Chapter Text
Jiang Yuelou remembers more from his childhood than the average child.
He remembers the wonderful taste of the dishes his mother cooked for him. He remembers her laughter, or the tears that rolled down her cheek when she couldn't stop laughing because Yuelou said something funny again. He remembers how the sun fell on the couch in the living room, where he liked to spend his afternoons off from school. He remembered that old armchair in the corner where his father read the newspapers.
But he also remembers his parents' arguments when his father came home drunk once again. Marks on his mother's body from being hit, pain on his cheek when he was beaten by his father while defending his mother. He remembers the countless sleepless nights he spent in his dark room, afraid to fall asleep. He remembers the last meal his mother cooked for him the day before she disappeared. He remembers the horror that his father inflicted on him later. He remembers his mother's cold body in the morgue a few months after she disappeared.
He remembers hunger, poverty, piercing rain on dirty old clothes, stones thrown at him, humiliating and mocking comments.
But what he remembers most is him. Tall for his childhood age, with huge, deep eyes that always smiled at him whenever he came into view. He remembers the desk they shares at school, the homework assignments written down together, the patient voice that once again explained to him how to solve a task. He remembers lunches together, when they shared what their mothers had prepared for them, and later one lunch for two. He remembers how he once again made up excuses for his bruises, even though Yuzhi didn't ask about them.
Yuelou also remembers the closed door he knocked on, hoping that Yuzhi would be able to help him. Nobody opened the door for him then. He took this as a sign and disappeared without saying goodbye, leaving behind the brutal life he had experienced.
Even though 20 years have passed since all this, Jiang Yuelou remembers everything very clearly. Years pass, but the trauma remains. Trauma and longing for those sunny days with his mother or Chen Yuzhi. However, his mother was dead and Yuzhi probably already had his own family. With his innocence and kindness, he probably found a wife very quickly. Yuelou hoped he was living a good life and wasn't stuck in the past like he was.
It cannot be said that Jiang Yuelou leads a bad life. Handsome, in a high, serious position as chief of police, recognizable and respected in the Jingcheng city community. However, his unfriendly and surly personality means that he does not have a large group of friends. He has everything that every adult man wants to achieve in his career, but after long hours at the police station or in the field, he returns to an empty apartment at Shou Xi Road where only dark, cold walls and his beloved cat are waiting for him. Nothing distracts his thoughts from the past. He remembers.