NOVPUBHe remembered the story happening around 2006, when for some reasons, the inspection of street sanitation was particularly strict.
In ’06, Yao Jiping’s cart was confiscated by urban management, and in ’07 Xu Aiguo got into an accident while using his motorcycle to transport passengers, so Xu Qingfan remembered it clearly.
The tale initially began with a man leaping to his death from the high building of Renmin Hospital, but there were so many people jumping every day that this piece of news didn’t catch the media or the public’s attention at the time.
A month later, dozens of kilometers away in a rental house in Qiujie Village, Li City, a mother and daughter committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in their dark, cramped room. These two unrelated cases were connected by someone with an agenda. It was as if a huge stone had been thrown into peaceful waters, causing a massive storm of outrage.
Because city management was constantly chasing away street vendors, Li Meijuan’s kebab stand suffered a steep decline in business. Perhaps she really had no money for medical treatment, or maybe she didn’t want to become a burden to her mother and daughter. Wu Suowei, true to his name, leaped from the rooftop of Renmin Hospital.
Faced with the news of her husband’s death, the woman, already at her wit’s end, saw her faith collapse completely. The confiscated tools from her stand proved to be the last straw that broke her back.
On a cold winter day, charcoal made the rental house feel like springtime. She made a meal of dumplings with her own hands; after the mother and daughter finished the heartwarming meal, they embraced each other in happiness and went to sleep, never to wake up again…
The benevolent media connected the causes and consequences of both incidents, and society was stirred up with a wave of accusatory voices.
Amid the boiling public opinion, Yao Jiping managed to retrieve her confiscated cart, but the family of three that died could never come back...
That year, Xu Qingfan was nine years old, in fourth grade, and his textbook just happened to include the phrase "fear nothing," The name Wu Suowei from the news stuck in his memory, until today when it was mentioned again by Wu Lingyu.
In the elevator, Xu Qingfan’s gaze stayed on Wu Lingyu’s back. Even though what the media said might not be the whole truth, the thought of the living person in front of him someday leaving made him feel indescribably uncomfortable.
Although he had known Wu Lingyu for less than a year, why did he always subconsciously think of helping her?
Xu Qingfan pondered this question but soon figured it out. It was because she shared a semblance to his past self: equally self-conscious and sensitive, with a family that also set up street stalls. Helping her felt like helping his former self.
And there was an even more important reason, he wanted to try changing Wu Lingyu’s destiny, to prove that fate could be altered, that Xia Xiaoxiao’s death could be avoided.
Girls are very sensitive to someone’s gaze; several times, Wu Lingyu wanted to turn around and ask why Xu Qingfan kept staring at her, but she restrained herself, feeling a mix of nervousness and a bit of shyness inside.
"Xu Qingfan, what are you dazed about? We’re out!" When the elevator reached the seventh floor, everyone else had exited, with only Xu Qingfan still standing inside foolishly. Seeing the elevator doors about to close, Xia Xiaoxiao quickly pressed the button outside.
"Ah... Oh, we’re here, I’m coming." Xu Qingfan scratched his head awkwardly and jogged out of the elevator.
Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at him, worried that the mischievous boy might wander off and get lost, so she reached out and grabbed his wrist.
"Qingfan, are you not feeling well? Why are you so out of it?" Wang Wenbiao asked with concern.
"No, no, Brother Biao, I’m fine. I was just lost in thought about what gift to buy for the team when I go back," Xu Qingfan made an excuse on the spot.
Xia Xiaoxiao: ???
The little girl gave him an irritated glare, gripping Xu Qingfan’s hand so tightly it was almost instinctive.
"Hey, hey, hey! Why are you gripping so hard?" Feeling the pain, he slapped Xia Xiaoxiao’s hand.
"Hmph!" Xia Xiaoxiao showed her cute fangs as she glared at him, easing her grip on his hand.
"Who doesn’t know how to do that!" Xu Qingfan mimicked her, baring his teeth at her.
"How boring!"
"Pfft~ Ah, yes, yes, yes!"
Wu Lingyu watched from the side with a surge of envy, thinking, [If only I could be like them.]
"7..3..2, right here!" Wang Wenbiao pointed at the door number above and knocked to enter.
"Daddy!" Wu Lingyu couldn’t wait and darted in, calling out to the room.
"Yu’er?" A middle-aged man lying in a bed with a tangle of IVs all over his arm spoke with disbelief.
"Yu’er, how did you get here, who are these people?" An old man in his sixties or seventies came out of the bathroom, speaking in a Chuanyu dialect that they couldn’t understand.
"Grandpa, they are my teacher and classmates!" Wu Lingyu explained in dialect, as she got down from her father’s sickbed.
"Hello, teacher comrade!" The old man immediately came forward to shake hands with enthusiasm.
"Uh… hello, hello... here are some fruits, just a small gesture." Wang Wenbiao didn’t understand the other person’s words, so he could only shake hands with the grandpa enthusiastically.
"Hello uncle, hello grandpa," Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao greeted them politely as well.
He turned his gaze to the middle-aged man lying on the bed and unexpectedly found that Wu Lingyu’s father was quite handsome, about the same age as Xu Aiguo, and he resembled a future popular country-styled internet celebrity scholar.
Unfortunately, due to nephritis, there was obvious swelling in his hands and feet, and his complexion was sallow and lackluster.
Throughout the social interaction, Wang Wenbiao did most of the talking, which gave Xu Qingfan more time to observe his surroundings.
To be honest, it was a shame it wasn’t 2003 or so, because with Wu Lingyu’s father’s looks, just broadcasting a few live stream sessions could easily raise enough money for treatment, not to mention the positive image he had as someone fighting against a serious illness.
