Lies in the rainy season

The men's gazes fell on Pu Yu all at once, scrutinizing her with suspicion and surprise.

For debt collectors like them, getting tangled up with the authorities was the last thing they wanted.

The burly man who had opened the door furrowed his brow, his tone noticeably less forceful:

"Officer Li? Which Officer Li?"

"What do they want with him?"

Pu Yu felt cold sweat seep down her back, but she dared not let any of it show. She merely urged them vaguely, "I don't know either. They said if he doesn't come soon, they'll proceed according to protocol."

She did not even dare look at the boy in the courtyard.

After saying that, she shifted her gaze away with feigned composure, as though she had only come to deliver an ordinary message.

The men exchanged glances, apparently trying to decide whether she was telling the truth.

Their main purpose today was to pressure and intimidate him. If they pushed him too far and things ended up at the police station, not only would they fail to get their money, but they would also be in serious trouble.

"Fuck, what a buzzkill!" The scar-faced leader cursed under his breath and shot Yuan Su a vicious glare. "You got lucky today! But this isn't over! We want every last cent. Let's go!"

He waved his hand in frustration and headed toward the door with his men, all of them cursing.

Pu Yu immediately stepped aside, lowering her eyes to avoid meeting their gazes.

The group left in a cloud of hostility, their footsteps fading into the distance.

In an instant, only Pu Yu and the boy standing silently amid the wreckage remained in the dilapidated house. The wariness in his pitch-black eyes had not faded, but now there was a complicated scrutiny there too.

The air was thick with awkwardness, uncertainty, and lingering tension.

Pu Yu stood frozen, unable to advance or retreat.

Soon, the door was pulled all the way open, and the boy stepped out.

He was even taller than she had imagined, and his approach brought a cool, sharp sense of pressure.

At such close range, she could clearly see the faint shadows his lowered lashes cast on his pale skin, as well as his thin, tightly pressed lips.

Yuan Su looked down at her, his gaze slowly passing over her cheeks, slightly flushed with nerves, before settling on the battered umbrella and suitcase beside her.

"Which Officer Li?"

He spoke, his voice low and a little hoarse from his long silence.

There was little emotion in it, yet like the cold strands of rain, it seeped silently into her flesh and bones.

Pu Yu's heart skipped a beat, and her fingers unconsciously tightened around the envelope.

"I..." Her lips parted, but she could not get a complete word out.

Yuan Su did not seem to need her answer anyway. His gaze fell on the note clenched tightly in her hand.

"Who are you looking for?" he asked again.

Following his gaze, Pu Yu hurriedly hid the letter behind her back, as though concealing an embarrassing secret.

She raised her head and met his deep eyes. There was neither kindness nor malice in them, only a barren stillness.

"I... I might have come to the wrong place."

Her voice was faint, almost swallowed by the patter of rain.

Yuan Su said nothing. He merely looked at her once more.

Then, without another word, he turned and shut the weathered wooden door with a bang.

Pu Yu stood there in a daze, staring at the tightly closed door, as though everything that had just set her heart pounding had been an illusion.

Was it... an illusion?

Just then, a drop of rain collected beneath the eaves fell into the hollow at the base of her neck.

The icy touch made her shudder.

Somewhat flustered, Pu Yu unfolded the letter again, checking the address word by word with trembling fingertips.

[On the south side of Whitebank Town, at the end of the little lane called "Wind Chime Alley"...]

[The house with a persimmon tree]

A persimmon tree?

Where?

Pu Yu reread it three times before turning to look at the courtyard wall opposite.

A persimmon tree stretched its branches and leaves over the wall, its boughs dotted with half-green, half-yellow fruit. In the September rain, they held a hint of warmth as they quietly ripened.

She had gambled her future, yet she had gone to the wrong door at the very first step.

The wheels rumbled over the slick bluestone paving.

Pu Yu took a deep breath, dragged her suitcase over, and stopped in front of the right door.

This time, she did not dare knock rashly. Instead, she tried to make her voice sound clear and polite, calling out with cautious hesitation:

"Grandma? Excuse me... is Grandma Li Suhua home?"

She paused, recalling that her mother had occasionally mentioned her nickname in the letter, then added, "I'm Little Yu. Pu Yu."

All was silent behind the door. There was only the patter of rain.

She waited and waited, and the little flame that had just kindled in her heart seemed to grow dimmer.

Pu Yu gathered her courage, raised her voice a little, and knocked on the door. "Grandma? I'm Little Yu..."

Still, there was no response.

Fear and despair slowly rose like a tide, wrapping her in their cold embrace.

Did Grandma simply not want to acknowledge a burden like her? Was even this last way out about to disappear?

She stood in the rain, looking at the tightly closed door before turning to glance at the deserted entrance to the alley. The desolation of having nowhere to belong in such a vast world almost swallowed her whole.

Just as she bit her lip, tears and rain about to blur her vision-

A creak sounded behind her.

The door that had just been shut so firmly opened once again.

Yuan Su stepped out.

Without an umbrella, he walked straight into the curtain of rain. His soaked shirt clung more closely to the lean lines of his frame, and water slid from his slightly disheveled black hair, tracing his pale cheeks and jaw.

He reached her side in a few strides, without any unnecessary words or movements.

He simply raised his hand.

Bang, bang, bang!

He hammered hard and decisively on the door!

The pounding was heavy and loud, echoing through the quiet, rain-soaked alley and startling Pu Yu.

It looked less like he was knocking and more like he was about to force his way inside with her.

An older woman's slightly raspy, puzzled voice immediately came from within:

"Who is it?"

Only then did Yuan Su turn his head, his cool gaze falling on Pu Yu, who stood blankly beside him. His voice was level and unemotional, merely stating a fact:

"She's hard of hearing. You have to knock hard."

He paused, as though explaining, or perhaps merely mentioning it in passing:

"She didn't hear you knocking earlier."

At that moment, Pu Yu was like a blade of grass beaten utterly limp by a downpour.

Only after hearing his explanation did a little life return to her, letting her shake the droplets from her leaves and straighten ever so slightly again.