Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Drive towards Songjiang.

Shen Nian sat in the back seat, leaning against the window and looking outside.

High-rise buildings gradually thinned out, and low-rise bungalows and factory walls appeared on both sides of the road.

Forty minutes later, the car turned onto an old road.

"arrive."

Li Cheng parked the car in front of the iron gate.

The sounds of children chattering came from inside, mixed with the buzzing of an electric drill.

Jiang Fan got out of the car first, went around to the back, and opened the door.

Shen Nian jumped down and stood in front of the iron gate to look inside.

The courtyard was small, with cement paving the ground. Some parts of the ground were cracked, and a few weeds were squeezing out of the cracks.

In the corner stood a crooked locust tree, beneath which were two long benches.

Several children were chasing each other in the yard, while a little girl in a red dress sat quietly to the side drawing.

On the second-floor windowsill, workers were squatting down installing new window frames, hammers clanging and banging incessantly.

Fang Xiulan came out of the building, her hands still covered in flour.

She walked quickly to the door, glanced at Jiang Fan first, and then looked Shen Nian up and down.

"Aunt Fang, this is Shen Nian."

Shen Nian stood up straight and greeted, "Hello, Aunt Fang."

Fang Xiulan reached out and grasped Shen Nian's hand, held it for several seconds, and nodded vigorously.

"She's beautiful. More beautiful than those celebrities on TV."

Shen Nian's face flushed red.

"Come in, come in and sit down—I just steamed some buns, they're still warm!"

Fang Xiulan grabbed Shen Nian's hand and led her inside, giving her no chance to be polite.

Jiang Fan was left standing there, and was skipped over cleanly.

He turned and called out to the yard, "Tiger, come and move some things."

Several older children ran out of the house and helped carry the bags.

A six or seven-year-old boy peered into the bag and his eyes lit up when he saw the Lego box.

"Wow! It's Lego!"

The children nearby swarmed around, their heads clustered together, all trying to rummage into the bag.

"I want that one! The blue one!"

"I want the red one!"

Shen Nian came back from inside the house, squatted down, and opened the bag.

"Don't fight, come one at a time, everyone gets a share."

She took out boxes of toys from the bag, sorted them by age, and handed them over.

They took each child and hugged them tightly.

The courtyard suddenly became lively.

Fang Xiulan stood under the porch watching this scene, and raised her hand to cover the corner of her eye with her sleeve.

Jiang Fan walked to her side.

"Aunt Fang, are you satisfied with the renovation?"

Fang Xiulan nodded.

"Why spend so much money? You don't earn money easily—"

"Money is meant to be spent. You used to lead more than thirty of us all by yourself; those were truly difficult times."

Fang Xiulan's lips moved, but she didn't say anything.

In the courtyard, Shen Nian was surrounded by seven or eight children.

A little girl with pigtails approached her, holding up a plush rabbit.

"Sister, you're so beautiful!"

Shen Nian smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescents, and reached out to help her re-tie her disheveled braids.

A boy next to Shen Nian tugged at her clothes.

"Sister, will you come again in the future?"

"It will come."

Jiang Fan stood under the eaves, his hands in his pockets, watching.

Fang Xiulan was next to him, her eyes constantly following Shen Nian.

"You're a lucky guy. Girls like that are rare these days."

The shadow of the locust tree fell obliquely on the cement ground, and a few withered leaves were swirled around twice by the wind.

Shen Nian looked up and gazed across most of the courtyard, her eyes meeting Jiang Fan's.

Sunlight streamed down from above, illuminating her hair, and a few stray strands were blown about by the wind.

-

After Li Cheng unloaded the last box from the car, he saw Jiang Fan and Fang Xiulan standing under the porch talking.

As soon as he walked over, Fang Xiulan immediately assigned him a task.

"Young man, could you please go to the kitchen and bring the steamer down for me?"

Li Cheng: "?"

He glanced at Jiang Fan, who gestured towards the kitchen with his lip.

Li Cheng resigned himself to his fate and left.

The kitchen was steaming, and three layers of steamer baskets were stacked together on the stove.

Fang Xiulan lifted the top steamer basket, revealing neat rows of plump white steamed buns. She took a bamboo winnowing basket and began picking them up.

"Xiao Fan was very naughty when he was little. He fell down from a tree and knocked out a front tooth. He cried for five minutes and then ran out to continue climbing."

After picking up the steamed buns, Fang Xiulan lifted the second layer, which contained sugar triangles and red bean buns.

"After he left, he transferred money to the hospital every month without fail."

Li Cheng helped hold the winnowing basket without saying a word.

Fang Xiulan picked up the winnowing basket and handed it to him.

"Take it out and share it with the children."

Li Cheng took it; it was quite heavy.

He brought it to the yard, and the children's eyes lit up again.

"Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready!" Tiger was the first to run over, grab a steamed bun, and then stared longingly at the sugar triangle.

"Take one each first, and we'll talk about it if we need more," Li Cheng said, mimicking Fang Xiulan's tone.

Tiger hesitated for half a second, but still obediently took only one.

Shen Nian broke away from the group of children and walked to Jiang Fan's side.

Her hair was a little messy, her cheeks were rosy, and some child had stuck a small sticker on her forehead.

"Aunt Fang is such a kind person."

She paused for a moment, then lowered her voice.

"She just... asked me when we were planning to get married."

Jiang Fan turned to look at her.

Shen Nian was stunned for a moment, and after two seconds she waved her hand: "I said there's no rush."

After saying that, her ears turned red, and she turned and walked towards the crowd.

"I'll go help Brother Li first."

-

Fang Xiulan walked up to Jiang Fan again, holding a bowl in her hand.

"Eat it. Hot."

There were two sugar triangles in the bowl, still steaming.

"You loved eating this when you were little, you could eat three at a time."

Jiang Fan took the bowl and made a small piece.

I blew on it and took a bite.

The brown sugar filling melts on your tongue—that's the taste.

It hasn't changed in over a decade.

"tasty."

Fang Xiulan smiled and patted the flour off her apron.

Jiang Fan walked to the other end of the courtyard.

The little girl in the red dress was still sitting in the same spot, holding a new paintbrush, drawing on the table.

The drawing paper has a few crooked lines that look like houses or mountains.

Shen Nian also came over at some point and squatted down next to the little girl.

"Her name is Xiaomei, she's six years old. She hasn't been here long, she doesn't talk much, she just loves to draw," Shen Nian said softly.

Jiang Fan squatted down to take a look.

There was a small, round sun in the corner of the drawing paper, painted red.

Two people were standing next to him, holding hands.

"Who is this painting of?"

Xiao Mei looked up, glanced at Jiang Fan, and then at Shen Nian.

She pointed to the two people in the painting with her paintbrush and whispered—

"They are an older brother and an older sister."

Jiang Fan paused for a moment.

He reached out and ruffled Xiaomei's hair.

"It's really well drawn."

Xiao Mei lowered her head, her face turning red.

-

The aroma of stewed chicken wafted from the kitchen.

The renovation workers in the yard have finished their work. The new window frames are installed and are sparkling clean, much more impressive than the old ones.

Fang Xiulan brought out the last plate of stir-fried vegetables and patted her apron.

"Dinner's ready! Everyone, come over here!"

The food was laid out in the open space in the middle of the yard, with several old tables pushed together and covered with plastic sheeting.

A large pot of chicken stew with potatoes, a pot of stew, cucumber salad, plus freshly steamed buns and sugar triangles.

The children washed their hands and sat down properly.

Fang Xiulan served Jiang Fan and Shen Nian a bowl of chicken soup each, and also served Li Cheng a bowl.

"Thank you for coming today and bringing so many things. The children are overjoyed." Fang Xiulan sat down.

"Of course."

Jiang Fan took a sip of soup.

The free-range chicken had a golden broth that was incredibly flavorful.

Li Cheng ate quickly, finishing a steamed bun in just a few bites.

Tiger sat next to him, staring longingly at what was in his bowl.

"Brother Li Cheng, why are you eating so fast? Leave some meat for me."

Li Cheng picked up a chicken leg and put it in his bowl.

"Eat yours."

Shen Nian ate slowly, but had a good appetite.

She picked up a few pieces of chicken for Xiao Mei next to her. Xiao Mei lowered her head and ate them silently. After finishing, she looked up at her and pushed her sugar triangle in front of Shen Nian.

Shen Nian paused for a moment, then took it and took a bite.

Fang Xiulan kept looking in this direction, a smile always on her lips.

-

After the meal, the children helped clear the dishes.

The sun was setting in the west, and the light in the courtyard turned orange.

The children brought out small stools and surrounded Jiang Fan, insisting that he sing.

"Brother Fan, aren't you a songwriter? Sing one!" Tiger was the most good at stirring things up.

"Sing one, sing one!"

Seven or eight children joined in the shouting.

Jiang Fan glanced at Shen Nian.

Shen Nian sat on the steps next to him, hugging her knees, and smiled as she raised her chin at him—"Sing!"

He cleared his throat and started singing.

"The dark sky hangs low, accompanied by bright stars—"

"The insects fly, the insects fly, who are you thinking of—"

"The stars in the sky weep, the roses on the ground wither—"

"The cold wind blows, the cold wind blows, but as long as you're with me—"

On the second verse, several children joined in.

The voices were uneven, half of them were off-key, but they were laughing and shouting, making it very lively.

Shen Nian rested her chin on her knees and listened, then tilted her head slightly.

She had never heard this nursery rhyme before.

The melody is incredibly simple, and the lyrics aren't particularly fancy, but it's still very catchy.

After the children finished singing a children's song, they clapped loudly.

Tiger suddenly jumped up from the bench.

"Brother Fan, we'll sing you a song too!"

He turned around and yelled at the group of teenagers, "Brothers, let's attack together!"

The boys stood in a row, cleared their throats, and Tiger started—

"I love you walking alone in the dark alleys, I love your unyielding spirit, I love your confrontation with despair—"

Seven or eight children were howling at the top of their lungs, each singing their own tune.

Li Cheng stood there, stunned, holding the bowl.

Shen Nian sat on the steps, first stunned, then burst out laughing.

He laughed so hard that he ended up lying face down on his knees, his shoulders shaking.

Fang Xiulan slapped her thigh from the doorway: "What kind of rubbish is that! You're tone-deaf and still singing!"

Tiger, unconvinced, raised his voice even louder: "Go? — Do you deserve it? — This! Ragged! Cloak—"

The last "wind" was played at an absurdly high pitch, causing the sound to crack.

The courtyard erupted in laughter.