Ren Yi took three days of short leave, intending to relax properly.
After returning home, he first changed out of his fire station uniform and into a T-shirt and jeans. Then he drove to the supermarket and bought a pile of things his father liked to eat, along with daily necessities.
On the way back, traffic was a little congested. As the car crawled forward, he made a phone call.
The phone rang for a long time before it was answered. A lazy voice came from the other end. “Hello.”
Ren Yi smiled. “Drunk again?”
“Ah… What time is it…?” There was a pause on the other end. “Who calls someone this early in the morning?” His tone carried a hint of coquettishness.
“It’s almost ten o’clock, and you still call this early morning?”
“Do you think I’m you? Doing morning training at six every day.” The sound of bedsheets rustling came through the phone. “Why did you suddenly call me? Miss me?”
“Mm, I missed you. Are you in Tianqi?”
“What a coincidence. I just finished filming and came back.”
Ren Yi smiled. “How about I treat you to drinks tomorrow?”
The other party chuckled twice and said ambiguously, “Bring the drinks to my place.”
——
After returning home, Ren Yi parked the car and carried two large plastic bags toward the house.
From a distance, he saw his father leaning on a cane and walking toward him. Every step made his entire body tremble, yet he still struggled to take the biggest steps possible. The sight made Ren Yi’s heart tremble with fear.
The nanny beside him anxiously tried to stop him, but could not hold him back at all.
Ren Yi hurried over. “What happened?”
“Your father insists he heard the alarm. Hurry and stop him.”
Ren Yi handed the bags to Auntie Wang. “Dad, what are you doing?”
Ren Xiangrong stared straight ahead, as if everyone around him did not exist. He kept shouting, “Responding to a call, responding to a call.” His voice trembled with excitement.
Although the fire station was directly across from their residential compound, at that distance, even in the dead of night, they might not necessarily be able to hear the siren.
Ren Yi tightly wrapped his arms around Ren Xiangrong’s shoulders. “Dad, you’re not leading the team today! You’re not leading the team today!”
“Responding to a call! I have to respond to the call!” Ren Xiangrong forcefully rammed into Ren Yi. When he failed to break free, he angrily waved his cane.
The head of the cane struck Ren Yi squarely on the top of his foot.
Ren Yi cried out in pain but forced himself not to let go. He dragged his father back with all his strength. “Dad, you’re really not leading the team today. The deputy captain is leading the team. Let’s go home, let’s go home, okay?”
The neighbors in the residential compound stopped and stared.
Auntie Wang sighed repeatedly from the side.
In the end, Ren Yi endured the pain in his foot and carried his father back home.
Their house was in an old-style apartment building without an elevator. Fortunately, it was only on the third floor, but Ren Yi was still exhausted and drenched in sweat.
Actually, their family had another house not far away, in a much better environment. While his mother was still alive, the family of three had already moved there. He had moved back here only because it was more convenient to take care of his father.
Ren Xiangrong sat in his chair, no longer as stubborn as before. He quietly stared blankly out the window, as if nothing had happened, though he continued muttering indistinct words.
Ren Yi hopped on one leg to the sofa. He had no time to examine his foot and simply collapsed onto the sofa, gasping heavily.
Auntie Wang came over with iodine, helped him remove his shoe and sock, and looked at his already swollen foot. She sighed. “Let Auntie put some medicine on it.”
Ren Yi said dully, “Thank you.”
After applying the medicine, Auntie Wang opened her mouth, speaking with some difficulty. “Captain Ren, your father’s condition is getting worse and worse. In the past, he had more lucid periods, but now… his periods of lucidity are becoming fewer and fewer.”
Ren Yi nodded. “I know.”
His father had earned military merit and retired due to injuries. His pension and medical insurance were both quite good, so medical treatment did not cost too much. But some illnesses were simply beyond what money could do.
“Last night… when Xiaowen was bathing him, he pushed Xiaowen so hard that he fell.”
Ren Yi froze for a moment. “Is Xiaowen all right? Auntie, I’m really sorry. My father…”
Auntie Wang patted his knee reassuringly. “It’s nothing serious.”
Xiaowen was Auntie Wang’s son. Mother and son took turns caring for his father day and night.
Ren Yi scratched his hair, feeling unbearably suffocated. He could not help glancing at Ren Xiangrong—the hunched body, the graying hair, the hands that still trembled slightly on his knees. He had once seen this man standing tall and proud, like a pillar holding up the sky. Now, all that remained was endless loss and sorrow.
“Captain Ren, your work is so busy, and you rarely get time off. You’re the only one at home. Have you ever considered… considered a nursing home? They have professional caregivers and doctors there.”
Ren Yi firmly shook his head. “I won’t send my father to a nursing home. And he doesn’t want to go either.”
Auntie Wang said awkwardly, “There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, but I never found the right opportunity. My husband is about to retire. After he retires, we’re planning to return to our hometown. In this place, even after working hard for an entire lifetime, we still can’t afford to buy a house.”
Ren Yi fell silent. After changing through so many nannies, Auntie Wang and her son were the most reliable so far. Although their wages alone cost him ten thousand yuan a month, he would rather spend more money as long as they could take good care of his father.
Auntie Wang said, “I’m sorry, Captain Ren. You’re both good people, and you’ve always treated us well. Actually, we’re worried about your father too, but there’s nothing we can do. You still have a few months to think about it and look for someone new.”
Ren Yi helplessly said, “All right. Thank you.”
At noon, Ren Yi personally cooked several dishes his father liked, but his father refused to eat even a single bite. By afternoon, however, he suddenly called out that he was hungry. Ren Yi reheated the dishes and accompanied his father through another meal.
He often reminded himself that he should not feel sad, but should instead be grateful. After all, there were still times when he could have a normal father.
——
When Ren Yi woke up the next day, Ren Xiangrong had regained his lucidity. He had even taken it upon himself to water the flowers while leaning on his cane, humming a little tune.
Ren Yi felt much more relieved and suggested, “Old Ren, since it’s rare for me to have time off, Auntie Wang and I want to do a thorough cleaning later. How about you supervise us? Wherever you point, that’s where we’ll work.”
Ren Xiangrong snorted lightly. “You want me to supervise this? That’s beneath my dignity. You two can mess around yourselves. Oh, and be careful with my trophies and medals.”
“Don’t worry. Who would dare touch your treasures?”
After Auntie Wang arrived, the two began working.
Ren Yi’s foot was still swollen, but it was nothing serious, so he limped around sweeping the floor, wiping windows, and throwing things away.
After working all morning, the house was much cleaner. Finally, Ren Yi took a brand-new, spotless white cloth, wrung out the water, and went to wipe Ren Xiangrong’s “Wall of Honor.”
The Wall of Honor stood on top of the television cabinet. One certificate, trophy, medal, and banner after another recorded the thirty years this old firefighter had spent serving in uniform. Behind every commendation might have been a heart-stopping story.
As he wiped, Ren Yi reminisced with Ren Xiangrong. “This was from when you earned your Third-Class Merit, protecting the Two Sessions, right?”
“Mm, collective Third-Class Merit.” Ren Xiangrong leaned on his cane and walked over.
“This banner was sent by the family of those twins you rescued.”
“That’s right. The banners I’ve received could fill an entire box. The ones displayed here all have special meaning.”
Ren Yi smiled. “I know. I can practically recite the stories behind everything here.” He gently touched the symbols of those honors, his heart filled with admiration for his father, just as it had been when he was young.
Since childhood, he had looked up to his father as a heroic firefighter. So despite his mother’s objections, he had still followed in his father’s footsteps without hesitation and made it to where he was today. No matter how difficult, exhausting, or dangerous this job was, he had never regretted it.
“This one is your Second-Class Merit.” Ren Yi picked up the medal. “The chemical plant explosion.”
Ren Xiangrong nodded. “Eighteen years ago. That was the closest I ever came to death in my life. It was a major accident that shocked the entire country at the time.”
Ren Yi remembered this story clearly. He remembered how, after being buried beneath a collapse, Ren Xiangrong had spent eight days supporting himself beneath the rubble with one soldier and two workers. That year, Ren Yi had only been eleven or twelve. During those eight days, he had stayed at the scene with his mother, truly experiencing what it meant for each day to feel like a year.
“More than a hundred people died.” Ren Xiangrong’s expression grew somewhat somber, undoubtedly remembering his comrades who had sacrificed their lives.
Ren Yi carefully wiped the medal clean. “They say surviving a great disaster means you’ll have good fortune afterward.”
Ren Xiangrong gave a mocking smile. “If I had good fortune, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
Ren Yi said seriously, “Don’t say that, Old Ren. Being able to retire safely is already a blessing.”
Ren Xiangrong let out a sigh. “Sometimes I can see things clearly. I’ve snatched so many lives back from the King of Hell’s hands. That old man has to punish me a little. I just don’t know when he’ll come to collect me.”
Ren Yi snorted with laughter. “Don’t flatter yourself. He’s busy every day. He doesn’t have time to bother with you.” He returned the cleaned medal to its original place. “By the way, I seem to remember something. Wasn’t it that a few months later, something also happened to the family of the chairman of the group that owned this chemical plant?”
“Yes. And I was the one who responded to that call too. At the time…”
“Captain Ren.” Auntie Wang’s voice came from inside the house. “Help me move this cabinet.”
“Coming.”
——
After finishing the thorough cleaning, Ren Yi took a satisfying shower. He fixed up his hair in front of the mirror, changed into another outfit, and took two bottles of red wine from home before heading out ahead of rush hour.
He drove to a residential complex in Guomao, entered the building’s access code with practiced ease, and took the elevator to the top floor.
After stepping out of the elevator, he knocked on a door. A handsome, fair-skinned young man leaned against the doorframe, smiling brightly at him.
“Did you bring the wine? No wine, no entry.”
Ren Yi lifted the bag in his hand and tugged slightly at the corner of his mouth. “I brought the wine, and I brought myself too.”
The two exchanged smiles. The next moment, he was yanked inside.
——
When Ren Yi woke up, the sky was just beginning to lighten.
Despite having gone wild until very late the previous night, his biological clock unfailingly woke him around six o’clock. At the squadron, they went running every morning at this time.
He wanted to sleep a little longer, but could not close his eyes no matter what. In the end, he simply got up, washed, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.
By the time he carried breakfast out, someone had already seated himself at the dining table, waiting.
“You have a dog’s nose. You smelled the food and got up immediately.”
Qi Xiao yawned hugely. “I was woken up by you, okay?”
“Oh, then I’m sorry. I made breakfast as compensation.”
Qi Xiao scooped a spoonful of purple sweet potato porridge into his mouth. He nodded while blowing on it to cool it down. “You can be forgiven.”
Ren Yi sat down as well. As they ate, he asked, “You just got back from Hengdian? How long are you resting?”
Qi Xiao was a minor actor. The two had met in a bar years ago, before Qi Xiao entered the entertainment industry, and they had never lost touch over the years.
“I don’t know. There’s a production company discussing a role with me, but I haven’t decided whether to take it yet.” Qi Xiao scratched his hair. “Ah, it’s boring. Most of the scripts aren’t very good, and neither are the roles.”
“Take your time. You’ll become famous sooner or later.”
Qi Xiao shrugged. “I’ve heard that kind of comforting talk enough times. There are too many people like me in the industry, and I don’t have much of an advantage.” He raised his chin toward Ren Yi. “Hey, people with your type of looks are pretty rare. How about changing careers?”
Ren Yi laughed loudly. “I’m so popular that I’d steal all your jobs. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”
“Thank you?” Qi Xiao laughed along with him. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and we’ve only been talking about me. What about you? How have things been lately? Any changes?”
“I spend most of my time at the squadron. What changes could there be?”
Qi Xiao gave him a sidelong glance. “You haven’t… met anyone or anything?”
Ren Yi paused, then smiled and shook his head. “I get so little leave, and I also have to take care of my father. I don’t have much of a private life. I haven’t had the chance to meet anyone.”
Qi Xiao sighed. “Me too. Filming keeps me too busy to date. Though dating is troublesome anyway. Making money is more important.”
The two chatted about a few other things. Ren Yi glanced at the clock and said, “I have to go back. My father should be getting up soon.”
“Then I won’t keep you.” Qi Xiao blew him a kiss. “I’ll be in Tianqi for at least another month. Come find me again.”
“Sure. See you.”
Ren Yi put on his shoes and was just about to leave.
Qi Xiao suddenly called out, “Ren Yi.”
“Hmm?”
“You really are very likable.” Qi Xiao blinked at him. “At least, you’re my favorite.”
Ren Yi’s heart trembled slightly. For a moment, he felt an impulse to stay, but in the end, he only smiled, turned around, and left.