Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Touched +1
Around eleven o'clock in the evening, the boy carrying milk tea walked into the convenience store just like last night.
"Ding Dong, welcome."
The familiar automatic welcome sound rang out, especially clear in the quiet space.
But this time, after entering the door, Jiang Shizao saw Wen Zhi not far ahead.
Wen Zhi was standing in front of the snack shelf sorting merchandise. The light green apron straps outlined a tight muscle line around his waist.
"Zao Zao, you're back." Wen Zhi heard the noise and turned to face the young man.
This man's voice is as warm as he is.
Today, Wen Zhi was also wearing the same light green apron as yesterday. The cat embroidery on the apron immediately attracted Jiang Shizao's attention - again.
"Do you like cats, Zao Zao?" Wen Zhi noticed the gaze of the person in front of him and spoke in a gentle voice.
Jiang Shizao nodded, took two steps to Wen Zhi, and handed him the milk tea. "Brother, you've worked hard, here's your milk tea!"
Wen Zhi took the milk tea with a smile and said, "Thank you Zao Zao." He then said, "Zao Zao, what would you like to eat today?"
Jiang Shizao looked towards the cashier counter and it seemed that there was a lot of oden left in the convenience store tonight.
But he had just had dinner with Wen Qianchuan in the bookstore's top-floor restaurant not long ago, so he said, "Brother, I'm not hungry yet. Let's go home together."
"Is that so?" Wen Zhi lowered his eyes slightly upon hearing this, a trace of thought flashing in his eyes. Then he smiled gently and said, "Okay, wait for me early. I'll go change my clothes."
When Wen Zhi changed into his regular clothes and came out, another employee of the convenience store followed him out to change shifts.
"Let's go, early."
"Okay!" Jiang Shizao responded. He had just paid for his purchases at the automatic cash register.
Wen Zhi's eyes fell on the convenience store bag in Jiang Shizao's hand. "What's this?"
"Cat strips and canned cat food, and a pet spray for trauma," Jiang Shizao said with an embarrassed smile. He and Wen Zhi walked out of the convenience store together.
"Getting a cat early?"
Under the night and lights, Wen Zhi's voice was as usual.
Jiang Shizao shared what happened on the bus with Wen Zhi: "I just met a cat on the bus."
"Then what happened?" Wen Zhi's eyes were smiling, and he seemed to be listening to the people around him very seriously.
Jiang Shizao sighed: "I wanted to bring it back, but two stops ago, it suddenly jumped out of the car window."
At this point, Jiang Shizao felt a little sorry. The well-behaved black cat had been sticking to him all the way...
But when the No. 444 bus was about to arrive at the twelfth stop in Nan'an, the black cat that was licking Jiang Shizao's fingers and the back of his hand suddenly jumped out of Jiang Shizao's arms.
Before Jiang Shizao could react, the black cat had already landed very lightly on the seat on the other side of the aisle.
Then he jumped to the open car window.
When Jiang Shizao stood up, the black cat looked back at him.
That look... seemed to be full of reluctance. But the next second, the black cat jumped out.
When Jiang Shizao crossed the aisle and looked out the window, he could only see a black cat standing under a street light, looking in the direction of the bus.
It looked very pitiful. At that moment, it really looked like a homeless cat abandoned by its owner.
Just looking at Jiang Shizao going away.
…
"So these were bought for it a long time ago?" Wen Zhi glanced at the convenience bag in the boy's hand.
Jiang Shizao nodded his head: "If I can still see it." - Jiang Shizao hoped. What if!
"Well, I hope so." Wen Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly, and a certain idea in his heart was confirmed at this moment.
The two walked along the street towards the west gate of Linghe Community.
Before I had walked far, I heard screams coming from the community.
The sudden chaos made Jiang Shizao stop in his tracks: "..."
His whole body tensed up. Just from the noise, he knew something was amiss.
At that moment, it seemed as if countless voices were mixed together in the community separated by a wall. They came from different directions in the community, some high and some low, and some people were shouting loudly.
When the incident happened, Wen Zhi instantly grabbed the wrist of the young man beside him. He took Jiang Shizao's hand and first moved to the side of the deserted road at night, protecting the young man behind him naturally.
The source of the chaos in the community was quickly discovered by the two.
Wen Zhi looked at the thirteenth floor of a building in Linghe Community, where thick smoke was billowing and flames tore a scarlet hole in the darkness.
"Oh no, it looks like there's a fire." Wen Zhi said in a deep voice.
“!!!” Jiang Shizao also discovered the problem when he looked in that direction, and his tone became much faster. “Brother, that’s Building 7!”
He and Wen Zhi both live in Building 7.
"The fire is on the thirteenth floor." Wen Zhi's tone became unusually anxious. "Zao Zao, the fire is very close to your home..."
Jiang Shizao lived on the 14th floor of Building 7. Wen Zhi knew exactly where the young man's home was.
At this moment, Jiang Shi was already at a loss as to how to react. When he saw the specific floor and direction, his mind went blank for a moment, "My house is upstairs from the house on fire..."
"Don't panic, Zao Zao, the fire truck is here." Wen Zhi had already raised the hand that was holding Jiang Shizao and was patting the boy's back soothingly.
The fire truck sirens were very loud in the middle of the night.
Jiang Shizao could already see the fire truck coming from a distance.
Everything happened so fast. I watched the fire trucks speed into the community from the west gate, and then the fire in Building 7 was brought under control and all the flames were extinguished.
When Jiang Shizao and Wen Zhi walked into the community and approached Building 7, many people had already gathered downstairs near Building 7.
The smell of burning after the fire mixed with the steam from the fire hose filled the surrounding air. At this moment, the crowd watching included residents from Building 7 and other buildings. Most of them had frightened expressions.
As he approached, Jiang Shizao heard the residents' conversations in bits and pieces:
"Thankfully, no one was injured."
"It's really dangerous."
"I was startled when I heard the explosion."
…
"Zao Zao, come with me." Wen Zhi took Jiang Shi Zao's hand, walked around the crowd, and came to a firefighter.
"Officer, what's the situation at Unit A on the 13th floor? Has the previous fire affected other residents nearby?"
Unit A on the 13th floor was the apartment where the fire broke out.
The fire officer looked at the young man who was asking questions, then at Jiang Shizao who was standing next to him. "Are you residents of Building 7?"
"Yes, I live on the 17th floor." Wen Zhi replied, then pointed to the boy next to him, "My friend lives on the 14th floor, Unit A."
The fire officer's expression changed instantly. He looked at Jiang Shizao and asked as if to confirm, "Are you the resident of Unit A, 14th Floor, Building 7?"
The police's reaction undoubtedly made Jiang Shizao nervous. He nodded and said, "Yes, officer, what happened?"
"Ah." The consumer officer sighed at this time, "My colleague just wanted to contact the resident of Room A on the 14th floor, but it turned out that there was no one at your house. But it's a good thing that no one was there at the time."
The police officer then asked, "Judging from your appearance, you should still be a student, right? What about the rest of your family? Where are they?"
Jiang Shizao shook his head and said, "I live here alone."
"Officer, what is going on?" Wen Zhi asked.
The fire officer said, "The fire downstairs has spread to the upper floors. I'm afraid this little student's home is temporarily uninhabitable." However, the fire officer also said, "But don't worry, the community has corresponding remedial measures."
Although he realized that the situation might be very bad, Jiang Shizao was still confused for a moment after he understood it.
The fire spread to the upstairs...the house is temporarily uninhabitable...so now he is...homeless?
"What measures?" Wen Zhi asked.
The fire officer glanced at the two of them, finally landing his gaze on Jiang Shizao. "The community will compensate you and will also be fully responsible for repairing your apartment. Of course, the compensation will include various expenses such as rent provided to you until the apartment is repaired."
The fire officer and Jiang Shizao explained one by one. At this time, the community administrator also rushed over to the few people and gave a detailed explanation again.
Just when Jiang Shizao was feeling dizzy, Wen Zhi said, "Zao Zao, there's no need to be so troublesome. You can stay at my house first."
When Wen Zhi spoke, several eyes turned to him, including Jiang Shizao.
Wen Zhi looked at Jiang Shizao, and when their eyes met, he spoke softly, "I live alone, and my house is spacious. Zao Zao, you can stay with me first, so I can handle things at the apartment. Besides, you still have to go to school, and it's already very late. It's not only unsafe but also inconvenient for you to go out."
After Wen Zhi finished speaking, the community administrator nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Yes, Comrade Jiang Shizao, you can stay at Mr. Wen Zhi's house for the time being. We are all neighbors and know each other well. This way, if there are any situations or developments, we can communicate and confirm them as soon as possible."
"Is this okay...?" Jiang Shizao was not sure.
Wen Zhi smiled very gently, "Let's go, Zao Zao, let's go to your house first, and then we'll go home."
The fire officer also interjected: "Just take a look at the door, don't go in. We have already set up a cordon at your door."
Jiang Shizao: “…” Is it that serious?
When Jiang Shizao stood outside the cordon at the door of his house and looked inside, he found that the fire officer's words were not casual talk. His apartment was really severely damaged by the fire.
There was a big hole in the floor of the living room at home!
There were also large areas of burnt marks around, which showed how big the fire downstairs was at the time.
Standing outside the door, he couldn't see what was happening further inside the apartment. Jiang Shizao thought back to the fire he had seen on the street outside the complex. He couldn't imagine what the fire downstairs, the biggest of which was burning down, would do to his bedroom upstairs.
Can this really be repaired?
Finally, when Jiang Shizao followed Wen Zhi into Wen Zhi's home on the 17th floor, his eyes were still a little confused and lifeless.
So much really happened that day.
"Zao Zao, sit on the sofa and take a rest. I'll get you some water."
After entering the entrance hall, Wen Zhi considerately took out a pair of brand new slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them in front of Jiang Shizao's toes.
"Thank you, brother..."
Jiang Shizao looked at Wen Zhi who was busy running around for him. He felt a little embarrassed, but also very grateful to the other party for taking him in temporarily.
I had already decided to give all the rent and living expenses the community provided as compensation to Wen Zhi, but it still felt like it wasn't enough.
When Wen Zhi returned to the sofa with the nutritious juice, he saw Jiang Shizao taking the juice with his head slightly drooping.
The young man held the glass in both hands and said thank you to him. His slightly empty eyes were tinged with a bit of pity and grievance that he himself was not aware of.
It looked like two tears would fall at any moment.
Wen Zhi's breathing became disordered.
"Morning, drink some water and don't be sad."
Wen Zhi sat down next to Jiang Shizao, raising his arm to soothe the young man beside him.
"You can live here for as long as you want. Just treat it as your own home, as early as possible."
Wen Zhi's voice was very serious.
He added, "The door lock code for the apartment is 0727, early morning."
"Thank you, brother..." Jiang Shizao had just finished thanking him when he froze for a second and subconsciously recited the password, "0727."
"Yes, early morning," Wen Zhi replied. Everything seemed normal. But beneath that gentle exterior, the depths of his eyes were like a pool of unresolved water. He even asked knowingly, "What's wrong, early morning?"
Seeing Jiang Shizao looking at him, Wen Zhicai showed a little confusion at the right time.
"It's okay, brother...it's just that my birthday is July 27th, so I'm a little sensitive to this number." Jiang Shizao replied shyly.
"I see." Wen Zhi nodded and smiled gently, "That's great. I won't forget the password sooner or later."
Jiang Shizao nodded again, still feeling a bit awkward about staying in someone else's house.
Wen Zhi was not in a hurry either. He understood the importance of gradual progress.
After Jiang Shizao's emotions calmed down a bit, Wen Zhi spoke again: "By the way, Zao Zao, I heard you say before that your homeroom teacher is Teacher Li, right?"
Jiang Shizao nodded and said, "Yes, what's wrong, brother?" He was a little confused as to why Wen Zhi suddenly mentioned the head teacher.
Wen Zhi took out his cell phone. He looked at Jiang Shizao, as if after serious consideration, and then suggested, "Zao Zao, it's almost one in the morning. Since something like this has happened, why don't you take a day off tomorrow and not go to school for now?"
Wen Zhi expressed his considerations.
"You need to rest, and more importantly, you need to adjust your mood. There are also things about the apartment that need to be dealt with." Wen Zhi said, with a hint of reluctance in his voice.
It sounds like he's totally thinking about the people around him.
Jiang Shizao's emotions were mixed. The apartment incident had indeed distracted him, but he had just applied for leave from school today...
Wen Zhi noticed Jiang Shizao's hesitation and said with a smile, "When I was in high school, my homeroom teacher was also Teacher Li. Let me ask for leave for you, Zao Zao."
Jiang Shizao looked up at Wen Zhi in surprise.
"I'll explain the situation to him." Wen Zhi added.
"Is this okay, brother?" Jiang Shizao held the water cup and looked at Wen Zhi, "But it's already one in the morning."
"Don't worry, Teacher Li must be still awake now."
Listening to Wen Zhi's firm voice, Jiang Shizao felt inexplicably at ease.
Two minutes later, Wen Zhi hung up the phone and said to Jiang Shizao with a smile, "Zao Zao, Teacher Li has agreed to your leave. Your homeroom teacher cares about you very much and told you not to rush back to school and to take care of your family matters first... It's no problem to take a few more days off."
Wen Zhi smiled sincerely, and Jiang Shizao was infected by his smile and was deeply moved.
"I'm really sorry to bother you, brother."
"No trouble, Zao Zao. I'm glad you're moving in."
Wen Zhi was speaking the truth.
And since he doesn't have to go to school early, it belongs to him alone.
Nothing could get close to him anymore.
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