Chapter 96 The End of an Era

The special medicine worked very well. After taking the medicine, Grandma Vitalie's fever subsided almost immediately, and when she was in good condition, she could even visit He Changyi in a wheelchair.

She tenderly stroked He Changyi's forehead, her lips trembling, and could only repeat over and over again, "My child, my poor child..."

He Changyi wanted to laugh, but tears fell first.

She pressed her face against Grandma Vitalie's rough palms, choking back tears as she pleaded, "It's okay, it'll be alright, we'll all be alright..."

They will all be alright.

Just like in Blatter's poem, we won everything, we won happy days and dawns.

Go and welcome the next spring.

However, on the very day he was scheduled to be discharged, his condition took a sharp turn for the worse.

Grandma Vitalie suffered a sudden onset of acute pulmonary edema and developed heart failure. Within just a few days, the hospital issued several critical condition notices.

He Changyi still had an IV needle in the back of her hand as she carefully signed her name.

Alexei has disappeared without a trace. Now, she is Vitalie's only relative and the only person to sign the document.

He Changyi didn't know what her expression looked like, which made Xie Xun carefully say, "The old man's lifespan has come to an end, no one can be blamed, you... try to think more positively."

He Changyi calmly retorted, "What do I have to be upset about? Who am I? If anyone should be upset, it should be Alexei. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to commit suicide. I would even make him a nice coffin."

Xie Xun's expression was extremely strange, as if he were sad.

But why should he be sad? Even if everyone in Moscow died, what would it matter to him? He would just happily send telegrams back home, urging the urgent delivery of body bags and deodorizers, because there was a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity.

He Changyi didn't understand, nor did she care to understand.

Xie Xun stopped saying anything and spent more time by He Changyi's side.

He accompanied her to witness the death of an elderly stranger with whom she had no connection.

Andrei has also visited several times.

He thoughtfully dressed in casual clothes and always brought a bouquet of flowers with him, but flowers couldn't be sent into the ICU, so it was more like a comfort to others.

He Changyi would only ask him each time, "Is there any news about Alexei?"

Andrei glanced at her and said briefly, "No."

He Changyi was very dissatisfied and criticized bluntly: "Your police station's work efficiency is really too low. You can't even catch wanted criminals. I really don't understand how you have the nerve to spend taxpayers' money. Even if Alexei wanted to escape, couldn't you have broken his legs?! To put it another way, I'd rather have a corpse, I just want Grandma Vitalie to see it! Even if it's dead, that would be fine!!!"

Suddenly, Andrei called out her name clearly and distinctly: "He Changyi".

He Changyi suddenly fell silent.

She turned her head, took a deep breath, and without looking at Andrei, said in a flat tone, "I'm sorry, I lost my composure."

Andrei called out again in overly fluent Chinese: "Changyi".

He Changyi ignored him and said as casually as possible, "It's nothing. You can go. This has nothing to do with you. You shouldn't be overly concerned about the grandmother of a wanted criminal."

Her tone made it sound like she was talking about someone else.

"There are already enough police officers deployed around the hospital, and I think there are undercover agents among the medical staff. You don't need to come and test them in person."

Andrei remained silent for a long time.

“I wasn’t testing you,” he said. “I was just worried about you.”

He Changyi said quickly, "What are you worried about? I'm alive, not dead, and I have no intention of committing suicide. Your worries are meaningless."

She turned around and walked towards the ward with her back to Andrei.

"Alright, you should go to work now. I have things to do too. Goodbye."

Andrei did not speak again.

Not far away, Xie Xun frowned and looked over in this direction.

Strangely, however, he didn't seem happy about it.

He Changyi walked very fast, passing Xie Xun directly.

She changed into a caregiver's uniform and shoe covers, put on a mask, and entered the ICU under the guidance of a nurse.

He Changyi is only allowed to come in and spend half an hour with Grandma Vitalie each day. Fortunately, Grandma Vitalie was lucid today.

She even seemed to be in good spirits and was in the mood to comfort He Changyi.

"Don't be sad, my child... Longevity is dangerous... My time has come to an end..."

Grandma Vitalie's voice was light and airy, like a falling leaf or a feather, almost drowned out by the noise of the medical equipment.

He Changyi had to put his ear close to her mouth to barely hear her clearly.

She gritted her teeth and said nonchalantly, "This is nothing. You haven't even seen the sun of the new millennium yet, so why are you in such a hurry to leave? Are you already tired of Earth? But we still have space. As Gagarin said, there are no Gods or angels there."

Grandma Vitalie slowly shook her head.

"Child, accept it...accept death..."

He Changyi could only feel as if cotton or iron was stuffed in her throat, making it hard for her to breathe.

"No, I won't accept it, absolutely not."

For a long time, Grandma Vitalie remained silent, breathing heavily like a broken bellows, each breath accompanied by a hissing sound.

He Changyi then said, "Can you really bear to abandon Alexei? You are his only family."

"Alyosha..."

Grandma Vitalie stared at the ceiling, tears slowly streaming down her face.

“My…my poor…Alyosha…”

He Changyi frantically tried to wipe away her tears, while her own tears slid inside her mask, sticking wet and cool to her face.

She suddenly remembered that during this time, Grandma Vitalie had never asked about Alexei.

Not even once.

A sudden realization dawned on He Changyi.

...She knew.

...She already knows.

Grandma Vitalie must have seen the news on TV. The screen showed a picture of Alexei, and the news anchor, in a serious yet exaggerated tone, declared that a degenerate veteran had worked for the mafia and murdered an honest prosecutor. Who would have thought that this murderer had once been awarded the Order of the Red Star for his heroic deeds? Now anyone is allowed to kill him and receive a three million ruble reward for his body.

This is a good deal. All you need is a bullet or a knife. If you don't have the courage, you can report it to the nearest police station. At least you can get a reward of 500,000 rubles.

Grandma Vitalie's house is now surrounded by eager bounty hunters.

There was also a hospital, but this was police territory, so the ruthless bounty hunters could only wait on the outskirts, hoping to snatch something from the police.

However, to date, no one has been able to catch that cunning fugitive, nor has anyone even found a trace of him.

Many people suspect that he was actually murdered to silence him, and that his body was tied with cement blocks and sunk into an unnamed river.

Perhaps Grandma Vitalie thought the same way.

From the day Alexei joined the army, she had been mentally preparing herself for ten years.

Now, she's leaving.

She will be reunited with her little Alyosha.

He Changyi swallowed hard, trying to remain calm, and said, "I swear, I will save Alexei. He'll be alright. I will do everything in my power to clear his name. I know he didn't do it. He's an idiot, but he must still be alive..."

She spoke incoherently, and by the end, she barely knew what she was saying.

"Don't go, don't go..."

"Please..."

The heart monitor emitted a piercing alarm, and Grandma Vitalie's gaze began to glaze over.

Medical staff rushed in, and He Changyi was pushed aside from the bedside. Through the crowd, she saw Grandma Vitalie's lips move slightly.

The doctor spoke urgently in medical terms with Latin roots that were incomprehensible, and the nurses followed orders, turning the ICU into a temporary battlefield.

Death, wielding a giant scythe, slowly approached, its cloak silently brushing against everyone.

He Changyi stood in the corner, as if she were in the eye of a typhoon. People came and went in front of her, but she remained strangely detached.

In such a noisy environment, she could clearly hear Grandma Vitalie's voice.

"The past cannot be undone..."

"Beep—"

A straight line indicating the end of the entire series appeared on the screen of the heart monitor.

All was silent.

He Changyi could not hear anything anymore.

The past cannot be returned to.

There's nothing to be sad about.

—Every era has its own trees growing.

The great tree of the previous era has fallen.

The day of the burial was a rare sunny day in Mosk.

Grandma Vitalie was not religious, so there was no church or priest at her funeral, only a neatly folded Union flag, a party membership card, and a tombstone carved with a hammer and sickle.

Grandma Vitalie's friends all came.

They dressed in their best clothes and gathered in the cemetery in late autumn. With their aged and trembling voices, they sang one old song after another, bidding farewell to their comrades and comrades-in-arms once again.

"We dance joyfully beside the Christmas tree, in our homeland, we are so happy!"

They once looked forward to the future with such sincerity.

They have no future.

Not far away, He Changyi was wearing a black suit, and the skin exposed outside the clothes was extremely pale.

She remained expressionless and calmly said, "You see, Alexei isn't here. You can have the police leave. But you can stay here as well; I don't think the dead mind being watched."

He Changyi turned to look at the newcomer and asked, "What do you think, Andrei?"

Andrei had no expression, but for some reason he looked extremely disheveled.

He pursed his lips tightly, remaining silent, his blue eyes like deep-sea whirlpools.

He Changyi then stopped talking, turned around and left decisively, without even saying goodbye.

Xie Xun glanced at the excessively handsome blond man with a mixture of apprehension and pity, then turned to chase after He Changyi.

The solemn and tranquil cemetery was only filled with the sound of the wind.

A uniformed policeman strode over and said in a low voice, "No trace of the suspect has been found. Should we continue to send people to keep watch?"

Andrei listened without expression, then said, "Everyone retreat."

The police looked at him in confusion, while Andrei looked at the new tombstone not far away.

"He's not coming."

After saying this, Andrei fell silent, seemingly lost in thought. The police dared not disturb him and stood quietly to the side, awaiting further instructions.

After a while, just when the police thought there would be no more instructions, Andrei suddenly spoke up: "Go to Vladimir."

He will appear.

The police officer hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked, "What if the wanted criminal is actually dead?"

After all, this guy didn't go to see his only relative one last time, nor did he attend the funeral, not even for a fleeting glance. Keep in mind, the police had already surrounded the cemetery, yet they hadn't found a single suspect.

What kind of heartless person could watch their grandmother die with regret?

If he weren't already dead, he would have crawled to the tombstone even if it meant crawling.

Of course, he might be in the cemetery right now, as a spirit.

Thinking of this, the policeman couldn't help but shudder and looked around suspiciously.

But Andrei said with certainty, "He crawled out of the dead on the battlefield and will not die easily."

He turned and left, the wind lifting the hem of his coat.

"Send someone to follow her."

After a pause, Andrei added, "Be careful not to let her find out."

On the streets of Mosk, a military jeep that was polished to an excessively clean speeded by.

However, nowadays Mosk is filled with imported luxury cars, so an old-fashioned Jeep is not particularly eye-catching.

The car stopped outside the train station, and a tall, reserved young man got out of the car; it was Xie Xun.

There were too many things piling up in Eastern Europe, and he had to get back as soon as possible to deal with them.

Before parting, Xie Xun looked at He Changyi and carefully asked, "Where are you going? How about we go to Eastern Europe together to relax? The climate there is warmer than Russia, the architecture and scenery are beautiful, the people are friendly, and the food is pretty good..."

"sounds good."

He Changyi smiled at him, "But I have to go back to Fushi. People have to eat."

I heard that Vladimir City is going to hold a state-owned enterprise auction soon, with the goal of completely dismantling the huge amount of state-owned assets left over from the Union. The new government is eager to test whether the sword of power in its hands is sharp enough.

This time, the state-owned enterprise auction did not collect money, only vouchers, which happened to be exactly what He Changyi had in abundance right now.

She had already reserved a seat for this once-in-a-century extravaganza.

As countless knives and forks joyfully reached for the center of the table, a pair of chopsticks quietly joined in.

—Then she started eating.

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Author's Note: I've been writing for a few years now, and I'm increasingly realizing that it's impossible to please everyone. This was true for my last story, and it's true for this one too. Criticism and praise often clash, like a whip dipped in cream—it's both painful and sweet!

I carefully read through every suggestion, but decided to continue following the outline. The story is currently about two-thirds complete, and it won't be finished anytime soon, since the female lead hasn't yet exchanged rings with her one and only true love, Xiao Qianqian, and made their vow of lifelong commitment (not really...).

In short, thank you to everyone for your understanding and companionship since the beginning of this story. I hope this story has brought you joy and touched you, and I hope we can continue to read it together until the end. Love you all~