“Shigong, why does he…”
Ye Qianji seemed to sense something and let out a soft sigh. “When the heart is already dead, what use are legs?”
They say it’s better to live on in misery than to die well.
But at certain times, living is harder than dying.
Back then, when he searched the world and couldn’t find his Little Yue, it wasn’t that he hadn’t had mad thoughts.
It was only because he reined himself in at the brink that he was able to wait until today.
So Ye Qianji understood Ming Yu.
Only those who have experienced loss understand the torment of living, and only they can experience the ecstatic joy of regaining what was lost.
Jiang Fuyue: “Can his legs still be saved?”
“The delay was too long, and the best treatment window was missed. But with acupuncture combined with rehabilitation, there is still hope.”
“Shigong,” Jiang Fuyue pressed her lips together, “please help him.”
“Alright.” Ye Qianji agreed readily. “If you can persuade him.”
Ding—
The elevator doors opened. Ming Yu, one hand controlling the wheelchair and the other holding a water cup, came out.
“I couldn’t find your previous cup, so I went to the bar and got another one.”
As he spoke, he handed it over, with hot water still inside.
Jiang Fuyue: “Thank you.”
Ming Yu: “Why are your eyes red?”
“Are they? Maybe the heater made my eyes a bit dry.”
Ming Yu glanced at the humidifier working in the corner and didn’t mention anything, only saying, “Then drink some water. Replenishing fluids in time will be much better.”
“Thank you.”
……
Winter nights always arrive especially quickly.
By the time the two of them left, streetlights had already lit up on both sides of the road.
Jiang Fuyue looked straight ahead at the road and turned the steering wheel neatly. “What do you want to eat for dinner?”
Ming Yu thought for a moment. “Do you remember that clay pot rice noodle place we used to go to?”
“I remember. At first you complained that the environment there was bad, the tables were greasy, the floor was dirty, and no matter what you refused to pick up your chopsticks.”
The man also fell into memories, the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifting. “Later, seeing how deliciously you were eating, I tried one bite, and then I couldn’t stop.”
“Want to go there?”
“Mm. I don’t know if it’s still there.”
“Let’s check.” Jiang Fuyue immediately made a turn.
……
Half an hour later, the car stopped at the entrance of an alley on the Second Ring Road.
All kinds of food aromas drifted out from inside, intertwining and mixing, stubbornly burrowing into the nostrils.
After asking around, Jiang Fuyue found that the clay pot rice noodle shop was still there, only the storefront had moved from the very back to the middle. There was no need to go around to the back alley anymore. Enter from the front and walk a few steps to reach it.
The two went in, and sure enough, before long they saw the familiar signboard.
Only the décor had completely changed, and the shop had also expanded. In the past it was just one narrow room, now it was three large connected spaces, divided into two floors.
“Are you two here to eat clay pot rice noodles? Please come in!”
Even the service was much better.
Since it was dinnertime, business was good, with people at almost every table.
It was inconvenient for Ming Yu to go upstairs, so the two waited more than ten minutes before a seat on the first floor finally became available.
Just as they were about to go over, a figure brushed past quickly. “There’s a seat here! Hurry!”
A seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy rushed ahead to the table and plopped down.
Very soon, several of his friends followed in a rush.
“Nice one, Ming Yang, you’re pretty quick!”
The boy called “Ming Yang” lifted his chin, full of youthful vigor. “Of course. Don’t you see who I am!”
Ming Jun walked over and coughed lightly. “Bro, keep a low profile.”
“Right, right, keep a low profile.”
Cen Jiuxiao looked around. “Why did you pick this place? It’s so noisy, the environment isn’t great. How about we switch to the seafood buffet on the 26th floor of Jinmao across the street?”
Ming Yang: “You don’t get it! This place is insanely good! Ming Jun and I have eaten here so many times. The taste is absolutely amazing! If you don’t believe me, wait and try it later. I guarantee you’ll order a second pot.”
Cen Jiuxiao was half skeptical. “Really? Cousin Ming Wei, do you want to eat here?”
Another boy, who hadn’t spoken since coming in, frowned slightly. He didn’t respond immediately, but instead reminded them, “It seems we’ve taken someone else’s seat.”
Ming Yang was displeased and muttered under his breath, “Bro, whose side are you on? Obviously I got it first… how did it become someone else’s seat?”
Just then, the waiter walked over and explained awkwardly but politely, “Four young gentlemen, sorry about this. This table belongs to this gentleman and this young lady. They’ve already been waiting outside for more than ten minutes, so…”
Ming Yang, Ming Jun, Ming Wei, and Cen Jiuxiao instinctively cast their gazes toward the two people who had been ignored at the side.
The girl was very pretty, and a bit familiar.
The man was sitting in a wheelchair, handsome and extraordinary, with an outstanding aura, also a bit familiar.
The four youths looked at each other.
Cen Jiuxiao had already sat down, but immediately stood up. “Sorry about that, we didn’t know.”
Ming Jun also got up and stepped aside, yielding the table, though out of the corner of his eye he was secretly sizing up Ming Yu, especially taking a few extra looks at the wheelchair.
Ming Wei hadn’t sat down in the first place, so there was no need for him to stand up now.
Only Ming Yang, who had “enthusiastically grabbed the seat only to end up happy for nothing,” was still sitting there, his face faintly showing “dissatisfaction” and “unwillingness.”
Ming Jun hurried over and bumped his elbow. “Bro, don’t make a fuss. They came earlier than us.”
“But I grabbed it first…” he muttered softly.
Although his words and expression both showed unwillingness, his action of standing up to give up the seat was not awkward.
“Alright, alright, you guys sit.” He wasn’t going to bully a disabled person!
Then he asked the waiter, “Is there no other seat?”
“There is upstairs.”
Ming Yang’s mouth twitched. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” If he’d known, they would have gone upstairs! Why bother grabbing seats here?
He turned back and called to the other three, “Let’s go, let’s go, we’ll sit upstairs.”
Ming Jun and Cen Jiuxiao followed.
Ming Wei, however, stayed where he was.
Cen Jiuxiao turned back and called out, “Bro?”
At that moment, Ming Wei suddenly walked up to Ming Yu and squatted down. “Are you Second Uncle?”
Ming Yang stopped short, nearly tripping.
Ming Jun was better off, not as shocked. His gaze swept over the wheelchair again. So it really was him…
The head of the Ming family, Ming Tao, that is, Ming Yu’s father, indeed had only this one biological son.
But before Ming Yu was born, he had adopted a child, Ming Ke.
That was Ming Wei’s father, who married the fifth daughter of the Xie family, Xie Yunxuan. Speaking of which, he was also Xie Dingyuan’s brother-in-law.
As for Ming Yang and Ming Jun, these two were biological brothers, the sons of Ming Zheng.
Ming Zheng was Ming Yu’s cousin, so these two children should call Ming Yu—
“Uncle.”
Ming Jun spoke first.
It took Ming Yang quite a while to react. “This really is Uncle? Are you sure, absolutely and positively sure?”
Could it really be this much of a coincidence?
Wasn’t he just trying to bring his buddies to eat a clay pot of rice noodles?
How did he end up bumping into an uncle who hadn’t come home for twenty years?
And the key point was that he even fought Uncle for a seat?! Oh no, oh no. When he gets back, won’t his own dad beat him to death?
“Bro, hurry and greet him!” Ming Jun shot him a look.
Ming Yang let out an “Oh.” “U-un-uncle-uncle!”
Ming Yu: “……”
Ming Jun covered his face.
Ming Wei’s mouth twitched.
Cen Jiuxiao directly said, “Pfft… sorry, I couldn’t hold it in.” Then he also obediently greeted him. “Hello, Uncle Ming!”
Ming Yu nodded. “Hello.”
Then, the four boys dashed upstairs as if fleeing famine, while Ming Yu and Jiang Fuyue sat down at the now-empty table.
The waiter approached: “What would you two like to eat?”
Jiang Fuyue: “One three-delicacy clay pot.”
Ming Yu: “Same.”
“Alright, please have a seat. It’ll be ready shortly.”
……
At the same time, upstairs, the four boys didn’t bother ordering and huddled together talking, their expressions excited, exclaiming constantly.
“Oh my god! It really is Uncle.” Ming Yang patted his chest, still a little shaken. “Wasn’t he in the Northwest? How did he come back?”
Ming Jun: “It’s not strange that Uncle returned; what’s strange is that no one knew. Wei, did you hear about it at home from Grand Uncle?”
The “Grand Uncle” Ming Jun referred to was Ming Tao.
Ming Wei shook his head: “No.”
Grandfather never mentioned it.
Ming Yang didn’t believe it. “Then how did you recognize him?”
Ming Wei lifted his eyelid and glanced at him: “There are photos at home.”
“Those are twenty-year-old photos. Do they really look exactly the same now?”
Ming Wei didn’t argue over such a trivial topic.
Of course, the house didn’t only have photos from twenty years ago. There were also recent photos of Ming Yu, sent from the Northwest periodically. They were kept as treasures by Grandfather and Grandmother, taken out whenever there was free time to look at them.
Looking at them, sighing.
Sighing and wiping away tears.
Ming Wei had stumbled across them a few times and had seen those photos.
In the photos, the sky was always filled with yellow dust or heavy mist. Ming Yu sat in his wheelchair, sometimes directing experiments on site, sometimes bowing his head in thought, or giving reports and presentations…
Since Ming Wei was very young, he knew he had a scientist uncle who was brilliant, the pride of the whole family and even of China, but he never came home, nor did he ever call.
Many times, he heard Grandma cry while saying, “If I had known he was so stubborn, back then I shouldn’t have…”
Shouldn’t have done what?
A question mark lingered in Ming Wei’s little heart.
Unfortunately, he never got an answer.
Every time it was mentioned, Grandma would break down in tears halfway through.
Ming Jun: “What about Eldest Uncle? Does he know?”
He meant Ming Ke.
Ming Wei still shook his head: “I don’t know.”
“Should we tell the family?”
The three Ming brothers exchanged glances, unable to decide.
Cen Jiuxiao had remained silent, just listening to them. Strictly speaking, he had no relation to the Ming family.
It was only that Ming Wei was his cousin, and because of that connection, he was closer to Ming Yang and Ming Jun, and the four often went out to play sports together.
Cen Jiuxiao: “Look at Uncle Ming. Just by the way he looks, he clearly didn’t just arrive in the capital. He even brought a girlfriend. If you call home, everyone will know. Not good, right?”
“Maybe the family already knows he’s back, they just didn’t tell you guys.”
Seeing Ming Wei stunned, and Ming Yang and Ming Jun also frozen, Cen Jiuxiao felt the three were silenced by his analysis and smiled smugly.
“Do you think I make sense?”
“Wa-wait,” Ming Jun raised his hand, nervously stuttering, “Who did you say Uncle Ming brought?”
Cen Jiuxiao: “Girlfriend!”
Ming Jun: “!”
“What’s with that expression? Listen, believe it or not, a man and woman going out to eat, especially at a small place like this, they must be really close.”
Ming Yang: “!”
Cen Jiuxiao continued: “The only mismatch is age. The girl looks only a few years older than us, but it’s fine. Uncle Ming doesn’t look old, his hair is black and shiny. You think he dyed it?”
Ming Wei: “……”
Cen Jiuxiao nodded, speaking innocently: “Really! My dad dyed his hair secretly too! Didn’t even let my mom know!”
The three boys: “……”
Ming Yang: “That girl is really Uncle Ming’s girlfriend? Whoa! This news is explosive! If true, the Ming family will blow up!”
Ming Jun: “Hiss! Don’t you think that girl… looks familiar?”
Ming Wei nodded: “Very familiar.”
Ming Yang scratched his face: “Hearing you say that, I think I recognize her too. Ah Xiao, what do you think?”
Cen Jiuxiao rubbed his chin in mock seriousness: “If everyone thinks they look familiar, either they’re in the same circle and we’ve all seen them, or they’re celebrities or singers often on TV or trending online.”
Ming Yang: “Makes sense…”
Ming Wei: “First time I’ve found you smart.”
Cen Jiuxiao: “?” Behave yourself!
Ming Jun had already taken out his phone: “I have to tell Dad. He’ll probably be shocked.”
Ming Wei thought for a moment. Not sure if his dad would be shocked, but Grandfather definitely would: “…Then I’ll tell the family too.”
Downstairs, two three-delicacy clay pots were served, steaming hot, the soup in the bowls still bubbling from residual heat, sizzling.
Ming Yu: “The taste is just like before.”
Jiang Fuyue nodded, waiting until she swallowed before saying: “Yes, not much has changed.”
Both preferred not to talk while eating, focusing entirely on the food.
Jiang Fuyue finished first, a fine sweat covering the tip of her nose.
Ming Yu put down his chopsticks and handed her a tissue: “Wipe it.”
“Thank you.” Jiang Fuyue took it.
When paying, Jiang Fuyue pulled out her phone to scan.
Ming Yu said he would pay, but the QR code on the table was half-damaged and unreadable.
“No matter,” Jiang Fuyue stood. “We can scan at the front desk on the way out.”
At the front desk, they found the QR code flat on the counter, but it was too high for Ming Yu in the wheelchair to reach.
An awkward moment arose instantly.
The waiter quickly took out a standing QR code, holding it with both hands in front of him. “You can scan this.”
Ming Yu lowered his eyes, calmly scanned, and paid.
The waiter called after their backs: “Welcome and come back again!”
Then quickly had a colleague put another QR code on the counter’s side surface, sighing regretfully: “Such a handsome man, but disabled. What a pity…”
After leaving the snack alley, Jiang Fuyue didn’t rush to get the car.
Instead, she walked along the street with Ming Yu.
To be precise, she was walking, while Ming Yu remained in the wheelchair the whole way.
The night was bleak, the streetlights dim.
The cold wind brushed their cheeks like icy knives.
Their breath turned white in the air, curling and rising.
Suddenly, “Ah Yu, get your legs healed. I want to see you stand up again.”
Ming Yu was silent for a long while.
He lowered his eyes slightly, and Jiang Fuyue could not see his expression.
The cold wind howled, shaking the bare branches by the roadside.
After an unknown time—
He raised his head and slightly lifted the corners of his lips at her: “Alright.”
As long as you want, I will do everything possible to fulfill it, no matter the request.
……
After the New Year holiday, students gradually returned to school.
Jiang Fuyue no longer had a regular class schedule, and most of the time she was nowhere to be seen.
Because—
“Did you hear Sister Yue is back in the lab? Is it true?”
“True. I ran in the morning, then went to the cafeteria for breakfast and saw Sister Yue coming out, heading toward the lab.”
“The Big Devil Queen is starting her work again. Excited!”
“By the way, what subject is she working on this time? Last time, out of three CNS papers, one was physics, two were biology. She’s supposedly a master at math and computer science too. This time, it’s probably chemistry?”
“Honestly, if someone said she won an Olympic gold medal, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Of course! An all-around goddess isn’t just talk!”
“……”
She paid no mind to what the outside world said.
She only knew that winter vacation was half a month away, and time was running out.
As for Ming Yu…
Since that day, he had actively undergone treatment.
Due to long-term immobility, the muscles in his calves had already started slight atrophy.
Ye Qianji: “Luckily there was daily massage. Otherwise, it would be worse! Now the treatment just takes longer and rehabilitation is harder. He’s lucky!”
Ming Yu truly focused solely on treatment, just as he promised.
Ye Qianji sighed: “A living heart is good. When the heart lives, the person can live.”
……
Soon, Jiang Fuyue had a lead on what Niu Rui was investigating—
“The data shows that currently there are twelve official laboratories in the country with Schankwo virus samples. Ten of them belong to virus institutes under government supervision. Our hands can’t reach that far for now.”
Jiang Fuyue: “And the remaining two?”
Niu Rui: “One is Xie Dingyuan’s biochemical research lab. The entire team is currently on the F Continent’s frontline against the pandemic. The samples are abundant and complete, but distance is a problem. Plus, with both the C and F governments protecting it, it’s almost impossible to get. Even if obtained, bringing it back home would be nearly impossible.”
“The last one is Shen Wenzhao’s biological lab. Shen Wenzhao is a domestic biology authority and Xie Dingyuan’s teacher, and also teaches at Q University.”
“My personal suggestion: don’t mess with the virus institutes. Xie Dingyuan’s lab is too far. The best option is Shen Wenzhao’s lab. Find a way to get him to share some samples, it shouldn’t be difficult.”
Shen Wenzhao? That’s quite a coincidence.
Wasn’t he just recently appointed to teach at Ming University?
“Alright, got it.”
Niu Rui ended the call.
Jiang Fuyue suddenly felt no rush. She looked at the academic papers spread across the table, containing the latest global research on the Schankwo virus by top biologists and pathologists.
Including some unpublished research conclusions.
Jiang Fuyue digested half of it in two days, her mind filled with theories and models, some even contradictory.
The priority was to summarize the failed experiences of others in the shortest time, then determine her own research direction.
Jiang Fuyue needed to eliminate already-proven failures and indirect interferences as much as possible to ensure maximum accuracy.
Simply put, it was observing others walking into dead ends to chart her own path.
Three days later, she had digested all remaining materials.
Her mind had a general direction.
She found Xu Kaiqing, smiling: “Old Xu, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
The door was open, wind blew in, brushing his collar. Xu Kaiqing shivered: “It’s so chilly…”
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