Chapter 149: Helping

"What are you doing?" Zhang Wenda asked as he reached the doorway. He saw Song Jianguo squinting one eye, curiously peering into his uncle's IV tube.

Song Jianguo quickly put the tube down. "I'm checking if there's enough fluid in here. If not, I'll add some more."

"Get out of the way," Zhang Wenda said, pushing her aside with an exasperated look. He picked up a pillow from the side and placed it under his uncle's neck, propping his head up higher.

His uncle showed no reaction to Zhang Wenda's actions, dead to the world.

He sat down beside the bed, gazing at his uncle, as memories flooded his mind.

There was the time he'd run away from that hellish home, only to be found by his uncle.

His uncle had led him back to the front door, holding his hand even as he argued with his own sister.

To be honest, his uncle wasn't exactly a model guardian. After all, he'd never been married, knew nothing about raising a child, and had a careless attitude. He even used to disappear frequently, off doing who knows what.

But every time he returned, his pockets were full of money for Wenda's tuition and books. Judging by the bizarre nature of this world, the business he was in back then was probably less than legitimate.

But when he had been trapped in despair, it was his uncle who had taken him away, helped him get back into school, and ultimately get into college.

In all his memories, his uncle had never hit him. He'd never hit him while saying, "This is for your own good." And most importantly, he had never sent him to an internet addiction bootcamp.

He also remembered his uncle generously sharing "secret codes" with him, tricking him into drinking alcohol, and calling him, dead drunk, to come pick him up.

Zhang Wenda didn't know what a perfect family was supposed to be like, but to him, the home he'd had with his uncle as a child was the most perfect home there could be.

"Uncle, you helped me in the past. This time, let me help you," Zhang Wenda murmured to himself, gazing out the window at the bizarre, dazzling world of the Big Circle.

"Drink... drink..." his slumbering uncle mumbled something.

Zhang Wenda once wondered why his uncle drank so much. But after he started working, he finally understood. You don't drink to be happy; you drink to forget.

'But Uncle, Hu Maomao wasn't wrong. The way I am now, I'm just a kid in front of you all. I probably can't really help you that much, can I?'

As he continued to voice his thoughts, the night deepened, and Zhang Wenda drowsily drifted off to sleep.

When Zhang Wenda opened his eyes again, he was startled to find Song Jianguo's face right in front of his.

As he sat up, he realized he was lying on the bed where his uncle had been. His uncle, however, had vanished into thin air.

He and Song Jianguo were now in his uncle's spot, who had thoughtfully tucked them both in under the covers. The Black Cats were arranged neatly around them in the shape of a heart.

"What's with all the noise? So loud," Song Jianguo mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. She looked around, then glanced at Zhang Wenda in confusion. "How did we end up in the same bed?"

Zhang Wenda sighed and climbed out of bed. "We were possessed."

"Where's your uncle?"

"Don't know. Gone again, probably. This is normal for him. He's always been the elusive type," Zhang Wenda said as he took a bowl, turned on the tap, and filled it with steaming white congee for breakfast.

"Your uncle's an interesting guy. The way he talks is hilarious."

"Everyone says that about him. But he's pretty unreliable. He loves making friends, but the moment you get close enough to be a good friend, he'll screw you over."

"Oh? Is that so? Tell me a story," Song Jianguo said, her ears perking straight up.

"It's all ancient history. Get up and eat."

"Not hungry, not eating!" Song Jianguo pulled the blanket over her head, her voice muffled from underneath.

"We finally get a break from running all over the place. I am absolutely sleeping in today! I'm going to sleep from morning till night!"

Three seconds after saying this, a slow-to-react Song Jianguo suddenly thought of something. She threw the covers off and stared in surprise at Zhang Wenda, who was washing up. "Wait, why are you up so early? We don't have anything to do today."

Zhang Wenda ignored her. After washing up, he began gulping down his congee. The speed at which he ate told Song Jianguo that he definitely had something planned. The guy only ever wolfed down his food like that when he was about to do something.

"ARGH!!" Song Jianguo flopped onto her back, her limbs flailing wildly. "What are you up to now?! Can't you just let me rest? I'm with you running all over the place every single day! You said two days off a week! I haven't even gotten half a day! When Auntie gets back, I'm going to report you!"

"Not bad, you even know how to use the word 'report' now. Looks like you have learned something," Zhang Wenda said, putting down his empty bowl. He took the 400 yuan he had earned out of a ceramic jar. "You don't have to come with me this time. But don't go wandering around outside. This is Big Circle territory."

Hearing this, Song Jianguo shrank back into the blankets and pulled them over her head. "Have a safe trip! I won't see you out!"

As the old wooden door slowly creaked shut, the cluttered single room fell silent.

A few minutes later, Song Jianguo's cat ears slowly emerged from under the covers, twitching from side to side like radar dishes.

"Is he really gone? He really didn't drag us along to be his pack mules? How rare." Song Jianguo seemed to be talking to herself, and also to the cats.

Song Jianguo and the cats beside her stared at each other blankly. Suddenly, Black Coal leaped out from the group of Black Cats and quickly jumped out through the half-open window.

"Time to sleep. I'm sleeping in today even if the sky falls!" Song Jianguo's cat ears instantly retracted back into the warm cocoon of the blankets.

Song Jianguo slept very well, better than she had in a long time. When she finally emerged from the covers with her hair in a mess, her sleep-addled mind felt a bit fuzzy.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open as she remembered something. "Crap! I forgot to feed the cats!" She immediately grabbed Zhang Wenda's washbasin from the side and went to the tap to get some fish and shrimp.

Before she knew it, Zhang Wenda had been gone for two days. These two days were Song Jianguo's happiest. She did nothing but eat and sleep, and she even felt like she was gaining weight.

During those two days, Zhang Wenda didn't return, and no one else came looking for her. It was as if this place had become a small, forgotten corner of the world. She thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being alone in the cluttered, quiet room.

If it weren't so unsafe outside, she would have wanted to head back early. She'd eaten so much fish that she was starting to miss the taste of sparrows.

Finally, at dusk two days later, a travel-worn Zhang Wenda returned.

Upon his return, Zhang Wenda didn't appear to have any physical injuries, but the expression on his face was one of extreme pain. White steam billowed constantly from the holes all over his body, proof that he had traveled a very, very long way.