Destined to Be Crippled

Mo Li was twenty-nine this year. His ancestral home was in Hebei, and he was a veteran who had once been stationed at an outpost on the Sino-Indian Border. Mo Li was an orphan. When he was four, his parents died in a car accident, so he grew up in an orphanage. As for his name, he had not originally been called Mo Li. He changed it to commemorate his parents, hoping they would never leave him.

Unfortunately, the name was only symbolic; that hope could never come true. Although Mo Li was an orphan, his childhood had not been lonely or lacking in warmth. The dean and Nursery Caretaker at the orphanage had cared for him as if he were their own child and sponsored his schooling. Unfortunately, Mo Li truly could not study. After graduating middle school, he did not even get into high school. Later, he joined the army and came to the Snowy Region, where he became a Border Soldier.

People said that environment could change a person. In the military, Mo Li, who had never liked studying, unexpectedly changed. He began signing up for all kinds of training courses and trained extremely hard. He even earned two Third-Class Merit awards and one Second-Class Merit award.

After leaving the military, Mo Li did not leave this land. He loved the deep blue skies of the Snowy Region, its towering snow-capped mountains, and its simple, honest Common People. All of it became his reason for staying.

After becoming a veteran, Mo Li came to MT County and became a police officer who protected the peace of the people. An old senior at the station had once asked Mo Li why he wanted to become a police officer in a county like Motuo, where not even roads had been built. Other places clearly offered better prospects for development. Mo Li's answer had been simple: this "treasured lotus land" of Motuo was the paradise he had always yearned for.

Mo Li had not regretted it. Motuo's beauty was the kind that could not be described with words: the magnificent Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, Hanmi Waterfall with its drop of more than four hundred meters, mirror-like Buqun Lake, and vine bridges stretching across the mountainsides. All of it made Mo Li feel as though he were living inside a painting, and it strengthened his resolve to make a life here.

Motuo was a county with a population of only around ten thousand. It governed one town and four townships, and its residents were mainly Menba, Lhoba, Tibetan, Han Chinese, and other ethnic groups. The simple local customs made the place exceptionally peaceful, and people lived especially quiet lives.

As a police officer, Mo Li did not actually have much to do here. After all, criminal cases almost never happened. At best, travelers or explorers would get lost in the Primeval Forest or the mountains and require a search operation, or Common People would need help finding lost cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, and the like.

The year before last, Mo Li led a team to arrest several poachers hunting Bengal Tigers and antelope. Because of his outstanding performance, the Director specially requested approval from higher-ups to promote him to captain. Although he did not have many people under him, the promotion was still a recognition of his abilities.

Lying in a hospital bed at County Hospital, Mo Li was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. Fortunately, This Guy had spent so many years in the military that his physique was truly excellent; he had not died from this. However, spinal injuries had caused nerve pain, so the doctor gave him a sedative and sent him back into sleep. A young nurse who looked about twenty-two or twenty-three bit her lips and stared at Mo Li with resentment in her eyes, her eye sockets slightly red.

Her name was Lunzhou Mei Duo, a Tibetan Girl who had graduated from medical school and had been interning at County Hospital for a year. She was about to become a full employee. However, her identity was not limited to being an intern nurse—she was also Mo Li's current girlfriend.

Mo Li had never intended to date anyone. In his words, he could not even afford to support a family right now, so what right did he have to date or get married? But fate was not something he could decide. The last time they surrounded and captured poachers, Mo Li had been injured. After he was hospitalized, Mei Duo had been responsible for taking care of him. Mo Li was not especially handsome, but he was not ugly either, and he had a presence that made people feel particularly at ease. On top of that, he was gentle and polite to everyone. This made Mei Duo develop feelings for the man who was seven or eight years older than her.

Tibetan girls were not as shy as Han Chinese girls. They expressed their feelings very directly—if they liked someone, they said so. So, on the fourth day of Mo Li's hospitalization, when no one else was around, Mei Duo confessed to him.

When Mo Li heard Mei Duo's confession, he was completely stunned. He had lived for twenty-nine years. During puberty, he had felt some impulses toward girls, but as he grew older, This Guy instead lost all interest in romance between men and women. Quite a few colleagues at the station had half-jokingly said that Mo Li must have a problem with his Sexual Orientation. Otherwise, why would he have no interest in women?

Seeing Mo Li freeze, Mei Duo's straightforward nature showed itself once again. She actually told Mo Li that yes meant yes and no meant no—he should just give her a straight answer.

Mo Li had not even processed what was happening. How could he possibly give an answer? In the end, Mei Duo nodded and said that since Mo Li had not stated his position, it proved that he had tacitly agreed. From that day on, Mo Li inexplicably had a girlfriend.

Although Motuo generally did not have any major cases, minor matters never stopped. After leaving the hospital, Mo Li became busy Once Again. Although he and Mei Duo had inexplicably become a couple, they did not actually spend much time alone together. They were usually together less and apart more. If Mo Li had not been hospitalized again this time, Mei Duo truly would not have seen her boyfriend in name.

Of course, Mei Duo did not want to see Mo Li in this way. Especially when she saw him covered in injuries, her heart felt as though it were about to shatter.

Just as Mei Duo stood beside Mo Li's bed, staring blankly, the ward door was pushed open. A doctor in a White Coat walked in, followed by a man and a woman. Both wore ordinary casual clothes. They did not look like hospital staff, nor did they look like Mo Li's police colleagues.

"Director Liu, you're here? And these two are?" Seeing the doctor and the other two enter, Mei Duo hurriedly raised her hand to wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes before turning to ask the doctor.

The doctor called Director Liu did not answer. He merely nodded at Mei Duo before asking, "How is Captain Mo's condition?"

"Before the pain relief injection, his condition was not very good. The pain was intense," Mei Duo replied.

Director Liu nodded again. He then reached over and picked up the CT scans from the table beside him, holding them up to the sunlight outside the window for a look. Mei Duo stared at Director Liu anxiously, clearly waiting for him to speak.

Director Liu set down the scans and frowned slightly. Then he said, "From the CT, Captain Mo's spine suffered a very severe impact. There are fractures and deformities in multiple places. As for recovery, I think..."

Mei Duo's expression changed immediately upon hearing Director Liu's words. She asked nervously, "Director Liu, do you mean Mo Li might be paralyzed in the future?"

"...Not might. Definitely." Director Liu hesitated again before speaking in a grave tone.