CH 74

although lu ye disagreed with ashley’s parenting approach, he had to admit one thing—what she said was right. the sooner he resolved things with qi yanbai, the better. it’s better to endure short-term pain than long-term agony. if they waited too long, it would give qi yanbai an opportunity to slip through the cracks. by then, their relationship pattern would have been reestablished, and breaking it again would seem too deliberate.

unfortunately, wealthy housewives didn’t understand the daily lives of working-class people. with lu ye’s demanding work schedule, which practically had him working eight days a week, finding time to deal with relationship issues required perfect timing and a stroke of luck.

fortunately, fate was somewhat kind, and not long after, lu ye found that opportunity.

on white day, the new city district organized a chain carnival with exhibitions, food, and cultural performances centered around the largest shopping mall in the new district. it spanned half a street.

large-scale events like this often came with unexpected incidents. on that day, lu ye happened to be on patrol when he encountered a mischievous child. the child had climbed onto a temporary steel structure inside the event area while the adults weren’t paying attention, attempting to reach for the star-shaped lights hanging above.

in reality, the structure wasn’t very high, just around ten meters. at most, it looked intimidating, but even if someone fell from it, it would result in a broken limb at worst, not life-threatening.

however, the child, being young and probably terrified of heights, climbed up without any issues but froze when trying to come down. he clung to the steel frame, screaming for his mother and yelling for help.

the steel structure was not meant to bear weight and soon started swaying dangerously.

the child panicked and, upon seeing his parents rushing over,  he instinctively let go of the steel frame, intending to jump down. unfortunately, he chose a poor landing spot – right behind the open-air children’s playground, where a group of kids had yet to evacuate. if he fell there, the consequences would be disastrous.

lu ye happened to be the closest at the time and nearly had a heart attack witnessing the scene. without thinking, he reacted instinctively, and managed to grab the child’s waist and prevent a direct fall.

the boy fell from a height of ten meters like a human bomb. lu ye managed to grab him and pull him into his arms, however, the sudden impact resulted in a loud, teeth-clenching crack, and lu ye instantly felt a sharp pain coursing through his entire arm.

the child, seemingly traumatized, lay limply in lu ye’s arms, crying quietly. nearby parents rushed over, alternating between scolding their child and profusely thanking lu ye.

“sorry, officer,” the boy’s father apologized with a worried expression. “we didn’t watch our child properly. are you okay?”

“it’s okay, no need to apologize, as long as he’s okay,” lu ye replied courteously. he grimaced as he cradled his arm, and with some effort, managed to say, “it’s just a minor injury. it’s not broken; i’ll just need a splint.”

luckily, or perhaps ironically, a few days earlier, the city had introduced an internship reform. lu ye’s station had recently welcomed three or four interns, so they were not short-staffed.

thanks to this influx of interns, lu ye unexpectedly had the chance to take some time off. when he received the diagnosis of a fractured arm and shared it with li zhiwen, li zhiwen promptly approved his medical leave for up to ten days, with the possibility of extending it to two weeks if the injury was serious.

lu ye had been thinking about taking leave recently, and now, this unexpected turn of events made him quite cheerful. even the pain in his fractured arm seemed to have lessened.

indeed, when there’s a will, there’s a way, lu ye thought. the wisdom of our ancestors still holds true.

he was in a good mood, and even the medical examination couldn’t dampen his spirits. when lu wenyu heard about the incident and hurried to the hospital, she found lu ye sitting alone outside the treatment room, looking far from disheveled. in fact, he seemed quite happy.

lu wenyu: “…”

what did he get hit on the head with? lu wenyu wondered, perhaps he hit his head and hurt his brain.

as she was wondering, lu mingming, who had managed to break free from the babysitter’s grasp, darted over like a missile. she grabbed onto lu ye’s thigh, her face filled with worry.

“uncle, are you okay?” lu mingming asked anxiously.

lu ye had been lost in thought moments ago, but her voice snapped him out of it. he looked at her in surprise and then glanced up at lu wenyu, who was approaching. with a smile, he said, “sis? what are you doing here?”

“when the incident happened at the carnival, i was with mingming. we were shopping, and your colleagues told me you were at the hospital,” lu wenyu explained, furrowing her brow. she carefully rolled up lu ye’s sleeve to get a look at his arm, scolding him, “you’re all grown up, yet you didn’t even say a word when you got injured.”

“it’s a minor injury, nothing serious,” lu ye replied. “it’s not broken; i just need a splint.”

as they spoke, the treatment room’s number was called out, and lu ye was summoned. lu wenyu took the opportunity to snatch the bill from lu ye’s hand and helped him up.

nearly an hour had passed since the incident, and lu ye’s forearm was already bruised with shades of blue and purple. lu mingming, clinging to him, continued to tremble in fear. her eyes welled up with tears as she drew in a shaky breath.

“what’s wrong?” lu ye offered his arm to the doctor, laughing softly at lu mingming. “this is my arm, not yours. why are you crying?”

clearly, children had a stronger sense of empathy than adults. without asking lu ye whether he was in pain, lu mingming just furrowed her little brow, gazing up at him. after a moment, she let out a sigh, sounding just like a little adult, “uncle, i think your job is too dangerous. you have to work overtime and fight with bad guys all the time.”

lu ye: “…”

lu ye was at a loss for words. he had no idea what thoughts had run through lu mingming’s little head in just a few minutes. he had intended to explain to her that he hadn’t been fighting bad guys when he got hurt, but in that moment, as he lowered his head, something clicked in his mind.

lu mingming’s beautiful eyes shimmered with moisture. lu ye lowered his gaze and met her eyes, and the words he was about to say took an unexpected turn.

“it’s okay,” lu ye gently patted her head and said with a smile, “uncle will soon be changing his job.”

both lu mingming and lu wenyu simultaneously exclaimed with surprise, but lu mingming was the first to voice her question, “what do you mean, uncle? you’re not going to be a policeman anymore?”

“yeah,” lu ye said, his lips curving with a hint of a smile as he spoke earnestly, “this job is too dangerous. so, i applied for a transfer and will be working in logistics in another city in a little while.”

the term “transfer” was not clear to lu mingming, but she understood the latter part of the sentence. she widened her eyes suddenly, feeling like the sky had fallen. “you’re leaving?”

“yes,” lu ye pursed his lips, trying to hide his smile, and said seriously, “i thought it was time for me to experience life in a different city.”

lu mingming hadn’t expected that her beloved uncle would be leaving again just a year after returning. she was suddenly struck with a sense of devastation and blurted out, “why… why do you have to go? can’t you stay?”

“no,” lu ye said seriously, “i need to earn a living. if i don’t work, i’ll end up homeless.”

these words sounded a bit fabricated, meant to comfort lu mingming, but clearly, they didn’t escape lu wenyu’s scrutiny. hearing this, she raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but interrupt lu ye’s nonsense. she reached out and gently lifted lu mingming off lu ye’s leg.

“auntie, could you please take mingming to the vending machine at the door and buy her a bottle of water?” lu wenyu called out to the nanny, “i need to talk to my brother for a moment.”

the nanny had worked in lu wenyu’s house for many years and was quite perceptive. upon hearing this, she quickly came over, coaxing and persuading the protesting lu mingming and eventually managed to lead her out of the treatment room.

“let’s end the teasing now, why lie to the child?” lu wenyu said when lu mingming had been led away, looking helpless. “what if she takes it seriously?”

she reminded him, “tomorrow is the art class, aren’t you afraid she’ll go and say something to teacher qi?”

“that would be perfect,” lu ye chuckled, saying, “i was actually worried she wouldn’t.”

“what do you mean?” lu wenyu became increasingly puzzled. she wondered, “what’s going on with you? you’ve already decided to reconcile with him, so why put on this act?”

lately, as his attitude had slowly started to warm up, qi yanbai had begun to take liberties, becoming increasingly conceited. so, in order to ensure that he and qi yanbai could have an open and honest reconciliation in the future, lu ye felt it was time to stir things up a bit.

but obviously, he couldn’t tell lu wenyu about his considerations, so he just smiled and casually came up with an excuse.

“it’s nothing,” lu ye smiled and said nonchalantly, “after all, he deceived me once, so i’m just evening the score.”