Weihao left together with the boys to explore the surrounding area.
Nanzhi and Baoyin remained behind.
At the ntion of lunch, the children imdiately stopped playing. One by one, they ran over and surrounded the two guards, their voices overlapping in excited chatter.
"Uncle, I'm hungry!"
"I can help wash the pots!"
"Uncle, Uncle, what are we eating today?"
"Uncle, can we eat sothing other than noodles?"
The sa boy wearing a brown jacket and black shorts piped up again, his eyes shining. "Uncle, how about we go pick mushrooms again?"
The guards exchanged glances.
"Alright, alright," the older guard said, rubbing the boy's head. "Let's see if any new mushrooms have grown."
Taking care of so many children, they were already stretched thin in terms of food and water. Even if they rationed carefully, the remaining supplies would only last another five days at most.
That was why they were grateful when they discovered the mushrooms.
Although they had almost no taste, they could at least fill the stomach.
"Mushrooms?" Nanzhi asked, her interest imdiately piqued.
Ever since she beca a bio-artificer, she had developed a natural curiosity toward all kinds of plants.
"Oh," one of the guards replied, "we found them growing near the roots of a big dead tree, right at the edge of the park."
"Can I go with you?" Nanzhi asked. "I just want to see what kind of mushrooms they are."
The guards hesitated for only a mont before nodding.
They set off together toward the edge of the children's park.
They passed a broken seesaw, its tal fra rusted and bent, and a climbing structure missing half of its horizontal bars. The children ran ahead, bumping shoulders and laughing, arguing cheerfully about who had found the biggest mushroom yesterday.
Their voices rose and fell like birdsong, light enough to montarily soften the bleakness of the apocalypse.
Before long, they arrived.
However, instead of imdiately inspecting the mushrooms, Nanzhi's attention was drawn to the tree.
It stood alone at the park's edge, its thick roots half-exposed, clawing stubbornly into the soil. Its branches were bare and skeletal, stretching toward the sky like thin fingers.
There were no leaves.
At first glance, it looked like a dying mangrove tree.
Noticing her gaze linger on it, one of the guards followed her line of sight. "After the developnt here, the river was redirected and the land was filled in," he explained. "I heard most of the mangroves died. This one is the only tree that lasted."
The younger guard chid in, lowering his voice slightly. "The locals started tying ribbons on it, believing it was so kind of spiritual tree. Co to think of it, the flood was terrifying, but this tree stayed standing. Maybe what they said was true."
The older guard sighed. "It's a pity. This place used to be a fishing park before all the developnt. Boss Wang used to bring here often when I was younger."
A nostalgic smile crept onto his face. "The carp we caught back then were huge—thick as my arm!"
Nanzhi slowly raised her eyes.
She noticed the ribbons tied to the branches, mostly faded red strings, weathered by sun and rain. All of them were similar, except for one.
On the lowest branch, there was a pink lace ribbon, yellowed by age, its edges frayed.
The mont her eyes fell on it, the world before her wavered.
The scenery changed.
"What are you doing, Zhi Zhi?"
A gentle-looking man wearing black-rimd glasses stood nearby, his fishing rod resting against a rock. He looked at his daughter with amused concern as she carefully tied a lace ribbon around a broken tree branch.
The little girl nad Zhi Zhi pouted, her face full of worry. After finishing tying the ribbon over what she considered the tree's "wound," she asked anxiously, "Daddy, I broke a tree branch, and the tree is bleeding. Will it die?"
The man chuckled softly. He set aside the fishing rod and walked to her side, crouching down to her level.
"Silly Zhi Zhi," he said gently. "The tree isn't bleeding. That's just sap."
He tapped her nose lightly. "The tree won't die. Its branch will grow new ones."
The little girl let out a long sigh of relief. She turned to the tree solemnly and said, "Then since I broke your branch, I'll give you my ribbon. We're even now."
The man watched her quietly.
He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but the tree's leaves seed to tremble gently, even though there was no wind.
"How spiritual," he muttered with a smile.
Suddenly—
The fishing rod jerked violently.
The float tipped, followed by a sharp rattling sound as the reel began to spin.
"Oh! Zhi Zhi, we caught a fish!" the man exclaid.
He hurriedly grabbed the rod, bracing himself as the line pulled taut. The force was far greater than he expected, and he nearly stumbled toward the water.
"Dad! Dad!" the little girl cried out. "Let Zhi Zhi help you!"
She rushed forward, grabbing onto his arm with all her strength.
In the end, father and daughter worked together to reel it in.
The fish that erged from the water was enormous, a thick brown carp, twice the length of the man's arm.
No wonder it had been so heavy.
The man looked down at his daughter. Her cute little dress was sared with mud, and her cheeks were dirty from splashes of water and soil.
A troubled expression slowly spread across his face.
"Oh no," he said weakly. "Your mother is going to kill ."
He was right.
When they returned ho that day, her mother stood at the door holding a broom, fury blazing in her eyes.
"Jingnan!" she shouted. "How dare you bring my daughter back like this?!"
"Honey, I'm sorry!" the man yelled as he ran for his life.
Those were the most peaceful days she had ever known.
After the death of Lu Patriarch's mother, her father fell out of favor.
Lu Chenyu seized the opportunity and frad her father for embezzlent of company funds. Her father had never been ambitious compared to Lu Chenyu,
That's why the Lu Patriarch cast a blind eye.
All of her father's assets were confiscated, including his savings.
To survive, her father rented a modest ho near the Qingde River. Seeing the old uncles who brought ho fresh fish every day, he gradually developed an interest in fishing.
He loved bringing her along.
Because every ti she went with him, the fish he caught were always bigger.
He started calling her the Carp Fairy.
The scene before her slowly faded.
Baoyin's face ca into view.
"Sister Nan?" Baoyin called softly. "Is everything alright?"
She had called her several tis already, but Nanzhi had seed lost in thought.
Nanzhi blinked, grounding herself in the present. She gave a small nod. "It's fine. I just rembered sothing."
She hadn't expected to see this tree again.
Even after framing her father and stripping him of everything, Lu Chenyu hadn't let go. When he learned they were living near this place, he bought the land and initiated its developnt.
Nanzhi had been too young back then. Her mories were incomplete, blurred at the edges.
But she still rembered so things.
"I rember this place was supposed to be developed into a residential area," she said thoughtfully. "Why did it beco a children's park instead?"
The older guard rubbed his chin. "About that… the developer did plan to build residential buildings here. But for so reason, strange things kept happening."
He lowered his voice. "Workers started falling ill. Even the developer himself got sick. In the end, he resold the land at a lower price. Fearing the sa thing will happen, the new owner consulted a monk."
The younger guard nodded. "Later, it was developed into a children's park. Surprisingly, the construction went smoothly."
Lu Chenyu suffering losses always put Nanzhi in a good mood.
Her mother had been an archaeologist. After they left this place, the institution called her away, and they left Jade City for a ti. They only returned when Nanzhi was in high school.
Nanzhi raised her head once more and looked deeply at the tree.
Nice to et you again, she said silently.
A gentle breeze passed through.
The ribbons tied to the branches swayed lightly, as if the tree were responding, greeting her in return.
After a long mont, Nanzhi withdrew her gaze and finally turned her attention to the mushrooms.
As soon as her eyes focused on them, a familiar prompt appeared before her.
Reviews
All reviews (0)