Chapter 362
To escape or not to escape.
The option briefly appeared in his mind.
What followed was a huge sense of shame and backstabbing.
As well as, disappointment directed at himself.
–It turns out that I’m just such an ordinary person.
Giving up was easy.
But it was extraordinarily difficult for him.
His life so far, excluding the unawareness of his childhood and the uncertainty of studying abroad, his real life began at the age of eighteen, when he returned to his hometown and met his mother, who was seriously ill, and his father, who was preparing for a new marriage.
And his family, who were completely indifferent.
It was an upheaval in his life.
Everything seemed to make sense and was unbearable.
Whether it was the approval and persuasion of his siblings, his father’s taking things for granted, or his mother’s despair, it was all like an absurd and bizarre Western painting, with a realism and strangeness that he had never seen before, and it just suddenly came into his life.
Reality never makes sense or is logical.
Obviously, the father he remembered was not such a heartless person, and his elder siblings were not so weak; although his family was rich and powerful, and had all the ills of an old family, it was still a normal family.
But what he tried to find out from his childhood memories before studying abroad were only the games his siblings played with him, his father’s love and tenderness to him, and his earnest advice before he was sent to the ship to study abroad. His father loved them, didn’t he? He loved his mother, didn’t he?
Why had he changed?
Why had his brother and sister changed too?
Why did they turn around and say he didn’t understand? Didn’t they see their mother’s despair?
That despair stood out!
Not only for her husband, but for her own children!
He ran away, broke away, abandoned, did many things to prove he was different from them, chose the path of life.
Until the day he died, he would carry out that belief.
He’s not like them!
Had he retreated at this point, would he have been in a position to blame his father for marrying his mother before her bedtime, not even waiting for the funeral; or his siblings for choosing to support his father over his mother when the time came?
He had succumbed to life, wealth, and power.
Can one accuse the father and siblings of succumbing to this as well.
Then how could they be any different.
On the way back to the car, Su Chunjun held Zhu Yuyan’s hand, silent.
Beside their car were guards on dump motorcycles, and there was a car at the front and back to prevent assassinations from the front or the back.
The night was late and quiet.
Not a single person could be seen on the way back from Mr. Zhang’s mansion.
For one thing, the movement of this line of convoy was really not small, and now that the quality of the engine was put here, any car was rumbling. Now the world is so, the people are much more timid than before, even if they dare to walk at night, when they hear the movement of such a car, they will also hurry to hide.
The stalls that used to push carts and sell some noodles and wonton stews have long since stopped appearing.
Secondly, there are fewer people.
The windows of the cars were pulled down, even late at night, to prevent snipers from being able to tell from the outside how many people were in the car and where they were all sitting.
This was all trained on her by the security officers around her.
On top of that there was where to escape from in the event of an attack, bending over to get out of the car using the body as cover, getting as low as possible, and also, not wearing overly conspicuous and eye-catching clothing.
Like what she was wearing tonight was very inappropriate, white was very visible at night and would reflect.
But it was the only dance dress she hadn’t worn yet, all the others had been worn and seen long ago.
Even now that everyone was almost poor and precarious, some damn social rules had to be followed.
A gown dress is a battle dress, and in order not to let others see that the couple is now paupers, they can only puff up their faces.
Zhu Yuyan looked out from the gap in the pulled down curtain and saw nothing but piles of trash.
It wasn’t piled up, it was picked apart.
Piles up where there was a possibility of people hiding – of course, the security officers couldn’t possibly pick apart all the garbage along the road for safety.
They don’t have that many hands.
The ones picking through the trash were more likely to be poor people trying to find food.
Whether it was the charitable foundation she ran or the night market, it was a drop in the bucket for the whole city.
Because people get hungry every day and need food.
Unless she could guarantee charitable handouts every day, the people who took the food would continue to starve after they ate it.
She has tried her best to think of ways to do this.
Like writing letters to charities in the U.S., U.K., and France for help.
For example, actively contacting the Catholic Church or the Protestant Church in England in the hope of getting donations of food.
But there were few respondents.
Because in the West, the anti-China campaign has already begun. For these charitable organizations, China does not belong to the scope of charity, and rescuing Chinese people and helping them is not an activity that can add to their glory.
But she was writing anyway, because she hoped that one or two organizations with different ideas would be willing to donate a little something.
Back at home, the two hurriedly washed up, but did not rest immediately.
Zhu Yuyan’s first order of business when she got into bed was to schedule her work for tomorrow.
Su Chunjun also had to make a few phone calls and read a few documents.
Zhao Shuli was waiting in his study.
But today, Su Chunjun came back to his bedroom early.
Zhu Yuyan saw him come in and spoke first: ”Ms. Zhao has confirmed that they are about to leave, and I don’t know when they will be back. I’m going to visit Suzuki Yoshiko tomorrow, she hasn’t been heard from for a long time, I need to go and see what’s happened to her. What’s up with you.” She asked looking up.
Su Chunjun said donkeyishly, “I want you to go with Mr. Zhang.”
Zhu Yuyan, who considered herself to have a fairly fast-spinning mind, didn’t even pick up the strings for a moment.
She asked, “What is it that you need me to go along to solve?” Before the words left her mouth, she matched the signal and she put down the notebook and pen in her hands.
Su Chunjun stood up reflexively.
Afraid of being beaten.
Ready to flee at any time.
Zhu Yuyan was calm, “You want me to escape. Come here, I won’t beat you.”
Su Chunjun carefully sat back down, only daring to sit on half of his buttocks.
Zhu Yuyan: “This idea is normal. I have also thought about it.”
Hadn’t she thought about it.
Of course she had thought about it.
Long before she had to talk to Zhu Yanshu, she had thought more than once about taking Su Chunjun with her.
As someone who wasn’t exactly familiar with history, but knew what kind of journey it was now, she had certainly thought about escaping.
And to escape to a place like the United States or England, where there hadn’t been a war.
Why not run away.
Because she didn’t have the face to run away.
After she thought about the option of “fleeing,” she felt a sense of pride and honor that had never existed in her before.
We are the victors.
It was a feeling she had never had in peacetime.
Sure, one could say anything when sparring online, as if one was the most righteous.
But in everyday life, she didn’t have such a strong sense of national honor – might as well say it never came up.
She took everything for granted.
Peace, abundance, entertainment and culture, easy access to amenities.
She certainly had a lot of grievances about life, but now that she looked at it again, it was more akin to looking for a bone in an egg.
The country wasn’t supposed to be perfect, but all of us harshly criticize it for not being perfect, even if it was already beautiful.
Such a beautiful country is mine.
How can I let go of what it is now and run away.
Even if I die here, I know how beautiful it is.
Zhu Yuyan: “I won’t leave.”
She looks down at her notebook, picks up a pen, draws a line under “Visiting Suzuki Yoshiko,” and says, “Is there anything else you want to do?”
Su Chunjun stood up and said, “Yes, I’m going to ask Zhao Shuli to see if he’s leaving.”
Zhu Yuyan looked up, “If he wants to go, let him go.”
Su Chunjun: “Good.”
He turned around and went out, his feet heavy and all relaxed.