"Sun Jia?" Ding Yang cautiously called out to him.
Sun Jia responded with a smile and nodded at him. "Sorry, I thought it was the weekend, and you all were on a break. I didn't mean to disturb your work."
"No, it's fine," Ding Yang explained, "We just came back to leave some things. It's getting late. Do you... want to go home? Should I walk you back?"
"No need." Sun Jia continued to smile, "I just came here to take a look. My family is waiting for me for dinner, so I should go back."
"Then, be careful on the way," Ding Yang wanted to ask him if he was cured, but it seemed impolite, so he could only grin.
"If Mr. Sun Jia doesn't mind, we can go together," Shen Changan lied with his eyes wide open, "My home is very close to yours."
"Yes, yes, Changan just started working around here and is not familiar with the roads. If you both go together, we'll feel reassured," Ding Yang looked at the darkening sky and took the promotional banner that Shen Changan had rolled up. "Sun Jia, could you please help Changan with this?"
One must know that this was a slender and weak young man who could eat well and was quite good at fighting.
They were all worried about Sun Jia going out alone, but they couldn't say it to his face. They were worried that he would have a nervous attack halfway, so they had to use this well-intentioned lie.
Sun Jia didn't think much and readily agreed.
The two walked out of the courtyard, with Shen Changan trailing behind Sun Jia. The clear-minded Sun Jia seemed a bit more pure and untainted than his peers, maintaining a clean aura that hadn't been influenced by this complex society.
As the sky darkened, streetlights were on. Sun Jia turned to look back at Shen Changan walking slowly behind him. "Are you from out of town?"
Shen Changan nodded, trying not to let Sun Jia see through his lie, he emphasized, "I've only been here for less than two weeks. There are many places I'm still not familiar with, so sometimes I have to rely on navigation when going out."
"Then... what's it like outside?" Sun Jia paused his steps, "Is it livelier than Wuming City?"
"It's a bit more lively, but I prefer the tranquility of Wuming City." Shen Changan smiled, "It's quite good here."
Sun Jia fell silent for a while, gazing at the refined and fair-skinned Shen Changan for a few seconds. "If I hadn't fallen ill after the college entrance exam..."
Shen Changan recalled Aunt Juan's words, saying that Sun Jia's mental state deteriorated because of being stimulated by the pressure of the college entrance exam. But based on Sun Jia's tone, it seemed to differ from the rumors?
"Perhaps it's all fate," Sun Jia said with his hands in his pockets, forcing a bitter smile. "But fortunately, I've regained my clarity."
"It's not too late to retake the college entrance exam now. You're still young," Shen Changan saw a trace of melancholy in his expression and offered some encouragement, "Don't give up."
"Thank you," Sun Jia sighed, "Our family has decided to sell our current house and go to a big city to accompany my dad for medical treatment. As long as we're all well, there is still hope for everything."
Shen Changan didn't know what to say. There were too many misfortunes for this family. A son whose mental state had deteriorated after the college entrance exam, a father sick from overwork, and a mother struggling to hold everything together. Luckily, the son had finally regained his clarity, and there was hope for their future.
"I wish you all the best." Shen Changan watched an old woman standing downstairs not far away and stopped in his tracks, "Your mother is waiting for you downstairs."
Compared to when he had last seen her, the old woman looked much more energetic now, though her face was still haggard and worn with age. However, her eyes were full of hope. He watched as Sun Jia quickened his pace towards her, and smiled slightly before turning to leave in the direction he came from.
"Miaomiao, why are you back so late?"
"Mom, I asked you not to call me that back when I was in elementary school. Why are you calling me that again?"
"It's such a nice name. It was because I called this name, that you regained your clarity." The wrinkles on the old woman's face became deeper as she smiled, "It means that it is this name that your consciousness responds to the most."
"Mom..." Sun Jia laughed helplessly, but looking at his mother's wrinkled face, he gently held her hand, "Forget it, if you like calling me that, then call it."
The moon climbed high into the sky, and Shen Changan passed a snack street where various food stalls exuded a charming smell. He couldn't help but buy dozens of skewers of barbecue and carried them in his hands.
Humming a tune and holding a box of fragrant barbecue, Shen Changan walked through the sparsely populated alley. Laughter and insults could be heard coming from inside.
"Shan-Ge, can you believe this cripple is actually wearing name-brand clothes?"
"Wearing name brands is useless for him; as a man who can't even use his legs, if he meets a pretty girl, should he let the girl…."
Mocking laughter filled the air, sounding like a flock of ducks (male prostitutes) continuously quacking and giving anyone a headache.
As Shen Changan walked over, he saw the red-haired, green-haired, yellow-haired, and various other colorful heads.
"Yo, what a coincidence." Shen Changan leaned against the wall, took off his glasses and sloppily hung them back, "We meet again."
Hearing this voice, the several noisy and raucous "ducks" who were cackling and laughing... no, the gangsters who had been laughing, abruptly fell silent as if frozen, becoming as quiet as a cicada. Their leader, Shan-Ge, spearheaded this change, as memories of the haunting nightmare from half a month ago came flooding back to him.
"Big... Big... Big brother..." Shan-Ge trembled and turned his head, looking at the young man leaning against the wall under the moonlight. His voice quivered to the point of even changing the pitch of his voice, "Have you eaten, sir?"
"Big?" Shen Changan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Shan-Ge's lower half, "Hmm, yes, it's much bigger than you."
Shan-Ge froze, feeling insulted as a man. Could this breath be tolerated?
Could.
Shen Changan approached step by step, and the scruffy gangsters retreated step by step until they had nowhere else to go and were forced to huddle in a corner. Those who didn't know the situation would think that Shen Changan was a thug trying to rob someone of their beauty, and these gangsters were innocent flowers.
"Big brother, we didn't harass any women," Shan-Ge struggled in despair, his green hair swaying in the night breeze, like a small blade of self-reliant wild grass that never gives up.
"Not harassing women, but instead bullying people with disabilities. Quite impressive of you," Shen Changan turned to look at the man sitting in the wheelchair, realizing that he was also an acquaintance.
He walked up to the man, crouched down on one knee, and checked if he was injured. "Mr. Dao Nian, are you okay?"
The man's beautiful eyes met his and then shifted away.
So is he injured or not?
Sighing, Shen Changan hung the skewers of barbecue he was holding on the man's wheelchair and comforted him, "Don't be afraid; I'll back you up."
Dao Nian blinked.
Ah, such a good-looking man, why does he have a disability? Shen Changan again sighed inwardly and stood up, looking at the scruffy gangsters who were trying to sneak away. He rolled up his sleeves, "Say it, who's going to come first?"
"Big brother, boss, we know we were wrong. Can you spare us?" Shan-Ge was on the verge of tears. "We didn't touch him at all."
"You didn't touch him, or you didn't get the chance to touch him?" Shen Changan looked back at the silent and peaceful man sitting in the wheelchair and said sternly, "You guys, relying on your fully functional limbs, went to mock and bully someone with physical disabilities. Do you understand the principle of hurting others with hurtful words?" [Phrase- Hurtful words cast a chill on people even in June (in the summer)]
The gangsters thought desperately. As gangsters, weren't they supposed to do immoral things?
After clenching his fist, Shen Changan walked towards the scruffy gangsters step by step. Shan-Ge couldn't help but shout in fear, "Don't come over; if you continue to come over, I'll call the police."
"Then tell the police uncle that you were bullying a person with disabilities here." Shen Changan lifted the phone in his hand, "Sorry, I just recorded the scene of you guys bullying others. I stepped forward to help, is there anything wrong with that?"
Gangsters: "..."
"Stop talking nonsense; I'll beat you up first." Shen Changan walked over and gave these gangsters a good beating, then he grabbed their bruised and swollen faces and lined them up one by one to apologize to Dao Nian.
"Do you dare to bully the weak again in the future?"
The "weak" person in the wheelchair, Dao Nian, raised his eyelids slightly, then leaned back in the wheelchair, looking not only weak but also frail.
"We won't dare."
"Speak louder."
"We won't dare!"
"If I catch you doing anything bad next time, I'll beat you up so bad that even your parents would struggle to recognize you." Shen Changan pressed the bruise on Shan-Ge's face, causing him to scream out in pain, "Bro, big brother, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong."
Thinking of how he, Shan-Ge had been dominating this area for nearly a decade, he never thought that he would be reduced to such a state now, it was really a human tragedy.
"You can leave now." Shen Changan drove these gangsters away, took back the skewers of barbecue hanging on the wheelchair, and thought if he delayed any longer, things would get cold.
However, looking at the man leaning on the wheelchair with no strength, Shen Changan sighed helplessly and found Liu Mao's number on his phone, asking him to come and pick up Dao Nian.
Liu Mao's voice sounded somewhat excited, and he agreed without hesitation.
"Mr. Dao Nian, try to avoid going out alone at night. Although the security in this city is not bad, there are still some morally lacking people." Opening the barbecue box, Shen Changan simply squatted on the ground and started eating.
After eating two bites, he saw Dao Nian looking at him with raised eyelids, so he turned his body around to avoid letting Dao Nian watch him eat, "It's not that I don't want to share with you, but you're not in good health, this kind of oily and smoky food will damage your health."
Dao Nian blinked but continued to stare at him.
Being stared at by such beautiful eyes made it difficult to stick to his principles. There were very few such good-looking eyes in the world, surpassing gender and species, making people unconsciously want to look at them more.
But... Shen Changan was a principled person; when he said he couldn't give then he really wouldn't give it to him.
Giving people with poor health something to eat indiscriminately wasn't an act of kindness; it was tantamount to kill them.
Gobbling down the delicious barbecue, Shen Changan had hastily just finished an entire box, when Liu Mao rushed over with hurried steps.
"So fast?" Shen Changan was a bit surprised to see Liu Mao at the alley entrance. In order not to let Dao Nian's eyes crave for it, he was almost eating this box of barbecue at breakneck speed just now, nearly choking in the process.
He remembered that Dao Nian's community wasn't particularly close to this place, even by car it would take more than ten to twenty minutes. Did Liu Mao fly over?
"I happened to be in the vicinity, passing by." Liu Mao trotted up and stood respectfully in front of Dao Nian, "Sir."
Dao Nian ignored him, and then Shen Changan noticed that his hand moved slowly, taking out an unopened bottle of water from the side and handed it to Shen Changan.
So, his hands can move ah.
Shen Changan took the water in a daze, "Thank you."
Dao Nian blinked, then closed his eyes, looking as if he had used up all his strength.
"Mr. Shen, goodbye." Liu Mao stared at the water in Shen Changan's hand for about five seconds before finally saying goodbye.
"Um..." Shen Changan furrowed his brows, "Mr. Liu, when taking care of patients, you should be more attentive. If it wasn't for me happening to be here today, who knows how much more bullying Mr. Dao Nian would have to suffer."
"You're right." Liu Mao quickly admitted his mistake.
Seeing Liu Mao's cooperative attitude, Shen Changan felt awkward to say anymore. He dug around on his body, found a piece of paper, and wrote down his phone number and name on it.
"This is my mobile number. If you encounter any issues that can't be resolved, you can send me a text message. If I don't reply, you can call to remind me," Shen Changan placed the note in Dao Nian's hand, "Of course, seeking help from the police is the best choice."
Dao Nian opened his eyes again, looking down at the signed note in his hand.
Shen Changan.
Longevity and good health.
For humans, this name might not be particularly special, but it carried heartfelt blessings.