Spring passed and winter came; time flew like a white horse passing a gap. On a visiting day in the early summer of ’97, Xiao Ma came to the prison to visit Xia Liu Yi, carrying large bags of snacks and cigarettes.
This present-day Chairman Xiao Ma, who usually started chattering at his Big Boss the moment his backside hit the seat, was acting awkward and fidgety today. He leaned against the table, shifting around for a long time before finally finding a proper position to sit.
“What is wrong with you?” Xia Liu Yi asked.
“Last night… I took, took a fall and hit my butt,” Xiao Ma said happily.
“You are this happy about hitting your butt?”
Xiao Ma propped himself against the table and stuck out his backside, whispering a secret to the Boss.
“Xiao Yu came to Hong Kong?” Xia Liu Yi asked.
“Hehehe!”
“Are you not afraid Xie Jia Hua will catch her?”
Xiao Ma just kept laughing, then leaned in to whisper another sentence to the Boss.
“An informant again?!”
“Boss, can you not say the secrets out loud, please?”
Xiao Ma, glowing with joy, shared his happiness with the Boss, his face radiating the “sour stench of love”. He then told the Boss some good news—Xie Ying Jie had died of stomach cancer in Shek Pik Prison the day before. He had been unable to eat for a month before passing away, and by the time of his death, he was reduced to skin and bones; the news of his death had even made the headlines.
“Damn, only four years? He got off easy,” Xia Liu Yi said with amusement. “He should have been allowed to live to a hundred before dying.”
He then listened to Xiao Ma tell stories about Dong Dong and Xiao Luo living in Australia, as well as gossip about Deputy Commissioner Xie Jia Hua—apparently, Xie Jia Hua had passed by the seaside recently and saw a three-hundred-pound man jumping into the sea to commit suicide. He jumped in to save him and was nearly dragged to the bottom of the ocean to die alongside him. Fortunately, they were scooped up by a passing fishing boat with a net. Xia Liu Yi laughed heartlessly.
He wiped the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes and asked Xiao Ma again, “What about him? How has he been lately?”
Xiao Ma’s wide-open mouth snapped shut. His face twisted in a difficult expression, hesitant to speak.
“What happened to him?” Xia Liu Yi asked sternly.
“He… he is engaged, cough, with that blonde foreigner girl he was dating last year.”
Xia Liu Yi appeared very calm. “That is good. When is the wedding?”
“The end of next month,” Xiao Ma said tentatively. “B-Boss, he asked me to come and ask you if he can see you on the first of next month? Nothing else, he just wants to wish you a Happy Birthday in person.”
Xia Liu Yi lowered his eyes. “No need. I appreciate the thought. Tell him I wish them happiness and that they grow old together.”
“Boss,” Xiao Ma pleaded, “the man is getting married. His own company is about to merge with some financial firm in America. They say the whole family will immigrate to America after the wedding, and they might not return to Hong Kong for eight or ten years. Just see him once; treat it as seeing an old friend.”
Xia Liu Yi was silent for a long time.
“I will consider it.”
……
In the middle of the night, Xia Liu Yi tossed and turned on the top bunk, making the iron frame bed creak loudly. Old Limping Sha, on the bottom bunk, lost his patience and kicked the bedboard. “Go the hell to sleep!”
The movement on the top bunk stopped. After a while, Xia Liu Yi’s muffled voice came from his pillow.
“He is coming to see me.”
“Then see him!”
“I do not dare. I am afraid I will not be able to help myself.”
“Then do not help yourself!”
“He is already getting married.”
“Strangle him then!”
“……”
It was like a chicken talking to a duck! Xia Liu Yi rolled himself into a caterpillar with his quilt and stopped talking.
Old Limping Sha was still indignant below. “I think you just need a good fucking! If I were him, I would pin you down in the visiting room and fuck you senseless; then you would be honest!”
“Fuck you!”
“Stuff your lungs!”
……
One month later.
He Chu San sat upright in the visiting room with his back straight. He heard the sound of the door lock opening across from him. He lifted his eyelids and watched Xia Liu Yi walk toward him.
Xia Liu Yi wore a thin, faded prison uniform, sporting a freshly shorn buzz cut. He sat down across the table, placing his clanking handcuffs on the surface.
He Chu San looked at his buzz cut and smiled slightly. Brother Liu Yi actually looked quite handsome with a buzz cut. “You have not changed at all.”
“I have tanned, I suppose,” Xia Liu Yi said.
“You were not fair-skinned to begin with.”
Xia Liu Yi choked on his words for a moment. “That is true.” He lifted his eyes to look at He Chu San briefly. “You have changed a lot.”
He Chu San wore a pair of expensive diamond-rimmed, gold-wire glasses and a tailored suit of superior fabric. His hair was meticulously cut, and his entire aura was solemn and majestic. His face showed the sharp edge of a leader and a superior; he was no longer that polite and reserved young man.
Xia Liu Yi caught sight of He Chu San’s left hand on the table; he was wearing a new diamond ring on his ring finger. Small diamonds were strung together in a dense circle. For a man, it seemed a bit flashy, but if it were an engagement ring, a woman would certainly like such a sparkling and beautiful style.
“How is she?”
“Very good. She is a mixed-race Chinese who grew up in San Francisco, very lively and cheerful. She loves romance and surprises and is always pestering me to go traveling.”
“Do you want to see her photo?” He Chu San said. He had already fished the photo out of his leather bag and pushed it directly in front of Xia Liu Yi. Xia Liu Yi’s heart, which was already aching intensely, was stabbed once again by the brilliant smiles of the two people in the photo. He saw the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl with a high nose bridge giggling as she kissed He Chu San on the corner of his mouth. He Chu San’s slightly curved eyes were full of laughter, the bright morning glow reflected in his gaze. Behind them, the blue sky met the sea in the distance, and seagulls soared freely in the air.
“Yes, very beautiful. You must treat her well.”
“Of course.” He Chu San took back the photo. “Her father is the CEO of a listed company in America, and he has invited me to develop my career there after the wedding. I am considering immigration. However, my parents and Xiao Xin Xin have decided to stay in Hong Kong, so I will still return every Lunar New Year. I can stop by to visit you then, right?”
Xia Liu Yi lowered his eyes. “You may.”
“Forgot to give you this.” He Chu San pulled out another birthday card and spread it open on the table. There were no hand-drawn sketches this time; instead, intricate paper cutouts merged into a 3D mousse cake. “I saw this while visiting the Aegean Sea with her last month. It looked quite delicate and beautiful, so I bought it for you.”
He looked into Xia Liu Yi’s eyes calmly and smiled. “I am doing very well now, just as you wished. I hope you remain healthy and safe here as well. Brother Liu Yi, Happy Liu Yi (June 1st).”
Xia Liu Yi dragged his handcuffs and slowly reached out to take the card, gently stroking the complex patterns on it. “Yes, thank you. I also wish you both health, happiness, and a perfect life.”
“Then I will be going now,” He Chu San said, zipping up his bag. “I have an appointment with her this afternoon to pick out a wedding dress.”
“Alright.”
He Chu San stood up, gave him one last nod and a smile, and turned toward the exit for friends and family. Xia Liu Yi looked down at the birthday cake and suddenly spoke. “A’San.”
He Chu San’s footsteps paused for a moment. He turned back with a normal expression. “What is it?”
“She is fake, isn’t she? This fiancée?”
He Chu San started laughing. “Why would you think that? I am not a child anymore; how could I treat marriage like a game?”
Xia Liu Yi looked him straight in the eye. “She is fake, right?”
He Chu San stopped smiling. He raised his hand to show the diamond ring, meeting his gaze, and spoke sincerely and seriously. “She is real.”
“Clang!”
Xia Liu Yi stood up, clutching the card, the sudden movement of the chair making a heavy noise. The prison guard standing outside the iron gate behind Xia Liu Yi peeked in alertly. Seeing nothing was wrong, he withdrew.
He Chu San looked at Xia Liu Yi, who had not spoken for a long time, and smiled again. “May I leave? I am in a hurry.”
Xia Liu Yi turned his back. He Chu San turned and rang the bell for the family exit, signaling the guard to open the door. Before the guard could approach, his eyes suddenly widened, and he shouted at He Chu San’s back, “What are you doing?!”
He Chu San turned around, but before his vision could clear, he was pinned against the wall by a lunging Xia Liu Yi! Xia Liu Yi gripped his jaw tightly and kissed his lips feverishly!
The two of them tore at each other in a tangle—it looked both like a kiss and a brawl. He Chu San responded fiercely, even beginning to bite Xia Liu Yi’s lips and tongue, swallowing his blood. Several guards rushed in from both sides and forced them apart.
“She is fake, right?!” Xia Liu Yi shouted as he struggled.
He Chu San’s mouth was covered in blood. He roared in a frenzy, “I hate you! Xia Liu Yi! I wish I could kill you! What bullshit inner peace! If you ever dare to refuse to see me again, I will chain you to my side with a dog chain the moment you get out! I will lock you up until you are eighty, until you are a hundred! Even when you die, you will be locked together with me!”
……
Old Limping Sha was holding a photo of his granddaughter, smoking a cigarette by the playground with a happy smile when he saw Xia Liu Yi walking back slowly from the direction of the visiting room. There was a bloody scratch on Xia Liu Yi’s forehead, his lips were swollen from being bitten, and his face was covered in tears. He wiped his face as he sat down beside him.
Old Limping Sha blew a puff of black smoke into his pathetic face. “Heh! Serves you right!”
Elio’s notes: This is the second to the last chapter of the main story line. We’re working on the last chapter before the side stories now. Hopefully we can get it done tonight.
Futile Devices Scans 
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