That afternoon, it began to drizzle. The splashing raindrops enshrouded the square of the Federation in hazy ripples.
Even inside the Temple of Valhalla in the war museum below the square, the sound of rain could still be heard from all directions.
The sound of rain reminded Li Yao of grasses that were growing out of the soil. They were young but unstoppable.
On the obsidian wall that surrounded the entire war museum, the names of tens of millions of heroes had been carved with dark gold ink.
Li Yao found the name at the end of the wall where the smell of ink was still lingering in the air. He also found the family of three who were paying respects to the heroes and recording their files in the database.
One of them was a woman with a thin face and dressed simply. She was so meticulous that she was almost old-fashioned. The other was a man who was also plain and slightly plump. He was holding his wife's shoulder all the time.
There was also a vigorous little boy whose eyes were beaming with agility. He raised his head and puffed his cheeks while he counted the names on the Wall of Heroes from top to bottom.
On the Wall of Heroes in front of the family of three, a few words were carved very simply.
"Major Helian Lie of the Union Army."
When Li Yao found them, the woman happened to turn around and see him. Her face did not change, but her eyes were obviously glittering.
Although the two parties had communicated in advance, Li Yao still felt somewhat embarrassed. He coughed and walked forward.
The man knew who Li Yao was and appeared to be at a loss and somewhat on guard. The little boy did not know who Li Yao was. Blinking his big eyes that were somewhat similar to Helian Lie's, he observed him curiously. The woman, on the other hand, was quite generous. After saying something to her husband and patting her son's head, she invited Li Yao to talk to her in a neither servile nor overbearing manner.
"You must be Shen Wenyin, Ms. Shen, right?"
Li Yao said, "The distinguished contributions of your father, Major Helian Lie, in the space battle a month ago have been proved in many ways. His valiant and fearless charge made it possible for the Union Army's wormhole bombs to detonate. He successfully delayed the enemy for two crucial hours, allowing us to destroy the space gate on the Imperium's side in the end.
"Your father is the key to the battle. He is also the role model and pride of the Union Army. The evaluation of his military contributions, the posthumous conferment of his military rank, and the treatment of the family of the martyrs will be announced soon.
"Your father and I … can be considered old acquaintances. Since I've learned that he still has a bloodline, it's only natural that I want to tell you this personally."
Shen Wenyin listened quietly. She first bowed deeply, then looked at Li Yao seriously. Her voice was a little hoarse as she said, "Thank you, President Li. I thought you wouldn't be able to find me."
Li Yao smiled. "It was indeed difficult to find you. There is no information about your mother in the army. It seems that your father and your mother separated soon after they got along. You also took your mother's surname. It took us quite a bit of effort to inform you."
"I … I didn't want to come."
Shen Wenyin looked at the family members of the victims in the distance who were paying homage to their loved ones. Her fingers subconsciously fiddled with the nonexistent cigarette. After hesitating for a while, she crossed her arms and said softly, "Helian Lie is not a good husband, and he can't be considered a good father. I hate him. My mother and I both hate him. We only want to run away from him and never see him again, even if it's in this form."
"Well …"
Li Yao blinked his eyes quickly.
Although he was slightly surprised, it was not too strange after considering the comments of 'Mad Dog' Helian Lie in the army that he had collected over the past month.
Shen Wenyin stared at Li Yao with a complicated gaze. "President Li wants to know about my family? About Helian Lie? It's nothing special. It's nothing more than a scarred, lonely, and crazy man and a silly woman who has read too many romance novels. Her head is filled with naive fantasies. She believes that she can 'save' this man. It's a common story.
"It's just that the silly woman in the story is often able to undo the knot in the deepest part of the heart of the man who was once hurt. They live happily ever after. But in the real world …"
She smiled and touched her chapped lips. It seemed that she was putting the nonexistent cigarette to her mouth.
Li Yao was silent for a moment. He said softly, "I heard from my colleagues and psychiatrists in the army that Major Helian Lie seems to be troubled by a serious mental illness. It's partly because of the battlefield syndrome, but also because of the strong stimulation he received early on … I'm sorry."
Shen Wenyin was slightly dazed. She was amused. "President Li, why are you apologizing to me? It's all because he is too narrow-minded and can't extricate himself from the dilemma. Does it have anything to do with other people?"
Li Yao said, "That's true, but I've always had a very strange feeling. It's not that I feel guilty. It's just that I've never thought that a person like Helian Lie would establish a family, that he would have his own happiness, anger, sorrow, and dreams to pursue. He would … sacrifice himself heroically."
Shen Wenyin raised her eyebrow. She stared at Li Yao in even more surprise and confusion. She could not help but say, "President Li, you are nothing like the 'Vulture Li Yao' in the books, the news, and all kinds of propaganda and entertainment works. Had it not been for the fact that a lot of people from the Secret Sword Bureau or a certain special agent department were here, chatted with me for a long time, and checked the belongings that I carried dozens of times, I would've suspected that you were a fake."
Li Yao smiled, too. He scratched his nose and said, "Ever since my identity was exposed, it seems that everybody who saw me said the same thing. Even I was almost wondering if I was a fake."
Holding back her laughter, Shen Wenyin took a long breath and said, "In fact, I have a very weird feeling right now, too. The things that I've been thinking about for decades have all turned into reality, but they are so unpredictable and dreamy that they do not seem to be real at all.
"Did you know, President Li? There was a time when I hated you very much. I hated you very, very much. It was when Helian Lie overcultivated and became mentally deranged. He cried bitterly and held his stomach as he vomited. At the same time, he yelled at me and my mother, baring his fangs and brandishing his claws like a beast.
"At that time, I was already five or six years old. I knew a thing or two, and I got in touch with the original legend of 'Vulture Li Yao' from various sources. I also learned what a dishonorable role my father played in the legend.
"Of course, I can't say that you did anything wrong. He only had himself to blame for everything. You were not wrong at all. You were a victim, too.
"However, when Helian Lie tortured himself and us so much that we could barely stand it anymore, I, a little girl of six or seven years old, couldn't help but think that if you hadn't been around, if 'Vulture Li Yao' had never existed, and if Helian Lie hadn't been taught such a lesson and changed, would his fate, my mother's fate, and mine have been completely different? Would I have been able to live a more ordinary life like other kids?
"At the very least, other kids wouldn't have pretended to be my father to be beaten by you again and again when they were playing 'war games'. They would have been beaten until they vomited, and then they would have chased after my butt and imitated the sound of my father's vomiting!
"The sound of dozens of children mimicking my father's vomiting has been haunting me for a long time. I, I can even endure everything that Helian Lie did to me and my mother. But I just can't stand that kind of fake vomiting sound. At the most extreme moment, I thought of death. A total of 97 times." "That's right.
Li Yao blushed and said, "I'm sorry. I don't think that what I did was wrong, either. But if I were given another chance, I might have chosen a different, more … controllable way."
Shen Wenyin smiled again, as if she were telling someone else's story. "President Li, you must not change your mind, or it will be terrible.
"I cursed myself countless times, I cursed you, I cursed Helian Lie, and I even cursed my mother. I cursed fate for playing such a great joke on me.
"But one day, when the most beautiful thing in the world happened to me, when I met another big man, and then … I had a little man, I suddenly felt that everything that had happened to me in the past, and even all the good and bad things that had happened in the world before I was born, had their own meaning.
"The meaning of all these things was that when I walked to the middle of the road on that cold and snowy morning, I slipped and fell. Half of my body went numb from the fall, and I couldn't get up for a long time. Then, all the past events surfaced in my mind, and I broke down completely. I cried like a child, and the sky and earth were dark.
"It was precisely because I was crying so much that the big idiot standing on your right who was secretly looking at us noticed me and stumbled over to help me up.
"Even now, I still remember that I pushed him away fiercely. I cried and said something very stupid. I said, 'Go away, my father is Helian Lie.' He was pushed by me and sat on the ground. He rubbed his head for a long time and asked, 'Who is Helian Lie?' with white smoke coming out of his mouth.
"Hehe. I've imagined what the world would be like without you ten thousand times. But if 'Vulture Li Yao' had never beaten Helian Lie, his fate would've been completely changed, and he wouldn't have met my mother. Even if they did, it would've been impossible for him to have anything to do with my mother as a noble young man. Then, I wouldn't have been born at all.
"Even if I had been born and raised in another mysterious way, I wouldn't have walked on the cold street of that planet in the early morning of that winter. Even if I had walked on it and accidentally slipped, I wouldn't have cried so hard like an idiot.
"Then, I won't know him, and I won't have him. Every day that the three of us spend together is like a soap bubble, disappearing without a trace with a 'pop'. When I think of this, I'm so scared that I want to die.
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