NB Chapter90

Another year passed, another birthday arrived, and Yu Fuchao returned to the welfare home.

There was no winter in Hong Kong; December was not as cold as it had been in his memories. As far back as Yu Fuchao could remember, the sofas in the welfare home had always been draped in purple floral dust covers. Now they had been washed into a faded white, and a child of the new era lay upon them, facing an age of advanced technology the moment they opened their eyes.

Zhang Xiaoyuan had finished school early and arrived three hours ahead of him. He was currently holding a gaming console with both hands with his eyes glued to the screen, surrounded by a group of tiny children.

A certain someone had once proposed buying a gaming console for every single child in the welfare house, making the director puff his beard and glare with rage. These young children were just at the age where they were difficult to manage.

In the end, those gaming consoles were turned into new dryers, washing machines, air conditioners, and wooden bunk beds instead. That certain someone was quite skilled at philanthropy, spending a considerable sum to purchase a plot of land and donating it to the children as a small sports field.

As Yu Fuchao walked past, he tapped each of their heads one by one and then pretended as if nothing had happened.

“Officer Yu!”

“Officer Yu!”

Immature greetings rose up one after another, and one child even gave him a salute.

Zhang Xiaoyuan didn’t even lift his head. “I knew it was you.”

“Without even lifting your head, how did you know?” The cake had been placed in the communal kitchen, and Yu Fuchao asked from a distance.

Zhang Xiaoyuan was silent for a while until the mechanical female voice of “game over” rang out. He lay down with his upper body dangling upside down from the sofa, the oversized hood of his hoodie serving as a pillow.

Yu Fuchao turned around and happened to catch sight of him, giving him a start. “What are you doing?”

“One cake isn’t enough to eat.” Zhang Xiaoyuan said expressionlessly.

“You refused to eat a single bite on your own birthday, and now you’re saying it’s not enough?”

“There are too many brats.”

“Mind your manners, you’re a brat yourself.”

Zhang Xiaoyuan pushed off the floor with his hands, flipped himself over, and leisurely approached before squeezing his face in to look at the cookies on the cake. A pack of little tails followed right behind him, giggling and laughing.

Yu Fuchao watched him with his arms crossed.

Perhaps because he was getting older, Zhang Xiaoyuan had realized that being a nerd wasn’t very popular. His style of dress had gradually become more casual, and he wore a perpetually disdainful, scowling expression, as if trying to act effortlessly cool all day long.

“There’s no name.” Zhang Xiaoyuan pointed at the cake.

“There was no room to write it.” Yu Fuchao replied.

“There’s no age either.” Zhang Xiaoyuan noted.

“What for? To remind me that I’m another year older?” Yu Fuchao found it amusing.

Zhang Xiaoyuan leaned over the edge of the table in silence, his eyes blinking. Yu Fuchao didn’t know what he was thinking, so he just gently covered the cake back up.

“Wait a bit, wait until everyone can eat together.” Yu Fuchao said.

“Oh.” Zhang Xiaoyuan returned to the sofa and curled up into a ball again. The other children followed him back too. Row after row of the backs of their heads looked just like black dandelions.

The first to arrive was Li Yi. For this gathering, he had especially gone to wash his car. Following a few honks of the horn, Zhang Xiaoyuan’s little tails dashed outside in a flash.

A burst of lively cheers echoed across the space.

Yu Fuchao went out to see what the commotion was about.

Li Yi sat inside the car with both his hands on the steering wheel, looking left and right as he executed a flawless reverse park. The children cheered.

“Tch.” Zhang Xiaoyuan turned around and went back into the house.

Li Yi got out of the car and charged over, scooping Zhang Xiaoyuan up and tossing him into the air. Zhang Xiaoyuan let out a terrified shriek. Li Yi tossed him three or four times before finally setting him down and then proceeded to toss the other kids one by one.

“You’re the heaviest.” Li Yi said.

“I’m the oldest!” Zhang Xiaoyuan snapped resentfully.

“No, no, no, the oldest is…” Li Yi turned around, only to realize the birthday boy himself was actually present.

“…in my heart,” Li Yi corrected himself seamlessly. “And that is our Earth. Give me a fulcrum, and I shall lift the Earth right now.”

“Lock your car already.” Yu Fuchao couldn’t be bothered to argue with him while pointing behind him. The car was already crawling with kids, who were tapping here and patting there. Li Yi let out a tragic wail and rushed back to save it.

“What is the birthday boy treating me to?” Having settled everything, Li Yi walked into the house with an arrogant swagger.

“You come empty-handed, yet you really have the nerve.” Zhang Xiaoyuan remarked.

“On my senior’s birthday, he’s always the one treating me to meals, and he even gives me red envelopes. It feels amazing. You don’t get any, so are you jealous?” Li Yi raised an eyebrow.

Yu Fuchao recalled those days back at the police academy and in their rented apartment. Every birthday, he indeed had been the one to treat Li Yi to a meal, and sometimes he would also give him red packets. But the underlying reason was that Li Yi would always tiptoe over in the dead of night to leave a gift at his doorstep.

When they had no money, it would be parking vouchers, breakfast coupons, or a one-day pass to Disneyland. After their promotions, it became tie clips, cologne, expensive jackets, and leather boots.

When he saw the gifts in the morning, Li Yi would conveniently pass by with a look of surprise while asking what they were.

“Looks like a thief broke in.” Li Yi would always shake his head with regret. “It seems this is a dereliction of duty on our part.”

Yu Fuchao never exposed this clumsy lie. Because the moment he opened his mouth to say, “I know you put this here,” before he could even finish the last few words, Li Yi would let out a loud shout and run off as if he were about to be late.

By the time Yu Fuchao put on his shoes, locked the door, and went downstairs, Li Yi would quietly return to wish him a happy birthday. After saying it, he would run off again, his figure growing smaller and smaller. Li Yi’s masculinity, at times, simply did not permit him a single moment of tenderness.

“Ah!” Li Yi suddenly gasped and hurriedly ran outside again. When he came back, he was carrying a blue ice cream cake in his hands. Covered by a transparent dome, it bore an inscription: Senior, happy birthday.

Kids loved cake as well as ice cream.

And they loved ice cream cake even more.

Yu Fuchao smiled and said that now they didn’t have to worry about there not being enough to eat.

“The birthday boy’s cake isn’t for others to eat.” Li Yi said.

“Are you saying you won’t eat any?” Zhang Xiaoyuan said sarcastically.

“I won’t eat it.”

“I’ll be watching you.”

“Fine, you watch me; let’s see who can outstare whom!”

Yu Fuchao didn’t know why the relationship between the two of them had suddenly turned sour; it was probably related to the video games. He quietly walked outside to breathe in some fresh air.

Over thirty years ago, when he was still an infant, a pair of hands connected to him by blood had gently placed him beneath these eaves. From then on, whenever he walked down the street, he always hoped that someone would suddenly come up from behind, tap his shoulder, and say, You’ve grown so big, I recognized you at first glance, my child.

Then, tears would well up, and they would embrace tightly; it was a scene melodramatic enough to be broadcast on television.

But that scene never happened.

The old director had told him, You were very healthy and very beautiful when you were little. The people who abandoned you won’t have any luck in this lifetime; they have no idea what they lost.

The nanny had once said, A-Chao, one day, you will possess unconditional love. You have to believe that. Before that day comes, you must stay strong and not lose hope. Embrace these changes, just like embracing the tide.

He had listened only half-understanding; a child couldn’t grasp it, nor could he fully register the emotion behind it.

He only knew that a certain melancholy had troubled him, leaving a profound, long-term impact on his life.

As he grew up in silence, he simultaneously harbored a faint expectation for some sort of intense transformation; one that could completely overturn his life, validate his existence, and tell him where he came from, where he should go, and what his value was.

Children who are loved are born with a mission: to make themselves happy so as not to worry their parents.

But children who receive very little love have to rush about everywhere to patch up their own voids, all while worrying whether everything they use to fill their souls is healthy enough.

He had chosen a noble profession and held fast to a pure ideal, pouring his whole heart and soul into it in the hope of making the world a better place.

Originally, this had been enough for him to temporarily forget all of his voids.

But then a certain person appeared, bringing a shockwave so intense that it made him clearly sense his own existence once again.

It wasn’t astrology, it wasn’t fortune-telling, and it wasn’t food.

It didn’t even quite seem to be romance.

It couldn’t be entirely summarized as romance either.

“Look,” a voice said in the distance. “Look, who is that?”

Yu Fuchao lifted his head and saw that person holding their daughter. The little girl was wearing noise-canceling earmuffs as she pointed a finger right over.

“Ah Chao!” Keke had recently become obsessed with calling family members directly by their names. She stretched out her arms, naturally and confidently asking for a hug. Demanding one from the person who loved her most, and whom she loved most in return; everything was exactly as it should be.

Yu Fuchao didn’t understand why his daughter was wearing earmuffs. He strode over, and just as he was about to ask, a series of crackles rang out, and the pale blue night was suddenly illuminated. The twilight had only just faded, and Zhang Mingsheng hadn’t gone to any extravagant lengths; he had lit only one or two pure white fireworks, their glow rising into the sky like drifting snow or blooming narcissus flowers suspended in the air.

“Happy birthday, Ah Chao!” Keke began counting on her fingers. “Keke loves you, Gege loves you, Daddy loves you, Uncle loves you, Auntie loves you, Grandma loves you, Doggie loves you, Kitty loves you… Hug!”

She hadn’t forgotten her initial goal.

Yu Fuchao took her into his arms.

He gently ruffled her hair. “Mommy loves you too.” He said with absolute sincerity. When he set Keke back down, she quickly ran into the brightly lit room.

“This doesn’t seem like your style.” Yu Fuchao said.

“I am constantly learning my lessons.” Zhang Mingsheng said with a beaming smile.

Yu Fuchao lowered his head.

Zhang Mingsheng gently cradled his face from one side, simply holding it close without forcing him to lift his head.

“Why are you crying?” Zhang Mingsheng asked.

Yu Fuchao didn’t answer. He just… he didn’t know, he didn’t understand, he just was.

As the phone rang, Yu Fuchao haphazardly wiped his eyes twice with the back of his hand before picking it up. It was Shanshan.

“Brother Chao!” Shanshan was bundled up in a padded coat, looking like a cute penguin while holding a clump of snow in her red-gloved hands with a red ballpoint pen stuck in the top. His Shimu stood beside her while wearing reading glasses.

“Shanshan, Shimu.” Yu Fuchao greeted them.

“Ah Chao, you’ve lost weight.” His Shimu said.

“I eat a bit less now, so that I can eat a lot of cake tonight.” Yu Fuchao smiled. They had just spoken on the phone yesterday, and she had already said this.

“Happy birthday, Brother Chao!” Shanshan puffed out her cheeks and blew at the ballpoint pen. “I wish you good health and steady promotions!”

It turned out to be a snowball cake.

“Any higher of a promotion and he’ll be the commissioner.” Li Yi squeezed his way over.

“What’s wrong with being the commissioner!” Shanshan frowned.

“I want to be the commissioner too.” Li Yi laughed.

“You’re really annoying,” Shanshan said. “You’re not the main character today!”

Their Shimu frowned. “Xiao Yi… you…”

“Shimu, I’ve lost weight too. I’m so skinny, I’m so hungry, Senior won’t give me any food to eat…”

“…Your face has gotten rounder.” Their Shimu noted.

Li Yi froze.

In the next moment, the Master’s wife was smiling, Shanshan burst out laughing, and Yu Fuchao laughed along with them. Zhang Mingsheng stood slightly apart, quietly smiling.

“Hello, Mr. Zhang.” Shimu nodded.

“Hello.” Zhang Mingsheng replied respectfully.

“Is everything well lately?”

“Everything is well.”

“Is Ah Chao doing well?”

“I will continue to work hard.”

Shimu smiled. “We won’t disturb you all any further. Shanshan and I are going to a concert.”

“Bye-bye!” Shanshan waved, and then the call disconnected.

“She hasn’t called me in a week,” Li Yi said melancholy. “Maybe she wants to break up with me.”

“Nobody wants to hear about your personal troubles.” Mr. Zhang said.

“Nobody wants to hear your voice either.” Li Yi rolled his eyes and headed back inside the house.

Left alone again as the two of them, Yu Fuchao looked at the lit screen, stayed silent for a moment, and then put it away.

“Let’s go inside.” He spoke.

“Officer Yu, your tears aren’t dry yet.” Zhang Mingsheng noted.

They had clearly only welled up in his eyes; not a single drop had actually fallen.

Yu Fuchao couldn’t explain the reason.

Perhaps it was because—

A grey blur slammed straight into his embrace.

“You won’t get old!” Zhang Xiaoyuan shouted.

He had run over very fast and buried himself incredibly deep in the embrace. Yu Fuchao touched his cheek and discovered that the little guy was actually crying.

“You will never die!” He said muffledly.

Without waiting for a reply, Zhang Xiaoyuan turned and ran away before vanishing like a patch of tumbleweed.

Yu Fuchao watched his retreating figure, and Zhang Mingsheng, in turn, glanced back at him as well.

“A lot of people love you, Officer,” Zhang Mingsheng said. “I’ve always wanted to be the one who loves you the most, but the competition is quite fierce.”

Love.

He said “love.”

Yu Fuchao gazed at the person in front of him.

He suddenly understood.

So that was how it was.

Love could make a person shed tears too.

And tears did not only represent pain.

“I will continue to strive for the top.”

Zhang Mingsheng embraced him tightly with his lips pressing warmly against his ear.

Another round of fireworks lit up.

Yu Fuchao heard him say:

“Happy birthday, Laopo.”