After turning over half of the magazines, a short-haired young man suddenly walked up beside him. He was very tall and had dark complexion. He was embarrassed and put two bottles of water on the coffee table, “Mr. Shen, I don’t think you had collected water so I brought you two bottles.”
Shen Shian was a little surprised. He looked at the bottle and at the young man. He wasn’t sure what was his meaning.
“Ah,” the young man responded and scratched his head even more embarrassed. “Mr. Shen probably doesn’t remember me. My name is Li Cheng. I’m a courier. I gave Mr. Shen a takeaway before, you live in the neighbourhood next to the Medical University, right?”
Shen Shian furrowed his eyebrows slightly. He didn’t order a lot of take-out but not a little too, so there was still no way to connect the other party with specific events. And also, the other person had only delivered takeaway to him, what does it have to do with giving water to him now? Takeaway service is when the goods are delivered and the money is given.
The young man saw his suspicions and hurriedly continued, “I gave Mr. Shen a takeaway at the end of December last year. A handsome man named Mr. Yun Feiyang placed an order and when I took it to the door, Mr. Shen gave me a bottle of mineral water and also a five-star praise.” Speaking until the end, he smiled brightly, exposing two rows of white and neat teeth.
Shen Shian finally remembered. That day was the first day he returned home from the hospital after the car accident, and Yun Feiyang ordered takeaway. Later, in order to complete the agreement with his mother to do ‘a good deed everyday’, he took a bottle of mineral water to the courier and let Yun Feiyang give a five-star praise.
After more than three months, Shen Shian had long forgotten what the delivery man looked like. If it wasn’t for the other party’s reminder at this time, he wouldn’t remember such a passerby in his life. That bottle of mineral water was just a quick way to complete the agreement for him, why did he remember it for so long?
Li Cheng laughed again. “Well, delivering foods isn’t a great job. There were so many places for delivery. I was criticised just because the food wasn’t great. I also got complained because of the traffic jam, but in the end I still delivered it. And then some also asked for compensation when I accidentally knocked over the food… In short, there were many times where everything didn’t go well, so I was really grateful for the people who gave me a good review. I wrote it down. When I was in a bad mood, I would think about it one by one, and it would not be so uncomfortable anymore. Mr. Shen was the first and the only person who gave me water. I remember it clearly. Actually, I recognised you as soon as I entered the library yesterday. But I was too embarrassed to come and talk. Today, I saw you didn’t collect water, so I brought two bottles with me.”
While talking, he pushed the bottle slightly to the middle of the table, “The bottle is clean, I washed it before receiving the water. The water is left in the water heater so it’s still warm.”
Shen Shian didn’t know what to say. Regardless of the others, how can water from three months ago and the current water be compared on the same standard? What was dispensable at the time was now life-saving.
His heart was full of thoughts. In the end, he could only say, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, you should be. I just happened to be good.” Li Cheng quickly waved his hands, and didn’t hold back a yawn. Hurrying to cover his mouth again, “I’m sorry, I didn’t fall asleep after listening to the little girl’s broadcast last night.”
Shen Shian looked closely, and found that there were two black circles under his eyes.
Li Cheng sat down on another chair after obtaining consent, and as if he finally found a person to talk to, he sighed, “It’s a shame to be so young and so smart. How pitiful she is at home alone, if only I could rescue her, how good would it be…”
Shen Shian could understand his guilt and helplessness, but it was probably the same for everyone in the library.
It was not difficult to make a simple signal transmitter. As long as she had a small electrical appliance such as a radio or alarm clock on hand, she could easily do it by disassembling a few parts and reassembling. Many senior private schools that value practical skills were taught in manual classes in junior high or elementary schools. When Shen Shian helped a child to find a school that suited him, he had watched many similar videos from the school’s official website.
But such a transmitter had a very obvious limitation, which was the distance. According to Shen Shian’s estimation, the girl named Xiong Mengmeng should be no more than one kilometer away from the library. This meant that she and the survivors in the library were separated by a zombie army.
How to save her?
No one can save her.
In the last days, living wasn’t guaranteed and there were certain things that could only be left to fate.
Li Cheng sat for a moment and stood up to leave, Shen Shian stopped him, “You don’t need to worry too much. The tap water in the library won’t run out in a short time.”
The city’s highland pools were distributed by district, which meant that the water tower that supplies the library at least stored enough water for the entire city center of hundreds of thousands of people for three days. The population was concentrated in the city center, so the proportion of zombie conversion would be far higher than the average level. Even if the survivors who escaped from the urban area were not considered, the water storage in the water tower is sufficient to ensure the basic residents’ water use. There shouldn’t even be a problem for several months.
After hearing his explanation, Li Cheng’s eyes brightened, and he became increasingly embarrassed at the act of sending water. “You see, what I did, I thought it was helpful. I won’t do it anymore. Hey, college students who had read books and us are not the same. Mr. Shen is busy, so I won’t bother you anymore.” Without saying anything else, he scratched his head and ran away.
Shen Xun, who had not spoken, unscrewed the two bottles of water one by one and smelled, no problem. Seeing Shen Shian seemed to be in a good mood, he jumped out of the chair and squeezed into his arms, “When did An An know him?”
Shen Shian rubbed his head and continued reading, “It doesn’t matter to you. At that time I don’t even know where you were”
“Hmph.” Shen Xun puffed his cheeks.
Probably because they slept much during the day, the survivors fell asleep significantly later that night. Shen Shian took two pillows, held the child in his arms and read him a storybook.
“… ‘Oh, he treats that princess as me,’ The little mermaid looked at the prince and the bride in his arms and felt her heart breaking. ‘For him, I left my people and gave up my beautiful voice and endured endless pain everyday. But he doesn’t know at all.’ The little mermaid hoped she could tell the truth, but she couldn’t speak anymore. She was just a poor, mute little girl in a palace. And by tomorrow morning, when the first rays of sun rise, she will become a foam in the sea and disappear completely…”
“An An,” The child interrupted him. “Why doesn’t the little mermaid just write?”
“…What?” Shen Shian did not respond for a moment.
Shen Xun turned in his arms and said, “The little mermaid gave her voice to the witch, so she couldn’t speak. Then why didn’t she just write? She could write the truth to the price.”
Shen Shian was silent. To be honest, since he first read the story of “Daughter of the Sea”, he had never thought of this question “Why didn’t she write and tell the prince?”
“Probably because the little mermaid is not a human, the little mermaid cannot write human words.” He quickly compiled a very reliable explanation.
“She lived in the palace for several months. Can’t she learn at least a few words for such a long time? I’m not a human yet I can still learn…” Shen Xun covered his mouth and looked around quietly.
Shen Shian was silent again. The survivors who heard the conversation between them laughed. “Ah, that’s right, it could be solved in a few words. Why didn’t the little mermaid learn? Oh, this child’s head is really flexible.”
Shen Xun was somewhat prideful, with his chest puffed up he said, “So the little mermaid was stupid herself.”
“Hahahahaha…”
Amidst the laughter of everyone, Shen Xun asked Shen Shian, “An An, I don’t want to hear such stories, is there any story that is thrilling?”
Shen Shian thought for a while and went to the staff room to get a copy of “Liao Zhai Zhi Yi”-The administrator was probably idle and bored, and went downstairs to pass time.
A story of ghosts, foxes, immortals and demons. Shen Xun was now excited, and opened his eyes wide and listened with interest. But after listening to it for a few minutes, he had the question, “An An, do all the monsters saved by human beings want to repay the gratitude?” What fox spirit or deer spirit, they all acted the same.
Shen Shian was afraid that he would ask some difficult questions again and again. So he closed the book, “Ok, that’s all for today, lie down and prepare to sleep.”
Shen Xun got into the blanket, and looked at Shen Shian’s side face thoughtfully.
The darker the night, the quieter the reading room became. After confirming that everyone was asleep, Shen Shian awakened the child, “I’ll send you in for dinner.”
He did not expect that this time the child immediately shook his head and strongly disagreed with “If An An doesn’t eat, I will not eat.”
Shen Shian frowned and persuaded, “You listen, I have eaten not long ago and I’m not hungry.”
“Then I’m not hungry.” Shen Xun was unmoved. A pair of dark green eyes were deep and quiet at night, like an emerald moistened by spring water. “You have promised that you will not lock me against my will.” He paused and added, “Even if you locked me in, I will not eat anything.”
Shen Shian was speechless. He felt distressed and funny at the same time, but he was powerless.
Shen Xun noticed that Shen Shian had softened and kissed him on the forehead. He grinned and cuddled in his arms. “Good night, sleep well.”