translator: xiin
editors: GlitteryPanda & serefina
“… Going out again?”
Jing Zihua’s hair had just been permed, and she’d pulled it up into a high ponytail. A few strands of curly hair hung down in front of her forehead, highlighting a face that was as clean and beautiful as jade.
She leaned against the fuel tank and said half jokingly, “Working so desperately, is there money for you to earn?”
Chi Xiaochi smiled and replied, “Of course there is.”
While the two adults were talking, Jing Yiming held up the oil pump with both hands and staggered over with the pump nozzle, inserting it in the opening of the fuel tank to refuel Chi Xiaochi’s motorcycle.
Chi Xiaochi tilted his head like a child and looked at him.
Jing Yiming raised his head and looked back admiringly at Chi Xiaochi, his eyes filled with the cleanest, purest stars.
Chi Xiaochi set an elbow on the dashboard and reached out to pat Jing Yiming’s head lightly before dragging out his words, “Making money––to support the family.”
Jing Zihua added, “But not so desperately.”
“Well, that’s very good.” Chi Xiaochi unscrewed the thermos that was filled with liquor and took a sip.
“What’s good?”
Chi Xiaochi laughed, “Nothing much.”
He worked so hard precisely so that Jing Zihua and the others, who, in the past life, had lived lives that hung on a thin thread, could now sit back without having to worry and persuade him with, “Don’t work so hard”.
He drove his refueled motorcycle out of the gas station.
The gas station where they’d first found shelter was their initial source of oil.
Later, they found this small town which had a natural oil field behind it.
There they built up a new gas station, and Jing Zihua was still the gas station manager. It had been like this for both lifetimes.
After leaving the gas station, his Boss walked out gracefully from the dark without waiting for him to have to call him, rubbing gently against his ankles.
Chi Xiaochi grasped the handlebars, “Boss, let’s go.”
The black leopard leapt up onto the back seat, crouching on it as it gently bumped Chi Xiaochi’s neck with the tip of its nose. The hot air from its breath made Chi Xiaochi feel itchy.
They drove slowly through the day market.
The people on the street had long gotten used to seeing such a spectacle.
Everyone knew that Ding Qiuyun had a leopard with a very gentle temperament. It wouldn’t get angry even if a strange child came over to pet it.
When it was waiting for Ding Qiuyun, it would even play catch with the children on the street.
A few people even went to greet Chi Xiaochi, “Captain Ding, you’re out to walk the cat?”
Chi Xiaochi bragged shamelessly, “Yeah.”
The big cat behind him hadn’t evolved intelligence like other creatures, and it didn’t get angry when it heard these words. Instead, it wrapped its tail around Chi Xiaochi’s thigh from the side and licked the back of his neck, almost making Chi Xiaochi drive his motorcycle in an S-shaped line, “I’m driving, I’m driving, we can play when we go home.”
The leopard didn’t play around any further. It leaned its head lightly against his back and rubbed against him coquettishly.
Chi Xiaochi praised it.
He never dreamed that the leopard was lightly kissing his spine through his clothing from top to bottom, one by one, softly and reverently.
Chi Xiaochi went out to look for supplies with his regular team once again.
This time, they would be going to a city that was a little further way. It was also the city from which Ding Qiuyun had fled with his parents.
Before leaving, Father Ding and Mother Ding came out to see them off as usual.
The old couple were in high spirits and even told him not to run back to their old home. The situation over there wasn’t clear, and it may even have become a world that belonged to the Boston ivy. It was best if he didn’t approach them unnecessarily.
It was snowing outside as they left the town.
On this kind of snowy day, it was easy to skid when driving a motorcycle. Chi Xiaochi was also afraid that his Boss would be tired from running, so he brought both Boss and his motorcycle up into the back of the truck.
On the way, Sun Yan made use of the weak radio signal that the truck could receive and sang along with it, despite the song cutting in and out and going out of tune. He didn’t give up, singing along with his head shaking, having fun by himself.
Sun Bin was dozing off in the co-pilot seat. He’d been busy repairing circuits that had suddenly stopped working on the east side of the city and hadn’t been able to sleep for most of the night.
Chi Xiaochi was idle with nothing to do. He held a damaged semiconductor and disassembled the parts onto a felt carpet.
Yan Lanlan leaned over, “Captain Ding, we have a specialist in this field. You should leave this toy for Little Sun to mess around with.”
Chi Xiaochi fiddled seriously with the old circuit board, “I know how to do this. Someone taught me before.”
Boss Coal also seemed to be very interested in the parts, using its paw to move them around lightly, dividing them up into piles.
When Chi Xiaochi tsked and patted its paws, it grew well-behaved, placing its face on Chi Xiaochi’s knee and guarding its master. The eyes that were covered with a layer of dampness stayed locked on him and never moved away.
There was a bold youth fiddling with Boss’s tail, but it ignored it good-naturedly.
The truck continued barreling down the deserted road. Suddenly, the ethereal sound of a song came in from outside, just passing by the truck.
Listening to the notes, it was ‘Happy Birthday to You’.
What was it that was singing on this desolate street at the end of winter?
Out of curiosity, Yan Lanlan opened up the small peep window and looked out. She sucked in a breath of cold air.
“Stop the car!” Yan Lanlan raised her hand and knocked against the window, “Old Sun, stop the car!”
By the time Sun Yan stepped on the brakes, Yan Lanlan had already opened up the truck’s back door and jumped down without waiting for the vehicle to come to a stop.
There was some new snow on the ground, and it crackled lightly when it was stepped on.
She sprinted towards the source of the sound that was still moving forward.
As for the source of the sound that was moving away, it also heard the sound of footsteps from behind and turned its head their way.
…It was the little guide dog that was looking for Xu Jingyuan.
Compared with two years ago, it had changed a lot.
The little guide dog’s forepaws were broken, and its snowball-like body was now covered with a layer of gray and permanent shadows. It looked like a dirty mop.
It seemed to have been bitten by wild animals and mistaken as food. Its tail had been torn off until only a small part of its tail was left, bare and stubby like a rabbit’s tail, and it looked quite comical.
It limped as it walked, and the speaker inside its body continued to play the melody for ‘Happy Birthday to You’.
But it’s pair of eyes was still the same, as clear and vivid as ever.
The little guide dog still remembered Yan Lanlan. It nodded in a very gentlemanly manner, “It’s you, the gas station miss.”
Yan Lanlan was a little breathless from running, and she didn’t know what to say for a moment when she reached the little guide dog, her breath coming out in large clouds of hot air as she panted.
When she saw its appearance, she didn’t even have to think to know that it hadn’t been able to find its little master.
Yan Lanlan thought over her words, then flashed a bright smile, “Your song sounds very good.”
The little guide dog spoke in a docile tone, “Today is the little miss’s tenth birthday.”
Yan Lanlan made an ‘ah’ sound, “Are you celebrating her birthday?”
The little guide dog replied, “Not just that. I was thinking that the people who have birthdays today might come out from their houses or cars to look at me when they hear my song. This way, I might be able to find my little miss.”
The tip of Yan Lanlan’s heart clenched.
She’d noticed that the little guide dog had placed its injured forepaw on a raised snowdrift in order to keep its balance.
She said, “Your paw is hurt.”
The little guide dog raised up its front paw and said honestly, “It doesn’t hurt.”
“Come with us.” Yan Lanlan sent out an invitation, “We can fix you. There are a lot of AI with us who are as friendly to old humans as you are.”
The little guide dog asked hopefully, “Is there a lady named Xu Jingyuan there?”
Yan Lanlan didn’t speak.
She couldn’t lie when faced with that pair of eyes.
The little guide dog also understood what her silence meant and gently shook its head.
“I came from over there.” The little guide dog turned its head back and looked persistently towards the road ahead, “I’m going to head forward. Maybe I’ll pass by you again. When the time comes, we might be able to meet again. Goodbye, gas station miss.”
Seeing that the little guide dog was turning around to leave again, Yan Lanlan called out to it again.
The little guide dog looked back.
Even though she knew that what she was about to say might hurt the little loyal guide dog, Yan Lanlan still hardened her heart and said ruthlessly, “She left you behind back then and didn’t go back to look for you for so many years. She might not even remember you anymore.”
The little guide dog stood in the cold wind, its gray fur clumped up and caked with snow.
Its big black and white eyes looked at Yan Lanlan for a moment, and then it opened its mouth, seeming to smile sweetly.
It said, “She may forget me or may have already forgotten me, or maybe already has a new guide dog… But I have to make sure with my own eyes that she can do without me. That way, I can rest assured. Thank you for your concern, gas station miss.”
Having said that, it bowed gracefully to Yan Lanlan, then turned and stepped out into the cold wind.
Yan Lanlan stood there in a daze.
The little guide dog came and went the same way it had two years ago, traveling through the snow. It was almost as though it were an illusion that would only appear when it snowed.
But the sound of music that gradually moved away continued to echo in Yan Lanlan’s mind.
At the sound of Sun Yan’s horn, Yan Lanlan came back to her senses. She retraced her footsteps and ran back to the truck.
When she opened up the back, she turned to look back one more time.
The little guide dog’s plum shaped paw prints had already been buried by the new snow.
She pursed her lips and got into the car, bringing a burst of snowflakes with her.
After she settled in, Ding Qiuyun asked her, “Acquaintance?”
Yan Lanlan dusted the snow off her overalls, “We met by chance… yes, an acquaintance.”
At the end of the world, feelings so pure and sincere had actually come from a machine that had been equipped with an emotional AI.
The AI taught it how to express love, how to perform its duty and act loyal, but had probably never taught it what it should do after its master disappeared.
Everything it was doing now was what it wanted to do.
Yan Lanlan shared the story of the guide dog with the team members in the truck compartment.
Everyone fell silent for a long time.
After she finished speaking, Yan Lanlan suddenly realised that she had met the little guide dog twice, but had never asked for its name.
It wasn’t realistic to turn around again now, so she rested against the walls of the compartment and fell into a daze.
After repairing the semiconductor, Chi Xiaochi pillowed his head on Boss Coal’s soft belly and played with it.
He thought about Yan Lanlan’s story and about what kind of performance he should give when they met Gu Xinzhi in a while, but the movement of the truck was too rhythmic, and after a while, he curled up on the leopard’s belly and fell asleep.
Seeing that Chi Xiaochi was sleeping soundly, the leopard consciously turned itself into a fortress that circled around its owner, gently wrapping its tail around Chi Xiaochi’s waist.
Under his big cat’s careful care, Chi Xiaochi slept until they entered the city.
xiin – happy holidays, everyone!