Devil’s Warmth

On a summer night in June, the atmosphere was so dry that it made people panic. The boy who confessed finally left with a red face.

Who in the First, Third, and Sixth High Schools didn’t know Pei Chuan right now?

No one would think about the relationship between Pei Chuan, the famous science student from the college entrance examinations, and Bei Yao. The boy left with a complicated look. But in the end, they had already graduated, there was no need to explain this gossip anymore.

While the wind gently swayed the trees on the street, Bei Yao’s eyes curved and her pupils were filled with stars.

She moved to stand in front of him and suddenly called, “Pei Chuan, Pei Chuan!”

He clenched his teeth, feeling ashamed and resentful of his uncontrollable feelings; his determination would always be shattered over and over again. Pei Chuan lowered his eyes, and said after a while, “That person just now isn’t good. He has no spirit; girls shouldn’t look for that kind of boy.”

He didn’t even dare to snatch her, what kind of spirit was that?

She couldn’t stop laughing. “En, yes.”

He was silent again.

After a long while, he asked again, “What if I wasn’t here?”

Bei Yao said, “I will tell him I have a boyfriend, ah.”

He clenched his fists. Silly girl.

While walking home together, Bei Yao asked him, “Pei Chuan, what major are you enrolled in?”

“Computer.” Pei Chuan looked at her. “What about you?”

Bei Yao said, “Not now, I’m not telling you. You have to wait till July to know.”

He lowered his eyes.

Bei Yao had actually enrolled in medicine; she had finally chosen to become a doctor.

She wasn’t as clever as Pei Chuan, and she wouldn’t be able to invent anything to contribute to the country in the future. But as a doctor, she could take care of this kind of sensitive and self-abasing man.

Just like that night when Pei Chuan had insisted on carrying her at B University, until today, she still didn’t know what kind of pain and injury prosthetics could give to someone who wore them.

No one loved him, so she would do anything to love him.

Bei Yao got on the bus to get home and waved at him. “Pei Chuan, see you at university in September!”

His knuckles turned white as he watched the young girl's back as she left.

While the bus slowly drove away, an ornament store on the street played a song from a distance.

The shopkeeper played Teresa Teng's "By the Water Side*" from the 1980s. The female’s voice sang languidly.

*t/n: The original title is 《在水一方》, you can search it up if you are interested.

“......I’m willing to swim against the current,

To nestle next to her.

I can’t avoid the danger in front of me,

And the road is far and long.”

Pei Chuan watched as the bus got farther and farther. Suddenly, he took a few steps forward. “Yaoyao!”

The summer nights were long and desolate.

As the wind blew on his black hair, she was getting farther and farther away from him.

He ran in the night with the song still ringing in his ears.

“I would like to go down the streams,

And search for her whereabouts.

But it was vaguely visible, as if,

She was in the center of the water.”

He forgot about his stumps, forgot that he was someone without legs, and ran after the bus. “Yaoyao!”

Could you look back at me one more time? A farewell can’t be so plain. He wanted to see more of her.

But the singing was getting farther away. Pei Chuan staggered and sat down in the middle of the road in the dim street lights.

The bus had long disappeared.

The summer night of 2009 marked the beginning in Bei Yao’s heart, but it was a quiet farewell in Pei Chuan’s.

~

In July, all universities would issue their acceptance notices. Bei Yao was ecstatic when she discovered her acceptance notice online. Meanwhile, Zhao Zhilan gasped, "Yaoyao, you chose to study medicine? Do you know how hard it is to study medicine? It's hard to be a doctor."

Bei Yao smiled and said, "I know, I like it."

"I heard that there is also an autopsy or something; you’re a girl, aren't you afraid?"

Bei Yao replied, “Mom, there are many female doctors in the world, no one is afraid.”

Zhao Zhilan was still worried. She was accepted into B University, she should choose business or something. Wouldn’t it be okay to just sit in an office in the future?

Bei Licai came over and said, “It’s fine if our daughter likes it. What do you worry about? Besides, both teachers and doctors are good professions.”

Bei Yao also nodded, “Yes, ah, the employment rate is very high, you’ll get employed by a hospital once you graduate.”

The husband and daughter were on the same side. What could Zhao Zhilan do? She thought that although her daughter would have to work a little harder in the future, she would have a job. It was her youngest son at home, who was eager to become an Olympic champion, that caused a headache.

At the same time, every city was paying attention to the university that the top scholars in liberal arts and science would choose.

The liberal arts champion in C City went to X University, and the science champion, Pei Chuan, went to B University.

The day Pei Chuan checked his admission notice, the sky started to rain.

The rains in summer were always sudden and long.

When police cars drove into the apartment building one after another, Pei Chuan closed the computer calmly.

The police broke down the door, and the leader of the team held his gun. He looked at the only teenager in the room, and asked, "Are you Pei Chuan?"

The two police officers in the back row looked at each other. The young boy in the middle of the room didn’t look very big, nor did he look like the creator of the turmoil last year.

To think that at such a young age, he could already create something like that.

Pei Chuan stood up and held out his hands.

When the handcuffs were put on him, everyone in the room was silent.

They had arrested criminals for so many years, but it was the first time they had seen people like Pei Chuan, who sent them all the evidence. This included thirteen dens from Singapore to China, the number of people involved, their criminal histories, and family background; there were 56 people in total.

He had sent all the information about the cases that the police hadn’t been able to solve for many years.

The police cleanly arrested a group of people just based on the information he had provided.

There were many crimes with sufficient evidence, and each of them was a capital offense.

That night, all the policemen looked at the information with trembling hands.

And this young man was their accomplice, or a dangerous producer.

He had betrayed everyone and turned himself in.

As the officers pushed him forward, Pei Chuan asked, “Officer Cui, has everyone been arrested?”

Officer Cui held complicated feelings towards Pei Chuan, and said, “All caught.”

“That’s good,” he said with a low voice. “No one can stay.”

No one in the room spoke.

It was raining in July and the sounds of police sirens made everyone in the apartments poke their heads out.

Pei Chuan stood in the rain, looking in the direction of the old neighborhood. After a long time, he got into the car.

No one could hurt her, including himself.

~

The biggest news in July was the arrest of the top science student in C City for the suspicion of a crime.

B University finally withdrew the letter of acceptance that had been sent to Pei Chuan.

The name "Pei Chuan" had been in the news three times. The first time was the drug case in 1996, the second time was about the top student in science, and the third time was due to the crime, which was being reported all throughout the media.

He was like a bunch of fireworks. A moment of brilliance followed by a lifetime of silence.

Sociologists had published articles analyzing Pei Chuan's growth, which was a wake-up call for later generations.

Even a genius could go slant and become a lunatic.

The trial of Pei Chuan's case was scheduled for the coming January.

The case was too complicated, and the number of people involved was too many, so it took a lot of time to sort out.

When Bei Yao saw this on TV, her mind buzzed. She then turned around and ran for the door.

At that time, Zhao Zhilan was also stunned, her eyes widening. She couldn’t believe that a little citizen, who had been so diligent all his life, would grow up to become a criminal one day.

Bei Licai frowned. “Yaoyao! Where are you going!”

“Dad, this can’t be true. I’ll ask Pei Chuan to make it clear!”

Bei Licai held her daughter’s arm and said, “No! Where are you going to find him? Look at these words on TV, focus on the crime! Wake up!”

Zhao Zhilan also returned to her senses and didn’t let her daughter out.

Bei Yao cried, “He promised me that we’d go to university together and watch the snow together. He promised me…”

Zhao Zhilan was shocked. “You and him…”

“Mom, I beg you, let me see him.”

Zhao Zhilan’s heart was in a mess. This was the first time she had seen her daughter cry so hard. However, this wasn’t an ordinary concession problem. It no longer involved an ordinary teenager, but a criminal.

Zhao Zhilan said, “No, he’s a criminal now! Yaoyao, you’re about to go to university, so you can’t get involved with him anymore.”

Bei Yao shook her head, dried her tears, and calmed down. “I want to see him, Mom. If I can’t see him today, I’ll see him tomorrow. If I can’t see him tomorrow, I’ll see him next month. If that doesn’t work, I’ll see him next year. You can’t stop me for the rest of my life. Since childhood, I’ve been dumb and have only had a one-track mind. If he’s a good person, then the one I like is a good person, if he is a bastard, then the one I like is a criminal. If I don’t see him, I’ll never get out for the rest of my life.”

The rain outside the window had been coming down for several days. At this moment, there were several small puddles on the road.

Zhao Zhilan felt cold for a minute.

However, she was deeply shocked.

For the first time, Zhao Zhilan realized that her daughter had grown up. Yaoyao said, "If Pei Chuan is a good person, then I like a good person. If he’s a bad person, then I simply like a criminal.”

As long as Pei Chuan was still Pei Chuan, she’d have to see him again in her life.

Zhao Zhilan’s eyes filled with grief; she felt furious and bitter. Finally, she opened up her umbrella. “I’ll take you there.

The mother and daughter went to the police station.

The police glanced at Bei Yao. "He isn’t with us. Such suspects will be transferred. We don't know exactly where they are. Little girl, go home with your mother."

Bei Yao said, "You’re lying to me!"

The police frowned.

Zhao Zhilan said, “Yaoyao! How can you speak like that?”

Bei Yao pushed her mother away. “He asked you to say that, right?”

The policeman's face was cold. "If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. I'm just a small police officer, I don't have that much authority to help you investigate others."

The young girl didn’t want to leave and stayed outside the police station all night.

Thunder and rain accompanied the freezing night. A policewoman who couldn’t bear seeing her like this opened her mouth a few times, but her male colleague shook his head at her. It was still unknown how many years that boy would be sentenced. It was better to not make the girl wait. Moreover, the boy had been transferred. A small city like theirs dared not try to take on such a big case.

The policewoman gritted her teeth and closed her mouth.

Zhao Zhilan said, “Yaoyao, let’s go home. You haven’t eaten anything. Your mom is distressed.”

Bei Yao’s teeth trembled, but she shook her head.

Her mom would feel distressed, and he would feel distressed too. When he felt distressed, he would eventually see her.

Zhao Zhilan's eyes were red. She took the blanket and hugged her daughter. "Yaoyao, Yaoyao, listen to your mother, you’re still young, and one day you’ll forget these things. Let's go home, go home, okay?"

By daybreak, he still didn’t see her. Only then did Bei Yao realize that he really didn’t want her anymore.

She thought that after she had passed her youth, she would be able to accompany him for a lifetime. Pei Chuan's life had been too hard; she wanted to give him a warm home. But in the end, this bastard had still left her behind.

After dawn, Bei Yao took out the small yellow talisman from her collar.

She opened it quietly and took out the thing inside.

At that time, the sun rose and the police were all there.

Bei Yao sat on the stairs, the sun shining in her hands, and the lights passing through the stone in her palm—shining brightly.

Everyone was watching.

Bei Yao’s tears flowed down.

In her palm was a diamond, a round diamond that had been cut countless times, in the size of a pearl.

In 2009, it was worth seven or eight luxurious houses.

It was the last thing Pei Chuan had left for her.

Diamonds would be used to be inlaid in a wedding ring, but Pei Chuan knew he couldn’t afford the ring, so he endured the pain and ground it into the shape of a pearl.

Pei Chuan hadn’t lied to her. He had really worked hard to get into B University.

She also remembered when she had given him that straw ring that afternoon. She had smiled at him and said, “I’m very greedy. I’m giving you this now, but in a few years, you need to give me a real one. Alright?”

At that time, what had he said again? He had gently said ‘okay’.

She looked at the diamond in her palm and wept.

"Mom, let’s go home."