52

Why four years later?

The question from the night of the Engagement. Wen Ran had always thought Gu Yunchi never answered it. Today he understood — he'd given the answer a long time ago.

— Find something to worry about for yourself. Doesn't matter how many years. Don't overthink it. There's no way I'm marrying you.

That's how it should be. Wen Ran thought — how could Gu Yunchi really be trapped by a marriage contract? A man who wasn't swayed by desire, who looked down on being blinded by love, who never settled — of course he had bigger goals.

'Sometimes your reaction to things really surprises me.' Chen Shuhui laughed, genuinely baffled. 'I'm genuinely curious — where do you think you're going to get to?'

'Somewhere… where nobody swaps out my medicine.' Wen Ran looked straight at her.

Chen Shuhui's face went stiff. The mocking smile faded fast.

'You figured Gu Yunchi might not make it, so you planned to squeeze the last bit of value out of me — one more bargaining chip before everything went down in flames. After all, Grandpa Gu doesn't know this kid can't be carried to term.' Wen Ran said calmly. 'You just didn't expect Gu Yunchi to actually recover because of the Permanent Mark. That he could have kids with other omegas without needing a high match.'

His voice carried a trace of weariness. 'It's not just me who's become useless dregs. It's the whole Wen Family.'

'So what — you want me to let you go so you can go find Gu Yunchi yourself, right?' Chen Shuhui was half furious, half contemptuous. 'You should be thanking me. If you really were pregnant, playing pitiful in front of Gu Yunchi would've worked twice as well.'

'Then two months later, pretend to fall and accidentally miscarry the kid who was never going to make it anyway.' Wen Ran nodded. 'It has some viability. But I can't do that. You already have so much leverage over me — no need to worry I'll go find Gu Yunchi. Please ask Gu Chongze when he can let me go. I know it's been him giving every order.'

Chen Shuhui just looked at him coldly. Wen Ran said nothing more. He turned, climbed the stairs, walked barefoot back to his room.

That night he slept the longest and best he had in a long time. And he had a good dream.

In the dream there was a fire-red Wish Tree. Wen Ran sat in it, trying to find the prayer ribbon he'd written, but no matter how he looked he couldn't find it. He only turned up one that was blank — nothing written on it.

He plucked the red silk ribbon down, waved it at Gu Yunchi standing beneath the tree. 'This one's yours. Have you got a wish you want to write now?'

Gu Yunchi tilted his head up slightly, still saying, 'No need. I don't have a wish.'

'That's right. Your body's already healed.' Wen Ran laughed, genuinely happy — laughing until his eyes stung. He said, 'Then I don't have a wish either.'

He woke up smiling. Wen Ran wiped his eyes, sat up. Outside the window, only the jacarandas that had long finished blooming. And those few days at the Little Fishing Village felt like they belonged to a past life.

He sat there in a daze for a long time before getting up to wash. Then he went downstairs for lunch, and specifically asked Aunt Fang to eat with him.

'Ranran, why are you so happy today?' Aunt Fang put a piece of meat in his bowl. 'These past few days watching you not be able to eat — I was so worried.'

'I'm fine.' Wen Ran smiled. 'Thank you, Aunt Fang. You take care of yourself too.'

'Don't be so polite with me. Eat.'

After lunch, Wen Ran went back to his room and started packing. Though there wasn't much to pack — just the Computer in the Backpack, the Mobile Phone, and the model.

He folded the blanket neatly, cleaned the room. When sorting through his sketches and books he hesitated for a few seconds, then stuffed some into the Backpack anyway, and put the rest in a drawer.

Then he sat down by the bed, quietly watching out the window.

At four in the afternoon, Wen Ran shouldered the Backpack, tucked the Mobile Phone into the pocket of his black jacket, and carried the Ocean Escort Ship Model down the stairs.

Aunt Fang was still resting in her room. Wen Ran didn't disturb her. He closed the front door gently, walked straight to the Garden gate, where a white Private Car was parked.

Chen Shuhui was in the driver's seat. Wen Ran pulled open the passenger door and sat down, put the Backpack at his feet, the model on his lap, then buckled his seatbelt.

Neither of them spoke. The car started moving. Wen Ran looked back at the villa he'd lived in for over half a year. Strangely, he felt nothing — no sentiment, no emotion. Like turning a page in a book, no ripple at all.

The car pulled onto the main road. The sky was a bit overcast. It might rain by evening.

They entered the city, then left it. Over an hour later, when the wheels rolled onto the suburban road, Chen Shuhui's Mobile Phone started ringing. Wen Rui was calling. Chen Shuhui didn't answer, so he called four or five times in a row, and finally gave up.

A few seconds later, Wen Ran's Mobile Phone rang. He took it out — Wen Rui's name on the screen.

Wen Ran pressed answer and speaker. Wen Rui's shout made the whole phone tremble: 'Chen Shuhui, are you fucking insane?! How many people do you have to hurt before you're satisfied?!'

'Ge.' Wen Ran called him.

'Where are you right now? Tell me your location!'

'I'm leaving.'

'How could they possibly let you leave? Where are you?!'

'Ge.' Wen Ran called him again, but said nothing else. He hung up, switched the phone to silent, and put it back in his pocket.

The sky had grown heavy and dark. Wen Ran's fingertip rubbed the corner of the Model Box. He spoke suddenly: 'Did you ever regret it? The choice you made between Gu Chongze and Dad.'

Chen Shuhui slammed the brakes. Turned to look at him.

But Wen Ran just kept his head down, watching the model on his lap. 'You did have feelings for Dad, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have had me. Wouldn't have hated him for betraying you. Gu Chongze saw that too — that's why he wanted Dad gone. Not quietly, though. He told you Wen Ningyuan was having an affair, made you choose, turned it into your decision, your responsibility.'

It was too late now to ask how Wen Ran knew all this. Chen Shuhui pulled her gaze back, pressed the gas again, said coldly: 'Didn't he deserve to die?'

'That's how it works. Every time you feel regret, you tell yourself over and over — Wen Ningyuan deserved it. You did nothing wrong. Even if you had doubts, it was already done. No going back. You just kept brainwashing yourself, forcing yourself to admit it was right. That you didn't choose wrong.'

Wen Ran lifted his head slightly, his tone very calm. 'Dad loved reading. When he read, he'd sometimes jot a short diary entry in the margins. You probably never noticed. When he left, you hated him so much — of course you wouldn't carefully sort through or look at his things.'

'These past few days I went through every book in the study and the storage room. I found a passage he wrote — dated almost eighteen years ago.' Wen Ran recited it from memory. 'Ran into the Chief's couple and Qingwan at a dinner last night. Gave them a ride back to their room on the way. Only then learned Shuhui won another award. Blame myself for being too busy lately — forgot to check in. Qingwan shook my hand goodbye. She was, as always, so open and frank it was almost cold. But I felt glad. Because I'd held on too long — seeing her again, she just felt like a friend.'

Chen Shuhui's body went rigid. Then her shoulders and arms suddenly started trembling. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel tight.

'Am I really Wen Ningyuan's illegitimate child?' Wen Ran said it like he was asking himself. Or asking her.

No answer. Streetlights streaked past the car. Chen Shuhui's chest rose and fell sharply.

Half an hour later, the car stopped at a small Wharf. Wen Ran unbuckled his seatbelt, shouldered the Backpack, and stepped out carrying the model.

A few dim streetlights were on. Fishing boats were moored along the shore, rocking gently in the swell. Only at the very front were two speedboats — one bigger, one smaller. Three tall Alphas stood at the boarding point.

Wen Ran looked for a few seconds, then suddenly turned and put the model in the driver's seat. He took off the Backpack, pulled out the Computer, and put that on the seat too. 'Not bringing these. Inconvenient on the road.'

Chen Shuhui pressed one hand on the hood of the car, barely able to stand. Her breathing was quick.

With the Backpack back on, Wen Ran walked toward the boarding point. Halfway there, he heard Chen Shuhui call out, voice trembling: 'Wen Ran.'

Wen Ran turned back. In the blur he could see Chen Shuhui's hands hanging at her sides. She seemed to open her mouth — but in the end, no sound came out.

Eyes lowered, Wen Ran kept walking forward without looking back. He stepped onto the speedboat. One Alpha followed him on. The other two Alphas got on the smaller speedboat beside it.

The engine started. The speedboat turned, cut through white waves, and sped out toward the open sea.

Wen Ran curled up in the cabin with his knees to his chest, watching the lights of the Capital City grow distant. It reminded him of He Wei's Birthday Party — everyone on the yacht pulling away from shore. Almost the same scene.

These past five days, Wen Ran kept thinking. Summer camp. The Little Fishing Village. The few happy moments in his short life — when he counted them up, they were all connected to Gu Yunchi.

Then he thought — there'd never be any more. And that made him a little sad.

Forty minutes later, the speedboat suddenly slowed. Then the other boat pulled up close. An Alpha walked past Wen Ran, stepped on the gunwale, and jumped onto the smaller speedboat.

Only Wen Ran was left. The boat had been switched to autopilot, still moving forward. The three Alphas drove the smaller speedboat away at speed, keeping a distance — not too far, not too close.

Wen Ran glanced at them, turned back. His hand went into his pocket and found the Mobile Phone, warm. He took it out, puzzled — and suddenly saw dozens of missed calls from Gu Yunchi on the screen.

While he was still stunned, Gu Yunchi called again.

Wen Ran's breathing quickened. He looked out at the sea, dazed. Far, far away, the lights of a dozen rescue boats glimmered faintly. Above them, between the dark heavy clouds, a helicopter's navigation light blinked — like the only star.

His fingers trembling slightly, he swiped to answer. He put the phone to his ear — wind, the roar of the helicopter, and Gu Yunchi's heavy breathing.

'You know how to stop the boat.' Gu Yunchi's voice was terrifyingly hoarse. 'Stop it now.'

'You woke up.' Wen Ran stood slowly, walked out of the cabin, looked up at the helicopter, too far away. 'I heard your illness is cured. Is it true?'

He knew perfectly well — the moment he stopped the boat, the Alpha on it would put a bullet straight through his head. Gu Chongze's goal was to get rid of him before Gu Yunchi woke up. Whether he left or not, the only difference was where he died.

But it didn't matter. Once he was dead, all the pain could end. He could close his eyes in peace. That was a good thing.

Gu Yunchi gasped and coughed a few times. Said again: 'Stop the boat.'

But Wen Ran smiled and said, 'The Wish Tree must have come through. But I can't go repay the wish now. What a shame.'

Another shame — he couldn't take this semester's finals. Wen Ran had actually wanted to prove to Gu Yunchi he wasn't a pig by ranking in the grades.

'I gave you a choice.' Gu Yunchi caught his breath. Word by word. 'Didn't you choose me?'

The cold wind made his eyes sting. But Wen Ran kept looking stubbornly at that point of light. 'I'm sorry.'

He had so little. A pitiful bit of sincerity — in Gu Yunchi's eyes, probably dripping with calculation. Cheap and ugly.

He knew Gu Yunchi had countless reasons, countless ways to refuse him getting any closer. But Gu Yunchi did nothing. Just stood there, quietly watching him walk, step by step, to his side. Embracing him.

So he wanted so badly to be free. The one he'd been deceiving all along was the person who'd been best to him. Being crushed by the pain completely was only a matter of time.

The small speedboat began turning away in another direction. Wen Ran turned and looked at the thing in the cabin under the driver's seat, flashing a bright red countdown. He said to Gu Yunchi, 'Tell the rescue boats to stop. If they get any closer, when it explodes, they might get hurt.'

Gu Yunchi's voice on the phone was almost shaking: 'Wen Ran!'

Wen Ran was quiet for a moment. Said softly, 'That's not my name. And I never offended your parents. I'm sorry. I lied to you about a lot of things.'

In the vast sea, he stood on the deck, his hair and clothes blown wild by the cold wind, like a black chess piece, even more like Xiaohei, a small black bird about to fly away from the human world.

'Gu Yunchi, you're free. I'm happy for you.'

He could only say this much. Wen Ran's hand unconsciously found his lower belly. His life always seemed to fall a little short, miss by one step. Reuniting with his mother. Meeting Gu Yunchi. The feelings he never spoke.

Love, like biology class — something he'd never really touched, and didn't have time to learn.

Beep — the call ended. Wen Ran shouldered the Backpack, took one last look at the helicopter, and turned to go into the cabin.

Twenty-seven seconds later, the sea exploded with a tremendous blast. Blazing fire surged outward, swallowing every sound, churning up waves, cutting through rising smoke to light up the dark blue night sky.

The aftershocks spread like soundless, colorless tides, rippling outward through the wind, ring after ring.

When the explosion faded, the helicopter still circled forward. The rescue boats kept moving ahead. But the sea had returned to calm — swallowing the debris, sinking it to the bottom. Leaving a surface that looked as if nothing had happened. Clean.

The blue sea is the sky for fish. A child sleeps in the clouds, dreaming.

Seaweed is a soft pillow. Moonlight is a distant lamp.

Tears wiped away by the wind. Don't cry anymore.

Go home. Someone's waiting for you.

Plop. A drop of water fell from the sky into the sea. Then a soft patter spread across the surface. It had started to rain.