Chapter 320 - "You can just tell me. Is my dad not around anymore?" (1)

As soon as the contract-signing was over, the group went first with Chen MingZhu to look for her father. Hmm, going by bus, of course.

The farthest place that Chen MingZhu had visited before today was a small county town next to her home town. It was her first time to a big city and she seemed very uncomfortable. She had a backpack with her and inside of it was a few changes of clothes. And then there was that urn that she had been carrying with her.

Li XinYun had been curious about it for a while now. She finally couldn't help but asked, "What is inside the urn?"

"Pickled vegetables. I made them myself and my dad loved it and would bring with him a few urn-full every year he visited. He said it tastes like home."

Li XinYun felt that no matter how much one loved pickled vegetables, they still wouldn't be able to have too much of it. No matter how much one loved something, one would still grow tired of having too much of it. Nevertheless, she was no longer her old self who would just blurt out everything on her mind. Naturally, she would not say something that was hurtful. In fact, she went along with her, "That's true. I always miss cooking at home after travelling for a few days."

Fang JunRong gave her daughter a look and there was a slight smile on her.

This was not peak commute time so it was not crowded on the bus. Everybody was able to get their own seat. With the air-conditioning running as well, Fang JunRong did not get motion sickness.

Fang Tian, on the other hand, had been busying uploading the interview onto her account since she had gotten onto the bus and had been staring at her cellphone the entire time. The stretch of the road was not every even and was somewhat bumpy. She started feeling dizzy after a little while.

"Do you have any pills for motion sickness, Aunty?" Her little face was pale and the energetic girl just an hour ago was no longer. Her eyes, lowered, made her look a little pitiful.

"How about try some dried fruits first? I had these myself," said Fang JunRong.

She opened up her bag and pulled out a bag of dried peaches. These were made from peaches from her dimension. They had mystical properties to them and ought to make Fang Tian feel better after she had them. Fang JunRong wasn't able to bring fruits with her when they travelled nor could she just pull them out from the dimension and claim that she had bought them, so she just turned them into dried fruits. They were much more portable that way.

Fang Tian took a bite and her eyes lit up. "This is delicious! I like them! Great idea, Aunty!"

Fang JunRong smiled. The dimension produced good fruits.

There weren't too much fruits in each bag, perhaps around 50 grams or so. Fang Tian finished it in no time and looked at Fang JunRong with her limpid puppy eyes. Her body language said she wanted more.

Fang JunRong remembered that this niece of hers was overseas most of the time in the past year and had never had fruits from her dimension before.

"I have more inside my suitcase but this is all I have with me. Here, have them all." For sure she would not be able to open up her suitcase on the bus.

She pulled one out for Fang Tian and gave one to both Li XinYun and Chen MingZhu. She didn't have any herself. She much preferred the fresh fruits over the dried ones. It is difficult going from riches to rags. She had become more and more picky in this area.

Chen MingZhu had a piece of dried fruit in her mouth and appreciating the sweet and sour taste in her mouth. It was her first time having dried fruit that was this tasty. She remembered when she was just 5 years old and her mother passed away. Her father rushed back and she was crying nonstop. Many told her then that she had no mater and that it was a matter of time when her father was going to abandon her too. Her father, holding her, opened up a pack of dried fruit that he had brought home for her specifically and gave her some, comforting her.

The dried fruit tasted sweet and sour along with the fragrance that belonged to fruits. That was her first time having dried fruit and she was so stunned that she had forgotten to cry. From that point on, her father would always bring her snacks whenever he went home and had her hid them for later. There were chocolates, chips, lollipops. She had had many different types of snacks that he had brought back but the dried fruit was the most memorable of them all.

Even though her dad spent most of the time working away from home but he would send her birthday gifts every year. He told her to study hard and reassured her that he would work hard and would bring her with him one day so she could see the outside world.

She recalled her father's dark and honest face and her eyes reddened. She didn't want the others to notice that she was crying so she lowered her head and quickly wiped away her tears.

Chapter 321 - "You can just tell me. Is my dad not around anymore?" (2)

Chen MingZhu did not finish her bag of dried fruits. She put it away carefully after a few bites. Things this tasty should not be finished in one sitting. She would save some for her cousin. Her uncle's family wasn't exactly great to her but, after her mother passed away, they had raised her until now. She was very appreciative and, whenever she came by anything good, she would always think about saving some for her cousin.

Turning and looking out of the window, she had only seen buildings that tall in books and on the television in their neighbor's house. Cars came and gone on the streets and the sun beat down on their bodies. There seemed to be a hint of gasoline smell in the wind.

So this is the city that her father lived in? It looked very pretty.

She didn't even blink, for fear that she would miss even a little bit of the scenery.

***

It was already 6 in the afternoon when they arrived at their destination after transferring a few times. As it was the summer time, it was still bright outside, especially when the weather was nice today. The sky was covered in red, burning clouds and it looked very picturesque.

The location was a bit off the beaten path and, after inquiring with the locals and showed to the location by a nice person, they finally arrived at the employee dormitory.

The dormitory looked to be three-story tall from the outside and the yellow and old building was showing its age. There were even kids' graffiti on the walls on the side and moss at the corners. There were clothes of all sizes hanging in the hallway and the place was filled with the rich flavor of life. Many of the residences were collecting their clothes from the corridor.

Fang JunRong stood downstairs for a little while and asked Chen MingZhu, "Should we go upstairs?"

She remembered her father's room number. It was room 304.

Chen MingZhu recollected herself and looked up at the third floor. She arms tightened around the urn and she was obviously nervous.

Perhaps because she was not alone, as nervous as Chen MingZhu was, she still walked upstairs. The security of this building was nonexisting. Obviously, they were not residences there but nobody said anything about it.

The group walked to third floor and found room 304 from the signs.

Fang JunRong noticed that outside of room 304 hung clothing that belonged to a family of three. There were man's clothes, woman's clothes, and baby clothes.

Li XinYun, too, noticed that and her face dropped. Because of Li WangJin, she was more sensitive in this area than most. She felt unjust for Chen MingZhu. After the time that they had spent together, she was quite fond of Chen MingZhu.

Chen MingZhu took a deep breath. Her hands forming into fists, she knocked on the door. This was a metal door and made a loud noise from the knocking.

"Who is it?"

It was a man's voice and, after a little while, the man opened and a square-faced man appeared at the door. Looking at them dubiously, he asked, "Who are you looking for?" Next to him stood a slightly chubby woman.

Chen MingZhu let out a sigh of relief right away. "I am looking for my father."

Fang JunRong gathered from her reaction that this man was not her father. So did Chen Gensheng move?

"Who's your dad? Did you come to the wrong door? I know everyone in this building. Give me his name. Let me ask around for you."

It was obvious that he was a friendly man.

"My father's name is Chen Gensheng," said Chen MingZhu, enunciating every single work. "Didn't he live here before? He had sent me mails before and this was the return address."

The square-faced man stiffened up a little visibly. "Oh, so you are Gensheng's daughter."

"Gensheng, I remember that he..."

His wife had just started talking when the man interjected, "He moved away and was no longer living here. He moved a while ago." Rubbing his face, there was a strange look on him. His wife, half way through the sentence, stopped.

"Where is he now then?"