Golden leaves drifted lazily across the stone path as Xia Lihua and Yang Lingyun continued their slow walk beneath the trees, their son's stroller rolling gently between them.
Little Sugar had begun making soft, curious noises at the rustling leaves overhead, his tiny hand stretching upward as though trying to catch the sunlight itself.
Xia Lihua laughed quietly at that, adjusting his blanket. "Ambitious already."
Yang Lingyun's lips curved faintly. "He'll need that."
Neither of them noticed—
That they were being watched.
From a worn wooden bench partially hidden beneath the shade of an older oak tree, Ding Feng sat slouched, one arm resting heavily across the backrest, the other loosely holding a half-empty bottle of alcohol concealed poorly beneath his sleeve.
He looked nothing like the man he once had been.
Time and prison had not been kind.
