Can I still be saved? [Transmigration] - Chapter 21
After eating, Su Yunjing and Fu Hanzhou brushed their teeth and went to bed.
Maybe it was because they were about to part ways, but Fu Hanzhou was especially clingy tonight. He asked Su Yunjing several times whether their relationship would become distant once they separated.
Knowing that the little cool cub lacked a sense of security, Su Yunjing patiently reassured him each time.
They talked until midnight. When Su Yunjing was too tired to keep his eyes open, he finally fell asleep in a daze.
In the darkness, Fu Hanzhou watched Su Yunjing sleep. He moved closer and wrapped his arms around him.
Just as Su Yunjing had said, they were still young and there were many things they couldn’t decide for themselves.
Especially him.
He was small and weak, relying on others for food, clothing, and shelter.
Though Song Wenqian and Lu Tao treated him kindly, that kindness stemmed from the well-behaved mask he deliberately put on.
And that kindness was precarious. Once the baby in her belly was born, her attention would naturally shift to her biological child, not a boy with no bl00d ties.
Their current harmony was like the fireworks that night—beautiful, but fleeting and uncertain.
This was one of the main reasons Fu Hanzhou agreed to go with Shen Nianyun.
He needed to grow stronger.
Since Su Yunjing didn’t have the ability to raise him, then he would become strong enough to raise Su Yunjing instead.
…
Su Yunjing spent half the night having nightmares.
In his dreams, a sticky, coiling serpent wrapped around him several times, squeezing him so tightly that he could barely breathe.
When he woke up the next morning, he looked like he’d had the life drained out of him by a demon.
A fuzzy sensation brushed against his arm, making his temples throb.
He looked down and saw that it was Fu Hanzhou’s hair.
The little cool cub had slept on top of him all night. Su Yunjing’s entire arm had gone numb.
When Su Yunjing moved, Fu Hanzhou’s long lashes trembled, and as he slowly opened his eyes, those dark eyes filled with confusion.
Seeing Su Yunjing’s furrowed brow and pained expression, Fu Hanzhou quickly sat up and started massaging his numb arm.
But that made it worse. As soon as he pressed down, Su Yunjing felt like thousands of needles were stabbing his bones, and he cried out in agony.
Only after some time did Su Yunjing start to feel better. He slowly flexed his arm and couldn’t help asking, “Didn’t it feel cramped sleeping like that?”
Fu Hanzhou quietly replied, “It got cold in the middle of the night. Sleeping close was warmer.”
Su Yunjing: …Fair enough.
Shen Nianyun had booked a 9 a.m. flight and showed up to pick him up before 7.
When he arrived, the family was eating breakfast.
It was Thursday, and Su Yunjing still had school, so he couldn’t accompany him to the airport.
Song Wenqian packed a bag of snacks for Fu Hanzhou, including homemade pickled cucumbers, braised pork bones, and dried tofu.
The backpack was filled to the brim with all sorts of treats.
While she gave Full Hanzhou a long list of parting instructions, telling him to come visit often. Su Yunjing pulled Shen Nianyun aside and said,
“Uncle, can I speak with you privately?”
Shen Nianyun looked at him in surprise before nodding and following him into the bedroom.
Su Yunjing handed him a small notebook. “I wrote this down. Hanzhou isn’t picky, but he does have preferences and little habits in daily life.”
This would help Shen Nianyun understand Fu Hanzhou better.
And help Hanzhou adapt more quickly to his new life.
Shen Nianyun’s sharp features, usually solemn, now had a faint smile on his face. His gaze toward Su Yunjing softened considerably. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”
Su Yunjing said seriously with a childish face, “Hanzhou is a very lonely person. When I first met him, he barely played with the other kids.”
“Later, I heard his mom treated him badly. I’ve also seen a lot of scars on his body.”
At those words, Shen Nianyun sighed.
He knew all too well what kind of person Fu Tang was.
Fu Hanzhou has suffered a lot following her for so many years, Shen Nianyun felt deeply regretful.
Seeing the guilt on Shen Nianyun’s face, Su Yunjing continued.
“I heard that he saw his mom jump from a building with his own eyes. He has nightmares almost every night, and wakes up feeling really down.”
“I hope you’ll spend more time with him in the future. Especially when he has those nightmares. My mom always says he must’ve gone through a lot. He definitely has emotional scars.”
At this time, Su Yunjing is not afraid that his overly mature expression will arouse Shen Nianyun’s suspicion.
He knew Shen Nianyun already felt guilty and that guilt made him even more worried that Hanzhou might end up like Fu Tang, especially since their family had a history of mental illness.
In the novel, Shen Nianyun had always paid close attention to Fu Hanzhou’s mental state, hiring many psychologists for him.
But because he was always busy with work, he rarely communicated with his son.
From a young age, Hanzhou has been taking injections, medicines, and psychological treatment.
That made him feel like everyone saw him as lunatic.
Maybe that wasn’t Shen Nianyun’s intention but his actions still hurt Hanzhou.
Fu Hanzhou’s childhood experiences left him starved for love. On top of that, he had witnessed his own mother’s tragic and horrifying death.
Any normal person will have a psychological shadow.
More than therapy, what he needed more was care from his family.
Unfortunately, both father and son had flaws: one was too busy, the other was closed-off and wary of trusting others. The situation only spiraled downward.
Su Yunjing took a two-pronged approach, first comforting Fu Hanzhou the night before and then speaking directly to Shen Nianyun.
When Su Yunjing walked downstairs to see Fu Hanzhou off, the latter suddenly hugged him tightly.
Knowing how hard this was for him, Su Yunjing smiled and said, “When winter break comes, you can visit me again. I’ll buy you a sugar hawthorn stick.”
Fu Hanzhou clutched his sleeve in silence.
He didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to leave Su Yunjing, especially at this moment.
In a few months, Su Yunjing would have a baby sister and the attention Hanzhou got would already be much less.Now, with this distance, he would fade further from Su Yunjing’s thoughts.
He was jealous of the child in Song Wenqian’s belly.
Jealous that once born, she would naturally become a part of this family.
Unlike him. No matter how well he behaved or how well he fit in, he would always be an outsider.
It was this very understanding that made Fu Hanzhou force himself to leave.
Eventually, he loosened his grip and lowered his head. He lowered his head and said suddenly, “Then… don’t buy it for anyone else.”
“Huh?” Su Yunjing didn’t catch his meaning at first.
Fu Hanzhou looked up, his eyes pitch-black and intense. “You said you’d buy me a sugar hawthorn. Until then, don’t buy it for anyone else.”
Not just until then. Never.
What you promised to give him, couldn’t be given to anyone else.
Su Yunjing: “…”
It was just a sugar hawthorn. So why did it feel like a vow?
A promise made to Fu Hanzhou couldn’t be made to anyone else. Otherwise, you would be a little scumbag.
He interprets this intense request as parting anxiety.
“Alright, I’ll wait for you to come back during the break,” Su Yunjing replied, choosing to accept and indulge his sensitivity.
Only then did Fu Hanzhou look satisfied.
After he got in the car and it drove away, Su Yunjing watched the black car disappear into the distance, and a quiet melancholy crept in.
The little cool cub he’d raised for half a year had gone back to his real family.
Fu Hanzhou stared at Su Yunjing through the rearview mirror the whole time.
Even when he could no longer see him, he didn’t look away.
The scenery on either side flew past, but nothing entered his pitch-black eyes.
After a long silence, he finally spoke. “What did you two talk about?”
He had seen Su Yunjing take Shen Nianyun into the bedroom, but hadn’t know what the two talked about.
It was rare for Fu Hanzhou to initiate a conversation, and Shen Nianyun was also interested in talking to him more.
And Su Yunjing was a good breakthrough. He could tell that Su Yunjing meant a lot to his son.
“Not much. He gave me a little notebook. Said it had some notes about your habits and preferences.”
Shen Nianyun didn’t want to talk to Fu Hanzhou about his mother yet, so he decided not to bring up what Su Yunjing had said about his mother.
Fu Hanzhou looked at him with his clear, black-and-white eyes and asked politely, “Can I see it?”
Seeing him so well-mannered, Shen Nianyun was in a great mood. He handed over the palm-sized notebook that Su Yunjing had given him.
Fu Hanzhou flipped it open.
He was very familiar with the handwriting on it. It was indeed written by Su Yunjing.
To match the image of an eight-year-old, Su Yunjing had deliberately written in large characters.
In the crooked script, he wrote things like: he’s allergic to peach fuzz, doesn’t like ginger or cilantro…
There weren’t many entries, only two pages but Fu Hanzhou read it for a long time.
He didn’t recognize every character, but he could guess them based on radicals he knew.
Shen Nianyun hadn’t read it yet. So, before they boarded the plane, he asked for the notebook back.
Fu Hanzhou coldly closed it and tucked it into his backpack. “If you have any questions, you can ask me directly.”
The meaning of this was very simple. He confiscated the little notebook.
Shen Nianyun: “…”
Staring at this two-faced son of his, he was momentarily speechless.
Even though Fu Hanzhou had left, they stayed in contact.
Every day, he would call or text Su Yunjing right on schedule.
From their conversations, it sounded like he and Shen Nianyun were getting along better and better. That made Su Yunjing genuinely happy.
Perhaps it was because Su Yunjing’s mission had been completed, but the system clearly didn’t intend for him to remain in this world.
One night, he was suddenly rushed to the hospital.
By the time he woke up, it was the next day.
There were two numbers mysteriously marked on his wrist: 10.
At first, Su Yunjing didn’t understand what they meant.
But with each passing day, the number decreased by one.
Even a fool could see it, this wasn’t just a number. It was a countdown.
A countdown to the end of his time in this world.
Su Yunjing couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. The system was really the type to kill the donkey after the grinding was done.1
As soon as he finished the task, they started arranging his departure. Not even a performance bonus.
His body grew weaker by the day. Song Wenqian and Lu Tao grew more and more worried.
Every time this happened, Su Yunjing didn’t know whether he should tell them the truth or not, nor did he know how to say the final goodbye to the little cool cub.