I created a foundation

Chapter 166: The Last Tenderness

She sighed softly.

The sigh was very light, like a feather falling on the dusty ground, without causing any ripples.

She surrendered.

She carefully placed the small paper box in her arms at the only place where she could still step, next to the pair of black leather shoes that she had worn for three years and had badly worn soles.

She didn't look at the human-shaped object lying in the middle of the living room like a large piece of trash.

Because there is no point in looking, shouting, or getting angry.

It's like talking to a stone. You will only waste your energy and get no response.

She silently took off her coat and hung it on the hook behind the door, then rolled up the sleeves of her school uniform shirt, revealing two wrists that were so thin that one could even see the pale blue veins under the skin.

Then, she began.

She bent down, reached out, and picked up a tilted beer bottle. The touch of cold glass from her fingertips made her shrink subconsciously, but she didn't stop.

She put the bottle into the empty trash bag in the corner.

"Clang."

A soft sound.

Then the second, and the third.

Her movements were so skillful that it was heartbreaking, as if this was not something a young girl should do, but an assembly line job that she had been doing for years and had already been ingrained in her bones.

She knows which bottles go together, how to arrange them to maximize the bag's space, and can even tell when a bottle of wine has been finished by the consistency of the liquid left at the bottom.

The living room floor was covered with these empty bottles, like war debris. They were my father's weapons against reality, and also the medals left behind after his defeat.

Xiangzi was like a silent battlefield cleaner, cleaning up everything in an orderly manner.

Her knees occasionally touched the dried, sticky, unknown liquid on the ground, but her expression didn't change at all. Her nose had long been completely filled with the sour smell of alcohol, vomit, and rotting food, and her brain had even begun to automatically block this olfactory signal.

Numbness is the best protective shell.

After picking up the bottles, she found a rag, knelt on the ground, and wiped the stains bit by bit.

She rubbed so hard that the joints on her wrists became prominent due to the force.

In the process, the man on the ground turned over and let out a satisfied, beast-like snoring sound from his throat.

Xiangzi paused for a moment.

Just a moment.

Then she continued to lower her head and wipe the floor in her hands, as if the snoring was just a gust of wind blowing outside the window.

After cleaning up all the visible garbage and dragging the garbage bag full of empty bottles to the door, the entire living room finally returned to a false sense of tidiness.

The disgusting smell in the air did not dissipate at all, but instead became even stronger due to human activities.

Xiangzi stood up straight, a thin layer of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

She glanced at the clock on the wall.

The clock has already pointed to eleven o'clock in the evening.

She left home at six in the morning, went to school, and then went to work at a convenience store. She only just now dragged her tired body back to this so-called "home".

She hasn't had dinner yet.

A small, protesting knot in my stomach.

She fished out her neatly folded paycheck from the pocket of her school uniform. The few bills carried the warmth of a day's work.

A very thin stack of money contained all her living expenses for the next week.

She looked at the stack of money with empty eyes.

After a moment, her gaze slowly shifted to the small, quiet cardboard box at the door.

Without the slightest hesitation.

She took out a few of the smallest denomination banknotes, held them in her palm, put on her old leather shoes again, and walked out of the house.

The streets late at night were much more lively than her home.

The street lights emitted an orange light, and occasionally a vehicle whizzed past, stirring up a gust of dusty wind.

Xiangzi did not buy himself a steaming hot lunch box, nor did he buy a cup of hot drink to warm himself.

She walked straight into the 24-hour discount supermarket on the corner.

The lights in the supermarket were pale white, making the cheap goods on the shelves look a bit bleak.

She lingered in the pet supplies section for a long time.

Finally, she picked up the simplest and cheapest wire rabbit cage, and after carefully comparing the prices, she chose a small bag of bulk rabbit feed.

When paying, the cashier was a sleepy-eyed uncle. He glanced at Xiangzi and the things in her hands, then looked at her school uniform that was washed so hard that it was almost white. He said nothing, but just collected the money and gave the change quickly.

Carrying the cold wire cage and the not-so-heavy bag of feed, Xiangzi returned to the suffocating home again.

The man on the ground was still sleeping, unaware of anything in the outside world.

Xiangzi walked around him and came to the small area that belonged to him at the door of his room.

She squatted down and began to assemble the simple rabbit cage.

Her fingers were deft, and her movements were gentle and focused, as if she was assembling not a cheap iron cage, but an exquisite palace dedicated to the gods.

The sound of the wire buckle closing is crisp and pleasant.

She carefully spread the waste newspapers she brought back from the supermarket on the bottom of the cage, then poured the feed into the small plastic trough that came with it, and used her own water cup to fill half a cup of clean water for it.

After doing all this, she finally gently opened the paper box that she had always treasured and kept aside.

The little snow-white rabbit, only the size of a palm, was curled up in the corner, its two ruby-like eyes looking at her with a hint of fear and curiosity.

Xiangzi's movements became gentler and gentler.

She reached out her hand and carefully took this warm and soft little life out of the cardboard box.

The little rabbit trembled slightly in her palm, but did not struggle. It seemed to be able to sense that these hands had no ill intentions.

She slowly and steadily placed it into its new home.

After the little rabbit landed, it sniffed warily and looked around at the unfamiliar environment.

When it saw the grass in the trough, hunger seemed to have overcome its fear. It took two hesitant steps, approached the trough, lowered its head, and began to nibble tentatively with its three-lobed mouth.

"Click, click..."

The subtle, crisp chewing sound rang out clearly in the silent room.

Xiangzi just squatted in front of the cage, watching motionlessly.

Look at the weak, furry little thing. In its new home, it is no longer afraid and starts to eat quietly and attentively.

Watch its long ears sway gently as it chews.

Looking at its snow-white fur, it seemed to be coated with a layer of holy halo under the turbid city night light coming in from the window.

It was not until some time had passed that Xiangzi felt his legs were numb from squatting.

She slowly sat down against the wall and took out the cheapest, cold, discounted rice balls she had bought from the convenience store from her schoolbag.

She tore open the package and took a bite with a blank expression.

The rice was cold, dry and tasteless.

But her eyes never left the small rabbit cage.

Her eyes followed the little life that was eating.

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I watched it finish eating a piece of grass and then drink a few sips of water.

Watch it clumsily wash its face with its front paws.

I watched it roll over in contentment, then curl up in a corner of the cage, close its eyes, and seem to have fallen asleep.

Xiangzi's chewing movements became slower without him noticing.

Her heart, which had long been exhausted, heavy as if filled with lead and had fallen straight to the bottom of the valley, seemed at this moment to be gently and tenderly touched by an invisible, soft feather.

A tiny, almost imperceptible stream of warmth quietly seeped out from beneath the long-frozen wasteland.

It cannot melt the thick ice, nor can it bring spring to the dead grass and trees.

But it exists.

It was a kind of illusory yet extremely real comfort.

The man on the ground let out another loud snore, accompanied by a foul smell of alcohol.

Xiangzi was no longer as stiff as before.

She just quietly looked at the little figure in the cage who was sleeping soundly, his chest rising and falling with his breathing.

The cold rice balls didn't seem so hard to swallow anymore.

She ate it all, bite by bite.

In this corner that belongs only to her, in this small world made up of cheap wire and old newspapers, she seemed to have found a safe harbor where she could temporarily dock.

She curled herself up, hugged her knees with her arms, and leaned her head gently against the cold wall, her eyes never leaving the small white figure.

The even breathing of the little life in the cage and the heavy, rough snoring not far away intertwined to form a strange and absurd duet.

One represents new life and hope.

One represents decay and despair.

They exist simultaneously in this small space, clearly separated yet strangely coexisting.

Xiangzi watched and watched.