Chapter 104: Chapter 103: The Curtain Falls
It was past seven in the evening when Chen Zhenglong and his wife, He Juan, got up to leave.
Chen Zhenglong had initially ntioned staying to keep company overnight, but He Juan forcefully dragged him out of the hospital room.
The cheerful smile on He Juan’s face contrasted sharply with Chen Zhenglong’s wistful eyes clinging to the door fra, leaving a lasting impression on Shao Zifeng over the next few days.
He didn’t understand the struggles of middle-aged n, but it still deepened his understanding of marriage.
He wondered how Brother Chen, with such a robust physique, could still be so afraid of his sister-in-law. Could it be that she was a hidden master whom Brother Chen couldn’t defeat?
So this is the adult world, huh.
...
It’s absolutely terrifying!
Indeed, all he needed was a pet!
As the days passed, He Juan would punctually bring him als, tell him about the happenings in Su City, and chat to pass the ti each day.
He Juan’s care was ticulous, almost as if she really was his sister.
Chen Zhenglong would occasionally co by still in uniform, but he seed different now, sowhat disheartened and harried, no longer the vibrant, spirited man Shao Zifeng had first t.
With the couple’s help in his rehabilitation therapy, four days later, Shao Zifeng’s condition finally t the standards for discharge.
…
“Zifeng, I misjudged you, you really are too slovenly. You don’t even fold anything, just stuffing it haphazardly into the bag.”
Since he was leaving the hospital, Qiqi was busy from early in the morning, pulling out the travel bag that had accompanied Shao Zifeng through thick and thin from under the bed, skillfully unzipping it and pulling out its contents, one by one.
Suddenly, it shivered all over. Its head swiftly popped out of the bag, its long tail covering its nose, and its cute paws scratching frantically at its mouth as it looked at Shao Zifeng with a disgusted expression, “I won’t say anything about the bag being dirty and torn, and I can tolerate the clothes not being folded, but stuffing your unwashed socks in here? Don’t you have a conscience!”
Hearing Qiqi’s rebuke, Shao Zifeng’s face flushed with embarrassnt. Rembering the day he fled, stepping in so much filthy water and being too exhausted to wash them after reaching the hotel, he stuffed them into the bag and then completely forgot about it.
Awkwardly scratching his head, he stood up to tidy up himself, “Ahem… Tough day, Qiqi, let do it.”
“Hmph!” Qiqi snorted disdainfully, pushing Shao Zifeng’s big hand aside, “Go wash your face and brush your teeth first; you reek.”
Ti slipped quietly away amidst Qiqi’s nagging, as it neatly folded the clothes with its fluffy little paws and thodically stuffed them back into the bag.
That was when Shao Zifeng truly understood the aning behind the phrase in Qiqi’s information docunt, “It is both a listener and a speaker.”
It wasn’t apparent when playing around, but as soon as it started tidying up the room and cleaning, the style was exactly like Shao Yuying’s, it was like having a mom right by his side.
Declining an invitation from Chen Zhenglong and his wife to visit their ho, Shao Zifeng walked out of the hospital alone.
Since the city had sustained major damage, Su City University announced a temporary suspension of classes, so Shao Zifeng decided to take this opportunity to go ho for a while.
Of course, there was a deeper reason—they say there had been disagreents at higher levels about whether to rebuild or relocate.
One side argued that Su City needed rebuilding, as arbitrarily dismantling a city was extrely irresponsible towards the people’s emotions, especially those elderly who had lived here for decades—who would want to move to a strange city?
The other side believed that with Su City largely ruined and many citizens killed or injured, maintaining a city-level operation was not cost-effective.
Both sides were adamant, neither able to persuade the other, and now it was unclear what the future held for Su City.
“Join hands to progress and create brilliance; thank you for the contributions from all walks of life since the disaster…”
Walking on streets that were both familiar and strange, he heard a familiar broadcasting voice.
Feeling the warm sunshine and gentle breeze, and observing the severely damaged buildings and passing engineering troops, Shao Zifeng suddenly felt an inexplicable joy surging within him.
The mortal world always had a knack for soothing the human heart.
Without experiencing the darkest monts, one would never crave sunlight this fiercely.
Before this incident occurred, Shao Zifeng always thought that his world consisted of just himself and his family. Everything else was irrelevant to him. Others’ joys and sorrows, as well as life and death, were vague concepts to him, intangible and out of sight.
But today…
The sunshine was just right, people hurried by, and even the tender green shoots sprouting from the ruins delighted him for a long ti.
“Tongtong, be careful!”
Bang.
As Shao Zifeng was lost in thought looking at a small grass swaying in the wind, a little girl with pigtails riding a scooter crashed into him. She slowly tilted to one side, and a few cries of surprise ca from a distance.
With quick reflexes, Shao Zifeng caught the little girl in his arms. He looked into her large, frightened eyes and gently patted her head saying, “Be careful next ti, okay?”
A stylishly dressed young mother ran over and took the little girl from Shao Zifeng’s arms, fussing over her with concern.
After making sure the little girl was all right, she looked up at Shao Zifeng with gratitude, “Thank you, young man. Tongtong, say thank you to your big brother.”
The little girl peeked out from behind her mother, her large dark eyes shyly looking at Shao Zifeng as she murmured, “Thank you… big brother.”
Watching the mother and daughter slowly walking away, a faint smile appeared on Shao Zifeng’s lips.
Qiqi was perched on Shao Zifeng’s backpack, her sapphire-like eyes intently observing everything.
She always felt that Shao Zifeng had changed, but couldn’t quite pinpoint how.
But…
What does that have to do with , a re cat?
Qiqi stretched lazily, comfortably sprawled on Shao Zifeng’s backpack, basking in the warm sunlight and contentedly purring.
Her long tail swayed back and forth with Shao Zifeng’s movents.
It seed that Qiqi’s mood too was lifted by Shao Zifeng’s emotions.
After the brief incident, Shao Zifeng planned to return to his rental. The previous incident had been sudden, and he hadn’t had ti to check on his snakes…
Standing silently by the ruins, looking at the dry bloodstains on the ground and the piles of miscellaneous objects, Shao Zifeng’s face was a mask of complex emotions.
The area must have been searched, as all the rubble had been overturned, and all sorts of odds and ends were haphazardly piled up on one side.
Handbags, sports shoes, worn clothes, and furniture—each item bore witness to life once lived here. Among them, he saw his snake cabinet.
The moss on the snake cabinet had turned yellow, and the twisted, dried-up snake corpses were sun-dried.
Looking at everything before him, Shao Zifeng felt a deep sorrow…
My youth, it’s over indeed.
Ding.
His phone vibrated lightly.
“You were discharged, can we et? Five o’clock in the afternoon, at the Ring Road overpass.”
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