Qin Lie started the car and watched in the rearview mirror as the old man and young boy gradually disappeared into the night.

Chen Xi and Qin Lie took Grandpa Guan to the city hospital, but the outpatient department had already closed.

Qin Lie registered for emergency care, and the two found seats to sit on either side of the old man, who wasn’t fully conscious.

After waiting a while without a doctor coming, Chen Xi became anxious.

Qin Lie got up to find someone, and a nurse followed him over, took a look, and left.

After a while, a doctor finally came.

After looking through a thick stack of test results, the doctor didn’t say much and directly arranged for hospitalization.

Whether from fever or pain, Grandpa Guan’s whole body was trembling slightly, yet he stubbornly waved his hand and said, “No hospitalization, go home.”

Chen Xi felt a pang in her heart. Despite Grandpa Guan’s objections, she said to the doctor, “Hospitalize him.”

Qin Lie had Chen Xi stay with the old man while he ran around upstairs and downstairs, finally getting him transferred to a ward.

After receiving pain medication and fever reducers, the old man’s fever gradually subsided, his brow relaxed, and he fell asleep.

Chen Xi stood by the hospital bed, only then becoming aware of her fatigue.

She walked out of the ward and stood in the corridor.

The overhead lights were harsh white, making her face appear bloodless.

Qin Lie also came out and gently closed the ward door.

“Go eat something.”

He said quietly.

Chen Xi shook her head and leaned against the cold wall, feeling uneasy inside with no appetite at all.

Qin Lie: “Keep me company while I eat.”

Chen Xi looked at him, was silent for a moment, then nodded.

The two went to a ramen shop near the hospital.

After sitting down, Chen Xi kept silently staring at the street outside the shop door, completely absent-minded.

Qin Lie ordered two bowls of ramen. Seeing there was no vinegar on the table, he got up to take a vinegar bottle from another table and poured some into Chen Xi’s bowl.

Chen Xi’s gaze had somehow moved to Qin Lie, staring blankly at the vinegar in his hand.

Qin Lie noticed Chen Xi’s gaze, paused in his movements, then poured a little into his own bowl too.

He picked up the chopsticks and handed them to Chen Xi. “Eat.”

Chen Xi took the chopsticks and absent-mindedly ate two bites, really having no appetite.

Qin Lie watched her for a while, then said quietly, “Birth, aging, sickness, and death – no one can do anything about it.”

Chen Xi lowered her head and gave a soft hum.

Qin Lie looked at Chen Xi’s deathly expression and continued, “Do what you can as much as possible.”

Chen Xi raised her eyes to look at Qin Lie.

Qin Lie paused and said, “Give him the most effective painkillers, the best nutritional fluids, minimize his suffering.”

Tears welled up in her eyes for no reason. Chen Xi suddenly wanted to cry very badly, couldn’t help but want to cry.

She lowered her head, desperately holding back tears, and started eating in big mouthfuls.

A scene suddenly appeared in her mind.

It was many, many years ago, when Sensen hadn’t started elementary school yet and wasn’t even as tall as her thigh.

He stood at the courtyard gate, tugging at a corner of his father’s clothes, looking up with his little face, innocently saying, “Dad, come back early, I’ll wait for you.”

He had been waiting all these years, and never waited for him to come back even once.

Chen Xi couldn’t imagine what Sensen’s world would become when Grandpa Guan was gone one day.

A teardrop rolled into her bowl, followed by a second, then a third.

She couldn’t hold back anymore. Large tears silently rolled down.

She kept her head down and continued eating the noodles in big bites.

Qin Lie silently watched Chen Xi for a while, then suddenly said softly, “Chen Xi, about Sensen’s situation, we’ll all think of solutions together.”

Chen Xi hummed in response, but the tears still wouldn’t stop.

Qin Lie: “In this world, all problems have solutions.”

Chen Xi nodded. She suddenly stopped chewing and, after a while, said softly, “Thank you.”

Qin Lie looked at her without speaking.

Just a moment ago, a feeling had flashed through his heart.

That feeling was fleeting, almost too quick to put into words.

If he had to find words to describe it, it would probably be those same two words: thank you.

Thank you to her for bringing ripples to his stagnant life.

A numb heart, soaked by her joys and sorrows, gradually regained sensation.

Grandpa Guan stayed in the hospital for a week and refused to stay any longer.

Chen Xi originally wouldn’t let him be discharged, but one sentence from Grandpa Guan made her finally compromise.

He said, “Chen Xi, this illness means counting days on my fingers. Just let me go home.”

Home, to the small courtyard where he had lived most of his life.

With birds calling in the early morning and a courtyard full of sunset at dusk.

Next door was the sound of Grandma Chen shouting orders.

At home was a child who was growing more sensible day by day.

He couldn’t bear to waste any remaining minutes and seconds elsewhere.

So Grandpa Guan went home.

Fan Mingsu stopped setting up her night market stall. Whenever night fell, she would ride her tricycle and take Grandpa Guan for rides by the Dang River.

In the northwestern small city, once the sun set, the scorching heat in the air was gone.

The wind blowing from the river surface made people feel refreshingly cool all over.

After Fan Mingsu took Grandpa Guan for a ride once, she noticed his complexion had improved somewhat.

On the way back that day, they ran into Beard Zhang, who gave Grandpa Guan a jar of sweet fermented rice.

When they got home, Fan Mingsu saw that Grandpa Guan had eaten the sweet fermented rice until only a small portion remained.

From then on, Fan Mingsu would take Grandpa Guan out on the streets every morning and evening when it was cool.

Besides the Dang River, they also wandered through the old streets and alleys.

Grandpa Guan sat in Fan Mingsu’s tricycle cart with a cushion behind his back and a thin blanket over him.

Slowly and leisurely, swaying gently, they passed through the old streets and alleys.

The poplar trees overhead blocked out the sky, letting through scattered bits of sunlight.

They passed through an alley when Grandpa Guan suddenly remembered something.

He pointed tremblingly at a doorway under an old willow tree and asked, “Is this Ding Jianmin’s house?”

Fan Mingsu stopped the bike, turned around, and shouted, “Whose house?”

Grandpa Guan raised his voice and shouted, “Ding Jianmin.”

But his voice was still blown away by the wind until almost nothing remained.

Fan Mingsu finally figured out what Grandpa Guan was saying.

She looked at the courtyard gate under the big willow tree. Inside the doorway was a brick screen wall with a tile mosaic pattern of a flying apsara playing a reversed pipa.

Old Ding was their colleague from when they were young, working on windbreak and sand fixation in the nearby wasteland. He had passed away a few years ago.

There was indeed an old willow tree at his house entrance, but there was no screen wall in his courtyard.

Fan Mingsu slowly pedaled the tricycle and shouted to Grandpa Guan behind her, “Yes, it’s his house, it’s his house.”

Grandpa Guan smiled and nodded, “Call him over sometime, I’ll make yellow noodles for you both.”

It took Fan Mingsu quite a while to understand what Grandpa Guan was saying.

She nodded and said, “Good, donkey meat with yellow noodles.”

The tricycle slowly moved forward, going deeper and deeper into the leisurely alley.

Fan Mingsu worried whether Grandpa Guan’s mind was becoming unclear.

But then she thought again that being a bit confused might be better.

After Grandpa Guan was discharged, Chen Xi no longer had to run between the shop and the hospital, giving her much more free time.

In the blink of an eye, it was early July. This evening, the shop closed early and a barbecue grill was set up in the courtyard again.

Today was Yang Guan’s birthday, and coincidentally, Liu Boyang’s old shop space had also been sold.

With two good things happening together, there was no reason not to have a proper celebration.

Chen Xi had been feeling quite depressed during this period.

Regarding future matters – Grandpa Guan, Grandma, Sensen, even herself – she didn’t want to think about any of their futures.

So she worked desperately every day, exhausting herself until she collapsed into bed at night, then continued numbly busying herself the next day.

She had intentionally or unintentionally distanced herself from Qin Lie, never actively contacting him.

Even when she saw him at the shop, she would only give a casual greeting before going about her own business.

The reason was somewhat inexplicable, probably only expressible with the phrase “it’s complicated.”

If she had to examine her heart honestly, the reason was probably that Qin Lie’s name had become connected with the future she didn’t want to think about.

She didn’t want to experience another relationship that would end in nothing.

Yang Shan came directly after work with her child. As soon as Ruirui entered the shop, she looked around searching for Sensen.

Chen Xi held her little hand and said, “Stop looking, Sensen isn’t coming today.”

Ruirui asked disappointedly, “Why not?”

The smile at the corner of Chen Xi’s mouth suddenly became somewhat forced.

She was silent for a moment, then said softly, “Sensen needs to keep Grandpa company.”

Ruirui: “I want to keep Grandpa company too.”

Just as she finished speaking, she turned and saw Guoguo running in from the entrance.

Ruirui’s eyes lit up, and she immediately ran toward Guoguo, throwing Big Brother Sensen to the back of her mind.

Ruirui pulled Guoguo to the tea area and showed her the shadow puppets on the coffee table.

Guoguo looked surprised and delighted, extremely happy.

Chen Xi withdrew her gaze from the two children and asked Yang Shan, “Where are Big Brother Yang Guan and Han Chao?”

Yang Shan: “Big Brother Qin Lie will come with him later. Han Chao is on a business trip.”

Hearing Qin Lie’s name, Chen Xi’s heart still involuntarily skipped a beat.

She said “oh” with a calm expression and pointed to the fruit spread all over the coffee table.

“I bought cherries for you, go eat them quickly.”

Yang Shan happily walked to the coffee table.

She had been craving fruit lately – everything else made her want to vomit.

Soon, Han Susu also arrived, carrying a birthday cake.

Chen Xi asked her quietly, “Any progress lately?”

Han Susu shook her head, raised her delicate eyebrows with an indifferent expression, and strolled directly toward Yang Shan.

Seeing that Lin Fang was still following Qin Zhan around, Chen Xi knew she was still feeling a bit constrained. So she walked forward and said to Lin Fang, “Fangfang, that cold wild onion salad I had at your shop last time tasted really good. Can you teach me how to make it?”

Lin Fang’s face heated up slightly, and she asked somewhat embarrassedly, “Do you have wild onions?”

Chen Xi nodded, “They’re all washed, and I have the seasonings too.”

Lin Fang smiled and glanced at Qin Zhan, then followed Chen Xi.

Chen Xi put her arm around Lin Fang’s shoulder and said as they walked, “I also bought some rice jelly but haven’t mixed it yet.”

Lin Fang’s voice unconsciously lost that hint of restraint, and she said with a smile, “I’ll do it.”

Qin Zhan watched the two figures walking away, slightly lost in thought.

A soft warmth crept up in his heart, unknowingly becoming threads of attachment.

Since childhood, his parents had always used his brother to motivate him.

So much so that although he couldn’t achieve it, he naturally believed that men should have grand ambitions, that men should do great things and achieve great success.

But now he was very content.

He had good friends like Chen Xi and Boyang, had car repair work that he enjoyed doing, and now he had Lin Fang too.

He didn’t want to venture far and wide at all, nor did he want to do any great enterprise.

He had only one thought in his heart: may people live long.

Oh, and one more thing: there are indeed feasts in this world that never end.