Chapter 136 Can I Go Home If I Get Lost?
"According to official measurements from the C Country Earthquake Network, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck Shancheng at 8:27 AM on January 26th... Immediately after the quake, Shancheng activated its emergency response, with medical and fire departments swiftly deploying rescue efforts... As of now, the quake has injured 13 people, with no fatalities... A small number of farmer-built houses in the western suburbs have experienced cracks and collapses, but fortunately, residents were able to evacuate in time..."
Watching the news on TV, Chang Xile picked up the remote and pressed the power button. Anping, lying nearby, raised his paw to try to pry the remote from her hand, only to watch as Chang Xile placed it on the wooden table farthest from him.
"We agreed to turn off the TV after watching the news report on the number of casualties. The most important thing for you now is to have a good rest." Chang Xile frowned and didn't even look at him. He just pushed him back to the bed with one hand and took the phone away with the other.
"I'm really fine." Anping sighed, unable to resist a laugh. "And... you sent me to the vet. Aren't you being a bit desperate?"
He is not an ordinary animal, and ordinary treatments have little effect on him.
"How dare you laugh?" Chang Xile thought back to that moment, filled with fear. Anping hadn't even been able to maintain his human form, which had frightened Chang Xile half to death. The cat had cultivated several tails, but he had reduced them to just one. If he died again, Chang Xile would have to chase him to the underworld to retrieve him.
She couldn't beat that guy Xie Wuya.
At that time, she was holding a cat, and she couldn't go to a human doctor for treatment, so the only one left was a veterinarian.
She said unhappily, "It's really alright, then can you change back into a human form and let me see?"
Anping stopped talking and just lay down to rest.
In the silence, Chang Xile's phone suddenly vibrated. She pointed at Anping, signaling him to rest, and then left the ward to answer the phone.
"Hello, Xile, are you okay over there?" It was Li Chuanliu calling.
"Order has basically been restored at the hospital, and none of us were seriously injured." Chang Xile thought of Anping, and the last few words "not injured" were passed over lightly. "Anyway, it's nothing serious. How about you guys?"
"We're urgently organizing patrols and rescue operations. The city is generally fine. Today is a weekday, and everyone was up by 8:00 AM. One or two unlucky people were nearly hit by falling objects, but they were taken to the hospital and are fine. The leader also said that we had done a good job of earthquake prevention education and fire drills, and the evacuation was very timely."
Chang Xile listened to Li Chuanliu's words and no longer thought he was too talkative. He smiled so hard that his teeth were visible and his eyes were not visible. "That's good. It means our hard work in the past period of time was not in vain."
However, Li Chuanliu paused, his tone becoming more serious. "It's just that the situation in the suburbs isn't very good. They're all self-built houses, and the stability of the houses is poor. Several houses have cracked load-bearing walls, and they're already considered dangerous. But the residents don't want to move, and no amount of persuasion will persuade them to do anything."
There were no casualties. Farmers and workers got up earlier than office workers and were basically staying outside when the earthquake occurred.
Chang Xile's smile also disappeared.
Yes, minimizing casualties is what they always want to do. But the property losses that are almost negligible in the face of human lives can be a mountain that crushes them for some people.
How can we blame the residents for not wanting to move out of these dilapidated houses? They live in these houses, and where else can they go after they leave?
Chang Xile had been in a sullen mood since she hung up the phone, even more so than when she was mad at Anping. Anping soon noticed and probably knew the reason, but he said nothing.
"Hey!"
Chang Xile met Dai Shanyan when he was walking alone on the hospital lawn.
"I heard you were looking for me? What's the matter?" Dai Shanyan looked down at Chang Xile's expression and asked, "Are you unhappy?"
Chang Xile shook his head and smiled: "I want to discuss something with you."
Dai Shanyan and Chang Xile were sitting on a roadside bench when a kitten passed by and wanted to jump onto the bench to take a nap. But after its eyes met Dai Shanyan's, it stretched out and left.
Dai Shanyan listened carefully to Chang Xile's words and said as a matter of course, "Of course!"
She stood up, touched the top of Chang Xile's head from a distance, and said kindly, "What I give you is yours. There's no need to ask me."
Chang Xile looked at her and suddenly said, "Shanyan, I really want to hug you."
"Why are you suddenly being so sentimental? It's not like we won't see each other anymore... Well, I still have to go out on a field trip. See you next time, Xiao Xile." Dai Shanyan came and went in a hurry. She waved to Chang Xile and disappeared.
Chang Xile didn't leave in a hurry. He sat on the bench, wondering what he was thinking about.
After a while, a breeze blew from afar, gently embracing Chang Xile, and the wind was mixed with the fragrance of sunflowers.
After a short while, Chang Xile opened the door to the ward and found Anping had returned to human form. He leaned against the bed, gazing out the window. The setting sun shone on the side of his face, and he could almost see the tiny hairs on the tip of his nose and the edges of his cheeks.
"How do you feel?" Chang Xile saw that Anping had the strength to transform back into human form, and knew that he was no longer in danger.
Anping closed the magazine and looked at her with a smile: "Are you in a good mood?"
Chang Xile pretended to be serious for a while, but finally couldn't hold back his laughter and nodded vigorously: "Yeah!"
"What good thing happened?" Anping looked at his mobile phone on the table and had something to tell her.
"The residents in the suburbs have been resettled." Chang Xile took out his mobile phone and waved it towards Anping. On the screen was a donation page initiated by the mountain city officials. The accumulated funds announced on it were much higher than those in the morning.
"Ah." An Ping rarely showed a surprised expression. He stared at Chang Xile's phone page and laughed, "That's what I wanted to tell you."
Chang Xile smiled foolishly at Anping for a moment, then happily sat down beside the hospital bed, opened the railway app, and muttered, "Oh, I don't know if the high-speed rail can still operate normally. My mom was so scared this morning that she called me on video to make sure I was okay and urged me to go home."
Anping listened to her travel plans home with a smile, but after a while, he felt something was wrong: "Are you planning to go home alone?"
"Yes." Chang Xile had already decided to take the bus to the high-speed rail station in the nearby city. The thought of the ten-hour ride gave her a headache. After booking her ticket, she patted Anping's uninjured shoulder and warned him, "Take good care of yourself while I'm gone. Don't get hurt again. And remember to run away if you see a bad guy. We only have one life, so we have to cherish it, right?"
He listened to her quietly, his expression becoming thoughtful.
As for how much he actually heard, only he himself knows.
On the other side, the famous Dai family in the mountain city was also busy.
A scandal ensued for the Chen family, the contractors for the Xiaoyu Mountain development project. Chen Moxin was ripped into numerous crimes, each one enough to land him in jail for life. Naturally, his family members were also implicated and could not escape the accusations.
The contracting project was taken over by the Dai family, led by Dai Xigang, and the subsequent construction schedule is being planned in the past few days.
At this time, Dai Xigang was sitting in the study, silently swiping the screen of his mobile phone, which showed the fundraising page for the post-earthquake disaster in Shancheng.
He looked at the names listed on the contribution list with some confusion, among which the name "Dai Shanyan" appeared twice.
He knew that one of the payments was made by Dai Xigang in the name of his sister Dai Shanyan.
There is another one...what's going on?
He looked down and saw the familiar name——
[Always joyful]
Daisy Port tilted his head slightly, scrolled through the page, and dialed a number:
"Hello?"
"It's me."
"I want to build a golden statue of the Laughter Goddess of Laughter Temple."
…
The Spring Festival travel rush is no joke.
Chang Xile, carrying her suitcase, tried very hard to weave through the crowd: "Please make way, please make way, I'm about to miss my bus... Be careful not to trip."
After finally getting on the bus, Chang Xile finally breathed a sigh of relief.
My mother's video call came the next second.
Chang Xile put on her headphones and broke into a toothy grin as soon as the call was connected. "Hello, Mom? I've caught the bus. Don't worry! I'll probably be home around 6 or 7 in the evening."
"Okay, I'll ask your dad to pick you up when the time comes." It was rare for Tang Shixin not to go out and play with her good sisters. She was picking vegetables in the vegetable market.
"Okay, I want to eat braised crab, Mom!" Chang Xile couldn't help swallowing his saliva when he thought about the New Year's Eve dinner he could have when he returned home.
"Which year can we miss your favorite dishes? Save your stomach for later." Tang Shixin laughed at her for being a little greedy, and after a while asked, "Is your aunt really not coming back for the New Year?"
Chang Xile nodded: "I asked her, she has something to do in the mountain city. I guess she won't be back until after the New Year."
Tang You usually celebrated New Year's Eve with Chang Leguan's group of friends. This time, even though her old friend was no longer around, she decided to wait until the New Year was over and finish paying respects before leaving. Yang Guisi also stayed, saying it had been a while since he'd celebrated New Year's Eve with his master.
"Okay, you are all busy." Tang Shixin endured it and still didn't ask Chang Xile what he was doing in the mountain city during this period of time. He actually waited until New Year's Eve to go home.
She looked at the child's tired face in the camera and asked softly, "Are you tired during this period?"
Chang Xile had gotten up early, so he yawned and said sullenly, "Yeah. When I get home, I'm going to sleep with him for three days and three nights."
"Okay. Let's stop talking for now. You should get some rest. Don't sleep too deeply when you're on the road alone. Be careful and keep an eye on your things."
Chang Xile hung up the phone and adjusted herself to a comfortable position in her seat. She set the alarm, then tilted her head out the window, watching the mountains fly by, and fell into a deep sleep.
She was sleeping so deeply that she simply ignored the snoring of her neighbor and the laughter of the child in the seat in front of her, and she didn't hear the conversation between the flight attendants in the corridor not far away.
"What are you looking for? Did a passenger lose their luggage?"
"No... I just saw a white cat in the car."
"Impossible, are you dazzled? We don't accept pets on this train. Cats can't pass security."
"Yeah, that's true. I guess you're too tired from working back-to-back shifts. Let's go."
When Chang Xile boarded the high-speed train, it was still dawn. By the time she got off, the sky was barely brighter—the setting sun had practically sunk behind the mountains.
"My daughter!" A familiar figure outside the high-speed rail station waved at her.
"Dad!" Chang Xile ran over happily and high-fived his father.
Chang Jing took his daughter's suitcase, put his arm around her shoulders and walked out: "Your mother called three or four times to ask me if you had arrived, and told me to hurry up. I said okay, okay, I'll hurry up and wait for the high-speed train to arrive."
Chang Xile was amused by him and laughed: "Let's go home quickly, I'm so hungry. There are people eating instant noodles on the high-speed train, they smell so good!"
This year, they returned to their hometown in Yangcheng to celebrate the New Year. It was just the three of them. After they finished offering sacrifices to their ancestors, Chang Xile helped to bring the dishes back to the table, poured a glass of wine for each of his parents, and poured himself a small glass of Coke. Then, he raised his glass and said, "I wish us—"
Mom and Dad immediately cooperated and clinked glasses with her -
"Happy New Year!"
During the meal, Chang Xile talked about some of her school days. She omitted the thrilling parts and focused on a few interesting things.
"It seems you made a lot of good friends in the mountain city this time. No wonder you're never home." Tang Shixin no longer complained about her daughter coming home late. She scratched her daughter's nose with a mixture of amusement and heartache, "If there's a chance, your friends can come home and play."
"Yeah!" Chang Xile nodded and drank another cup of Coke.
By the time my parents sat on the sofa and turned on the live broadcast of the Spring Festival Gala, it was already eight or nine o'clock.
Chang Xile received several New Year's greetings calls. After hanging up, her mind was no longer on the skit. She remembered what her mother said, "Bring your friends home to play when you have time," and suddenly realized that she had left Anping alone in the mountain city for the New Year.
She walked slowly to the balcony and looked at the distant mountains in the night sky.
Anping is located behind many mountains and is a 12-hour train ride away.
I don't know what he's doing now, has he eaten yet? Chang Xile suddenly remembered the indescribable look in Anping's eyes when she was planning to go home that day.
She looked at her head a little annoyed. Why didn't she see it at the time?
From the living room came Ms. Tang Shixin's call: "Someone rang the doorbell, Xile—go open it."
"I'm busy." Chang Xile replied in a loud voice.
"You little girl, you didn't even watch the Spring Festival Gala, what else are you busy with? Go and start the game."
Chang Xile then tapped his slippers and headed downstairs. Who would knock on the door during Chinese New Year? This wasn't the time for visiting.
"Who is it?" Chang Xile was stunned when he opened the door and saw the visitor.
The evening breeze blew into the room as the door opened. Chang Xile shivered, but most of the wind was blocked by the person in front of him.
He was wearing a black coat, with his arms folded, looking down at her: "I haven't been to Yangcheng for a long time. I got lost. May I ask this beautiful lady..."
He leaned closer to her, curved his lips slightly, and asked, "Can I stay here?"
Chang Xile stared at the familiar face, pursed his lips and said nothing for a long time.
Anping raised his hand and touched her cheek, then asked, "Are you going to cry again?"
Chang Xile refused to admit it, so she turned the tables and asked, "Didn't you promise me to take good care of yourself? It's wrong for you to sneak out like this."
"Yeah." Anping nodded and said half-heartedly, "I'm sorry, I acted on my own initiative."
Chang Xile turned her head away, feeling a little regretful. This was not what she wanted to say!
Anping turned around and said, "Then I'm leaving."
"Hey!" Chang Xile quickly grabbed his clothes, not knowing whether she was more surprised or angry. "It's so late and it's so cold outside. Where else are you going if not home?"
An Ping's back paused, then he chuckled and turned to look at her: "Go home?"
Chang Xile stared into his lake-blue eyes, and this time without hesitation, she said with certainty, "Yes, let's go home."
Anping's expression softened, and he stared at Chang Xile without blinking. His gaze was so direct, even in the dead of winter, that Chang Xile felt her cheeks burning.
His right hand held the side of her face. Chang Xile watched Anping slowly approaching, almost counting his eyelashes, and finally couldn't help closing her eyes.
After a while, I heard him ask:
"May I?"
Can I, kiss you?
Chang Xile sighed deeply inwardly and wanted to say, "I thought it was obvious when I closed my eyes." But when he opened his eyes, the words on his lips turned into a slightly provocative rhetorical question: "What if I say no?"
Anping looked at her seriously, then gave her a barely perceptible smile and apologized insincerely, "I'm so sorry."
The next second he kissed her.
The north wind was howling past, and the wooden window in the bedroom on the second floor was always open, swaying slightly in the chilly wind, making a creaking sound.
Once upon a time, a lion cat traveled thousands of miles back to this window, but did not find that person.
But today, he didn't get lost again.
——The main text ends.
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