Returning to the Theater House
"Miss, you're still wearing it?" In the back seat of the car, Uncle Quan let out a long sigh when he saw the gold bracelet on the young girl's wrist.
"...Mm."
Huang Suyue lowered her head, her fingertips gently rubbing the surface of the bracelet.
Huang Suyue sold the Huang Consortium and all her jewelry, but left this bracelet alone... This wasn't because the bracelet was valuable, but because it had a special meaning to Huang Suyue.
"Miss... That Lord, won't come back."
"I know."
"Actually, if you didn't choose to come back, perhaps you could have left with him."
"But there are always some things that are more important... Aren't there?" Huang Suyue pursed her lips slightly. The clash with the three major consortia just now had already made her extremely exhausted. Leaning against the back seat, she spoke softly,
But Uncle Quan, you know me. I'm not the type to abandon everything for the pursuit of love and then wash my face with tears all day... He is the Special Envoy Lord, he has his own things to do, and I don't want to abandon myself and become anyone's appendage...
Perhaps, this is just Destined to Meet But Not to Stay."
Huang Suyue shrank back into the corner of the seat, the young girl's hair by her temples hanging down gently. She looked at her reflection in the window and muttered to herself:
"Sometimes, I would fantasize... If only he really was just an ordinary Thespian in the Jinghong Theater, how wonderful that would be."
Uncle Quan looked at Huang Suyue who was lost in a daze. He had watched Huang Suyue grow up, and no one hoped Huang Suyue could be happy and joyful more than him, but seeing her current appearance, he only felt a bout of heartache...
He opened his mouth wanting to advise something, but after hesitating for a moment, he still didn't say it out loud.
No matter how Huang Suyue chose, the things that had already happened couldn't be changed. They were walking on this most dangerous and unknown path, already unable to turn back.
Uncle Quan took a deep breath and asked seriously, "Miss, what do we do next?"
Huang Suyue sat up and forcefully patted her cheeks with both hands to make herself recover her rationality and clear head as soon as possible. After looking at the locations marked by the Police Officers on the map, she pointed at a few places among them and said:
"Judging from the current situation, the city gate side probably won't hold on for too long. The Silver Phantoms they mentioned will soon wreak havoc in the city... And the Police Department lacks manpower, it's simply impossible to protect every Shelter.
So, we have to lay down some traps and reduce the number of those Silver Phantoms as much as possible."
"You mean... those Explosives?"
"Exactly." Huang Suyue nodded. "Several relatively large-scale underground Shelters have already been marked on the map. We will place the Explosives in the vacant houses near these Shelters. Firstly, we can use the traps to reduce the number of Silver Phantoms. Secondly, if the Shelter encounters a siege, we can also rely on detonating the Explosives to distract the enemy's attention."
Uncle Quan suddenly realized.
He looked at the marks on the map and pondered before speaking:
"But Miss, there are too many Shelters in the Main City, and our Explosives and manpower are limited... We can't cover all of them, right?"
"That's for sure. We can only choose the two largest Shelters." Huang Suyue had already chosen the targets long ago, drawing a few circles around two of the most conspicuous red marks. "Uncle Quan, we have to split up and lead the teams... You go to the south of the city, I'll go to the east of the city."
Uncle Quan asked somewhat worriedly, "Do we really have to split up, Miss? Will it be unsafe?"
"Nowhere is safe in the Main City right now."
"...Alright, then what about the Bread?"
"When placing the Explosives later, casually send the Bread into the Shelter and distribute it to everyone... These refugees rushing all the way here must be starving already."
"I understand." Uncle Quan nodded slightly and spoke solemnly,
"Miss, you must definitely take good care of yourself!"
"Don't worry Uncle Quan, I will."
Following Uncle Quan getting off the car and changing to another car, the original fleet began to split into two rows, roaring and driving towards different directions!
...
Jinghong Theater.
In the pattering rain curtain, Kong Baosheng, drenched all over, forcefully pushed open the Theater House's main door.
Creak——
As the main door slowly opened, a familiar smell drilled into Kong Baosheng's nasal cavity... It was the smell of old decaying wood, the lingering scent of kitchen soot, the smell of every table and chair he had personally wiped clean. These smells intertwined into the scent of "home", making Kong Baosheng's exhausted body instantly relax.
"Grandmother... I'm back."
Kong Baosheng muttered continuously, stepping into the Theater House.
Everything here still retained the appearance from when he left. Even the dozens of Lanterns hung up during the power outage were still there, only the flames inside had already extinguished, and the Theater House was extremely dim inside.
With practiced ease, Kong Baosheng dug out a candle from the cabinet, lit it, and walked straight to the backyard.
In the courtyard, the original colorful sea of flowers had already disappeared, leaving only a ground of incomplete rotten roots gently swirling with the cold wind in the corner of the wall. In the very center, an earthen grave stood isolated, and in front of it was an old black-and-white photo.
Looking at this bleak and desolate scene, Kong Baosheng felt extremely lost...
He took a broom from the house and began to earnestly clean up the rotten roots in the courtyard. Bouts of soft sounds came from his stomach. Rushing all the way, Kong Baosheng hadn't eaten anything until now and was already starving, but now it was as if he couldn't feel it, his whole person seeming to melt in the cold wind.
The sky was dim, a fine rain was falling continuously, and the faint candlelight reflected the lonely figure of the youth from behind. The entire Theater House was completely silent.
Not just Jinghong Theater, the entire street was deathly silent... Kong Baosheng came back early and didn't know the city gate had caught fire, nor did he know about any Silver Phantoms. At this moment, the world seemed to only have him left alone.
Swish—— Swish—— Swish...
The broom swept across the ground, emitting bouts of soft sounds. Suddenly, a bout of roaring slowly drove over from a distance.
Kong Baosheng froze for a moment, looking suspiciously towards the main gate of the Theater House:
"At this time... there are still cars?"
After hesitating for a moment, Kong Baosheng still carried the broom and walked to the door. He saw several black cars and several tall trucks successively driving past the door and slowly stopping not far away.
Numerous figures hurriedly got off the cars and began to move out blocks of unknown things from the trucks, transporting them into the low house diagonally opposite. Their expressions nervously swept across the surroundings from time to time, as if guarding against something.
"These people's clothes... why do they look a bit familiar?" Kong Baosheng froze in place.
In the next moment,
A beautiful figure wearing a long yellow dress got off the frontmost car. She gently stroked the gold bracelet on her wrist, subconsciously turning her head to look in the direction of the Jinghong Theater... In the misty drizzle, she felt a sense of loss.