CH 482

His appetite had grown bigger and he liked to eat meat. Han Fei looked at the empty fridge and touched his stomach, “The other actors have to go to extra lengths to keep fit but how come I can’t gain weight at all?”

After starting the game, Han Fei’s physique and mind had improved. He used to be so defeated and now even murderers would walk away from him. He had changed a lot. “I like to eat meat, especially after I’m tired. Eating meat can help me relax, that might be the influence from Midnight Butcher…” Han Fei stood up quietly. If that was the case, Han Fei needed to calm down, or else he might be infected by the despair from the cryptic world.

After some rest, Han Fei took out his phone to call Li Xue. “Why the sudden desire to call me?”

“Can you help me look for someone?”

“How come I feel like I’ve heard that before? Shoot, who do you want me to look for?”

“His name is Wang Pingan, he was once a deliveryman. He has intelligence deficiency and was captured by the police for murder when he was 20.” Han Fei didn’t forget his promise to Mirror God.

“If he has a criminal past, then it shouldn’t be too hard to find.” Li Xue hung up but called again soon after, “Found the man, but he is out of prison now. With the help of a charity organization, he found a new job. You should look for him at Xin Lu Zoo.”

“Xin Lu Zoo?” Han Fei took down the address.

“Is this man related to the Butterfly? You sound so nervous.” Li Xue was a detective and she picked out the strangeness in Han Fei’s voice.

“He is not related to Butterfly but he has saved a world.”

After a quick shower, Han Fei put on a relatively clean shirt and took a cab to Xin Lu Zoo. In this technologically advanced age, virtual technology could simulate everything, whale-watching at the north pole, flying with the birds in the sky. Therefore traditional zoos like this had gone by the wayside.

The zoo in the old city was not huge. If not for the donation from the government and kind people online, the zoo would have closed down already. Han Fei purchased the ticket. The place had few visitors but it was very clean. There was no smell in the air. The workers here took their job seriously.

“I’m sorry but do you know Wang Pingan?” Han Fei accosted a uniformed worker.

“Wang Pingan?” The worker studied Han Fei. “Why are you looking for him? Are you his family?”

“I have something to tell him.”

“Okay, come with me.” The worker led Han Fei to the enclosure for snub-nosed monkeys. He shouted up the hill. “Pingan, someone is looking for you!”

Han Fei looked up the hill. A middle-aged man in uniform was cleaning the hill. The monkeys around him looked at him quietly. They squatted on his shoulders or hung on his neck. This looked very serene. Hearing his name, the man and the monkeys all turned around. The man looked no different from the man in the memory world, but he was older in real life.

When he saw Han Fei, his crooked lips turned up with a smile. Then he ran over happily, calling, “Big brother! Big brother!”

“Don’t mind him. There is some problem with his mind. He calls everyone big brothers. It was as if this is the only word left in his mind after his father died.” The worker beside Han Fei sighed. When Wang Pingan was close, he held Pingan’s hands and said in a tone reserved for kids, “You are at least 20 years older than him, he is younger than you. We call people younger than us our little brother, so what should you call him?”

Wang Pingan was happy to see Han Fei. He smiled and kept gesturing at Han Fei, “You, you just like the actor from tv!”

“You should call him little brother because he is younger than you.” The worker wanted to add something else but Han Fei stopped him. “He is not wrong. Other than his father, he only trusts that big brother.”

“What?” Hearing this, the worker decided to leave the two alone.

Han Fei and Wang Pingan walked through the zoo. The animals were very close to Wang Pingan. The giraffes would lean down to lick Wang Pingan’s face; the foxes would bounce excitedly when they saw Wang Pingan; the elephants would spray Wang Pingan with water. Everything was peaceful and beautiful. It was like a paradise. Han Fei didn’t say anything. Wang Pingan walked beside Han Fei quietly. At that moment, they didn’t feel the other was a stranger.

“Pingan, your big brother didn’t save you, do you blame him?” As the sun was about to set, Han Fei asked the question. Wang Pingan shook his head with a bright smile, he didn’t seem to remember that incident anymore.

“Your big brother actually did want to help you but he ran into an accident when he was on his way to the police station. That was his regret.” On the way here, Han Fei asked Li Xue for the case details. Wang Pingan lived in a district adjacent to Xin Lu. When the police found him, Wang Pingan was extremely uncooperative. He was detained for a long time. But not long after that, the police found more bodies near the river. After investigation, it showed that all the bodies were killed by the person whom Wang Pingan murdered. Therefore, the lawyer immediately helped to fight the case on the basis of self-defense. Considering Wang Pingan’s mental state, and the death of his sole guardian, they sent him to the mental hospital for treatment. After Wang Pingan calmed down, they started to go through the case and helped Wang Pingan to reenter society.

After many years, Wang Pingan was assigned work at Xin Lu Zoo. He started from the cleaner and became the most welcomed zookeeper. Many animals would only calm down when he was around.

Compared to the altar owner who became an Unmentionable, Wang Pingan was lucky. They were once at the same starting point but they had led completely different lives.

“Big brother!” Wang Pingan remembered something important. “I have to go feed the monkeys.”

“Okay. I will come to visit you often in the future. This is my phone number. Come and find me if you have any trouble.” Han Fei keyed his number into Wang Pingan’s phone.

“Okay.” Wang Pingan ran away because he was worried about the monkeys. But suddenly he stopped. “Big brother! I saw you in my dreams last night, really!”

“I know. Go, the monkeys are waiting.” Han Fei looked at Wang Pingan and he really wanted to smile.

“Okay.” Wang Pingan grinned at Han Fei as he ran ahead. “Big brother! You really look like the actor on tv! Next, next time, you should come on Saturday to see the elephants!”

The setting sun shone on Wang Pingan. He was so normal but he shone brighter than the Gods in the altars. Han Fei stood up and walked towards the setting sun. “This world is horrible but there are many beautiful things too. For you all, I need to guard this gate to the cryptic world.”