It would take a few days for the news from the United States to reach the Vatican.
The battle only ended yesterday, and yet people are arriving today.
Clearly, the folks from the Vatican already had their own mission to attend to; they didn’t come all this way just for Su Fan.
It’s just that the commotion in the community was so huge it caught their attention.
Maybe the government asked them to come investigate, which is why they got involved.
As long as they’re reasonable people, they won’t give him a hard time—after all, he’s the one who just took down a manifested evil god.
Neither morally nor practically would it make sense for them to do so.
It’ll probably still take a while for the Vatican people to find this place.
So, eat when you should eat, sleep when you should sleep, and adapt to changes by staying steady.
Su Fan quickly put down his phone and went back to shoveling food into his mouth.
Across from him, Ron couldn’t help but speed up her eating too.
She’d been a bit reserved at first, but seeing Su Fan devouring his food like a storm, she decided to just let loose and eat freely.
Before long, the plates on the table were cleared out by the two of them.
The spotless plates in front of her and her slightly bloated stomach made Ron recall how she’d lost her composure while feasting earlier.
He probably doesn’t mind, right?
Ron snuck a glance at Su Fan.
Seeing him focused on clearing the dishes, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But such a small move couldn’t escape Su Fan’s notice.
That look of sneaking a peek with her head lowered was just like a dog that had done something wrong…
Paired with those blue eyes, what’s the difference between her and a husky?
After Su Fan took the dishes to the kitchen, he stretched his arms.
“Hey Su, are you planning to open up shop?”
Ever since she’d known him, Su Fan had always been active as an exorcist, and Ron was pretty curious to see what he was like as an antique shop owner.
“What’s so special about opening a shop? If you weren’t a surgeon but a dentist, running your own little clinic would give you the same experience.”
Su Fan caught the curiosity in Ron’s tone and answered casually.
He walked over to the antique shop’s entrance, flipped the sign over, then returned to his counter and started brewing some tea.
He’d eaten enough for now, and there was no rush to strengthen his body.
Right now, he just wanted to rest for a bit.
As for Ron, if she wanted to hang around, that was fine by him.
Giving the rocking chair a gentle sway, Su Fan looked up at the shop’s ceiling and let his thoughts drift.
Before, he hadn’t bothered getting a computer because they weren’t very useful and were expensive.
Now was probably a good time to sort that out.
Every time he thought about this, Su Fan deeply missed the service centers from his past life.
You’d apply for a card in the morning, and they’d come pull the internet cable in the afternoon.
Even ignoring the price difference, the efficiency was just completely superior.
And as for the computer…
Which generation had processors reached by now anyway?
In his past life, when buying a computer, he’d just copy the recommendations from the hardware forums; he never looked into it deeply.
Su Fan’s thoughts kept wandering until he felt a bit drowsy and couldn’t help but yawn.
He glanced casually at Ron.
She was still patiently sitting in the antique shop.
In this era before smartphones, many people passed the time by reading books or newspapers.
Ron was no exception; she had a book tucked into the bag she carried.
Taking a sip of the slightly cooled tea on the table, Su Fan also pulled a book out from the counter.
Postpartum Care for Sows.
Old Man Su really collected all kinds of books.
Su Fan put it down with a blank expression and, like drawing a blind box, randomly grabbed another from a stack.
Tao Te Ching.
Laozi’s classic work—too much brainpower required. Better swap it out.
While fumbling around randomly, Su Fan touched a booklet that was bound a bit differently.
It was a photo album.
Su Fan pulled it out and opened it. The first thing he saw was himself back when he’d just “fled the asylum”—escaped the orphanage.
Calling it fleeing the asylum wasn’t entirely wrong; a few people in that orphanage weren’t quite right in the head.
Back then, Su Fan was gaunt and malnourished. Things only started improving after Old Man Su adopted him.
Compared to being in front of the camera, Old Man Su preferred taking pictures of others or of landscapes.
Aside from scenery shots, the album was filled with photos of Su Fan, his adopted grandson.
Elementary school, middle school, college…
The album covered every stage of Su Fan’s life.
With over twenty extra years of life experience compared to his peers, Su Fan wasn’t interested in anything that kids his age liked.
Until high school, he barely had any friends.
This worried Old Man Su terribly; he thought Su Fan might have autism.
But after going to the school to check things out, he discovered that Su Fan just didn’t want to bother with the other kids.
However, as everyone knows, once you’re a loner, the classic American school bullying shows up.
Locker pranks, stealing stuff, classroom mischief—the same old tired routines.
Old Man Su wasn’t the type to just let things slide for the sake of peace.
Coming here alone and building a life from scratch—how gentle could his temper be?
Once he figured out what was really going on, he was ready to sue the students, their parents, and even the teachers who’d turned a blind eye.
But just as Old Man Su was gearing up for battle, it turned out others were accusing Su Fan of bullying.
At school lunch, milk was usually served, so before eating, Su Fan would fake being nice and give some oranges to those guys.
While they were stuck on the toilet with diarrhea, he’d hand them wet wipes dabbed with essential balm.
Feeling refreshed, a few of them wanted to get back at Su Fan, but ended up getting beaten up by him instead.
Truth is, before his rebirth, Su Fan was a fan of combat sports like sanda.
Completely outclassed in every way, a few of them ran off crying to the teacher.
After hearing the whole story, Old Man Su just felt lost and confused.
He gave Su Fan a half-hearted scolding, and that was the end of it.
Remembering the dumbfounded look on the old man’s face back then, Su Fan couldn’t help but smile.
Flipping past the middle school photos, he soon reached the high school era.
By this time, thanks to his excellent grades, Su Fan had gained the attention of his teachers.
The few kids in class who actually studied seriously also started hanging around him.
Over time, some of the nicer ones gradually became close friends with Su Fan.
In the photo, Su Fan is dressed in a custom-made black suit, standing tall and straight. His usual down-turned bangs are brushed back for once.
Beside him are two boys with flushed faces from drinking—one with an arm around Su Fan’s neck, the other raising a glass in cheer.
Prom night.
Back then, Su Fan had planned to just wing it, since his classmates usually didn’t seem that fancy.
But Old Man Su took it very seriously, bringing him to a clothing store for a custom suit and buying him proper leather shoes.
Thanks to the old man, Su Fan avoided making a fool of himself.
After that, the album was almost all landscape photos.
Once college started, he was required to live on campus, so he didn’t spend much time at the antique shop, and naturally had less time with Old Man Su.
Su Fan gently closed the photo album, his breathing seeming to grow softer.
The departed have passed on, but the living must carry on.
Old Man Su was gone now, but he had to keep this shop running well.
In a while, he’d go find Ms. Kate and buy this storefront.
Just then, there was some noise at the door.
