After the meal, Uncle Gazi cleaned the fish as well, planning to cook them that evening, saying that putting them in the fridge would make everything smell fishy.
Once the fish soup was simmering, Xiao Hu and I had pretty much finished eating.
Thinking about what that old man had said, I gave Xiao Hu another once-over from head to toe.
The more I looked, the less sturdy he seemed.
After taking him and Tingyun to the bedroom for a short nap, I forcibly dragged the two unwilling kids outside for a run—exercise should start from a young age.
Even Uncle Gazi was completely in favor of it.
Because of the earlier conflict, when we went out, Han Xue and Xu Shu followed along as well.
The three of us went together, while Lili stayed behind to take care of the baby—a little girl named Xuanxuan.
There's no such thing as household registration for now, so as long as the name sounds nice, that's good enough; no need to fuss over it.
At first, Xiao Hu and Tingyun were extremely reluctant to get up, but once we actually got outside, they were like wild horses freed from their reins.
The three of us could barely keep up with them from behind.
Panting as we chased them the whole way, I felt a bit speechless—who exactly was taking whom out for exercise here?
Finally, when they ran to the small park and crouched by the pond to watch the goldfish, they paused for a bit.
The three of us stood behind them, keeping a close eye on things.
Xu Shu wiped her sweat and said, "What's wrong with the three of us? Running out at noon to take kids exercising. Tomorrow morning, we're definitely waking each other up for a jog."
Han Xue wiped her face too. "Let them get used to it today first. The little one hasn't been vaccinated. If they don't exercise properly, their physical condition won't keep up, and they'll keep getting sick."
Earlier today, I had roughly discussed Xiao Hu's physical condition with them.
I only mentioned that he wasn't very tall and didn't look particularly healthy.
Tingyun wasn't exactly chubby either, but perhaps due to a different constitution, she looked much healthier than Xiao Hu.
This caught everyone's attention, so when I suggested taking them out to exercise, everyone agreed immediately.
After catching my breath, I simply sat down by the pond. "Honestly, I think we really do need exercise. The two kids ran for so long and are fine, but we're already out of breath."
Han Xue braced her hands on her knees and sat down as well.
She casually glanced into the distance, then suddenly paused.
She clicked her tongue at us and gestured with her chin in that direction. "Look who that is."
Xu Shu and I both turned to look.
We were both stunned—Song Meijing and Aunt Liu?
They had also spotted us from afar.
Perhaps because Lili had resolutely left Wang Jun, something Aunt Liu couldn't understand, neither side spoke first despite noticing each other.
I cleared my throat and turned back to the two of them. "Let's head back. It's hot anyway."
"Why?" Han Xue grabbed my arm as I tried to stand up and yanked hard, nearly pulling me into the pond.
"Why go back? Just because we saw something? Then what are we even doing here? We're not going back!"
Xu Shu didn't say anything, but she clearly had no intention of leaving either, just staring straight at Song Meijing and Aunt Liu as they approached.
After a while, when they had come closer, Xu Shu finally smiled. "Miss Song, out for a walk with Aunt Liu?"
Tingyun, trying to get closer to a fish, almost fell straight into the pond.
I quickly pulled her back and also dragged Xiao Hu aside, keeping them from getting too close to the water.
After a moment, Aunt Liu's voice came from the other side. "We just moved here, so we're getting familiar with the surroundings."
As I lowered my head to scold Tingyun, I heard footsteps approaching and knew they were coming over.
Xu Shu exchanged a few polite words with Aunt Liu.
We thought they would leave on their own, but after standing there for quite a while, they showed no intention of going.
Song Meijing walked up to me. "You're still the same as ever."
"What do you mean?" Han Xue asked before I could respond.
"Nothing." Song Meijing glanced at me, then at Xiao Hu and Tingyun.
She leaned slightly closer and whispered by my ear, "All this hypocrisy—if you're really so kind-hearted, why don't you go look for Zheng Rongrong, who was abandoned in the forest?"
…
After Song Meijing and Aunt Liu left, we sat around the park for a while before heading back.
Once home, we left the two kids with Uncle Gazi.
I returned to my room, took a shower, then lay on the bed staring at the ceiling in silence.
Lately, life has seemed calm and uneventful on the surface, but in truth, it's been even more mentally exhausting than life outside.
Since Wang Jun and his group moved in, Xiao Hu's condition, the conflicts with the neighbors, Zhou Wen who refuses to stay quiet, Yangyang, and the large number of walkers on the outskirts… there are just too many troubling things.
In truth, I never really had the time to hesitate or feel lost.
Because of some mistakes I made before, when Song Meijing suddenly appeared today, I didn't feel that same gritted-teeth hatred toward her as before.
Instead, I just wanted to avoid it all—didn't want to face these things that disturb the mind.
For now, the top priority is figuring out a way to solve Xiao Hu's problem.
Outside, from time to time, the cicadas in the trees would chirp.
I had promised to catch a couple for Xiao Hu last time, but I still hadn't kept that promise… I definitely can't forget tomorrow…
My thoughts grew more and more muddled, and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.
When I woke up again, it was because of Yangyang's thumping footsteps as he ran upstairs like he was charging in to rob the place.
Before I could even open my eyes, he had already rushed to my bedside, drenched in sweat, throwing himself over me as he spoke excitedly, "Sis, sis! Guess what I saw today! Guess what I got to sit in!"
"What did you see?" I rubbed my head and opened my eyes to glance at him.
His hair was completely soaked, his clothes were covered in sweat.
Looking at his face—tired, but even more so filled with excitement and joy—I felt a wave of satisfaction.
Good kid! At least he's starting to look like a proper young man.
"Today I saw a Gatling gun! Sis, do you know what that is? It's that huge gun that goes rat-tat-tat-tat-tat like crazy when it fires—too bad I didn't get to touch it." He talked animatedly, saliva flying without him noticing.
"And also, also—tanks! Oh my god, you have no idea, seeing them in real life feels completely different from on TV. Totally different."
"Mhm, mhm. Are you tired?" Worried about getting sprayed with spit, I sat up and moved a bit farther away from him.
Catching a stronger whiff of his sweat, I frowned. "Look at you, drenched in sweat. Go wash up—you stink."
"Huh?" Yangyang froze, then lowered his head and sniffed himself.
"Do I stink? Why can't I smell it?"
I couldn't help but laugh as I tapped his head. "Hurry up, you little grub. Can you even smell your own stink? To you, even a cesspit would smell nice."
"Sis… that's gross." He pouted, but seemed to feel like he'd already shared enough of his excitement.
He rolled off the bed in one motion. "Alright, I'll go take a shower."
After Yangyang left, I looked at the sweat mark he'd left on the bedsheet, faintly shaped like a human figure, and sighed speechlessly.
I pulled off the sheet, replaced it with a clean one, then took the dirty one upstairs to hang it out to dry before heading back down.
Han Xue and the others were already in the living room.
Today Uncle Gazi was cooking.
He didn't like having anyone help in the kitchen, saying it slowed him down, so everyone else had set out the bowls and chopsticks and was sitting around chatting.
Then Shen Feng and the others roughly talked about what they had seen and experienced today.
Suo Tian hadn't come back with them.
After Uncle Gazi finished cooking, we waited a bit longer.
Usually, he would return around mealtime, but even after waiting a full half hour—and I even went to the intersection to look from afar for quite a while—we still didn't see that familiar vehicle.
In the end, we had no choice but to eat dinner first.
Afterward, we cleaned up, and everyone went their separate ways—some for a walk, some upstairs.
I went back to the intersection to look again for a while.
By ten at night, when the lights went out, I wasn't sleepy at all because of the long nap earlier, and Suo Tian still hadn't returned.
This had happened before—sometimes he would be gone for two or three days without a trace.
After tossing and turning for quite a while, feeling too stifled to stay in bed, I finally got up in the dark and headed up toward the rooftop.
When I got to the rooftop, I realized the door was actually open.
From a distance, under the moonlight, I could see someone sitting on a chair not far away.
Squinting to get a better look, I called out, "Zhou Wen?"
Hearing me, Zhou Wen turned to look and gestured with his hand before asking, "Why aren't you asleep?"
I gave a silly grin and walked over to sit down. "Slept too long this afternoon. What about you? Out here this late—did you just leave your little wife alone?"
"..."
Seeing something off about his expression, I hesitated before asking, "What's wrong? Did you have a fight with Taozi?"
"Yeah." He nodded awkwardly, glancing toward the doorway as if unconsciously.
I smiled in understanding—no wonder the rooftop door was left wide open.
He was probably waiting for Taozi to come up and find him.
"No wonder I saw Taozi going downstairs and heading out just now. I was wondering why he'd go out alone so late—I thought you were waiting for himoutside," I lied.
"What?!" Zhou Wen shot up from his chair, his face instantly tense.
He ran to the edge and looked down, then turned as if to rush downstairs, but I quickly stopped him.
"Hey, hey, relax—I was lying. I live on the third floor. How would I see Taozi from here?"
"..." Zhou Wen halted, looking a bit dazed. "Chen Yang, don't scare me like that."
"If he's on your mind that much, why argue over trivial things? Go back already. With Taozi's temper, he's probably somewhere crying right now."
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Wen nodded at me, then quickly turned and ran downstairs.
Left alone on the rooftop, it felt dark and empty.
From the distance to right beside me, everything was wrapped in an unshakable darkness.
I let out a heavy sigh and looked up at the night sky.
I just sat there quietly in the darkness—I don't know how long it passed.
Only when I started to feel a bit sleepy did I get up, head back downstairs, and return to my room.
The last thought before I fell asleep was: Tomorrow, I'll take Xiao Hu and Tingyun out to the street for a walk. If I remember correctly, that old man should be at his shop tomorrow.
— The end of the Chapter–