After receiving a phone call from his son, Gong Yuanhang began to withdraw the army from the northern suburbs. The army had just experienced this catastrophe. The surviving soldiers were exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and needed to rest for a while.
After taking a break, they would spare no effort to rescue people. Working so hard to save as many people as possible for personal gain, Gong Yuanhang was the first one to do this. There was some pressure and some guilt, but there was no regret on his part.
During the apocalypse, materials were precious, but human feelings cannot be lost. If one was going to lose friends and relatives, then what was the use of more supplies? In the end, the result would be a lonely death.
Gong Yuanhang was not young anymore and his energy was limited. If he could not protect his pair of children, he would not want to hold the power of the army firmly in his hands. He had never been an ambitious person.
When Gong Yuanhang returned to the base, Gong Lixin"s second phone call to rea.s.sure him also arrived then. The background sound of the helicopter could be heard, but magically, Gong Yuanhang could still clearly hear his son"s words, as if his son was whispering in his ear without any obstacle getting in the way.
Hanging up the phone, Gong Yuanhang went to see Lin grandfather and told him the good news about the group returning safely. The two sat in the office and talked animatedly, as if those two days and two nights rejuvenated them along with the new world.
"Dad, when are Wenbo and the others coming back? Did they find little brother?" Gong Xiangyi heard the army had returned and came into Gong Yuanhang"s office.
"Didn"t you call them?" Gong Yuanhang asked with a frown.
"I don"t have their phone number." Gong Xiangyi said with an embarra.s.sed expression as she sat down in an armchair opposite of the two.
All three had hurriedly left. No one left her a means of communication. She wanted to ask Grandfather Lin, but everytime she went to knock on Grandfather Lin"s door, she never got a response. She thought that Grandfather Lin was already resting. However, she saw him talking with her father in his office and she didn"t know what to think about it.
Lin Mao"s eyes looked up and the old face showed an indifferent expression.
Gong Yuanhang slightly gave in and said, "They will come back in an hour, together with your brother."
"My brother is fine?" Gong Xiangyi asked, her peach eyes widened in amazement. She thought that Gong Lixin was guaranteed to have died. This was his established fate in this life and she was convinced of this. However, Gong Lixin was now back and returned as an ability user. This completely deviated from her expectations. It was also different from her previous life"s experience. How could she not be shocked?
"Why does it seem like you are unable to accept this?" Seeing her daughter"s eyes filled with suspicion and surprise and not the expected joy, Gong Yuanhang"s face sank as he asked.
Lin Mao also stared at Gong Xiangyi with a look of his own.
"No." Gong Xiangyi recovered and quickly waved her hand. "I- I was only worried. I don"t know how to face my brother. After all, it was because of my negligence that my brother had left the house and suffered. I"m afraid to face him when he comes back. Maybe he"ll hate me."
Gong Yuanhang was stunned. He said, "Xiangyi, be honest. Was it really because of your negligence that you lost your brother?"
"Dad, what do you mean?" Gong Xiangyi sat up straight, her voice giving out.
"The kind of personality you have, I understand. After all, you are my daughter, the one I raised for 25 years." Gong Yuanhang sighed. Lin Mao also shook his head imperceptibly.
Gong Xiangyi"s back went rigid, her hand unconsciously clenching into fists.
Father Gong continued explaining. "You have the heart of a perfectionist. You will think twice before doing anything in order to avoid any mistake. You are not the kind of careless person who would forget to tell your brother and didn"t notice him leaving. I never believed those words even for a second. Did you deliberately let him go? Because you were afraid that he would become a zombie and pose a threat to you, right?"
Father Gong stared at Gong Xiangyi as if he was trying to look into her soul. If he did not poke into his daughter"s lie, then the lie would be buried deeper and deeper, rotting away her heart bit by bit until, sooner or later, her heart becomes affected.
This daughter of his was getting more and more heartless, with an indifferent mentality towards life and death. Even the lives of relatives were not important in her eyes.
This change surprised Father Gong. If he didn"t wake up his daughter with a heavy hammer but let the matter rest instead and let her get away with it, maybe his daughter would become even more cruel in the future. This was what worried Father Gong the most.
"Dad, I didn"t. How could you think I would do something like that?" Gong Xiangyi looked pale and denied his accusation.
"Don"t lie to me. Grandfather Lin and I have lived a long life. And I don"t dare boast but we wouldn"t misread any pair of eyes." Gong Yuanhang fell on the sofa and sighed with disappointment towards this daughter of his.
Lin Mao faintly glanced at Gong Xiangyi with indifference in his eyes. The facts have been laid out about how he had already seen through her deceit.
Gong Xiangyi"s sharp nails embedded into her palms. She thought about it for a long time, but no words came to mind. She then finally looked up and said with a voice full of sarcasm, "Dad, what qualifies you to say this to me? You could have brought brother to the army, but you left him at home instead. Was it because you feared that he would become a zombie and couldn"t bear to kill him? You chose to escape, why couldn"t I? I didn"t want to kill him, so I let him go out on his own. Was that not better? What did I do wrong? You left the danger with your daughter!"
Her voice had not stopped as Gong Xiangyi began to cry.
Gong Yuanhang was completely shocked by her words and for a long time, couldn"t return to Earth. He didn"t expect his daughter to think about him like this. As a father, he also blindly trusted his children. He had always felt that his son had not contracted the virus, so he wanted to let him stay in a safer environment. At the same time, for the sake of his daughter, he left a large number of weapons, guns, ammunition, and various knives at her fingertips. Even if his son did mutate and his daughter really did end up killing him, he would not blame her.
He thought that as their father, he had done the right thing, but he did not expect his daughter to have misunderstood.
Gong Yuanhang smiled and wanted to explain, but seeing the hidden hatred in his daughter"s eyes, he didn"t say anything. What was there to explain? His daughter"s heart was sensitive. She was the smartest of his children and she had determined that he was wrong, so whatever he said now would be useless.
Gong Yuanhang lowered his head, feeling uncomfortable. Lin Mao patted his shoulder in silent comfort. He saw it clearly though. Gong Xiangyi"s sarcasm and anger were used to cover up the fact that she deliberately murdered her brother. But she knew Gong Yuanhang very well and knew what kind of words would hit him hard and let him doubt his judgment.
Such a selfish, cold-blooded woman made Lin Mao even more disgusted. But in the end, it was Gong Yuanhang"s family affair. If he said anything now, he would seem suspicious. Therefore, he chose to remain silent, but his heart had other thoughts. He should take back the materials that his grandson stored in Gong Xiangyi"s s.p.a.ce as soon as possible.
"Forget it, since your younger brother is safe and sound, I"ll let this matter pa.s.s. I won"t mention it in the future." Father Gong rubbed his face and could barely open his mouth. "When your younger brother returns, you will apologize to him. I don"t have many days left to live, so you siblings have to support each other. Remember, you two are family and family depend on each other."
"I know, Dad." She thought about her father and how his body had gone from bad to worse. He would soon fall sick. Gong Xiangyi"s face grew dark and she immediately agreed to apologize.
"Go!" Gong Yuanhang waved her away tiredly. Gong Xiangyi gave a small sigh of relief before she slowly walked out of the office.
"She"s dying!" When Gong Xiangyi went away, Lin Mao couldn"t help but open his mouth. "That prophetic ability of hers made her immerse herself into the apocalypse too early and now, she"s extremely indifferent to the living. I"m afraid, in her eyes, Lixin had already become a dead man the moment he left the house and was abandoned by her. You should not expect her to take care of Lixin in the future."
Gong Yuanhang let out an earth-shattering sigh: "I don"t care. I give up. Just have her followed wherever she goes. I can"t manage her anymore. As long as the two siblings don"t become enemies in my lifetime then that"s fine. I will help Lixin become independent as soon as possible. When I"m gone, there will still be Haoran and Wenbo and they will surely help me."
Lin Mao was touched by those words and sighed.
After more than an hour, the helicopter arrived smoothly at the base. Song Yuanhang and Lin Mao immediately got up and went to the tarmac to meet them. Gong Xiangyi stood behind them with a complex expression as she stared at the sky. Lu Yun and Wu Ming also stood in the corner to welcome He Jin"s return.
Slowly, the helicopter landed. Without waiting for the vehicle to stop, a thin figure jumped out of the cabin and rushed towards his father. Father Gong immediately opened his arms and hugged his youngest child who had plunged into his arms. They turned around in circles and for the first time in days, his face cracked into a smile.
These days, his son was not afraid of him as he used to be. Instead, he always found the time to accompany him to read and chat and showed deep attachment to him. The relationship between father and son had long become close.
The busy Gong Xiangyi missed his change. So, when she saw their interaction now, her expression became terrified. She stood in the same place and forgot to come forward.
Song Haoran smiled and walked to the side of the father and son duo and wrapped his arms around Gong Lixin, who had not been able to stand still because of his father, and pretended to wrestle him out. Lin Wenbo reached out and hugged his Grandfather Lin and patted his back. He expressed his comfort without words.
After Gong Lixin had finished greeting his father, he came over to Grandfather Lin with his eyes wide open and with a smile. The two people looked like the most carefree people around.
It was then that Gong Xiangyi snapped out of her daze. By then, she couldn"t get into the crowd and could only stand in the corner, like a bystander who had nothing to do with these people. Her heart felt both awkward and annoyed.
On the other hand, He Jin, who had also been in the helicopter cabin, also stood in the corner as he watched the child grow brighter than the stars as he felt his heart was lost and he himself was filled with sorrow.
"Brother He, don"t just watch Young Master Gong"s family reunion. You will also be reunited soon. I told you that this base was awesome, the facilities are quite perfect, the rooms are clean and tidy and the food is delicious. I"ll leave some for you: a plate of braised pork, a few bottles of beer and we"ll stay up all night!" Lu Yun pulled his arm as he went up to say "hi".
"Only beer?" He Jin hated that the child was surrounded by a crowd so, he turned towards the other and asked in a numb voice.
"If you want to drink white wine, I can help you get some. Mr. Gong is very good. He heard that we brought Young Master Gong back and specifically told us to ask for whatever we needed!" Lu Yun exclaimed and could not wait to run to the logistics department. It was rare that Brother He wanted to drink and he sure wanted to accompany him. You know, in order look after him, Brother He had never been drunk.
"Get a few more bottles. We"ll get drunk and get a good night"s sleep." He Jin and Lu Yun hurried down the path.
When they had entered the military compound and he saw the untouched room of the child, He Jin thought that the Gong family had completely abandoned the child and wanted to take him away. However, seeing the joy in Gong Yuanhang"s expression, the matter was obviously different from what he initially thought. No matter what he felt deep inside, as long as the child was happy, he would be relieved despite the lost But, in the end, it was still somewhat difficult to deal with. He just wants to drink and smoke his troubles away.
Lu Yun did not look back and shook his hand in promise. Wu Ming was also full of understanding and secretly looked at He in. It was the apocalypse and his iron-hearted brother was always calm. He did not expect that also had pressure in his heart and need alcohol to relieve himself!