Chapter 1 Redemption

Life is a blanket, with the threads of suffering and happiness closely intertwined. Pulling out one of them will destroy the entire blanket, and then destroy the entire life. Life needs to understand strength through desolation, understand the true self through rebellion, and even understand civilization through violence, understand emotions through war, understand the fragrance of a flower through blood, and understand new life through death.

In the center of the solemn and solemn auditorium, a child in a formal dress was standing on the podium. He held a famous work in his hand and recited the opening words in a loud voice.

"This is the best time, and the worst time; this is a sunny spring, and a snow-covered winter; this is a peaceful world, and a turbulent world; we are all going straight to heaven, and we are all going straight to hell."

After the recitation, a handsome man in a dark and straight suit, with an upright body, walked slowly onto the podium amid waves of applause. His temperament seemed serious and steady, and he was obviously a soldier.

As soon as the man stepped onto the stage, the applause from the audience stopped abruptly. Then, the music in the auditorium sounded, and the man stood on the stage, watching the people below sing the national anthem together. When the national anthem was halfway through, there were bursts of crying from the audience, and many people couldn't help but shed tears.

The man looked at the men and women in the audience, tears running down their faces, and his face, which should have been cold, couldn't help but show a moving look. When the national anthem was finished, the man looked at the audience, and the seriousness on his face gradually dissipated.

"Suffering is the prelude to awakening, just like our national flower, the hibiscus, which symbolizes Singapore's determination despite hardships. Ladies and gentlemen, we should never forget the efforts we made yesterday to achieve our rise today, especially those who have left their hometowns and come to foreign countries. Even if their hearts are full of pain and bitterness, for the sake of their families and their country, they still choose to go to unfamiliar overseas and meet the challenges of a new life. They are seeds that shape our image overseas, even if they cannot see this achievement now."

At this point, the man's voice choked, tears overflowed from his eyes, along the ravines of his cheeks, and dripped onto the back of his old hand.

This is Singapore's President Zhao Rihai, a sensitive but fragile great president.

"Sir, welcome."

In a bustling city, on a neon-lit night, on a busy street, countless men and women passed by an unattended stall.

Under a dim yellow light, a slightly plump, young but calm woman sat at the table, wearing a dark blue headscarf and a moon painted on her forehead. She was concentrating on shuffling the tarot cards on the table, not caring about the pedestrians passing by.

When she finished shuffling the cards and looked up, she saw a man in a suit standing in front of her stall. There was no expression on her face, as if she had already anticipated the man's arrival.

The man smiled slightly and asked politely, "Is your divination accurate?" He loosened his tie, raised his head slightly, and a hint of displeasure appeared in his eyes. Without waiting for the woman to respond, he sat directly opposite the square table, folded his hands on his chest, raised his head slightly, and looked at her.

"Sir, what do you want to ask?" The woman's voice was calm and her eyes were focused.

The man showed a playful smile, "I'm tired of this place. When can I leave?"

The woman did not respond, but put down the tarot cards in her hand, picked up another deck of cards, took out a card, and handed it directly to the man. She didn't look at the card, her eyes remained calm.

"Sir, your journey is over, you will leave soon."

The man looked at the card in the woman's hand and found that the card had a knight with a skeleton beside him, and "DEATH" was written under it.

When the man took the card, he saw that he had another card with the Wheel of Fortune, and "THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE" was written under it. He smiled slightly: "Interesting, what do you want to say?"

The woman tilted her body slightly, and her face slowly approached the man. Through the darkness, the man finally saw her smiling face under the blue headscarf.

"Sir, even if you are a very evil person, you must remember your original intention. An unintentional act of kindness may not change anything. On the contrary, it may cause disasters and eventually make you lose everything, even your life."

"Who said I was doing good!" A trace of anger flashed across the man's face, but he soon returned to smiling, "Some people choose to see the ugliness of this world, thinking that everything is illusory, and only climbing up is the most real. But I choose to see the beauty of this world, and I have witnessed those beauties with my own eyes."

"Sir, can I ask you one last question, what supports you to this day?"

"Is there any need to ask this?" The man said without hesitation, "It's tenacity"

Not far from the long and winding coastline in the west, there stands a black detention house. On the east side of this detention house, there is a small visiting room, and four visiting windows separate this small space. As the quartz clock on the wall pointed to 8:55, the door on the north side of the visiting room was pushed open by a policeman in police uniform, and the policeman walked into the visiting room with four detainees.

The first person to walk out was a young man in his twenties with his head down. Next came a man in his thirties in a suit, and finally two middle-aged men with red and swollen faces and smelling of alcohol. The police led them into the visiting room one by one, pointed to the chairs, and asked them to sit down. Another policeman in the visiting room stood quietly by and watched them.

The quartz clock pointed to nine o'clock, and the door to the south of the visiting room was opened. First came a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a badge on his chest, followed by a woman in her fifties with simple clothes, and finally came two middle-aged women in their forties.

The man with gold-rimmed glasses walked slowly to the man in his thirties, and the two looked at each other through the glass wall covered with round holes.

"How do you feel about this trip to Singapore?"

"Mr. Han," the man glanced at the glass wall, "Isn't it said that the temperature in Singapore does not exceed 35 degrees all year round? How come the temperature here is almost over 40 when I came here?"

"There are always accidents." The man with gold-rimmed glasses shrugged and smiled.

"Accident?" The man showed dissatisfaction on his face, "There are so many accidents in this world. I just arrived in Singapore a few days ago, and I moved in directly. Are you here to see me laugh?"

"I'm here to tell you that I have booked a ticket to Phnom Penh for you, and the flight is this afternoon."

"You mean I can be released this afternoon?" The man looked at the man with gold-rimmed glasses and showed a look of praise on his face, "Mr. Han, you are so efficient, no wonder they sent you to see me."

"After all, things are in the hands of people, and I can still do this." The man with gold-rimmed glasses pushed his glasses confidently.

"Chen Ran, even if it is the right thing, why do you have to do it?" The woman's almost crying voice made the man turn his eyes to her.

He turned his head and saw the young man on the other side of the glass wall, holding his clothes tightly with both hands, lowering his head, his face full of guilt. He didn't look at him for long, but turned his head and continued to look at the man with gold-rimmed glasses.

"Mom, if I become like them, what's the point of my living?" The young man slowly raised his head, his face gradually showing determination, his eyes firm.

The young man's words completely attracted the man's attention, he turned his head and looked at the young man carefully.

The sun shone in through the prison's air vents, illuminating the dark cell, and the golden light beam sprinkled on the ground. The young Li Chenran sat on the ground, tears in his eyes, his face full of humiliation and unwillingness. He seemed to have made up his mind and slowly raised his clenched right hand.

"Young man, what are you doing?" A man in a black suit came out of the darkness. He walked to Li Chenran's side, and a subtle expression appeared on his indifferent face. Crouching down, he said to Li Chenran: "I heard that the hibiscus is about to bloom, don't you want to go and see it in full bloom?"

Li Chenran turned his head, his eyes full of grief and despair, and said with trembling lips: "Will I see the flowers bloom again?"

The man looked at him with a smile: "As long as you have enough patience, you will definitely see the flowers bloom again."

The door of the detention center slowly opened, and a man in a suit walked out. He saw the man with gold-rimmed glasses waving at him from a distance, and a smile appeared in his heart, and he walked towards him quickly.

"Mr. Han, thanks to you, I can be released so quickly." The man thanked.

"This is what I should do." The man with gold-rimmed glasses waved his hand gently, and then took out the plane ticket from his briefcase and handed it to him.

The man took the ticket and suddenly thought of something, and asked: "Mr. Han, what will happen to the young man I met in the visiting room this morning?"

The man with gold-rimmed glasses answered nonchalantly: "He, this kind of thing can be big or small, but generally he will be sent to our overseas war fronts, after all, wars need manpower. There are also very few people who will be sent to the surrounding undeveloped islands for transformation."

After hearing this, the man looked at the ticket in his hand and showed a hint of interest: "Singapore is really an interesting place, I will come back again."