The little phoenix tilted its head, full of confusion, and said, “…Chirp?”
The surroundings were completely silent. Then, as if cold water had been thrown into a pot of hot oil, it exploded with a roar: “A phoenix!”
“A phoenix!”
“That’s a real phoenix, ahhhh!!!”
The camera flashes of cell phones crackled, creating an ocean of light. Yu Jingzhong rushed out of his office and roared, “Taking pictures is enough! Don’t upload it to your WeChat Moments!—Confidentiality discipline! Don’t upload it to your WeChat Moments—!” Unfortunately, his voice was immediately drowned out by the rumbling sound of footsteps.
“Boss, you’re finally back—!” The guys from Team One, like tigers descending a mountain, rushed forward, some crying and complaining, others hugging his legs.
The handsome guys of Team One usually had a hard time finding girlfriends due to the confidential nature of their work. Their lives were as lonely and empty as snow, so they could only follow their boss around, doing private jobs to make some money. Unfortunately, after Zhou Hui left, the boss was replaced by Jia Louluo. The golden-winged roc had a serious and rigid personality, training this group of people until they cried for their parents. Now, seeing their boss back, it was even more heartwarming than seeing their own fathers.
Zhou Hui held the little phoenix in both hands and said solemnly, “This is your Phoenix Team Leader Four. Come and recognize him, recognize him… Just get familiar with his face! I’m talking to you! You can look, but you can’t touch!”
The young men bowed in unison, “Hello, Team Leader Four—!”
“…” The little phoenix: “…Chirp?!”
The phoenix was mysterious and aloof. Having defected twice, he had become the unspeakable No. 1 in the legends of the Special Division. It was generally believed that it would not be surprising no matter what image or form he appeared in. Now, let alone turning into a fledgling, even if he suddenly turned into a golden-bodied Bodhisattva statue and sat in the office one day, it was estimated that no one would find it strange.
However, there were also those who could not accept it, for example, Shenwan Tiansi:
“Mama, how did you become like this! Don’t you recognize me?! I’m Shenwan! Don’t you remember anything?”
In Zhou Hui’s office, Shenwan Tiansi pointed at the little phoenix, trembling like a sifter, his face full of grief. The little phoenix, however, shrank motionlessly in Zhou Hui’s arms, returning the little living Buddha’s gaze with an innocent look.
“Look at me, look at me! Do you really not remember? You don’t even remember me?!”
Yu Jingzhong, after calming down the emotional crowd outside who wanted to see the real, rare bird, just pushed the door open. Hearing this, he covered Shenwan’s mouth and dragged him to the back to educate him in a low voice, “The phoenix doesn’t even recognize Zhou Hui now, let alone you… Say less of this in front of Zhou Hui in the future, it will make him sad…”
Shenwan Tiansi stood leaning against the wall, his face full of a deeply struck expression.
Yu Jingzhong patted Shenwan Tiansi’s head, pushed him out of the office to face the wolf-like crowd of onlookers outside, then walked to the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down, frowning tightly as he stared at the little bird chick nestled quietly on the desktop.
The little phoenix’s round eyes looked back at him, full of curiosity.
“…Is it really Phoenix Four? Isn’t it supposed to take hundreds of years to hatch?” After thirty seconds, Yu Jingzhong finally couldn’t help but doubt, “Are you sure you didn’t miss Phoenix Four too much and just picked up a random bird outside to make up the numbers?!”
“Chirp—!”
The little phoenix flapped its wings and was about to rush over to slap Lao Yu, but Zhou Hui quickly held it down, stroking its feathers while quickly comforting it. After a long while, the ruffled feathers on the back of the little phoenix’s neck slowly settled down, but it still couldn’t help but glare at Yu Jingzhong, its bean-like black eyes full of resentment.
Yu Jingzhong was utterly terrified. “It… it can understand? Damn, did I offend the Phoenix King?! Your Highness, I’m sorry! Your Highness, I didn’t mean it! You, you, in your last life, I was very good to you, you must believe me!!!”
Zhou Hui caressed the little phoenix in every possible way until the latter finally hid its head in his palm and stopped moving. Only then did he say, “Half a month ago, he was still ignorant. Now he understands more and more, perhaps because he’s a divine bird by nature. But he can only formally gain intelligence after transforming, and I don’t know how long that will take… It’s said it could be anywhere from a few years to a few hundred years.”
“Does he really not remember anything?” Yu Jingzhong asked.
Zhou Hui shook his head.
“Then you…”
“I’ll just wait like this. A thousand or eight hundred years, I can afford to wait,” Zhou Hui picked up the little phoenix and kissed it, saying, “When he gains intelligence, we’ll start over from the beginning, bit by bit. I succeeded in snatching him on the battlefield last time, so can’t I succeed this time with a slow and steady approach? Even if his memory has been wiped clean, his soul is still the same person. There will be a day when he recognizes me.”
“Besides, it doesn’t matter even if he doesn’t recognize me.” The little phoenix affectionately rubbed Zhou Hui’s face with its round head, letting out a soft chirping sound. A smile couldn’t help but appear in Zhou Hui’s eyes. “He had such a bitter childhood. Later, he was deeply mired in this treacherous situation, exhausting his spirit and maneuvering step by step, never having a single day of true peace of mind… It’s good that he’s forgotten it all now. Life must pass for a new beginning to come.”
It was noisy outside. The sound of Team One members running around and shouting to move things could be heard from the corridor.
However, it was very quiet in the office. Red threads crisscrossed on the high ceiling, and ball bearings came and went, each following its own track, like a vast star chart in the night sky.
This office had been completely sealed for the half-year its owner had been away. No one had ever set foot in it. But now Zhou Hui had opened the door and walked in. He sat here, as if the heavy smoke of war and the displacement in between had never happened, and everything was like yesterday.
The little phoenix didn’t understand what Zhou Hui said, but it habitually flapped its wings and chirped twice in agreement.
Zhou Hui laughed.
There was a natural aura between this person and this bird. The intimate atmosphere seemed to faintly exclude the others around them, forming an independent and warm little world. Yu Jingzhong stood up from his chair and looked at this scene across the desk. He wanted to say something but held it back.
Although Zhou Hui’s expression was normal, after so many years of friendship, he could feel something heavier and more desolate behind that smile.
—What Zhou Hui said was not from the heart.
·
Zhou Hui, with the little phoenix, moved back into his duplex apartment on the Third Ring Road.
As for Zhang Shun and Jia Louluo, who had returned with him, one was taken away by Fox Six, and the other could only live in the office.
When Chu He left the Zhang family that year, Zhang Shun had received all the assets and stocks his brother had. However, Zhang Shun, firstly, had no ability, and secondly, had no interest in managing the company. He simply sold most of his shares, became a nominal director who received dividends, and came to the Beijing Special Division to idle away his days.
The second young master Zhang was all alone. At that time, he hadn’t decided whether to stay in Beijing or return to H City, so he hadn’t bought property in Beijing. Later, he would stay in a hotel for a couple of days, hang out in a nightclub for a couple of days, and then stay at Situ Yingzhi’s place for another couple of days. He lived a very carefree bachelor’s life, and the thought of buying a house just drifted away with the wind.
Now, the real Golden Buddha had descended to the human world and was shocked to find that he didn’t even have a place to stay in Beijing.
Going to nightclubs was definitely out of the question. If Venerable Bhadra found out, he would surely come down the mountain, spitting blood, and commit suicide by sword in front of Zhang Shun. Situ Yingzhi’s house was being prepared for sale to raise money to buy a bigger one on the Mid-Levels in Hong Kong. The house was a mess right now, and even Hou San himself was staying in a hotel.
Although the second young master Zhang had stayed in the human world for a long time and had some problems with his divinity, he was, after all, a suspected legitimate Buddha. The higher-ups still attached great importance to him and had specially cleared out a building in a politically important area to serve as a Buddhist temple—unfortunately, the second young master Zhang now got the creeps at the sight of a Buddhist temple. Faced with the enthusiastic invitation from Deputy Chief Yu, he wished he could jump up and slink away along the wall.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Li Hu took pity and said:
“Since Second Young Master Zhang is unwilling to live in a Buddhist temple, then he can stay at my place. There’s no rush to buy a house after he’s settled down. It just so happens that I have a large empty bedroom, and at the end of the month, he can help me pay the water, electricity, gas, and property management fees…”
Second Young Master Zhang hastily agreed that it was no problem, that it was his honor to live with a 36DD beauty. Besides, as a Buddha, he must never forget to save all sentient beings. Staying in a Buddhist temple all the time and not being in contact with the grassroots would alienate him from the masses.
So the legitimate Golden Buddha went off hand-in-hand with the fox spirit, leaving Deputy Chief Yu behind, who, looking at Li Hu’s particularly joyful and unrestrained chest as she ran, felt his eyelids twitch.
The remaining one was Jia Louluo. He had always slept in the office anyway, so continuing to sleep in the office was no pressure at all.
He slept in what was once Phoenix Team Leader Four’s office, three large open-plan rooms on the top floor, complete with a bedroom, a reception room, and a small kitchen. The conditions were not bad at all. Zhou Hui was happy not to live under the same roof as his son. He held the little phoenix and was about to leave when Jia Louluo suddenly called out to him, “Wait… Dad.”
“Hm?”
Jia Louluo stepped forward and carefully smoothed the little phoenix’s slightly messy feathers. Under his bandages, a calm expression appeared in his eyes. After a long while, he took half a step back, looked at the little phoenix from side to side, and then looked up, “Dad, there’s something…”
Zhou Hui’s tone softened slightly, “What’s wrong?”
“Lend me some money,” Jia Louluo said. “My salary isn’t enough.”
Zhou Hui: “…”
“After deductions for my internship period, I get four thousand five hundred. A steamed whole snake at the snake meat restaurant starts at one thousand two hundred. Although Hou San and Shenwan’s salaries are higher than mine, they’re not that much higher. I don’t know how they manage to balance their income and expenses? I heard you can take on private jobs to earn some extra money, but the other day I looked up the disciplinary regulations, and it says taking private jobs violates the unit’s rules.”
Jia Louluo paused and said calmly, “I’ve already spent this month’s salary… Lend me some money. I’ll pay you back when I get paid.”
Father and son looked at each other, and a gust of wind blew between them.
“…” Zhou Hui said slowly, “I remember when you came out of the snowy mountains, you took a safe deposit box your mother had stored at a local bank. There was eighty thousand yuan in cash inside…”
“When the train crashed and we entered the demon world, the bag was swallowed by Maha when he went crazy. Later in the human world, I was robbed by a thief.”
“Then later…”
“The cost of living in the human world is too high. I’ve been relying on my salary to eat at the unit’s cafeteria. Fortunately, I can live in the office, which saves me money on rent.”
Zhou Hui stared at Jia Louluo, looking at his son’s young face that looked so much like his own, the old sports T-shirt he was wearing, and the out-of-season Adidas shoes from last year. For the first time in his life, a sense of fatherly responsibility welled up in his chest.
He took out his wallet, pulled out a card, handed it to his son, and said, “Take it, swipe as you please.”
The little phoenix had a natural affinity for Jia Louluo. Before leaving, it even flew around Jia Louluo twice, seeming a bit reluctant to part. Its beautiful tail feathers swept around him like ribbons, scattering countless brilliant specks of light.
The light was like countless dancing little sprites. Jia Louluo reached out his hand nostalgically—but the next moment, Zhou Hui hastily scooped up the little phoenix and left without even touching the ground.
“Chirp?” the little phoenix asked, blinking its eyes in confusion as it was stuffed into the car.
Zhou Hui quickly got up and started the car, pretending not to see. He thought to himself, if the phoenix regained its memory in the future and remembered that he had almost caused his second son to have to beg for food, he might, in a fit of anger, make him go begging on the streets… So, the mother and son’s tearful parting embrace and all that, they should just save it.
·
After being away for half a year, Zhou Hui finally returned to his and Chu He’s home in Beijing.
Although it hadn’t been lived in for so long, Yu Jingzhong had often sent his subordinates to clean it, so it was spotless, without a speck of dust. It was just that a house that had been empty for a long time always had a slightly uncomfortable smell in the air. Zhou Hui opened the balcony door and pulled back the floor-to-ceiling curtains, letting the sunset pour into the living room and bedroom. The solid wood floor then reflected a moist and warm glow in the afterglow.
“Yo, there are still flowers,” Zhou Hui said, looking at the glass of water on the coffee table. Inside were a few small, pink and white flowers of an unknown variety. They must have been placed there by the people Yu Jingzhong had sent to clean.
“—Tsk tsk, Lao Yu has been trained by a little beauty to have a taste for life, how damn rare… Remember? You used to often pick a few wild flowers from the garden downstairs and put them at home. You even once wanted to open up a ginseng plantation on the balcony…”
The little phoenix hopped onto the tabletop, sniffed the wildflowers for a long while, then opened its mouth and took a bite.
“Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!” The little phoenix immediately spat out the bitter petals, flapped its wings for a long while, and then bumped its head back into Zhou Hui’s arms.
Zhou Hui laughed heartily. Holding the car keys in one hand and the little phoenix in the other, he walked around the living room and then came to the bedroom. The sunlight shone in from the balcony connected to the bedroom. The soft, snow-white large pillows on the bed glowed golden-red, and a black casual suit jacket hung on the corner of the bed—that was Chu He’s. It hadn’t been packed when he left and was still hanging there.
Zhou Hui put the little phoenix on the bed, picked up the jacket, and casually wrapped it around its head, laughing, “This is yours. Do you still want it? If not, I’ll give it away.”
The little phoenix struggled to stick its head out from the pile of fabric. Hearing that it was going to be given away, it immediately gathered the jacket into a pile, opened its wings to hold it tightly, and glared at Zhou Hui. The meaning was, since it’s mine, you’re not allowed to give it away. Mine is mine, and no one is allowed to take my things.
Zhou Hui laughed loudly and held the little phoenix, along with the jacket, in his arms.
“I won’t give it away, I won’t give it away. Your things will always be yours…” Zhou Hui paused, buried his face in the jacket, and said with a muffled laugh, “Even if you wait until you die, it will still be yours. No one can take it away, you can rest assured.”
Only then was the little phoenix satisfied. It shrank its neck under Zhou Hui’s continuous stroking.
·
There wasn’t much to eat in the fridge. Fortunately, there was still half a bag of milk powder. Zhou Hui boiled water, made a thick cup of milk, added sugar and honey, adjusted it to the most suitable temperature, and brought it to the bedroom for the little phoenix to drink obediently, while he went to the bathroom to take a shower.
The master bedroom was connected to the bathroom, and Zhou Hui hadn’t closed the door. The little phoenix stood on the wall of the glass cup. From its angle, it could see Zhou Hui’s shadow reflected on the glass door of the bathroom, showing his strong, solid upper body muscles and thighs.
The little phoenix stared motionlessly for a while with its round, black eyes before slowly lowering its head to peck at the milk a few more times. Without Zhou Hui, it quickly felt bored. It jumped off the cup wall, hopped and flapped its wings a few times on the bed, and then looked up to observe this “home” that was said to belong to it.
The high ceiling made the view very wide. There were thick, light gold curtains, a beige carpet, and all the furniture and bedding were high-end, custom-made solid wood items. The design was clearly from a famous master’s hand. The little phoenix did its best to raise its small head, its gaze sweeping blankly over the photo frame on the bedside table. It paused on Chu He’s face in the photo, then immediately moved on without any awareness.
Its gaze fell on Zhou Hui’s bedside table, fixed on one of the drawers.
That drawer seemed to emit a very familiar scent. The little phoenix couldn’t help but take a step forward, then another, stood by the drawer, and stretched its neck to look inside.
The drawer was tightly closed, so naturally, it saw nothing. However, after pondering for a while, the familiar yet indescribable feeling became stronger and stronger. Finally, it carefully stretched out its claw, and as if possessed, painstakingly pried open the drawer.
The sound of rushing water still came from the bathroom. Zhou Hui was humming Turandot, his singing particularly loud in the echo.
The little phoenix’s eyes were reddened by the brilliant light that greeted them.
—In that drawer was a glass jar. Inside, an exquisite lotus-shaped stand delicately and securely held a red, round bead. The bead was the size of a thumb, crystal clear and smooth, and in the twilight world and the increasingly dim bedroom, it shone with a bright halo like the cold stars of the nine heavens.
Several distant memory fragments whizzed past the depths of its mind, but then they were gone, not even leaving a faint image—
This was the Phoenix Eye.
The little phoenix stared at the glass jar, frozen in a daze.
