HNYWEF -Chapter 55 An Unexpected Visitor

Zhou Yi didn’t know how long he had been standing there.

The iron in the furnace had long since overheated, but he hadn’t noticed.

He just stood there in front of the workbench, gripping the tongs, his mind completely blank.

Take the imperial examinations.

Those three words sat in his head like a stone—heavy, impossible to move.

Footsteps came from outside.

Not Cheng Yaojin’s kind of booming footsteps.

A different kind—

steady, slow, one step at a time.

The sound on the stone pavement wasn’t loud, but it was clear.

Zhou Yi lifted his head and looked toward the doorway.

A man walked in.

He stood at the entrance and glanced inside.

His gaze swept over Zhou Yi before settling on Zhou Xiong.

Zhou Xiong sat on the stool without moving.

Just looking at him.

The man didn’t move either.

He simply stood there.

The two stared at each other.

Three breaths.

Five breaths.

Standing between them, Zhou Yi suddenly felt that something about the room was strange.

He looked at his father.

There was no expression on Zhou Xiong’s face.

But those eyes—

Zhou Yi saw his father’s eyes narrow slightly.

Just a little.

Very faint.

But Zhou Yi noticed it.

Sometimes, when his father looked at people, there would be a certain look in his eyes.

Not that empty kind.

A different kind.

Like he was thinking about something.

Thinking—

Why did this person come here?

The man finally spoke.

“Zhou Xiong.”

Two words.

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

The man waited a breath.

Then said again,

“How many years has it been…”

Zhou Xiong still didn’t speak.

Zhou Yi stood to the side, watching the scene.

He didn’t know who this man was.

But he could tell the man knew his father.

And more than that—

his father was confused.

Why him?

Zhou Yi suddenly remembered the question his father had just asked him—

“Do you want to take the imperial examinations?”

And then this man appeared.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

Absolutely not.

From the way his father looked, he clearly hadn’t expected him to come.

Zhou Yi looked at the man’s face.

There wasn’t much expression there either.

He simply stood there, looking at his father.

At last, Zhou Xiong spoke.

“Wei Zheng.”

Two words.

His voice was as hoarse as ever.

Zhou Xiong sat on the stool, looking at Wei Zheng.

His eyes were still narrowed.

That same sentence was written in his gaze—

What are you here for?

Wei Zheng was looking at him too.

The two simply stared at each other.

Neither spoke.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xiong’s mind began spinning rapidly.

Sent by Li Er?

No.

Wei Zheng’s position hadn’t reached that level yet.

Then why had he come?

The furnace crackled softly.

A gust of wind outside stirred the door curtain.

After a long while,

Wei Zheng moved first.

He took one step forward.

Standing just inside the threshold, he went no farther.

Then he spoke.

“I came to see you.”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

Wei Zheng waited a breath.

Then added,

“There’s nothing else.”

Still, Zhou Xiong said nothing.

He looked at Wei Zheng, eyes still narrowed.

The words in that gaze changed—

Just to see me?

Wei Zheng met his gaze without avoiding it.

The two locked eyes again.

Standing nearby, Zhou Yi watched them both.

Suddenly, he found the scene a little funny.

Two men standing there, silent, just staring at each other.

Like two wooden posts.

But he didn’t dare laugh.

So he simply stood there and waited.

Waited for someone to speak first.

No one did.

The furnace crackled.

The wind stirred the curtain again.

And again.

Wei Zheng suddenly nodded.

Without saying a word.

Just that single nod.

Then he turned and walked out.

At the doorway, he stopped.

Without turning back.

He stood there for a breath.

Then pushed the door open and left.

The footsteps faded into the distance.

Steady.

Slow.

One step at a time, growing lighter and lighter.

Zhou Yi stood there, staring at the swaying curtain.

Then he turned to look at his father.

Zhou Xiong was still sitting on the stool in the same posture.

Looking toward the doorway.

There was no expression on his face.

But those eyes—

Zhou Yi saw it.

Those narrowed eyes slowly opened.

Something moved within them.

Confusion.

Still confusion.

Zhou Yi finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Dad, what did he come for?”

Zhou Xiong didn’t answer.

He kept looking toward the doorway.

For a long time.

Then he spoke.

Three words.

“Don’t know.”

Zhou Yi froze.

His father said he didn’t know?

His father actually said he didn’t know?

Zhou Xiong stood up.

He walked to the workbench, picked up the tongs, and pulled the overheated iron from the furnace.

Looked at it once.

Then tossed it into the basket beside the furnace.

Turning around, he looked at Zhou Yi.

“Think carefully about that question from earlier.”

After saying that, he walked back to the stool and sat down again.

Zhou Yi stood there, looking at his father.

It wasn’t happiness.

It wasn’t unhappiness either.

He couldn’t explain it.

But he knew one thing—

That man named Wei Zheng had come, said nothing, done nothing, merely stood there for a while before leaving.

And afterward, his father became like this.

Zhou Yi couldn’t understand it.

He stood there, staring into the furnace fire.

The fire crackled softly.

The wind outside still blew.

The curtain swayed once.

Then swayed again.