MNL Chapter 91

Chapter 91: Are you looking for me?

Chapter 91: Are you looking for me?

Cha Fei’ang’s words completely distracted Xu Jing, because counting today, he and Shen Yan had been out of contact for a full four days.

Before school ended, Cha Fei’ang looked at Xu Jing’s face and cautiously reminded him again, “Jing-ge, don’t forget the volunteer activity tomorrow, we’ll meet at the destination.”

Xu Jing gave an “Mm,” the moment the school bell rang, Cha Fei’ang originally wanted to say something more, but when he turned his head, he found that no one was behind him.

Xu Jing ran all the way, bumping into several late-night snack stalls. When he arrived at the apartment, he left all those contradictory thoughts and worthless pride behind, and knocked on the door of 602.

From the initial light taps to the heavy pounding later, there was no response for a full five minutes. Xu Jing started calling Shen Yan, but all calls went unanswered. Unwilling to give up, he asked Jiang Pei, but Jiang Pei said he didn’t know.

At this moment, where else could he find Shen Yan?

Faced with the repeated reality of being turned away, Xu Jing was confused. He realized that he had overlooked a very terrible thing: the world was so big that if Shen Yan wanted to hide from him, he would never be able to find him.

Xu Jing didn’t sleep well that night and was awakened by nightmares again and again. In his dreams, he saw the scene of Shen Yan leaving that night. He actually couldn’t help but look back, and that tall figure gave him the illusion of almost falling.

Was it because the words he said were so excessive that they hurt Shen Yan’s heart, so he refused to come home?

Xu Jing opened his eyes. Did Shen Yan have a home? Obviously, this was just where he lived. If Shen Yan really wanted to leave, he didn’t need to say hello to anyone. He just needed a train ticket to go anywhere he wanted.

His relationship with Shen Yan couldn’t even be made public. They were so careful, even holding hands had to be in a deserted park. He still couldn’t openly admit his relationship with Shen Yan in front of Qin Xin. What qualifications did he have to say this was his home?

Besides, he only said he wanted to stay away in a fit of anger, so why had he really disappeared?

The complex emotions in his heart couldn’t be suppressed. Xu Jing’s fingers brushed past the corners of his eyes, and because of that bit of saltiness, he couldn’t sleep all night.

Saturday was a rainy day. The entire Linhe City was misty, giving people the illusion that they couldn’t wake up.

This volunteer activity was located at a nursing home more than 20 kilometers from the city center, chosen by Cha Fei’ang. Although it was remote, it required little effort and came with a stamp of approval, which was a win-win situation.

Xu Jing caught up on some sleep on the way, not daring to sleep too deeply because he was alone. After arriving at the destination, the driver’s tone was obviously a little nervous, “I can’t drive in any further, you can get off here.”

Xu Jing actually felt something was wrong in the car. He originally wanted to get out of the car to check the situation first, but as soon as he landed, the driver stepped on the accelerator and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“…”

Xu Jing looked around. It was a desolate wilderness with a stone road that melted into the white mist and stretched out of sight. From time to time, the sound of crows could be heard in the sky, coupled with this half-dead, not-alive weather.

Where the hell had this guy brought him?

Xu Jing was about to call Cha Fei’ang when several other unlucky people were also tricked into coming, including the man himself.

Gu Qianqian’s nasal voice was a bit heavy, and most of her delicate face was buried in a white scarf, “Cha Fei’ang, are you trying to abduct us?”

Cha Fei’ang looked dazed, “No, the photos posted online aren’t like this.”

Because Gu Qianqian was there, Liang Ge didn’t think there was anything wrong. He even had the leisure to crack sunflower seeds. After hearing this, he complained, “Bro, the consequence of believing in the seller’s show is that you originally wanted to buy a pumpkin, but you ended up receiving a zucchini.”

“I hope Jing-ge hasn’t arrived yet, I have to give him a call.” Cha Fei’ang was about to take out his phone when Ye Lanshan’s calm voice interrupted him.

“Then you might be too late.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Cha Fei’ang saw Xu Jing, who wanted to kill someone, not far away.

It’s over, it’s over, it’s over.

Cha Fei’ang braced himself and walked forward, giving an awkward smile under the gaze of that cold look, “Jing-ge, well, good afternoon?”

Xu Jing said irritably, “What’s good about it?”

“Um… look how good the weather is today, right, hahaha.”

The four of them sneered at the same time.

Cha Fei’ang: “…”

Relying on the supreme mentality of having already come, in the end, no one left. They walked forward along the stone road and breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the sign for “Forster Nursing Home.”

They thought that the nursing home in this kind of place would definitely not be good, but it turned out to be particularly impressive, with red and black exterior walls and a cobblestone path winding forward, connecting to a spacious and solemn gate. On both sides were neat rows of evergreen trees.

The elderly were constantly moving around inside the courtyard. Cha Fei’ang spread his hands and said, “See, I didn’t lie to you.”

At this time, a young girl came out and greeted them with a smile, “Are you the volunteers?”

Cha Fei’ang stepped forward and said, “Yes, sister, I was the one who contacted you a few days ago.”

“Okay, then come in.”

In fact, Forster Nursing Home was much larger than they had imagined, but the girl said that because it was private and located in a remote area, they hadn’t recruited any volunteers for several months. They were the first batch willing to come here. After hearing this, everyone tacitly remained silent. If it weren’t for Cha Fei’ang’s ability to sift through the sands, they wouldn’t have thought that there was a nursing home in this place.

“Isn’t it almost the New Year? These elderly people are lonely and pitiful. I started a volunteer activity, thinking that with more people, our nursing home would be more lively.” The girl said.

Gu Qianqian asked, “What can we do?”

The girl smiled slightly, “You can just follow me.”

The nursing home had a lot of activities, but it seemed lifeless because there were too few people. At first, they were all just trying to complete that social practice form. After hearing what the girl said, they felt a little uncomfortable.

They were all accompanying the elderly to make dumplings and cut paper-cuts for windows. Liang Ge saw someone outside dancing the Errenzhuan and joined in on a whim. His movements were quite decent. Gu Qianqian glanced through the window and couldn’t help but smile.

Cha Fei’ang was the most popular among them. Not only did he have the appearance of a fat grandson that the elderly liked, but he also knew opera and mahjong, as well as neighborhood gossip. The elderly rushed to chat with him.

Xu Jing didn’t want to do any of these things. In the end, he was forced to teach the elderly how to write couplets. Xu Jing regarded this as a way to vent his anger, writing nearly seventy couplets in an afternoon, directly turning his regular script into cursive script. As a result, he became more and more irritable, and finally went to the corridor outside to calm down.

An old man was sitting in the corridor, reading a book. He had an excellent image, wearing neat clothes and his hair was styled without a single strand out of place.

Xu Jing glanced at him as he passed by and found that the old man was reading “The Last Quarter of the Moon.”

Xu Jing had read a few pages of this book before, but he gave up because he didn’t feel anything. However, the old man’s focused appearance made him have some interest, so he also stopped and watched for a while.

After reading a few pages, Xu Jing was surprised to find that this book was quite interesting. Just as he was about to continue reading, the old man suddenly put down the book, turned around and asked him, “Young man, what do you think is the meaning of life?”

Xu Jing was stunned and didn’t answer.

The old man smiled awkwardly and said, “I’m sorry, I’m being a bit abrupt.”

Seeing that Xu Jing still didn’t speak, the old man hesitated, “Can’t you talk? Sorry.”

Xu Jing then opened his mouth, “I can.”

“I thought you were a mute. Young people are too silent, which is not good.”

Xu Jing frowned, “What’s not good about it?”

After thinking for a moment, the old man said, “Have you ever encountered any regrets in your life?”

The way of chatting, hitting east and west, made Xu Jing unable to keep up. He sat down and said, “I said something very excessive to someone.”

The old man gave an “Mm,” and said, “Is he still alive?”

Xu Jing looked at the old man strangely and said, “Of course.”

“Did you apologize?”

Xu Jing shook his head, “He’s avoiding me.”

The old man suddenly smiled and comforted him kindly, “As long as you’re alive, there will be opportunities for everything, and regrets will not be enough to be called regrets. So as long as you have the heart, you will definitely be able to find him, and then do everything you can to make the regrets not regrettable.”

Xu Jing’s eyes moved and listened quietly.

“When I was young, I was also a silent person. The words I didn’t have time to say, the things I didn’t have time to do, I still feel very regretful when I think about them now, but they’re all gone, and I don’t even have the chance to change. So young man, while you’re young, say the words you want to say, do the things you want to do, don’t worry about the future, nothing is more precious than life and time. As long as you’re alive, everything is still in time.”

The old man left without a sound. His movements were very light, and when Xu Jing reacted, he was gone, but those words left a clear mark in his mind.

They finally had dinner at the nursing home and didn’t leave until it was dark. When Xu Jing went out, the girl suddenly stepped forward and stopped him, “The old man you talked to today, his wife passed away a few years ago. When he came here, his mental state was not very normal. Many times, even we can’t understand what he’s saying, so you don’t have to take his words to heart.”

A few doubts flashed across Xu Jing’s face. Obviously, from the old man’s condition, there was no sign of any mental problems at all.

After saying this, Xu Jing looked inside the courtyard again as if possessed, but suddenly met a pair of eyes.

The old man, who was called mentally ill by the girl, was looking at him with a smile on his face at this moment.

It was difficult to get a taxi here, so everyone chose to call their parents to pick them up. Ye Lanshan’s mother arrived first, and Gu Qianqian left with her.

Cha Fei’ang sighed and said, “It’s finally over. I’ve never chatted for such a long time. I feel like I don’t want to talk anymore.”

Liang Ge was dissatisfied after hearing this, “You just move your lips, but my arms are sore from swinging them.”

Cha Fei’ang laughed, “I have to say, you danced that Errenzhuan really well.”

Liang Ge snorted softly, “Of course, I learned it from my grandpa.”

The two of them originally wanted to tease Xu Jing about the couplets he wrote today, but Xu Jing was obviously too lazy to pay attention to them now, so they shut up.

Xu Jing didn’t want to trouble Qin Xin to make a trip, so he ended up taking Cha Fei’ang’s father’s car.

When he arrived at the apartment building, Xu Jing didn’t go in. He stopped at the door for a moment. In an instant, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind.

Xu Jing suddenly raised his head, turned around and ran out.

You have to go through an alley to get to the flower sea, and at this moment, Xu Jing was panting and standing at the entrance of this alley.

The biting, humid wind blew from the horizon, and the coldness entered his lungs. Xu Jing couldn’t help but shiver. His palms were cold, and he took out his phone and made another call.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Still no one answered.

The alley was swallowed by darkness. Xu Jing clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and was about to walk inside when a low, hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind him, especially clear in the night.

“Are you looking for me?”