Kyoto Night Kiss

Qu Yun's heart was torn apart. She held her ice-cold child in her arms, her cries echoing intermittently on the reservoir embankment.

Many female police officers and rescue workers on the shore silently had tears in their eyes.

As mothers themselves, hearing the desperate cries of a mother who has lost her child, they felt as if they could hardly breathe.

But no one can heal this devastating wound.

A male police officer took a deep breath and stepped forward with difficulty, his voice very low, "Mr. Lu, Mrs. Lu, I'm so sorry, but according to our local regulations, and considering that the subsequent repatriation of the remains to China requires a series of procedures including cross-border customs clearance, quarantine, and forensic identification."

"The child's body must first be temporarily stored and sealed by our forensic team, so we need to take it away first..."

As soon as he finished speaking, two other male police officers, holding clean shrouds, tentatively tried to gently take the child away.

Qu Yun seemed to instantly sense their intentions. She tightened her grip, curling up to protect the small body in her arms, and frantically shook her head in protest, shouting, "Don't touch him! None of you can take my child away!"

"He's just asleep. He'll wake up when the ambulance arrives. Don't touch him!"

Tears streamed down Qu Yun's face.

Upon seeing this, Lu Junhe immediately stepped forward and tightly embraced the out-of-control Qu Yun from behind, his chest heaving with suppressed pain. "Yunyun, listen to me, calm down first."

"We also want to take our son home."

"Calm down? How can I calm down!" Qu Yun struggled violently, her shoulders trembling. She turned around, her eyes blurred with tears, and glared at the man who wouldn't let her move. "Lu Junhe, that's our son!"

"He hasn't even celebrated his eighth birthday yet. He was perfectly fine during the day, but now he...he..."

Qu Yun had run out of strength; all her struggles were in vain.

She shouldn't blame the other grieving party either.

This is not Lu Junhe's fault.

The police acted quickly, carefully lifting a body that was not very heavy, yet so heavy that it made one's arms ache, and loading it into a special vehicle.

The police handed them a declaration form for the export of a body, asking one of them to fill it out.

Lu Junhe could only support Qu Yun, who was swaying precariously in his arms, and let her sit on the rock before turning around to fill out the forms in front of the police car.

In the brief span of a few dozen seconds, the surrounding crowd did not pay attention to Qu Yun.

Qu Yun stared blankly at the churning water of the reservoir, the feeling of her arms losing warmth still vividly imprinted on her body.

What in this world is there that she still longs for?

Qu Yun walked numbly, step by step, toward the depths of the reservoir.

It turns out that it's so cold underwater.

The little guy must have been freezing inside, right?

She mechanically took steps forward, the water resistance increasing until it almost reached her chin, but nothing could stop her determination.

"Melody!"

Lu Junhe's pen paused on the paper, and when he caught a glimpse of that slender figure in the water out of the corner of his eye, his heart stopped.

He rushed over without hesitation, stepped into the water, and grabbed Qu Yun's arm tightly.

Qu Yun made no movement, her eyes were empty and lifeless, like a puppet without a soul, only subconsciously wanting to take another step forward.

"Please, don't do this..." Lu Junhe dragged Qu Yun towards the shore with all his might, his arms bulging with veins from the effort.

His voice was almost pleading and humble, "Qu Yun, please think of me, okay? Our son is already gone. If you leave too, how will I live alone?"

"Please, come back with me... or take me with you when we die."

Upon hearing this, Qu Yun's stiff body paused slightly, and a faint tremor finally appeared in her eyes. She stopped struggling and crying, letting the man half-drag and half-carry her back to the shore.

She was soaked through, but her face showed no emotion.

The injury to my right ankle is getting worse.

Lu Junhe dared not linger there any longer. He called for someone to take him and Qu Yun to the hospital to treat their wounds.

In the examination room, the doctor frowned as he looked at the injured ankle of the Chinese woman in front of him, and asked in the local dialect, "My God, your foot is so swollen, doesn't it hurt?"

"How do you continue walking with such a severely dislocated ankle?"

There is only one treatment method—on-site bone repositioning, without anesthesia, and the process will be extremely painful.

After the doctor finished his reminder, he exerted his strength and began to pull Qu Yun's ankle back.

The excruciating pain spread throughout the body along the bones; an ordinary person would have been crying out in agony and curling up in agony.

But Qu Yun just stared blankly with her eyes open, not even blinking.

It seems she has no tears left to shed.

What right does she have to shed tears...?

The doctor prescribed some topical ointment to reduce swelling and pain, and repeatedly told the patient to rest and move around as little as possible, but Qu Yun did not respond.

Until we returned to our hotel room.

On the neatly made bed, there are three sea turtles made of folded towels, two large and one small, with adorable shapes.

The children's suitcase on the floor was open, containing Lu Jinxing's clothes, cartoon sandals, and his summer homework that he had brought himself.

This place is full of his personal belongings.

But he... will never come back...

Qu Yun's eyes welled up with tears again.

The lively, noisy little figure that used to skip and jump into her arms when she left home in the morning will never again call her "Mom" in a soft, sweet voice.

Thinking of this, Qu Yun's legs went weak, and she knelt down next to her suitcase and burst into tears.

How can she possibly let go of the departure of such a little angel?

They were just starting to have a happy family life!

Is this also... a tragic fate?

Because she had become greedy for happiness again...

Qu Yun's throat choked so much that she couldn't make a complete sound. Suddenly, her vision went black, and she fell heavily forward.

Lu Junhe quickly stepped forward and caught Qu Yun's limp body.

In his arms was his wife, who had cried until she lost consciousness.

The room was filled with their children's odds and ends.

A violent tremor ran down Lu Junhe's spine, and a suppressed sob finally escaped his throat uncontrollably.

The huge guest room was filled with a deathly silence, and the sound of weeping lingered for a long time.

*

After completing all customs procedures, Lu Junhe chartered a private plane to send his son's body back to China and temporarily placed it in a funeral home.

There are two elderly people living at home who may not be able to accept this directly...

He stayed by Qu Yun's side without leaving her side, afraid that she would do something foolish again.

However, Qu Yun was too obedient and didn't show any expression at all.

On the way back, she simply rested her head against the cold window, gazing at the clouds outside, without speaking or eating, and even when her lips were so dry they cracked and bled, she didn't want to drink a drop of water.

Lu Junhe hesitated several times before finally falling silent.

The black sedan slowly drove into the villa's courtyard.

As soon as the door opened, the room was filled with the warm aroma of food.

Aunt Qiuhong heard the noise and walked from the kitchen to the entrance, forgetting to put down the spatula in her hand.

Her face was full of smiles: "You're back so early! I saw your flight information at the beginning and thought you wouldn't be back until dinner time... But the soup will be ready soon..."

After Qu Yun and Lu Junhe entered the house.

Aunt Qiuhong's gaze unconsciously drifted behind the two of them. Not seeing the child, she asked with some confusion, "Where's Jinxing?"

"Why didn't he come back with his parents? Did he go swimming again? This kid really doesn't seem tired at all..."

Qu Yun seemed not to have heard the question at all. She numbly lifted her foot and stepped into the entryway, her shoes leaving several dark stains on the clean marble floor, but she was completely unaware of it.

She simply moved slowly toward the stairwell.

Seeing this, Aunt Qiuhong finally noticed that something was wrong, and a sense of unease welled up in her heart, but she also felt that it was impossible.

She could only stop Lu Junhe, whose eyes were equally dark, and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

"Did you two have a fight on the street? Where is the child? A few nights ago, Yunyun's mother was talking about seeing her eldest grandson standing alone at the front door, his whole body cold, and she wanted to hug him but couldn't."

"She keeps asking to see the children, and I keep telling her that you're having a great time abroad."

These words made Qu Yun's eyelashes tremble slightly.

Holding onto the stair railing, Qu Yun slowly made her way up to the second floor. After entering the master bedroom, she locked the door with a "click."

Aunt Qiuhong even dropped the spatula in her hand, turned to look at Lu Junhe who remained silent, her voice trembling with anxiety: "Junhe, what terrible thing has happened? Tell me quickly, where did Jinxing go?"

"I'm so anxious I'm going to die..."

The grief, self-blame, and despair that had been building up for days finally overwhelmed this usually calm and composed man.

Lu Junhe's back, which had been tense for many days, suddenly slumped, his throat tightened, and he called out hoarsely, "Auntie..."

With just two words, his eyes reddened, and scalding tears fell without warning.

Lu Junhe could no longer maintain his pretense. He turned his back and covered his face, trying to muffle his suppressed sobs in his palms.

Aunt Qiuhong understood about 70-80% of what was going on, but all her strength was drained, and she staggered back half a step.

She stared blankly at the steaming dishes on the table. The sweet and sour pork ribs she had specially made for Lu Jinxing, and the mango rice pudding she had just learned to make, now became the most cruel decorations.

"How could this happen... how could this possibly happen..."

Beside the French windows in the living room, only Mrs. Qu sat quietly in a chair.

A soft, gentle smile graced her face as she held her raised hand suspended in mid-air, her fingertips slowly and gently caressing it.

It's like gently stroking the soft back of a child's head.

Mother Qu murmured softly, "My dear grandson, Grandma has finally touched you. Don't be afraid, Grandma is with you..."

"Grandma will always be with you..."

Dusk was falling outside the window.

From that moment on, not a single light shone on the entire house.