Chapter 45 Treasure Island (14) The workshop catches fire.

When she finally woke up, the black cat was gone. She asked 1221, "When did he leave? Where did he go?"

"have no idea."

She had met too many people and too many of her kind. If they met by chance and then parted without saying goodbye, the kitten would more or less feel a sense of longing.

I lingered under the maple tree for a while until the cleaners came to sweep the fallen leaves from the street, the sunlight dispelled the morning mist, and the street began to awaken.

Ah Kun, who had just gotten up, saw the kitten coming down from the roof. He broke open his meat bun for breakfast, put the meat filling into the kitten's special food bowl, and watched as the kitten listlessly ignored the bowl before jumping onto the table.

"What's wrong? Why are you feeling down?"

Ah Kun scratched the kitten's chin.

No.

She hesitated to admit that she had wandered around various streets and alleys on her way here and hadn't seen a single one of her kind. She pointed with her paw at the tea egg in the other person's bowl and asked for a yolk.

After finishing the egg yolk, I gulped down several mouthfuls of water. Feeling full and satisfied, my mood brightened up.

Chichi lay on the table watching Ah Kun and Uncle Lin make pottery.

Not long after, the deliveryman knocked on the door: "The package has arrived, please come out and sign for it."

Ah Kun responded loudly, went out to get the package, and came back. Uncle Lin glanced at the box and said, "What kind of nonsense are you wasting money on again?"

"I didn't waste money." Ah Kun patted the box, opened it, and took out a surveillance camera. "How about that? Wasn't I thorough enough?"

He nimbly climbed the ladder, installed the camera under the eaves, and carefully adjusted the angle to ensure that it could cover every corner of the yard.

"Look," Ah Kun said to Uncle Lin, pointing to the phone screen, "you can see it clearly, right?"

“My shabby workshop doesn’t have anything of value that anyone would covet.”

"It's better to be safe than sorry."

Ah Kun didn't voice his concerns.

So much time has passed, and Ah Jie and his group have been hiding and haven't shown their faces. Based on his understanding of them, they may seem like they won't reappear on the surface, but in reality, they might be harboring resentment and could suddenly resurface one day to seek revenge.

"How much?" Uncle Lin asked, afraid the other party would become penniless but still stubbornly refuse to answer. "I'll give you the money."

They spend money recklessly all day long, not a single penny of it goes to themselves, it all goes into the workshop.

“No need.” Ah Kun waved his hand. “I’ve posted photos of our pottery online, and a few customers have already placed orders. Once the deposits arrive, we’ll have money again.”

"Old Lin is so good to Akun," Chichi said to 1221. "He provides food and lodging and teaches him the craft, and he's even worried that Akun will lose money at the workshop."

“I think Lao Lin already treats A-Kun like his own son,” 1221 said. “He even picks out the vegetables that A-Kun likes to eat when he buys groceries.”

"But it's good that Ah Kun is here..."

Chi Chi looked at Uncle Lin, who was teaching Ah Kun how to repair the embryo, and said, "If it weren't for him, Old Lin would probably be very lonely."

“People who are not related by blood can become family together,” 1221 said. “That’s the wonder of emotions. Blood ties are just one of the opportunities that create family, but everything lies in love.”

like?

The kitten's heart was gently touched, and an indescribable emotion, like tiny bubbles, rose from its depths.

“After the trip,” Chichi said to 1221, “can I live like them and build such deep relationships with some people?”

“Sure,” 1221 said. “You can do whatever you want.”

"I want to go see him now."

"——"

"You're not referring to 'him' when you say 'certain people'?"

"That's not necessarily true." Chi Chi winked at the ball of light. "If you're willing to tell me some things that the kitten doesn't know, maybe I'll reconsider."

"..." 1221 turned off the light and pretended to be dead.

The gate to the magnolia tree courtyard remained tightly closed. She slowly jumped over the low stone railing and onto the wall to observe the courtyard. The wheelchair was still in its usual spot, but instead of going down into the courtyard, she found a sunny spot and lay down on the wall.

Perhaps sensing the kitten's arrival but not jumping onto his lap as usual, the person in the wheelchair finally raised his eyes and looked towards the wall.

Chichi wagged its tail tip below, as if to say hello.

1221 looked on curiously: "Why aren't you going down this time?"

It slowly retracted its tail, wrapping it around its paws: "There's no sun there."

By the time she took a nap on the wall, the sunlight had already moved from east to west, and the person under the magnolia tree's shadow had changed direction at some point.

The golden sunlight slanting in the west, like a thin veil, cast its light on the other person's shoulders.

She stretched lazily, then leaped lightly, like a feather, landing on the other person's lap to chase the sun.

The kitten skillfully circled twice on the other person's lap, found the most satisfying spot, curled up again, and purred contentedly.

The sunlight outlined the indifferent silhouette with a golden hue, and the kitten's fluffy fur radiated warmth in the light, making people feel warm as well.

A tiny crack was pried open somewhere, and it lingered near the other's hand, catching a whiff of the scent mixed with sunlight.

When the kitten opened its eyes again, it sniffed and smelled the burning smell coming from afar.

1221 was no longer as quiet as a chicken: "It looks like there's a fire on that street."

"where?"

He hesitated for a moment before jumping off the wheelchair and leaping onto the wall, looking warily in the direction indicated by the sphere of light. It seemed to be the street where Uncle Lin and Ah Kun were.

"Fire! Help! Help put out the fire!"

As soon as Chichi turned the corner, he saw a crowd gathered outside. Thick smoke was billowing from a courtyard, accompanied by orange-red flames. Before he even got close, the pungent smell of smoke made the kitten sneeze several times.

Only after she crawled under the feet of the people did she realize that the fire had started in Lin Bo's workshop.

"Call the fire department right now!"

"We hit it, we hit it as soon as we noticed the smoke."

"Does anyone have a long water pipe? Let's connect it and try..."

Just as Chichi was about to run into the yard, she was stopped outside by 1221. She looked anxiously at the increasingly thick smoke in the sky: "Uncle Lin and Akun are still inside!"

“It’s no use you going in now,” 1221 insisted, preventing the kitten from entering the dangerous area. “The fire trucks are coming soon; let them put out the fire first.”

While everyone was still dragging hoses to fetch water from their own yards to put out the fire, a figure emerged from the thick smoke, coughing, his face and body covered in soot.

Ah Kun, carrying Uncle Lin on his back, staggered out of the fire. Uncle Lin's arm hung limply over the boy's shoulder, clearly indicating that he had fallen into a coma.

"Quick! Help me—"

Ah Kun's voice was hoarse, his knees buckled, and the two of them collapsed to the ground at the gate of the courtyard.

The neighbors immediately gathered around. Some took Lin Bo from him, some handed water to Ah Kun, and others called for an ambulance.

Ah Kun poured the whole bucket of water over his head, then took a towel, soaked it, covered his mouth and nose, and stood up by supporting himself with his hands, trying to rush into the yard.

Uncle Lin coughed violently, gripping Ah Kun's arm tightly: "No, don't go in again..."

The sirens of fire trucks came from the street. Ah Kun's eyes were fixed on the inner room of the workshop, where the most important items were kept.

She anxiously bit Ah Kun's trouser leg, saying, "Don't go in! It's too dangerous!"

Before anyone could react, Ah Kun wrapped his wet coat around himself and rushed back into the yard.

The crowd made way for the firefighters, and both humans and cats waited anxiously, each second feeling incredibly long, until water sprayed down from above the yard and extinguished the flames.

As soon as the rescuers went inside, Ah Kun stumbled out, clutching a box tightly in his arms.

Uncle Lin coughed even more violently, his voice trembling: "Are you crazy? What's more important than life? Do you think you have too much time on your hands?!"

Ah Kun, having narrowly escaped death, grinned at the other person and handed them the things he had brought out of the fire: "I brought out your formula."

"You jerk!"

Uncle Lin threw the box aside, still feeling terrified. He wanted nothing more than to slap the back of the head of this fool: "I've memorized the recipe perfectly. I don't need you to risk your life to save me!"

"And this—"

Ah Kun carefully took the clay figurine out of his arms and presented it to Uncle Lin. The figurine was intact, without a single crack, and had been perfectly protected.

Uncle Lin's voice stopped abruptly, and he suddenly choked up: "You, you rushed in again just for this?"

Ah Kun wiped the dust off his face and gave an exhausted smile: "There's only one of this in the whole world, it's more precious than the formula, isn't it?"

Lin Bo could no longer control himself and hugged the boy tightly, patting his back repeatedly with his rough hands.

"Silly child...so silly..."

Firefighters extinguished the fire, but the workshop was mostly destroyed. Police reviewed surveillance footage from the workshop and the street and discovered that it was arson.

The arsonists were Ah Jie and his gang, who held a grudge after Ah Kun rejected them and called the police.

Without surveillance, they might not have been caught. Now, they've resurfaced in retaliation and inadvertently exposed their whereabouts on camera, leading to their arrest a few days later.

Ah Kun returned to the fire a second time, his lungs were choked by smoke, and he also suffered some burns. Uncle Lin was also quite frightened and fell ill.

Ah Kun, who was more seriously injured, recovered before the other party and stayed in the hospital to take care of Uncle Lin.

He hesitated for a moment before jumping onto the hospital window and looking down at the two people in the first-floor inpatient ward.

Uncle Lin was sick for several days and his spirits were not as good as before. The fire burned down most of the workshop and it would take another six months to rebuild the courtyard.

"It's all my fault."

Ah Kun clumsily peeled the apple with a fruit knife, cutting the flesh into small pieces, and said with his head down.

Uncle Lin, half-lying on the hospital bed, frowned upon hearing this.

Ah Kun's head drooped even lower, his hand gripping the apple so tightly it turned white, his voice muffled: "If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have found the workshop, and they wouldn't have retaliated against you. They were originally only targeting me; you and the workshop were dragged into this because of me..."

Uncle Lin moved slightly, but didn't speak. He simply reached out his calloused hand across the bed and grasped Ah Kun's wrist, where the veins were slightly visible.

Ah Kun instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but it was firmly held.

The old man's hands were not warm, but rather a little cold, yet his strength was remarkably firm.

“Fool.” The other person finally spoke, his tone heavy, “There’s no reason for a victim to blame the wicked. You just did what you were supposed to do.”

"A house can be rebuilt if it burns down, and money can be earned back if it's gone." Uncle Lin patted Ah Kun's hand as he looked at Ah Kun's clenched cheeks.

“In the past, if there was a fire, no one would come to save me; if I got sick, no one would come to take care of me… Who knows if this is a blessing in disguise?”

Ah Kun felt the force coming from his wrist.

There was no blame, no regret, no remorse, only a calm and comforting acceptance of weathering the storms of life, which pulled him out of the mire of self-reproach.

"That's right."

Ah Kun reached out and fiercely wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes: "We still have hands, we still have skills, as long as we're alive, there's still a chance!"

Uncle Lin looked at the ceramic figurine that had been wiped clean and placed on the bedside table, and then at Ah Kun's reddened but rekindled eyes. A faint smile spread across his face, dispelling the gloom of the past few days.

"Yes," he said with a sense of relief, "as long as you're still alive, there's no hurdle you can't overcome."

"Once we're discharged from the hospital, we'll start all over again."

Uncle Lin's gaze returned to the ceramic figurine, his eyes becoming distant: "I'll turn that room on the east side into a proper workshop for you. We'll buy the better tools, and the front hall into a shop..."

He began to recount the story in detail, no longer the meticulous calculations of when he was alone. His craft had been passed down, and he no longer carried a heavy burden on his shoulders.

Instead, there is hope for the future.

Ah Kun nodded vigorously, his voice still a little hoarse: "Let's work together to make it even better!"

Chichi watched the two plan for the future, and followed them to the brighter workshop, and saw Uncle Lin sitting in the renovated courtyard, leisurely making pottery and drinking tea.

Some things, even a great fire won't burn them.