CH 63.2

Chapter 63.2 – Dreams

—Wu Zhengqing’s plan was actually very simple.

In the first step, Shi Yuan would help him attract the attention of the staff at the door, and then he’d take the opportunity to run out.

In the second step, the door security system of Tower 4 registered his identity information, and once he secretly left the tower, the welfare center would be notified, which is why all his previous escapes failed. For this reason, he had to get a wheelchair.

“Why a wheelchair?” Shi Yuan bent his tail in confusion.

“Because I’m old, I can’t run with such a heavy thing on my back. It’s probably not good to rely on your small body too,” Wu Zhengqing explained, “I think a wheelchair is good, big and spacious. I’ll sit on it with my luggage, and you can push me to escape – don’t worry, I am not a bigshot and will not alarm the patrol. We just have to avoid the guards of the tower. The whole thing will not be too difficult.”

The wheelchair thing worked out well.

Wu Zhengqing applied to the welfare center and said that his legs and feet were not good. Two days later, Shi Yuan pushed back a wheelchair.

The wheelchair was really good, and such a large mountaineering bag could be stuffed into the storage layer under the seat. According to Wu Zhengqing, wheelchairs were the most welfare thing in the welfare center.

September 7th, it was the day of the implementation of the plan.

Shi Yuan talked to the staff at the entrance of the welfare center, under the pretext of asking them about their wages – the two shook their heads again and again, both saying that his hourly salary of 2 yuan was too little.

Taking advantage of this, Wu Zhengqing took the mountaineering bag, rolled out of the gate in a wheelchair, and got into the elevator smoothly.

Shi Yuan went to the first floor to find him, pushed his wheelchair out of the door and onto the street.

“Run, run!” Wu Zhengqing shouted in a low voice, “They must have notified the welfare center!”

Shi Yuan turned his head and saw the guard at the entrance of the tower holding down the headset. It was the staff on the 15th floor who was notifying them. The guard began to look left and right, his eyes fell on the two of them, and suddenly froze for a moment.

“Run!” Wu Zhengqing shouted.

Shi Yuan pushed his wheelchair and ran!

There were no people on the street, and the wheelchair rolled on the uneven ground, rattling. The footsteps of several people followed closely, shouting “Stop! Don’t run away!” Shi Yuan had never run so fast before, listening to Wu Zhengqing’s command, he turned around in the streets and alleys.

“Stop!” Wu Zhengqing shouted in a low voice, “Just stop here and don’t make a sound.”

Shi Yuan stopped in this corner, panting slightly.

There were a few footsteps running forward nearby, and one of them stopped and looked suspiciously at the place a wall away from them.

Both of them refused to let out their breath.

After a long three minutes, the sound of footsteps sounded again.

The man walked forward.

When the man was completely gone, Shi Yuan and Wu Zhengqing breathed a sigh of relief. Their temples were both sweaty, one was running and the other was nervous. They glanced at each other and both laughed.

“How was it?” Wu Zhengqing said with a smile, “I told you, they must not expect us to go this way!”

“You know so much,” Shi Yuan also smiled, “Escaped in a flash.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Wu Zhengqing said, “Did you just see their expressions? It was wonderful!”

The two laughed again. In the breeze, Wu Zhengqing laughed louder and louder, laughing until his whole body was shaking. In this tiny corner of the city, a simple and crude, but successful escape was staged. The old man who lived at the top of the tower escaped, carrying a pack of cosmic dreams.

“Okay,” Wu Zhengqing wiped away the tears from his laughter, “Let’s go quickly, while it’s not dark yet.”

So Shi Yuan pushed the wheelchair to the city wall.

The road was not far, and half an hour later, they were only one intersection away from the walled city’s guard station.

Wu Zhengqing propped himself up on the armrest of his wheelchair and stood up with great difficulty, and then put on his hiking bag with the help of Shi Yuan.

Shi Yuan asked, “How are you going to get out of the city?”

“Don’t worry, I still have a little bit of contacts.” Wu Zhengqing patted him on the shoulder. “There is always a way. You should go back early. When others ask about this, you just say you don’t know. As long as you deny it to death, no one can blame you.”

Shi Yuan agreed.

Wu Zhengqing took a few steps, then suddenly turned back and took out a small notebook from the pocket on the outside of the hiking bag: “This is for you, as a parting gift.”

“Thank you.” Shi Yuan took it. “Mr. Wu, goodbye.”

Wu Zhengqing waved his hand: “Goodbye. I hope that one day you can see a meteor with the one you love.”

The backpack was too heavy, so he staggered towards the city wall.

Shi Yuan didn’t know whether Wu Zhengqing had left the city or not.

But he never saw Wu Zhengqing again, and he guessed that he had set foot on the wasteland as he wished.

The room at the end of the corridor of the welfare center was empty, and those exquisite posters and planetary models were all given to Shi Yuan in the end.

“You can take it all,” Wang Yu said a little tired, “Anyway, Mr. Wu likes you the most.”

Another mutant was about to get an injection, and she hurried away.

No one asked who helped Wu Zhengqing escape.

Everyone knew it, but they pretended not to know it.

Shi Yuan took a large cardboard box and packed all Wu Zhengqing’s things away, including the astronomical telescope he left in the attic.

On the bus home, he opened the small notebook Wu Zhengqing gave him.

There was a group photo of all the staff of the Aerospace Center, as well as sketches of rockets, space stations, and meteors, drawn by 8-year-old Wu Zhengqing. Then every page after that was a photo of the universe that he had cropped out, from the thousands of planets to the twisted and mysterious black holes, carefully selected, colorful and beautiful to the extreme.

After arriving home, Shi Yuan placed the telescope in the living room and pointed it out the window.

He was not very good at adjusting the angle and focus, and could only barely see the largest planets and moons.

He was looking for meteors and Wu Zhengqing’s spaceship. The night sky was vast, and he hadn’t seen them yet.

After another two days, Lu Tinghan was free at night and suddenly asked Shi Yuan if he wanted to dance again.

Since Shi Yuan came back from Iron City, he had invited Lu Tinghan to dance. He thought Lu Tinghan was not interested, but he didn’t expect Lu Tinghan to know a little ballroom dancing.

When his injury improved a little, Lu Tinghan began to teach him to dance.

The teaching process could only be described as “terrible”. The two of them danced barefoot indoors, and Shi Yuan’s every step landed accurately on Lu Tinghan’s instep.

Lu Tinghan said, “Shi Yuan, did you do it on purpose?”

“Really not, I swear by my tail,” Shi Yuan promised, and then stepped on it again.

The two danced awkwardly for a few rounds, which could not be called elegant at all. Shi Yuan almost fell, and Lu Tinghan lifted him up and put him on the ground smoothly.

Lu Tinghan became busy later, and the matter was temporarily put aside. Shi Yuan didn’t expect that Lu Tinghan would mention dancing again after two months.

The tip of his tail began to sway happily: “Of course, I want to.”

Lu Tinghan reminded him: “Don’t wear shoes, not even slippers.”

—General Lu was very prescient.

He put his arm around Shi Yuan with one hand and held his hand with the other, dancing to the music and getting stepped on by Shi Yuan with every beat.

Shi Yuan said, “I tried my best! Do you think I’ve improved?”

Probably because of the soft waist under his hand, Lu Tinghan refused to comment and embarrass him.

The third dance song began, a waltz.

“Shi Yuan,“ in the slow music, he leaned in Shi Yuan’s ear and said, “I told you, I’m not that firm.”

Shi Yuan said, “Yes, you don’t even dare to let me put on my shoes.”

Lu Tinghan: “…I’m not talking about this.” There was another turn and sway, he looked at Shi Yuan and said, “You know, I didn’t even dare to say goodbye to you before the ‘Heavy Hammer’ fell.”

Shi Yuan didn’t understand why Lu Tinghan suddenly brought it up again.

He said, “It’s okay, I’m not angry with you. You promised me that this will not happen again.”

“Hmm.” Lu Tinghan said, “What I also want to say is that sometimes people live in illusion, as long as the knife in the head has not fallen, they can continue to dream. It’s like those who still believe in ‘Overlook’, they don’t know that the matter has ended, so there is still hope.”

Shi Yuan’s tail bent into a question mark.

He stepped on Lu Tinghan’s feet again.

“I am the same.” Lu Tinghan looked down at him. “Shi Yuan, I am like this too.”

Shi Yuan became more and more confused: “I don’t quite understand what you want to say.”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to understand.”

At the end of a song, they just stopped by the wall. Shi Yuan had his back against the wall, was wrapped in Lu Tinghan’s arms, and then was kissed in a daze.

He felt that Lu Tinghan was a bit different, fiery, oppressive, and intense, these complex emotions burned in his gray-blue eyes. Lu Tinghan leaned over again and kissed Shi Yuan from his ears to his neck.

Shi Yuan shivered unconsciously. When he was kissed on the neck again, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He stretched out his hand to touch Lu Tinghan’s wrist, trying to break free, but Lu Tinghan clenched his hand tightly, clasped their fingers together, and left him no room to escape.

“Lu, Lu Tinghan…” His voice was shaking.

Lu Tinghan looked at him, the two of them breathed together, and he asked hoarsely: “…is it okay?”

Shi Yuan was still trembling slightly.

Lu Tinghan kissed the corner of his lip and asked, “Is it okay?”

“…well, it’s okay,” Shi Yuan replied in a low voice, “You can do anything to me. I am—I am here for you.”

From the wasteland to the city, for the first time, he understood what courage is and what love is. Lu Tinghan was his world.

He hooked Lu Tinghan’s neck and kissed him deeply, lingering all night.