Su Tao immediately stopped her rude words and asked politely:

"Excuse me, is this Mr. Mei?"

Zhuang Wan was amazed at how quickly her expression changed.

The little old man by the window heard the sound and slowly turned around.

Only then did Su Tao and Zhuang Wan see that he was sitting in a wheelchair. The rusty wheelchair seemed not very flexible and made a harsh friction sound when it turned.

The old man had gray hair on his temples and looked haggard. His loose and pilling shirt made him look even thinner. The glasses on his nose were broken, and it was obvious that he had not been well taken care of.

He adjusted his glasses, hunched over and glanced at Su Tao and the others, and asked in confusion, "Who are you?"

Su Tao stepped forward, half-knelt down to meet the old man's eye level, and said politely:

"Mr. Mei, we are from Taoyang and would like to ask you to help us plan the land use in Taoyang and do some community-related space design."

When Mei Hongyi heard this, he turned his wheelchair back, as if he didn't want to see them.

"Who told you to come to me? Didn't he tell you that my designs are all utopian? They can't be realized in this world."

Su Tao grabbed the armrest of his wheelchair and said seriously:

"I've seen your work, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you. Taoyang needs designers like you, old man. Don't be so quick to reject me. How about I take you to Taoyang to have a look? If you like the place, why not settle down there? I'll help you with your accommodation."

Mei Hongyi took off his glasses, raised his cloudy old eyes and looked at her, and smiled: "Little girl, are you going to take care of me in my old age?"

Su Tao said seriously: "If you are willing."

Mei Hongyi laughed heartily: "Let's go, my old bones are still useful. What's your name, little girl?"

"Su Tao, Taozi Tao."

"Okay, Peach Girl, I'm going to enjoy myself."

Guan Zining, who happened to be out looking for a parking spot, also came over and helped Zhuang Wan carry the old man down.

Su Tao helped pack the simple luggage at the back.

The old man had very few things, not even a change of clothes. All he had were his drawing board and tools and a bunch of "fantasy" design drawings.

Su Tao picked up a random picture and looked at it. The meticulous hand-drawn sketch depicted a corner of a park, with flowerbed-style seats, sycamore trees planted for shade, and a sculpture fountain not far away, with a few children splashing in the water.

There is also a map of the school, which shows the teaching area, dormitory building, wide and clean plastic running track, and fully equipped playground.

This is the world in Mr. Mei’s mind.

It's hers too.

When Tan Fangchun saw the old man being carried out, he raised his voice and shouted:

"Eh hey hey? What are you doing?"

Su Tao said: "If he can't pay the money, we will take him away directly. If you are willing to pay the money for him, we will let him go."

How could Tan Fangchun possibly pay back the old man's money? He immediately said:

"The money he owes me has nothing to do with me. If you want to arrest him, go ahead."

As she said this, she was afraid that Su Tao would catch her and ask for the debt, so she went into the house and slammed the door.

Zhuang Wan was completely overwhelmed and grumbled softly, "You're really good! This woman is just greedy. If she knew that Mr. Mei was following us to Taoyang, she would probably throw a tantrum and beg for favors, refusing to let him go."

Mei Hongyi smiled, and it was unclear whether he heard it or not.

Seeing the old man so happy, Guan Zining thought that he was another person who was corrupted by Su Tao's sugar-coated bullets.

This made her even more determined not to be controlled by the woman surnamed Su. She had to keep her distance from any candy she threw at her and firmly resist it.

After settling the old man in the back seat, Su Tao took out the lunch box from her backpack:

"It's already dinner time, and there's nothing to eat nearby. Let's just eat our bento. I'll take you out to a restaurant later."

Guan Zining saw the lunch box handed to him, hesitated for a moment, and finally opened it and ate it.

Resist it next time.

Su Tao was worried that Mei Hongyi's teeth would be bad as he was old, so she softened the lunch box with hot water, picked out some chewy vegetables and put them into the rice porridge before handing it to him.

Mei Hongyi looked at the rice in his hand and asked, "Is it white rice?"

Su Tao nodded.

Mei Hongyi was stunned for a moment, then he ate carefully, taking small bites at a time, mumbling in between:

“Is there still a place to grow rice that tastes like it did twenty years ago?”

"I remember when I was little, the rice fields at home were so huge. My mom had to raise her voice to call me from the other side of the field, and her voice would linger on the ridges of the fields."

"I had to gasp for breath when running from one end of a field to the other. Now, even if I stretch my arm, I worry about stretching it into the neighbor's house."

The three girls at the scene had never seen such a large rice field, and it was difficult for them to imagine the scene.

Is this what the world was like before the end of the world, so free and unrestrained?

Mei Hongyi ate happily, like an old child.

After a simple meal, driver Guan continued driving. Su Tao ordered him to drive slower because there was an elderly person around.

Mei Hongyi squinted out the car window and said, "It's been twenty years. I can't go back."

Su Tao followed his gaze and saw two dilapidated buildings that were about to collapse, with clothes hanging outside the windows. Looking down, she could see that this should have been the entrance to a park. After the apocalypse, the land was expropriated and buildings were built to accommodate more people.

She thought of the park drawn on Mr. Mei's drawing.

Indeed, there is no going back.

"If we can't go back, we'll just build another one," she suddenly said.

Mei Hongyi was shocked, then suddenly laughed: "Tao girl, you may not be very old, but you have a big heart. In this end times, how can there be so much land?"

Su Tao said: "There is a piece of land that needs your planning soon, just according to your ideas."

Mei Hongyi remained noncommittal: "What a big tone! Do you have the final say?"

Su Tao said firmly, "I can do it. Go ahead, old man. We are the same. We all want a comfortable, stable and good home, right?"

Mei Hongyi felt that not only his eyesight was getting blurry, but his hearing was also getting worse. He could actually hear a baby born in the end times saying that he wanted a comfortable home to live in, rather than a small house that could accommodate many people.

But he just wanted to remain deaf like this: "Yes."

Su Tao smiled, and the decadent doomsday was gone in this April day.