Chapter 66

When Fang Zhao returned the call, that second uncle of his was apparently shaken and could not speak properly . But from his gasps and grunts, it was obvious that he was delighted . He even sent a photograph .

From the original owner’s memory, Fang Zhao remembered that there were four members in his second uncle’s family . His second uncle and aunt and two younger male cousins . In the photograph that was sent, there was one more little girl . During the original owner’s university days, the aunt had given birth to a girl . Now, she was already six .

In the following days, the entire department worked around the clock . Finally, on the 24th, production for the fourth movement was completed . This signified that the virtual projects department’s Memorial Day holiday had begun . On the 25th, Fang Zhao took the entire team out for a big feast, and after that, the members respectively left .

Fang Zhao would not be bringing Curly Hair . Instead, he left the dog in the care of Zeng Huang and Wan Yue .

On Jan 26, Fang Zhao rode in the car of a technical staff who was on friendly terms with Zu Wen as they departed from Qi’an City for Yanbei City . This technical staff was from Yanbei and only went to Qi’an to work . When he heard from Zu Wen that Fang Zhao was also heading back to Yanbei, he suggested he give a lift to Fang Zhao .

However, this staff member’s final destination was different from Fang Zhao’s . The two of them were heading to opposite ends of the city . Fang Zhao politely refused the staff member’s offer of sending him straight to his doorstep and instead called a cab upon arrival in Yanbei City .

“To Kerria Street?”

“Yes . “

“It will be a little crowded there . Recently, there have been lots of people, so I will have to drive slower . The charges will be slightly higher,” the cab driver explained .

“Understood . “

Fang Zhao glanced out the window . Passing by the throes of people strolling through the streets and the plaza, Fang Zhao felt a sense of deja vu . If the world had not gone through an apocalypse, during a large scale holiday, the world would pretty much still be the same . Crowded yet bustling, everywhere filled with festive spirit .

However, that feeling quickly faded away . The 100-Year Period of Destruction had been real, and the New Era had since taken over .

Trains sped along the railways and the sky was filled with flying cars coming and going . There was no returning back to that time, because the world was continuing to progress .

“We have reached Kerria Street!”

Outside, skyscrapers towered on either side . Residential housing was all concentrated together . At least here, the distance between the buildings was larger and the streets below did not appear dusky in broad daylight .

The housing blocks had approximately 100 floors . For every five floors, there would be a passageway that extended outward that had enough space for two cars to fit through . However, cars were not allowed to travel at high speeds along these passageways . Above the passageways, there was a more protruding semi-circular platform that served as a drop-off point . Numbers were written on top, representing the pick-up bay’s number on the building .

“Twenty-fifth floor, stop at the next drop-off point,” Fang Zhao told the cab driver .

Fang Zhao’s memory of the address of his second uncle had long since gone fuzzy . However, when he had called a few days back, his second uncle had foreseen the situation and had sent him the address . Fang Zhao just needed to follow according to the written address to find his uncle’s house .

Fang Zhao paid the driver and got out of the cab . He noticed a group of kids running over . Some of the slower ones were red in the face and panting . The lift had a limited capacity, and missing out meant they had to run .

Turning around to look behind him, Fang Zhao noticed a festive car slowly pulling in, landing on the drop-off point that he had arrived at .

Whether it was in Qi’an or Yanbei, it was common to see a bunch of cutely decorated festive cars about everywhere . These festive cars sold candy, which little kids loved .

The festive car wound down its windows to reveal candy of all shapes and sizes . With dazzling multi-colored candy, the waft of sweet fragrance and signature music of the candy-selling festive car, it was little wonder that, wherever such a car was found, it was surrounded by kids .

As the festive car stopped, the kid running at the front rushed over and skillfully ordered his favorite kinds of candy like a pro . The slower kids still running over called out anxiously, worried that their favorites would be sold out .

A smile broke out on Fang Zhao’s face as he saw the kids heading to the festive car .

His own memory of his childhood was fuzzy . However, seeing the kids vigorously chasing the car, a few vague memories came back to him . Even though the memories were not that distinct, they were fond memories .

Fang Zhao was about to withdraw from the place and leave it to the kids who only had eyes for the candy . Just as he was about to leave, Fang Zhao spotted a familiar face among the group of kids .

The six-year-old little girl nimbly bypassed two larger kids in front of her and arrived at the window of the car, tiptoeing and making her order . Beaming, the brightly dressed salesperson picked out a few types of candy and handed them over to the little girl .

After receiving the candy, the little girl raised her hand wearing a bracelet adorned with little bears and tapped it at the payment scanner at the window . She turned to leave, but not before raising her head with a reluctant gaze at the little bear-shaped candy that was displayed right at the top .

Festive cars arranged their candy according to the district’s level of affluence . The more expensive candy had less sales here and was displayed higher up .

The surrounding kids would look through the window enviously at the sweets right at the top but could only covet them . They knew that they could not afford it as their families were not that well off .

“I would like one of those . “

Used to facing kids, the friendly salesperson looked up when he heard that . Seeing a young man, he stared for a second before a smile returned to his face and he proceeded to pick out the candy that the man had selected .

The little girl who had just bought candy raised her head and immediately exclaimed, “Brother Zhao?”

“Little Bell Fang?” Fang Zhao asked in a low voice .

This little girl was his second uncle’s six-year-old daughter, Fang Ling . When she’d been born, his second uncle and aunt had heard the sound of bells, thus giving her the name Fang Ling . Her nickname was Little Bell .

“That’s me!” Fang Ling nodded her head enthusiastically . Her dad had kept showing her a photo of Fang Zhao over the past few days . The photo was taken before Fang Zhao had gone to university . In the past six years, there had been changes, yet Fang Ling guessed who he was at one glance . Maybe she really recognized him, or perhaps it was just the subconscious mind of a child associating a candy-buying person to someone she knew .

The surrounding kids glanced at Fang Ling enviously . So it was Fang Ling’s brother . Fang Ling was so lucky to have someone buy candy for her .

“Hello, here’s your candy . ” The salesperson handed over the candy sealed in a wrapper over to Fang Zhao .

Fang Ling’s eyes widened . Her eyes seemed to be shining like stars . Then she watched as the stick of candy that she had longed for for such a long time disappear into the the mouth of the cousin she was meeting for the first time in six years .

Seeing the now headless bear candy on the stick and then glancing at Fang Zhao, Fang Ling was dumbstruck .

The salesman in the festive car and the surrounding kids were all stunned as well . Had he actually bought the candy for himself!?

Under the watchful eyes of the surrounding bunch, Fang Zhao calmly proceeded to finish the entire candy .

During the end of days, they’d also had candy . Just . . . that sort of candy was created as combat supplies . It did not taste good and was as hard as a rock . However as long as it provided enough energy, they liked it . The aim was all about replenishing sufficient energy, and thus they would not complain about how it tasted . As for this sort of candy that was purely meant as a snack, Fang Zhao had not enjoyed one in a long time .

Soft candy wrapped in icing slowly dissolved in his mouth . The lingering sweetness brought about a certain warmth, as if dispersing a cold winter chill .

Actually, Fang Zhao had just wanted a taste and to tease the little kids at the same time . He did not especially like these kinds of things . He cast a glance at the still-dumbfounded Fang Ling before scanning the interior of the festive car and asking the salesperson, “Is that for sale?”

The salesperson turned his head to where Fang Zhao was pointing . A transparent box in the shape of a bear was sitting there, the inside filled with more of the bear candy that everyone had just seen .

“Y-Yes . “

“Then I would like that . “

“Ah? Oh . Sure!” The salesperson shifted over the box that was nearly half a meter tall . “There are 50 pieces of ‘Little White Bears’ inside . Here, you can count them . ” On a normal day, the salesperson would have found it hard to sell even one stick of this candy . He had never expected to sell an entire box when he came out today .

Fang Zhao opened the box and eyed the surrounding kids that had not yet dispersed . “If you kids can line up from the shortest to the tallest within ten seconds, I will give everyone one piece . “

The gaggle of kids had not grasped the concept of ten seconds, but as soon as they heard the word ‘seconds,’ they starting moving about haphazardly .

“Ten, nine, eight…”

There were kids of similar heights disputing their positions in the line, but upon hearing Fang Zhao’s countdown, put aside their petty squabbles and promptly got into line .

Fang Ling watched the forming procession then glanced at Fang Zhao before shuffling to find her spot in the line and slotting herself in .

The salesperson in the car gaped in astonishment . The rowdy bunch of kids that had been crowding around the window had formed a line in the blink of an eye . The line stretched to the end of the drop-off area before winding back, forming a line in the shape of an “S . “

Passerbys in the airspace passage on the 25th floor looked over in curiosity . Some people within the building also opened their windows to take a good look .

” . . . Three, two, one, times up! It’s time for my inspection . “

A grave looking Fang Zhao inspected the line, making the kids nervous . They were afraid that standing in the wrong spot might have destroyed their chance of having the candy .

“Seems fine . Okay, now, starting from the first in line, come and get your candy from me . “

After all the 32 kids present had received one piece each, the box still contained 18 pieces . Fang Zhao handed the remainder, including the box, over to Fang Ling .

“For . . . for me?” Fang Ling was so startled that she nearly dropped all the candy she was holding . “Is it really for me?”

Fang Zhao nodded . “You don’t want it?”

“I do! Thank you, Brother!”

The dumbstruck look on Fang Ling’s face turned to foolish laughter as she hugged the box tightly .

Thus, when Fang Zhao’s second aunt opened the door, she saw two people, one large and one small, with traces of sugar on their lips .