Chapter 73: Aftermath

“How did you suddenly grow wings!” Zhu Zhixi exclaimed in shock. “Am I dreaming?” He reached out, but instead of pinching his own arm, he tugged at the feathers of the large, snow-white wings. Holy crap, they’re real feathers!

“Wh-what’s going on? Xiao Yu, did you turn into my husband’s face?” Goosebumps erupted all over Zhu Zhixi’s skin. “Change back, quick!”

The “Fu Rangyi” carrying him princess-style wore a perfectly standard Fu Rangyi-esque expression of helplessness. “This is too realistic…”

The wings flapped, and the two of them dove downwards. The wind was too loud for Zhu Zhixi to continue speaking, but he heard a familiar voice.

“Get in the car, quick!”

Zhu Zhixi followed the sound and looked down. The person shouting from below was Liang Yi’en. He was in the driver’s seat of Fu Rangyi’s car. To his great surprise, the car was a convertible! Fu Rangyi had never opened the top for him.

But at this moment, he was being carried downwards, clearly headed for the convertible’s back seat. The wings, however, were unstable. Just as they were about to land steadily, they suddenly vanished, dissolving into a sky full of snowy feathers that glowed faintly in the night. In a sea of feathers, the two of them plummeted, landing heavily on the leather back seat.

But Zhu Zhixi was held tightly by Fu Rangyi, and aside from feeling the impact, he was uninjured. He opened his eyes from within Fu Rangyi’s embrace, wanting to see if he was okay. But as soon as he looked up, thump, something hit his head and rolled into his lap.

It was a small hamster.

“Xiao Yu!” Zhu Zhixi caught him and held him in his palm. “You became wings?”

Liang Yi’en from the driver’s seat explained, “Xiao Yu locked your countdown, and the remaining power isn’t enough to change back into human form. We saw you as we drove over. He made a split-second decision to possess Professor Fu and turn into wings to save you. Thank goodness he caught you!”

After speaking, he glanced at the timer set on his phone. Only 9 seconds left.

“Are you seated securely?” He glanced at the back seat, wanting to close the convertible top, but in his panic, he couldn’t find the corresponding button on the touchscreen. Forget it.

“Hold on tight, you two! I’ve, I’ve never driven in a place like this before!” Liang Yi’en slammed on the accelerator, pushing the car to full speed.

Five seconds.

Between the flying snow-white feathers, the heavy night, the oppressive and dilapidated concrete forest—all were left behind. The fierce wind howled in their ears. At some point, the sharp sound of police sirens appeared, gradually approaching, surrounding this gray area on the verge of collapse. It all felt like a dream.

“Faster, faster…” Liang Yi’en was extremely anxious, his eyes darting between the road ahead and the rearview mirror, nervously dodging every obstacle in their path.

“Once we’re out of the outermost perimeter, we’ll be safe,” Fu Rangyi, though still unable to move freely, spoke to steady Liang Yi’en, his voice calm and composed. “Zhu Zeran contacted the demolition company. They performed an emergency operation. All demolition procedures have been stopped except for the first group.”

Two seconds.

Zhu Zeran? Zhu Zhixi felt a little dizzy. They all know?

“Okay!” Liang Yi’en floored it, charging straight out of the danger zone.

One second.

At that moment, with a tremendous boom, the foundation of the building that had just trapped him exploded. Steel bars, concrete, scaffolding—the solid, towering prison collapsed from the bottom up. Everything fell vertically, sending out a huge cloud of dust and smoke that spread outwards like a mushroom cloud.

The collapsing building was like a dying behemoth. Everything on the ground seemed so small and fragile in comparison. The smoke swallowed everything in an instant.

Nothing could be seen.

A few seconds later, a black car burst out from the heavy smoke and dust.

“We’re safe!” Liang Yi’en almost screamed, his hands on the steering wheel trembling. “That’s great.” The little hamster also climbed onto his shoulder and nuzzled his neck.

Fu Rangyi’s arm finally loosened slightly. He coughed, propping himself up with his left hand on the back of the front seat, and pulled Zhu Zhixi up to sit properly. His glasses were gone, lost somewhere. The car was moving at an extreme speed, and the wind was too strong. In the flying strands of hair, Fu Rangyi’s deep-set eyes appeared and disappeared, fixedly staring at Zhu Zhixi’s face.

His gaze was like two clusters of fire flickering in the darkness—bright, worried, mixed with a hint of dazedness after surviving a disaster.

The moment their eyes met, Zhu Zhixi felt a sting in his nose and once again threw himself forward, hugging him tightly.

Fu Rangyi also wrapped his left arm around him, stroking his back. Though his own hand was trembling, he still leaned close to his ear and said, “Zhu Zhixi, you’re incredible. You saved yourself.”

During the most perilous moments, Zhu Zhixi hadn’t cried. But now, having escaped death, truly hearing Fu Rangyi’s voice and leaning against his chest, his tear ducts seemed on the verge of collapse.

If it had been the completely broken Zhu Zhixi from a few hours ago, faced with this death trap, he might have just given up.

But he had seen that snowman, figured everything out, and realized how much he couldn’t bear to lose the person before him. The him of today would never have burst forth with such a strong instinct for survival.

He had indeed saved himself.

But it was also Fu Rangyi’s love that had rebuilt his desire to live.

Zhu Zhixi pulled away from his embrace, took off the backpack he had been carrying all this time, fumbled inside for a while, and took out those life-saving pieces of paper.

The demolition was not a one-time event. Unexpectedly, he was startled by the sound of the second round of explosions. But soon, he looked back at Fu Rangyi and, amidst the loud noise, with a serious expression, shouted out with great solemnity.

“Fu Rangyi, I want to terminate our contract!”

Fu Rangyi’s eyes instantly filled with astonishment.

“I’m breaking the contract,” Zhu Zhixi said, and in front of him, he tore the contract to shreds with his own hands. The moment he released his fingers, all the white fragments danced and swirled in the fierce wind like snowflakes, then were swallowed by the dust and smoke, buried in the chaotic ruins.

His heart was pounding, adrenaline rushing through his brain, as if he were in a collapsing nightmare. At this moment, all he wanted was to hold his lover’s hand.

“Fu Rangyi.”

Zhu Zhixi grabbed Fu Rangyi’s hand. Looking at his dazed eyes, his mind went blank. There was no time to prepare any clever lines, no rehearsal, no roses, no meticulously arranged romantic scene—only chaos and madness.

Sirens wailed, buildings collapsed. On the very edge of danger, Zhu Zhixi took a deep breath and, in a chaotic and loud voice, told him.

“Let’s go back to the day of our blind date. This time, I want to formally introduce myself: My name is Zhu Zhixi, I’m a Gemini, 26 years old this year. Although I’m a Beta with no pheromones and can’t soothe you, that’s not important!”

“Pheromones aren’t important at all! They just make the world more absurd, don’t you think?” The further away they got, the quieter the cacophony became, and Zhu Zhixi’s voice grew louder and clearer. He looked so bold, so fearless.

He spoke quickly, “People connect through pheromones, they filter each other based on compatibility, just like my countdown, it’s all been quantified. A and B are 56% compatible, A and D are 89% compatible, so D is the more ‘right’ person. What is that? Is that love? Okay, maybe a small part of it is, but for most people, it’s just opportunism, self-deception. It’s a counterfeit that looks a lot like love.”

As he spoke, he was choked by the dust and began to cough.

Fu Rangyi, still dazed, saw him coughing and subconsciously reached out to pat his back, saying in a low voice, “Slow down, there’s no rush.”

After a few coughs, a slight blush appeared on Zhu Zhixi’s face. He was a bit bewildered. “…Where was I?”

Fu Rangyi smiled. “A counterfeit of love.”

“Right! Just a counterfeit. People kiss, hug, and sleep together, but they’re still lonely, still incapable of love. But I’m not! I’m very good at loving people!” he continued his messy sales pitch. “I’m, I’m also very interesting! I’m not bad looking, and my mind is quick! I’m sincere and enthusiastic with everyone. I’m also brave enough, although, although my countdown is less than four days… but I have so, so many good qualities!!”

After he finished, he swallowed hard and took a small box from the innermost part of his backpack. Though he tried his best to control it, his fingers were still trembling slightly, and he couldn’t open the small box for a long time.

In the end, it was Fu Rangyi who helped him. The moment the lid was lifted, he was slightly stunned. Inside was a pair of antique rings. The diamonds shone brightly in the darkness.

Zhu Zhixi’s face was smudged with dust, and his clothes were torn, but his eyes were brighter than any diamond. “I’m really great. You… don’t miss out on me.”

After speaking, Zhu Zhixi carefully took out one of the rings amidst the bumpy ride, took a deep breath, and his voice suddenly softened as he looked at him.

“Fu Rangyi, will you be my true partner?”

In the thick, impenetrable night, Fu Rangyi gazed at him deeply. Always meticulous, he now looked a little disheveled, his hair messed up by the wind, giving him a surprisingly bold, youthful air.

He smiled, not answering the question directly, but instead asked casually, “Did you get the right person this time?”

Hearing this, Zhu Zhixi almost got angry. “I did! Your face doesn’t have a number on it! You’re so petty, still fussing about that at a time like this…”

“I do,” Fu Rangyi said firmly.

Zhu Zhixi was stunned, the rest of his words caught in his throat. Looking down, he saw Fu Rangyi’s outstretched hand.

A long, slender, empty right hand. A right hand covered in a lot of blood.

“When did you get hurt?” The shirt cuff was soaked with blood. Zhu Zhixi’s heart ached, his brows furrowed tightly. “Why is there so much blood…”

It was from when he caught him, hitting the scaffolding. But Fu Rangyi didn’t say that, only urging, “Hurry up and put the ring on, or I’ll change my mind.”

Zhu Zhixi pouted, wanting to retort but holding it back, and lowered his head. His wrist had horrifying bloody marks, and Fu Rangyi’s fingers were covered in dust and blood. Two injured hands gently clasped together. He carefully held the ring and slipped it onto Fu Rangyi’s ring finger.

“It actually fits perfectly,” he said, finding it a bit incredible. “This was from my mother’s collection. They were my maternal grandparents’ wedding rings. They had a diamond anniversary, you know. My grandma left them to my mom before she passed. My mom couldn’t even bear to wear them for her own wedding; she saved them for me.”

“Is that so?” Fu Rangyi suddenly thought of something. “No wonder during our first family dinner, Zhu Zeran mentioned your mother’s rings. It was these.”

“You remember even that?” Zhu Zhixi was very surprised. At that time, he had thought the marriage was fake and didn’t want to use his mother’s precious heirlooms as wedding rings.

Fu Rangyi helped him put on the other ring, gently squeezing his fingertip. “Mhm. I don’t have as many good qualities as you, but my memory is not bad.”

Zhu Zhixi was amused and wrapped his arms around Fu Rangyi’s neck, his eyes quickly welling up with moist light again.

“Then you have to remember tonight. No matter what happens in the future, you have to remember.”

Fu Rangyi nodded. “Okay.”

“Even if universe 1214 ends, we still have many, many other universes, you know?”

“Mhm.”

He understood Zhu Zhixi’s unspoken words, understood the thousands of words that swirled in his eyes but couldn’t be said—true love, false rules, passing time, the unignorable reality of death, and the “forever” that was so far from them.

He knew it all, understood it all. In the shock of surviving a disaster, he too had briefly made peace with death. In this gradually fading night, in his eyes, Zhu Zhixi burst forth with an unprecedented beauty—vibrant and passionate.

It would reside eternally in Fu Rangyi’s heart. This, too, was a kind of forever.

Lights flashed. A police car drove over, clearing a safe path for them. The group was rescued. An ambulance also arrived just in time, taking them directly to the hospital. Having broken out of the explosion, the three of them were all injured to varying degrees, but thankfully, none of the injuries were serious.

However, Zhu Zhixi had been injected with a sedative not long ago, which conflicted with the IV medication. Combined with lack of sleep in recent days, he fell into a short-term coma while receiving the infusion.

In his drowsy state, he heard Fu Rangyi’s anxious voice. His consciousness hovered between waking and sleeping, gradually sinking. Perhaps because he had thought about it so many times, he actually dreamed he had grown old.

His hands were wrinkled and slack, but the rings were still on his fingers, one on the left hand, one on the right. He looked like a wealthy old man. Turning his head, he saw another old man, tall and thin, well-dressed, wearing glasses, looking like a strict and old-fashioned scholar. But in all fairness, he was also an undeniably handsome old man.

They sat side by side in a hospital corridor. Sunlight reflected on the water-blue painted walls. People came and went in front of them, their figures blurry.

The old-fashioned scholar touched his shoulder and asked, “What’s your number?”

His voice was so hoarse, but not unpleasant. Zhu Zhixi slowly lowered his head and looked at the slip of paper held between his wrinkled fingers. “Number 6.”

The next second, the paper was snatched away. He looked up and saw the old scholar’s furrowed brow as he let out a long sigh.

“This is a 9,” he said with a very helpless expression on his face. “You’re just never going to be able to tell these two numbers apart in this lifetime, are you?”

This lifetime…

Is this lifetime so long?

Just as he was pondering whether they had celebrated their “diamond anniversary,” the dream suddenly dissipated, and Zhu Zhixi woke up.

The smell of hospital disinfectant still surrounded him. The ceiling was a faint blue, as if he hadn’t truly walked out of that beautiful dream.

Slightly turning his head, Zhu Zhixi saw Liang Yi’en curled up asleep on the sofa. Okay, it’s the very young Xiao En.

“You’re awake.”

Two very soft words. Hearing them, Zhu Zhixi turned his face. Fu Rangyi was sitting on the other side of the hospital bed. He was also very young, very handsome, and his expression was different from the one in the dream. It was gentle, and he even wore a faint smile.

But his right hand was heavily bandaged and hung in a sling across his chest. Zhu Zhixi was instantly wide awake. The effects of the medicine hadn’t completely worn off, and his arm felt a bit weak, but he still tried to reach over and very lightly touch the back of Fu Rangyi’s hand.

“What happened?” he asked in a small voice.

“A slight fracture, not a big deal.”

“How could it not be a big deal…” Zhu Zhixi lowered his eyes.

“The doctor said so. It’ll be fine after a few days of rest.” Fu Rangyi raised his left hand, held his, kneaded it, and then pressed the call bell by the bed.

Zhu Zhixi lowered his voice and asked softly, “How long was I asleep?”

He regretted it as soon as he asked, because he saw the countdown. Everything was recorded, in fact. Another three hours had passed.

It was late at night now.

“Not long,” Fu Rangyi said casually, his hand touching his cheek.

Don’t comfort me anymore. Three hours is a very long time.

Now every minute, every second has to be counted.

“Professor Fu,” Zhu Zhixi, in his hospital gown, squirmed under the covers like a little bean worm, moved to the edge of the bed, and beckoned to Fu Rangyi.

Fu Rangyi lowered his head and leaned in, hearing Zhu Zhixi whisper super quietly, “I suddenly remembered, you came back and you still haven’t kissed me.”

His gaze moved to Zhu Zhixi’s face. He had already closed his eyes, fully prepared. But the kiss ultimately landed on his thin eyelid.

“That’s it?” Zhu Zhixi asked, opening his eyes.

“What’s your hurry?” Fu Rangyi smiled, lowered his head again, and moved closer to his soft lips. Before they could touch, the door was suddenly thrown open, and the kiss was unexpectedly interrupted.

Is the doctor here so quickly? Zhu Zhixi felt a little embarrassed, covered his face with the blanket, and turned to the other side.

The noise also startled Liang Yi’en awake on the sofa. He sat up, holding the little white mouse in his hands. “…E-earthquake?”

But the person who came was not the doctor.

“Zhu Zhixi!”

Hearing this voice, Zhu Zhixi pulled down the blanket. “Da Zhu?”

Seeing it was Zhu Zeran, the exhausted Liang Yi’en fell back down, murmured “Da Zhu,” and went back to sleep, hugging the hamster.

Zhu Zeran, dusty from his travels, strode in, threw back the covers, and checked him from head to toe. Seeing no missing arms or legs, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, covered him back up, and tucked the corners of the blanket in neatly. The tension that had held him together snapped. He sat down on a chair and let out a long exhale.

“You almost scared me into a long life…”

Zhu Zhixi burst out laughing and glanced at Fu Rangyi.

He never expected that the one who followed the rules the most between them was actually Zhu Zeran.

He knew Zhu Zeran’s temper too well. After this person calmed down, he was bound to get angry. He had to cut off his emotions first.

“Bro, you’re amazing!” Zhu Zhixi obsequiously coaxed him. “I knew this location software of yours would save my life at a critical moment. What would I do without you?”

Being smoothed over like that, Zhu Zeran also felt better. “As long as you know. We were all so worried about you. How many times have I told you…”

Zhu Zhixi immediately took over, “Be wary of strangers, always report my whereabouts, don’t just disappear… I remember all of it. But a kidnapping is a purely accidental situation. No one could have predicted it.”

He had thought Zhu Zeran would nag a little more, scold him a few times, but unexpectedly, he said nothing more. He was strangely silent and lowered his eyes.

Finally, he even lowered his head, his forehead resting on the blanket.

“What’s wrong with you?” Zhu Zhixi poked his head.

Zhu Zeran’s vicious voice was muffled by the blanket. “F*ck him. I should have just hired a private detective to find that dog and kidnap him first. Then none of this crap would have happened.”

Zhu Zhixi was stunned for a moment. So he feels guilty.

“That’s illegal,” Fu Rangyi reminded him, then asked, “He’s now…”

Before he could finish, Zhu Zeran looked up. “Dead. Got the news just a few minutes ago. They found his body. Stone dead, buried in concrete fragments, a steel bar pierced through his waist.” As he spoke, he sneered. “Still died too easily.”

Zhu Zhixi said nothing, nor did he want to. In the end, Xiao Xiang never understood what he had done wrong. The death trap he had so confidently laid for him had become his own grave.

Across the bed, Fu Rangyi gave Zhu Zeran a look. “That video.”

Zhu Zeran remembered something and suddenly said, “Right, the video.” Thinking of it, he still seemed to be gritting his teeth, but he held it in. “I had someone use the plugin to hack his other phone to see what else this guy had done. Most of the data was gone, but his photo album data was still there.”

As he spoke, he opened it for the two to see.

When Zhu Zhixi saw the photo album, he was stunned. Most of it was videos and photos of them. Xiao Xiang had been stalking them.

“So creepy.”

Fu Rangyi’s finger slid across the phone screen. He thought about the time and place Liang Yi’en had mentioned for the countdown’s sudden change, and correspondingly found one of the videos and clicked on it. The background was the hospital’s underground garage.

“What is it?” Zhu Zhixi asked.

Fu Rangyi found it odd. “He was following you then. Why didn’t he make a move?”

“Because there were too many people?” Zhu Zeran said. “Wasn’t Xiao Liang there too?”

The content of this video was just Xiao Xiang filming Zhu Zhixi’s movements from over a hundred meters away. Nothing special. Fu Rangyi closed it and clicked on the adjacent video.

There were only five videos taken in the garage. He opened them one by one, watched them, and closed them.

When he got to the last one, Zhu Zhixi suddenly spoke up. “Wait a minute—”

Fu Rangyi paused the video. “What’s wrong?”

Zhu Zhixi reached out, slid the progress bar back a little. It was still the dim underground garage, with himself looking for his car not far away.

The image started to shake from this point, as if Xiao Xiang couldn’t hold the phone steady. The camera suddenly dropped.

In this frame, a blurry shadow appeared in the corner of the screen. White, and a very small clump.

---

The next morning at the museum.

The flower shop owner was diligently moving flowers inside. Zhou Ming, who was at work, was dumbfounded by the astonishing number of white roses.

Zhou Ming: “Hello, who ordered these?”

Flower Shop Owner: “A Mr. Zhu! He said he’s proposing here today!”

Zhou Ming: “Proposing?”

Flower Shop Owner: “Yes, is there a problem?”

Zhou Ming: “He’s already married…” (with a wry smile)