The icy river water lapped at Ren Yuanhao's calves, its chill a stark reminder of the present and the past.
Just then, the roar of a car engine echoed from the ancient, weathered stone bridge.
Such a sound was a rarity in the quiet countryside.
"Well, look at that, someone's decided to check out this early in the morning?"
Ren Yuanhao saw clearly: a green pickup truck was parked on the stone bridge. A man and a woman sat in the truck bed. The man, sporting a slicked-back hairdo, leaned his head out the window, a mocking grin on his face.
—The world is vast, yet the paths of enemies often converge.
As he mused, the man in the car suddenly exclaimed, "Hiss, who do I see? It's Stutter Hao! Yo, kid, can you wait until I'm gone before you end it all? Bad luck!"
This was Peng Hongbao, one of the people who had bullied Ren Yuanhao 20 years ago, and also one of those driven away by Cheng Li.
The woman in the car burst into laughter at his taunts.
Ren Yuanhao had heard of this fellow's exploits. Apparently, with his father-in-law's connections, he was now a small contractor in town, though his reputation in the countryside wasn't great.
"Hey, Stutter Hao, you can stutter, but you're not mute. Don't you plan on greeting Master Peng? Such impolite fellow!"
Peng Hongbao had no intention of leaving immediately. He deliberately raised his voice to the woman beside him, saying:
"Let me tell you, we bullied Stutter Hao so badly when he was a kid. What's even funnier is that he even had a little girl stand up for him. Tsk, tsk, people say you can judge a man by his childhood. He was so pathetic back then, he's probably a social parasite now. It's good he's dead, it cleans things up, hahahaha!"
The woman's sharp, malicious laughter echoed over the Luan River. Time seemed to rewind 20 years, but the little girl with pigtails could no longer stand proudly at the other end of the stone bridge.
Ren Yuanhao's heart sank. Every laugh felt like a knife, carving into his flesh.
But then, in the shimmering waves, he thought he saw a proud girl taking his hand, her voice like a whisper on the breeze: "Don't be sad, I'm always here."
"Hey, Stutter Hao, isn't that Cheng woman neglecting her adoptive parents? I'm going to requisition their land this time; it'll be a chance for them to turn things around. Should you be thanking me for that?"
As soon as Peng Hongbao spoke, Ren Yuanhao flew into a rage: "Peng Hongbao, if you dare to trouble the elders, I, Ren Yuanhao, will never let you off!"
"Trash, I will trouble them, and what can you do about it? Yo, that look in your eyes, you're not convinced, are you? Come on, I'll be waiting at her place, trash!"
With that, Peng Hongbao deliberately accelerated, spewing black smoke and kicking up gravel, triumphantly driving away with his woman.
"Bastard!" Ren Yuanhao stormed ashore, only to find Wang Xin sitting between the riverbank and the rice paddies, holding a laptop, her drawing stylus dancing across the pressure-sensitive screen.
"So your name is Ren Yuanhao. Little brother, you're so angry, is it because of a woman?"
Wang Xin kept her head down, her right hand moving the stylus with fluidity, as if she wasn't speaking to Ren Yuanhao.
"You saw everything?" Ren Yuanhao felt inexplicably flustered.
"Here, look at this."
Wang Xin didn't answer but handed him the artwork displayed on her laptop.
The Luan River in her painting also exuded a rare tranquility. The stone bridge was ancient, the grass lush, the distant mountains like ink, the rice seedlings dancing in the wind. Frogs hid in the shallow grass on the bank, their mouths puffed out. Kingfishers flew close to the water's surface, dragonflies perched on reeds above the river, and willows lining the banks upstream curved as if bidding farewell.
"That's a beautiful painting," Ren Yuanhao couldn't help but exclaim.
"Without Brother Hao showing me the way, I wouldn't have found such a beautiful place. Oh, right, I'm not a stalker; Auntie asked me to follow. She said you had something on your mind."
Ren Yuanhao scratched his head, thinking that mother-child connection was indeed true.
"By the way, isn't Brother Hao planning to follow? That person looked fierce; he must have bad intentions."
"Of course, I have to! You should go back quickly."
"Alright, I'll go with you too. Auntie instructed me, and I can't refuse."
"I can't persuade you. Let's go."
…
About ten minutes later, the two arrived in front of a low house nestled among peach trees.
A small crowd had already gathered outside the house. Peng Hongbao's green pickup truck was parked beside a weeping willow.
As they got closer, they heard an aged male voice pleading, "Young Master Peng, my wife can't handle any more trouble. This house, we really can't move it."
"Get lost! My blueprints are already drawn to this point, and you say you won't move? Besides, this concerns the village's welfare. If the road is opened, it will be good for everyone!"
Peng Hongbao stood with his hands on his hips, arrogant. The woman beside him sat with her legs crossed, a look of disdain on her face as she ate the peaches the old man had kindly offered.
"I didn't expect such a烂 place to produce such sweet peaches. Tsk, tsk, what a shame about these peach trees; let's chop them down too."
At the woman's sharp command, two workers carrying saws were about to cut down the peach trees.
"Hold on."
Ren Yuanhao pushed through the crowd. Mud from the riverbank stained his trouser legs. Though his face carried a hint of handsome resilience, he still gave the impression of a rice planter.
The woman eating peaches let out a chuckle and said, "He's not bad-looking, but his clothes are so shabby."
Ren Yuanhao ignored the woman and Peng Hongbao, walking directly to Cheng Li's adoptive father, Cheng Zhongyi, and helped him up from the ground.
"Brother, you are~"
"Uncle Cheng, it's me, Stutter Hao."
"Hao, Haozi?"
Cheng Zhongyi pursed his lips, patted Ren Yuanhao's shoulder heavily, and trembled, "I didn't expect Haozi to grow so tall. In all these years, have you been in contact with Cheng Li?"
Mention of Cheng Li caused Ren Yuanhao's expression to darken, but under the circumstances, he couldn't show any hint of loss or sadness. He then said loudly, "No, we've only chatted via text messages."
"This child sends money back every month. I know she works hard outside. If it weren't for her, your auntie's illness probably~"
Cheng Zhongyi's face grew somber.
"Excuse me, for interrupting your touching reunion. Here's the demolition contract. Cheng, don't make it difficult for me. I have a bad temper, and when I get angry, I resort to violence."
Peng Hongbao twisted his neck, his knuckles cracking, his hawk-like eyes making people's hearts falter.