“Let me toast you with this bowl first.” Qi Zhimu put down the wine jar, picked up the bowl, and drank it all in one go.
Longjing couldn’t figure it out for the moment, so he let it go, tilted his head back, and drained his bowl as well.
“Forty-some years have passed in the blink of an eye…
You’re still so young.
I really envy long-lived species…” “You haven’t changed much from nine years ago, either.
Besides, I’m not a long-lived species.” Qi Zhimu refilled the wine again.
“True enough.
Even I can preserve my looks with cosmetic procedures.
A miracle doctor like you surely has plenty of skills.
It’s just a pity you don’t sell them.” Longjing said with regret.
Qi Zhimu didn’t respond.
He raised his bowl in acknowledgment.
The rims of the bowls clinked, producing a crisp sound.
“Excellent!” Longjing wiped the corner of his mouth, a hearty expression on his face.
“Say, Old Qi, you saw that I’m about to die, didn’t you?
Is that why you brought out this Plum Blossom Wine?” “…” This time it was Qi Zhimu’s turn to be stunned.
Before receiving an answer, Longjing didn’t study his expression closely, merely taking his silence as agreement, and continued on his own.
“I didn’t come to get medicine from you last year because I felt it was no longer necessary…” “The bitter fruit left behind by artificially extending my lifespan back then — I don’t want to endure it any longer.
I’ve lived to 336 years, suffered the bitter fruit for 247 years.
I’m tired.” “Oh, I should be precise — 204 years.” After all, once he found Qi Zhimu, the medicine had given him 43 stable years.
So what if he was a corporate executive, one of the Ten Stonehearts, with boundless glory?
The excruciating pain — ten thousand ants gnawing at the heart — in the depths of the night was known only to himself.
“…I’m sorry.
When it comes to powers related to The Abundance, I am powerless.” Qi Zhimu sighed.
“Ah, I didn’t come here to hear you apologize.” Longjing took a gulp of wine with emotion, almost talking to himself.
“The entire company — even an Emanator of The Preservation — can do nothing about it.
Yet you can treat the symptoms.
That’s impressive enough, Old Qi.” “The reason I came today is to say goodbye to you.
Waiting around to die isn’t my style.
I’ve already chosen my day for myself.” “To be able to drink your most precious fine wine before I die — I have no regrets.” “Inside the company, there’s nothing but mutual deception.
Countless people are waiting for you to mess up.
It’s full of life-or-death struggles…” “Now I understand why you chose to live in seclusion in the mountains, seeking peace and freedom.
No need to constantly guard against hidden arrows, no need to worry about the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands under your command.
It’s really good.” “I’m so tired, Old Qi…
Yet I’ve scoured my contact list and can’t find a single…
friend…
to speak my heart to.
Ha…” “So before I die, I had the nerve to come to you.” “I thought, even if the miracle doctor Mr.
Qi Zhimu doesn’t consider me a friend, at the very least, he’s someone I can pour out my woes to.” “Listening to a lifelong lonely patient talk about his heart illness is also a doctor’s duty, don’t you think?” “…” Qi Zhimu said nothing.
He simply refilled Longjing’s wine and listened quietly.
He did not deny one of Longjing’s statements.
Between friend and patient, Longjing had always been the latter to him — an equal relationship of mutual need.
He gave Longjing medicine to suppress the pain.
Longjing used his job convenience to do important things for him.
That was all.
There was no personal connection beyond that.
But at this moment, Longjing was a friend.
Friendship between men often requires no preamble.
“My parents died young — they were beaten to death…” “They stole and robbed to feed me, who had just turned eleven…
and eventually ran into a formidable opponent…” “That world had long lost all order.
Whoever had the bigger fist made the rules.” “I killed those people to avenge my parents.
To leave no future trouble, I burned everything down.
I didn’t even spare the children younger than me…” “I would have died too, but a blind woman saved me.” “When the company’s people arrived, I didn’t hesitate to sign an indenture contract.
From then on, I climbed like mad.” “Because I knew that only by climbing to a higher class could I control my own destiny.” “In fact, I managed to do it.
But now, looking back, I see that I’ve left behind nothing but a complete mess — even pathetic, hehe…” “You might think I’m being sentimental, but I still have to say: from the moment that blind woman who saved me died before my eyes, the real me probably died back then too.” “I never got the chance to tell her I liked her, loved her, wanted to marry her…” “I promised her…
I promised her…” “That I would take her across the galaxy.
Before curing her eyes, I would be her eyes, showing her all the countless beautiful sights.” “But I broke that promise.
Hahaha——” “The story is cliché, isn’t it?
But that’s my life.
I am a success, and also an out-and-out failure.” “Desperately seeking ways to extend my life as I aged — that was only because I couldn’t bear to accept that failure of a self dying like that.” “…I see it clearly now, Old Qi.” “I’ve donated all the wealth under my name to worlds as turbulent as my homeland.
Now I have nothing tying me down — I’m going to find her.” “It’s just that…
after so many years, she’s long gone.
She won’t be waiting for me, will she…” Qi Zhimu lowered his eyes.
He made no comment and felt he had no right to comment.
The only thing he could empathize with was the suffering of their childhoods.
“…At the fork in fate’s road, I was a bit lucky than you.” “Let’s hear it?” “When I was about to die in a pile of rotting corpses, my teacher picked me up.
Unlike the blind woman you spoke of, she was a very accomplished biologist.” “The things you send out every year — they’re for your teacher?” “Yes.” “Then you really are luckier than me.
At least you have no regrets.” Longjing laughed and cried at the same time, unceremoniously tilting back his head to gulp down the wine.
Qi Zhimu’s lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he slowly closed his eyes.
Compared to Longjing’s suffering, what was his inability to persuade his teacher compared to that?
Could that be considered a regret?
But why?
His heart suddenly ached — as if someone had reached through his chest and was tightly gripping his beating heart.
Some extremely blurry fragments flashed back in his mind, the pain so intense it was hard to bear.
He couldn’t see clearly…
He couldn’t see any of it clearly.
“Longjing.” “Mm?” “I, like you, have chosen my day for myself.” “Then, are you…?” “Yes.
My lifespan is coming to an end.
I only have a few days left.
This is actually the reason I switched to plum wine to entertain you.” Longjing stared blankly at Qi Zhimu’s calm expression.
For a long while, he let out a chuckle.
“You stingy old man.
Only when you’re about to die are you willing to bring out the good wine you usually treasure like nothing else.” “You’re the same.
Only when you’re about to die do you remember to do good deeds and donate all your possessions.” “Haha, true enough.” Longjing laughed heartily at first, then gradually subdued his expression and asked seriously, “So, how many days do you have left?” “The day of Major Cold.” “Heh.
I’m one day earlier than you.
But that means neither of us can see the other off on the final journey.” “We’ve said our goodbyes today.
No regrets.” “That’s also true.
But Old Qi, why do you have no lingering attachment to this world?
Do you truly have no regrets?” “Precisely because there are no regrets, there is no lingering attachment.” “So this is the kind of doctor who has seen through life and death…
Alright then.
Down with this bowl, my friend!” Life, whether long or short, always passes in a hurry.
So many people never get the chance to say goodbye.
But at the very least, these two old men — whose friendship had lasted only half a day — could say their eternal farewell to each other today.