northernbook Chapter 597 Dawn (3)
Chapter 597 Dawn (3)
For the next four days, Yan Zhen spent his time constantly getting on, riding, getting off, and changing vehicles.
Sometimes it's a rickety tricycle, sometimes a narrow and cramped minibus, and more often it's a semi-enclosed bus filled with the stench of air conditioning, where you can sit for more than ten hours at a time.
Jingchen took her on a journey of thousands of kilometers, from a remote rural area in the north to a small coastal town in the south.
When I got off the bus for the last time, the wind that hit me carried a warm and humid scent, and the sunshine overhead was so bright that it felt like springtime.
Jing Chen put the bag on his shoulder by the roadside and reached out to take off Yan Zhen's thick coat.
He took out a thermos from his backpack, unscrewed the lid, and brought it to Yan Zhen's lips: "Drink some water."
Yan Zhen took two sips, then shook his head to indicate that he didn't want to drink anymore.
Jing Chen took a few sips, then put away his thermos and said, "Our home is just ahead. Remember what I told you?"
Yan Zhen nodded.
Seeing that she understood him and was no longer as resistant and unfamiliar with him as she had been when they first met, but still wouldn't speak, Jing Chen gently pinched her cheek: "Why aren't you saying anything? Hmm?"
Yan Zhen frowned and brushed his hand away.
Jing Chen didn't make things difficult for her. He picked up his backpack, put it on his back, held Yan Zhen's coat in one hand, and took her hand with the other, walking forward.
Soon, the two entered an old residential area built in the 1970s or 1980s.
The apartment buildings were low-rise and the staircases were old and worn out. When they reached the bottom of one of the buildings, Jingchen bent down and picked Yanzhen up.
The hallway was dimly lit, and the two encountered a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties as they went upstairs.
The woman was carrying a plastic garbage bag, seemingly preparing to go downstairs to throw out the trash. Seeing Jing Chen holding a skinny child, she asked curiously, "Xiao Chen, whose child is this?"
Jing Chen smiled and said, "It's from a relative's house in the countryside."
"You've come to visit?"
"No, I'm staying here permanently."
"Huh?" the woman exclaimed in surprise. "Why would your relative's child be staying with you for so long?"
Jingchen himself is still a child; how could he possibly raise a child even younger than himself?
“Her parents died in a car accident, leaving her all alone at home. She can’t even get a hot meal. If I hadn’t brought her back, she would have died.” Jing Chen said, changing the subject, “Aunt Cui, are you going out?”
The woman called Aunt Cui replied, "Yes, I'm going to buy groceries. A new small supermarket has opened in the market. Today is its first day of business, and eggs are on sale. They're only two cents each."
"So cheap? Could you buy some for me?"
"to make."
"Then I'm sorry to trouble you."
"We're neighbors, there's no need to be so formal with us."
After Aunt Cui left, Jing Chen carried Yan Zhen up to the third floor and into the last room of the long corridor.
He had Yan Zhen hold his coat, then used one hand to take out his keys, opened the door, and went inside.
The house is about 60 square meters, with two bedrooms, a living room, and a small storage room. It is fully furnished.
At ten o'clock in the morning, the sunlight streamed through the prism-shaped window panes, making it easy to see the dust particles floating in the air.
Jing Chen had been out for quite some time, and the room was covered in a layer of dust. He took a towel from the stainless steel shelf on the wall, wiped the brown leather sofa briefly, and then carried Yan Zhen to sit on the sofa.
Are you hungry? Shall I cook you some noodles?
Yan Zhen nodded.
She'd been eating nothing but bread and other fast food for the past few days while traveling, and her mouth was practically parched.
"Then you stay here, I'll go cook noodles."
Yan Zhen nodded again.
Looking at her obedient appearance, Jing Chen couldn't help but smile and reached out to ruffle her hair: "So good."
As he got up, he picked up the remote control, turned on the large-screen TV, selected a children's channel, and then went to the kitchen to get busy.
A moment later, the sound of running water came from the kitchen.
Yan Zhen was watching cartoons on TV with a lot of boredom, but his mind was wandering.
Whether or not to tell Jing Chen that she is not the helpless little girl she was many years ago, that is the question.
Jingchen clearly enjoys this kind of thing that involves "rescuing" and "nurturing".
If I were to confess directly and disrupt his plans, would his fragile mental state dissipate after being traumatized?
After deliberating for a long time without success, Yan Zhen simply opened the system and had Xiao Qi call Zhou Yanqing.
Soon, Yan Zhen and Zhou Yanqing connected online.
When she shared her thoughts with Zhou Yanqing, he asked, "After you're honest with him, are you confident you can persuade him to come back?"
Yan Zhen frowned and said directly, "No."
She agreed to persuade Jing to go back, but couldn't guarantee she could.
“Then I suggest not to be honest,” Zhou Yanqing said. “He doesn’t want to live anymore. What he’s doing now is less like slowly committing suicide by exhausting his mental energy, and more like having a dream to fulfill his delusions before he dies. If you accompany him through this world and he still refuses to come back, then we’ve done our best. You can consider it a good deed for the day and help him fulfill his dream.”
Yan Zhen: "..."
After cutting off contact, Yan Zhen rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.
If she doesn't tell the truth, then she'll have to play along with Jingchen in this world for decades.
She comforted herself by thinking of it as experiencing a life she had never lived before.
Before long, Jingchen brought out two bowls of noodles.
He pushed the bowl with two fried eggs on top towards Yan Zhen, while his own bowl only had one egg.
Yan Zhen took the chopsticks he handed her, and after just one bite, her taste buds seemed to be activated instantly. She turned on the inhalation mode and swallowed the fried egg in a few bites.
She ate too quickly and choked, coughing violently.
Jing Chen quickly reached out to pat her back to help her catch her breath: "Eat slowly, eat slowly, no one is going to take it from you."
Yan Zhen finally caught his breath, then slid off the sofa with a "whoosh" and knelt down in front of the coffee table to start shoveling noodles into his mouth.
Jingchen felt heartbroken seeing this and gave Yanzhen the fried egg from her own bowl.
After finishing the noodles, Jingchen fetched hot water for Yanzhen to wash his feet.
He carefully rubbed her dark, calloused feet several times, dried them, and then applied ointment for frostbite.
Wait until the ointment dries before putting on your socks.
After he finished doing these things, there was a knock on the door.
Jing Chen replied, "Coming," and got up to open the door.
The person outside the door was Aunt Cui, who handed Jingchen a bag of eggs.
Jing Chen smiled and said thank you, then turned around, took the money, and handed it to her.
Just as Jingchen was about to go back into the house, Aunt Cui grabbed his arm, glanced at Yan Zhen, and whispered, "Xiaochen, come out, Auntie has something to tell you."
Jingchen followed Aunt Cui out.
Yan Zhen slid off the sofa, walked barefoot to the door, and peeked out.
Aunt Cui and Jing Chen were standing in the corridor talking, their backs to the door.
“Raising a child is not like raising a cat or dog. You have to spend money on food, clothes and other necessities. Your parents are gone and you are still young. How can you take this child home? Your Uncle Wang has connections with the director of the orphanage. I'll ask him to inquire and you can send the child to the orphanage.”