Hearing someone call his name, Luo Yirui immediately froze, his heart suddenly accelerated; he had chosen a very secluded spot, so why could he still be found!

"Is it you, Luo Yirui!"

The voice rang out again, filled with uncertainty and great joy, leaving Luo Yirui momentarily stunned. The voice was so familiar.

He turned around and saw that familiar smiling face, and instantly froze.

Standing before him was Jing Changle!

"Why are you here?" They both asked in unison.

Now Luo Yirui felt a bit tense, thinking their voices were too loud, he hurriedly pulled Jing Changle to the base of a wall nearby, looked around to see no one, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Jing Changle looked at Luo Yirui with suspicion, now Luo Yirui appeared quite disheveled, even more so than the time he was caught and bled, it seemed he had been through something recently.

Luo Yirui was also sizing up Jing Changle, seeing Jing Changle wearing a pair of old and dirty cloth shoes, with his pants rolled up revealing dark legs, his hair a bit messy, looking somewhat untidy.

Although they were happy to see each other, they were surprised by the state of the other.

"Who are you hiding from?" Jing Changle saw that Luo Yirui looked a little tense, recalling the earlier scene, he couldn’t help but ask.

Luo Yirui fell silent, could he trust Jing Changle?

Despite going through life and death together, the experiences of the past few days made him deeply hesitant to trust anyone.

Jing Changle saw Luo Yirui remain silent, a trace of fatigue between his brows, he didn’t ask further, reaching out to hold him, "Come to my house for a rest."

Luo Yirui did not refuse, feeling quite excited to encounter Jing Changle while alone, glanced at the soy sauce bottle Jing Changle was holding in his other hand, and asked, "Can you cook?"

Jing Changle glanced at Luo Yirui, proudly said, "Better than you, spoiled young master."

"Who’s a spoiled young master!" Luo Yirui protested.

Of course, Jing Changle was joking, a true spoiled young master was not like Luo Yirui; ever since he faced those terrifying people with composure, Jing Changle admired him greatly, though, of course, this made him curious about Luo Yirui’s current situation.

"Do you live here?" Luo Yirui asked, seeing him walk towards the outskirts of the village.

Jing Changle shook his head, "Don’t live in the big village, look over there, go down this path, over that hill, my home is in that village, the village is very small, if you can’t buy soy sauce, you have to come to the big village."

As they walked, Jing Changle noticed that Luo Yirui often surveyed the surroundings; seeing people pass by, he’d lower his head, this increased Jing Changle’s curiosity.

Yet, although still unclear why, he tried his best to choose paths with few people to keep Luo Yirui from getting nervous.

Crossing over the hill, they indeed saw a very small village nestled in the valley, probably only thirty or forty households.

"Luckily your village is close to the big village, otherwise it’s hard to buy living supplies... why did you stop?" Luo Yirui said, noticing Jing Changle had not kept up with him.

"My home is not in the village." Jing Changle pointed to another direction, "Over there."

Luo Yirui looked ahead, seeing on the hillside a simple house, only one room, seemingly built with wooden planks and boards.

"Let’s go, I’ll take you over, but my home is quite rundown..." Jing Changle said somewhat embarrassed.

People in the village all think this place is run down; Luo Yirui is from the city, and will surely find it simple.

It’s Luo Yirui’s first time seeing someone live in such a place; frankly speaking, with such basic accommodations, during rainy days one probably has to hide outside to avoid the rain. He had heard that Jing Changle’s family condition was not great, but didn’t expect it to be so dilapidated.

He did not feel disdain, just surprise.

"You must have a hard time alone." Luo Yirui remarked.

Jing Changle pursed his lips, not expecting Luo Yirui to say this, his heart couldn’t help but feel sour; although he’s not alone, life’s truly been tough for him... he deeply feels the phrase ’life isn’t easy.’

Earlier, it was okay; ever since becoming aware of things, he’s done everything alone, no one ever said ’you’ve had a hard time,’ so Jing Changle found himself very touched, suddenly wanting to hug Luo Yirui and cry bitterly.

But he held back, kids have a strong sense of pride; despite experiencing scary things then, he didn’t cry, now if he cried, Luo Yirui would surely laugh at him.

Jing Changle blinked hard, forcing his tears away, luckily Luo Yirui walked behind.

Arriving at the wooden house, Jing Changle pushed open the not securely closed door, saying, "Grandpa, I’m back." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Luo Yirui was startled, he remembered Jing Changle said he was an orphan, how come there’s a grandpa now?

He followed inside, noticing a large bed, calling it a bed was an overstatement; this was just stacks of bricks at four sides with three big wooden planks laid across, serving as a bed.

Right now, an elderly man lay on the bed, face covered with age spots, hair completely white, lips sunken and wrinkled, clearly having no teeth left.

The old man heard Jing Changle’s voice, slowly opened his eyes, blinked, then closed them again.

Jing Changle, seeing this, paused, hurriedly put the soy sauce down and approached, "Grandpa, how are you feeling today? A bit better?"

The old man struggled to open his eyes again, smiled toothlessly, and nodded.

Seeing this, Jing Changle smiled slightly, "Feeling a bit better is good, looks like Doctor Sun’s medicine works! Grandpa, get better quickly, so I can earn money to get you dentures, then you can eat again!"

The old man smiled at Jing Changle.

Standing aside, Luo Yirui remained silent, looking at Jing Changle’s face filled with joy, yet his eyes bore signs of sorrow.

This old man... was already at the end of his tether.

Jing Changle holding the newly bought soy sauce said, "Grandpa, wait a moment, I’ll make porridge, add a little soy sauce, it’s tastier than salt."

Saying so, he dashed outside, speaking as he ran, "Luo Yirui, find a place to sit, I’ll cook first."

Luo Yirui hurriedly responded, but did not sit down, instead continued to observe the old man, recalling his mother’s words: for those at the end of their life, she had no solutions.

Death is untamable by human force, even though people try various ways to extend life, eventually it all turns to dust.

This old man had reached the end of his life.

When he parted ways with Jing Changle, he once invited him to study together in the small courtyard, his mother said his spirit was very abundant, with great potential.

He could tell Jing Changle was willing, yet in the end, he politely declined, saying he had things left to do, could it be...