Chapter 542: Chapter 533: I Liked You Since I Was 18
[Thirty minutes ago, Jiang Yu brushed past you here]
On the street by the south gate of the stadium, Su Qing jogged along, observing every passerby, especially approaching young men to inquire.
The reason for asking young men was because Jiang Yu herself was very beautiful, and with makeup, she stood out in the crowd. However, the results were disappointing.
Everyone he asked just shook their heads. After all, not everyone has a detectiveās insight, leaving him somewhat anxious.
But just then, a voiceover cue in his mind surprised him greatly.
"Thirty minutes," Su Qing muttered to himself, then opened the map on his phone. As long as she didnāt take a taxi, she shouldnāt have gone too far in thirty minutes.
He then sent a voice message in the temporary WeChat group of the three.
"Stop searching, come over to my side quickly. Someone here said they saw her half an hour ago!"
The message was sent, and he immediately received replies from the two.
Li Zijun: "Got it! On my way!"
Du Qiang: "Really? Thatās great, Iām coming over right now!"
Hearing this, Su Qing thought for a moment and said, "You two advance towards me along both sides; letās meet under the sculpture in the middle of Fengyang Avenue square, and hurry!"
"Okay!"
"Understood!"
Besides him, both were police officers, and their execution was unquestionable. Even though Du Qiang was already losing his composure at this point, he still responded promptly to the command without wasting a word.
Because they both understood that saying more on the phone now didnāt help as much as discussing face-to-face at the scene.
Soon, two young men headed towards him from different directions from the other two exits of the stadium.
And Su Qing himself wasnāt idle either. Since he found a clue, he continued searching the nearby areas. With the voiceover guiding him, he could easily deduce Jiang Yuās movement route.
[Twenty-nine minutes ago, Jiang Yu passed by!]
[Twenty-seven minutes ago, Jiang Yu stopped here!]
[Twenty-five minutes ago, Jiang Yu stopped by this kiosk to buy something]
Thanks to the voiceover cues, he slowly pieced together her path, though it wasnāt real-time, meaning she was still on the move.
It seemed like there was progress, but it wasnāt fast enough.
Time passed quickly, and another half hour had gone by. It was now completely dark, with streetlights illuminating both sides of the street, and shop signs flashing with colorful lights, keeping the entire street from being dim.
Because the New Year was approaching, the trees were adorned with festive lights, already giving a sense of the upcoming celebration.
"How is it? Any news?"
"No, how about you?"
"None here either!"
At the sculpture in the middle of Fengyang Avenue, the three finally gathered, but still, there was no sight of Jiang Yu.
It was almost nine at night by now, and although there were many passersby, the three of them were freezing.
"What should we do, Ah Qing, think of something!" Du Qiang reached out and grabbed his clothes hopefully.
Even Li Zijun was looking at him, waiting for his next plan, but the truth was he had no plan at all. He was just following the voiceover here.
"Whew~~"
He blew hot air onto his frozen red hands, took out his phone, opened the map, and his mind raced, wondering where Jiang Yu might have gone.
āCome on, give me a hint, just one hint!ā
Su Qing was desperately calling out for his internal guide, but with too few clues right now, even the voiceover couldnāt provide any hint. This was also because he had only met Jiang Yu once, whereas with someone like Li Zijun or Shen Yi, who had a significant impact on him, the voiceover might have provided a clue.
As he grew increasingly anxious, Du Qiangās phone suddenly rang.
"Itās her, itās her call!" Du Qiang shouted in excitement and joy.
"Answer it, quickly!"
"Letās keep it down," Su Qing whispered to Li Zijun, pulling him slightly.
Hearing this, Du Qiang hurriedly pressed the answer button, "Hello, Jiang Yu, where are you? Iāve been looking for you for days. Why did you take so long to call me back? Are you okay?"
As soon as the call connected, Du Qiang unleashed all his pent-up emotions from the past few years, his words full of worry.
After he finished speaking, Jiang Yuās voice came through the phone, soft and giving a very relaxed feeling.
"Sorry to make you worry. But... you donāt need to look for me anymore. Iām leaving. I didnāt intend to make this call initially, but I couldnāt let go. I thought, since Iām leaving, I might as well say goodbye. Consider it my last bit of willfulness; I hope Iām not bothering you."
Even at this point, she still didnāt want to affect others.
As Jiang Yu spoke, the sound of wind whistling through came from Du Qiangās phone, and in an instant, the voiceover in Su Qingās mind chimed four simple words:
[Southwestern direction]
Su Qing abruptly looked up, orienting himself, grabbed both of them by the hand, and started running.
Although the hint was just those four words, he knew that once he started moving, the voiceover would definitely provide more guidance.
The two were stunned but had no time to think and could only follow him, while Du Qiang continued the call.
"No, no, not at all. Where are you going?"
"Where? I havenāt decided yet, but I miss home. I think Iāll go back there." Jiang Yuās voice came again.
At this moment, Du Qiang might not have noticed anything, but Li Zijun sensed something wrong in the other partyās tone. He quickly looked at Su Qing, and the two exchanged a glance. Su Qing didnāt speak, just picked up the pace.
Seeing this, Li Zijun easily kept up, and for Du Qiang, it was even less of a problem as the physical stamina of the two police officers far exceeded that of a young man who never exercises.
"Tell me where you are now, Iāll come find you, we can discuss anything in person, alright?" Du Qiang continued to persuade.
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On the other end, Jiang Yu, dressed in an old cotton coat, was walking down the street. She looked at the lights on the trees along the road, a slight smile emerging. Hearing this voice, she felt very at ease and then softly said, "Du Qiang, how should someone like me say goodbye to someone I like? Actually, I knew from the start that it wouldnāt work, but I just wanted to see how far we could go. Am I being too greedy?"
"What nonsense, as long as you want, itās always possible. I want to see you now, we can talk about anything face to face. Send me your location, I promise Iāll be there soon," Du Qiang shouted excitedly into the phone, breathing heavily.
Listening to the voice on the phone, Jiang Yu didnāt respond; instead, she spoke to herself, "Youāve always wanted to be a policeman, I knew this since school. Now youāve achieved your dream, which is great. This way, youāre happy from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. Then, you find someone you love, and youāll be happy from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Iām so envious of you."
"Thatās not true, I..."
Before Du Qiang could finish, Jiang Yu interrupted him, "Let me speak first, okay, just this once."
"Alright, alright, you speak, Iām listening."
"Du Qiang..."
"Iām here!"
"I like you!"
"I also..."
"Donāt speak, let me finish. I like you, not because I want you to do anything for me, just to tell you Iāve always liked you, always have. Therefore, I hope in the future, whatever you encounter, never feel inferior. Be optimistic, and if you meet someone you like, be brave. Donāt be like you were in high school and keep silent. A good girl is worth pursuing.
Remember, when you were eighteen or even younger, there was a girl who liked you. As for when youāre 25, whose husband youāll be, or 30, whose father, I hope you find happiness. And Iāll just stay in your eighteen-year-old memories, where I wonāt age, gain weight, or experience the filth of the world, forever young, beautiful, and pure.
I hope you wonāt forget me, but also wish you would. On second thought, just remember me at eighteen."
"Thank you for coming into my life and warming me!"
As Jiang Yu finished speaking, a brilliant firework suddenly blossomed overhead, expansive, bright, and beautiful.
[South City Bridge]
At that moment, the narratorās prompt arrived. Su Qing immediately stopped in his tracks, snatched the phone from Du Qiangās hand, turned off the microphone, and shouted at him, "South City Bridge, hurry!"
"Huh?"
"Damn it, move, quickly!" Su Qing almost screamed this as he had run out of breath.
Being a homebody who doesnāt exercise, how could he compete physically with two police officers?
Du Qiang, kicked by Su Qing, suddenly realized and sprinted wildly towards the South City Bridge now visible in the distance.
Su Qing, meanwhile, nearly collapsed from exhaustion, but luckily Li Zijun, quick to react, caught him.
But Su Qing couldnāt care less, he unlocked the microphone and, while panting heavily, began to speak, "Huff... huff... itās me, Su Qing, the one not in police uniform that day."
"Oh, itās you, I remember, thank you..."
"Listen to me, please, donāt do anything foolish, really. I want to tell you, why canāt Du Qiangās 25-year-old wife or the people around him at 30 be you?"
This was the only plan he could think of, using his narration to stall Jiang Yu here, waiting for Du Qiang to catch up and pull her back.
Du Qiang is the most clumsy; if left to him, the worst might happen, and he couldnāt keep up with Du Qiangās pace any other way.
"Me? Iāve thought about it too."
At this moment, Jiang Yu had already stepped onto South City Bridge.
"Then give Du Qiang a chance; you donāt know how worried heās been about you these past few days, and I can see he likes you, a lot. Wouldnāt you want to start over, no matter what happened before?
Except for illness, the pain you feel is caused by your perspective, not actually existing. Donāt let tears make you think the world isnāt worth it. Donāt you want to see it with Du Qiang?"
Walking on Jiangcheng Bridge, Jiang Yu smiled at these words: "I do, why wouldnāt I? But me, Iām too dirty, AIDS... I donāt want to tarnish the one I love."
"Is it you below? I can see you all!"
Leaning on the bridgeās railing, Jiang Yu saw Du Qiang sprinting up from the bank and caught sight of Su Qing and the others further away.
[Jiang Yu had already decidedāshe came pure, and though she couldnāt leave pure, she wouldnāt suffer in this world anymore.]
Upon hearing this, words gathered on Su Qiangās lips, but he couldnāt utter a single one. The narratorās message was clear; thereās no changing this outcome unless he could fly over to stop her, which he couldnāt.
"Sometimes, alone late at night, I review myself, wondering where I went wrong to end up like this. Now I realize I shouldnāt have come into this world.
Tell Du Qiang, donāt be sad. Meeting doesnāt guarantee an ending, but itās destined by fate. Iāve never regretted liking him."
As she spoke, fireworks started going off on the bridge, one after another, beautifully captivating, everyone instinctively looked up.
"You... are you really going to do this? Du Qiang, he..." Su Qing asked in a low voice, an indescribable sense of powerlessness in his tone.
"Love doesnāt have to last a lifetime, just experiencing it is enough. Feelings donāt need to be deep, as long as theyāre sincere."
"The fireworks are too loud; let him bring a bouquet to see me someday."
"Alright... I understand," Su Qing replied hoarsely.
Upon hearing this, Li Zijun, anxious beyond measure, snatched the phone from his hand, "You..."
But as soon as she spoke, Su Qing grasped her arm tightly.
The next second, only Jiang Yuās voice came from the phone, with a slightly wistful tone, "The fireworks... are quite beautiful!"
Then, a silhouette leaped from the bridge.
At that moment, the white dove no longer perched on the cathedral, and the bird was no longer caged, moving towards the light, embracing its longing.
...