Chapter 1077: Not Only Did You Come Back Yourself, You Brought Bai Hemen Too!?

.......Lu Ding waved his hand: “Forget about him.”

“I’m making a call.”

Bai Hemen sat on the sofa, the God of Two Poles in his mind howling wildly.

He acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, completely undisturbed.

Lu Ding pulled out his phone.

He made the call.

Meanwhile.

On the other side.

In the Yunhai 749 Bureau Chief’s office.

Chu Gexiao stared at Lu Ding’s incoming call, the location once again showing Yunhai.

His heart trembled.

Could this kid really be back again?

Though it was a question, deep down, he already knew the answer.

He answered the call.

[Hello?]

[Lu Ding: Director Chu, I’ve brought Su Yun’s ashes back. Could you send someone over? Xiao Bai and I are at 1503. We need to head to Su Yun’s parents’ place to deliver the ashes.]

[Chu Gexiao: What!!! Not only did you come back yourself, you brought Bai Hemen too!? Stowaway!!!?]

[Lu Ding: Director Chu, what are you saying? Stowaway? That sounds terrible. I just failed my execution, accidentally ended up here, and figured I’d take care of things while I’m at it.]

Chu Gexiao took a deep breath.

He was at a loss.

Technically, he should report this to his superiors.

After all, it wasn’t Lu Ding’s first time.

But if one of their own kids went out, and he went running to tattle, that just wouldn’t sit right.

Chu Gexiao thought for a moment.

After glancing around guiltily, he lowered his voice and said, [Can’t you just leave the ashes there? I’ll have someone pick them up. It doesn’t matter who delivers them.]

[Lu Ding: If someone else delivers them, they can’t make up the last words.]

[Chu Gexiao: Make up?]

Alright, he understood. Given Lu Ding’s style, it was normal that he hadn’t given Su Yun a chance to leave any last words.

[Chu Gexiao: Fine. Don’t call anyone else. I’ll come pick you up myself. But you have to promise me—no fighting, no exposing yourself. Get this done and head back quickly. Why do you keep running home every day?]

[Lu Ding: Got it, got it, Director Chu. You can rest assured.]

With the call ended.

Soon.

Chu Gexiao drove himself and arrived at the building where Lu Ding lived.

From start to finish, neither of them mentioned going back to Yunhai 749.

After all, that would be way too blatant.

Lu Ding, as the star investigator of Yunhai 749, was practically known by everyone there.

If a commotion broke out, it would be hard to explain.

Lu Ding and Bai Hemen went downstairs.

They got in the car.

Lu Ding called out, “Director Chu.”

Bai Hemen followed with, “Director Chu.”

Chu Gexiao responded, “Huh......”

Whether it was a “huh” or a “sigh,” it was hard to tell.

Either way, it was pretty helpless.

The guy was a good person, incredibly capable, a model worker for 749, but he never followed any rules.

It was no different from some ancestral treasure being passed down to the wrong hands.

Flipping faces, turning into panda people.

There was no arguing with it, because at least it had been passed down.

It made sense, but it also didn’t.

Chu Gexiao turned the steering wheel and drove out of the neighborhood, heading straight for Su Yun’s parents’ place.

Through the car window, Lu Ding stared at the familiar streets.

In his mind, fragments of memories surfaced.

From the car’s speakers, a clear voice came through, accompanied by music.

“That year at the pavilion, your back lit up, in the rain I lit a elegy......”

Lu Ding suddenly smiled.

He raised his hand.

The cloudless sky suddenly filled with dark clouds.

With a crack of thunder.

It started raining.

Lu Ding sang along with the music: “I’m waiting for you... waiting for this rain to end......”

Bai Hemen listened from the back seat, glancing at the large screen in the car: “Lu Ding, were you the lyricist for this?”

Lu Ding leaned back against the headrest of the passenger seat: “If nothing unexpected happened, I was the lyricist for a lot of her songs. I just didn’t think she’d find these accompaniments.”

Everyone had their youth, and Lu Ding was no different.

His first decade-plus wasn’t a blank slate.

Even though novels made being a literary thief seem easy, in practice, wanting to be a good one—copying songs, copying novels—was insanely difficult.

Writing novels, he could only remember the general plot, and Lu Ding had no writing skills.

He’d tried before, but it was like putting gold on a toilet seat; readers just weren’t buying it.

Besides, many big platforms and formal contracts had age requirements.

Writing songs, lyrics—Lu Ding could remember them, but accompaniments and such were beyond him.

He couldn’t figure it out.

He didn’t have the money to take classes either. He’d tried self-study, but it was tough, nothing like the smooth sailing he’d imagined.

And his voice back then wasn’t good, he had no technique, and he didn’t sing well.

Of course, now it was different. With [White Snake Shakes Scales], singing was a breeze—a heavenly voice.

Later, during his high school years, there was a brief trend where people used small password notebooks with locks to write lyrics or compile classmate profiles.

Lu Ding bought one too and gave it to the girl who had brought him breakfast for most of their sophomore year of high school.

There was no novel-like scenario of a handsome boy and a beautiful girl.

Back then, Lu Ding hadn’t really grown into his looks, so he was just average.

The girl was also chubby, with thick bangs, a baggy school uniform, and average-looking too.

There was no romantic awakening, no sweet campus story.

It was just that he was poor, but he was a good person and a good student.

His deskmate, though quiet, was also a good person and decent at studying.

They chatted from time to time, and Lu Ding would occasionally explain problems to her. When she saw that he often skipped breakfast, she’d bring him buns and soy milk. Not much, not fancy, but every time she ate something, she’d bring him the same.

Just a few dollars’ worth.

It lasted through most of their sophomore year.

When she left for art training, Lu Ding gave her a notebook filled with lyrics, saying, “If you can figure these out, for the rest of your life, you’ll be the top of the music industry. Remember to cut me in.”

The two of them parted that winter.

Until this winter, she sang, and she became famous.......

Her style, different from the trendy short-video songs of the current era, made her stand out brilliantly among the crowd.

Lu Ding was proud of her.

Good people should get good rewards.

Lu Ding turned his head: “Director Chu, after I’m not around here anymore, look out for her.”

Chu Gexiao glanced at the screen and smiled: “Is there something between you two?”

Lu Ding smiled back: “A really good person. Her casual act of kindness helped me get through an awkward and slightly self-conscious sophomore year.”

Freshman year, nobody knew anyone, so naturally, no one paid attention to Lu Ding.

Sophomore year, people got familiar, so someone would inevitably notice him. Not every day, but occasionally someone would ask, “Lu Ding, no breakfast?”

Even though Lu Ding’s soul was an adult, that kind of question was, well.......

He always used the excuse that he was used to it.

But really, he just thought breakfast wasn’t worth it. Those few dollars were better off saved.

After all, school opened for lunch at noon; he’d just eat more then.

But he was hungry, no doubt.

Still, it was bearable.

The hunger was as awkward as when people asked him why he didn’t eat breakfast—not heart-palpitating hunger, but uncomfortable.

Until his junior year, when Lu Ding got a scholarship, he kept the habit of eating breakfast.

Back then, at around the same age, he’d also found some small part-time jobs that suited him.