◇ Chapter 67 Crouching Dragon and Phoenix
In the early morning, the sky was dark and shrouded in mist. On the quiet street, there was movement in a house. A minibus stopped in front of the door and people in white mourning robes got into the car one by one.
Zhou Zheng, who was standing at the door, frowned and said, "Don't go." Lu Fangchi didn't know anyone in the car, and he had to take another car to deliver the coffin, so he couldn't accompany him.
"I'll just drive my own car and follow the main force," said Lu Fangchi.
Zhou Zheng put his hands on his waist and swallowed, licked his lips again and again, frowned tightly, and looked very conflicted.
Reality didn't allow them to think too much. A middle-aged man came over and waved, urging them: "Hurry up and get on the bus. If you delay, the queue at the crematorium will be long."
"Got it." Zhou Zheng agreed, looking at the determination in Lu Fangchi's clear eyes, and said, "The road is small and difficult to drive, be careful, and call me as soon as you have any questions."
Lu Fangchi nodded, "Got it."
Zhou Zheng used a little force to rub the back of Lu Fangchi's hand back and forth and then let go, walking hurriedly towards the van with big strides.
Lu Fangchi saw Zhou Zheng get into the van before he walked towards his own car, unlocked the door, opened it and got in.
After waiting for about five or six minutes, the van in front drove forward, followed closely by the minibus. Lu Fangchi then stepped on the accelerator and drove forward.
It was a dark and foggy night, so the car was not going very fast. Lu Fangchi was following behind at a steady 40 mph. The road was narrow, so we had to slow down if we saw oncoming cars.
The journey was smooth, except for a light drizzle that hit the car window, forming a spider web-like cover that disappeared in an instant after being wiped by the windshield wipers. Fortunately, it didn't tend to rain heavily and had stopped when we arrived at our destination.
Lu Fangchi had just parked the car when there was a knock on the car window. Zhou Zheng, who was dressed in mourning, leaned against the car and said, "We have to wait a little longer. We have to queue up. We will be the next in line."
Lu Fangchi looked outside and saw another group of people also wearing white robes gathered at the door. Not far away, a car drove up with another group of people, all dressed the same way.
Lu Fangchi heard Zhou Zheng say again, "Don't go in for a while, just wait for me in the car."
"It's nothing, just going around," Zhou Zheng pursed his lips and paused, saying, "She turned around once, looked at her one last time, and then was pushed in for cremation. There's nothing to see."
"Okay." Lu Fangchi nodded and agreed.
The two of them chatted for a while before someone called Zhou Zheng over and said it was their turn.
A large group of people in white mourning robes walked in, and after about five or six minutes, they came out in a bustling crowd.
Lu Fangchi rolled down the car window and heard their conversation.
"Oh, it's really ugly."
"Isn't he too thin?" The man who spoke shuddered and rubbed his arms with his hands. "He looks like a skeleton."
"It has nothing to do with that. My old man was also very thin when he passed away. He looked like he was asleep. That's not the case."
"You did too much evil in your life, that's why you are like that after you die."
"The Zhou family kid is really cruel. Her brother broke down in tears when he saw what happened, but he didn't shed a single tear."
"Alas, a big ungrateful wolf gives birth to a little ungrateful wolf..."
Suddenly, a drizzle began to fall from the sky again. Although it was midsummer, the scene still felt gloomy and cold. The women urged each other to get in the car and go back.
During this time, a woman passing by Lu Fangchi, probably because he looked gentle and good-looking, spoke up in her stilted Mandarin to remind him, "He's still inside waiting for cremation. It will probably take more than half an hour."
Lu Fangchi nodded gently and replied, "I understand. Thank you."
After most of the troops boarded the minibus, the bus started to move away. Lu Fangchi stood up and got off the bus. He took two steps and then stopped where he was. The drizzle hit his face. He blinked and then walked back to the bus and sat back down.
Forget it, Zhou Zheng may not want to see me right now.
Lu Fangchi sat in the car waiting, watching a group of mourners come out from behind. The unfamiliar women gathered together and whispered to each other, repeating the same process as before.
The rain gradually got heavier, the drizzle turned into moderate rain, and the raindrops as big as beans fell rapidly. Soon it turned into heavy rain, and the rain fell all at once.
Through the rain, Lu Fangchi recognized the two people who were walking out. They were Zhou Zheng's uncle and aunt.
Zhou Zheng was nowhere to be seen, so he might still be behind. Lu Fangchi opened the door and got out of the car, walked around to the back of the car, took out a large black umbrella from the trunk, opened it, and walked towards the crematorium.
Just after taking two steps, Zhou Zheng's figure appeared at the door. He was wearing a white robe and holding a box in his hands. He walked out step by step.
Seeing this, Lu Fangchi quickened his pace, trotting forward and holding the umbrella over Zhou Zheng's head. But the rain was too heavy, and Zhou Zheng was soaked through in just a few steps.
The hair was wet and stuck to the temples, the rain was spreading down along the ends of the hair, the eyelashes were wet and formed into clumps, the face was full of rain, or maybe mixed with something else.
Zhou Zheng raised his red eyes, the rain running down his eyes and into the corners. "Ten years ago I swore that I would never shed a tear for them again."
"They're not worth it." Zhou Zheng's lips were wetted by the rain and shone red. The corners of his lips trembled slightly. "When he died, I felt 50% relieved. Now that she's dead, I'm finally completely relieved. From now on, I'll never be burdened again."
Zhou Zheng was clearly smiling, but he looked like he was crying. The rain covered his true emotions. Lu Fangchi looked at him with a knot in his heart. He stretched out his free hand and held the person in front of him tightly in his arms.
Zhou Zheng obediently rested his head on Lu Fangchi's neck, and there was a dampness followed by a burst of heat. He said, "When he was drunk, he would only beat me. He would rather buy cigarettes than a pen for me. She never cared about me and treated me like air. They never loved me, not even a little bit. Every time I was beaten or scolded, I wished they would die quickly and disappear from this world." At the end, Alpha almost gritted his teeth. He was angry and unwilling. Then he turned around and his voice suddenly became very light, "But they are really gone, and I don't seem to be so happy in my heart."
It was so soft that Lu Fangchi could hardly hear it. He repeated it again, "Can I be sad?" It sounded like a question, or a whisper.
Lu Fangchi felt sour in his heart. He raised his hand and gently patted the alpha's broad back, whispering, "Okay."
After he finished speaking, Lu Fangchi felt the alpha in front of him take off his disguise, as if he had completely lost his strength, his face buried in his neck, his shoulders shaking slightly, and the sound of the rain drowned out the low sobbing beside his ears.
I don't know how long it took, maybe only ten minutes, the sobbing sound gradually became smaller and disappeared. Lu Fangchi dragged the distraught Zhou Zheng back to the car.
Even with an umbrella, Lu Fangchi was still half soaked, so he simply took off his coat. Zhou Zheng, on the other hand, was soaked through in his white mourning robe, which stuck to his body. He was soaked and dripping with water. His eyelids were slightly red, and he looked listless.
"You can't do that. You'll catch a cold. Take off all your clothes." Lu Fangchi paused and said softly, "Can you take them off?" He pointed at the mourning robe.
"Well, it's over." Zhou Zheng nodded languidly, and quickly took off his mourning robes and dried them. These pieces of cloth were still somewhat useful, as the inside was not soaked, and his pants were not damaged either. In the end, he just changed into a T-shirt and dried his hair with a dry towel.
Lu Fangchi originally wanted to take him to the hotel to take a hot bath and sleep for a rest before leaving, but Zhou Zheng seemed to hate this place and refused to go no matter what. Anyway, the luggage was in the trunk, so Lu Fangchi called up the navigation and entered the route, then simply stepped on the accelerator and drove back.
Zhou Zheng had been extremely silent since a while ago, with his slightly swollen eyelids drooping and a listless look on his face. Lu Fangchi tried to keep the speed steady and prevent the car from shaking. He raised his hand and tuned up some soft and relaxing pure music, trying to relax Zhou Zheng with the melody.
But in fact, all of Alpha's resentment and resentment had just been washed away by the rain. All his emotions were emptied in vain, and he was now as fragile as a crystal glass ball. Alpha sniffed and took the initiative to ask, "Do you think I'm embarrassing?"
Huh? Lu Fangchi glanced at Zhou Zheng, who was sitting in the passenger seat, wondering where he got this from.
The alpha smiled awkwardly, "Compared to you, I've lost control far more times. I didn't want to just now, but I couldn't help it."
"His personality isn't comparable, and his family isn't good either. You must have heard something these past two days..." Zhou Zheng's voice became softer and softer, his head lowered, interpreting the word "inferiority complex" to the fullest.
Lu Fangchi braked suddenly and stopped in front of a house on the roadside. It was the middle of the night and no one was trying to drive away.
He switched the car to P gear and activated the hazard lights. Lu Fangchi looked at Zhou Zheng, who was still in shock, and said, "I don't have anything good to say either."
Lu Fangchi pursed his lips and for the first time took the initiative to explain his past to others, "Do you still remember the time when you celebrated my birthday and I got angry for no reason?"
Zhou Zheng blinked and nodded. The puppy was just foolishly coaxed into submission, and still hasn't gotten an explanation.
Lu Fangchi took a deep breath and said, "That day was the anniversary of my mother's death."
Under the alpha's wide eyes, Lu Fangchi continued, "My advent caused my mother to lose her life, and my father thinks I am a nemesis. He doesn't like me, and I am too lazy to please him, so our relationship is very bad. We only see each other twice a year, once on the anniversary of my death and once during the Chinese New Year."
Lu Fangchi raised his hand to smooth the frown on the alpha's face, crooked his eyes, and said softly, "So you see, my personality is average, and my family is not that good either."
The most extreme form of intimacy is to tell each other about past traumas and shed tears face to face.
Zhou Zheng's eyes were filled with distress. He raised his hand to pull down Lu Fangchi's hand that was smoothing his eyebrows, buried his face in his palm, and said in a muffled voice: "Don't talk about yourself like that."
Lu Fangchi tapped Zhou Zheng's temple with his finger and said, "You too."
Zhou Zheng buried his face and rubbed it left and right, "You are the best in my heart."
Lu Fangchi curled his lips, "You too."
"So we are a perfect match?"
"OK."
"It's Wolong Fengchi."
"hold head high."
"Then Wolong has a wish now, can Fengchu agree to it?"
"...Why are you Wolong?"
"It's not important," Zhou Zheng looked up at Lu Fangchi angrily, dragging out his tone as if to act coquettishly, "Can you agree?"
"Tell me what you wish for first." Lu Fangchi would decide based on the circumstances.
"I'm feeling low and especially vulnerable right now." Zhou Zheng's chubby lips curled downwards as he glanced up at Lu Fangchi. Perhaps because he thought the next words were too shameless, he spoke quickly and quietly, "So I have to live with you..."
【Author’s words】
I'm here to eat!