Back Then, I Adored You

She didn’t answer him. He thought that maybe she had already turned off her phone.

He put down the phone in a happy mood, holding the steering wheel and listening to the directions from the navigation while he sped along the highway with the sunshine beaming on the ground.

Driving off of the highway from the nearest toll gate, Gu Yusheng had to circle all of A city before he could get back on the highway to Shanghai.

A city was near the Qin River, thus the road leading to the highway was built along the river.

Many households had been built by the river. The houses they lived in weren’t those of small towns, but all built by hand. Most of them were three-story-tall Western-style villas with red tiles and white walls. They were very beautiful and eye-catching.

The floodgates of the river probably were open that day, so the current was very fierce. Even through the closed windows, Gu Yusheng could hear the sound of running water.

The car was low on fuel. Gu Yusheng was afraid of running out of gas on the highway and not being able to find a gas station, so when he saw a gas station from a distance, he slowed down.

After fueling the car and paying the bill, Gu Yusheng continued driving.

Through the window, he could see a scene by the river. The terrain ahead was getting lower and lower, and the river was flowing faster and faster.

His driving speed slowly increased from zero to thirty miles per hour. Through the rearview mirror, Gu Yusheng saw several boys, who were all around fifteen or sixteen, playing by the river.

Although it was already autumn, the weather in the southern cities was still warm. The little boys were only wearing shorts, mischievously throwing stones into the river and frolicking happily.

The boys on the shore were shouting something at each other, and then one of them took off his shoes, jumping into the fast-flowing river.

As he was swimming, he shouted a few words to the rest, who all took off their shoes and jumped into the river one after another.

They played in the water for a while, only to discover that they were moving farther and farther from the shore, causing them all to try to swim back.

The current was so fast that they couldn’t swim as fast as it. One little boy gradually fell behind and was so submerged that Gu Yusheng could only see his head pop up from time to time.

He had probably shouted for help, but the other little boys who were swimming ahead had their heads turned away. Maybe it was because of fear that most of the little boys ignored the last one and hastily scrambled up the river bank.

Only one little boy, who hesitated while sitting for a moment, eventually turned around and swam towards the last little boy.

It hadn’t been easy for that little boy to escape to the shore. Now that he was dragging another boy, the two of them were constantly struggling in the river, but couldn’t reach the shore.

The little boys on the shore were shouting loudly, with great anxiety.

One of them had run to the houses not far away, as if to call for help.

The two little boys in the river were washed down further and further, and the two little boys remaining on the shore were running after them. The slope ahead became lower and lower, just like a waterfall. If the two little boys in the water were washed down and caught in the whirlpool of water, they would die…

Looking at this, with almost no hesitation or thought, Gu Yusheng stepped hard on the brakes, parked his car on the side of the highway, crossed the guardrail, and ran quickly towards the river.

He didn’t even take his shoes off, just jumped into the river and swam towards the two little boys.