Daily Fireworks and the Promise of the Future
The early morning sunlight streamed through the French windows, casting a glint of gold across the apartment's carpet. Lu Ye was awakened by the aroma of fried eggs emanating from the kitchen. He turned over and saw Qi Chen, dressed in gray home clothes, standing in front of the kitchen stove, frying an egg with a spatula in hand. The sunlight fell on his hair, casting a faint golden glow.
"Awake?" Qi Chen glanced back at him with a smile in his eyes, "Hurry up and wash up, breakfast will be ready soon."
Lu Ye got up, walked to the kitchen door, and leaned against the doorframe, watching Qi Chen. The frying pan sizzled, and the aroma of eggs mixed with the sweet scent of milk filled the entire apartment, a smell of home he had never experienced before. "When did you learn to fry an egg?" he asked with a smile. "I thought you only knew how to use the peach wood sword and the soul-calming bell."
Qi Chen placed the fried eggs on a plate and sprinkled some black pepper on them. It looked very good. "When I lived alone before, I always had to cook for myself. Try it and see if it suits your taste."
Lu Ye walked over, picked up his fork and took a bite – crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with just the right amount of saltiness. His eyes lit up: "Delicious! Even better than the ones at the breakfast shops out there!"
Qi Chen handed the milk to Lu Ye and took out the toast: "Eat slowly, don't choke. Today is the weekend, let's go to Chen Zhe's house. Lele said he missed us and wanted to show us his new paintings."
Lu Ye nodded and quickened his eating pace. After breakfast, the two packed up their things and went to a nearby cake shop to buy Lele's favorite strawberry cake and Chen Zhe's favorite chocolate mousse.
When they arrived at Chen Zhe's house, Lele was already waiting for them at the door. He saw the cake in Lu Ye's hand and immediately ran over, hugging Lu Ye's legs: "Brother Lu Ye! Brother Qi Chen! You are finally here!"
Chen Zhe opened the door with a smile: "Come in, I made your favorite braised pork, and Lele's favorite sweet and sour spare ribs."
There are Lele's paintings in the living room, some of which depict the scene of them in the tailor shop, some of which depict the scenery of Wangchuan Lake. The top one depicts two adults holding a child, with the Bell Tower Square at sunset as the background. Next to it is written "Lele and his brothers, and everyone is safe."
"This is my new painting!" Lele took Lu Ye's hand and pointed at the painting. "The black fog is gone. Everyone is very happy. I hope it will always be like this."
Lu Ye squatted down and touched Lele's head: "Yes, there will be no more black fog in the future, and everyone will be safe."
Lunch was lively. Lele chattered about kindergarten, Chen Zhe picked up food for them, and occasionally talked about the recent situation of the tailor shop - since the black fog dissipated, the business of the tailor shop has been getting better and better. Many people came to buy stuffed rabbits, saying that they wanted to get some of the luck of "peace".
"It's all thanks to you," Chen Zhe raised his glass. "If it weren't for you, the old alley would have been engulfed in black fog long ago, and we wouldn't be where we are today."
Qi Chen shook his head: "It was everyone's kindness that resolved the resentment. We just did what we had to do."
After dinner, Lele pulled Qi Chen to teach him how to do a puzzle, while Lu Ye and Chen Zhe sat on the balcony and chatted. "Has there been no strange incidents in the old alley recently?" Lu Ye asked.
Chen Zhe shook his head and said with a smile, "No, everyone is very happy. We still chat and play chess together at the alley entrance in the evening. It's as lively as before."
Lu Ye nodded, feeling a warm feeling in his heart. He looked at the sunset outside the balcony and thought that such a day was wonderful—no danger, no fear, only the people around him and the full atmosphere of fireworks.
When they left Chen Zhe's house in the afternoon, Lele was reluctant to leave them and held their hands and walked them a long way. "Will you come again next week?" Lele asked with her little face tilted up.
"Come," Lu Ye said with a smile, "next week we'll take you to the Bell Tower Square to fly a kite, okay?"
Lele nodded and ran back home happily.
The two walked on their way home, the setting sun stretching their shadows very long, close together. Lu Ye suddenly said: "Let's live here from now on and not go anywhere else, okay?"
Qi Chen looked at him seriously: "Do you want to live here?"
"Yeah," Lu Ye nodded, "Here are Chen Zhe, Lele, traces of the people we helped, and our home. I want to stay here forever."
Qi Chen smiled and held his hand tightly: "Okay, we will live here. If there are still wronged souls who need help, we will go and help them; if not, we will live like this, cooking together every day, taking walks together, and watching the sunset together."
Lu Ye felt warm in his heart and leaned on Qi Chen's shoulder: "Okay, that's it."
Back at the apartment, Lu Ye hung Lele's painting on the living room wall, placing it alongside some old items he'd previously kept—Su Qingyuan's music box, Su Manqing's porcelain vase fragments, Lin Wanqiu's lesson plan, Xiaoyu's diary, and the three workers' wooden boxes. These old items no longer held resentment, only memories, recording the days they'd spent together.
Qi Chen took out a notebook from the drawer and opened it. Written on it were the names and stories of the wronged souls they had helped: "Let's write these stories down. When we are old, we can take them out and read them, recalling the days we walked together."
Lu Ye nodded, sat down beside Qi Chen, and wrote with him. Moonlight shone through the gap in the curtains, falling on the notebook, casting a faint light.
"Do you think there will be wronged souls who need our help in the future?" Lu Ye asked.
Qi Chen looked at him with a smile in his eyes: "Maybe, but it doesn't matter, we will face it together. As long as we are together, there will be no obsession that cannot be solved, and no difficulties that cannot be overcome."
Lu Ye nodded, leaned in Qi Chen's arms and closed his eyes.
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