Chapter 129

After taking a bunch of tonics, Jiang Manyue firmly expressed that he didn’t need to drink anymore. Yan Cai was still a bit worried, but Jiang Manyue proved with his actions that his body was perfectly fine.

So, Yan Cai finally stopped worrying.

“That—That should be fine,” Yan Cai said vaguely, his face a bit flushed, with a hint of satisfaction.

“Be more confident, let it go,” Jiang Manyue, who was feeding Qingke, said upon hearing this.

“…You’re not allowed to talk.” Jiang Manyue’s shameless remark made Yan Cai blush and feel embarrassed. He became annoyed and said, “Focus on feeding the baby!”

Keke, who still had to drink three bowls of milk a day, banged the table, protesting to his father! I want milk! The bowls were too far away from me!

Today, as usual, they had to take the second sapling to the mountaintop. Climbing every day was also a way to exercise.

“It looks like it’ll bloom today,” Yan Cai squatted beside the second sapling’s flowerpot and observed for a while before saying, “Today I have to keep an eye on it and not miss his flowering.”

His judgment was correct; after a while, the flower gradually bloomed, revealing pure white petals and a pale-yellow flower heart.

The color of the second sapling’s petals is different from Qingke’s. Qingke’s flowers were blood-red, but the second sapling’s petals were as white as snow. The petals trembled a few times, emitting a faint fragrance.

Not strong, very light. Unlike Qingke’s, which was so strong that everyone could smell it when it was in bloom, the second sapling’s flower fragrance was very light.

Like a wisp of smoke and dust that was just floating in the air, drifting away, leaving no trace.

Jiang Manyue reached out and gently touched the second sapling’s flower petals with one finger, and the second sapling seemed to understand, rubbing against Jiang Manyue’s finger.

The petals were soft, even softer than the finest silk he had ever seen.

“Cai Cai, look…”

Jiang Manyue’s heart, which had been lifted, slowly sank back down. Just as he was about to speak to Yan Cai, he turned his head and was surprised to find Yan Cai had actually fallen asleep, a rare occurrence. He wanted to wake Yan Cai up, but he felt his body becoming unusually light and airy, as if he could float in the air, and Yan Cai was gradually drifting away from him.

Once again, he entered that mysterious state, and the next moment, his body squeezed into a space-time crevice like a thin sheet of paper.

When he reappeared, it was in that incredibly bright space again, and the memories that had been lost resurfaced. He was met with the familiar eyes once more.

“It’s you!” K0527 leaned in the corner, looking at the person who had appeared before him again with fear.

“Cai Cai?” This time, Jiang Manyue didn’t waste any time. He went straight forward, grabbed the railing made of special material, and wanted to reach in, but the other person was very scared and didn’t want to get close.

“Cai Cai, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.” Jiang Manyue quickly gathered his thoughts. This was still the six or seven-year-old Cai Cai. He couldn’t be mistaken.

“Are you calling me?” Little Yan Cai pointed to himself, tilting his head to look at Jiang Manyue.

“Yes, I’m calling you.”

“My name is not Cai Cai. I don’t have a name. The doctor calls me K0527.” Little Yan Cai looked at Jiang Manyue innocently. He didn’t know this person, but he had a good impression of this person who suddenly appeared here.

This person doesn’t seem to be from the laboratory. Everyone in the laboratory wears white coats, and no one dresses like him. And he looks very handsome. There’s no one in the laboratory who looks this good.

Little Yan Cai, who already knows how to judge people by their appearance, thought in his heart.

Jiang Manyue suddenly thought of something. Yan Cai had mentioned sporadic bits about another world to him, but he rarely spoke about this part, only willing to say a few more words when mentioning that smelly fox.

Jiang Manyue wouldn’t deliberately reopen his wounds, so he never asked about this place, about Yan Cai’s other world.

Now, he was truly experiencing it.

Stuck in this iron cage, unable to leave. Jiang Manyue’s eyes turned red. He wanted to open the iron cage, but he didn’t know what material it was made of. It was even stronger than ordinary steel. Although his strength was already great, it remained unmoved.

“It’s no use. That was made by the doctor. Besides him, no one can open it,” Little Yan Cai said.

“I’m sorry.”

Little Yan Cai was startled for a moment, then shook his head. It’s strange, why is this person apologizing to him?

“You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Little Yan Cai smiled, revealing a mouth that had just lost two teeth.

Jiang Manyue felt his figure flicker, time was running out. He reached his hand into the cage, and Little Yan Cai looked at him in surprise. Was this person also reaching out to him? Little Yan Cai tentatively extended his hand, feeling that this person wasn’t dangerous.

His small hand rested on Jiang Manyue’s large hand, Jiang Manyue’s hands turned slightly transparent, revealing the floor underneath.

“You’re not called K0527,” Jiang Manyue pronounced the letters, not understanding English, and producing a strange pronunciation. “Your name is Yan Cai. ‘Yan’ means language, and ‘Cai’ means collection. It comes from a line in the Book of Songs, Plucking the plants, picking the leaves, I gathered them in small bunches, with few words.”

Jiang Manyue’s figure disappeared in front of Little Yan Cai’s eyes, along with the big hand that was holding his. He withdrew his hand, staring at his small palm for a long time.

“Plucking the plants, picking the leaves, I gathered them in small bunches, with few words.” he murmured.

From that day on, he suddenly became extremely eager to learn, even asking the doctor for books.

Whether the doctor agreed to or not, he had forgotten after growing up for several years. He even forgot what happened that day, only remembering that someone had given him a name.

Because it was impossible for anyone else to appear in the laboratory, he always thought that the name was given to him by some assistant in the laboratory.

He had almost forgotten the line from the poem, only vaguely remembering the impression that he should read more. So, from then on, whenever others were gathering supplies along the way, he always brought one or two books to read, as if this could make up for the lost memories.

With no one to teach him, he read various kinds of books, from textbooks to third-rate novels, even picking up yellow magazines found on the roadside. Diligently, he absorbed all sorts of knowledge, appearing more and more like an oddity.

He desperately stuffed various books into his mind, as if this could dig out the forgotten person from his brain.

But nothing was found.

It wasn’t until after the end of the apocalypse that he was captured back to the laboratory, and he finally saw that person again. When he saw that person, all the forgotten memories came back to my mind.

That person was still the same, without a single wrinkle.

Yan Cai, now an adult, was no longer the naive child he once was, and he could discern that the person’s attire was definitely not from this era.

However, when the other person appeared again, he couldn’t greet them. He was naked, with tubes inserted into his body, immersed in nutrient solution.

They looked at each other through the transparent glass.

“Hello,” the grown-up Yan Cai said silently in his heart.

Translator’s Notes:

This phrase comes from the “Book of Songs” (诗经), an ancient Chinese collection of poetry and songs dating back to the Zhou dynasty.

“采采” (cǎi cǎi) means “plucking” or “gathering” and is often used to describe the action of picking flowers or plants.

“芣苢” (fú yǐ) refers to a type of aquatic plant, possibly a type of rush or sedge.

“薄言” (bó yán) means “scant words” or “few words.”

“采之” (cǎi zhī) means “gather it” or “pluck it.”

So, the phrase “采采芣苢，薄言采之” can be interpreted as “Plucking the plants, picking the leaves, I gathered them in small bunches, with few words.” It conveys the image of someone quietly and diligently gathering plants, perhaps in a poetic or metaphorical sense, implying simplicity, tranquility, and a modest demeanor.