Chapter 6
Ren Yi took a three-day leave, intending to relax for a bit.
When he got home, he took off his firefighting uniform, changed into a t-shirt and jeans, then drove to the supermarket. He bought a bunch of his dad’s favorite foods and some household essentials.
The drive back was a bit congested, so while the car inched forward, he made a call.
The phone rang for a long time before a lazy voice picked up on the other end, “Hey.”
Ren Yi chuckled, “Drunk again?”
“Ah… what time is it…” The person on the other side paused, “Who calls someone this early in the morning?” The tone carried a hint of playful whining.
“It’s almost 10 a.m. and that’s still early?”
“You think I’m like you, waking up at 6 a.m. for morning drills.” The sound of shuffling bed sheets came through the phone. “Why’d you suddenly call me? Miss me?”
“Yeah, I miss you. Are you in Tianqi?”
“Funny thing, I just got back from wrapping up filming.”
Ren Yi laughed, “How about I take you out for a drink tomorrow?”
The other person let out a couple of low chuckles and said in a teasing, suggestive tone, “Bring the drinks to my place.”
—
When Ren Yi got home, he parked the car and carried two big plastic bags toward the house.
From a distance, he saw his dad, leaning on a cane, walking toward him. Every step his dad took made his whole body tremble, but he still stubbornly tried to take big strides, causing Ren Yi to break out in a cold sweat.
The nanny was anxiously trying to stop him, but to no avail.
Ren Yi quickly ran over. “What’s going on?”
“Your dad insists he heard the emergency alarm, you need to stop him.”
Ren Yi handed the bags to Aunt Wang. “Dad, what are you doing?”
Ren Xiangrong’s eyes were fixed straight ahead, as if the people around him didn’t exist. He kept mumbling, “Emergency, there’s an emergency,” his voice shaky and full of urgency.
Although the fire station was just across from their neighborhood, it was unlikely anyone could hear the alarm from that distance, even in the dead of night.
Ren Yi held onto his father’s shoulders tightly, “Dad, you’re not on duty today. You’re not leading the team today!”
“Emergency! I need to go to the emergency!” Ren Xiangrong tried to shove Ren Yi aside, but when he couldn’t, he angrily swung his cane.
The cane’s head landed squarely on Ren Yi’s foot.
Ren Yi yelped in pain but gritted his teeth and didn’t let go, forcefully pulling his dad back. “Dad, you’re really not leading the team today. The deputy is handling it. Let’s go home, okay?”
The neighbors around them all stopped and stared.
Aunt Wang sighed repeatedly on the side.
In the end, despite the pain in his foot, Ren Yi carried his dad back home.
They lived in an old apartment building with no elevator. Thankfully, it was only the third floor, but even so, Ren Yi was drenched in sweat by the time they got there.
They actually had another place nearby, with a much better living environment. Back when his mom was still around, the three of them had already moved there. But after his mom passed away, Ren Yi moved back to this old place to take care of his dad more conveniently.
Once they were back inside, Ren Xiangrong sat in a chair, no longer stubborn like before. He quietly stared out the window, as if nothing had happened, though he still mumbled incoherently to himself.
Ren Yi, hopping on one leg, collapsed onto the couch, too exhausted to check his injured foot. He just lay there, panting heavily.
Aunt Wang came over with iodine, helped him take off his shoes and socks, and looked at his already swollen foot. She sighed, “Let me put some medicine on it for you.”
Ren Yi muttered, “Thanks.”
After she applied the medicine, Aunt Wang hesitated for a moment before saying, with some difficulty, “Captain Ren, your dad’s condition… it’s getting worse. He used to have more clear moments, but now… they’re becoming fewer and fewer.”
Ren Yi nodded. “I know.”
His dad had once been a decorated firefighter, forced to retire due to injury. He had a good pension and medical insurance, so hospital bills weren’t a concern. But some illnesses… money just can’t fix them.
“Last night… Xiao Wen was helping him bathe, and he pushed her down.”
Ren Yi froze for a moment. “Is Xiao Wen okay? Auntie, I’m so sorry, my dad…”
Aunt Wang patted his knee reassuringly. “No harm done.”
Xiao Wen was Aunt Wang’s son. The mother and son took turns, day and night, taking care of his father.
Ren Yi ran his hand through his hair, feeling suffocated. He couldn’t help but glance at Ren Xiangrong—the hunched figure, the gray hair, the hands resting on his knees still trembling slightly. He once saw this man as a towering figure, but now all that remained was endless sorrow and disappointment.
“Captain Ren, you’re so busy with work, and you hardly get any time off. It’s just you at home. Have you ever considered… sending him to a nursing home? They have professional caregivers and doctors.”
Ren Yi shook his head firmly. “I’m not sending my dad to a nursing home. He wouldn’t want to go either.”
Aunt Wang hesitated. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while but couldn’t find the right moment. My husband is about to retire, and after that, we plan to move back to our hometown. We’ve worked hard our whole lives, but we can’t afford to buy a place here.”
Ren Yi was silent. After changing so many caregivers, Aunt Wang and her son were the most reliable ones so far. Even though their salary was nearly ten thousand yuan a month, he was willing to pay more, as long as his father was well taken care of.
Aunt Wang added, “I’m really sorry, Captain Ren. You’ve been so kind to us, and we really care about your dad, but we don’t have a choice. There are still a few months left, so please take your time and find someone else.”
Ren Yi reluctantly nodded, “Alright, thank you.”
At noon, Ren Yi personally cooked a few dishes his dad liked, but his father refused to eat even a bite. In the afternoon, though, he suddenly said he was hungry. Ren Yi reheated the food and sat down to eat with him again.
He often reminded himself not to feel sad, but instead to be grateful that sometimes, he still had a semblance of a normal father.
—
The next day, Ren Xiangrong woke up in a clear state of mind. He even used his cane to water the plants, humming a little tune as he did.
Ren Yi felt much more at ease and suggested, “Dad, since I’m on vacation, how about Aunt Wang and I do a big clean-up later? You can be the supervisor. You point, we clean.”
Ren Xiangrong snorted, “You want me to supervise this? That’s beneath me. You two figure it out yourselves. Just be careful with my trophies and medals.”
“Don’t worry, no one dares to mess with your treasures.”
When Aunt Wang arrived, the two of them started cleaning.
Ren Yi’s foot was still swollen but not too bad, so he hobbled around, sweeping the floor, wiping the windows, and tossing out old items.
By noon, the house was noticeably cleaner. In the end, Ren Yi grabbed a brand-new, white rag, wrung it out, and headed over to clean his father’s “wall of honor.”
The wall of honor was displayed on the TV cabinet, filled with certificates, trophies, medals, and banners—each representing a chapter of Ren Xiangrong’s thirty-year career as a firefighter. Behind every award was likely a heart-stopping story.
As Ren Yi wiped, he reminisced with his father. “This one is from when you earned third-class merit, during the Two Conferences security detail, right?”
“Yeah, collective third-class merit,” Ren Xiangrong said, walking over with his cane.
“And this banner was from the family of those twins you saved.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a whole box full of banners. These ones I’ve displayed are the most meaningful.”
Ren Yi smiled, “I know. I could probably recite the story behind every single one of these.” As he touched each symbol of honor, his heart was filled with admiration for his father, just like when he was a child.
Since he was little, Ren Yi had looked up to his father, the hero firefighter. Despite his mother’s objections, he had followed in his father’s footsteps without hesitation. No matter how hard, exhausting, or dangerous the job was, he had never regretted his decision.
“And this one is your second-class merit,” Ren Yi picked up the medal. “From the chemical plant explosion.”
Ren Xiangrong nodded. “Eighteen years. That was the closest I’ve ever been to death. It was a massive accident that shook the whole country back then.”
Ren Yi vividly remembered the story—how Ren Xiangrong, buried under a landslide, survived for eight days with a comrade and two workers beneath the rubble. He was only eleven or twelve at the time, staying by his mother’s side at the scene during those eight agonizing days. It truly showed him what “every day feels like a year” meant.
“Over a hundred people died.” Ren Xiangrong’s expression dimmed slightly, no doubt recalling the comrades he had lost in the disaster.
Ren Yi carefully wiped a medal clean. “You escaped death by a hair’s breadth. You’re bound for good fortune now.”
Ren Xiangrong gave a mocking smile. “If I had any luck, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
Ren Yi spoke seriously. “Don’t say that, Old Ren. The fact that you’ve lived to retire safely is already a blessing.”
Ren Xiangrong sighed. “Sometimes I try to think that way too. I’ve snatched so many lives back from the hands of the Lord of the Underworld, it’s only fair that he’d punish me a little. Just don’t know when he’s coming to collect me.”
Ren Yi chuckled. “Quit flattering yourself. The guy’s too busy to bother with you every day.” He placed the cleaned medal back in its case. “By the way, I seem to recall something—wasn’t it a few months after that, the CEO of the chemical plant’s group had some trouble too?”
“Yeah, and I was the one who responded to that call too. Back then…”
“Captain Ren!” Auntie Wang’s voice called from inside. “Could you help me move the cabinet?”
“On my way.”
—-
After finishing the thorough cleaning, Ren Yi took a refreshing shower, styled his hair in front of the mirror, changed into fresh clothes, grabbed two bottles of red wine from home, and left before the evening rush.
He drove to an apartment complex near the World Trade Center, expertly entered the code for the unit, and took the elevator to the top floor.
Stepping out of the elevator, he knocked on a door. A fair-skinned, handsome young man leaned against the doorframe, smiling brightly at him. “Did you bring the wine? No wine, no entry.”
Ren Yi lifted the bag in his hand, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I brought the wine, and I brought myself too.”
They exchanged smiles, and the next moment, Ren Yi was pulled into the apartment.
—-
When Ren Yi woke up, dawn was just breaking.
Despite last night’s wild antics, his internal clock never failed him, waking him around 6 a.m. sharp, the same time they used to wake up for morning runs when he was still with the squad.
He wanted to sleep a bit longer, but couldn’t fall back asleep no matter what, so he got up, freshened up, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.
By the time he brought the food out, someone had already seated himself at the dining table, waiting expectantly.
“You’re like a bloodhound—up as soon as you smell food.”
Qi Xiao yawned widely. “I woke up because you were making so much noise, alright?”
“Oh, my bad then. I made breakfast as compensation.”
Qi Xiao scooped a spoonful of purple sweet potato porridge into his mouth, blowing on it as he nodded. “You’re forgiven.”
Ren Yi sat down as well, eating as he asked, “Just got back from Hengdian? How long is your break?”
Qi Xiao was a small-time actor. They’d met years ago at a bar, before he’d even started his career, and had stayed in touch all these years.
Ren Xiangrong nodded. “Eighteen years. That was the closest I’ve ever been to death. It was a massive accident that shook the whole country back then.”
Ren Yi vividly remembered the story—how Ren Xiangrong, buried under a landslide, survived for eight days with a comrade and two workers beneath the rubble. He was only eleven or twelve at the time, staying by his mother’s side at the scene during those eight agonizing days. It truly showed him what “every day feels like a year” meant.
“Over a hundred people died.” Ren Xiangrong’s expression dimmed slightly, no doubt recalling the comrades he had lost in the disaster.
Ren Yi carefully wiped a medal clean. “You escaped death by a hair’s breadth. You’re bound for good fortune now.”
Ren Xiangrong gave a mocking smile. “If I had any luck, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
Ren Yi spoke seriously. “Don’t say that, Old Ren. The fact that you’ve lived to retire safely is already a blessing.”
Ren Xiangrong sighed. “Sometimes I try to think that way too. I’ve snatched so many lives back from the hands of the Lord of the Underworld, it’s only fair that he’d punish me a little. Just don’t know when he’s coming to collect me.”
Ren Yi chuckled. “Quit flattering yourself. The guy’s too busy to bother with you every day.” He placed the cleaned medal back in its case. “By the way, I seem to recall something—wasn’t it a few months after that, the CEO of the chemical plant’s group had some trouble too?”
“Yeah, and I was the one who responded to that call too. Back then…”
“Captain Ren!” Auntie Wang’s voice called from inside. “Could you help me move the cabinet?”
“On my way.”
—-
After finishing the thorough cleaning, Ren Yi took a refreshing shower, styled his hair in front of the mirror, changed into fresh clothes, grabbed two bottles of red wine from home, and left before the evening rush.
He drove to an apartment complex near the World Trade Center, expertly entered the code for the unit, and took the elevator to the top floor.
Stepping out of the elevator, he knocked on a door. A fair-skinned, handsome young man leaned against the doorframe, smiling brightly at him. “Did you bring the wine? No wine, no entry.”
Ren Yi lifted the bag in his hand, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I brought the wine, and I brought myself too.”
They exchanged smiles, and the next moment, Ren Yi was pulled into the apartment.
—-
When Ren Yi woke up, dawn was just breaking.
Despite last night’s wild antics, his internal clock never failed him, waking him around 6 a.m. sharp, the same time they used to wake up for morning runs when he was still with the squad.
He wanted to sleep a bit longer, but couldn’t fall back asleep no matter what, so he got up, freshened up, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.
By the time he brought the food out, someone had already seated himself at the dining table, waiting expectantly.
“You’re like a bloodhound—up as soon as you smell food.”
Qi Xiao yawned widely. “I woke up because you were making so much noise, alright?”
“Oh, my bad then. I made breakfast as compensation.”
Qi Xiao scooped a spoonful of purple sweet potato porridge into his mouth, blowing on it as he nodded. “You’re forgiven.”
Ren Yi sat down as well, eating as he asked, “Just got back from Hengdian? How long is your break?”
Qi Xiao was a small-time actor. They’d met years ago at a bar, before he’d even started his career, and had stayed in touch all these years.
