Chapter 189: Yan Luo’s Future — Visiting the Grave
Ten years later.
A meticulously made-up woman carried a large bouquet of white chrysanthemums into B City Cemetery. Looking at the smiling photo of the tall boy on the headstone, the corners of her lips curved faintly.
“Xiao Bai, I came to see you again.”
Yan Man gently placed the dew-kissed chrysanthemums before the grave, then squatted down, reaching out to lightly touch the face in the photograph with her fingertips.
His life had stopped forever at the most beautiful age—so brief.
“Xiao Bai, did you know? Big Brother started Luobai Group. It’s incredible—restaurants, entertainment, real estate, everything. There are chain stores in every industry. The brothers all changed careers and work as security guards in the shops now. No one does that old stuff anymore,” Yan Man said softly.
“But Big Brother was irresponsible for once. Five years ago, he dumped the company on me and disappeared. After that, I never saw him again, and I couldn’t find any record of his entries or exits. It’s like he vanished from this world. No one has seen him since. Xiao Bai, if he hasn’t come to see you, don’t be mad. Big Brother always loved you the most.”
Ten years had passed since those events, yet to Yan Man it felt like yesterday.
She vividly remembered Yan Luo clutching Xiao Bai and wailing, his cries tearing at the heart, suffocating to hear.
She also remembered how, after Yan Luo discovered the footage from the abandoned factory, he locked himself in a room day and night, listening to the sounds on the recording—the fighting, machetes chopping into flesh and bone, bullets slamming into bodies—then staring wide-eyed until dawn, numb beyond feeling.
Yan Man had accidentally watched the footage once herself. Even she broke down emotionally—let alone Yan Luo, who loved Xiao Bai so deeply.
How those people tried to violate Xiao Bai; how Xiao Bai fought back with everything he had; how he was stabbed again and again, how bullets tore through his body, spraying blood; and how, with a resolute gaze, he still walked outward, as if something worth giving up everything for was waiting for him.
Yan Man couldn’t imagine what state of mind her brother had been in to repeatedly subject himself to that torment.
It was nothing short of self-destruction.
That self-abuse lasted a full month. Only then did Yan Luo seem to remember something and begin to divert his attention, throwing himself into work day and night. Luobai Group was born that way.
“Xiao Bai, if only you were still alive now…” Yan Man looked at the radiant smile in the photo and couldn’t help but curve her lips as well.
Footsteps behind her snapped her drifting thoughts back. She slowly stood and turned to the newcomer.
The man wore a crisp municipal police uniform, handsome and sharp-looking. But Yan Man hated him.
“What are you doing here again? Xiao Bai doesn’t want to see you,” she said coldly.
“I’m Xiao Bai’s second brother,” Ji He said, placing his white lilies beside the chrysanthemums.
A mocking smile lifted Yan Man’s lips. “I haven’t congratulated you on becoming the B City police chief. Oh right—heard you got married half a year ago. Double happiness, indeed.”
Ji He looked at her with complicated eyes. “Yan Man, about what happened back then—I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were—”
“That’s enough!” Yan Man cut him off expressionlessly. “I was young and ignorant and made a mistake. Back then, you only treated me as a hostess who poured drinks. Now you’re the police chief, I’m a businesswoman. Let’s each live our own lives.”
Ji He dropped the topic and said instead, “Captain Zhao resigned a few years ago. He loved police work, but because of that mistake, he’s been living with guilt. He thinks he caused Xiao Bai’s death.”
Yan Man let out a cold laugh. “He’s not wrong. He was an indirect killer—wasn’t he? Even if he died, I wouldn’t pity him.”
Ji He rubbed his forehead irritably. “Yan Man, don’t be like this. Captain Zhao didn’t mean it. No one expected things to turn out this way. Besides, he’s already been punished—he lives in regret every day now.”
Yan Man remained unmoved.
After a pause, Ji He finally asked what he’d wanted to ask all along. “Yan Luo… still no news?”
“What, you’re still not giving up? Still hoping to catch him and claim merit?” Yan Man sneered.
Ji He gazed quietly at Su Mobai’s headstone and said softly, “Believe it or not, I’m just worried about him. The three of us ending up like this was never what I wanted.”
He received no reply—Yan Man had already left.
Standing alone before Su Mobai’s grave, Ji He gave a bitter smile. “Xiao Bai, I’ve been promoted. I’m the B City police chief now—but I’m not happy at all. Xiao Bai, I miss the days in prison. If I’d known things would turn out like this, staying there for a lifetime wouldn’t have been so bad…”
The wind blew gently. The white chrysanthemums and white lilies swayed softly. The man stood silently before the grave for a long, long time.
