Chapter 71 Three Sentences Fill the World-weary Villain with Hope (End)
After diligently completing the delivery and installation tasks, the mall staff "politely declined" Chen Yunli's offer to keep the meal, rushed out of the door like a fly, jumped onto the truck, and left at lightning speed.
Chen Yunli stood at the door, right hand against his forehead, gazing in the direction where the truck's exhaust had vanished. "He fled so quickly, as if he knew there was an evil spirit in the house."
The semi-open kitchen is to the right of the entrance. Chen Wenjian put on an apron and ran his fingers over the brand new knives on the knife rack. He smiled slightly when he heard the words, "Perhaps he sensed danger."
"What danger?" Chen Yunli leaned against the door frame and asked half-jokingly, "Are you afraid that I'll become your ingredient and be put into the pot the moment I walk in?"
Chen Wenjian raised his eyes and gave him a meaningful look.
“…”
Chen Yunli frowned, "I don't want to know what they are really like, and I don't want to eat weird food. You cook well, and if that doesn't work... I'll accept a completely vegetarian feast."
When he mentioned the words "vegetarian banquet", a trace of struggle and pain involuntarily leaked from his eyes, which made Chen Wenjian laugh.
He chuckled softly, "Don't worry, that's not the case. The ingredients I use to cook for you have of course been processed and are absolutely clean."
Chen Yunli covered his ears and walked into the house.
"I don't want to hear it. Do you need my help? If not, let me check on the goldfish in the tank. They seem a little wilted... I don't know why you bought them. You can't eat them, and you can't eat them."
Watching Chen Yunli running past the kitchen, Chen Wenjian found it funny. He turned on the faucet to wash the vegetables, then took out his most handy kitchen knife to chop the meat.
Through the shiny smooth blade of the kitchen knife, he caught a glimpse of Chen Yunli holding fish food and leaning against a glass tank that was almost as big as the entire wall, feeding the fish. From time to time, he stretched out his fingers into the water to tease the group of goldfish with their big tails spread out like flowers.
——Of course, the goldfish was just what he saw. It would be hard to describe the real appearance of the thing in the tank, so it was better to let him continue to misunderstand.
Who wouldn't like the world he sees when they are in a desperate place?
In a blink of an eye, they were at the dinner table. Chen Yunli was enjoying his meal with relish. The crystal chandelier above his head cast a bright and clear light, illuminating the entire room without a trace of darkness.
Chen Wenjian had long lost the habit and desire to eat. He just put a bowl in front of him to create an atmosphere and served him food.
After eating for a while, Chen Yunli suddenly realized that his bowl was cleaner than his face. He immediately realized what was going on, put down his chopsticks, picked up the spoon and filled a bowl of winter melon and pork ribs soup for him. He simply put the ribs that couldn't be filled in the dipping dish to save him from having to pick them up again.
"What are these?" He tapped the rim of the bowl.
"Winter melon and pork ribs." Chen Wenjian was confused.
Chen Yunli nodded and took a piece of pork ribs from his plate: "Then eat it. Good things should be shared with those you love. This way the taste will be twice as good."
Chen Wenjian chuckled softly, "That's a pleasant thing to say, but what did you think they were before? Unspeakable chunks of flesh, slimy, rotten eyes..."
"Shut up! A table full of food can't shut your mouth!" Chen Yunli was so disgusted that he picked up a fried chicken wing with crispy skin and tender meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
Chen Wenjian made a gesture of surrender, his cheeks bulging, and he personally tested the poison for him.
Chen Yunli glared at him for a few seconds, then couldn't help laughing and said, "Actually, the world we see is different, right?"
"Yes." Chen Wenjian admitted straightforwardly, "Perhaps it's due to the influence of the previous dream. In this dream, you still possess the power to block out reality and solidify beauty. The reality fixed by your gaze is difficult to shake even if I don't use my divine power."
"Is it a good thing for you?" Chen Yunli pinched the ribs and gnawed them with his front teeth, like a squirrel gnawing on chestnuts.
"Well," Chen Wenjian turned his head and glanced at the fish tank. The goldfish inside was blowing bubbles leisurely, its tail like a translucent flower petal. "At least it's pleasing to the eye."
"Then we should go out more often in the future and use my eyes to complete this dream." Chen Yunli's eyes curved. "That high platform above the ruins is too simple and doesn't suit your temperament. You can return the shattered real world to humanity and remain in this beautiful dream, sleeping for hundreds or thousands of years. This place will always be alive, and so will you."
Chen Wenjian slowly dismantled the chicken wing bones and asked, "Are you building a cemetery for me, or a prison?"
Chen Yunli thought about it seriously and said honestly, "It counts as both. But I still prefer to call it by another name."
"What?"
"A farewell gift."
Chen Wenjian threw down the bones and ate the chicken he had finally peeled. He said vaguely, "You can choose any name you want anyway. Why don't you choose one that pleases me?"
"What?"
"Well... you just said I was the one you liked, so I'll round it up and consider it as a confession of love to me." Chen Wenjian looked around the room that Chen Yunli had personally decorated and smiled slightly. "Then this world is called a love letter."
It is a dream, a cemetery, and a cage.
It’s a farewell gift, but also a love letter from the end of the world.
Chen Wenjian suddenly felt a little regretful for destroying this world. If the sufferings in the first half of his life were a prelude to meeting Chen Yunli, he should not have responded so paranoidly and fiercely with such a hideous expression.
But it doesn't matter, it's a good ending after all.
…
In the empty city in the evil god's dream, there appeared a pair of ordinary lovers, and they left countless footprints everywhere in the city.
Chen Yunli needed a place to live, so a villa was built in the city. He needed a place to purchase daily necessities, so a shopping mall was built in the city center.
He was used to taking a walk in the park after dinner, and the beautiful Central Park came into being. He casually muttered that there should be a spacious and lively square next to the park, and he unexpectedly came across it the next day.
There should be a tall carved fence along the moat, and the slope below the fence should be covered with soft green lawns, with flocks of white pigeons flying overhead, snatching people's snacks.
The city has distinct seasons. Spring brings a vibrant display of flowers, summer brings shades of greenery. In autumn, Central Park is ablaze with crimson maple leaves, its straight streets carpeted with fallen leaves. In winter, streetlights illuminate a blanket of falling snow.
Iron trains start running from early morning, and the rails are spread across the main roads, taking workers, students, etc. to their respective destinations. A trip lasts from dawn to sunset. The eye pillars hanging straight into the sky and the clear sound of the tracks hitting each other have become the most vivid symbols of the city in people's memories.
Shops of all sizes are crowded together on both sides of the wide and narrow streets, and huge posters of the most popular stars are hung on the top of the shopping mall buildings.
High-end restaurants are located in high-rise buildings, while small restaurants are hidden in the city and run their own local business.
There are also vendors pushing carts walking through the streets and alleys, selling snacks such as rice cakes, popsicles, skewers, and some ordinary, even crudely made gadgets. They are most common at the school gates, earning pocket money for the children and adding color to their childhood.
There used to be a vast blank, a dream with only a thin skeleton, but now it is madly giving birth to flesh and blood according to Chen Yunli's wishes, until it becomes rich and colorful, no longer a bubble-like illusion that will burst at the slightest blow.
The gift he had carefully prepared, the love letter that Chen Wenjian had been eagerly awaiting, was almost finished.
Today is Sunday. It was sunny in the morning without a single cloud in sight. After the afternoon, the sky gradually became overcast, and it only started to rain now.
The rain was neither heavy nor light, and it was hitting the eaves and knocking on the doors and windows.
The pedestrians on the street were caught off guard by the rain and scattered, each carrying their belongings on their heads, looking for shelter. Even those who had prepared with umbrellas were not unhurried, hurrying to their destinations.
In an instant, the street was empty. People were standing in groups of three or four under the eaves of the shops on both sides to avoid the rain, some complaining or in a daze. No one cast an eye on the two people walking in the rain.
Chen Wenjian held up a large rainbow-colored round umbrella and held Chen Yunli's hand to protect him from the wind and rain. The raindrops hit the umbrella, making a "bang bang" sound, and the whole world became quiet.
"I thought it wouldn't rain today." Chen Yunli shook the hand that was intertwined with his fingers. "Didn't you comfort yourself?"
At the end of the road is the square, which is now deserted. The pigeons that often beg for food here have hidden under the shade of the trees, folded their wings and made no sound.
Chen Wenjian stopped and turned to face him. Although there was a smile on his face, there was a glittering light in his eyes, as if another rain was falling.
"I can't comfort myself, so you should come. Before you leave, can you tell me that sentence again?" He laughed at himself, rubbing his thumb on Chen Yunli's wrist bone, his voice trembling, "It's what you said to me at the dinner table on the night we met again."
Chen Yunli didn't remember how long he had spent here, but strangely, he immediately remembered what happened that night, including the words that Chen Wenjian really wanted to hear.
Yes, this love letter needs a proper ending.
Chen Yunli raised the corner of his mouth and reached out to hold Chen Wenjian's face: "Good things should be shared with the people you love, I..."
Before he could finish his words, the rainbow-colored umbrella tilted and slid down from Chen Wenjian's hand, splashing water the moment it hit the ground. The puddles on the road vaguely reflected the scene of their kiss.
With a rumbling thunder, the entire dream was frozen in this frame.
The outside world is also experiencing a new beginning.
…
"boom--"
Heavy rain poured down, and silver-blue lightning split the sky, like a series of shocking scars.
The main underground section of Shelter 19 had fallen apart, leaving only a small patch of space above ground where the living could gather for warmth.
After a series of battles with the evil god's followers, only less than fifty people were left on the ruins.
The good news is that they are all young people. The bad news is that there are too few of them, and the difficulty of passing on civilization has soared to hellish levels.
However, compared to the previous tense atmosphere where everyone was in danger and isolated, they can now sleep peacefully even in the storm and surrounded by strangers.
Everyone was resting quietly by the fire when suddenly someone seemed to have seen something incredible. He pointed in the distance and shouted, "Look! Look!"
He was so excited that he couldn't speak complete words and howled so hard that his voice almost broke.
The awakened crowd subconsciously looked in the direction he pointed. Ning Bufan and Chen Qiaoyun stood up suddenly. They were ruthless men who killed the evil god's believers without blinking an eye, but now their expressions were a little out of control.
Above the ruins, the high platform occupied by the evil god is gradually disappearing and dissipating, like a stain being erased by an eraser on a sketchbook, slowly and steadily.
Chen Qiaoyun suddenly walked out, and Ning Bufan grabbed him and asked, "What are you doing?"
"He's still there!" Chen Qiaoyun blurted out.
"Him?" Ning Bufan was puzzled. "Who?"
"Chen Yunli, you've seen him before."
Chen Qiaoyun described Chen Yunli's appearance to Ning Bufan, but his expression became even more bewildered: "I don't remember seeing such a person before. Are you mistaken?"
“…”
His doubts did not seem fake. Chen Qiaoyun's heart sank. She pursed her lips and reached into her pocket, only to find that the note Chen Yunli had left for her had disappeared at some point, as if it had never existed.
"The platform is gone! Gone! Then... where's the evil god? Did he follow..."
"Want to go over and take a look?"
"Are you looking for death?"
The narrow shelter was filled with noisy conversations. Ning Bufan took out a silver chain from his lapel. A handful of ashes was placed in the round pendant below the chain. He held it gently and brought it to his lips and kissed it.
The heavy rain continued, but a ray of orange-red dawn appeared on the horizon.
The survivors are looking forward to the sunrise, Ning Bufan misses his lover at the intersection of doomsday and rebirth, only Chen Qiaoyun is not sociable, trying hard to recall the appearance of Chen Yunli and keep him firmly in his heart.
"Thank you." He said softly.
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