The one who opened the door was Xu Shu.
When she saw Lili and me, she immediately exclaimed in surprise, “Chen Yang, Lili! Are you two alright?”
I spun Lili around in place and asked, “Do we look like something happened to us?”
“No, no, come on in, hurry up. Shen Feng is cooking—perfect timing for dinner.”
She opened the door and stepped aside.
After we walked in, we realized it was really lively inside.
Chen Pu, Uncle Gazi, Jun Di, Tingyun, Zhou Wen, Taozi, and even Bruno were all sitting around on the sofa.
When they saw Lili and me, everyone immediately started asking about our condition.
After I briefly explained what happened during today’s examination, and they learned we were all fine, everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.
I hid the strange attitude the doctors had toward Xiao Hu before we left, only saying that he was still young and needed to be checked once every month.
Uncle Gazi, a bit nervous, asked whether Tingyun also needed monthly check-ups.
I joked with him, “If you want to go out for a stroll, you can take her with you.”
“Aiyo aiyo, I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go,” he waved his hands in panic.
The sofa was full, so I just slumped into a chair by the dining table, taking a careful look at the place.
The apartment was large—three bedrooms and one living room.
The living room had sofas arranged around it, a dining table, and still plenty of open space.
Noticing my gaze, Uncle Gazi pointed at the free area and said, “Later, we’ll tidy up that spot and make it a little play area for Yun-touer and Hu-touer, so they don’t mess up the house and leave us cleaning nonstop.”
Xu Shu, who was helping Shen Feng in the kitchen, poked her head out and laughed, “Thinking the same thing as me. When we first came in, I saw that empty space and thought of that. And didn’t we see a pond outside earlier? Later I’ll check whether there are any goldfish in it—catch two and put them in a bowl for them to play with.”
“That’d be great. One accidental spill, and the whole place will smell like fish water. That’ll be a fun mess to clean,” Shen Feng chimed in, leaning out of the kitchen.
I waved at him as greeting, then looked at the bedrooms.
“How are the rooms divided up? Where do poor little Lili and I get to sleep?”
Uncle Gazi quickly answered, “Well, there are four apartments on this floor. The innermost one is for Wang Jun, Lao Si, and that kid surnamed Liu. The one in the middle is for Xiao Shen, that guy surnamed Zhang, and your brother. The one outside that is for me, Xu girl, and Han girl. And the outermost one is for Chen Pu and Jun Di. Speaking of that—”
He looked at Lili and asked, “Girl… where do you want to live? Going back with your kid and the kid’s father, or staying with us?”
Lili almost instantly replied, “I’m not going back.”
“Alright then, you live with Chen girl in that last unit.” Uncle Gazi sighed, totally understanding Lili’s attitude.
Wang Jun really was unbearable.
I glanced at Bruno, who was sitting on the sofa fluently chatting with Jun Di in English.
“Hey, where do you live?”
Bruno turned around, seemingly not having heard clearly, his face puzzled as he scanned the room. “WHAT?”
“No ‘what,’ stop ‘what’-ing. Uncle Gazi, is this guy living with us?” I waved at Bruno and asked.
“No, this foreigner just came over to hang out.”
Only then did Bruno realize what I’d been asking him earlier.
He quickly responded, mumbling, “I live in the same area as Boss Suo. I’m not in the same district as you guys.”
That reminded me of what the black-clad man told me earlier.
“Didn’t they say that place was four blocks from here? You came all the way over just to hang out?”
“Yes. My work hasn’t been assigned yet. It’s boring being alone.” Bruno spread his hands.
“Alright, food’s done. Let’s eat first and talk after.” Just as I was about to say something, Shen Feng came out of the kitchen carrying a pot of porridge, cutting the conversation short.
Yangyang was the first to sit at the dining table with Xiaohu in his arms.
He waved at the others, signaling them to hurry over.
“Given the situation right now, we’ve got plenty of time and energy to chat slowly later. No need to rush. Eating is the most important thing.”
Everyone stopped talking and took their seats.
Looking at how seriously everyone was eating, I couldn’t help but want to laugh.
Humans truly live on food.
Along the way, we’ve suffered a lot just for the sake of eating.
From pursuing good meals at first to later only wanting to be full, it seems our attention never really drifted away from food.
Shen Feng must have noticed me—he tapped me with his chopsticks and asked, “What are you giggling about?”
I quickly snapped out of it. “Ah? Nothing, nothing. I just feel so happy seeing everyone eat together. After everything we went through, the fact that we’re all still alive and well—it’s kind of amazing when you think about it.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Shen Feng’s expression dimmed immediately.
Only then did I realize I had said something wrong.
I panicked and was about to explain, but Xu Shu grabbed my arm and gently shook her head.
Pulling out a moderate smile, she said, “Look at you—saying it’s nothing but then rambling on like that. Even Tingyun and Xiaohu know not to talk while eating.”
Knowing I’d said the wrong thing, I quietly let out an awkward laugh and stopped talking.
The meal ended soon after.
There were a bunch of DVDs in the house, and Uncle Gazi took the kids to watch Ultraman Tiga.
Bruno had to leave after dinner because of curfew.
After repeatedly assuring us he’d come again tomorrow, he finally left.
I urged Yangyang and Jun Di to quickly go shower—otherwise they’d all end up trying to wash at the same time.
Then, with another motive in mind, I stayed behind to tidy up the dishes with Shen Feng.
In the kitchen, I washed the dishes while Shen Feng sorted through the frozen food in the fridge.
After absentmindedly scrubbing a few plates, I finally gathered the courage to speak. “Um… Shen Feng…”
“Chen Yang.” Shen Feng stopped what he was doing and cut me off.
“Uh… huh?” I froze.
“You don’t need to do this. I know what you want to say, but saying those things will only make me feel worse. You’ve already apologized enough. It’s my own issue. She was my sister—my real sister. I only had one. I can’t let her go, can’t forget her. As long as anything reminds me of her, I can’t communicate normally.”
Shen Feng was still facing the fridge as he arranged the food.
I looked at him for a long moment before speaking.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful with my words from now on.”
“You don’t need to. Just pretend nothing happened. The more cautious you are, the more you remind me that Xiao Xue is gone.” Shen Feng finally finished with the fridge.
He turned around and looked at the sink still full of dishes. “Do you want me to wash them?”
“Huh?” I didn’t understand at first, then quickly shook my head.
“No, no, it’ll be done soon. You go take a shower.”
Shen Feng looked at me twice, then replied with a soft “okay” before walking out.
After he left, I quickly washed and put away the dishes, then rushed out of the kitchen.
Passing through the living room, I stopped when I saw Xiaohu imitating Ultraman poses in front of the TV.
“Xiaohu, are you sleeping with big sister or with grandpa tonight?” I asked.
“With big sister,” he said without even turning around, still shouting his own ‘whoosh’ and ‘haah’ sound effects.
“Then hurry up and come back with me. It’s already late. You can play again tomorrow.”
After all the commotion back and forth, it was already past eight.
Looking out the window, the outside was pitch dark, with only the lights from each house still glowing.
I found it strange—wouldn’t the walkers be attracted to the lights?
But then I remembered the cannons mounted on the walls and felt relieved.
Against an overwhelming advantage in firepower, walkers were nothing.
I picked up Xiaohu, said goodbye to Uncle Gazi, and headed outside to return home for a shower and sleep. A
hot shower… how long had it been since I last had one?
“Xiaohu In a bit, big sister is going to scrub you super clean, and then you’ll be a cool little handsome guy again, Tomorrow we’ll go out and see which families have cute little girls, and I’ll help you pick out a future wife first. How does that sound?”
I had no idea whether Xiaohu understood me or not, but as soon as I finished speaking, he burst into giggles…
Following Uncle Gazi’s directions from earlier, I found my room.
Before I even opened the door, I heard Wang Jun shouting inside:
“You f***ing—are you my wife or someone else’s? The kid’s still so little and you don’t care at all? What kind of mother are you? Get back with me right now!”
“I’m not going back.” Lili’s voice trembled slightly.
“Brother Wang Jun, since Sister Lili doesn’t want to go back, why not just let her stay with Sister Chen Yang? They’re on the same floor anyway, and not far.” Chen Pu was still polite and proper—even at a time like this—when speaking to Wang Jun.
“Get the f*** out of here! Who the hell are you to talk? And who the hell is Chen Yang? Why the hell should my wife stay with her instead of coming home with me?”
Seeing Wang Jun shouting louder and louder like a madman, I frowned tightly and pushed open the half-closed door.
“Oh… looks lively in here.” I let out a cold laugh and glanced around at the people inside.
Wang Jun looked like he was going to war—his hair practically standing on end as he glared fiercely at Lili, who stood at the doorway of one of the bedrooms.
With that expression, he looked like he could start hitting her at any moment.
Behind him stood Song Meijing, Lao Si, and Sister Liu.
Jun Di and Chen Pu were barefoot, their hair still dripping wet as they stood in the living room.
When they saw me return, both of them quickly shot me meaningful looks.
Wang Jun noticed me and turned his head.
His expression twisted awkwardly.
He wasn’t pleasant-looking to begin with, and with all that flesh on his face paired with that nasty look—just seeing him made me want to vomit.
“Wang Jun,” I said as I slowly walked over to stand beside Lili with Xiaohu in my arms.
“If I remember correctly… this isn’t your room, is it?”
I set Xiaohu down and whispered for him to go back into the bedroom first.
— The end of the Chapter–
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