Chapter 50: Exclusive to Jinjiang 1/2

After taking a shower, Song Fuzhi came out, and the sheets on the bed had been changed by Shi Zhang, and everything was tidied up.

The flower vase had been propped up, and there were noticeably fewer flowers inside.

Song Fuzhi shook his head with a smile.

The cigarette box and lighter were still on the coffee table. Song Fuzhi picked them up and put them back on the bedside table, finding it interesting that Shi Zhang’s bedside table had combat supplies while his side had post-battle supplies.

At night, the two slept together, their arms gently resting on each other, very calm and warm.

Before drifting into a dream, Song Fuzhi vaguely thought that if married life could be so peaceful and comfortable, it would be great.

The little falcons on the windowsill were visibly rounded up, their soft down gradually turning into a more mature texture, and the presence of an adult hawk’s spirit could be glimpsed.

All five little ones successfully passed the initial challenges, and the two fathers felt gratified, taking pictures frantically in front of the window.

“Tomorrow is Monday; I’ll come to feed them; I should be able to get off work on time,” Shi Zhang said.

Song Fuzhi nodded in agreement.

The next evening, while preparing the test papers in the office, Song Fuzhi received a video invitation from Shi Zhang on his phone.

He also sent a message: “Look at these two chicks pecking each other in the coop!”

Song Fuzhi pushed the papers aside, smiling, and accepted the video call.

The first thing that entered his ears was the surrounding three-dimensional chirping, and Shi Zhang’s voice was almost overwhelmed: “Am I disturbing you?”

Song Fuzhi said, “No.” “Preparing content for evening self-study is almost finished.”

The camera focused on the windowsill, where two little falcons flapped their wings and played together, really resembling chicks pecking each other.

The two chatted and laughed for a while. Suddenly, Song Fuzhi heard a doorbell ringing on Shi Zhang’s side.

Shi Zhang also paused, puzzled: “Who could it be at this hour?”

Song Fuzhi suggested, “Maybe someone is delivering something, a courier.”

“It’s unlikely.”

The camera shook, and the image switched to the floor.

Shi Zhang walked while saying, “Deliveries are always sent to our home.”

The camera paused, and Shi Zhang stopped at the front door.

Then came the sound of the door opening, followed by a few seconds of silence.

The camera stayed on Shi Zhang’s feet and the floor. Suddenly, there was a flash, and it went black.

Shi Zhang turned off the camera.

“Teacher Song, can I hang up?” Shi Zhang’s voice softened. “Someone is looking for me.”

Song Fuzhi agreed, smoothly pulled the papers back in front of him, and casually said, “See you tonight.”

Shi Zhang responded and ended the video call.

Shi Zhang put away his phone, and in the next moment, his expression turned indifferent.

He didn’t expect that on the day he happened to be at home, he would have an unexpected guest.

Standing at Shi Zhang’s door was a lady with light makeup, long straight hair, and a moon-white long dress, giving off a sense of distance.

She looked at Shi Zhang expressionlessly and asked, “Can I come in?”

“Wait for me,” Shi Zhang said. “I’ll be out in a moment to find a coffee shop.”

The lady smiled faintly. “You still live alone?”

She paused, with a hint of mockery, and shouted, “Brother.”

Shi Zhang didn’t answer her first question; she just glanced at her lightly. “You called the wrong person, right?”

The lady chuckled softly. “Your dad is always at home muttering, Xiao Zhang, Xiao Zhang. You’re practically my brother.”

—

Shi Zhang frowned, his expression not looking good.

Because he heard the words “your dad.”

“I know you don’t recognize this father, and I don’t think you’re my brother either.” She gradually lost her smile. “But there’s nothing we can do. There are too many things in this world that can’t be changed.”

The two casually found a coffee shop, and they didn’t talk much along the way.

At the coffee shop, they chose a secluded corner, and each ordered a drink.

“What’s the matter with me?” Shi Zhang asked her. “Shi Yan.”

In fact, Shi Yan wasn’t wrong when she called him Shi Yan. Biologically, Shi Zhang was indeed her brother, though half-blooded.

They hadn’t been in contact for, God knows, how long. Shi Yan suddenly came to visit, and Shi Zhang wondered what it could be for.

Shi Yan said, “Don’t always wear that expression. Do you think I want to come and find you?”

Shi Zhang lowered his eyes, his expression relaxing a bit.

He fully believed that if Shi Yan could, she would never want to come find him.

Stirring her coffee, Shi Yan said, “My dad is about to celebrate his sixty-fifth birthday, and he wants you to come back.”

Shi Zhang sneered, a rare expression on Professor Shi’s face.

He asked, “Which year did I go back last?”

Shi Yan also smiled, her tone seeming relieved or sad. “This is probably the old man’s last birthday.”

She continued, “Late-stage cancer is still undergoing aggressive treatment, but I think it’s not very effective.”

Shi Zhang fell into silence.

No one spoke for a while at the table, and the cafe played piano music from an unknown source in the fading sunlight.

Shi Yan focused on adding sugar to her coffee, and Shi Zhang watched her.

Indeed, Shi Zhang hadn’t expected this piece of news.

Even though he never accepted this father-son relationship, Shi Zhenglin was still someone who had given him half of his blood. And now, this person’s life was entering its final countdown. Shi Zhang’s feelings were not easily summarized in a single sentence.

“You, your brother, and your mother.”

Shi Zhang paused, pulling out a faint smile. “Who would want to see me?”

“No one wants to see you.”

Shi Yan answered sharply, glancing at him without much warmth. “But Dad wants to see you. The head of the family wants to do something, and we can’t change that.”

“Do you know he mutters ‘Shi Zhang, Shi Zhang, Shi Zhang’ every day at home? He goes crazy when he gets anxious. I’m so damn annoyed!” Shi Yan suddenly got excited, her tone trembling subtly.

Shi Zhang pursed his lips. He could understand her loss of control.

After a few deep breaths, Shi Yan smiled. “So it’s better to let you go back and see him; put an end to his thoughts early, or else he’ll keep thinking until he’s in the grave.”

Shi Zhang calmly said, “But what does that have to do with me? I don’t want to see him. Except for this surname, I have no relationship with the Shi family.”

Shi Yan put down the coffee spoon and said, “But legally, you are his son.”

“And illegitimate children also have the right to inherit the inheritance.”

Shi Zhang shook his head. “I’m willing to write a statement renouncing the inheritance rights.”

“Shi Zhang, I really admire you. For so many years, Shi Zhenglin has wanted to bring you back home, and you never agreed. How can you be so principled?” Shi Yan looked at him without warmth. “But fortunately, you don’t want to come back. Otherwise, my mom would be pissed off alive.”

As for why Shi Zhenglin still wanted to recognize Shi Zhang as his son, the reasons were probably those—because Shi Zhang had achieved success, becoming a prestigious professor, which could bring honor to the Shi family.

As the son of Shi Zhenglin, even if he was living outside, he could still be presented with pride.

Shi Yan squinted, “If I were you, not only would I record myself in the family genealogy, but I would also fight for the family property.”

“Then, I’ll have to face Shi Zhenglin every day.” Shi Zhang laughed readily. “I’ve finally managed to get away from him.”

Shi Yan suddenly fell silent, tucked her hair behind her ears, and after a while, said, “Shi Zhang, I envy you too. You can be free and easy.”

Actually, Shi Zhang wanted to say that he had nothing to envy. But he realized that he didn’t really understand what kind of life Shi Yan was living. Perhaps even if her life was affluent, she might have unspeakable difficulties, so he didn’t say it.

Shi Zhang thought that if Shi Yan really knew what he, as an illegitimate child, had experienced, she probably wouldn’t say, “I envy you.”

But if what she envied was just freedom, then Shi Zhang felt that he was indeed freer than her.

For a long time in his childhood, Shi Zhang felt that he shouldn’t have come into this world. He was just a big cosmic error, a line of red-coded existence that should have been erased.

It seemed like he only understood later, quite late, that his rarely visited birth father was a somewhat successful businessman.

And when Shi Zhenglin messed around with Shi Zhang’s biological mother for one night, he already had a marriage engagement, and his legal wife was Shi Yan’s mother.

For many years since birth, almost all observers, the education he received, and societal perceptions told Shi Zhang that he was a destroyer of a complete family and that his existence itself was an original sin.

Even though all of this was not something he could choose,.

Shi Zhang was now an adult in his thirties, and he thought he had a very open-minded view of many things. He had tried his best to carve out a life of his own, but this unavoidable period seemed to arrive sooner than he expected.

Shi Zhang also had to realize that, regardless of how far he had tried to escape, regardless of how many times he had used his brilliant achievements to cleanse himself, this innate identity would still be imprinted in his bones, accompanying him for a lifetime.

Before leaving, Shi Yan said, “Whether you come or not is up to you, but after you draft the statement to renounce the inheritance rights, you can send it to my lawyer.”

After such a big circle, Shi Zhang guessed that Shi Yan’s purpose in coming was probably just to emphasize this last sentence.

Shi Yan left first, leaving half a cup of cold coffee in front of Shi Zhang.

Shi Zhang hadn’t touched this cup, feeling his stomach tighten. An invisible pressure was exerted from his esophagus to his airway, making it hard for him to breathe.

The sudden ringtone of his phone came as a rescue.

Looking at the caller ID “Fu Zhi,” Shi Zhang’s breath tightened again.

He pressed the answer button but remained silent, not initiating the usual greeting with Song Fuzhi.

Song Fuzhi’s steady voice came, as it had in the past few months: “Professor Shi, are you still at home? I’ve finished work. Do you want me to pick you up?”

Miraculously, this short sentence suddenly eased Shi Zhang’s restlessness.

Shi Zhang closed his eyes, holding the phone low. “Hmm.”

It was a muffled response with a hint of nasal tone.

But his next words returned to his usual mild tone: “Sure, thank you, Teacher Song.”

Song Fuzhi arrived quickly, and Shi Zhang got into the passenger seat.

In the car, they chatted about everyday topics.Song Fuzhi complained about repeating a certain topic ten times, only for someone to still make a mistake. Shi Zhang talked about a paper he had to revise again, which seemed more like a collage than a scholarly work.

They laughed together.