Chapter 65

Chapter 64

Liu Ting walked into the pavilion with a smile. She was still wearing the same clothes she had on at Li Sanjiang's house, plain, loose, and convenient for work. Someone who didn't know might have thought she was a cook from the club's back kitchen who didn't understand the rules and had wandered out for a stroll.

"I heard people say, has Xiao Yuan come?"

Liu Yumei slightly lifted her head towards the southwest corner. Liu Ting followed her gaze. On a stone bench, a boy and a girl were sitting together.

That spot, with the lotus pond on the left and a view of the mountain city from the right, could be said to be an excellent place to enjoy the scenery.

The boy was completely absorbed in lecturing about something.

The girl sat sideways, supporting her chin with both hands, her eyes bright and sparkling as she looked at him, listening intently.

Whenever the boy laughed, the girl's lips would also curve upward. When the boy lectured with excitement and unconsciously spread his hands, the girl would also lightly shake her head in coordination.

In his usual life, the boy gave Liu Ting the feeling of being cute and lively on the outside, yet revealing a maturity and steadiness unsuited for his age deep down. He would play with people his age, but discerning individuals could still sense a kind of distance, a kind of condescending tolerance.

Now, he was actually acting like the village boys, sitting on a haystack, lecturing with great enthusiasm: "Let me tell you a secret, you must never ever tell anyone else, oh. I'll tell you what happened yesterday..."

As for her own A Li, where was her previous demeanor? No, the truth was that before the boy came, she was still cold, but as soon as the boy arrived, she became like a normal, innocent little sister, always so curious and adoring of the stories her brother in the courtyard told.

Liu Ting sighed and said, "It's really unexpected that our A Li and Xiao Yuan can play together."

"Heh, they're just kids, they're all like this."

Liu Ting just covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, not daring to deliberately provoke by asking: Which family's children can be like these two children?

She was clear about the old madam's stubbornness, but this didn't stop her from watching with some amusement, seeing how long the old madam could maintain her tough facade.

"When I came over earlier, I saw a woman causing a scene in the front hall. It was Ding Lao Er's young son, who just left the main house and wanted to install his pregnant mistress in the position of the main wife. Today counts as her formal entry to see people."

Liu Yumei asked, "Is Ding Lao Er also willing to see her?"

"Originally, he wasn't willing, but he couldn't bear his young son's bitter crying and couldn't twist him around, so he just nodded."

"Then this Ding family is probably not going to have many good days. When Ding Lao Da was around, he could still勉强 manage things. Now that Ding Lao Da is gone, this big structure will probably collapse soon. Ai, it's really a joke, to actually even openly discuss the matter of favoring a concubine and neglecting the wife."

"Look at how you put it, the era is different after all."

"Yes, the era is different, but some principles don't change. You can't both enjoy the benefits of the old ways while shouting that you want the freedom of the new ways. People, well, having legs of different lengths isn't a big problem, but if you want to walk in separate directions with two legs, you're bound to fall."

"Ding Lao Er mentioned to me, hoping you can give face and accept a bowl of tea from the junior generation of men."

"Accept tea?"

Liu Yumei smiled, pointing to the boy and girl who had finished chatting and had already started playing chess in the air:

"Call the two children over, it should be time for dinner."

Liu Ting turned around, stood at the edge of the pavilion, and shouted in that direction:

"Time for dinner!"

Li Zhuiyuan directly 'threw down his piece' and admitted defeat, holding the girl's hand as they stood up.

After being away from home for many days, upon hearing Aunt Liu's shout, the boy felt a sense of hometown.

They passed through the lotus pond, then walked along a winding path into an outdoor stone gate. Inside, on the stone platforms, were placed various potted plants, all meticulously trimmed and arranged with exquisite rhythm, indicating that someone specially cared for them regularly.

All the way, Aunt Liu actively introduced things to Li Zhuiyuan, like a tour of a scenic area.

At the end, they saw two flights of steps, one going up and one going down. Ding Lao Er, leading a group of his sons, was quickly walking down from above.

His elder brother originally had a son and a daughter, but they both passed away earlier than the old man, so the Ding family had been supported by the second branch for a long time.

Ding Lao Er had five sons, born to three different mothers. The age gap between the wives was significant, which also led to a larger gap between the sons. Ding Lao Er's eldest grandson was even two years older than his youngest son.

As he approached Liu Yumei, the smile on Ding Lao Er's face became even more pronounced, almost bordering on flattery. At the same time, his body was bowed even lower.

"Young Mistress."

This title, considering Liu Yumei's age, was indeed not entirely suitable.

But Li Zhuiyuan heard it and understood that the Ding family must have been part of the Qin family system in the past.

It was like visiting a couple's home. If you were close to the husband's side, you would address the wife as sister-in-law. If you were close to the wife's side, you would address the husband as sister's husband.

"Young Mistress has not been out for a long time, it's hard for you to come out and show your face. I just brought the young men from home to let you see them, Young Mistress. Please come upstairs and have a seat, and let the young men offer tea to Young Mistress."

The second generation of Ding men all leaned forward and stood in a row, their faces all displaying fawning smiles.

As for the female relatives, they all remained on the steps above, also standing in a row. The others were all properly dressed with their hands placed together in front of them, except for the one at the very end, with a head of wavy curls and heavy, glamorous makeup, carrying a handbag in her left hand and still wearing a string of beads on her right wrist.

She was the 'crane among chickens', but these proper chickens, in Liu Yumei's eyes, were also not anything good. They could be taught but weren't, they could be guided but remained silent, clearly intending to make her look bad when guests were present.

No matter how much they fought within the private home, that was all normal. Putting broken affairs out in the open like this could only indicate that the rules within this family had completely rotted away.

"No need, they're all crooked melons and cracked dates, nothing good to see."

These words were truly not giving any face.

Many people present had a change in expression.

Ding Lao Er and his eldest son both showed panic.

The other sons, however, showed dissatisfaction on their faces, especially the youngest one, who even opened his mouth as if to curse, yet was pulled back by his elder brother's hand behind him.

The women standing above also successively puffed up their chests. Relying on the distance, they started muttering in low voices. The woman with the wavy curls thought she had found a good opportunity to integrate with her sister-in-law's men, and immediately raised her voice and said:

"Yo, I thought it was some family's grandma, what a grand manner indeed! Coming here, eating and living at people's expense, and still putting on airs!"

"Plop!"

Ding Lao Er knelt down in fright.

His eldest son also knelt, just a little slower, after all, he wasn't as skilled at kneeling as his old man.

The remaining sons were startled at the situation, then successively followed suit. Even the youngest son who had expressed the most indignation earlier finally snapped back to reality and knelt down with them.

The wavy-haired woman who had just spoken opened her mouth, but couldn't make a sound. She realized she had stirred up a big mess.

Ding Lao Er immediately said fiercely to his young son, "Tell that cheap woman, she will never think of entering my Ding family's door in this lifetime, and the child in her belly will also never bear the surname Ding!"

The young son, hearing these words, actually didn't dare to retort again.

Ding Lao Er again raised his head and looked up: "Young Mistress, I..."

"I have no interest in your family's broken affairs. Go and pay respects to your brother."

Liu Yumei walked around the kneeling crowd in front of her and walked down the steps. From beginning to end, she didn't even glance at the wavy-haired woman.

The summer cicadas were indeed annoyingly loud, but who had the time to really figure out which cicada was singing?

Below was a wider platform. In the front hall were placed several round tables, where a group of old people sat. Behind each old person stood another person.

The older the person closer to the main seat, the younger the person following behind them. It was clearly the grandchild generation. There were two empty seats to the left and right, and the ones standing behind them were unexpectedly great-grandchildren, about the same age as A Li.

The older the person sitting below, the older the one they brought behind them. Some individuals were clearly from the son's generation, with white hair already visible on their heads.

The Qin and Liu family's ancestral records were on the Jiang side, but truly calculating it, Mountain City was originally one of their old homes. The people present here were all past 'relatives and friends' of the two families within the Mountain City boundary.

As soon as Liu Yumei arrived, the crowd successively stood up, each dropping their walking stick and pushing away the support of the young people behind them.

Some bowed with their right arm tilted forward in the old ritual, some bowed in the gate ritual with their thumbs raised, and some, like Ding Lao Er, simply knelt directly. All kinds of rituals represented their past different jianghu identities and positions.

Even the titles were divided into two types:

"See over Young Mistress."

"See over Eldest Miss."

Liu Yumei stood still and received their greetings.

Then she waved her hand and said with a slight smile, "What era is it, still doing these old-fashioned things? It's not fashionable anymore, not fashionable at all."

Hearing her words, the crowd successively coordinated with smiles on their faces.

Some old people even specially turned their heads to look at the younger generation they brought, quite with a feeling of showing off like children.

They hadn't used these old rituals for a long time either. One reason was that it was indeed not fashionable anymore, and the other was that in their daily lives, within each family, they truly didn't encounter people whom they needed to salute.

But this bow down truly gave a feeling of reminiscing about the past, as if they had all become several decades younger at once.

The two old people who brought their young grandsons and granddaughters successively said, "Eldest Miss, I, this old bone, only feel a bit useful when I see you and perform this ritual."

"Young Mistress, when it comes to the skill of buttering up, I admit defeat to this old dog."

"Hahaha hahaha."

"Hahaha hahaha."

Liu Yumei placed her left hand on A Li's shoulder, but leaned towards Li Zhuiyuan, pointing to the two old people, and introduced them:

"This one is called Zhen Mubai, that one is called Su Wenluo."

Liu Yumei only introduced these two. Obviously, the others were not qualified for her to individually introduce their names.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled and bowed slightly: "Hello Grandpa Zhen." Then he bowed slightly again: "Hello Grandpa Su." Finally, he faced all the old people and bowed deeply, "Hello to all the Grandpas."

The old people successively responded enthusiastically, while various praises filled the air, each muttering in their hearts, who is this young man?

They all knew that the girl beside them was the only remaining bloodline of the Qin and Liu families. Could it be that Young Mistress (Eldest Miss) had specially brought this boy to cultivate by her side as a prospective husband?

However, the old people present were all of an age that could be compared to the longevity of turtles in the Jiang, so they naturally saw the kind of neither humble nor arrogant temperament the boy displayed.

Clothes were easy to change, but temperament was hard to change.

What could be taught and what was truly composed from the heart, they could not be fooled.

In fact, even Liu Yumei was quite surprised by the boy's reaction.

She had called the boy over to greet people because A Li still couldn't speak.

Liu Ting, who was standing behind, silently watched this scene. She really wanted to know how long her respected master could maintain her tough facade.

This kind of meeting occasion was precisely a transfer of human connections and a transmission of human feelings.

How could this be the kind of treatment a future formal disciple could enjoy?

"I'll go pay my respects to the old Ding fellow."

Liu Yumei walked through the front hall towards the back hall, with the old people successively following behind to accompany her.

In the back hall was the ancestral hall. Because of Liu Yumei's arrival, it had been specially cleaned up again. Although it had been over a month since they left, it looked as if the funeral had just been held yesterday.

At this moment, Ding Lao Er brought his eldest son and ran quickly from the side corridor.

Ding Lao Er knelt on the cushion, preparing to return the ritual. His eldest son personally took the incense and handed it over.

Combined with the reactions of the various old people during the earlier rituals, Li Zhuiyuan guessed that the Ding family should have belonged to the Qin family's retainer family in earlier years.

Liu Yumei staying at the Ding family's meant entering a retainer's home. As a retainer family, they naturally had to kneel to their master.

Although it was an old custom, perhaps some old people still recognized this.

Of course, their reason for recognizing this was definitely not out of respect for 'traditional customs'.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but doubt, the current Qin and Liu families, with their prosperity declining to this extent, what could make this group of old people continue to be willing to lower their heads and resume the old customs?

Liu Yumei lit the incense and inserted it into the incense burner.

She retreated two steps and looked towards the cushion in front of her.

Ding Lao Er immediately kowtowed and said, "Young Mistress, it's not possible, my brother cannot accept your ritual."

Many old people behind him also spoke out to persuade her, saying this was not in accordance with the rules.

Liu Yumei didn't insist on performing the ritual, but looked at Li Zhuiyuan: "Xiao Yuan, originally it should be A Li replacing me, you just have to bear with it a bit and replace A Li. Ding Lao Da was also a man back then, even Grandma I had to hold him in high regard."

"Okay."

Li Zhuiyuan stepped forward and began to pay his respects.

To be honest, this set of procedures, even if an experienced layman like Li Sanjiang were to come, would be far less professional than the boy's execution.

No way, one was sent by local custom, the other was sent by a senior for examination. The boy had read so many books, it wasn't for nothing.

After the worship ended, Ding Lao Er began to return the ritual. He was seen raising his left thumb upwards, holding it, and then horizontally crossing his arms in front before swinging both arms downwards.

This was the gate ritual.

Liu Yumei was just about to open her mouth and say that Xiao Yuan didn't understand these things.

Yet she saw the boy's right little finger pointing downwards, holding his left hand, leaping downwards like a fish, then continuing with a curved arm in front of his chest, receiving the ritual with three nods.

The crowd of old people around all revealed appreciation and recollection in their eyes.

Liu Yumei immediately revealed doubt in her eyes. Who taught him?

Actually, in the 《Qin Family’s Teaching Methods for Observation》, the opening chapter recorded that this set of actions was the Qin family's internal gate ritual, but it originated from the earliest actions of observing the weather. In other professions, there were also similar operations of measuring distance and position without tools, using only gestures coordinating with the line of sight.

Ding Lao Er performed the ritual, like a python swimming; Li Zhuiyuan performed the ritual, like a dragon guarding the gate.

The boy naturally knew that after he performed it, Liu Yumei would be suspicious. He did it intentionally. He had already been admitted to Haihe University, and A Li was recovering better and better. Some matters would be brought up sooner or later.

He would definitely tell Liu Yumei about the advanced understanding and cognition methods in 《Qin Family’s Teaching Methods for Observation》 and 《Liu Family’s Secrets for Observing Qi》 later.

Ding Lao Er was in tears, at least at this moment, he wasn't pretending. He was indeed revealing true emotions.

Because this scene reminded him of that year, following his elder brother, paying respects to several masters of the Qin family. At that time, he was still young, and his elder brother was also just a young man.

A family master who was not good at managing the family and was easily influenced by the soft-hearted kinship of his young son was originally a bit muddled. And such a person was mostly sentimental and sensitive deep down.

At this time, Zhen Mubai and Su Wenluo, who were standing behind, simultaneously looked at another old man. His surname was Sheng, and he was seated at the end earlier. He was originally a servant of the Liu family.

Old Man Sheng unconsciously wiped the sweat from his forehead, then turned his head and looked at the son beside him, pointing at him: "Go ahead."

His son's hair was already half white. At this moment, he walked out of the crowd and began to perform the Liu family's gate ritual towards Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Liu Yumei's eyes were already slightly narrowed. It was very obvious that the old people were testing her.

When a lion is tested, no matter how the lion reacts, in the eyes of outsiders, the lion is already weak.

This is the jianghu, where big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp. Even if they are respectful on the surface, there are still undercurrents in private.

Those two old people just wanted to test what position Liu Yumei was arranging for the boy. That's why they forced the Sheng family to step forward.

Liu Yumei turned her anger into a smile: "Xiao Yuan, what are you doing standing there? Return the ritual."

Although she didn't know where the boy learned the Qin family's gate ritual, Liu Yumei believed that since he knew the Qin family's, there was no reason why he wouldn't know the Liu family's.

Seeing Grandma Liu speak, Li Zhuiyuan also performed the positional ritual towards this white-haired man.

The moment the ritual was completed, Zhen Mubai and Su Wenluo both subconsciously straightened their backs. The other old people behind them also silently concentrated, re-examining this boy.

There was no mistake. To be able to publicly perform the gate rituals of the Qin and Liu families, Young Mistress (Eldest Miss) clearly intended to let him inherit the legacy of the Qin and Liu families in the future.

Ding Lao Er squeezed over with a bowed body at this time, asking in a low voice, "Young Mistress, can we take our seats now?"

Liu Yumei nodded.

The crowd took their seats. The empty seat at the main table was naturally for Liu Yumei to sit.

The older generation sat at two tables, and the younger generation sat at another two tables.

Li Zhuiyuan originally thought he would accompany A Li to eat separately, but Aunt Liu came over and hinted for him to join the table. She then led A Li away.

Looking at A Li's face, Li Zhuiyuan could only sit at the main table. He was also at the main table, with people his age surnamed Zhen and Su on either side. The others were much older than the three of them.

The table was very lively. The tables were placed very close together, so they could talk to each other and listen to each other's conversations.

The conversation at the older generation's table was indeed very artful, while the younger generation here was imitating that art.

Li Zhuiyuan heard that they were intentionally trying to pry information out of him, wanting to know more about him. The man and woman beside him called him 'Zhuiyuan brother' intimately, but they asked the most detailed questions.

These two were precocious. They thought they had a handle on this boy their age. After extracting information, they unconsciously hooked the corners of their mouths, trying hard not to reveal their smug emotions.

They asked about trivial matters of life. Li Zhuiyuan openly told them the details of his past life.

As he spoke, the old men at the next table were all listening intently.

But the more they listened, the more startled they became, and their hearts began to pound.

Children had no taboos. The life details the boy spoke of, which could a child from an ordinary family in the capital possibly have contact with?

Everyone couldn't help but guess in their hearts, exchanging glances to confirm each other's thoughts. Young Mistress (Eldest Miss), she wouldn't really seek a marriage with a prominent figure for her granddaughter, would she?

Liu Yumei was actually also listening to the conversation at the next table. It was also the first time she had heard so many details, but she knew how smart the boy's mind was. Maybe the boy was deliberately toying with them, which was quite interesting.

Three cups of wine, slowly drunk down, Liu Yumei inverted her wine cup.

Her accompanying these three cups was already giving great face.

Inverting the cup meant that the wine had been enjoyed and the conversation was finished.

This couldn't help but make everyone present look at each other. Before they came, they had all prepared their 'gift lists', which were all divisions of their family businesses. If Liu Yumei wanted to restore the Qin and Liu family's legacy and re-emerge, they would have to make sacrifices.

But Liu Yumei's attitude clearly indicated that she wasn't going to discuss positive matters, and there was absolutely no intention of accepting any gifts.

But not needing to make sacrifices, the old people present all felt panicked.

They didn't believe Liu Yumei had come specifically to pay respects to Ding Lao Da, after all, Ding Lao Da had been buried for over a month.

But she wasn't here to re-establish her authority either...it couldn't be that she specially found a reason just to come to Mountain City for a trip, could it?

Liu Yumei stood up and called out, "Xiao Yuan."

"Coming, Grandma." Li Zhuiyuan also stood up and followed her.

As the old and young left the table, the old people successively performed the ritual again. Zhen Mubai and Su Wenluo even directly knelt down on their knees.

We are just doing things according to the old ways, even if you are angry, don't flip the table directly. "Young Mistress..."

"Eldest Miss..."

Liu Yumei's icy gaze swept over them, immediately stopping everyone's words.

Then, she pointed to the inverted wine cup on the table.

After that, she just held the boy's hand and walked outside.

The group of old people left behind were all in a state of panic and uncertainty. Some regretted, some wailed, some pointed at Ding Lao Er and scolded him for being inhospitable, and some were hinting at Zhen Mubai and Su Wenluo.

The younger generation of men could only stand and watch. Most of them were seeing their family's master in such an unbearable and awkward situation for the first time, as if offending that woman was like stabbing a hole in the sky above their heads.

Li Zhuiyuan followed Liu Yumei as they walked. The other party didn't seem to want to go straight back to the room, but was strolling outside along the wooden railing by the mountain cliff, relaxing.

After a long time, Liu Yumei finally stopped, gazing into the distance at the myriad lights of the mountain city below.

"Smelly boy, you did well today. You're a good enough display to bring out and show off."

"Because I have Grandma Liu to back me up."

Actually, when he was in the capital, although Grandma Bei and Li Lan didn't have a good mother-in-law relationship, Grandma Bei did like him. As soon as she had an opportunity, she would bring him out to see her old war comrades.

"Heh, how can I back you up? Grandma's own waist is long gone."

"But they are indeed very afraid of you."

"They might not be afraid of me."

"Then are they afraid of the Qin family and the Liu family?"

"Those tablets in the east room, haven't you seen them? The people are almost all gone, only I, this widowed mother, remain. Where is there still any Qin family or Liu family?"

This was also where Li Zhuiyuan was so doubtful. After learning 《Qin Family’s Teaching Methods for Observation》 and 《Liu Family’s Secrets for Observing Qi》, Li Zhuiyuan was convinced that the former Qin and Liu families were absolutely super powerful in the jianghu.

But now that the original family members were all gone, how was it possible that a single old grandma who brought her granddaughter to cure her illness and avoid the world would emerge, and the former retainer families and subordinates would all properly bow down and pay respects again?

This was fundamentally unreasonable.

Reality was not a martial arts novel. The reason why loyalty and affection were praised in the jianghu was also because they were truly rare in the jianghu. Not taking advantage of you when you were weak, not swarming up to completely destroy a family and leave nothing behind, all of that could be called 'benevolent and just beyond compare'.

But strangely, that group of people was truly afraid, and Grandma Liu also seemed to have quite a lot of confidence.

Liu Yumei reached out and lightly stroked the boy's head, saying very calmly:

"Half of the tablets in the east room were erected during the time they fought the devils with the Fourth Master; the other half were erected during the time they crossed the Great Jiang."

...

After having a late-night snack with A Li, Li Zhuiyuan was arranged to take the car back to the hotel.

The car drove along the river bank. The boy looked out the car window at the river under the night sky. It was very gentle now.

He got off at the entrance of the hotel lobby. Just as he was about to walk inside, he saw Xue Liangliang sitting on the edge of the flower bed.

"Xiao Yuan, you're back."

"Brother Liangliang, are you..."

"Runsheng and Binbin went out in the afternoon and haven't come back yet. I can't leave, I was afraid there would be no one when you came back. Now it's good, we two will go out and look for them."

"Okay."

After all, they were two big living people, and with Runsheng there, there was no need to worry about them getting into any accidents.

Saying they were looking was actually equivalent to taking a walk.

Xue Liangliang introduced his new job. He would be staying in Mountain City for another two days, then he would go to Wanzhou below.

There was a project in the site selection stage there. He wanted to go and learn, and at the same time, Luo Tingrui also instructed him to bring his senior brother along.

When he heard the title "senior brother," Li Zhuiyuan was still a bit unaccustomed to it, especially since Xue Liangliang described him as Luo Gong's 'closed-door disciple'.

The boy knew that this was a choice between two things. If he couldn't get used to having a 'master father', then he would have to get used to the boring and tasteless university life.

Xue Liangliang still joked exaggeratedly: Look at you, you still can't even talk about love at university.

Li Zhuiyuan also counter-asked: Did you find your love at university?

They walked and chatted like this, not deliberately rushing to find them, but it just so happened that they bumped into Tan Wenbin and Runsheng who had just returned together. Both were very excited and happy.

Xue Liangliang found a barbecue stall by the roadside, ordered three bottles of beer and a bottle of soybean milk. The four of them ate and chatted, learning what Tan Wenbin and Runsheng had been doing from afternoon until now.

After leaving the hotel in the afternoon, they wandered around Guanyin Bridge. Although Nantong also had urban areas, the population was much smaller than in Mountain City, far less lively.

When they got tired of walking, the sky was already dark. They ate something at a roadside stall to fill their stomachs and asked the stall owner where the fun places nearby were.

Then, according to the stall owner's suggestion, they came to the front of a building. They heard the sound of billiards hitting from a distance. Tan Wenbin suggested teaching Runsheng how to play billiards.

Entering the building, they saw the billiard room sign — Midnight Strike.

They opened a table and played. They saw people constantly entering the billiard hall and then going upstairs to the second floor. While playing, they could hear the sound of singing constantly coming from the second floor staircase.

Driven by curiosity, they also went up to take a look. There was a ticket seller at the door. It wasn't expensive. After buying two tickets and entering, there were really many people inside.

A large group of men and women were dancing in the dance hall, not scattered, but each person was holding their dance partner and constantly squeezing into the crowd.

When a song ended, the lights would also brighten up. Then, those who didn't continue dancing came out. The men paid the women, the women stood outside the circle, and the men then wandered around looking for a dance partner they liked.

When the next song started, the lights turned dark again.

Xue Liangliang asked if they had gone in and danced. Both of them shook their heads.

They were both thin-skinned and embarrassed. They sat on the chairs by the wall and watched the whole time. Besides the ticket money, their only consumption was ordering two cups of tea and two more bottles of boiled water from the bar counter.

Xue Liangliang laughed until his waist was bent after listening.

After chatting, everyone went back to the hotel to rest. The next two days, Xue Liangliang took them to visit many scenic spots in Mountain City, ate hot pot, rabbit meat, and even specifically rode the Yangtze River cableway.

When the river water surged below their feet, Li Zhuiyuan felt a sense of mystery and shock.

However, what made the four of them feel most comfortable during these two evenings was that every evening after the unit finished work, Xue Liangliang would go downstairs to the unit's office building, use his connections to borrow a car, and drive everyone around the urban area of Mountain City.

Xue Liangliang drove while stretching his hand out the window, pointing to one place and explaining future plans for that place, saying what new bridge would be built here, how development would be carried out here, and how prosperous Mountain City would become in the future.

He should have seen the government planning data, but much of what he said was his own 'presumption'. He truly saw himself as the designer of the city's future, sharing his inner blueprint with his friends.

Whenever this happened, Xue Liangliang seemed to have a very special charm. Everyone would easily immerse themselves in his 'perspective'. The static objects in front of their eyes were all fast-forwarding. A big bridge was built, a road was paved, a large building was pulled up from the ground, and the whole city was 'renewing itself day by day' at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After driving around, Xue Liangliang would fill the car with gas when he returned it to the unit.

Before leaving Mountain City, the four of them went to Jiefangbei and had another hot pot meal nearby.

Li Zhuiyuan originally felt that he didn't like spicy food, including Tan Wenbin, but after eating it several times, he actually became addicted to it. It seemed that the spicy taste was just the exterior of Mountain City hot pot, and its inner core was fragrant.

The car to Wanzhou was also sent by the unit. Xue Liangliang drove it himself. The difference was that this time, the fuel cost for the road could be reimbursed.

After leaving the urban area of Mountain City, the scenery along the way was extremely beautiful, but the road was a bit difficult to drive. And the destination was not in the urban area of Wanzhou, but further down in Wanzhou. In the last section of the road, due to the rain the previous night, the car wheels got stuck in a muddy pit. Fortunately, Runsheng was there. He pushed the car out and they continued driving.

They arrived at the work site late at night. Although the conditions at the town's guesthouse were relatively simple, the room was very spacious.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed open the window. Directly below was the river. Even though Nantong was also built by the river, those were all gentle small rivers, unlike the torrent here.

People who liked to fish could sit in their rooms and cast their rods, then drink tea and listen to the radio while waiting for the fish to bite.

Xue Liangliang went down and came back up, saying that the meeting was still going on and asking if he wanted to go and listen. Li Zhuiyuan of course agreed and went with Xue Liangliang to the meeting hall located on the first floor of the guesthouse.

Here, drawings were hung on the tables and on the walls. A group of people were divided into two factions, arguing with each other. They were arguing so fiercely that their faces were red and their ears were hot. They even slapped the tables several times. The already mottled table surface now had even more red paint on it.

Midway, the leaders of both sides very tacitly stopped. Some drank water, some ate something, but it looked like it wasn't over yet. They still had to argue one more round before they could go back to their rooms to sleep, otherwise, they wouldn't feel satisfied and would regret it when they slept.

Xue Liangliang didn't participate in the argument, but just sat aside and listened attentively.

Li Zhuiyuan was curious about these drawings and observed them non-stop.

Both sides finally argued enough and decided to each produce a set of plans and submit them to the superiors for final selection.

Early the next morning, a whistle blew, followed by a knock on the door, calling everyone to get up and continue going into the field.

Xue Liangliang had a certain status. Although Li Zhuiyuan hadn't officially enrolled yet, he also had some status. As for Runsheng and Tan Wenbin, the team also welcomed them. After all, who didn't like having two more strong laborers.

This time when they set out, in addition to tools, they also brought tents and food.

The direction they were going was under construction, so when the car reached an area where it couldn't go any further, everyone started carrying things and walking on foot.

It wasn't too far, but not too close either. The main thing was that this road was not easy to walk. They had to cross streams and ditches and climb several small hillsides.

This made Li Zhuiyuan sigh. Lang Shan, which was treated as a treasure in Nantong, when placed in a real mountainous area, was just a small elevation marked with a string of numbers on a drawing.

Upon arriving at the location, they first set up camp, built a fire, and boiled some water. Then everyone ate biscuits and canned food.

Then they started working. Li Zhuiyuan and the other two followed Xue Liangliang to a slope and began measuring.

The boy learned things very quickly, while Tan Wenbin had a bit of a struggle, but he was still very active, after all, he was determined to pursue this profession in the future.

They packed up and returned to the camp after it got dark. The team's deputy leader, Ma Yiming, organized data summation and a temporary discussion meeting.

The next day was a repeat of yesterday. The team of four was sent to a point to measure data. At noon, the four of them stopped temporarily, sitting on a large stone eating and resting.

Xue Liangliang smiled at Tan Wenbin and said that it was still not too late to change his mind now. Tan Wenbin immediately shook his head and reaffirmed his determination.

"Our work is like this. Whether it's the exploration and design stage or the construction stage, it's all a day of boring repetition. Only when the project is truly built can we experience the romance that belongs to us, like waking from a dream."

In the afternoon, Li Zhuiyuan, who had explored and learned for two and a half days, displayed another kind of romance to Xue Liangliang.

He integrated feng shui observation methods into the measurements. After Xue Liangliang continued to set up the equipment and measure, he found that the error was unexpectedly within the permissible range. At one point, even he himself was a little unable to judge which set of data was more accurate.

However, relying solely on the data recorded by looking at feng shui methods, Xue Liangliang's heart was still not settled. But not using this method seemed a bit foolish. Finally, Xue Liangliang found a good method: first, take Xiao Yuan's data, and then carry out verification and correction. This way, it both ensured the accuracy of the data and saved a lot of procedures.

It was just a pity that this method was destined to be unable to be promoted. It was only convenient for their small team to secretly be lazy. Other small teams in other positions couldn't help either. So, in the evening, Xue Liangliang took the three of them to the stream to catch fish.

The others were all cheering them on. Only Runsheng dived into the deep area and then threw the fish up one by one.

The four of them processed the fish by the stream. Before it got dark, they returned to the camp, set up a pot, and boiled fish soup.

Small teams continuously returned. Everyone smiled and gathered around. Although the weather wasn't too cold at this time, being able to eat a meal of fresh hot food after a day of hard work was definitely a kind of enjoyment.

The soup was stewed until it was milky white. Three large ladles were hanging there, and everyone served themselves.

Li Zhuiyuan took his bowl, added a little extra pepper and poured a little vinegar into it, then held the iron box and drank it in small sips.

Time passed bit by bit. It was almost time for everyone to go back to their tents to sleep, but the atmosphere in the camp became anxious because one small team hadn't returned yet.

Ma Yiming had already personally gone to look for them but couldn't find them. According to reason, the positions where the small teams were scattered were not far from the camp, and they were all equipped with lights. Even if something happened, they could open the lights towards the sky, and the light column could be seen from a distance.

There was no other way. Ma Yiming could only mobilize everyone to go and look for them together.

They crossed two streams, then went through a ditch, and climbed up. That was the measurement point for that small team.

At this time, on the slope and below the slope, flashlights were probing and shouts were echoing everywhere, but strangely, this team of three was not only missing, but even their equipment was nowhere to be found.

Ma Yiming cursed, "Damn it, it's haunted!"

If it had happened in a dangerous environment, then an accident had happened. At least everyone could have some comfort and understanding in their hearts. But strangely, the biggest danger here was twisting an ankle when climbing the slope and crossing the stream.

How could these three living people just disappear?

Next, the survey team was divided into two groups. One group of people searched upstream along the slope, and the other group searched downstream.

Xue Liangliang's team was assigned to the upstream. After searching a certain distance upstream with several other small teams, they very tacitly separated, relying on lights to communicate.

"Xiao Yuan, I'll go back with you." Runsheng said.

"No need, Brother Runsheng."

"Where did this person go?" Tan Wenbin was very confused. "Their measurement area here is not as bad as ours. We have deep water areas. The stream here is just barely above the ankle, they couldn't have been washed away."

Runsheng asked, "Are there wild beasts here?"

Xue Liangliang shook his head: "Beforehand, Team Leader Ma specifically asked the local people. There are no wild beasts appearing nearby. Besides, even if there were wild beasts, they couldn't carry away three adult men at once. Even if they ate on site, they would leave large traces."

At this time, a light language was transmitted from that direction in the distance.

Xue Liangliang waved his hand and said, "Let's go over there and take a look."

Nearby small teams also gathered towards the source of the light language.

Upon arriving, under a large stone, everyone discovered a hat and a climbing stick broken into two sections. It was confirmed to be something belonging to a missing team member.

Xue Liangliang carefully probed with his flashlight, then he lay inside the large stone and placed his climbing stick horizontally downwards, wedging it between the ground and the edge of the stone.

He immediately shouted: "Look over there for traces, search carefully."

"Yes, found it, there's a white scratch mark."

After confirming it was correct, Xue Liangliang squatted down again, shone his flashlight on the small stones on the ground, and even picked up several pieces, sniffing both sides.

"Look further ahead, see if there are any traces of small stones on the ground being flipped over. Look at the color depth and the concentration of the fishy smell."

The crowd immediately followed the instructions.

Soon, many people reported that there were.

At this moment, everyone understood the meaning inside, and their brains supplemented a similar picture, that is, something was dragging a team member on the ground. When passing here, this team member tried to use the climbing stick to jam the large stone and the ground, but that thing was very strong and actually pulled it apart.

Someone immediately asked, "What did a person do?"

Xue Liangliang shook his head: "Not a person, a person doesn't need to use brute force."

"What is this thing?" Someone else nearby had a new discovery. He picked up a smooth object about half the size of a palm from the ground. When a flashlight shone on it, a little light could be seen through it, like glass, but the texture was different.

Everyone successively passed it around, unable to recognize what it was. When it was passed to Li Zhuiyuan's hand, the boy put it under his nose and sniffed, then handed it to Runsheng. Runsheng understood and also lowered his head to sniff.

"Xiao Yuan, it has a strong earthy fishy smell."

"Earthy fishy smell?" Xue Liangliang frowned and looked at Li Zhuiyuan, "Xiao Yuan, can you guess what this is?"

Li Zhuiyuan replied, "Possibly not a snake scale?"

This guess was a bit terrifying. If such a large piece was a snake scale, then how long and how big would that snake's body be?

Several people around scoffed, only thinking that although this child was smart and could get into university early, his imagination was too rich.

Some people suggested that since they had found the remains, they should continue searching forward. This suggestion quickly gained the agreement of most people. Everyone successively continued to move upstream along this slope.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and pulled Xue Liangliang's sleeve: "Brother Liangliang, I feel like we shouldn't continue walking forward. If we're going to walk, we have to wait until it's light."

Xue Liangliang sighed helplessly: "If we don't find anyone before it gets light, we'll have to suspend operations and report to the police, and request the police and local government to mobilize nearby villagers to help search. And, those three people are just missing, it's the golden time for search and rescue. The most important thing is, Xiao Yuan, everyone here is senior. What I say is useless. How about this, Runsheng, Binbin, you two and Xiao Yuan stay here or go back to the camp first. You are not considered formal members of the camp."

The implication was that he, Xue Liangliang, still had to continue searching forward. This was also something that couldn't be helped. His colleagues were missing, he had no reason not to go and rescue them, even if... he knew there might be danger ahead.

"Ai, let's go together. Let everyone use their flashlights to shine on the ground, to see if they can see any reflection and discover this kind of scale."

"Okay, alright."

The crowd again started to continue searching forward. The further up they went, the steeper the slope on the left became, and the deeper the water flow on the right became. Everyone could only advance on the flat riverbank in the middle.

However, although they couldn't find similar scales again, in a small concave pit, they discovered a shoe, and around the shoe were fresh bloodstains.

This was the first time it was confirmed that someone among the missing team members was injured.

Someone at the front shouted: "There's a cave entrance here."

Everyone successively ran over. Sure enough, on the left side of the slope, there was a cave entrance about two people high. When they shone their flashlights inside, they quickly shone on the stone wall.

At first, they thought this cave was very shallow, but when someone shone their flashlight downwards into the middle of the cave, they discovered a very large empty hole, pitch black.

On the sharp stone thorns at the edge of the black hole, something seemed to be hanging. However, facing this unknown cave, everyone felt a chill in their hearts. No one dared to enter and check first.

Xue Liangliang squeezed past the people in front and entered the cave first. He cautiously went to the edge of the ground hole and reached out to retrieve that thing. It was a strip of cloth from a piece of clothing, it should be from the chest area of a work uniform, and it still had a name on it, written as 'Feng Zhigao', who was indeed one of the missing personnel.

When Xue Liangliang brought this thing out, everyone gathered around to examine it.

"So, the people are down there?"

"How did they end up there?"

"What did it?"

Li Zhuiyuan didn't go forward to gather around and look at the cloth strip, but stood at the edge of the cave entrance, his ears slightly trembling. He heard the sound of wind 'whooshing' coming from the ground hole. It was obvious that the ground hole was very deep and the wind was howling inside.

Huh? Not right, there was another sound, what was that friction sound?

Li Zhuiyuan lay down and put his ear to the ground.

Seeing Xiao Yuan's action, Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Xue Liangliang also quietly leaned over. They all knew the boy had good hearing.

At this time, the position of the crowd was: Cave entrance—Li Zhuiyuan and the four of them—the crowd of surveyors—the river.

The friction sound became clearer and clearer. Li Zhuiyuan listened while raising his eyes and looking towards the ground hole in front, as if something was about to come out the next moment.

Just as he was about to shout for everyone around him to run far away from the cave, he immediately discovered that something was wrong. This sound did not come from the ground hole, but from the other side.

In the river, something was climbing out of the river towards here. It was coming!

Li Zhuiyuan immediately straightened his body and looked at the crowd of surveyors who were still gathered on the riverbank, examining the clothes and discussing the situation. Directly above their heads...

Suddenly, two bright red lanterns lit up!

———

Everyone, check your accounts. If you have monthly tickets, throw them to Longba. Hugs to everyone!

()