Qin City First People’s Hospital was the best hospital in Qin City.
No matter the time of day, the crowds of people coming to see doctors or visit patients packed the hospital so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through.
After visiting Ji Xun, Hu Yuan killed half the afternoon at a nail salon in Qin City before heading to her true destination.
Her earlier claim of “dropping by on the way” wasn’t just a polite excuse; she indeed had a more important appointment here. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have traveled all the way from Ning City to Qin City, taking time off work just for this.
She was coming to see her father, Lao Hu.
Their meeting was scheduled for 6:00 PM at Lao Hu’s house.
But she went somewhere else beforehand.
A carpentry shop near Xinghe Road in Qin City. Xinghe Road was close to Qin City’s abandoned port. The location was remote, and foot traffic was sparse on regular days. Opening a carpentry shop here naturally wasn’t meant to make big money; it was merely a small base for Qin City’s carpentry enthusiasts.
The reason Hu Yuan knew this so clearly was because this base was established by Lao Hu.
She even knew the reason Lao Hu chose this location—precisely because of the abandoned port not far away. Even the incident before, where Lao Hu was sent to the police booth by others, was probably a misunderstanding caused by an old man staying all alone in a place out in the middle of nowhere.
Ever since she was young, Lao Hu had especially loved going to the abandoned port, but he never brought anyone with him. That place, which had long been deserted and had nothing but trash, seemed to be Lao Hu’s private sanctuary.
When she was very little, growing impatient staying at home without Lao Hu, she secretly followed him here and caught sight of some interesting things.
From then on, she never tired of this kind of “peeping.”
Including right now.
She had called home earlier, and when Lao Hu wasn’t there, she guessed he was here.
And Lao Hu was indeed here, inside the carpentry shop.
She wore a pair of red high heels, yet her movements were completely silent. She stood quietly under a decorative tree behind the carpentry shop. This was near the back door of the building, diagonally across from a window. Standing here, she could easily see what was happening inside the window, while the people inside wouldn’t notice that behind the thick decorative tree outside—which was a full three stories high and required a person’s arms to encircle it—someone was hiding.
This decorative tree was no coincidence.
After Lao Hu chose this place as his base, he carried her here to take a look. She was probably five or six years old at the time. She had meticulously selected this planting location and the tree itself—all for the sake of future peeping.
The girl grew into a woman, and her line of sight shifted from low to high.
From having to cling to the trunk, climb up the branches, and look down from above, it changed into being able to see just by standing behind the tree.
The window was open, and Lao Hu was looking at his phone.
Lao Hu was getting better and better looking.
Hu Yuan remembered that when she was young, Lao Hu wasn’t this good-looking. Back then, he could only be considered someone with decent, regular features. But as he grew older, for some reason, this man with merely regular features actually grew increasingly handsome and striking.
His hair had become mottled with gray, but the mottled hair revealed a story of vicissitudes that he didn’t have in his youth. His eyebrows had turned snow-white, but the snow-white brows were as approachable as those of the God of Longevity. His bone structure also seemed to have undergone subtle changes, becoming more three-dimensional and extraordinary.
But he had indeed grown old…
Just as Hu Yuan was thinking this, a gentle streak of purple swept across her vision. She looked over again and saw a young woman wearing a purple sweater dress appear next to Lao Hu.
Luo Sui had arrived.
She had known about this woman for two or three years already. It was just that, being separated by distance, any rare encounters were always rushed and brief. Now, she finally had the time and space to get a good look at her.
The most overwhelming impression, first and foremost, was youth.
Of course, when an old person and a young person walk together, people naturally notice first how old the old one is, and how young the young one is.
The next impression was beauty.
A very beautiful, seemingly very gentle woman.
She looked as gentle as the purple sweater she wore, and as beautiful as the green jade bracelet on her wrist.
Luo Sui held a small plate in her hands. The plate contained a wide variety of fruits, and the arrangement was exquisitely delicate. The inside was clustered with cherries and cherry tomatoes, while the outside was lined with sliced apples and pears. From a distance, it looked like a flower blooming on the plate.
Because the window was open, Hu Yuan could hear their conversation.
“Lao Hu, have some fruit,” Luo Sui urged him.
She picked up a toothpick from the plate, speared a slice of apple, and fed it to Lao Hu, saying as she fed him, “Eat the fruit first. After the fruit, we’ll take your medicine.”
“Still have to take medicine? Don’t listen to the doctor’s nonsense,” Lao Hu’s face wrinkled up. “My illness was cured a long time ago.”
His face already had many wrinkles; when it wrinkled up like this, it looked as terrifying as a dehydrated orange peel.
Even though she had been raised by Lao Hu since childhood, Hu Yuan sometimes harbored a feeling of unbearable intolerance toward this face… It wasn’t disgust, but because their relationship was too intimate, she couldn’t tolerate the beautiful, mountain-like image of the father in her memories being replaced by this doddering, senile appearance before her eyes.
Yet, this doddering, senile appearance seemed to be the object of another woman’s adoration.
Hu Yuan heard Luo Sui’s voice, babbling and tinkling like a flowing spring when she spoke.
“I know your illness was cured long ago. But taking the medicine isn’t to treat an illness you have right now. It’s so you won’t relapse next year, the year after that, or the year after that.”
“As if I have that many years left,” Lao Hu was amused.
“If I say you do, you do,” Luo Sui made “ptui ptui” spitting sounds to ward off the bad luck. “Do you have nothing better to do than curse yourself for fun?”
Bzz bzz—bzz bzz bzz—
The ringtone of a phone interrupted Hu Yuan’s secret observation. She took out her phone, glanced down at it, and when she saw “Hu Zheng” displayed on the screen, she frowned imperceptibly. She didn’t really want to answer it, but she did anyway.
“Hello…” she lowered her voice.
But the person on the other end of the line seemed completely unaware that it was inconvenient for her to speak, his voice still booming as loud as a brass gong.
“Hu Yuan, you’ve returned to Qin City right now, right? Have you seen Dad?”
Even though he was a middle-aged man well past the thirty mark, the passing of days and growing older didn’t seem to have worn away his impulsive and obstinate teenage personality. On the contrary, as he grew older, started a family, and established his career without his parents’ control, he became increasingly egocentric and dictatorial.
“That old man, what on earth is he thinking! Making a fuss all day long, only knowing how to mess around with women! He’s at an age where he can barely walk! The older he gets, the more of a perverted, dirty old man he becomes, and he’s getting increasingly blatant about it! Messing around with a little girl every single day—how does that make others look at our family?! Last time, he actually brought that woman grandly to my house and told us to call her ‘Little Mom’… How dare he! My mom is alive and well, she’s not dead yet! If my wife hadn’t held me back, I would’ve almost grabbed a stick and chased them out the door!”
Hu Zheng hurled abuse over the phone.
“Hu Yuan, you’re close to him, you tell me. Why on earth does he insist on being with someone young enough to be his granddaught—”
“Hu Zheng.” Hu Yuan cut him off coldly.
A clattering sound came from the other end of the line.
Who knows what Hu Zheng had just smashed in his hands?
This was followed by heavy footsteps. Even through the phone, the image of him pacing around anxiously like a trapped beast seemed to appear before her eyes.
“…Why does he insist on getting tangled up with a woman young enough to be his granddaughter?! Was my mom not good enough? They lived very happily back in the day! What could this kind of young woman possibly want from him? Does she want a grandpa-granddaughter romance? Does she like that he’s got one foot in the grave? Does she like that he’s impotent?! Of course she just wants his money!”
Money, money, everything is for money.
Only money—only this universal equivalent that, fairly and equally, allows anyone who holds it to spend it recklessly to their heart’s content—could make a young woman cast aside morality and shame to latch onto an old man.
Otherwise, why wouldn’t a beautiful young woman go find a youthful, vibrant man her own age?
Hu Yuan looked forward.
The fruit was fed into Lao Hu’s mouth. When a person gets old, either their eyes go bad, their teeth go bad, or their legs go bad. It seemed that no matter what, there always had to be some failing parts to prove that this machine of a body was nearing its time limit, stepping closer to decay and death with every step.
Lao Hu’s teeth were bad. He chewed on a slice of fruit for ages and still hadn’t finished it.
The fruit juice inevitably dribbled down from the corner of his mouth. Luo Sui didn’t mind; completely accustomed to it, she pulled out a handkerchief and wiped it for him. Then, Luo Sui suddenly spoke.
She lowered her voice, seemingly whispering some secret words to Lao Hu, making it impossible for Hu Yuan to hear.
Lao Hu, however, listened very intently. At the end, he also said a sentence back to Luo Sui.
This single sentence made the woman bloom into a smile like a flower. Then, the young woman leaned toward the old man, falling into his embrace—looking both like a woman hugging her lover and a granddaughter snuggling against her grandfather.
“Lao Hu…” Luo Sui spoke again.
From Hu Yuan’s angle, she actually couldn’t see their subtle expressions.
But somehow, Hu Yuan seemed to catch a glimpse of the misty, tear-filled look in Luo Sui’s eyes, and saw her radiant, post-rain smile.
“What would I do without you?”
“Silly child,” Lao Hu said. “Without me, you will only be stronger.”
Lao Hu was smiling too.
But the old man’s smile wasn’t as radiant as a young person’s, just as the old man’s tears wouldn’t be as unrestrained as a young person’s.
He smiled very reservedly, just a slight curve at the corners of his mouth and eyes. He was the setting sun sinking toward the western mountains; possessing no more fierce energy, leaving behind only a tenderness that made people yearn for him.
The setting sun is infinitely beautiful, yet it is so close to dusk.
This line of poetry, which everyone knew by heart, flashed through Hu Yuan’s mind.
By comparison, Hu Zheng’s ceaseless cursing on the phone seemed incredibly noisy.
From childhood to adulthood, she had always tried her best to avoid conflicts with her brother. But now, perhaps there was no longer any need for restraint.
She chuckled softly twice: “Hu Zheng, did you hide under Dad’s bed, listen to their sex life, and find out that Dad is impotent?”
“…Hu Yuan!” Hu Zheng was exasperated. “What do you mean by that?! Although you’re not my biological sister, don’t forget—when you came to our family at such a young age, it was my mom who dealt with your shit and piss, taking care of you and properly raising you! Are you planning to lose your conscience and take Luo Sui’s side now? You see the old man likes that woman, so you’re planning to suck up to her to get a cut of the inheritance—”
Hu Yuan hung up the phone and casually added Hu Zheng’s number to her blacklist.
How utterly boring.
She had been repaying this laughably ridiculous debt of gratitude for twenty years.
Unfortunately, the person being repaid seemed to never have the self-awareness that he was being accommodated. Since that was the case, why should she care who Lao Hu wanted to be with? And why should she take “Mom’s” or “Brother’s” side?
She started calling Lao Hu’s phone.
The signal was delayed for a few seconds before the phone ahead received it. From a distance, the ringtone of Lao Hu’s phone drifted over.
As soon as the phone rang, the romantic barrier the two of them had built up in front of her was instantly shattered. The two people, originally pressed tightly together, separated as if startled. Then Lao Hu answered the phone: “Hello…”
“Dad, it’s me,” Hu Yuan said. “I’ve arrived.”
She turned around, left the carpentry shop, and headed toward the road to hail a car.
“I’ll probably be home in about half an hour. How about you…?”
On the third day of Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin’s hospitalization in Qin City, a brand-new guest arrived in the ward—someone other than the Qin City and Ning City police.
Ji Xun’s editor, Ai Yin, had arrived.
He held a bouquet of flowers so large it could cover his entire upper body, and carried a basket of fruit so heavy it practically tore his arm off. The moment he entered, he wore a face as miserable as if someone in his family had died, practically throwing himself by Ji Xun’s bed to confess his sins:
“Teacher Ji, this is all my fault!——”
“How is it your fault?” Ji Xun was completely confused.
“It’s all because I connected to the public Wi-Fi, which led to my phone being hacked, letting them find my chat history with you… I am truly, truly so sorry. If I had been just a little more careful, maybe you and your girlfriend wouldn’t have suffered this unprovoked disaster… My god, they even burned your hand!”
Ai Yin saw the thick gauze wrapped around Ji Xun’s left hand. Not only was his face miserable, but his voice even took on a crying tone.
“You still need your hand to write novels! It’s very precious! Where did these deranged lunatics come from, wanting to beat and kill an author?! Do they even know how amazing your stories are?! If each of your readers spat just once, they could drown them!”
“…My readers don’t need to face off against such brutal killers. Also, my hand is fine; the wrapping is just a bit exaggerated, but I can still write,” Ji Xun consoled him.
After listening for a bit, he figured it out. It must have been that after the Qin City police arrived at the scene, arrested the killers, and conducted a series of investigations, they traced it back to Ai Yin, summoning him back to Qin City when he should have already left.
Regarding Ai Yin’s self-blame and repentance, he couldn’t agree.
The root cause of this incident wasn’t Ai Yin’s minor, careless leak at all. Those people were bound to come looking for Huo Ranyin regardless. It was just a matter of what method they used, and whether they arrived sooner or later. There was absolutely no need to displace the anger onto an editor who knew nothing.
As for his phone being hacked—Ai Yin’s phone was indeed hacked, but hadn’t his own phone been hacked in the past too?
At least the killers this time set up a fake network; back then, his phone was breached using nothing but a little yellow chick app…
He reached out and patted Ai Yin’s shoulder. Because Ai Yin was bent over so low, his hand almost patted Ai Yin’s head.
And no matter what, the killers this time had at least done one decent thing—they hadn’t conveniently kidnapped Ai Yin while they were at it.
If they had actually kidnapped this foolish editor to use as a hostage to threaten them, Ji Xun felt that he and Huo Ranyin really would have been doomed.
“Alright, don’t worry about it. You can’t hide from what’s coming. Look on the bright side—surviving a great disaster means good fortune is bound to follow.”
“But…” Ai Yin was still brooding over it. He had already felt guilty, and after seeing Ji Xun’s miserable state, his guilt reached the highest peak of his life. “Teacher Ji, I still bear responsibility. No matter what, let me stay and take care of you.”
As soon as he said this, he immediately found something to do.
He saw that even though Ji Xun was clearly injured and his hand was wrapped in gauze, he surprisingly wasn’t resting properly. Instead, he was plucking grapes one by one and feeding them to the man in the adjacent bed.
Speaking of which, the man in the adjacent bed was in a miserable state too. Although the man was properly wearing hospital clothes, Ai Yin could still see thick gauze wrapped around his body from the collar. Judging by the seemingly endless expanse of gauze, perhaps his entire back was wrapped up?
Filled with both a sense of responsibility and pity, Ai Yin hastily changed directions and moved to the space between the two hospital beds.
These two hospital beds were placed much closer together than the beds in other rooms. The space in the middle was so narrow that it could only fit a bedside table, barely allowing one person to pass through. On this bedside table squeezed between the two beds sat a lot of washed fruit. Among them was a bunch of grapes, still dripping with water, with a small half of the fruit already plucked off, leaving only the green stems sticking up innocently.
And Ji Xun was still plucking the remaining fruit.
Ai Yin reached out to take over, but Ji Xun retracted his hand, dodging it.
“I see you didn’t stay to take care of me; you stayed to be a third wheel, didn’t you.”
“Huh?”
“I didn’t have the chance last time, so now I will solemnly introduce him and correct you.” The corner of Ji Xun’s mouth curled up. He pointed at the person leaning against the headboard of the same bed he was on, and handed the grape over. “I don’t have a girlfriend, only a boyfriend. My boyfriend, Huo Ranyin.”
“…Whoa?!”
Amidst the editor’s shocked and disbelieving gaze, Huo Ranyin expressionlessly took the grape he had just received and backhandedly stuffed it right back into the smiling Ji Xun’s mouth.
You talk too much!
