Rapid Collapse (GL) - Chapter 22

Shen Xi rarely felt this anxious in her life, except for the times when Shen Fengmei threatened that she would find her sooner or later.

When her third call still went unanswered, she thought Han Ning was ignoring her on purpose out of anger. So before lunch, she chased after Zhou Heyang, pressing him to tell her where Han Ning’s hometown was.

Zhou Heyang, holding a lunch box, ran everywhere trying to escape Shen Xi. With nowhere left to go, he finally shrank into a corner, his mouth still full of rice. Looking at Shen Xi’s desperate and slightly twisted expression, he trembled as he said, “An… Anhua.”

“I know Anhua. Where exactly in Anhua?!” Shen Xi asked impatiently.

“How would I know? Anbei or Annan… I’m not sure,” Zhou Heyang thought for a moment but couldn’t pinpoint the exact location.

Hearing this, Shen Xi felt like all her strength had been drained. She turned around and walked sluggishly to the dining table, sitting down heavily. She didn’t touch her food and kept making calls.

But even after the fourth and fifth calls, no one answered. Just when she was at a loss, Chen Bian from the scriptwriting team came looking for her. She had no choice but to put her phone down and follow him.

At the same time, Han Ning was just sitting down in a restaurant, holding Lightning in her arms.

She tightly gripped her phone, staring at the five missed calls on the screen. She also noticed a message from Shen Xi on WeChat: “Where are you?”

She let out a breath, her heartbeat quickening. For a moment, she even had the urge to rush back to Lingchao.

Realizing how foolish that thought was, she shook her head vigorously, trying to push it away. She muttered to herself, “No, no, that would be too desperate…”

At a square table not far from her, a middle-aged man in his fifties was watching her.

After a while, Han Ning also sensed his gaze. She looked up and saw that he was wearing a navy-blue casual jacket over a white T-shirt, paired with black straight-cut jeans. His fair skin and striking features had an old-fashioned charm, reminiscent of Hong Kong movie stars from the past century.

On the table in front of him were only a pot of strong tea and a pack of tissues. He was smiling at Han Ning.

Han Ning lowered her head, ignoring him, feeling slightly disgusted. She thought the man was using his looks to flirt with young girls.

Her food was served shortly after. She thanked the waiter and noticed an extra dessert on the table. She called the waiter over, “I didn’t order this dessert.”

The waiter glanced in the middle-aged man’s direction and explained with a smile, “This is a complimentary dish, our signature dessert. Please try it.”

After the waiter left, Han Ning became even more confused. It was her first time at this restaurant, and she hadn’t ordered much. Why would they give her a free dish?

Then she remembered the waiter’s glance at the middle-aged man and immediately understood.

She picked up the dessert and placed it in front of the man. The pudding on the plate wobbled from the movement.

“Sir, did you send this pudding?” Han Ning asked, one hand on her hip.

The man didn’t deny it and simply smiled, nodding.

“Thanks for your kindness, but I don’t know you. I appreciate it, but no thanks.” With that, Han Ning turned around, sat down, and switched seats to face away from him.

Lightning jumped from her arms and casually walked over to the man, circling his legs.

Soon, his jeans were covered in cat hair.

Han Ning saw this and felt embarrassed. She quickly went over to apologize. “Uh…”

The man noticed the little flower accessory on Lightning and smiled. He bent down and picked the cat up. Lightning, acting unusually affectionate, rolled around in his arms and meowed sweetly. Then, it jumped onto the table and sniffed the pudding.

“Do you want to eat this?” The man stroked the cat’s head and scooped a small spoonful of pudding for it. Lightning, as if it had never tasted anything so good before, closed its eyes and looked completely blissful.

“You shameless, greedy cat!” Han Ning scolded in her mind.

“Young lady, what’s your cat’s name?” the man asked while petting Lightning’s back.

“Lightning,” Han Ning replied.

As soon as she said the name, the man’s hand froze in mid-air. Then, he chuckled.

“Interesting name.”

Seeing that he meant no harm and genuinely liked Lightning, Han Ning relaxed. She assumed he was just a cat lover.

She moved her dishes to his table and asked the waiter for an extra set of plates. While chatting, she found out that the man was actually the owner of the restaurant.

“Ruyuan…” Han Ning swallowed a bite of beef and asked, “Why did you name the restaurant that? It sounds a bit vague.”

The man’s face showed a hint of sorrow as he murmured, “Life is full of disappointments.

It’s hard to get what you truly want. This name… is just a way for me to lie to myself.”

His eyes glistened with unshed tears. Realizing he had lost composure, he handed Lightning back to Han Ning and said, “I need some fresh air. It was nice talking to you and… Lightning. This meal is on me.”

Then he stood up and left. As he walked out, he instructed the receptionist, “The young lady’s bill is waived.”

The receptionist nodded and softly said, “Got it, Uncle Han.”

Han Ning watched his departing figure, slightly frowning. She was puzzled by the situation but eventually shrugged it off, thinking to herself, “I must really be too popular.”

After leaving the restaurant, she drove to her old home. Walking through the alley, she arrived at the entrance. The door was tightly shut with a rusty padlock. Wild grass had grown on the walls. Han Ning guessed that no one had lived there for a long time.

Since going to college, Jiang Sujie had warned her many times to stay away from her stepfather. Han Ning always had a feeling that Jiang Sujie was hiding something from her, but she never found out the truth. Eventually, she stopped asking.

From that moment on, she completely cut ties with her stepfather. Today, she had wanted to visit him and give him some money. After all, he had cared for her at some point.

The sound of a bicycle bell rang behind her. She turned around and saw Grandpa Li, her old neighbor. She stopped him and asked, “Grandpa Li, where’s the man who used to live here?”

Grandpa Li, perhaps due to poor eyesight, didn’t recognize her. He only saw a tall, slender girl and asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m…” Han Ning quickly made up a story. “I collect water and electricity fees.”

“No one lives here anymore. The man drank too much one day, somehow ended up on a bridge, got hit by a car but didn’t die, then fell into the river and drowned…” Grandpa Li sighed. “He even asked me to go with him that day. Luckily, I didn’t.”

Han Ning felt a deep sadness. She thanked Grandpa Li and walked away.

She had thought returning here would bring her happiness and a sense of belonging. But now, all that remained was herself. A sour feeling welled up in her heart. Her nose tingled, and she sniffed to hold back tears. She whispered into her cat’s ear, “Shall we go home?”

Just then, her phone rang in her pocket. Her heart skipped a beat. She took it out and saw that it was Shen Xi’s sixth call.