Chapter 111: The Current Situation of the Two Families — Part Two
None of them had expected things to develop this way. When Cheng Qi was about to knock again to ask more questions, Zhan Yun stopped him.
“Let’s go downstairs and take a look,” Zhan Yun said with a frown.
The base registration records shouldn’t be wrong—the house must indeed have been allocated to his father. Something must have happened that caused Pan Lihua and his father to separate. From Pan Lihua’s words, he could also sense something was off: her tone carried obvious disgust toward his father. That meant the problem lay with his father, so the most urgent thing was to find him first.
They assumed that “downstairs,” as Pan Lihua said it, literally meant the floor below. So the four of them went down one level and knocked on the door of the apartment directly beneath hers. When the occupants heard they were looking for Zhan Changfeng, they told them that he had moved to the first floor—the unit directly facing the staircase.
Suppressing the unease in their hearts, they thanked them and went together to the first floor.
After knocking again, it took quite a while before the door finally opened.
“Who are you looking for…?” An aged, haggard face appeared behind the door—but it wasn’t Zhan Yun’s father.
“Excuse me, does Zhan Changfeng live here?”
“And who might you be?” The elderly man didn’t answer right away, asking guardedly instead.
“I’m his son. My name is Zhan Yun.”
“Son? You’re that eldest son of his who ran away from home?!” The old man clearly knew of Zhan Yun’s existence, and joy immediately spread across his face.
“Uh…” Zhan Yun was momentarily speechless. He’d been driven out by Zhan Changfeng back then—he hadn’t run away on his own.
But that was all in the past, and dwelling on it served no purpose. In the end, Zhan Yun nodded in acknowledgment.
“That’s wonderful! Your father’s always been thinking about you. He keeps saying he shouldn’t have neglected you for the sake of that heartless mother and son. Thank goodness you came back safe…” The old man was clearly very happy. He rambled on as he opened the door wider and ushered them inside.
The houses uniformly built by the Capital Base were very different from pre-apocalypse homes. From the outside they looked similar, but inside they were laid out like college dorms—each household had a small one-room unit with a simple toilet and shower. In any case, with heavy snow outside, you could just carry back a bucket of snow, melt it, and use it as water—more than enough to flush the toilet and wipe yourself down.
After the four entered the room, Zhan Yun immediately spotted Zhan Changfeng lying in the corner. His hair was completely white, his back hunched, his cheeks sunken. He looked like an old man in his seventies or eighties. Zhan Yun could hardly believe this was the same father who had once been so imposing and full of vigor.
“Old Zhan, that eldest son you’ve been thinking about day and night has come back!”
“What?” Zhan Changfeng raised his head in disbelief. “Xiao Yun…?”
“Dad…?” Zhan Yun was equally shocked. “What happened to you…?”
Zhan Changfeng had married young, unlike Cheng’s father. He wasn’t even sixty yet, but he looked older than Cheng’s father now.
Zhan Changfeng sighed and struggled to sit up slowly. The thin blanket covering him slipped down, and only then did Zhan Yun notice that he was wearing nothing but a patched old cotton jacket on top and dark shorts on the bottom. From beneath the end of the blanket, his two legs were exposed—and they were noticeably different in thickness.
“Dad… what happened to your leg?” Zhan Yun finally found the crux of the problem. It must have been his father’s leg that caused Pan Lihua to leave him with Zhan Bo.
“Ah…” Zhan Changfeng let out a long sigh.
There were simply too many people in the capital. After the apocalypse broke out, the number of zombies exploded as well. As a result, the Capital Base was actually established in rural areas far from the city center. Zhan Changfeng had protected his wife and son as they followed the troops out, but along the way, the convoy was hit by a zombie horde and overturned. Zhan Changfeng’s leg was crushed beneath the vehicle, resulting in a comminuted fracture.
Although he was rescued and transferred to another vehicle, eventually making it to the Capital Base, which already had basic defensive facilities, the entire base was in chaos at the time. Medical resources were extremely scarce, and doctors diagnosed his injury as a transverse fracture.
This type of fracture looked severe but, in reality, could heal as long as it was immobilized in a cast for three months and the patient remained bedridden until the bone rejoined. But there was no plaster then—only bandages and splints for rudimentary fixation. That meant Zhan Changfeng had to remain in bed for the next three months, unable to do any work at all.
The Capital Base operated on a labor-based distribution system. However, because Zhan Changfeng was a high-ranking officer and had been injured, the base still gave him decent treatment, allocating him some water and food every day. But Pan Lihua and Zhan Bo, as his family members, did not receive such treatment. Naturally, neither Pan Lihua nor Zhan Bo was willing to go out and work, so they stayed in the medical center under the pretense of taking care of Zhan Changfeng.
However, Zhan Changfeng’s rations were limited, and splitting them among three people was a real stretch. Though displeased, he endured it for the sake of marital ties, always leaving some food for his wife and son. Yet Pan Lihua and Zhan Bo were extremely negligent in caring for him. Pan Lihua had been raised as a pampered young lady and had long been accustomed to the life of an officer’s wife, with fine clothes and good food and servants to do all the work—she’d never taken care of anyone herself. Zhan Bo, spoiled by Pan Lihua and still young, was even less capable of providing care. Under their “care,” Zhan Changfeng’s condition actually worsened, until doctors who couldn’t stand it any longer kicked the two of them out.
Later, once the base housing was completed, one unit was allocated to him as well. Seeing that his condition had stabilized somewhat, the doctors informed Pan Lihua and Zhan Bo to come take Zhan Changfeng home. But Pan Lihua refused. After she and Zhan Bo moved into the house allocated to Zhan Changfeng, she never returned to the hospital again, acting as if he no longer existed. Zhan Changfeng’s heart grew colder with each passing day.
When the severe winter suddenly arrived, the base fell into shortages of food and winter supplies. The medical center’s heating conditions were poor, so patients who could still move were told to leave. Pan Lihua still refused to take Zhan Changfeng in. Left with no choice, he moved into this current house with several old comrades who were in similar condition. With food scarce everywhere, the rations they received dwindled further, leaving them perpetually half-starved but not dead.
Zhan Changfeng’s leg had never healed well to begin with, due to poor care and malnutrition. Under these conditions, it only deteriorated further.
“Xiao Yun, it’s good that you’re back—so good that you’re back. Back then, it was all Dad’s fault…” Zhan Changfeng wept bitterly. After remarrying and having a younger son, he really had neglected Zhan Yun. When he discovered Zhan Yun liked men, he’d flown into a rage. Zhan Yun, young and hot-headed at the time, had argued fiercely with him, leading to Zhan Yun leaving home for so many years. If he’d known the apocalypse would come and life would become so unbearably hard, what did it matter whether his son liked men or women?
“Dad, I was wrong too.” Seeing his father filled with regret, the last traces of resentment in Zhan Yun’s heart completely dissipated. His eyes reddened slightly. He shouldn’t have stubbornly refused to come back just to prove a point. If he’d returned earlier, perhaps his father wouldn’t have ended up like this. He’d been too naïve, assuming that as a high-ranking officer protected by the military, his father would be fine—never imagining things would turn out this way.
At last, the father and son put the past behind them.
“Dad, this is my partner, Su Ruizhe. You can call him Xiao Zhe,” Zhan Yun said, pulling Su Ruizhe over and introducing him to Zhan Changfeng.
“Hello, Uncle Zhan…” Su Ruizhe greeted obediently.
“Good, good child.” Zhan Changfeng smiled, rummaged through all his pockets, but couldn’t find anything. In the end, he could only laugh awkwardly. “It’s a pity Uncle doesn’t have anything here. I’ll owe you the first-meeting gift for now.”
“Uncle, you’re too polite.” Su Ruizhe truly didn’t care about gifts at all. Zhan Changfeng’s willingness to accept him was already the best gift he could ask for.
After that, Zhan Yun told his father about his own experiences, then said, “Dad, how about you come back to the Southern Base with us?”
“No… Dad’s in this condition now—I’d only be a burden to you. Being able to see that you’re living well puts my mind at ease,” Zhan Changfeng said, fully aware of his situation and unwilling to drag his son down.
“Dad! What are you saying?!” Zhan Yun frowned.
“Uncle Zhan, you’re really underestimating our Ah Zhan,” Cheng Jiao spoke up to help. “Ah Zhan is amazing now. The four of us are all ability users. If you come with us to the Southern Base, you’ll definitely live better than you do here.”
“That’s right, Uncle Zhan, come with us,” Cheng Qi also urged. “If you don’t go, how could I have the nerve to bring my parents along?”
Cheng Qi and Cheng Jiao didn’t want to stay in the capital. The capital was the center of power, full of intrigue and infighting. It was also under strict military control and lacked the warmth of the Southern Base. Their parents were already old and had no combat ability—life here wouldn’t be good for them. It would be far better to take them back to the Southern Base.
“That’s right, Old Zhan. Your son is so filial—just go with them,” even the old man who had opened the door for them earlier chimed in to persuade Zhan Changfeng.
“Well… alright then…” Under everyone’s urging, Zhan Changfeng finally agreed. “Old Qiao, why don’t you come with us too? If it weren’t for you taking me in and looking after me all this time, I probably wouldn’t have made it.”
“That wouldn’t be appropriate…” Old Qiao waved his hands repeatedly.
“Uncle Qiao, you took my father in and cared for him for so long. How could we leave you behind?” Zhan Yun also persuaded him. “If you don’t come with us, my dad will probably change his mind again.”
“No, no… one more person means more consumption. In times like these…” Old Qiao wasn’t related to them and didn’t want to burden them.
“Uncle Qiao, we have plenty of supplies. You really don’t need to worry about us.”
“That’s right, Old Qiao. If you don’t go, then I won’t go either!”
In the end, Old Qiao had no choice but to agree.
Author’s Note:
[Mo Shang’s Little Skit]
Zheng Jiahe: It’s here! The protagonist’s standard setup—trash dad and evil stepmom!
Cheng Jiao: Suddenly not so envious of poor Zhan anymore. Mom! I want pork ribs, braised beef, chicken wings…
Little Zhan Yun: Hah, a bunch of idiots!
Little Su Zhe: What’s wrong?
Little Zhan Yun: Wifey, I’m so pitiful—Dad doesn’t dote on me, Mom doesn’t love me. Baby’s heart hurts!
Little Su Zhe: Be good. You still have me.
Doctor Song: Oscar-worthy acting.
Cheng Qi: Drama king.
Cheng Jiao: Shameless!
Zheng Jiahe: Goddess, I salute you—you’re a real man!
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