Striving for Science C116 extra

"It's so hard to book plane tickets near the Spring Festival." Shen Chang'an opened the ticket booking platform, lying on the sofa and muttering softly, "Even the most expensive first-class cabin is sold out."

"Lord, I fly very fast. You can sit on my back, and I only need to flap my wings a few times to reach the Imperial Capital." The three-headed phoenix, who was only as tall as a child, hurried over, his big, dark eyes blinking. "This way, we can save a lot of money on airfare."

"I don't hire child labor." Shen Chang'an pinched the little phoenix's chubby cheek. "Things have come to this, we can only take Dao Nian's private plane. Hopefully, the flight route will be approved before the Spring Festival."

"Oh." The little phoenix dejectedly lowered his head. This was the countless time he had failed to apply for a job.

It was all because humans invented so many communication tools. The Lord always said that living in the human world meant living according to the human world's ways, leaving him with no use.

"It's rare to be back in Wuming City. You stay home and have fun." Shen Chang'an patted the little phoenix's head. "I have something to go out for. Have a good lunch at home, don't be picky."

The little phoenix: "..."

The phoenix clan's picky eating habits were known throughout the world. Asking him not to be picky was too much to ask of a bird, wasn't it?

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him." Dao Nian closed the book in his hand. "Go and come back soon. I'll have Old Zhao make you something delicious tonight."

"Okay." Shen Chang'an took the opportunity to kiss Dao Nian's cheek a few times before leaving the house.

It had been nearly five years since he left Wuming City. Chen Panpan had married her boyfriend and settled in the Imperial Capital. Ding Yang had been transferred to the provincial capital and became the deputy director of the provincial Civil Service Department. The only ones left in the Wuming City Civil Service Department were Xu Ze and his beloved Yiyi.

Five years ago, when he and Dao Nian treated him to dinner, he learned that Xu Ze had a girlfriend named Yiyi, and she was a disciple of a metaphysics sect. Whether Xu Ze knew about her identity as a metaphysics disciple or not, their relationship had been very good all these years.

Seeing Xu Ze again, he looked much more mature and steady than before. They didn't go to a high-end restaurant, but to the fish hotpot restaurant they used to love the most. They sat around a small table, sipping drinks and talking about the trivial matters of the past few years.

The fish hotpot was steaming, making Xu Ze's cheeks slightly red.

After a few cups of hot drinks, Xu Ze relaxed. He sighed and said, "I always felt that you weren't an ordinary person. It turns out my guess was right."

"Maybe it's because outstanding people radiate wisdom wherever they go?" Shen Chang'an joked. "I didn't expect that the one who would stay in Wuming City in the end would be you."

Xu Ze lowered his head, the steam blurring his glasses. "Someone has to stay here. Yiyi is now the director of the Civil Service Department, and I, as her husband, naturally have to follow her lead."

Shen Chang'an looked at Xu Ze and suddenly said, "Can you see other things with your eyes?"

Xu Ze paused, his eyes widening as he looked up at Shen Chang'an. The hotpot base was bubbling furiously in the fire. After a long silence, Xu Ze smiled and said, "What do you mean?"

When he was very young, he could see things that others couldn't. When he excitedly told his parents, he was met not with praise, but with their fear. Gradually, he learned to hide it. Later, he heard his mother talk about how he could see unclean things when he was a child, but couldn't see them anymore. He just smiled.

People often say that children's eyes are very pure and they can see things that adults can't. But after the age of twelve, they can't anymore.

Maybe some children really can't see anymore, while others just pretend they can't.

This secret had been hidden in Xu Ze's heart for a long time, so long that he couldn't tell anyone. After being with Yiyi, he realized that he wasn't a strange person, because Yiyi could also see those hazy, strange shadows.

Now, hearing Shen Chang'an suddenly mention it, he felt a sudden sense of discomfort. All these years, he had kept a distance from others because of this secret. Now that Shen Chang'an had brought it up, he felt an urge to confess the secret that had been hidden for so long.

"Was I very obvious back then?" He remembered that when he worked with Shen Chang'an, the most common thing they did was to go to the residents of the community to promote the idea of not believing in superstition, seeing a doctor when sick, and seeking help from the police when in trouble, instead of praying to gods and worshipping Buddha.

Shen Chang'an shook his head. "No, it's just that my eyesight is good. Actually, I can see too."

Xu Ze stared at Shen Chang'an, dumbfounded: "Really?"

Shen Chang'an smiled: "Do I look like someone who would joke about this? Actually, it's not just me, Director Du and Aunt Juan also knew. We didn't tell you back then because we were afraid it would affect your worldview. If I had known you could see them too, I could have discussed it with you."

Xu Ze looked up at Shen Chang'an. The previous Shen Chang'an didn't know he could see ghosts. After a few years of not seeing each other, he could see them now. What happened to him in these years...?

"These years, how are you and... your lover doing?" Xu Ze didn't want to admit that his usually sharp mind couldn't remember Shen Chang'an's lover's name.

"He's doing well." Shen Chang'an nodded. "We've been eating our way through global cuisines."

"You've traveled to so many places, but you haven't gained any weight or aged. You look exactly the same as five years ago." Xu Ze sighed. "It seems like eating, drinking, and having fun is the best way to stay young."

"Yeah, living off someone else's money is truly blissful." Shen Chang'an said with a thick face. "I can now understand how easy it is to go from simple to luxurious."

Shocked by Shen Chang'an's blatant shamelessness, Xu Ze took a while to speak: "After all these years, you've not only become lazier, but your face has also gotten thicker."

On Shen Chang'an's face, Xu Ze couldn't see any traces of time. He and Shen Chang'an were like people from two different worlds. Although they had some connection, they couldn't truly enter each other's worlds. This feeling was like that time when Shen Chang'an was sick and he went to visit him with his colleagues. Walking through that mysterious neighborhood, he always felt that the lush forest held secrets he couldn't see.

As they were about to part ways, Xu Ze asked: "When will you come back next time?"

He felt like he should ask. He was afraid that if he didn't, Shen Chang'an would forget to come back.

"Soon." Shen Chang'an replied.

Xu Ze didn't know that Shen Chang'an's "soon" might be different from his own.

"Then... see you next time." He watched Shen Chang'an walk out of the hotpot restaurant. At the street corner, a man in a gray trench coat stood quietly. Seeing him come out with Shen Chang'an, the man nodded at him.

That was Shen Chang'an's boyfriend.

Watching Shen Chang'an walk through the cold street, quickly running towards the man, Xu Ze knew he shouldn't go forward. He stopped and gave the man a polite smile.

"Xu Ze, goodbye." He watched Shen Chang'an wave at him from across the street, smiling. The man in the trench coat draped a towel around Shen Chang'an's neck.

Wuming City hadn't seen snow for five years. Shen Chang'an came back this year and encountered the first snowfall in five years.

"Goodbye." He said with a smile, putting his hands in his coat pockets. He watched them walk away before slowly turning around and heading back.

***

Back home, Xu Ze found his troublesome younger cousin at his house: "Xu Jiang, I heard you're trying to become a Daoist priest and making your parents angry?"

"Being a Daoist priest is so good. You don't have to be pressured by relatives to get married, you can cultivate your mind and body, and refine your character." Xu Jiang had just graduated from college a few months ago and didn't want to work for his family's company. He wanted to practice Daoism.

"Right, sister-in-law." Xu Jiang looked at his sister-in-law who was sitting on the sofa peeling oranges.

Yiyi glanced at this unlucky brat, got up, and took a form from the cabinet and handed it to Xu Jiang.

"What is this?" Xu Jiang took the form and looked at it curiously. He saw that it listed the subjects for the Daoist Studies graduate exam. "I understand philosophy and the I Ching, but why do you have to take chemistry, basic medical knowledge, and English?"

"Because Daoism also needs to be integrated with the international community. How can you draw talismans if you can't paint? How can you refine pills if you don't have basic medical knowledge?" Yiyi said calmly. "Study hard according to the content on this form. Maybe... in a couple of years, you can get in."

Xu Jiang: "..."

Do even failing students not qualify to be Daoists?

He put down the exam syllabus with a disgruntled look, and said with a dry laugh, "I think it wouldn't be bad to go work at the family company first, get some experience."

After saying this, Xu Jiang stood up. "Brother, sister-in-law, you two rest well. I won't disturb you anymore." With that, he dashed out of Xu Ze's house.

"This little rascal..." Xu Ze shook his head helplessly. "He's already over twenty, but he's still so irresponsible. Yet, he's incredibly lucky. He aced his college entrance exams and hasn't failed a single course in university. I really don't know what kind of destiny he has."

"Maybe he did something good and is destined to be protected for life." Yiyi patted his head, like she was coaxing a child. "Come on, don't be unhappy. Take the mop and do something to cheer yourself up?"

Xu Ze: "..."

No! Mopping the floor won't make me happier!

***

After leaving his cousin's apartment complex, Xu Jiang realized he had forgotten to wear his scarf. Snow was falling outside, and it was a bit chilly. He huddled his neck, regretting not driving out today. He could only shiver and take out his phone to see if he could hail a ride.

"Young man, are you cold?" An old lady walked over and handed him a hand warmer, her voice exceptionally kind. "It's cold outside, go home early."

A young man suddenly being given a hand warmer by an old lady, Xu Jiang was a little taken aback, but his hands were indeed quite warm.

He looked at the old lady, and the old gentleman who was walking with her, his smile equally kind. After a moment, he quickly said, "No, no, thank you."

The old lady was being kind, and he couldn't bear to take it.

"It's okay, take it." The old lady pressed down on his hand as he tried to refuse. Xu Jiang was ashamed to discover that he wasn't even as strong as an old lady.

Could it be that the comfortable university life has corrupted him?

"Goodbye." In the blink of an eye, the old man and the old woman had already walked a distance away. He stared blankly at the old woman's back. Had he seen her somewhere before?

Back in the residential area, he saw his mother chatting with a few aunties. He shrunk his neck, tiptoed, and slowly avoided their gaze.

"Does worshipping the Bedside God and Bedside Granny really work?"

“It’s useful. My neighbor’s distant relative has a child who always has night terrors. They took him to the hospital, and he wasn’t lacking in any nutrients. Later, they went to worship the Bedside Grandpa and Bedside Granny, and that night, the child was able to sleep soundly.”

"So amazing…"

"That's no joke."

Bedside Grandpa, Bedside Granny?

Xu Jiang thought, adults, in order for children to grow up strong, they have to embrace both science and faith, both hands must be strong.

The hearts of parents all over the world are pitiful.