Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

On the third day after Cang Xiangrong woke up, there was no room left in the ward to display flowers.

The first flower basket delivered was from the hospital—lilies and carnations arranged in a fan shape, placed on the bedside table. Li Xiuzhi personally selected it, without letting the nurses handle it. Then came the military; the flower basket from the Political Department of the Nancheng Military Sub-district was even larger, with a small military flag inserted among the bouquets. Later came from the police station, the neighborhood committee, and one that was signed "All Staff of Zhongzhi Construction"—that was arranged by Wang Lide.

Over the next three days, news of Cang Xiangrong's heroic fight against four robbers gradually spread. First, Nancheng TV broadcast a brief report on its evening news, accompanied by two photos—one taken by a passerby when the bus stopped at the hospital entrance, and the other a photo of Cang Xiangrong from his enlistment days. As the announcer read, "Despite serious injuries, he persisted in fighting," Cang Shouzheng, in his old house in Xiqiao Village, squatted motionless in front of the radio. The next day, the Nancheng Daily published the news on its front page, ending with the sentence, "The injured man is the cousin of Cang Lifeng, the hero who saved lives during last year's bank robbery." From then on, the two names were read together. The provincial newspaper subsequently reprinted the entire article, with a shorter headline: "The Blood of the Cang Family Man Never Cools."

This report was written by Lin Wei. But she didn't write it on her own initiative. The editor, Lao Zhou, first assigned the lead to a colleague in the social affairs department. Lin Wei was organizing follow-up materials on the Chengnan Farmers Market that day when a colleague casually mentioned as he passed by her desk, "The brother of Cang Lifeng, whom you interviewed last year, has gotten into trouble again." Lin Wei paused for half a second, put down the documents in her hand, and dialed Cang Lifeng's pager.

When the call came back, she asked somewhat reproachfully, "Why didn't you tell me about your brother's injury right away?"

Cang Lifeng paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, then said, "I don't want to trouble you too much."

"What are you saying? You still treat me like an outsider..." She suddenly stopped talking, her face burning.

Cang Lifeng on the other end of the phone hadn't thought much of it at first. But Lin Wei's sudden stop made him realize the deeper meaning behind it. A sweet smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

Lin Wei coughed and then said, "What I mean is, we're friends now... cough, anyway, if anything happens in the future, you must tell me immediately. Don't bear it all alone. Okay?"

"Okay, sure." Cang Lifeng nodded emphatically. A warm feeling filled his entire body.

In the afternoon, Lin Wei and Cang Lifeng rode in Zhongzhi's car to the hospital together.

As the car turned into the gate of the military hospital, Mr. Chen glanced at the back seat in the rearview mirror. Cang Lifeng, who had been sitting by the window, was now in the middle, very close to Lin Wei. Their hands were touching.

Seeing this, Master Chen smiled and said, "Mr. Cang, we've arrived."

Cang Lifeng and Lin Wei got out of the car one after the other. Seeing that Master Chen was still sitting in the car, Cang Lifeng asked, "Master Chen, aren't you getting in?"

"No, I'll wait for you in the car. Mr. Cang, if Xiang Rong finishes his drink, please remember to bring the thermos down for me."

"Okay." Cang Lifeng said nothing more and walked into the inpatient building side by side with Lin Wei. There were only the two of them in the elevator, and the floor numbers jumped up one by one.

"Master Chen is quite perceptive," Lin Wei said.

"Yes, he's a really honest guy," Cang Lifeng said.

The elevator reached the third floor and the doors opened.

They walked down the corridor to the ward door. The door was ajar, and it was quiet inside. Cang Lifeng knocked twice, and without waiting for a response, he pushed the door open.

In the ward, Shen Jingyi was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a segment of orange to Cang Xiangrong's lips. Cang Xiangrong had just opened his mouth, and before he could take it, he saw Cang Lifeng and Lin Wei standing at the door.

He froze for a moment, his mouth slightly open. Shen Jingyi put the orange segment in his mouth, but he forgot to chew it.

Shen Jingyi noticed something was wrong and turned around to see Cang Lifeng and a woman wearing a beige down jacket and carrying a camera bag on her shoulder smiling at them from the doorway.

The ward was silent for about two seconds.

Cang Xiangrong then noticed the orange segment in his mouth. He quickly closed his mouth, his face instantly turning red from his ears to his neck. Shen Jingyi also lowered her head, not daring to look at Cang Lifeng and Lin Wei.

Seeing this scene, Cang Lifeng couldn't help but recall the scene from last year. It was also winter that year. In a ward at Nancheng People's Hospital, he lay on the hospital bed, his chest wrapped in gauze. Lin Wei sat by the bed, holding an apple in her hand, which she had peeled, cut into small pieces, and fed to him piece by piece.

He subconsciously turned his head to look at Lin Wei.

Lin Wei also turned her head to look at him.

Their eyes met. She smiled slightly. He smiled too.

"Ahem." Cang Lifeng cleared his throat.

Cang Xiangrong snapped out of his daze, looked at Li Feng, then at the woman standing next to him, and said, "Brother, who is this...?"

"Lin Wei. A reporter for the Nancheng Daily. Also a friend of your brother," Lin Wei stepped forward and replied.

When she said "friend," her tone was different from when she said "reporter." Cang Xiangrong noticed it.

Shen Jingyi stood up from the bedside, nodded slightly to Lin Wei, and said, "Hello, Reporter Lin. My name is Shen Jingyi."

"Yes, hello! You must be Shen Jingyi. Lifeng told me. You're very brave."

Upon hearing this, Cang Xiangrong and Shen Jingyi exchanged a glance. They had already guessed the special relationship between Cang Lifeng and reporter Lin.

"Thank you, Sister Lin!" Shen Jingyi said.

Lin Wei sat down on another chair beside the bed and took out a voice recorder and notebook from her bag. As she pressed the record button, her voice regained the calmness expected of a reporter: "Cang Xiangrong, this is Lin Wei, a reporter from the Nancheng Daily. Could you tell me about what happened that day?"

Cang Xiangrong began to speak. He started by recounting how he saw the four people get into the car at the rest stop... Lin Wei listened without interrupting, only nodding occasionally when he described the details of the fight.

At the end, Cang Xiangrong's voice softened: "Then Shen Jingyi pressed on my wound and didn't let go. Later, at the hospital, her mother performed surgery on me."

Lin Wei nodded. She pressed the stop button on the recorder and closed the notebook. Then she stood up, walked to the bedside table, and picked up an apple and a fruit knife. She was going to peel an apple for Cang Xiangrong.

"Your great-grandfather guarded national treasures, bearing the infamy for half his life. Your grandfather kept his promise, never uttering a word about it to anyone for forty-eight years. Your second uncle lay prone in the snow for three days and three nights, and your brother charged towards the muzzle of a gun." She finished peeling the apple and handed it to Cang Xiangrong. The apple peel lay on the bedside table, a long strip, cut all the way through without breaking.

"It's your turn now," she said.

"The men of the Cang family all have hot blood. But I hope you will also remember," she paused, her voice somewhat low, "that blood is shed so that the living can live well, not so that the living can live in fear."

As she spoke, her gaze shifted from Cang Xiangrong's face to Cang Lifeng. Cang Lifeng was looking at her, and their eyes met briefly. Lin Wei placed the fruit knife back on the table, turned, and picked up the recorder and notebook.

"The manuscript will be sent tomorrow. You should focus on recovering." She put the recorder and notebook into her bag, then turned to Cang Lifeng, "Lifeng, take me home."