completely changed my life, but most of those friends who survived, I can’t find them anymore. I don’t even know if they’re alive or dead.”
This is the true pain of separation. As time passes, many people from one’s youth disappear. Some people you meet are just passersby, while others stay in your life forever.
Growing up in a welfare institute can cause abnormal psychological effects on many young people. After entering society at thirteen or fourteen, a large proportion of these youths begin to survive by stealing and loitering. Before turning twenty, they might have been in juvenile detention centers several times, viewing society with extreme bias. Therefore, it makes sense when Ye Binglan says she doesn’t know if they’re alive or dead.
Childhood is carefree, but once grown up, those differences and changes become irreversible, accompanying one for life.
Su Rui had stopped talking. From the beginning until now, his body had remained cold, completely abnormal!
Ye Binglan gently wiped her eyes and smiled through her tears: “Don’t laugh at me, and don’t be shocked by my background. I’m telling you these things because we get along well.”
As she spoke, Ye Binglan opened her purse and took out a small red bracelet.
It wasn’t really a bracelet, but seemed to be just a simple red string. The circle was very small, looking like it was meant to be worn on a child’s wrist.
It had been washed so many times that the red string had almost faded to white, and at the other end of the string was a small red plastic button.
The kind of plastic button often seen on little girls’ cotton jackets.
Looking at this small red string that could barely be called a bracelet lying in her palm, a soft light emanated from Ye Binglan’s eyes: “This was given to me by the little brother I played with most and was closest to when I was young. Later he left the welfare institute, just before the fire. I don’t know how he’s doing now.”
Having shed so much blood, suffered so many injuries, and experienced so many stories, Su Rui had thought himself stone-hearted, that nothing could move him anymore. But this time, when he saw the small red string in Ye Binglan’s hand, his eyes were unknowingly filled with tears.
Countless memories erupted like a geyser, appearing one by one before his eyes.
“Little Ice, it’s been many years,” Su Rui said softly.
Hearing this nickname, Ye Binglan’s body also trembled. She raised her head in disbelief, just in time to see the tears in Su Rui’s eyes.
Wind blows rain into flowers,
Time cannot catch up with the white horse,
The dreams in your young palm,
Are you still holding them tightly?
Clouds roll into summer,
Tears evaporated by the years,
You, me, and her on this road,
Has anyone lost their way?
