Translator: Cinder Translations
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A gentle push on her shoulder sent Yu Wen tumbling backward.
In her eyes, everything seemed to slow down as Jiang Cheng stood silently, his smiling face obscured by the darkness, making it hard to see clearly.
"No—"
Her last words, accompanied by the blood she coughed up, suddenly stopped.
A cane pierced her heart.
From behind her.
She fell back into the mirror, where Zhen Jianren had been coldly staring for a long time.
As he slowly pulled out the cane, the life in Yu Wen's eyes rapidly faded. After a few violent convulsions, she finally released her tightly clenched fist.
Yu Wen was dead.
Zhen Jianren transformed into a gust of black wind and disappeared into the mirror.
The door began to emit its final hum.
Jiang Cheng strode away.
Just seconds before the door was about to collapse, he slipped inside.
After a wave of familiar dizziness, he finally steadied himself, his office and the plump figure of his companion coming into view.
"Doctor!" Fatty rushed over excitedly. "You scared me to death! The door is—"
As he glanced toward the door, the previously dark iron door suddenly cracked open, then slowly disintegrated into dust.
It revealed the ordinary wall behind.
"Phew—" Jiang Cheng exhaled deeply, appearing quite downcast.
Fatty seemed to sense something and began to comfort him, "Doctor, you did your best. Besides, that woman wasn't a good person to begin with."
Jiang Cheng waved his hand, stopping fatty from saying more. "Be careful with your words. When someone dies, we should show respect. Even if Miss Yu is gone, we shouldn't slander her."
"Doctor," fatty exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be this kind of person."
Jiang Cheng looked out the window. A half moon hung in the sky, making the scene feel somewhat mournful.
"Fatty," Jiang Cheng spoke slowly, "the people in nightmares, regardless of their strength, background, status, or experience, are ultimately pitiable souls. We're all just drifting weeds in a chaotic world, like trees without roots. We can't foresee the beginning, nor can we see the end."
"If we can help, we should. Saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda," he said, patting fatty's shoulder earnestly. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng.
Not receiving the expected answer, Jiang Cheng frowned and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"Doctor," fatty opened his mouth, "I was just thinking how nice it would be if Brother Zhen could hear what you just said."
"He'd be so happy he'd pop the lid off his coffin and smash it to pieces to make soup for you."
Jiang Cheng made a "tch" sound, tilted his head to stare at fatty, and after a moment said, "Fatty, I think you've made great progress lately."
"Really, Doctor?" Fatty scratched his head shyly, muttering, "I've actually felt a little bit of it too."
"Definitely," Jiang Cheng nodded. "Next time, you can go on the mission by yourself."
He turned to head upstairs, and as he walked, the sound of his footsteps echoed. Just as fatty was about to react and find Jiang Cheng to explain, the latter's voice floated down, "Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, Chen Yao came back with me. She might stay at our place for a few days, so be careful when you go to the bathroom at night. After all, there are differences between men and women."
Fatty: "???"
A minute later.
"Knock knock knock," fatty stood outside Jiang Cheng's bedroom door, holding a blanket, and asked softly, "Doctor, are you asleep?"
"No."
"That's great," fatty swallowed hard and requested, "If you can't sleep, I can keep you company."
"Save your energy for Chen Yao," came Jiang Cheng's voice from inside as he turned over with a grunt. "She's been alone for so many years; it's not easy for her."
That night, fatty fell asleep in extreme terror.
In his dream, he saw Chen Yao trying to twist his neck, but fortunately, a figure in black drove her away.
Fatty was incredibly grateful to the figure in black, but unexpectedly, in the next moment, the figure lunged at him, twisting his neck in the same way while shouting: "His neck belongs to me!"
The figure in black had the face of a doctor.
Fatty woke up in fright at five in the morning.
Still groggy, he decided to ease the relationship with Jiang Cheng by making a pot of red date and job's tears porridge.
He remembered Jiang Cheng mentioning that he had hit puberty recently, so he thought he'd give him a boost.
There were still some vegetables left from his last purchase. Fatty splashed his face with cold water to wake himself up and then used a terribly dull fruit knife to slice the vegetables into strips.
He mixed them with soy sauce and vinegar to serve as a side dish for the porridge.
Though the fridge had a few packs of pickled vegetables, fatty thought they were not nutritious, and seeing Jiang Cheng's condition, it seemed he had been eating those for a long time.
Fatty felt sorry for him.
In fatty's eyes, Jiang Cheng's profession was undoubtedly impressive. He initially thought the latter's economic situation should be quite good.
But after spending some time together, he realized that he was far from being well-off; it would not be an exaggeration to say he was struggling to make ends meet.
Jiang Cheng had once casually mentioned that before meeting fatty, he only ate two meals a day.
"How about I make some ribs for the doctor at noon?" fatty thought to himself. "He seemed to really enjoy them last time."
Well, although the doctor never seemed picky about food.
Recently, most of the meal expenses were paid by fatty, while Jiang Cheng only asked about it symbolically and then reluctantly pulled out a few crumpled ten-yuan bills, advising fatty to save money.
But when fatty got to the market and went to pay, he realized that among those bills, only the first and last ones were ten-yuan notes, while the middle ones were all five-yuan and even one-yuan notes.
What was most frustrating was that one of those ten-yuan notes was counterfeit!!
Despite fatty explaining repeatedly, the butcher sister looked at him with a mix of expressions that screamed "You're a fraud! Scammers are shameful! I never want to see you again!" as she sent him away.
After estimating the time the porridge would be ready, fatty set off with his vegetable basket.
The basket was dug out from the kitchen.
He didn't understand why Jiang Cheng never cooked but still needed a vegetable basket.
The fresh and cheap vegetables at the morning market led fatty to take a wide detour, avoiding the butcher sister who sold ribs last time.
It would be awkward to bump into her.
After buying the ribs, he passed by a fish vendor and picked out a fish that looked fairly fresh, planning to make soup for the doctor in the evening.
He lingered around for a long time, waiting for the fish to die.
A fish is considered dead when it stops moving, and the price drops significantly.
The fish seller was a bit stubborn; he insisted on selling it as a live fish until the last breath was gone.
Fatty squatted nearby, poking the fish now and then, until finally, after the last poke, the fish completely stopped moving.
The owner, a balding man dressed in a rubber outfit, packaged the fish for fatty while grumbling about how this fish might as well have been killed by him, whether by poking or just stressing it out.
(End of the Chapter)
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