Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Feng Chen felt anxious inside but dared not show it outwardly. He unconsciously gripped Yan Bubu's hand tighter, causing Yan Bubu to glance at him occasionally.

General Lin, however, was unhurried, even stopping occasionally to ask others questions.

"Is this electrical wiring your own addition? It's a serious safety hazard; remove it immediately."

"Yes, right away, we'll remove it immediately."

"Who is the administrator of your area?"

"It's managed by Chen Shen."

……

Walking half-circle around the oval-shaped Hive, and approaching the direction back to the elevator, Feng Chen knew he couldn't delay any longer and had to think of a plan.

"You don't have to keep following me, go play on your own," Feng Chen suddenly stopped and said to Yan Bubu.

General Lin, who was ahead, also stopped and turned to look at them.

Yan Bubu looked a bit bewildered but didn't say anything. Feng Chen then took out a toy named Bunu from his bag, waved it in front of Yan Bubu, and said, "Take Little Hive with you, you don't need to follow us."

"Little Hive?" General Lin asked.

Feng Chen looked at General Lin, "That's the name he gave to this toy, called Little Hive."

General Lin smiled, "Interesting name. Did you make it yourself?"

"Yes, just picked up a scrap piece of metal from downstairs and made it."

"Let me see it."

Feng Chen took a few steps forward and handed Binunu to General Lin. The general weighed it in his hand, noting it was a hollow iron sheet, and then returned it to Feng Chen: "Not bad craftsmanship."

He then glanced at the cloth bag slung over Yan Bubu's shoulder.

Yan Bubu’s cloth bag was now just a deflated piece of fabric, evidently carrying only the iron sheet toy.

Feng Chen turned and placed Binunu back in Yan Bubu’s hands, while the vulture silently perched on a nearby iron railing, watching them both.

"Go on, we still have a long walk ahead. Take Little Hive and go play," Feng Chen said calmly, both in his voice and his gaze.

He knew the vulture was observing him and Yan Bubu and was aware that there had been no communication between them. Since Yan Bubu was just a six-year-old child, who would not understand without specific instructions, General Lin would likely agree to let him go.

Indeed, General Lin did not object, and Yan Bubu, clutching Binunu, didn't speak but looked at Feng Chen before slowly retreating.

After a few steps back, he turned and ran away along the return path.

General Lin continued the inspection, with Feng Chen following behind, his mind in turmoil.

Yan Bubu often crawled under the bed to enter and exit and greeted the password box stuck there, calling it Little Hive. Feng Chen wondered if Yan Bubu understood the implied message in his words just now.

The inspection of the floor finished quickly, and they returned to the elevator. The soldiers who had escorted the brawling youths also returned, and the group took the elevator to the 65th floor.

Watching the floor numbers ascend, Feng Chen’s heartbeat quickened, fearing the soldiers next to him might hear it.

The elevator stopped at the 65th floor, and General Lin asked, "Which is your room number?"

“C68。”

Click, click.

The sound of heavy boots echoed in the corridor as they walked. Some residents, intimidated by General Lin's presence, quickly retreated to their rooms, while others came forward to greet him.

General Lin nodded at them but kept walking without pause, soon arriving at door C68.

Facing the inevitable, Feng Chen knew delaying was futile and might lead to more mistakes, so he calmly took out his room card, opened the door, and stepped aside.

If the password box was discovered, then so be it.

In the current situation, the password box was less important than his and Yan Bubu's safety. If it couldn’t be protected, there was no other option. Besides, General Lin couldn’t possibly expel them from the resettlement site just for discovering that he was Feng Zai Ping’s son.

General Lin stood at the doorway, his gaze lingering on the single bed blocking the door, then shifting to the only small cabinet in the room, giving a nod to the soldiers behind him.

The soldiers, understanding the order, immediately stepped over the bed and entered the room, beginning to search thoroughly. The vulture also flew in, circling the room once before perching on the cabinet.

General Lin stood at the doorway, his right finger tapping lightly against his trouser leg, while Feng Chen stood beside him, his view limited to only the head of the bed.

Screech—

The single iron bed was dragged, emitting a grating noise.

Feng Chen knew they were inspecting under the bed, his heart racing as if it would leap out of his throat. He glanced inside quickly and saw a soldier crawling underneath the bed.

"General Lin," called the soldier's voice.

General Lin stopped tapping his leg: "What is it?"

At that moment, Feng Chen also held his breath, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, his knuckles turning white.

Although he had prepared himself for the possibility of the password box being discovered, the tension of the moment was still overwhelming.

"Inspection complete, nothing found," the soldier reported, standing up.

General Lin paused for a moment: "Alright, put everything back in place and come out."

"Yes."

Major Lin turned to face Qin Shen, "This house is too small, Qin Shen. I'll ask the manager to get you a larger room."

Qin Shen's expression remained as calm as before, "Thank you, Major Lin, but there's no need to change. This room is quite nice. Jing Jing and I have gotten used to it."

Major Lin didn't say anything further, glanced at his wristwatch, and then left briskly with his soldiers towards the elevator. A vulture flew out of the room, perching on his shoulder just as before, but this time, it didn’t look at Qin Shen but instead glanced at the other rooms nearby.

Only after the group had gone far did Qin Shen enter the room, sitting on the bed somewhat wearily. After a moment to recover, he bent down to look under the bed.

The spot where the password box had been was now empty; the box was gone.

A series of soft footsteps approached the door, paused as if someone was listening quietly at the door. Then, with a click, the door was unlocked with a key card.

Qin Shen turned to look and saw a pair of round, wide eyes peeking through the door gap.

The eyes fixed on Qin Shen, blinked, and the thick eyelashes trembled. Then the door was pushed open, and a small figure came in, quickly crawling under the bed and sitting next to Qin Shen.

"I saw Major Lin and the others here just now, so I didn’t come over," Yan Bubu said, pulling out the silver-white password box from his bag.

Qin Shen took the password box and placed it on the bed, then turned to face Yan Bubu’s wide-open eyes, suddenly laughing and ruffling his hair.

Yan Bubu tried to push Qin Shen's hand away, but Qin Shen simply hugged his head to his chest and began to tousle his curly hair, making it even messier.

Yan Bubu started to resist, crying out like a small animal being cuddled in Qin Shen's arms, trying to scratch his armpits. However, he ended up being pinned down by Qin Shen, who began to tickle him on the bed.

"Hahaha... I was wrong... Hahaha... I was wrong..." Yan Bubu laughed as if he was running out of breath, struggling like a flapping shrimp, his shoes and socks kicked off.

The two of them played around for quite some time before stopping. Yan Bubu lay gasping for air while Qin Shen leaned over to look at his mouth, "Open your mouth wider; let me see your teeth."

"Ah..." Yan Bubu opened his mouth as wide as he could.

Qin Shen carefully examined his gums and said, "The little buds are coming in. Remember not to push them with your tongue. If they grow in crooked, there are no dentists now to correct them."

"Hmm, I won't do it again."

"That's good."

After a moment of silence, Yan Bubu suddenly complained, "You shouldn't have reminded me. I had forgotten about pushing my teeth with my tongue, but now you've mentioned it, I want to do it again."

"Alright, I won't remind you in the future. But don't let me catch you pushing your teeth, or I'll have to deal with you."

"Um, okay."

Qin Shen lay down too, remarking, "I didn't expect you to actually understand me and know to move the password box."

Yan Bubu replied, "You changed 'pinunu' to 'little beehive', so of course I understood. But you still didn't do it very well. If it were Wang Siyuan and Liu Haoxuan, they definitely wouldn't have understood what you meant."

Qin Shen knew Wang Siyuan and Liu Haoxuan must be his classmates, but still turned to ask, "Then what should I have done?"

"Like this." Yan Bubu started to twist his mouth and stick out his tongue, glancing sideways like someone with facial paralysis, "If you did it this way, Wang Siyuan and Liu Haoxuan would understand."

Yan Bubu resumed his normal expression, "Anyway, when the little friend in my class signals me like this, I know it means he wants me to ask the teacher for permission to go to the restroom."

Qin Shen ruffled his hair again before getting off the bed and reattaching the password box to its original spot under the bed.

"Are you going to leave it here?" Yan Bubu asked, peering down from the bed at the spot under it.

Qin Shen was sticking on the seal, "Yes, Major Lin has temporarily dismissed his suspicions about us, so it's safe to keep it here now."

"Ha, that's great."

"Right, we can live here peacefully, waiting for father to send someone for us."

After saying this, Qin Shen paused, realizing that in his concern for the password box, he had still not inquired about the situation in Hongcheng from Major Lin.

Yan Bubu, however, was happily rolling around on the bed, "Great, the sir and madam will come to get us. Madam will definitely make delicious cupcakes for me." He then imitated Mrs. Qin, "Yan Bubu, do you like today's cupcake? It's a new recipe I found..."

Qin Shen finished reattaching the password box and was just crawling out from under the bed when he heard a knock on the door. Unsure who it could be, he still asked, "Who is it?"

Yan Bubu, lying on the bed, raised his head and also asked, "Who?"

"Qin Shen, Major Lin sent me to deliver a message to you," said the unfamiliar voice from outside the door, clearly a Western Union soldier.

Qin Shen's heartbeat accelerated suddenly, and he quickly got off the bed to open the door. A soldier stood there, speaking formally, "Major Lin said he forgot to answer your question about Hongcheng earlier, so he sent me to tell you."

Qin Shen felt his throat go dry and swallowed before asking with difficulty, "Go ahead, I'm listening."

"Hongcheng is located at the foot of several large mountains. The city isn’t very large, and the earthquake triggered landslides and mudslides, burying the entire city within minutes. But Major Lin wants you not to worry too much. He will keep in contact with Hongcheng. There are sure to be survivors..."

Qin Shen couldn't hear the rest of the words, only seeing the soldier's mouth moving.

It was as if an invisible barrier had risen around him, blocking out all sounds from the outside world. His mind was a blank void, like an old TV without any signal, flashing meaningless static.

Yet mechanically, he thanked the soldier and acknowledged the message, waiting for him to leave before closing the door. Like a dead fish, though its higher brain functions have ceased, the nerves throughout its body still cause it to twitch and struggle.

Qin Shen stood motionless against the door, staring blankly ahead. Yan Bubu kneeled on the bed and moved towards him, holding his face in panic, repeatedly calling 'brother' loudly, pressing his tear-streaked face against Qin Shen’s, trying to warm his cold skin...

"Brother, brother..."

Yan Bubu hugged Qin Shen, trying to get him to sit on the bed, but Qin Shen seemed to have lost all strength and collapsed onto the bed, still staring straight at the ceiling, his body shaking as if chilled.

Yan Bubu removed his shoes and lifted his legs onto the bed, pulling a blanket over him and wrapping him tightly, then hugged him tightly through the blanket.

After a long time, Qin Shen's shaking gradually subsided. Yan Bubu, with blurry eyes from tears, looked at him and found that he had closed his eyes, with tears streaming down his cheeks into his hair.

Yan Bubu wiped the tears from Qin Shen's eyes, watched him intently for a moment, then lay down too, pressing his face against Qin Shen's chest, curling up like a kitten in his arms.

Time slowly passed, neither of them moved. They didn't know how much time had gone by, only aware that the bell for bedtime had long since rung. The entire hive was as silent as death, the air solidifying.

Yan Bubu wanted to ask if Qin Shen wanted water, but as he lifted his head, he was encircled by two arms.

Slowly, the grip tightened.

Yan Bubu struggled to breathe in the tight embrace but made no sound. He heard Qin Shen chokingly whisper, "Yan Bubu, no one is coming for us anymore, no one will ever come for us..."

The night stretched long and unbearably sad. The next day, Qin Shen was still in a deep depression, not joining the troops for work on the surface, just lying listlessly on the bed.

Yan Bubu brought breakfast early in the morning, but Qin Shen didn't eat. Yan Bubu, also not in the mood to eat, lay beside him, animating Pinunu's voice, trying to cheer Qin Shen up.

"Pinunu, what should you call me?"

"Call you brother."

"Do you like brother?"

"Like him, super like him, I like brother the most—"

"Yan Bubu." Qin Shen suddenly spoke, his voice rough as if scraped by sandpaper.

Yan Bubu immediately sat up, "I'm here."

After calling Yan Bubu's name, Qin Shen didn't continue speaking, still silently staring at the ceiling. Just one night had left dark circles under his eyes and blisters at the corners of his mouth.

Yan Bubu didn't rush him, waiting patiently.

After a moment, Qin Shen asked in a low voice, "How did you stop yourself from being sad the two days after Amei died?"

Yan Bubu thought for a bit and said, "I was sad, I've always been sad."

Qin Shen turned to look at him, "I always thought you recovered the next day, wanted you to teach me how."

Yan Bubu saw his chapped lips, rolled off the bed, and brought over a lunchbox with cool boiled water, "Drink some water first, then I'll tell you."

Qin Shen sat up and took a few sips of water. Yan Bubu put it back and brought another lunchbox with three half-warm buns inside.

"I don't want to eat now, just talk," Qin Shen said.

Yan Bubu placed the lunchbox on the bedside, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked solemnly at Qin Shen, "Actually, whenever I think of mom, I feel a heavy, uncomfortable feeling here."

He pointed to his chest.

"But mom went to heaven, with dad, and I know they are watching over me. If I'm happy, they're happy; if I'm sad, they're even sadder."

Yan Bubu leaned closer to Qin Shen, lowering his voice, "I do think of mom, just don’t let her see it. I think of her secretly, at night when she can't see me, hiding under the blanket. That way, mom won't know I'm crying."

Qin Shen looked down silently. Yan Bubu picked up a bun and held it to his mouth, "The sir and madam are surely watching over you too, please eat."

Qin Shen gently pushed away the bun, his voice hoarse, "They can't see us, our room doesn't even have a window."

Yan Bubu placed the bun in his hand, quickly crawled across the bed, and opened the room door, "There, now it's good."

Qin Shen said, "We are living underground now, opening the door doesn't make them see us."

"They can, they can see us," Yan Bubu crawled back, eagerly saying in front of Qin Shen, "They can see us."

He placed his hand on Qin Shen's chest, whispering as if sharing a secret, "When we think of them, we feel different here, right?"

Qin Shen felt a heavy sensation in his chest and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"They know, actually. When this place feels different than usual, that's when they are watching us from here."

Qin Shen looked down at Yan Bubu, who nodded firmly at him. His dark eyes reflected the never-extinguishing lights of the hive outside the door, twinkling like a handful of stars had been sprinkled in.

Moments later, with reddening eyes, Qin Shen shifted his gaze to the wall, but his hand covered Yan Bubu's, together pressing on his chest.

They remained in this position motionless until Yan Bubu picked up the lunchbox again and offered it to Qin Shen.

He didn't say anything, just quietly waited, like a silent plea.

Finally, Qin Shen took a bun and bit into it fiercely.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with his mouthful of bun. He tasted the sweetness of the bun and the salty tang of his tears but kept chewing vigorously, veins bulging on his neck.

"Slow down, slow down, don't choke," Yan Bubu gently patted his back, then got off the bed and brought another lunchbox with water, "Eat slowly, have some water."

"Have you eaten?" Qin Shen wiped his eyes and asked while chewing.

Yan Bubu shook his head, "No, I was waiting for you."

Qin Shen said, "Then you eat too, let's eat together."

"Yes, together."

Qin Shen expected Yan Bubu to take another bun from the lunchbox, but instead, Yan Bubu bit into the one he was holding.

Then he looked up at Qin Shen with a smile, "Your turn to eat."

Qin Shen's eyes still shimmered with tears, but he smiled too. He took a big bite from where Yan Bubu had just bitten, then passed the bun to Yan Bubu's mouth.

"Wait a second... I haven't swallowed this bite yet..."

The two of them shared the buns in this way, one bite each, quickly finishing all three buns.

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Author's note:

It's a hurdle, but one that must be overcome.