Fang Zhao replied. The second uncle seemed a little excited. He didn't use a voice message, but the text showed that he was very happy. He even sent a photo.
Fang Zhao knew from the memories of the original owner of his body that there were four members of the second uncle's family: the second uncle, the second aunt, and two cousins. There was also a little girl in the photo. When the original owner was in college, the second aunt gave birth to a little sister. She was now six years old.
Over the next few days, the entire department worked hard and finally completed the fourth movement on the 24th. This meant that the virtual projects department's Memorial Day holiday was about to begin. On the 25th, Fang Zhao took them out for a sumptuous meal before parting ways.
Fang Zhao didn't bring Curly Hair with him. Instead, he let Zeng Huang and Wan Yue look after him.
On January 26th, Fang Zhao took a ride from Qi'an to Yanbei with a technician Zu Wen was familiar with. The technician was also from Yanbei, but he only worked in Qi'an. When he found out from Zu Wen that Fang Zhao was also returning to Yanbei, he offered to give Fang Zhao a lift.
However, that technician's final destination was not the same as Fang Zhao's. One was at one end of the city, the other was at the other end of the city. Fang Zhao declined the technician's kind offer to send him directly to his home. When he reached Yanbei City, he called for a taxi.
"Ditang Street?"
"Yes."
"There's a little traffic jam there. There are a lot of people these days, so the ride will be slower. The fare is higher," the cab driver said.
"Understood."
Fang Zhao gazed out the window. The crowd on the side of the street was moving slowly. As he passed by the crowded square, Fang Zhao felt as if he had gone back to square one after a lifetime. If the apocalypse hadn't happened, the world would have been the same during major festivals. It was crowded but lively. Everywhere was festive.
However, that feeling quickly disappeared. The apocalypse that had lasted for a hundred years was real, and a new era had long since taken over.
Trains sped along the tracks. Flying cars came and went in the sky. He couldn't return to square one, because the world was still progressing.
"We've arrived at Ditang Street!"
Outside, there were tall buildings on both sides of the street. The good thing was that the distance between the two buildings was relatively large, and the streets below were not as dark as they usually were in broad daylight.
In a residential building that was nearly a hundred stories high, there would be a corridor that expanded outward every five stories. It was wide enough for two cars to pass through, but cars were not allowed to drive quickly on it. Every so often, there would be a more prominent semicircular platform on the stairs. These were parking bays, and there were even numbers written on them, representing the number of parking bays on this floor.
"Stop at the next parking lot on the 25th floor," Fang Zhao said.
Fang Zhao's memory of the address of his second uncle's house was hazy, but a few days ago, his second uncle seemed to have anticipated that Fang Zhao might not remember the address, so he had sent him the specific address. Fang Zhao just had to follow the instructions.
After getting out of the car and paying the fare, Fang Zhao saw a group of children running toward him. Those who were a few floors up were running slower, and their faces were red with anxiety. There was no helping it. The elevator could only send a limited number of people. Those who could not make it to the front could only wait for the elevator to go up.
Turning his head to look behind him, Fang Zhao saw a float car approaching and stopping where the taxi had been.
Whether it was Qi 'an City or Yanbei City, it was common to see adorable floats running around. These were floats that sold candy, and children loved them.
The floats' windows were filled with all kinds of candy. The dazzling colors, the fragrant fragrance, and the signature music of the floats sold candy. Wherever the float went, it would always be surrounded by children.
When the float car stopped, the children running at the front rushed over and skillfully selected a few types of candy that were within the purchase range and that they liked. The children behind them who were running slower cried out anxiously. They were worried that the ones they had their eyes on would all be picked.
Fang Zhao smiled as he watched the children squeezing their way toward the float car.
His own memories of his childhood had long been hazy, but when he saw those children chasing after each other, some blurry memories resurfaced. They weren't clear, but they were still there.
Fang Zhao had intended to leave and leave this place to these children who only had eyes for candy, but just as he lifted his foot, he saw a familiar face among the group of children.
A six-year-old girl nimbly bypassed the two "big fellows" in front of her and arrived at the window selling candy. She stood on her tiptoes and ordered a few types of candy. A salesperson wearing a childish candy outfit smiled as he took a few types of candy from the window shelf and handed them to the little girl.
The little girl received the candy and raised her hand, which was wearing a little bear bracelet, and patted the payment area of the window. She turned around and was about to leave when she raised her head to look longingly at the little bear hanging above the window.
The floats that sold candy in this area were arranged according to the consumption level of the residents. The more expensive types sold less, so they were placed higher up.
The surrounding children also looked at the candies above the window with envy, but they only wanted to satisfy their cravings. They knew that they couldn't buy it because the money given by their families was limited.
"Give me one of those candy."
The salesperson who was smiling at the young customers raised his head when he heard the voice. He was stunned when he saw a young fellow, but he smiled and took the candy the other party was pointing at from the shelf.
The little girl who had just bought the candy also raised her head and looked over. She exclaimed, "Big Brother Zhao?"
"Little Bell Fang?" Fang Zhao lowered his head and asked.
This little girl was his second uncle's six-year-old daughter, Fang Ling. When she was born, his second uncle and aunt heard someone ringing a bell and gave Fang Ling the name Little Bell.
"That's me!" Fang Ling nodded vigorously. These few days, her father had been showing them photos of Fang Zhao, but they were all from before Fang Zhao went to university. Six years had passed, and there had been some changes, but Fang Ling still recognized him at a glance. She didn't know if she had really recognized him or if it was a child's subconscious instinct to pull candy buyers to people she knew.
The surrounding children looked at Fang Ling enviously. So it was Fang Ling's older brother. Fang Ling was really lucky to have someone buy candy for her.
"Hello, here's your candy." The salesperson unwrapped the candy and handed it to Fang Zhao.
Fang Ling's eyes were wide open. Her eyes were sparkling with anticipation. Then, she saw her cousin, whom she had met for the first time in six years, eat the candy she had wanted for so long.
Looking at the candy with the bear head bitten off, then looking at Fang Zhao eating the candy, Little Bell was dumbfounded.
The salesperson and the surrounding children were also dumbfounded. So this guy was buying candy for himself?!
Under the watchful eyes of the people around him, Fang Zhao calmly finished the candy.
During the end of days, they also ate candy, but that kind of candy was completely prepared for battle. It didn't taste good and was hard enough to crack walnuts, but as long as it provided enough energy, they liked it. Everything was for the sake of replenishing energy, so they didn't care about the taste. Fang Zhao hadn't eaten candy that looked, smelled, and tasted good purely as a snack in a long time.
The soft candy coated in powdered sugar slowly melted in his mouth. The lingering sweetness spread with warmth, as if dispelling the winter chill.
However, Fang Zhao was just trying something new and teasing the children. He didn't really like these things. Glancing at the dumbfounded Little Bell, Fang Zhao scanned the interior of the flower cart and asked the salesperson, "Are you selling that too?"
The salesperson turned to look at the spot Fang Zhao was pointing at. There was a transparent bear box filled with the same kind of candy.
"Sell … sell."
"I'll take that."
"Ah? Oh, okay! " The salesperson moved the half-meter tall box over. "There are 50 'Little White Bears' here. You can count them." She didn't expect that she would be able to sell an entire box of candy, which was usually hard to sell even a single stick, on a normal day!
Fang Zhao opened the box and looked at the surrounding children who had yet to leave. "If you can line up from shortest to tallest in ten seconds, I will give each of you one."
The little kids present had no concept of ten seconds, but when they heard it was "seconds," they all started moving.
"Ten, nine, eight …"
The children who were about the same height and had wanted to quarrel over the order in front of them stopped arguing when they heard Fang Zhao's announcement and hurriedly lined up.
Fang Ling looked at the line and then at Fang Zhao. She rushed into the line and found a place to line up.
The salesperson in the float car gaped as she watched the group of children who had been squeezing at the window a moment ago form a long line in the span of a few breaths. When the line was about to exit the parking lot area, it turned back and finally formed an "S" shape.
People passing by on the 25th floor's sky walkway also looked over curiously. A few people in the building opened their windows and looked over.
"… Three, two, one, time's up! I'm going to review. "
Fang Zhao looked at the line with a serious expression, making the children in the line nervous, afraid that they would stand in the wrong place and not get the candy.
"Not bad. Okay, starting from the first one, come over here to get the candy. "
After distributing the candy among the 32 children present, there were still 18 left in the box. Fang Zhao handed the box and the box to Fang Ling.
"For … for me?" Fang Ling was so shocked that she almost dropped the candy in her hand. "For me?"
Fang Zhao nodded. "You don't want it?"
"Yes! Thank you, Brother! "
Hugging the box tightly, Fang Ling's dumbfounded expression turned into a silly smile.
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