Chapter 46: Street Corner

After washing his face at the hand pump in the yard, Lü Yang led Liu Hui up a nearby small hill. The sun was about to rise, and the eastern sky was already filled with morning clouds.

“Look, the donkey head is in that direction. That’s the donkey’s mouth, and there are the donkey ears. It looks even clearer when the sun first comes up…” Lü Yang pointed at the distant mountains and explained to Liu Hui.

“It really does look like one!” Liu Hui was as excited as a child, her cheeks as red as the morning clouds.

“A long time ago, a merchant drove a donkey carrying goods. After selling everything in the city and coming back, when he passed through here, that donkey…” Lü Yang began to tell Liu Hui the story of Donkey Head Mountain.

As Lü Yang talked about these things with Liu Hui, he recalled the times he had watched the sunrise over Donkey Head Mountain with his maternal grandmother. Back then, before it was even light out, he and his maternal grandmother would get up and go into the mountains to collect firewood. Every time the sun rose, his maternal grandmother would point at the donkey head and donkey ears and tell Lü Yang the legend of the merchant and the donkey.

The sudden disappearance of her son-in-law, the threats and pressure from gambling debt collectors, and the death of her daughter from illness—these events hit his maternal grandmother hard. In her fifties, she already looked like she was in her seventies, and she became quite nervous. She often repeated things she had said before and retold past events to Lü Yang.

Although Lü Yang already knew the legend of Donkey Head Mountain by heart and was tired of hearing it, he always pretended to be curious and listened as his maternal grandmother told the whole story.

Now, as he told the story, it was filled with endless grief for his maternal grandmother.

His only family, the one he relied on for survival—just when he finally could earn money so she wouldn’t have to wander and could live a warm, well-fed life, she had already left him. The pain of wanting to care for a loved one who is no longer there cut deep into his bones.

“That donkey was so stupid! No wonder it ended up dying stupidly here.” After hearing Lü Yang’s story, Liu Hui gave her opinion.

“The donkey wasn’t stupid; it was just too stubborn.” Lü Yang laughed and corrected Liu Hui, just as his maternal grandmother had once corrected him.

Liu Hui secretly watched Lü Yang. When he looked toward the sunrise, she saw the glittering morning light reflected in his eyes. She guessed that he must have gone through a lot in the past and had many stories inside.

She really wanted to sit there with him and keep listening to his stories.

…

After watching the sunrise over Donkey Head Mountain, they came down from the hill. The two got a free breakfast from the old forest keeper. After breakfast, the sky was fully bright, and Lü Yang led Liu Hui back onto the path down the mountain.

Although Donkey Head Mountain was vast and the chances of the kidnappers tracking them there were slim, Lü Yang still carefully chose small paths instead of the main road. Liu Hui had rested overnight and regained some strength. Although she didn’t want to trouble Lü Yang again, after holding out for over ten minutes, her feet hurt too much, and she could no longer walk. In the end, Lü Yang carried her on his back again.

Last night, when it was dark, being carried by him didn’t feel like much. Now, in the bright daylight, being carried made Liu Hui feel a bit shy and confused, along with a hint of… an indescribable bittersweet feeling.

If… for the rest of her life, she could be carried by him like this, she wouldn’t feel afraid or lonely anymore.

But, they weren’t related, and yet she was having thoughts like this about him. Could it be that she…

What was she thinking?

Liu Hui’s face grew hot for a while. She suspected she was blushing badly. Luckily, she was on his back, so he couldn’t see her, or it would have been really embarrassing.

…

“After your car flipped into the ditch yesterday, did you call your uncle?” Lü Yang asked Liu Hui, who was on his back, as he walked.

Originally, Lü Yang didn’t need to worry so much. After escorting Liu Hui down the mountain, safely delivering her to Donkey Tail Town, handing her over to the police station, and notifying her family, he should have gone to Lutou Town to handle his own matters. But since he had gone to such great lengths to rescue her and had developed some fondness for her, he decided to say what needed to be said.

“Yeah.” Liu Hui thought for a moment, then added, “My aunt answered.”

“Your parents don’t know you came here, do they? How many people knew you were going to Lutou Town? Before that, did you tell any other friends or relatives about your car accident?” Lü Yang continued to ask.

“No…”

“I think from now on, you should be more cautious around your uncle and aunt. This kidnapping might very well be related to them.”

“Really? But my uncle and aunt are very good to me…”

“I’m just reminding you. The police will investigate what really happened, but they might not find out the truth. With Yida Group’s huge assets and your father’s critical illness, there are definitely many people eyeing your family’s wealth. You’re the only daughter and the future sole heir of Yida Group. Many things will happen around you from now on, and it’s possible someone might try to harm you.”

Liu Hui fell silent. After a long while, she started crying again on Lü Yang’s back. Lü Yang shook his head and scolded himself for meddling. Saving her was already going above and beyond; her family’s conflicts were none of his business. He was worrying for nothing.

Better to figure out the situation with Sister Mei first!

Besides, saving up enough Eerie Points to rescue Yi Yi was what he should be focusing on right now.

Lü Yang, you’re not Spider-Man or Batman, and you haven’t obtained any secret martial arts manuals. Matters like maintaining world peace and upholding justice—better to worry less about them from now on.

…

By noon, the two finally arrived in Donkey Tail Town, tired and worn out. Not wanting to attract trouble, Lü Yang had Liu Hui go into the police station alone to report the incident and contact her family, while he waited for her at the street corner outside.

Not long after Liu Hui finished giving her statement at the police station, several cars sped over from the direction of Lutou Town and pulled into the Donkey Tail Town police station. The people who arrived were Liu Hui’s mother Li Tingting, her uncle Li Guoqing, her aunt Zhang Min, and their group. Li Tingting had rushed over overnight after receiving a call from the kidnappers and met up with Li Guoqing and Zhang Min. Inside the police station, the mother and daughter couldn’t avoid hugging each other and crying.

After leaving the police station, Liu Hui wanted to take her mother to meet her savior, but she couldn’t find Lü Yang anywhere. Clearly, he had lied to her; he hadn’t waited for her at the street corner outside.

Looking at the unfamiliar streets, the corner where he had stood earlier, and the distant stretch of Donkey Head Mountain, Liu Hui recalled every moment she had spent with him the previous night. Suddenly, she covered her face and burst into tears. Her heart felt a sense of loss, like a child who had lost their most cherished toy, or like someone who had lost the most precious thing in their life.

Li Tingting thought Liu Hui was just frightened and scolded her while comforting her. After searching nearby a bit longer with no success, Liu Hui could only sit blankly in her mother Li Tingting’s car.

She thought he would wait for her, thought they would meet again, thought she could take him to her father’s company, and that she would be able to see him whenever she wanted in the future. But in the end, aside from knowing his name was Lü Yang, she didn’t even have a way to contact him.

They say it takes five hundred glances in a past life to earn a passing encounter in this one. Had their fate run out just like that?

Would she ever meet him again in this lifetime?

I want to rest on your shoulder, walk on those bumpy mountain paths, and keep listening to your stories.