Chapter 45: Sunrise

“Lü Bu Shooting the Sun, haven’t you heard of it?”

“Lü Bu Shooting the Sun? I’ve only heard of Kuafu Chasing the Sun and Hou Yi Shooting the Sun. Lü Bu was the one who shot the halberd at the gate…” Liu Hui looked at Lü Yang with confusion.

“Damn! You really know a lot.” Lü Yang muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Are you from around here?” Liu Hui smiled and then asked Lü Yang.

“Sort of, but not exactly… I stayed in Lutou Town for a few years, and now I’m in Guishe City.”

“Oh? You’re in Guishe City now? Which company do you work for?” When Liu Hui heard that Lü Yang was now in Guishe City, she immediately felt the distance between them had shortened.

“What company? I’m a Migrant Worker on the roadside.” Lü Yang smiled. Truthfully, he had worked at Yida Group’s Jiahui Decoration company, but it was better not to mention that.

“Migrant Worker?” Liu Hui seemed a bit skeptical of Lü Yang’s words: “Listening to you speak… and seeing your demeanor, you don’t seem like a Migrant Worker at all…”

“What kind of person do you think a Migrant Worker is?” Lü Yang asked Liu Hui in return.

“Sitting by the roadside, looking dirty… but in recent years, I’ve rarely seen them… it seems… there are still quite a few around the decoration market…” Liu Hui looked Lü Yang over again.

Lü Yang didn’t say anything more. In most people’s eyes, Migrant Workers fit that image, just like how our country is now called the ‘World’s Factory’ internationally, but the hidden meaning also carries the sense of being the ‘World’s Migrant Worker’.

In the past, China was seen by the world as dirty and poor. But now, after the financial crisis, China has become the world’s largest creditor. Who would dare look down on this ‘World’s Migrant Worker’ now?

“I… don’t mean to discriminate against Migrant Workers…” Liu Hui thought Lü Yang was angry and quickly explained.

“Saying that means you are discriminating.” Lü Yang smiled.

“I really don’t…” Liu Hui’s face turned red with anxiety: “Back then… when my father first came to Guishe City, he was just a Migrant Worker too. My mom still often calls him a country bumpkin…”

“Stop explaining, I was just teasing you!” Lü Yang smiled calmly. Whether others discriminated against him wasn’t important; he lived for himself. He never had, nor needed to, care about others’ opinions.

“If you go back to Guishe City later and want to find a job, you can come to me. I’ll ask my dad to arrange a position for you in his company.” Liu Hui made the offer, partly to thank him for saving her.

“It’s not like I don’t have a job or can’t find one. Why should your dad arrange it for me?” Lü Yang shook his head. He was satisfied with his current situation and had no intention of changing it. Working in a company would mean more restrictions and having to constantly please others.

Liu Hui pouted, wanting to say something but holding back, probably troubled by not being able to repay the favor.

“You don’t need to feel like you owe me anything. If it were someone else in that situation, I would have helped too.” Lü Yang clearly understood what Liu Hui was thinking.

“You’re a great person, and good people should be rewarded.” Liu Hui felt inexplicably moved. Lü Yang was different from the people around her—those who would betray family and friendship for the slightest gain and would never do anything for strangers.

Lü Yang was a complete stranger to her, yet he had first risked his life to save a little girl she almost hit on the street, then rescued her from the robbers and carried her over such a long mountain path. Even when they found food, he would give the better portions to her.

Even family might not go that far.

“Alright, we should get going. The sooner we leave this mountain, the sooner I can get you to your family and drop this burden.” Lü Yang stood up and joked with Liu Hui.

“You…” Liu Hui pouted again, feeling bad about being called a burden.

…

After Liu Hui stood up and walked with Lü Yang for a few minutes, her legs hurt so much she started groaning. Lü Yang had no choice but to carry her on his back again.

The mountain path was rough. As Lü Yang carried Liu Hui carefully along the stream, she actually fell asleep on his back. When she woke up again, she found herself lying on a bed.

Liu Hui was startled. She checked that her clothes were still intact and then felt a bit relieved. Just as she wondered where this place was, a tired-looking Lü Yang pushed the door open and came in.

“You’re awake?” Lü Yang asked Liu Hui.

“Yeah.” Liu Hui nodded, blushing for some reason when she looked at Lü Yang.

“This is a forest farm, and only a Mute Old Man is guarding it. I borrowed a room from him, but there’s no phone here, so we can’t contact the outside. We’ll rest here tonight, and tomorrow I’ll take you down to the town to find a way to contact your family.” Lü Yang explained his plan to Liu Hui.

“Oh.” Liu Hui nodded, looking uneasy.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll be right outside the door. If you need anything, just call out.” After speaking, Lü Yang opened the door, went out, and closed it for Liu Hui.

Though Liu Hui was a bit scared, she was exhausted from the journey. Having never experienced such hardship before, she lay back down on the bed and quickly fell asleep again.

…

Early in the morning, when the sky was just starting to lighten, Liu Hui woke up. At first, she was confused and didn’t quite understand where she was. As she became more alert, she recalled everything from the previous night and felt scared again, instantly wide awake.

Where… where was Lü Yang?

To Liu Hui now, in this unfamiliar mountain forest, she only felt safe when she was near Lü Yang.

Liu Hui got out of bed, tiptoed to the door, and pulled open the wooden door. As soon as she looked outside, she nearly gasped in surprise. She hadn’t expected Lü Yang to be sleeping on the ground right outside her door!

Watching Lü Yang sleeping soundly on the ground, Liu Hui felt her eyes moisten for some reason. Though they had just met by chance and barely knew each other, she felt as if she had known him for a long time—like lovers who had made a promise in a past life, or as if they had been family in a previous incarnation, searching for each other in this life but never finding one another until now.

This… this was probably just an illusion, right?

“Hey! Hey! Wake up…” Liu Hui crouched down and gently shook Lü Yang on the ground.

“Yi Yi, stop bothering me!” Lü Yang didn’t open his eyes and waved impatiently at Liu Hui.

“It’s not Yi Yi, it’s me…” Liu Hui said awkwardly; clearly, he had mistaken her for someone else.

“Yi Yi!” Lü Yang suddenly sat up, gasping for breath as if waking from a nightmare. After recognizing Liu Hui, he lowered his head again.

“The ground is cold. Go sleep on the bed. I’ve had enough rest.” Liu Hui told Lü Yang.

“Is it morning already?” Lü Yang looked around and then scrambled up from the ground.

“Yeah.”

“No more sleeping. Let’s go watch the sunrise. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the sunrise at Donkey Head Mountain, and to see the Donkey Head, you have to be there at sunrise.”

“Okay!” Liu Hui clapped her hands excitedly, completely forgetting they were still on the run.