How to Feed an Abyss!

ia Fang followed Jiang Huazhi out of the city without permission during the peak period, and then stole the money of the troupe.
He stayed in prison for almost two years – now there was a shortage of manpower, and most criminals had extremely short sentences, that’s why he was released so quickly.
Now he was working as a porter in the energy tower.

On their lunch break, Shi Yuan and Xia Fang found a bench on the side of the road, and the two sat side by side.
They got canned soybeans with eggplant sauce at the food distribution office and ate them with rice.

Xia Fang stopped after taking a few bites and asked Shi Yuan, “How are Wolfgang and the others?”

Shi Yuan told him, “Wolfgang went to the army and is still fighting.
Cheng Youwen and Qin Luluo went to work in the main city and are doing well.”

“Oh.” Xia Fang wiped his hands on his pants and was distracted for a few seconds.
“I received your letter in prison.
I really didn’t know until then that Isabel was no longer there, and the money was for Tracy.
I, I, I—”

He was speechless for a while, and after a long time, he whispered: “I don’t know what to say, is it because I took the money that Tracy…”

Shi Yuan: “No, she was not old enough for surgery.”

“…So that’s what happened, I see.” Xia Fang’s expression didn’t look any better.
“I really want to see her for the last time, I miss her very much.
Her grave is in Gleaning City, I can’t go there anymore.” He wandered off again for a moment and asked carefully, “After Gleaning City was gone, did the others… mention me again? What did they say?”

Shi Yuan thought for a while: “No, they never mentioned you again.”

Xia Fang showed a very strange look, like loss, regret, sadness, confusion… mixed emotions, it was difficult to describe.

In the end, he said: “Now that I have a new job, I will find a way to pay back the money – if you still want it, take it away; if you don’t want it, I will donate it, maybe to a welfare center, maybe to an orphanage.”

Shi Yuan asked him, “What about your mother? How is she, not in a hurry to use the money anymore?”

“Oh,” Xia Fang replied quickly, “She passed away when I was still in prison.
The money failed to save her.”

He looked at the time, Shi Yuan’s lunch break was almost over, so he said, “Go back to work, don’t delay, and if there’s a chance… we’ll be in touch later.”

“Okay.” Shi Yuan finished the last mouthful of soybeans and stood up.
“Then I’ll go back first.”

He took a few steps and heard Xia Fang speak behind him again, “If I have the chance in my next life, I would still like to act with you guys in a stage play, in “The Martyr”.” He laughed bitterly, “Although you guys definitely don’t want to anymore.”

Xia Fang also got up, packed up the can garbage, turned around, and disappeared into the crowd.

Shi Yuan walked back to Tower 4.
Lin Yeran sized him up suspiciously, repeatedly confirmed the time, and finally did not deduct his bonus.

In the evening, Shi Yuan went home from work.

Soon, he received a text message from Lu Tinghan: [Come down]

He ran downstairs, got into Lu Tinghan’s car, and was satisfied to get a touch.

He asked, “Where are we going for a walk?”

Lu Tinghan replied: “On the city wall.”