TL: Hua
Extra 21: Childhood Sweethearts If Line 1
It was deep autumn, and the dew was heavy, the leaves withered and yellow. The peaceful Dalin Mountain suddenly echoed with gunshots, and the foot of the mountain was chaotic, with police cars and ambulances blaring continuously.
A well-dressed young couple stepped out of a car. The wife’s steps were unsteady, her face anxious, while the husband also looked worried but steadily supported his wife. Soon, a dirty, unconscious child was carried over by a police officer. The child’s face was covered in mud and grass, but his exposed skin was exceptionally delicate, his features exquisite.
The wife quickly rushed forward, hugging the child along with the police officer’s arm, tears welling in her eyes as she cried out heartbrokenly, “Nannnan, Nannnan, wake up.”
The husband looked pained, supporting his wife, also wanting to reach out but having no space. He could only ask the police officer, “Comrade police, my son, he…”
The police officer quickly reassured them, “The child is fine. When we found him, he was being carried down the mountain by another child about his age, not at the traffickers’ hideout. But he might be too hungry and has fainted. He also has a slight fever.”
The young couple’s hearts tightened further. They didn’t have time to ask who the child who saved their son was, so they quickly called out, “Doctor, doctor, hurry, please examine Nannan.” They knew their child had been sickly since birth, and an illness like this could be dangerous. Their expressions showed no hint of relief.
The doctor had just gotten out of the ambulance and rushed over. The foot of the mountain became even more chaotic, and there were more people.
A five-year-old boy wearing a white shirt, worn and frayed at the edges, was squeezed to the side. His dirty fingers tightly clutched his blue overalls as he nervously watched the beautiful child being carried away. After a moment, he pursed his lips and sadly lowered his head.
Yesterday, he was digging for wild vegetables at the foot of the mountain, but with little success, he boldly ventured further up the mountain. By the time he did, night had fallen. He couldn’t get down the mountain in time, but because of this, he stumbled upon two human traffickers hiding a beautiful child in a dilapidated wooden hut on the mountain. He hid until late at night, and when the two traffickers were away, he secretly carried the child out.
As they descended the mountain, the child woke up for a moment, calling him “Brother” in a soft, sweet voice, and even gave him a jade pendant. But the child quickly fell unconscious again due to a fever. He wasn’t very old himself, carrying a child not much younger than him, exhausted and panting, unable to walk fast, even though that child was actually very thin and weak.
The soft, small body on his back was scalding hot. He knew he couldn’t delay any longer. After much hesitation, he decided to hide the child in a safe place and quickly run down the mountain himself so he could find adults faster to rescue the child.
Because his mother never looked after him, even though he was only five, he often came to the foot of the mountain to dig for wild vegetables and was very familiar with this mountain forest.
He hid the child in his usual safe lair—a hidden tree hollow. In the past, whenever Zhang Yun wanted to hit him, he’d run out and hide in this tree hollow, and she’d never find him.
Oh, Zhang Yun was his mother, a woman who wasn’t often home.
But after he hid the child in the tree hollow and had just turned to walk two steps, a sudden inexplicable panic washed over him, as if this departure would mean losing something.
At only five years old, he didn’t understand this feeling. He just thought he was worried about the beautiful child, who looked like a doll, afraid something would happen if he left the other person alone in the tree hollow.
He hesitated, then gritted his teeth and turned back, pulling the child out and continuing to carry him down the mountain.
But he was too small, and his steps were shaky, even nearly falling midway. Fortunately, the police soon found them, took the child from his back, and carried him down the mountain as well.
Watching the beautiful child being put into an ambulance by his parents, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a slight sense of loss.
It should… be over now, right?
Those parents looked very respectable, or “rich people,” in Zhang Yun’s words; they weren’t from his world.
He probably… wouldn’t see that beautiful child again.
Thinking that he wouldn’t hear the little rice ball call him “Brother” in his soft, sticky voice anymore, he lowered his head in disappointment and then froze when he saw the jade pendant on his neck.
No, this jade pendant must not be cheap; he had to return it. Even though the little rice ball said he could have it, the other person was just a child after all.
He quickly looked up, grabbed the hem of a police officer’s uniform nearby, and mumbled, “Sister…”
Just as he spoke, the respectable rich man suddenly got out of the ambulance again, walked quickly to him, half-knelt, looked at him gratefully, and said gently, “Hello, little friend, you saved my son, didn’t you?”
He was stunned and didn’t speak for a moment.
The uncle in front of him became even gentler, saying softly, “My name is Ye Boxuan. I’m the father of the little friend you saved. What’s your name?”
He pursed his lips and said softly, “My name is Zhang Yan.”
The female police officer next to him suddenly recognized him and exclaimed, “Xiao Yan? You’re Xiao Yan?”
He instinctively looked up, staring blankly at the police officer, his large, dark eyes filled with confusion.
The female police officer seemed to want to say something more but then suddenly stopped, as if she’d thought of something.
She remembered this child; last year, when she was still working in the household registration department, his mother brought him to register for a permanent household residence.
He was already over four years old and only just getting permanent residence, which showed how irresponsible his mother was.
This wasn’t the policewoman’s malicious speculation; at the time, when she asked what the child to be registered was called, his mother actually said, “I haven’t named him yet; I’ve always called him ‘debt collector ghost.’ He looks annoying. Sigh, why not just call him Zhang Yan[mfn] Not the Yan 焰 (flame) in his usual name but 厌 yàn (to loathe or disgust with sth)[/mfn]?”
The policewoman choked, feeling that this mother was truly outrageous. Later, she heard that she had given birth out of wedlock and sighed deeply, thinking she was also a pitiful person.
However, giving a child the character “Yan,” meaning “disgust,” was truly inappropriate.
The policewoman couldn’t help but suggest, “How about ‘Yan’ meaning ‘flame’ instead?”
The four-year-old child didn’t understand anything, just held his mother’s hand and stared with wide, dark eyes.
His mother, disgusted, shook his hand away and told the policewoman carelessly, “Whatever.”
And so, his name was decided.
Recalling this event, the policewoman sighed, patted Zhang Yan’s head, and said to Ye Boxuan, “His name is Zhang Yan, and he lives near the foot of the mountain. His mother… isn’t very responsible.”
Her words implied that if Mr. Ye wanted to express gratitude, it would be better to thank the child directly, and definitely not his mother.
Ye Boxuan was a smart man and immediately understood the implication.
He held Zhang Yan’s hand and said, “Little friend, Uncle is very grateful that you saved Nannan, you…”
Before he could finish, Zhang Yan hastily pulled his hand back, his expression abashed.
His fingers were very dirty, black with mud from digging wild vegetables under his fingernails, while the uncle’s hand in front of him was clean and warm. He was afraid of dirtying the other person.
Coming back to his senses, he suddenly remembered the jade pendant on his neck again and hastily took it off, offering it and saying, “Here.”
Seeing this, Ye Boxuan was stunned.
Zhang Yan thought he didn’t recognize the jade pendant and added, “It’s Lanlan’s.”
Ye Boxuan didn’t initially understand who “Lanlan” was, but he immediately recognized the jade pendant as his son’s. He quickly realized that this child confused “n” and “l,” calling Nannan “Lanlan,” and the jade pendant was probably given to him by his own son.
Ye Boxuan couldn’t help but smile, but remembering his son still in the ambulance, he couldn’t delay any longer. He simply picked up Zhang Yan and said, “Nannan gave it to you, so you keep it for now. Will you come with Uncle first, is that okay? When Nannan wakes up, he might want to see you too.”
His thought was that he didn’t know how to thank the child at the moment, so he might as well bring him along. Once his own child was confirmed to be fine, he could then properly think of a way to show his gratitude.
Besides, this child had run all the way down the mountain and had several scratches, so he also needed to see a doctor.
However, he was a stranger to the child, and he was afraid the child wouldn’t trust him, so he added, “Don’t worry, the policewoman will be with us, and the police also have some questions to ask you.”
Zhang Yan hesitated, then nodded gently.
He didn’t expect that this decision would dramatically change his life, or rather, set it back on track.
*
In the hospital, patients and nurses came and went, and the smell of disinfectant hung in the air.
Zhang Yan was taken for a physical examination, and his wounds were bandaged.
After confirming her own child was fine, Lin Xue also rushed to see him.
She had already spoken to the child who saved her son in the ambulance and felt exceptionally grateful and fond of him. Now that everything was settled, she took him to get cleaned up and put on a new, clean set of clothes she had just bought.
However, after the child was cleaned, his beautiful features and somewhat deep-set eyes were revealed, looking strangely familiar.
Lin Xue exclaimed in admiration, “Xiao Yan is a little handsome boy after all!”
At the same time, she wondered inwardly if she had seen this child somewhere before. Why did he look familiar? Had she perhaps met the child’s mother?
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