Ye Zi froze for a moment, and Xiao Bing looked back. More than ten meters behind, two men paced, as if they were admiring the scenery. When they saw Xiao Bing looking at them, they immediately pretended to walk away but stopped short.
“Are those two people your bodyguards? It seems that your status is quite extraordinary.”
Ye Zi looked at Xiao Bing with a rather complicated expression, “Had you figured it out long ago?”
“I did not notice them in the disco, but when I took action, I noticed the two men were approaching quickly. When I saw them, they stopped. I guessed that if I had not taken action, your bodyguard would have done it.”
Ye Zi’s eyes looked at the river. Suddenly, she sighed heavily. For some reason, Xiao Bing’s soul seemed to be hit by a big impact. From Ye Zi’s sigh, he felt endless loneliness and sadness. That feeling made Xiao Bing want to caress the girl in front of him, who was lively and sweet in appearance, yet lonely in the heart.
“Brother Bing, you know, I really envy you,” Ye Zi said.
“Others think that happiness is being in a wealthy family, but they do not know that some people are caged canaries from birth. Every road in life is arranged by their parents, including which school to attend, what friends to make, and what to do every day… Even if occasionally, occasionally the rebellious sneak out, their roots stay with them, ha-ha,” Ye Zi chuckled to herself.
“Sometimes I think, if only I were born into an ordinary family, a free life, something money cannot buy. Freedom means liberation; freedom means flying in the sky; freedom means doing whatever you want,” Ye Zi continued.
Ye Zi pointed to the sky and said with a smile, “Like a bird in the sky: it soars freely. One day, no, even a second!”
She was laughing, yet her eyes were red.
Xiao Bing suddenly stood up and asked, “Do you really want to fly?”
Ye Zi looked at Xiao Bing and nodded emphatically.
Xiao Bing stretched out his hand and looked softly into Ye Zi’s eyes. “Give me your hand and I’ll take you flying,” he said.
The smooth, soft, and gentle hand of Ye Zi lightly laid on Xiao Bing’s large, calloused hand. Her eyes lit up in expectation, she asked, “Really?”
“Perhaps only for a moment,” he replied.
“Less than a second?” she asked.
Xiao Bing laughed, and so did Ye Zi.
Suddenly Xiao Bing hugged Ye Zi’s small waist and rushed towards the forest nearby. His feet were flying like the wind, and his speed was astonishing. Slowly his feet began to pull away from the ground.
Ye Zi stretched out their hands and felt the whistling wind blowing through their fingers. They watched everything around them pass quickly. Her big beautiful eyes welled, and two tears flowed down the corners of her eyes. The sound of her voice seemed to be filled with joy as she murmured, “This is… Freedom. ”
“God, what did I just see? The lady was taken away by the man…They weren’t running, they were flying…” said one bodyguard, shocked.
“Don’t talk nonsense… Fuck! Really flying? What shall we do?” the other bodyguard asked.
“Bullshit! Catch up! Don’t stand there foolishly!” one bodyguard exclaimed to the other.
The two bodyguards chased desperately but compared with Xiao Bing’s speed, they were like snails.
Xiao Bing just took advantage of the strength of his feet to soar into the air, stepping on the air with his feet in tandem. When the speed and strength reached the limit, it produced a flying effect, similar to the legendary Wudang School’s unique lightweight skill.
But this effect did not last long. Before landing, Xiao Bing flew into the forest, then stepped on a tree with both feet and flew forward with this force. When the strength weakened, he stepped on another tree. So repeatedly, Ye Zi saw the forest passing crazily in front of her eyes and screamed with excitement.
Xiao Bing also began to scream and roar like a wild animal, fully expressing himself.
Xiao Bing was never a man who complained about anything, nor a man who held a grudge. It was just that the blow was too heavy for Xiao Bing, and the death of Su Peiya might involve something more: Was there a traitor in Dragon Gate?
But now, after Xiao Bing screamed out, his whole body felt much better and gained understanding. It is not his fault, nor the fault of Su Peiya. Since she chose this road, she will go on. In the end, it is up to her to bear. Now that things have passed, he had to look forward and take care of Su Peiya’s family, slowly. Slowly investigating the truth of the Su Peiya incident.
The woods were deep. As Xiao Bing passed through, he became exhausted. Finally, the two fell to the ground.
Under the moonlight, Xiao Bing stared at the little girl sticking to his chest. Ye Zi’s eyes sparkled with excitement. His face blushed. When she noticed Xiao Bing’s lost eyes, Ye Zi showed a sly expression and asked playfully, “You won’t fall in love with me, will you?”
“Maybe so.” Xiao Bing loosened her up, sat down against the tree and laughed, “Your bodyguards are too weak. They won’t catch up for an hour and a half.”
“It’s not that they are too weak, but that you are too strong. I have never seen anyone fly… Is this kungfu? My bodyguards work hard, too. Why aren’t they as strong as you?” she inquired.
Looking at the curious eyes of Ye Zi, Xiao Bing said with a laugh, “Actually, it’s not called flying either. At first, I showed the ability of staying in the air. Later, I used the trees of this forest as pedals, just like apes shuttling in the forest—which is far from actually flying.”
Sitting next to Xiao Bing, Ye Zi smiled and said, “It may not really be flying, but the important thing is to experience that feeling. I just felt it.”
Xiao Bing laughed and asked, “Are you praising me?”
Ye Zi laughed beautifully, with eyes like the moon. “I am not only praising you but also thanking you. From childhood to adulthood, my parents, brothers, and sisters loved me very much, but I have grown up, and soon I will be twenty years old. Enough about me, Brother Bing. Let’s talk about you. You’re a storyteller, aren’t you? I can see if you have something weighing on your mind.”
Xiao Bing sighed, “You’re right. You really grew up.”
“You tell me, see if I can enlighten you. Even if I don’t understand, it’s good to share with another person,” Ye Zi replied.
Xiao Bing looked at this lovely girl and could not bear to refuse. He pondered and said, “I am different from you. I grew up in an orphanage.”
“Then… what about your parents?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Xiao Bing said indifferently, “It doesn’t matter. I came over so many years ago. Although I grew up in an orphanage, I was very happy. The aunts in the orphanage were very kind to me and sent me to school. Because I was an orphan, my classmates bullied me, I don’t know why. But they couldn’t beat me. Later, I gradually earned a reputation and even the gangsters outside the school were afraid of me.”
If it were anyone else, it would be miserable to say these words, but Xiao Bing’s face was always smiling. He felt very happy and grateful. Til this day, he often donates money to orphanages and occasionally goes back to look at them. In his opinion, those days were the happiest.
“Later, gangsters outside the school conspired against me, and I knocked them all out. I don’t know why, but the scene was seen by an uncle who later found my school and orphanage and took me away.”
“Took you away? For what?” Ye Zi inquired.
“To serve as a soldier.” Xiao Bing said with a smile, “In the army, I studied fighting more systematically, as well as shooting, reconnaissance, anti-reconnaissance, and other knowledge. I gradually gained a reputation and became the captain. At that time, a girl in the team always stood up to me. She was extremely beautiful. At first, I thought she would never accept me, but when I applied for retirement for some reason, she also applied for retirement. I founded an organization and she joined the organization… Then, she died. During a mission, she was deceived and surrounded by enemies. By the time we arrived, it was too late.”
After recounting this last moment, Xiao Bing’s smile disappeared. Although his face was still calm, his fingers trembled slightly. “Before she died, she told me that she always liked me. Although she always challenged me in the army, she actually wanted to attract my attention. The reason why she retired was that I didn’t take good care of her…”
Xiao Bing’s eyes turned red and he forced a smile. “It’s a pity that I just took you away, and the beer also fell on the river. Otherwise, I would have a couple of beers!”
Ye Zi looked at Xiao Bing with a serious face and said cautiously, “You are sad.”
“She died because of me,” Xiao Bing replied solemnly.
“She liked you, did you like her?” Ye Zi asked.
Xiao Bing hesitated for a moment and sighed, “She shared my common interests in many aspects and had followed me for so many years. We had a tacit understanding with each other, she was like my confidante.”
Ye Zi sighed, “The taste of unrequited love is agonizing.”
Xiao Bing looked somber at first, then smiled and asked, “Do you have a secret admirer?”
“Me?” Ye Zi laughed and said, “Don’t underestimate the secret love. China has a population of more than 1 billion. However, there will only be one person in your life who can really make you worry about losing all desire for food and drink, and… the man who is qualified to make me love secretly hasn’t appeared yet.”
Ye Zi blinked her sparkling eyes, bright as the stars at night, with a faint smile on the corners of her mouth, “I heard that the first kind of happiness for a woman is to be able to meet the man she loves, and she did. The second kind of happiness is to let this deeply loved man remember her forever, and she did. The third kind of happiness is to be able to stay with the man she loves. She didn’t get that, but I believe her life has no regrets. Brother Bing, leave a space in your heart. Allow this big sister to live in it forever.”
Xiao Bing looked at Ye Zi in a daze. Ye Zi blinked gently. Her eyes were bright as stars, and there was a sweet and nifty smile on her face.