After Crossing Over to the Republic of China, I've Become a Heartthrob Chapter 41

Eternal Regret

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Early the next morning, just after arriving at the office of the Chamber of Commerce, a colleague from the affairs department came to tell Shi Yao that there was a disturbance at the entrance of the charity relief organisation he had set up.

When he arrived at the scene, he saw a large group of people gathered at the entrance of the relief organisation, crying and shouting.

When he understood the situation, he realised that someone had choked to death after drinking the congee given by the relief organisation. 

The congee was not ordinary rice, but was mixed with gravel.

Shocked, Shi Yao first instructed his men to take care of the matter and immediately rushed to the rice storage warehouse.

When he read books or watched TV dramas, he had seen this kind of thing before, but he never thought that he would really encounter it. It's the so-called storylines originate from life, and that's just the way it is. 

It was nothing more than the establishment of a special fund that had been syphoned by others, which led to this kind of substandard, sand-mixed rice incident.

Who was it?

Most likely an insider.

With a heavy heart, he stepped into the warehouse at the end of the hall.

When he opened a bag of rice with a knife, half of the rice that came out was husk and sand.

Shi Yao cursed in his heart, but he heard a sudden movement at the back door, followed by a figure rushing out and the sound of an engine starting.

What's going on?

Shi Yao wanted to drive after them, but before he could take more than a few steps, he heard a strange ticking sound.

What's that?

When he saw it, he froze in place.

Unconsciously rubbing his eyes, he felt a chill as the cool wind passed over him.

It was a time bomb.

A time bomb with only 4 minutes and 25 seconds left on the countdown. 

Shi Yao was so nervous that his palms were sweating.

This person must have realised that he'd been discovered, so he'd rather die and destroy all the evidence.

There were only 4 minutes and 10 seconds left.

Shi Yao remembered that there was a car in front of the relief organisation. If he left immediately and drove away, he would definitely be unharmed.

But, but.

There were still so many victims at the entrance, and some of them had their families with them.

There were still some colleagues in the office, and there were also students from Xinmin School who were working as volunteers.

Only 4 minutes left.

What should he do, what should he do?

Shi Yao recalled that when he watched movies, there was always a bomb-disarming scene in the plot.

Two wires of different colours were cut with a single chop, and if they were cut correctly, everything would be fine, but if they were cut incorrectly, the bomb would explode immediately.

The protagonist of the film usually carried his own halo, and always managed to escape from death.

But he is not a bomb disposal expert, nor is he an agent in a movie!

Starting rashly is one-hundred percent self-defeating.

No, no!

3 minutes and 50 seconds.

Call the police, will that help?

First of all, this is the Republic of China, there are no cell phones, and there's no way to notify the police immediately.

Secondly, this is the Republic of China, even if the police are called, what can they do in less than four minutes?

3 minutes and 40 seconds.

Did he make a mistake from the start?

Song Yuan once said that he was always too idealistic.

Knowing that this was a chaotic world, he still wanted to stick to his principles, to swim against the tide, and to realise his ideal of helping people in troubled times.

Knowing clearly that this is a chaotic world, but still hoping to adhere to a little bit of goodness, to be a firefly in the dark, to be a burning torch. 

In the end, it is nothing but a joke.

Is it possible that all of this, all of his efforts, are meaningless after all?

3 minutes and 30 seconds.

No, no.

Shi Yao thought, for thousands of years, on this land, 

there have always been people who covered their tears with a sigh of relief, having no regrets even in the face of nine deaths;

there have always been people who run around and cry, who sing instead of cry, and who sacrifice themselves for the sake of benevolence, irrespective of fame and fortune;

there have always been the courage of 'laughing at the sky with your sword and leaving your heart and soul behind';

there has always been the lonely courage of 'remembering the distance between heaven and earth, and weeping in despair'; 

there has always been the fearlessness of 'riding on a galloping horse and being the one to lead the way'.

Meng Ke once said: life is what I want, but I want something more important than life, so I don't do anything to survive.

3 minutes and 20 seconds.

Shi Yao made up his mind.

He walked towards the bomb and carefully picked it up.

The ticking sound of the countdown sounded especially sharp and shrill.

Picking up the bomb, Shi Yao sprinted towards the car in front of the entrance. 

Putting the bomb on the passenger side, he fastened the seatbelt to avoid an accidental accident on the way.

With all this done, there was only 1 minute and 15 seconds left.

Without having time to think about it too much, he slammed on the accelerator, and the car crashed into the display boards in front of the door with the speed of a projectile, and sped away amidst the crowd's shouts of surprise.

Faster, faster.

Shi Yao's palms were covered in cold sweat as he stared at the pedestrians and vehicles on the road, and at the countdown numbers.

1 minute and 5 seconds.

Fortunately, the cities of the Republic of China are not big, and the relief organisation was not in the city centre.

55 seconds.

As long as I leave the city and get to a deserted area in the suburbs, I'll be fine.

Faster, faster.

35 seconds.

I'm running out of time.

What should I do?

It can't explode in the city. Absolutely not.

In a moment of clarity, Shi Yao saw Huangpu River not far away.

20 seconds.

He immediately turned the car around and drove towards the bridge, then crashed through the fence.

10 seconds.

The car was completely out of control and dropped from the bridge into the river in a free fall.

Shi Yao breathed a long sigh of relief, and through the front window, he saw a lark gliding across the blue sky, it was so beautiful.

5 seconds.

The car began to jolt, and Shi Yao thought to himself, I'm hungry, I want to eat a KFC family bucket of fried chicken, is today Crazy Thursday? If not, Wallace is okay, or Tastien, but there must be Coke, and it must be ice cold. (Angel: Wallace and Tastien are both Chinese burger restaurants.)

3,

2,

1.

An ear-splitting explosion caused a huge churning splash.

What a shame.

There was still a hint of regret.

Fate is so unpredictable and irrational, Shi Yao thought.

He hadn't said goodbye to the people around him.

But he had no regrets.

His soul trembled as he floated through the air, and he saw the wreckage of the car falling into the river and sinking slowly.

He saw countless onlookers on both sides of the riverbank.

Suddenly he remembered a line from 'Dream of the Red Chamber'.

———

The life that is owed has been repaid, the tears that are owed have been exhausted.

It is not a light thing to pay back for grievances, and separation and reunion are all predetermined.

If you want to know your fate, ask your previous life, but old age and wealth are really just a fluke.

It's like throwing a hungry bird into the forest, leaving the earth white and clean!

———

In an instant,

it was as if he heard Han Pu reciting lines from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream':

———

If there were a sympathy in choice,

War, death or sickness did lay siege to it,

Making it momentary as a sound,

Swift as a shadow,

Short as any dream.

———

If I leave, nothing will change in the world.

And when I'm gone, the world will no longer be the same. 

I once told Song Yuan that my principles are:

to be honest inside and out, to be sincere and passionate, to be open and honourable, and not to be a bad person.

I have a clear conscience, I have no regrets, and I never let anyone down.

My heart is magnanimous, my heart is gentle, my heart often has regrets, but I have no fear or regret.

Life is fleeting, coming and going.

I have given you back a world without Shi Yao.

And when I am gone, how will you miss me?

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: July 14, 2023