CH 46.2

Chapter 46.2 – Scars

The next day, he went to work and heard Lin Yeran cursing as soon as he entered the office.

Lin Yeran had a bad temper and was rigid in doing things. He often obsessed over details – Shi Yuan, an excellent employee, was also scolded by him. The reason was slightly different. Shi Yuan accidentally took the key and locked him in the office for 2 hours.

Daisy twisted her beautiful blond hair and said, “Mr. Lin has a bad temper these days, don’t provoke him.”

“Why? What happened?” Shi Yuan asked.

Daisy said: “Because someone’s death anniversary is coming soon, don’t you know? He…” The phone rang, and she quickly picked it up. “Hello, this is the Fengyang City Psychological Counseling Hotline, may I help you with anything?”

Shi Yuan worked until noon, but a long phone call stalled him and kept him from leaving work on time.

He ate compressed biscuits in his seat, and suddenly remembered the old man he met on the 21st floor yesterday. The old man smiled and said he could go to him again.

Shi Yuan swallowed the last biscuit and took the old elevator to the 21st floor.

This was the top floor of Tower 4, still quiet. He walked along the hallway for a while and saw a metal sign: [Welfare Center for the Mutants]

He knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, the white-clothed staff opened the door with a “swish” and looked at him: “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Shi Yuan said, “Hello, I’m here to find someone.”

“Looking for someone?” The staff member looked at him suspiciously. “What’s the name? Do you have an appointment in advance?”

“No.” Shi Yuan gestured, “I’m looking for an old man, he’s probably this tall, and his hair is all white.”

The staff interrupted him: “You have to make an appointment first, we are not open to the public here. The appointment form is filled out on the 2nd floor.”

Shi Yuan was a little disappointed. As soon as the staff was about to close the door, they heard a surprised voice: “Shi Yuan? Why are you here?”

The door was opened again, and Wang Yu stood in front of him.

It had been many days since he last saw her, but Wang Yu still looked radiant and full of energy, even though she had grown thin and dark.

Shi Yuan was also surprised: “What a coincidence, I work on the 8th floor here. What about you?”

“I stopped being a field doctor and stayed in the welfare center.” Wang Yu explained, “I am now in charge of the treatment of mutants.” She widened the door a little bit again. “What a coincidence, come on in.”

Shi Yuan walked into the welfare center.

As soon as he entered, he saw old people sitting together playing cards, a few playing and a few watching. They had all been infected and all had the characteristics of monsters. After a few more steps, behind the glass window was the playground, where the mutant children were jumping up and down, constantly screaming.

Wang Yu said: “Here are people with particularly serious sequelae. Some are in poor health and some are mentally unstable. Most of them are elderly and children. We are responsible for relieving stress and giving them certain treatments. If they are more serious, they can only be sent to the hospital.”

Shi Yuan looked around. Through the windows of small rooms, he saw someone drawing in boredom, the ground was full of monsters scribbled with pen and ink, and someone was crying at a disconnected phone, asking and answering, there was a pattern, and there was a child playing the erhu, squeaking and unpleasant.

“It’s all like this here, just get used to it.” Wang Yu said as she walked forward, “Some people may be scared and feel like it’s a mental hospital here, but these people have no choice. Severe sequelae of infection will affect behavior and thinking. We have to look at it with a normal mind. This is the only place that will take care of them.”

Shi Yuan asked, “Then, the old man I said is also here?”

Wang Yu replied: “You should be talking about Mr. Wu Zhengqing. He lives in the welfare center, and his room is at the end. But you may not be able to see him today. He just came back from the hospital for an injection and is resting.”

They stopped in the far end of the room.

Through the small glass window, Shi Yuan saw the thin old man lying on the small bed, his eyes closed tightly. The bedside table was full of bottles of medicine, the walls were decorated with star ornaments and posters of the universe, and a pile of planet models of all sizes was placed on the table next to it, which were delicately crafted.

He had said that he liked the universe.

Wang Yu said: “Mr. Wu used to work in the Aerospace Center.”

Shi Yuan: “Where is the Aerospace Center?”

Wang Yu replied: “The last aerospace center was in Yuelin City, there was also a temporary base in Iron City. In the end, even Iron City was gone, and the space program failed completely. He escaped from Iron City and came to Fengyang City with these posters and models. The sequelae of his infection were very serious, in addition…he was very stubborn. He kept talking about space and the universe every day. So the leader said just let him live here directly.”

She glanced inside the room: “He believes to this day that if he can return to Iron City, mankind can return to space. He is old and has suffered so much, his words, you can just listen to half of them, no need to take them seriously.”

Before Shi Yuan left, he made an appointment for the next time he came.

“I still want to talk to Mr. Wu,” he said.

“Of course, it’s okay.” Wang Yu smiled and said, “Shi Yuan, I’m so happy to see you.”

In the afternoon, Shi Yuan returned to his post and listened to Daisy tell Lin Yeran’s story.

“In fact, it’s just a story that can be told in one sentence.” Daisy blinked slowly. “His former boyfriend was that very young Captain Yan Xin. Yan Xin was very much appreciated by Colonel Lu. He was his right-hand man in Iron City. Later, Iron City fell, and Yan Xin died there like everyone else. Mr. Lin has been in a bad mood recently, all because Yan Xin’s death day is approaching.”

“So that’s how it is,” Shi Yuan said. “I understand.”

He had only been in Fengyang City for a month or so, and he seemed to hear about Iron City everywhere.

The connection between the two cities was already close, plus Iron City needed manpower, most of the people were transferred from Fengyang City, they were closely related and inseparable.

Iron City’s military factories were dense, with firearms and ammunition, aircraft and robots, and temporary aviation bases… Its strategic significance was self-evident, carrying the hopes of countless people, and the army defending it was a torrent of steel. It’s a pity that the Alliance had paid so much and still failed to keep it.

The windmills were rotating all the time, and the solar panels were particularly dazzling, but no matter how the energy tower reserved resources and how prosperous the city was, Iron City was still a festering scar of Fengyang City.

Some wounds were long-lasting and blunt. It would not get better.

At night, the Level II warning sounded, and everyone hid in the underground shelter.

In the cramped environment, Shi Yuan thought of Lu Tinghan’s family again. Lu Tinghan said that he didn’t care about his childhood experience at all, but Shi Yuan began to wonder if it was also a scar, but it was scabbed over and wouldn’t hurt anymore.

He struggled for a while and couldn’t think of an answer, so he had to take out the sudoku to pass the time.

Lu Tinghan said that Shi Yuan’s second page was all correct, so he told his story.

Shi Yuan continued working on the third page, until someone from next door came over to join in the fun and pointed to the second page, saying: “Ah, you made a mistake here, how can there be two 9s? Look, the rest of it is all wrong too, it’s a whole bunch of mistakes.”

Shi Yuan was stunned for a while: “Oh, it seems so.”

He didn’t fill the second page correctly at all.

Three days later, the warning was over, and everyone returned to the ground.

Shi Yuan returned home and waited for Lu Tinghan. Sure enough, Lu Tinghan came back very early today.

Shi Yuan protested while purring: “How can you lie to me? I found out that my second page is not correct at all!”

Lu Tinghan: “Really, isn’t it all correct?”

“Of course.” Shi Yuan continued to protest, “How could you not see it?”

Lu Tinghan said, “I didn’t see it, really.”

Shi Yuan looked at him suspiciously.

Lu Tinghan’s face was calm, and his eyes were full of sincerity.

Shi Yuan: “Really?”

Lu Tinghan: “Of course.”

Shi Yuan: “Really, really?”

Lu Tinghan: “Yes.”

“…okay.” Shi Yuan believed him. “Then maybe, then maybe you are not that smart either. It’s okay! You are still super amazing!”

Lu Tinghan: “Uh-huh.”

He continued to rub Shi Yuan’s head.

Shi Yuan told the stories about Iron City that he had just heard, each of which was an incurable wound.

He said, “Are you really okay? That is, those things about your childhood…”

Lu Tinghan said: “I said that family affection is irrelevant to me and can be replaced by other feelings. So I don’t have the so-called ‘wounds and scars’.”

“That’s good.” Shi Yuan was relieved. “That’s great.”

He just wanted to wash his face and take care of his scales by the way, but he was stopped.

Lu Tinghan stopped him by the wall and easily blocked all retreat: “About that ‘other feelings’—I have something else to say,” He lowered his head and said in Shi Yuan’s ear, “Shi Yuan, have you ever liked anyone?”