#63: Sunlight

Shen Yihuan was on the verge of tears from that familiar voice and the warmth of his “don’t be afraid.”

She had cried so much these past few days. She hadn’t shown much emotion on the long journey or when she had just seen Gu Minghui, but Lu Zhou’s words had completely broken her down.

She looked up abruptly and saw the person she had been longing for day and night.

After being shot, Lu Zhou had obviously been through more. He looked haggard, with a faint stubble on his chin, and his clothes and face were stained with dried blood.

Shen Yihuan had never seen him in this state.

Lu Zhou had just shot and wounded the two men behind them. As Shen Yihuan turned to look, Lu Zhou covered her eyes. The same couldn’t be said for Qiu Ruru.

Qiu Ruru turned her head and saw two men on the ground, with blood seeping from their legs.

She instinctively screamed and hugged Shen Yihuan tightly.

“...” Shen Yihuan felt like she had gone through a lot. She calmly patted Qiu Ruru’s back. “Don’t look over there.”

Lu Zhou glanced back.

He led Shen Yihuan and Qiu Ruru into the room, tied up the two fallen men outside, gave some instructions, and then left.

During their investigation of Gu Minghui, they had received information that his backer was not the Gu Corporation, but a foreign power.

Now that Gu Minghui had exposed himself, his backers would not let him off lightly.

Gu Minghui had reached a point where he was being attacked from both sides.

________________________________________

As Lu Zhou rushed out, he turned on his walkie-talkie and put the earpiece in his ear, connecting to He Min’s channel.

“He Min,” he said.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a choked-up voice. “Captain Lu!”

After he had been out of contact for so long, they couldn’t help but imagine the worst possible outcome.

“Report your location,” Lu Zhou said, clear and direct.

He Min reported his position, as well as the locations of the rest of the team. He then asked, “Captain Lu, where are you now?”

Lu Zhou narrowed his eyes.

“Above you, 19th floor.”

Fortunately, he hadn’t removed the tracking device he had placed in Shen Yihuan’s phone, which allowed him to stay on the same frequency as He Min’s team even after going rogue.

They quickly met up.

Lu Zhou only had one gun, and it was out of bullets. He Min gave him half of his. “What’s the plan now?”

Lu Zhou said, “Catch the leader to catch the whole gang.”

Gu Minghui wasn’t the leader.

The foreign power was.

________________________________________

Gu Minghui ran down the stairs, his feet moving quickly.

He had loved guns since he was a child, but it was a simple fascination back then. His house was filled with models. The first time he touched a real gun was in high school—a black market gun.

Later, after he went abroad for college, he met a young arms dealer by chance. They used code words, referring to guns as “dogs” and ammunition as “dog food.”

He went from a buyer to a seller, developing countless connections. His ambition and desire grew with each one.

The young arms dealer who first supplied him with guns, the one who now represented the foreign power, was likely here to kill him and silence the only person who knew the truth behind everything.

He ran to the tenth floor, but the floors below were already blocked.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the shadows and pulled him into a fire escape door.

He was stunned. He turned his head and saw Qiu Ruru.

“What are you doing here?!” Gu Minghui asked, frowning.

“Don’t go out there!” They were squeezed together behind a narrow hiding spot. Qiu Ruru held his arm tightly. “I just saw someone coming up. Foreigners.”

Gu Minghui was almost frantic. “I told you to hide with my people first!”

“Gu Minghui,” Qiu Ruru said, looking at him seriously. “When Lu Zhou is done with those people, you should turn yourself in.”

“Lu Zhou?”

“Yes, he’s here.”

Gu Minghui showed a sarcastic smile.

Qiu Ruru stood on her tiptoes, cupped his face with both hands, and looked straight into his eyes, as if trying to find the good-hearted troublemaker from high school.

Their families were close, so Qiu Ruru had known Gu Minghui for a long time, but the same wasn’t true for him. He had many friends and loved to have fun, so he probably didn’t even remember Qiu Ruru before high school.

He got to know her later because Qiu Ruru was good friends with Shen Yihuan, and so was he.

She was 16 years old. She had developed slowly and was short in her first year of high school, so she sat in the front row.

Halfway through a monthly exam, the teacher suddenly called her out, saying her parents had called and told her to go to the hospital immediately. Her grandfather was dying.

Qiu Ruru ran to the school gate without thinking about anything else.

She ran right into Gu Minghui. The boy had shot up in height. He looked down at her, and she was crying.

“Hey... what’s wrong?”

Qiu Ruru told him what had happened. Gu Minghui didn’t ask any questions. He just hopped on his bicycle and took her to the hospital.

Qiu Ruru made it just as the light for the operating room went off. Fortunately, her grandfather was saved.

When she came out of the hospital, she saw Gu Minghui dozing on a flowerbed.

She walked over and kicked the tip of his shoe. Gu Minghui’s head jolted forward. He looked up, his eyes half-closed from sleep.

His teenage voice was hoarse from puberty. He asked, “How’s your grandpa?”

Qiu Ruru didn’t know why, but all the emotions she had been holding back burst out at that question. She cried uncontrollably, her nose running.

Gu Minghui was taken aback. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to sit next to him. He reached out and touched the top of her head. His voice was indescribably gentle. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. From now on, I’ve got your back. I mean it.”

“My grandpa is fine,” Qiu Ruru finally said, sobbing. She also swatted away his hand. “Who wants you to have my back?” she said with a hint of disgust.

Gu Minghui leaned back on his hands, tilted his chin up, and looked at her with a bright smile. “Oh, okay. Then you can have my back, Qiu-jie.”

In school, Gu Minghui had a constant stream of girlfriends.

They were all tall with slim waists and long legs. Qiu Ruru and Shen Yihuan would often complain about him being a player.

Qiu Ruru wasn’t as carefree and outgoing as they were. She was a sensitive girl and could tell that Gu Minghui liked Shen Yihuan.

But Gu Minghui was exactly as they had described him.

He was a player.

He was good at handling his “white moonlight,” “cinnabar mole,” and all the other flings at the same time. His love life was booming.

Once, during a holiday, they were bored and went to a rental villa.

There was a huge sofa bed in the middle of the room. Shen Yihuan went out to call Lu Zhou, and Qiu Ruru lay on the bed with Gu Minghui.

Gu Minghui had just started smoking. He was filling the room with smoke, making it look like a fairyland. He had a new girlfriend, a beautiful and curvaceous schoolgirl, and he was lying on his back, sending her voice messages to tease her.

Qiu Ruru glanced at him. “You’re pathetic.”

“Hey, Qiu Ruru,” Gu Minghui said, putting out his cigarette and sitting up halfway. “You’re the only one without a boyfriend. I heard the sports committee guy in the next class likes you. I know him; he’s a good guy.”

“Better than you?” Qiu Ruru raised an eyebrow.

Gu Minghui laughed. “No way. Is anyone better than me?”

Qiu Ruru scoffed. “If he’s not even as good as you, he must be the worst of the worst.”

Gu Minghui threw a pillow at her. “Do you like anyone? I can help you get him.”

Qiu Ruru just lay there, turning her head to look at him. There was an unreadable emotion in her eyes as she gave a light smile.

She said honestly, “Yes, I do.”

“Who?” Gu Minghui was intrigued.

“I’m not going to pursue him,” Qiu Ruru said, looking away.

“Why not?” Gu Minghui asked, confused.

Qiu Ruru stared at the ceiling. The chandelier cast a strange, mottled light. She said, “Because I can’t be the one he makes a firm choice for.”

...

“Gu Minghui, don’t do anything wrong anymore,” Qiu Ruru said, her face just inches from his. For the first time, she broke the boundary of their friendship. “Turn yourself in. Start over.”

“You think turning myself in means I can start over?”

Qiu Ruru was direct. “But will not turning yourself in allow you to start over?”

Gu Minghui looked at her, his lips tight.

Qiu Ruru said, “I ran into your dad a few days ago. He’s gotten old. You should go back and see him. At the very least, you should let him have a chance to see you again.”

Gu Minghui scoffed. “My dad already acts like he doesn’t have a son.”

Qiu Ruru rested her forehead on his shoulder. She hugged him and could feel the gun at his waist pressing against her.

“...Gu Minghui.”

After a long time, Qiu Ruru finally said his name, her voice very soft.

“But I’m here.”

________________________________________

“Sniper in position!”

“Armed forces ready!”

“Target is going up the stairs, 18th floor, 19th floor. Prepare, three, two, one...”

Lu Zhou heard voices from all directions in his earpiece.

As the target opened the door and took his first step, Lu Zhou rolled over. A continuous stream of bullets almost tore through the entire 19th floor.

Lu Zhou fired two shots at the target, who was almost impossible to stop.

Lu Zhou’s constant retreat only made the opponent’s attacks more intense.

He reached the center of the room.

Suddenly, the glass on the 19th floor of the building shattered with a crash. No one had time to react, and no one expected that Lu Zhou wasn’t fighting alone.

A bullet, carried by the cold wind, traveled across dozens of feet from the building across the street and lodged itself in the forehead of the leading man.

Following that, police sirens blared, echoing through the sky.

Backup had arrived.

________________________________________

As soon as Lu Zhou left, Qiu Ruru ran out. Shen Yihuan quickly followed, but couldn’t see her.

She could only follow the sound of footsteps downstairs. Before she could find Qiu Ruru and Gu Minghui, she heard the sirens outside and saw flashing red and blue lights.

She looked out the window. Below, the military police were in formation, in their uniforms, with the police in their uniforms on the other side.

Her phone rang, and Lu Zhou’s voice came through.

“Where are you?” Lu Zhou asked.

At the same time, Qiu Ruru’s voice came from nearby. “Cherry.”

Next to her stood Gu Minghui. The sun was setting, casting a glow on the man’s face. He suddenly crouched down, burying his face deep in his hands.

His body was shaking violently. Although he tried his best to hold it in, Shen Yihuan and Qiu Ruru could still hear his suppressed sobs, which eventually turned into a sudden, mournful wail.

It was terrifying to hear.

Shen Yihuan paused and said into her phone, “Don’t come up. We’re coming down.”

Going up was for an arrest; going down was to surrender.

Lu Zhou paused for a moment and said, “Okay.”

Shen Yihuan walked down the stairs to Gu Minghui and sighed softly. “Let’s go, okay?”

The sun began to set.

Gu Minghui surrendered. He was handcuffed and walked toward the police car. He took one step forward, then stopped, and turned back to look at Qiu Ruru.

Qiu Ruru walked over and hugged him.

Gu Minghui whispered in her ear, “Don’t wait for me.”

Qiu Ruru laughed sarcastically, but tears fell from her eyes. She said directly, “When have I ever listened to you?”

She watched Gu Minghui get into the police car and be driven away.

Lu Zhou stood next to Shen Yihuan. Shen Yihuan asked, “What will happen to him?”

“If he cooperates fully, there’s a chance his death sentence will be waived.”

________________________________________

That was the first time Shen Yihuan learned that Qiu Ruru had always liked Gu Minghui. She later found out that Gu Minghui had once liked her, too.

She later asked Qiu Ruru, “When did you fall for Gu Minghui?”

“I don’t know,” Qiu Ruru said. “Don’t you also not know when you really fell in love with Lu Zhou?”

She really didn’t know.

She hadn’t taken their relationship seriously in school, but after they broke up, she never dated anyone else. It seemed as if he was the only one for her.

Shen Yihuan and Qiu Ruru were very similar.

They both wanted someone who would choose them without a trace of hesitation or error, not just out of convenience or settling.

That’s why Shen Yihuan could only be with Lu Zhou.

And that’s why Qiu Ruru never truly reached out to Gu Minghui.

“What about you now?” Shen Yihuan asked her.

Qiu Ruru raised an eyebrow and reached up with her fingers to catch the sunlight.

“I’ll pull him out of the abyss.”