They already knew they had to do good things from the perspective of the corpses, but they had no idea how advanced corpse evolution had become now. Just the thought that they were all corpses still scared them.
Relatively speaking, it was much better when the corpses were still on the bus.
Pang Yang climbed onto Fang Qi’s bed, and together with Fang Qi, they observed for a while from the upper bunk. Then, they stiffly walked around the cabin together.
When they came back, the two of them were walking a bit faster.
“Wow!” Pang Yang exclaimed to Ning Su, “The corpse on our bus, the one who often hugs the backpack, is a super genius! His backpack contains the admission notice from Jin University!”
High school senior Fang Qi felt deeply about this, saying, “Jin University! The top student in my class didn’t even dare to dream of such a school! We can’t compete with this level of intelligence!”
Ning Su: “...”
Ning Su: “Did you talk to him?”
“Ah? Do we still have to talk?” Pang Yang had a look of ‘this will be difficult for me.’ “Initiate a conversation with a corpse?”
Ning Su glanced over there.
Most of the ‘people’ from the same bus were still together.
The old man was close to the male student with the backpack.
When Ning Su looked at the male student, he saw the old man walking anxiously around the bed.
Ning Su walked over with two children, and Fang Qi and Pang Yang hesitated for a moment before following.
When the old man saw familiar faces, he sighed slightly and waved to Ning Su, motioning him to sit beside him.
Ning Su sat on the edge of the old man’s bed, and after a moment of silence, the old man asked Ning Su with a bit of embarrassment, “How did we end up on this ship?”
All three of them were stunned.
Their stunned expressions made the old man even more embarrassed. “Don’t laugh at me. It’s my first time traveling far from home.”
Ning Su: “Where are you going?”
The old man said, “Jincheng, to my daughter’s house. I heard there’s a direct bus.”
As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket, neatly folded, with dried blood on it. He opened it and showed it to Ning Su.
On the paper was a handwritten and drawn route map from the old man’s village to his destination.
Important road signs were all marked, with many additional notes, including both Chinese characters and Pinyin.
The handwriting was earnest but not considered attractive; it’s evident that it’s done by someone who hadn’t written many characters.
It’s evident that the old man prepared meticulously beforehand, and one could discern the anxiety the old man felt before departure.
Ning Su pursed his lips, unsure of what to say for a moment.
The old man from the village felt a bit nervous riding a bus to the big city for the first time. He hadn’t spoken much for a long time, but upon seeing Ning Su, he inexplicably felt like talking to him.
Pointing to the map, he said to Ning Su, “Some information was shared by the young people in the village, and some by my grandson...”
Pointing to Gui Sheng nearby, he continued, “Just a year or two older than this kid, but very clever.”
“Oh, he hasn’t visited in a long time.”
There was a hint of sadness on the old man’s face. “I don’t know how he’s doing after his injury.”
Boldly, Fang Qi asked, “What happened to him?”
A pained and guilty expression appeared on the old man’s face. “When he was playing at my place, he fell and a stick pierced his eye. There was a lot of blood at that time. My daughter hates me for it and hasn’t contacted me since.”
The old man was an ordinary villager, and the extraordinary aspect of his life was having an outstanding daughter.
His daughter was a successful businesswoman in the big city, accomplished in her career, but she’s reluctant to marry even after crossing the age of thirty.
The old man was anxious and urged her constantly.
His daughter accused him of being feudal and asked if he secretly desired a son.
Despite having considered having a son in the past, it didn’t diminish his love for her. He didn’t want a son; she was his only daughter.
“I wanted her to marry early for her own good, so she wouldn’t end up lonely like me when she’s old.”
Fortunately, she got married at the age of thirty-six and had Chuan Chuan. Oh, Chuan Chuan is my grandson."
The five to six years of conflict between father and daughter finally resolved.
On holidays, the daughter would bring his grandson to visit the old man. Both father and daughter cherished Chuan Chuan very much.
The old man really liked his grandson. Feeling lonely, he wanted his grandson to stay longer last spring. The daughter agreed.
What the old man mentioned earlier was related to that time. The young grandson was playing in the yard and accidentally got a stick in his eye.
The old man and the daughter were frightened. She scolded and questioned him, refusing to forgive him. Since then, they haven’t been in contact, let alone visiting.
The old man’s voice was hoarse and strained. “It’s my fault, my fault. I can’t sleep day and night.”
“I came this time just to see them; I haven’t seen them in over a year.”
He pulled out a vegetable basket from under the bed, looked at the rooster that had been dead for many days, smiled, and said, “Don’t be fooled by its appearance now; it was adorable when it was little.”
“So tiny, the chick was not even half a palm-sized, all fluffy.”
“My grandson loved it the most. This time, I want to take it to show to Chuan Chuan. It has grown so big now; Chuan Chuan might not even recognize it.”
Pang Yang silently lowered his head.
Ning Su pursed his lips, unsure of what to say.
Gui Sheng picked up the dead rooster. “Big rooster, cute!”
The old man smiled. “Is it still cute now that it’s big?”
Gui Sheng: “Yes!”
When the three players didn’t know what to say, the student in the upper bunk across from them said, “Taking a boat seems really inappropriate.”
The old man immediately asked him, “Are you also going to Jincheng?”
Fang Qi said, “He, too. He got into Jin University, so he should be going to Jin University!”
“Oh wow! Jin University, that’s impressive.” Even the old man knew about it. “Not many can get into such a university in a city. It’s truly remarkable!”
The student with the backpack smiled; his dead eyes surprisingly had a glimmer.
This wasn’t the first time Ning Su had seen that light.
Several times, he saw the student take out the admission letter from his backpack, carefully caressing it, smiling with a light in his eyes.
Perhaps, regaining consciousness from a dead state, the first thing he did was touch the admission letter.
Old man: “Your parents must be incredibly happy, extremely proud.”
The young man said, “I don’t have a father; my mother raised me from a young age, and she still doesn’t know.”
“She works in Jincheng, and I came here early just to show it to her in person.”
He knew how hard his mother had worked, how much she had suffered, and how many hardships she had endured.
For over a decade, he studied relentlessly, all for this moment that was about to come.
He said, “I want to give my mother a surprise.”
To give his mother a surprise in person, to thank her in person.
To tell his mother that he performed even better than the classmate whose parents were professors.
To tell his mother that the school specifically put up a banner for him.
The old man said, “That’s definitely a tremendous surprise. I can imagine your mother being so happy that tears will flow, just like when I saw my daughter’s college acceptance letter back in the day.”
The young man took out the acceptance letter from his faded backpack and showed it to the old man.
The old man carefully looked at it. “Oh, these top-tier universities are indeed different. Is that the school’s gate and lake on it? So majestic! Studying at such a school brings great honor.”
Now I feel bad for them 💔
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update