Futile Devices Scans

When the car slowly drove into a residential district, Old Master Jin asked Zhou Ruo An, “Why are we here?”

Zhou Ruo An remained silent, acting thoroughly mysterious.

The sound of the engine gradually died away. A moment later, the car came to a steady stop by the roadside. Through the car window, what stood across the road was a residential building faded to a grayish white.

When that figure in a dark-blue thin cotton jacket appeared at the entrance of the stairwell, Jin Hui’s hand gripping his cane trembled violently.

The elderly woman with silver hair coiled into a round bun walked along the paved path and stood by the roadside. Her hand, blue veins coiled over it, rested against her brow as she gazed toward the end of the road.

On the other side of the street, inside the car covered with privacy film, Zhou Ruo An finally spoke and asked Old Master Jin, “She’s your first love, isn’t she?”

“Xiao Yue…” Jin Hui’s Adam’s apple moved beneath the loose skin of his throat. He was almost pressed against the privacy glass, his palm covered in age spots touching the cold car window.

Looking at the old man’s profile, Zhou Ruo An hesitated before saying, “I don’t know whether I should ask this, so just take it as me not knowing my manners. Back then… why did you break up?”

The privacy film on the glass filtered the elderly woman’s figure into the sepia tone of an old photograph. She was still gazing toward the end of the road, and because the weather was cold, she pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

“I was poor at the time, and her family wanted to exchange her for a bride price.” The aged voice seemed squeezed out from the depths of memory. “When we privately pledged ourselves to each other, she was already pregnant. On the night we eloped, her family chased after us, and she fell onto a rocky shoal…”

The cane ground a deep mark into the carpet. “After that, she could no longer bear children. Her family forcibly married her to a widower who could afford the bride price and already had a child.”

Zhou Ruo An heard a sigh like withered leaves. “And so we missed each other for an entire lifetime.”

Zhou Ruo An was silent for a while, then asked in a low voice, “Later, when you had money, did you never think of taking her back?”

The old man looked at that already stooped figure outside the window, his gaze carrying a trace of melancholy. “I looked for her, but she refused. She said her man treated her quite well, and that child depended on her too. She couldn’t abandon them and leave just like that.”

“Later, she moved away with her husband. Since then… for more than fifty years, we never saw each other again.”

“So you never married for the rest of your life?”

“At first, I made money out of spite. Later…” The old man sighed softly. “Later, I did meet some ladies, but whenever I thought that she would never have children of her own in this life, why should I, the one most responsible, have a house full of children and grandchildren?”

Before his words had fallen, the honk of a school bus suddenly came from the end of the road. Across the street, the elderly woman’s stooped body leaned slightly forward, and she waved at the school bus slowly approaching.

Before the school bus had even fully stopped, the corners of her mouth had already lifted into a smile. On that weathered face, when she smiled, even the wrinkles turned into lovely lines.

A young boy hopped off the bus and threw himself into her arms, calling out crisply, “Grandma.”

The elderly woman’s smile grew even brighter. She reached out and patted the boy’s shoulder, and the two turned around, walking side by side toward the residential building.

Sitting in the car, Zhou Ruo An followed the backs of the grandmother and grandson with his gaze and said softly, “That’s her stepson’s child. She raised him herself. Last year, their family moved back here so this child could receive a better education.”

The weather forecast had predicted snow, and the sky had been gloomy all day. Yet it had brewed from morning until evening, and only now did grains of snow begin to fall in a rustling flurry.

Looking at that back about to leave, Zhou Ruo An suddenly pushed open the car door. He quickly rounded the car, pulled open the front passenger door, and dragged Jin Hui into the flying snow.

“What are you doing?” Jin Hui asked, leaning on his cane.

Zhou Ruo An did not answer. He only cupped both hands around his mouth. “Grandma!”

The clear voice caused the elderly woman and the young boy to turn back at the same time.

Jin Hui suddenly grabbed the car door handle, the dark greenish-brown age spots on the back of his hand trembling faintly.

Dusk gathered on all sides, and two stooped figures dragged out long parallel lines over the snow-covered ground. The elderly woman’s cloudy gaze passed through the fluttering snowflakes, as if piercing through half a lifetime, and once again fell upon Jin Hui.

The fresh snow fell with a soft rustle, silently piling upon their graying hair. Only when the falling snow had covered half her body did the elderly woman slowly withdraw her gaze, turn around, and continue the unfinished journey home with the young boy.

“If one day we both stand beneath the same snow,” Zhou Ruo An said softly beside Jin Hui as he watched the elderly woman’s departing back, “then in this life, it can still count as growing old together.”

The grains of snow blew more and more fiercely, burying all regret, melancholy, and release within this first snowfall…

⸻

The two sat back in the car, and the warmth inside drove away the cold clinging to them.

“First love…” Zhou Ruo An murmured softly, his gaze drifting into the distance. “It must be very beautiful, right?”

Old Master Jin withdrew his gaze from the window and looked at the young man beside him. “Xiao An, don’t tell me you’ve never had a first love?”

“I…” Zhou Ruo An coughed lightly and turned his face away somewhat uncomfortably. From the age of fifteen, he had been tied together with Lin Yi. It was not as though he had never had the urge for puppy love, but Lin Yi always put on that appearance of having a pure heart, few desires, and eyes above the top of his head. Zhou Ruo An was afraid of putting himself at a disadvantage, so he had forcefully suppressed those feelings too. But now he knew that Lin Yi had been scheming for him all along. That pure-hearted, desireless act was complete bullshit. Back then, under the guise of being good brothers, that person had often put his arms around him and hugged him, taking full advantage of him.

Thinking of this, Zhou Ruo An miraculously felt relieved. So what if he did not have a first love? Lin Yi did. He had thought of him day and night for so many years, endured beatings, risked his life, and exhausted every method before finally painstakingly chasing him into his hands.

The end of his brow lifted slightly, and a secret sweetness welled up in Zhou Ruo An’s heart. He turned to look at Old Master Jin and asked with a smile, “Old man, I worked so hard to please you. Did you feel it?”

Old Master Jin chuckled and slowly said, “Since you’re pleasing me, you must be trying to gain some benefit from me. Little monkey brat, say it. What do you want?”

The air inside the car was stifling, so Zhou Ruo An opened the window a crack. The cold wind was squeezed thin and poured in together with snowflakes. “Lin Yi wants to kowtow to you during the New Year.”

“Lin Yi?” Old Master Jin was surprised. “We’re not relatives. Why would he kowtow to me?”

Zhou Ruo An lowered the window crack a little more, letting the cold wind scatter the burning heat on his face. “He… has a romance-addled brain.”

With just that one sentence, Old Master Jin understood. “I acknowledged you as my grandson, so he wants…”

Zhou Ruo An lowered his gaze to the steering wheel and quickly took over the sentence. “He wants to kowtow to you as your grandson’s wife.”

Old Master Jin slowly reined in the expression on his face and leaned on his cane in thought. “Once he makes this kowtow, the matter between the two of you will no longer be a joke. Xiao An, you still have a lifetime ahead of you. You need to think this through.”

Zhou Ruo An lifted his head and looked through the car window toward the direction where the elderly woman had left. He said softly, “I’m this selfish. I can’t care about the me several decades from now. Right now… I don’t want to leave him.”

He suddenly turned his head and said to Old Master Jin with a smile, “If an old stick-in-the-mud like you doesn’t agree, then I’m going to threaten you.”

Old Master Jin clicked his tongue. “Then how are you planning to threaten me?”

Zhou Ruo An looked perfectly composed. “I’ll go to your first love and speak ill of you. I’ll say you don’t act with the dignity of an elder, that you cheat at cards, and that you swindle money from juniors.”

Old Master Jin laughed and cursed, “Bastard.” Then he said, “Tell him to bring me a bottle of good liquor, or else I won’t acknowledge this grandson’s wife.”

The smile had only just begun to spread through Zhou Ruo An’s eyes when a phone ringtone sounded in the narrow space. Zhou Ruo An swiped open his phone and placed the receiver by his ear. “Bai Ban, what is it?”

“Zhou Ruo An, this is bad. My brother’s in danger right now!”

The fingers holding the phone suddenly tightened. “What!”

⸻

By the time Zhou Ruo An arrived, Lin Yi was standing in the center of an abandoned park, holding a baby.

The cold wind swept fine snow along with it, making the dead trees all around rustle. The baby’s shrill cries cut through the silence, sounding especially piercing in this desolate park, even carrying a trace of eeriness.

Lin Yi was not in good condition. Several cuts had been slashed across the black overcoat he wore, and bloodstains could be faintly seen. Within a range of five or six meters around him, everything was in disorder. The snow was covered with chaotic footprints, and several patches of dark-red blood were shocking to the eye. Clearly, an intense fight had just taken place.

Zhou Ruo An’s pupils shrank slightly. He rushed forward in a few steps and grabbed Lin Yi’s wrist, his voice stretched taut. “Where are you hurt?”

Lin Yi let him check. Only after confirming that they were merely superficial wounds did Zhou Ruo An slowly let out a breath. With trembling hands, he took out a cigarette, bit it between his lips, lit it with a lighter, and inhaled deeply before barely suppressing the emotions surging in his chest.

The child in Lin Yi’s arms was still crying. Lin Yi frowned and patted the swaddling clothes, then turned and glared at Bai Ban, who was squatting not far away. “Who told you to call him?”

Bai Ban scratched his head, his face innocent. “…Isn’t Zhou Ruo An your partner? If you were in danger and I didn’t notify him, wouldn’t he skin me later?”

Zhou Ruo An exhaled a mouthful of smoke and narrowed his eyes at the baby crying its heart out, his tone chilly. “You didn’t want to call me because you were afraid I’d see this child? Who gave birth to it for you?”

Lin Yi sighed helplessly, put away his dagger, and reached out to pull Zhou Ruo An closer to his side, coaxing him in a low voice. “Do you remember me telling you before that Wang Zhi Ping’s mistress gave birth to a child for him?” He lowered his head to indicate the baby in his arms. “Here. This one.”

Zhou Ruo An frowned slightly. “What exactly is going on?”

“Wang Zhi Ping was the same as Bai Jiu. Over the years, he did plenty of immoral things. After he went in, someone in the underworld wanted to use his child as a target.”

With the cigarette between his lips, Zhou Ruo An cast a sidelong glance at the wrinkled little face in the swaddling clothes and scoffed. “What a good man. You even care about another man’s seed?”

“Children can’t smell smoke.” Lin Yi reached out, took the cigarette from between Zhou Ruo An’s lips, casually threw it into the snow, and crushed it out with the sole of his shoe. “After Wang Zhi Ping went in, I gave his mistress a sum of money before. Grudges between adults don’t need to affect a child. So after she was abducted, she secretly dialed my number.”

“Where is Wang Zhi Ping’s mistress?” Zhou Ruo An asked.

Lin Yi lifted his chin toward the artificial hill. “Behind there. Fainted from fright.” He turned to Bai Ban and said, “Go wake her up.”

Before long, staggering footsteps came from behind the artificial hill. A disheveled woman rushed out, her reddened eyes fixed tightly on the baby in Lin Yi’s arms. She nearly pounced forward and snatched the child over.

The woman held the baby tightly, trembling all over. The child’s cries mingled with her suppressed sobs, sounding especially miserable in the empty snowfield.

Standing beside Lin Yi, Zhou Ruo An’s shoulder seemed to brush against his. “What are you planning to do after this?”

“Send them out of the city.” Lin Yi looked at the mother and child. “Find her a place where she can live in peace.”

The woman cried for a very long time. In the end, with Bai Ban’s persuasion, she carried the child step by step toward the car by the roadside.

Before getting into the car, she suddenly turned back to look at Lin Yi. Her lips trembled, and complicated emotions churned in her eyes. But in the end, she only held the child in her arms tightly and bent down into the car.

As the red glow of the taillights gradually receded, Zhou Ruo An watched the car disappear into the night and asked, “She knows you were the one who sent Wang Zhi Ping in?”

“She knows.”

Zhou Ruo An laughed softly and reached out to brush the fallen snow from Lin Yi’s shoulder. “Then for her to still come to you to save her life, it seems she really was forced into a dead end.” He tugged the man’s arm and walked in the opposite direction. “All right, hero, stop looking. What, are you getting addicted to being a ready-made dad?”

The cold wind swept snowflakes howling past. Lin Yi suddenly pulled Zhou Ruo An into his arms and kissed him loudly on the cheek. “You said you’d give birth for me.” His warm palm restlessly slipped into the front of Zhou Ruo An’s coat. “When are you letting me become a father?”

Zhou Ruo An slapped that hand away and walked slowly forward into the wind and snow, saying as he went, “If anyone’s giving birth, it’ll be you. My grandfather already said he’ll only let you into our family after you serve tea as his grandson’s wife.”

“An An.”

Lin Yi’s serious call suddenly came from behind him. Zhou Ruo An looked back and saw the solemn expression on the man’s face. “I plan to sell all the nightclubs and private clubs I have, and only keep the production, processing, and trading companies.”

“Why?”

Amid the flying snow, Lin Yi walked closer step by step, his tall figure blocking the raging wind and snow for Zhou Ruo An. “These businesses inevitably require dealing with all sorts of people. The risk is too great.” He reached out and gently stroked Zhou Ruo An’s cheek. “I don’t want there to be a day when you fall into danger like that mother and child.”

Zhou Ruo An gazed at the person before him. “Do you know how much profit you’ll lose?”

Lin Yi used his callused fingertips to smooth the hair that had been blown messy by the wind. “Do you remember when we were poor? We smoked the same cigarette, shared the same bottle of liquor, and even split a melted popsicle between us.” He said in a low voice, “I was very happy then. And now, what I have is already far, far more than I had at that time.”

“Your money is my money.” Zhou Ruo An was silent for a moment before speaking. “You know me. Profit comes first. There’s no reason to gnaw on bones when there’s meat to eat.”

He took the coin from his coat pocket and weighed it in his palm. “But today, I’ll make an exception and let Heaven decide.”

The silver coin drew an arc through the wind and snow. Zhou Ruo An brought both hands together, then slowly opened them.

“Heads: great fortune.”

Zhou Ruo An turned and left, cursing as he walked. “Fuck, feels like I just lost several hundred million. It hurts.”

Lin Yi smiled and followed his steps. “What if it had been tails?”

Zhou Ruo An looked back, also smiling, the snowlight reflected in the depths of his eyes. “It would still be great fortune.”

He lifted his chin. “Let’s go. Back home to kowtow and serve tea to my grandfather. The old man can hardly wait.”

Lin Yi wrapped his arms around him from behind, his thin lips pressing against Zhou Ruo An’s icy ear. “I can hardly wait either.”

“Can’t wait to give birth for me?” Zhou Ruo An turned his head and glanced at Lin Yi’s stomach. “Can you give birth to a boy or a girl?”

Lin Yi reached into Zhou Ruo An’s pocket and took out that coin again. “Ask whether it’ll be a boy or a girl.”

Zhou Ruo An clicked his tongue lightly. Following his words, he tossed the coin again, but when he reached out to catch it, he failed to hold it steady. The coin slipped through his fingers.

Their gazes turned toward it at the same time. That coin, neither leaning nor crooked, stood upright as it stuck into the thick fresh snow.

“This is…?”

“Twins, a boy and a girl.” Zhou Ruo An settled it with a single verdict.

“Not an easy task.” Lin Yi lifted Zhou Ruo An into his arms and walked toward the car. “Looks like I’ll have to work hard.”

“Lin Yi, tea first…”

“Babies first.”

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