Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies Chapter 1649: Frog (Extra)

Qi Baokai was born in a middle-class family in Qingpu District, Tianshui City.

His father was a moderately famous screenwriter, and his mother was a high school music teacher.

His good background meant he received a solid education from the day he was born. Under his parents' influence, he tried his hand at both literature and music, but ultimately chose music.

In his youth, his musical talent was recognized by teachers and classmates alike. He was a wildly popular musical prodigy, and countless young girls experiencing their first stirrings of love became infatuated with him after a single violin performance.

But when he grew up, his family suddenly fell on hard times. His father fell gravely ill and passed away, leaving the family saddled with a massive debt.

With no other choice, he had to temporarily abandon his studies at the expensive music conservatory and made money performing music to help support the household.

Hotels, nightclubs, even street performances, every way he could possibly earn money, he tried them all.

Whenever he couldn't find gigs, he would take the violin his father had given him and go to the intersection of Changning Street in Tianshui City to play.

The elegant sound of the violin stood out strikingly on the streets of Tianshui City, its ethereal, melodious notes telling of the sorrow deep within this down-and-out musician's heart.

Passersby couldn't help but toss a few coins his way.

Gradually, among the crowd that came to listen, a young girl began to appear frequently.

Whenever the violin sounded, she would always show up punctually beside the streetlight, silently watching this young musician. Then, after the performance ended, she would place a ten-yuan bill into his violin case.

After the music ended, she would leave immediately, never once speaking to the young man.

Over time, the young man began to notice this special audience member.

The two of them had never exchanged a single word, yet he could feel that the girl understood his music.

A peculiar emotion began to spread within his heart.

After one performance, Qi Baokai couldn't resist secretly following the girl to her residence, and asked the neighbors around about her name.

The first time he learned her name was Jiang Manshi, he couldn't help but break into a knowing smile. That night, he was so excited he couldn't sleep at all.

The next day, Qi Baokai didn't go to the bar to perform. Instead, he went straight to the intersection of Changning Street.

When the violin sounded, the girl indeed appeared beneath the streetlight just as before.

A cream-white top with sleeves rolled up, revealing fair, lotus-root-like arms. Beneath a knee-length khaki skirt, her slender calves were faintly visible. Under a small round hat of the same cream-white but slightly deeper hue was a face enchanted by the music.

Perhaps because of the girl's arrival, Qi Baokai played the violin with even more passion.

This time, after the performance ended, he spoke his first words to the girl.

He told her his name was Qi Baokai, and that he wanted to treat her to a cup of coffee.

The girl agreed to his request. When her lively, large eyes gazed at Qi Baokai, a peculiar emotion lingered in the air.

It was just like the courtship of any young couple.

The young girl was drawn to the down-and-out musician, and they entered a sweet, passionate romance.

But soon enough, their relationship was discovered by the girl's parents.

The girl's father ran a restaurant and was quite wealthy. He had only one daughter, and he could not tolerate a penniless, destitute violinist taking his daughter away.

After that, the two could only meet in secret, trying to break through society's barriers through their own efforts.

But all of this was meaningless in the face of immense, cruel reality.

The girl's father quickly introduced her to a wealthy young master of equal social standing, and had someone give Qi Baokai a warning.

That day when Qi Baokai returned home, he saw his home smashed to pieces and his mother sitting on the bed, weeping into her hands.

After his father's death from illness, once again, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness toward this world.

Real life is no fairy tale.

A princess will not marry down to a destitute scholar.

The ones who end up together are always princes and princesses.

He believed he simply didn't have that kind of fate. It would never be his turn.

Love is always out of stock. What was there for him to fight for?

On the day the girl got married, he ran alone to a bar and drank himself into a stupor on the cheapest alcohol.

After that, he never saw the girl again.

Clearly, both of them lived in the same city, their homes no more than thirty kilometers apart in a straight line, yet they already existed in entirely different worlds.

This romance full of regret became an eternal wound in his heart.

From then on, on the streets of Changning Street, the young violinist's music always carried a sound that made hearts break.

Qi Baokai never expected that he would become famous because of it.

People all wanted to hear that heartbreaking, shattered sound of the violin. Perhaps everyone had their own regrets about love buried somewhere in their hearts.

He began performing at all kinds of high-end venues, playing for the rich and powerful, and earning generous pay. He gained a small reputation in Tianshui City's performance circuit.

But even into his thirties, he remained alone. As for marriage, he held no hope at all.

His love had died over a decade ago, on the day Jiang Manshi got married.

To continue the family line, his mother arranged one blind date after another for him.

None of the women were ones he liked, but they were all hardworking, capable women who could manage a household.

To not disappoint his mother's expectations, he ultimately chose the one who seemed most suitable, simply because she spoke very little and never interfered with anything Qi Baokai did.

And so, his life became just like his parents'.

Marriage, life, and the birth of a lovely daughter.

He named his daughter Qi Nianshi. When his wife heard the name, she was on the verge of tears, because her own name also contained the character "shi," so she mistook it as a way for her always-cold husband to express his love for her.

Qi Baokai poured all his affection into his daughter.

Life can go on without love, but life must always continue this way.

Work, earn money, support the family.

Eat, work, sleep, open your eyes, eat again, work, sleep.

Day after day, repeating each day, then silently waiting for death to arrive.

Until one day, when he attended his daughter's music competition, he once again encountered the woman who haunted his dreams.

By that time, Qi Baokai was already over forty. His hairline had receded considerably compared to his younger years, his hair gradually graying, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were especially pronounced when he smiled.

And the woman no longer looked in the prime of her youth. Though still dressed elegantly and nobly, there was always a weariness in her eyes that she couldn't hide.

She also had a child of her own. Her daughter had also come to participate in this competition, also playing the violin.

Even the piece was "The Skylark," the one he used to play so often on Changning Street.

Qi Baokai's heart, silent for nearly twenty years, leaped to life again upon meeting Jiang Manshi once more.

His palms were slick with nervous sweat, but Jiang Manshi in her seat didn't see him. She was simply applauding for her daughter on stage.

After the competition ended, Qi Baokai mustered all his courage. After handing his daughter over to her teacher, he chased after her.

Jiang Manshi was leading her daughter toward a car. Qi Baokai ran over, his voice hoarse as he squeezed two words from his throat.

"Wait..."

Jiang Manshi turned her head back curiously. Qi Baokai was incredibly nervous, his heart beating so fast he could clearly hear the thumping.

He had anticipated this reunion scene for nearly twenty years, imagined countless possibilities and expressions on Jiang Manshi's face.

Joy, embarrassment, nervousness, or anger at him for not having the courage to take her away back then.

But when she turned to look at him, the Jiang Manshi before his eyes wore only a blank expression.

"Excuse me, sir... is there something you need?"

Jiang Manshi asked with a puzzled expression. She sized up this somewhat weathered middle-aged man, seemingly trying hard to recall where she had seen him before.

But those cold, blank eyes pierced through Qi Baokai's heart like a sharp sword.

It had been twenty years since they'd last met. Now he was no longer that young, handsome violinist, and she was no longer that young girl who could be moved by the sound of a violin.

The most painful thing is not resentment, not hatred, not all the words in the world.

It is being forgotten by the person you've carved into your bones and can never forget.

"No... it's nothing. Sorry, I mistook you for someone else."

Qi Baokai turned away and fled the place as if running for his life.

And after he left, only after Jiang Manshi had gotten into the car with her daughter did she uncontrollably cover her mouth, the corners of her eyes growing moist.

After returning home, Qi Baokai fell into a dazed, absent-minded state.

He would often stare blankly at the violin in his room, or lose focus while crossing the street.

His wife, realizing something was wrong with him, tried to comfort him, even raging and smashing things around the house in her agitation.

But Qi Baokai remained unmoved. By this point his heart was already dead. It seemed he no longer cared about anything in this world.

Even the young daughter named after Jiang Manshi, when he saw her, he didn't dare go near for fear of being reminded of Jiang Manshi.

His life seemed to have already ended.

A violinist named Qi Baokai wanted to die.

Until that apocalypse descended upon the entire globe.

The person who wanted to die didn't die, while those who didn't want to die died instead.

His wife, from years of managing household affairs, was the first to fall. All that remained by his side was an eight-year-old daughter.

Only then did he begin to feel panic and unease, only then did he feel the fear of death.

So death was a form of escape.

A person's death only brings pain to those who love them.

His wife's passing left him panicked and uneasy. After his parents' deaths, he finally experienced a profound loneliness.

Only then did he realize that the woman he had never loved had long since become an indispensable part of his life.

In a man's life, he will encounter a white rose and a red rose.

No matter what choice he makes, he will ultimately regret it.

If he chooses the white rose, the once-white rose will become a tasteless grain of rice at the corner of his mouth, while the red rose he lost will become an indelible cinnabar mole on his heart.

If he chooses the red rose, then the cinnabar mole will become a loathsome mosquito bite on the wall, and the white rose will become the eternal moonlight he can never forget.

He had always cherished the cinnabar mole he lost, yet neglected the plain-tasting white rice beside him that he could not live without.

After his wife died, he and his daughter depended on each other.

But though he tried with all his might to survive alongside his daughter, the cruel world would not bend to human will.

Half a year after the apocalypse, his daughter passed away peacefully on a cold night.

Without pain, she departed in his embrace. Compared to the majority who perished miserably in the apocalypse, she was fortunate.

Qi Baokai had no more attachment to life.

So he took the violin he had treasured, along with the recorder that his wife and daughter had personally picked out for him on his birthday that year, dug a deep pit in the snow, and buried himself in it.

And then, he became a frog. A frog who loved to sing and laugh, who loved to play music, who brought joy to everyone.

Through countless lonely days and nights, only music and unrestrained laughter could temporarily make one forget their troubles and find happiness.