At five o’clock in the early morning, Li Zhuiyuan lifted his head, sat up, leaned on the chair, his eyes half-open.

He maintained this posture until five-thirty. As his senses gradually returned, his head began to ache and feel dizzy. His pupils refocused, and consciousness returned.

Li Zhuiyuan pressed his hands against his forehead and slowly rubbed it. He didn’t know how he had fallen asleep, or even when he had woken up. After another fifteen minutes, Li Zhuiyuan took a deep breath and looked towards the desk. He discovered a pool of blood there, and his math homework book was also stained red.

As his gaze swept over the lines on the book, Li Zhuiyuan felt a sharp pain in his brain. He immediately closed the homework book. He gradually recalled that before losing consciousness, he seemed to have been calculating his own destiny. It seemed he couldn’t calculate himself.

Looking at the time again, Li Zhuiyuan stood up and began to clean the table. Then, he took a basin to wash up and conveniently scrubbed and hung up the bloodstained clothes.

After tidying up, he didn’t return to his room but sat on the rattan chair on the balcony, where he usually read. The cool morning wind constantly brushed his face, helping him feel more refreshed and alive, although his head was still a bit uncomfortable.

The light in the east bedroom lit up. Reflected through the window, he could see a small, delicate figure sitting, and an adult figure beside her combing her hair. So, A Li got up this early every day.

As he watched, the reflections in the window disappeared, and the sky finally moved past the stage of being a hint of greyish black. The hall door in the east room opened, and the girl walked out, carrying a small wooden box of chess pieces in her arms. She looked up and saw Li Zhuiyuan sitting outside the second-floor bedroom. Their eyes met.

Soon, Qin Li came to Li Zhuiyuan and sat down on a small stool. She didn’t unfold the oiled paper chessboard as before but looked at the boy. After a while, Li Zhuiyuan discovered a warm, soft little hand主动握住 (zhǔdòng wòzhù – actively grasp) his hand.

Perhaps in the girl’s understanding, every time he held her hand, she felt calm and comforted in her heart. So this time, she took the initiative to hold his hand, hoping to reciprocate. The boy and girl sat like that, holding hands, looking at the rice waves gently swaying in the early breeze in front of them, witnessing the grey color at the edge of the sky being gradually replaced by the morning light. Time passed very slowly, yet time also passed very quickly.

“A sneeze!”

Li Sanjiang walked out of the bedroom and sneezed. Turning his head, he looked at the boy and girl sitting side by side and suddenly thought of the boy and girl under the seat of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the New Year paintings. It wasn’t that they looked exactly alike, but the delicate appearances of these two children were truly as if they were cast from the same mold as the children in the New Year paintings.

Li Sanjiang sniffed and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. He perceived the recent changes in himself. He used to feel that being free and easy on his own was quite good, but he hadn’t expected that the appearance of Xiao Yuan Hou in his old age would truly allow him to experience the joy of having grandchildren to play with.

Liu Aunt shouted for breakfast. Breakfast was particularly early today because both Li Sanjiang and Li Zhuiyuan were going out. Breakfast wasn’t porridge but boiled instant noodles, three-flavored Yi noodles. Liu Aunt also nested an egg under each bowl of noodles.

The noodles were very delicious. Li Zhuiyuan didn’t feel hungry at first, but after a few bites, he felt as if his body’s senses were completely thawing out, like a block of ice melting. He quickly finished one bowl. Liu Aunt went to make Li Zhuiyuan another bowl and brought it over. After finishing the second bowl of noodles, Li Zhuiyuan felt that he had completely shaken off the after-effects of giving himself a fortune reading last night.

“Want more?” Liu Aunt asked.

“I’m full, Liu Aunt.”

Beside him, Qin Li also put down her chopsticks. She ate her noodles more slowly, always slurping a long strand of noodles, then biting it off, chewing and swallowing before taking the next bite.

Li Sanjiang had also finished eating. He smacked his lips and said, “Honestly, these instant noodles are really not as delicious as the Yangchun noodles in our town’s noodle shop. Add some lard, soy sauce, pepper powder, and sprinkle some chopped green onions – it’s much better than this.”

Liu Aunt agreed, saying, “Indeed.”

If it were another family’s adult saying this, it would likely be to subtly discourage buying instant noodles to save money. But this wasn’t the case for Li Sanjiang. A batch of paper money being destroyed had nearly broken his cash flow, which showed that he truly didn’t save money and spent whatever he earned on his life, especially on food and drink.

Actually, in the current vast countryside, having instant noodles for breakfast was a luxury that could make neighboring children cry with envy. In some provinces, instant noodles were even gradually developed into local specialty dishes, such as meatball instant noodles with poached eggs.

Li Sanjiang lifted his luggage, stamped his foot, and prepared to set off. His luggage was particularly long because he had also put his peach wood sword inside. Since this peach wood sword had helped him chop and kill a corpse demon last time, he treasured it even more tightly. He even specially went to the village committee to call the factory, originally thinking of ordering another batch of goods. Unexpectedly, the other side informed him that the furniture factory had already undergone national reform to become private, and the production line for peach wood swords had stopped long ago. This time, the one in his hand had become a limited edition.

Li Weihan and the others arrived, each pushing a small cart with baskets and tools on top.

“Sanjiang uncle.”

“Big grandpa.”

“Great grandpa.”

The four uncles were very well-behaved in front of Li Sanjiang because Li Sanjiang usually didn’t take kindly to them. If he saw them, he would directly scold them as ungrateful wretches, making them hurry and detour far away whenever they saw Li Sanjiang in the village.

Pan Zi and Lei Zi, on the other hand, happily ran to Li Zhuiyuan. Since Li Zhuiyuan hadn’t been living at his grandpa and grandma’s place recently, they had fewer opportunities to gather.

“Let’s go!”

Li Sanjiang patted his pant legs, then took Li Zhuiyuan’s hand and walked out with Li Weihan and the others.

Qin Li watched Li Zhuiyuan leave. She had known he was going out today, but after seeing him go, she still slowly lowered her head, her gaze falling on the bowl of noodles Li Zhuiyuan had just finished.

Liu Yumei immediately signaled Liu Aunt with her eyes. Liu Aunt quickly stepped forward and collected the bowls and chopsticks to wash. Immediately, Qin Uncle carried a large bundle of bamboo back, threw it onto the dam, and clapped his hands.

Liu Yumei sat beside Qin Li and said with a smile, “A Li, I’ll have A Li make you a rattan chair just like Xiao Yuan Hou’s, what do you think?”

Qin Li didn’t respond.

Liu Yumei pursed her lips and said to Qin Li, “These two days, hurry up and make two identical new rattan chairs, suitable for children to sit and lean on.”

Qin Li nodded. She looked up, it wasn’t obvious, but she was indeed happy.

…

On the roadside at the entrance of the village, they didn’t have to wait long before an old-style large bus drove over. At this time, the township buses didn’t have stations or fixed stops. Although they had management certificates, they were mostly still private contract in nature. They would stop if they saw people waiting on the roadside, and passengers could also call to stop and get off at any time.

Li Sanjiang still wanted to instruct Xiao Yuan Hou a few more things, but the bus came too quickly. He could only get on the bus first. After the bus drove away, Li Weihan picked up Li Zhuiyuan, put him in the cart pushed by his eldest uncle, Li Sheng, and let him sit. Then, everyone walked together along the roadside. It wasn’t long before they caught up with the Siyuan Village team.

Basically, all the strong male laborers of suitable age in the village were present. There weren’t many women. This was also because the booming river digging project had already entered its final stage, and the required labor force and working hours had greatly reduced. Several decades ago, during specific seasons each year, almost all the rural areas of Jiangsu, men, women, old, and young, had to carry tools and be organized. If there was a river nearby, they repaired the river dike. If there was no river, they built reservoirs. Sometimes, when they encountered key projects and major battles, they would even be organized to go to relatively far places to work together.

In the bitter cold of winter, the biting wind pierced to the bone. At that time, there wasn’t much engineering equipment. It was basically all done by manpower. Everyone within the suitable age range had to participate. The work period was long, requiring them to eat, live, and work at the construction site for a very long time, bringing their own dry food and building their own sheds. Who knows how many elderly people suffered from illnesses due to the hardship of digging rivers in those years.

The eldest uncle, Li Sheng, said with a laugh, “Remember when we were kids, going to dig the river with dad and mom, it was tough. At that time, dad still used to tell us, ‘If you don’t study well, you’ll have to keep digging rivers,’ ha ha.” The three uncles beside him all laughed along. The second uncle, Li Zheng, said, “In the end, all of dad’s words were in vain. Among us brothers, basically none of us had a knack for studying. In the end, only our little sister studied successfully.” The third uncle, Li Xiong, nodded and said, “Exactly, exactly. Mom was biased when she gave birth. All the good brains went to our little sister.”

Li Weihan pretended to be angry and laughed, scolding, “What kind of nonsense are you brats spouting? If you could all study, the old man wouldn’t have gritted his teeth and supported you?” Everyone laughed again, another round of mutual joking and scolding. Everything seemed to have gone back to a very long time ago. The four of them, led by their dad and mom, went to work digging rivers together. Along the way, it was always like this.

Perhaps this was why Li Weihan was so attentive to this river digging project. His sons had all started their own families and were all fathers of several children. They usually took care of their own small families, which inevitably led to some friction and disagreements. Only at this time, carrying tools and pushing carts, alone in their figures, could they find back those feelings and memories from before.

However, this warm emotion was doomed not to last too long. Poor families with many children basically all faced the same problem. They could only wait until life got better and everyone was older, then perhaps they could let go of that little bit of calculation and grudge and truly pick up family affection and filial piety. Of course, it was also possible that they would never let go, and brothers would die without contact.

The team continued to move forward, and the uncles and fathers constantly introduced to Li Zhuiyuan, Pan Zi, and Lei Zi everything they saw on the road.

“This dike was repaired by us that year. We were still small then, only helping to transport soil at the back.”

“This reservoir was also built by us originally. It was cold then, all frozen.”

“This ditch was also dug by us. Lei Zi and Pan Zi were still small then, ha ha ha.”

As they introduced, Li Zhuiyuan, sitting in the cart, kept watching. He felt some emotion in his heart. He had always thought that many facilities should exist naturally, but it turned out they didn’t. Now, almost every village had water conservancy facilities. This was the best imprint of that era that was actively entering its final stage. It was the crystallization built with sweat and effort by the vast laborers under shoulder carrying and hand carrying.

The Siyuan Village team was marching forward, constantly merging with other village teams. The team scale began to grow larger and larger, gradually becoming so long that neither the head nor the tail could be seen. The leading person in the village would carry a flag with the village name written on it, and the township leader would carry a larger flag and hold a loudspeaker. The flag was already old, and the words on it were already faded and peeling off. Even that non-electric loudspeaker was already rusty. However, now they only had some symbolic role left. Decades of cultivated habits and self-awareness were already engraved in the hearts of several generations.

Li Weihan’s tools were all shared by his sons. He could relatively leisurely light his water pipe and smoke, gradually letting his gaze become somewhat hazy. Perhaps it was the smoke, or perhaps this steadfast man suddenly felt something. He said, “Remember when we were rushing to work, the cultural troupe came to the construction site to perform and boost everyone’s morale. I just remember those words, I don’t know who said it on stage, anyway, it was:

This dike is not built now, this river is not dug now, this reservoir is not built now, that is left for our future children to build. We will endure all this hardship now, so that our future children won’t have to suffer this hardship again. Looking back now, it’s true, isn’t it? Pan Hou and Lei Hou and the others won’t have to dig rivers in the future.”

The uncles and fathers also agreed, saying that life now was indeed much better than before.

The construction site was relatively far. Several township teams all gathered and set off early to march, only arriving around noon. Moreover, there were many simple work sheds at the construction site, and even nearby folk houses were temporarily requisitioned to provide hot water and dry food. Hot water could be gotten at any time, and dry food was led and distributed by the village brigade small teams.

The Li family sat together and ate scallion rolls. The four uncles and fathers took out the salted sauce and pickled vegetables they had brought from home.

“Xiao Yuan Hou, are you used to eating this?” The eldest uncle, Li Sheng, asked.

“Mm, it’s delicious.” Li Zhuiyuan broke off a piece of scallion roll and put it in his mouth. The aroma of scallions mixed with the aroma of flour was indeed very delicious.

“Now they provide food, before when we dug the river with your grandpa and grandma, we all had to bring our own dry food, and we couldn’t even get hot water, we had to boil it ourselves.”

After eating, there was no time for a midday rest. The cadres from the large team began to arrange the work sections for everyone. Soon, Li Zhuiyuan saw a dense crowd, carrying tools and pushing small carts, walking down the muddy river ditches that hadn’t been diverted yet, like a group of ants. Yet, they weren’t humble and small at all, instead, they gave a sense of shock. With each small collective as a unit, everyone shouted slogans and began to work hard and enthusiastically.

Li Zhuiyuan was originally brought along and didn’t belong to the labor category, so he naturally wouldn’t be assigned tasks. There were quite a few children who were small and had come with adults playing nearby. Some children were still holding scallion rolls in their hands and continued to eat. However, Li Zhuiyuan didn’t play with them. He followed Pan Zi and Lei Zi and helped push carts to transport soil.

At this time, a group of young people who looked like university students walked over and asked Pan Zi and the others to help pull ropes, set markers, and do measurements. Li Zhuiyuan was also assigned a task, holding a wooden cone and standing in a designated position. Beside him were two university students. One was measuring, and the other was holding a pen to record. Because they called each other by name, Li Zhuiyuan knew that the one measuring was called Xue Liangliang, and the one recording was called Zhao Hequan.

Zhao Hequan said with a smile, “Such projects are becoming fewer and fewer. The younger brothers and sisters in university after us won’t have to be assigned to construction sites to do this anymore. I really envy them.”

Xue Liangliang reported a piece of data, and while lowering his head to continue measuring, he retorted, “No, there will only be more such large projects in the future. But our country will no longer need to mobilize mass voluntary labor like in the past. The most difficult period is almost over. Things will only get better and better in the future.”

“Xue Liangliang, what are you talking about?”

“What, you don’t believe it?” Xue Liangliang said with a smile, “Then just wait and see. Believe me, this kind of project will only be insignificant in the future.”

“Since it’s insignificant, why are we still working here?”

“I said it will be insignificant in the future, I wasn’t referring to the past and present. Nantong is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River where it enters the sea. So many water conservancy projects were built in the past. One is for shipping and transportation, two is for agricultural irrigation, and three, most importantly, is for flood prevention and waterlogging. Without these basic facilities, there would be no talk of future development.”

“He he he he.” Zhao Hequan laughed. He felt that this classmate in his group was a bit silly.

After finishing the measurements, Xue Liangliang stood up straight, reported the last set of data, stretched, looked at the noisy construction scene in front of him that was yet orderly, and couldn’t help but sigh, “Great people are creating great history.”

“Wake up, Xue Liangliang, you almost made me think I was in a political class. Are you secretly memorizing for your final exam?”

Xue Liangliang smiled without responding. He lowered his head and saw Li Zhuiyuan, who was holding the wooden cone beside him, also looking at him and smiling. He reached out and touched Li Zhuiyuan’s head, asking, “Little friend, did you come with your family’s adults at such a young age?”

“Yes,” Li Zhuiyuan replied, “Even small people are people.”

“Ha ha ha!”

Xue Liangliang was thoroughly amused by this sentence. He couldn’t help but bend down and hug Li Zhuiyuan, then took out several pieces of White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket and stuffed them into Li Zhuiyuan’s pocket. He felt that this little friend was very interesting, and Li Zhuiyuan also felt that this big child was very meaningful. Especially his expression and tone when he said those words made Li Zhuiyuan think of his grandpa in the north.

At this time, some commotion came from the construction site in the distance. People were running towards them while shouting, “Something’s been dug up! Something’s been dug up!”

Digging things up was normal during engineering operations. Although everyone felt curious, not many people gathered to go see. After all, they all had to finish their tasks quickly. However, these university students assigned to the construction site had more free time after finishing their tasks. Zhao Hequan immediately pulled Xue Liangliang and urged, “Let’s go, Liangliang, let’s go together and see what was dug up.”

Gradually, messages kept coming over, and everyone probably knew that a small temple had been dug up, about the size of an ordinary family toilet. According to reason, this wasn’t much. As an alluvial plain area, the density of ancient tombs and ancient buildings was definitely far less than in the Central Plains, but occasionally, individual ancient small landlord tombs or sacrificial temples were dug up during construction operations. However, under the special historical background, archaeological excavation and protection could definitely only retreat to avoid the engineering. If they blocked the construction route, they would all be dug up and pushed away. Of course, this was also because a small landlord’s face wasn’t big enough to warrant the attention of relevant parties. At the very least, they had to be a small noble. However, if it were in a place like Xi’an or Luoyang, even a small noble would have to step aside if encountered during engineering construction because they weren’t too rare.

However, this time the temple that was dug up was a bit unusual. People sent messages saying that the deity enshrined in the temple was a female Bodhisattva, and the female Bodhisattva was tied with chains. Moreover, the other ends of the iron chains were all nailed inside the corners of the small temple. The masses found this appearance somewhat evil and didn’t dare to approach too much. It was two university students from Haihe University who took hammers and smashed the chains, then pushed down the Bodhisattva statue. Only then could the engineering continue.

By dusk, basically all the large and small teams had already overfulfilled today’s task. Everyone was experienced. Finishing early and checking meant going home early. At the same time, they could stop work early and arrange where to sleep for the night. At this time, the advantage of the four sons of the Li family was reflected. They didn’t need to build sheds by the river or sleep on the ground on a straw mat. Instead, they occupied the dam of a requisitioned folk house next to the construction site. Although the dam didn’t have walls, there was a flat ground beneath, a well nearby, and a toilet, which was already a very good camping condition.

The four uncles and fathers were respectively responsible for getting hot water, leading the collection of dry food, and finding dry grass to make beds. Li Weihan then took Li Zhuiyuan, Pan Zi, and Lei Zi to rest at the original spot. Several large light bulbs were connected to the outside of the dam. One was to provide light for the people below, and the other was a road marker. This place was also a hot water supply point and had a barefoot doctor.

Li Zhuiyuan saw Xue Liangliang and Zhao Hequan again. This group of over twenty university students led by a teacher would also be staying here tonight. However, their conditions were better, they could live inside the house.

Several uncles and fathers sat on the made beds and educated Li Zhuiyuan, Pan Zi, and Lei Zi, “Children, look carefully, this is the benefit of studying! You must study hard!” Li Weihan, who was smoking his water pipe beside them, coughed from being choked. Weren’t these the exact words he often said to these four brats before? It was almost the same scene, the same situation, and the same earnest advice. But ah, it was useless.

Li Weihan had come to understand and also let go: People teaching people, they can’t teach them. Things teaching people, one time is enough. There are some pitfalls ahead. No matter how others warn you, it’s useless. You have to step into it yourself to understand the truth, but what’s the point then?

Lei Zi and Pan Zi patiently listened to their fathers and uncles lecturing for a while, then couldn’t stand it anymore. They stood up, called over some older children nearby, and started playing the game of hitting paper bags. They each folded paper bags, gathered them together, and took turns. Whoever could flip the other person’s paper bag over, that paper bag belonged to them. The older children gathered there and played enthusiastically, constantly making crisp “pa pa pa!” sounds. A group of smaller children surrounded them, watching intently and learning techniques.

Li Weihan turned his head and discovered that his Xiao Yuan Hou hadn’t joined the game but was sitting there with a book on his knees, reading seriously. Li Weihan leaned his head over and took a look. He only felt that the words on it were dense like small tadpoles and couldn’t help but ask worriedly, “Xiao Yuan Hou, can you see clearly?”

“Grandpa, I couldn’t see clearly at first, but I can see clearly now.”

Li Zhuiyuan didn’t bring a magnifying glass because he had already adapted to this small font. To be precise, after getting used to looking at it, he no longer needed to accurately distinguish the details of the strokes of these characters but could recognize what words they were by looking at the general feeling. He only realized later that after using a magnifying glass to quickly memorize the book, he gradually understood the author’s original intention in writing the words so small. This was specifically training the reader’s “eye power,” not visual acuity, but the feeling of looking at things, visualizing detailed things.

Li Zhuiyuan vaguely found a breakthrough point. The key to the eighth volume of “Yin Yang Phase Study Essence Solution” was the transition from concrete to abstract. First, through rote memorization and extensive calculation, he ate through these concepts and uses, then collectively tempered them, using quantitative change accumulation to form qualitative change, completing the sublimation from science to metaphysics. He could now feel that the numerous eyebrows, eyes, mouths, noses, and ears that he had memorized in his brain, and the various faces composed of them, were gradually distorting and merging. Although the degree was still very shallow, he had already found the direction. Finally, only one face would be left in his brain. Then, when he needed to look at the face of a person in reality, he would directly copy the facial parts into his brain to correspond and form.

“Mm, be careful not to strain your eyes.” Li Weihan instructed, then no longer disturbed his grandson’s reading. He looked at his grandson sitting there reading seriously, then at Lei Zi and Pan Zi on the other side, who were constantly shouting while playing the paper bag game. Li Weihan only felt that life was a cycle. Wasn’t this the same feeling he had when he looked at his studious daughter and those four good-for-nothing sons? Before, he just wondered, they were all his children, how could one nest produce both a phoenix and four chickens. Now he had a premonition that this story would replay in his grandson’s generation.

Sanjiang uncle once said while drinking that their old Li family’s ancestral grave light had allowed him to give birth to Lan Hou. Well, in a few years, when Xiao Yuan Hou grew up and took the university entrance exam, he was afraid they would need to light it again.

The university students were assigned tasks and were also interning. The energy of young people was always unimaginable. They weren’t in a hurry to go back to the house to sleep but gathered and sat under a light bulb on the dam, took out some food they had brought, and held a tea discussion meeting.

Xue Liangliang noticed Li Zhuiyuan. He had a deep impression of this little friend. He took a piece of meat floss bread wrapped in oil paper and walked over, placing it in front of Li Zhuiyuan. Li Zhuiyuan looked up, saw him, and smiled, “Thank you, brother.”

“Little friend, are you local?”

Although he was also working on the river project and was dirty, this child’s clothes and temperament didn’t look like a child from the countryside at all. The main thing was the unrestrained and confident demeanor revealed in his bones.

“Yes, I am. My name is Li Zhuiyuan, this is my grandpa, and those behind are my uncles and fathers.”

“He he, my name is Xue Liangliang. You’re in elementary school, right? What grade?”

“Mm, third grade.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. In fact, sometimes even he himself found it difficult to explain to outsiders exactly what grade he was in. He only knew that after reaching a certain age in his class, he was automatically promoted. For a while, the old professor was tortured to the point of near collapse. Several very young teachers came to teach them. This mutual torture effect immediately led to rapid progress. Everyone also had a lot of fun scratching each other. Only later did they realize that these very young teachers were their class seniors.

“Study hard, and strive to get into university in the future.”

“I will, brother.”

At this time, at the tea discussion meeting over there, someone started shouting towards them, “Xue Liangliang, hurry up and prepare, it’s your turn to speak next.”

“Coming, coming.”

Xue Liangliang turned around and walked back to sit down. Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the group of university students sitting around over there. He often saw similar scenes at school. Those big brothers and sisters were the same as him, all students. They liked to sit on the campus lawn, play guitar and recite poetry. The males still liked to keep their hair long and cover their eyes.

Tonight’s tea discussion topic was about their future outlook. The topic was brought up by the internship teacher and was very consistent with his identity. The person giving the speech was Zhao Hequan, the boy who was in the same group as Xue Liangliang for measurements during the day. At this time, he had already entered the final concluding stage:

“The United States is a country where even the air is especially sweet. And my future is in the United States! My girlfriend and I have already applied to study abroad in America. We will stay in the United States in the future, in the country of freedom and dreams, to enjoy our freedom and realize our life ideals!”

While he was speaking, his eyes shone brightly, reflecting the light bulb above his head. He had an intoxicated look, and also a pious look. When his speech ended, the students around him applauded and cheered.

Under their eyes, the Western fever, especially the American dream, was sweeping up a storm among the national intellectuals, especially the young university students. After the reform and opening up, the gap in material life and the impact of Western popular culture were destroying the self-confidence of this generation with terrifying destructive power. Going to America and staying in America was not a difficult thing to say under their eyes; instead, it was an extremely normal political correctness. Even the internship teacher didn’t feel anything wrong. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for school teachers and professors to go abroad. Many people were publicly sent, but they would just slip out of the team and stay.

“I also hope that everyone will have the opportunity to go to America in the future to find the meaning of their lives. My girlfriend and I look forward to meeting everyone again on the other side of the ocean.”

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at Zhao Hequan. Without using the “Fate Grid Deduction Theory,” he simply used the “Yin Yang Phase Study Essence Solution” to briefly analyze his face. The result obtained this way was less comprehensive and not accurate enough, but Zhao Hequan’s face was relatively standard: [Bumpy marriage fate, lonely widower for life.]

Li Zhuiyuan fell into thought: But, he looks like he has a very good relationship with his girlfriend. So, did I calculate it wrong again?

After Zhao Hequan finished speaking, he walked down. The next student to go up was Xue Liangliang. Li Zhuiyuan handed the meat floss bread to Lei Zi, who was sulking beside him after losing all his paper bags. Then, he closed the book, supported his cheek with his hand, and wanted to listen carefully to what this brother would say about his own future.

Xue Liangliang walked to the center of the classmates. He didn’t look up, his expression was calm, not excited. The brightness of the light bulb above his head shone on his back, creating a halo, like the initial rising sun.

“My future is in the vast southwest. I study water conservancy. I feel that in the future, the vast southwest, which is rich in water system resources, is where I can utilize what I’ve learned. The geology there is special and not very suitable for the construction of nuclear power plants, but it contains rich hydropower prospects. The country will definitely vigorously build hydropower stations there in the future, and energy is an important cornerstone of the country’s industrialization development. I believe that in the future, the hydropower generation in the vast southwest will not only satisfy the local people’s production and living needs but also support the entire country. This is a great cause. I feel that being able to integrate my future into it is my glory.”

After he finished speaking, the students below looked at each other, feeling as if a different kind of person had suddenly joined their group. Some of his familiar classmates lowered their heads and chuckled. Obviously, they were already used to Xue Liangliang’s behavior. However, many villagers who had made beds on the ground nearby were also listening to the movements of these university students. After Xue Liangliang finished speaking, quite a few people shouted “Good!”

At this time, Zhao Hequan felt the most embarrassed. Although the classmates and teachers didn’t express anything, he felt that Xue Liangliang was deliberately targeting him and couldn’t help but speak with some sarcastic tone: “Oh, what are you pretending for? I just don’t believe you wouldn’t go if you had the opportunity to go to America. Not to mention America, even if you had the opportunity to go to Japan or South Korea, you would still go.”

Xue Liangliang retorted, “If it’s to study, why wouldn’t I go?”

“Pu chi.” Zhao Hequan stretched out his finger and pointed at him, “Look, tell the truth, you won’t think about coming back once you go. You don’t know how big the gap is between us and them. This kind of gap can never be caught up.”

Xue Liangliang shook his head: “It will be caught up. Under its leadership, we have already achieved huge development. The future will definitely be better and better.”

“But, while you’re developing, aren’t others developing too? With such a huge gap, even if others stand still, it would be impossible for you to catch up in a hundred years!”

Xue Liangliang shook his head again: “Impossible. This world is material. Unless nuclear fusion can achieve a breakthrough and commercialization, otherwise the market cake of this world is doomed to be limited. As long as we continue to develop, this will no longer be a chase game.”

Zhao Hequan frowned. He didn’t understand, and other classmates also didn’t understand, including the internship teacher, who also looked doubtful.

“Xue Liangliang, what exactly are you saying? Aren’t we backward chasers?”

“We are chasers, but not just chasing. The better our development is, the more developed our industry is, the more cake and market we can seize. In the future, not only will they not stand still and wait for us, but they will constantly retreat and will actively… and we will run in both directions. I think that in fifty years, our total economic output will definitely surpass Japan and South Korea.”

The classmates looked at Xue Liangliang as if they were looking at a fool. The class teacher couldn’t help but cover his mouth and laugh. Xue Liangliang continued to say, “Is this very strange? In the future, there will be a day when our shipbuilding volume will surpass South Korea, and our automobile industry volume will surpass Japan. When they lose these industrial advantages, won’t they definitely retreat? As for you saying stay, it’s possible that there are indeed very good living conditions there now, but staying isn’t suitable for me. I hope my studies can have a platform to be utilized. And I don’t think that when speaking different dialects in different provinces in China, I might be excluded, but after going abroad, under different races and skin colors, they won’t exclude you and will even provide you with a free platform for development. This is unreasonable because it’s too anti-human.”

“Good!” “Good!” “Good!”

The shouts of approval from the nearby villagers grew louder. Even Li Weihan and the four uncles and fathers joined in the cheering. Although they didn’t understand many words, the most simple emotions and expectations from the bottom of their hearts made them feel that this student’s words were refreshing.

Zhao Hequan was somewhat ashamed and angry: “You don’t understand, it’s you who don’t understand. You basically don’t understand America, and you don’t understand the true meaning of freedom.”

A student beside him added, “Xue Liangliang, since you’re so sure, you must know what to do in the future to make a lot of money. Tell us, he he.”

“Right, tell us.”

“Let’s learn from you how to see the future and make money together.”

Xue Liangliang thought for a moment and answered seriously, “According to the development rules of first-tier economies, during a period of rapid rise and development of an economy, its real estate industry is doomed to welcome huge development. So, if you want to invest and appreciate relatively steadily, everyone can go to buy houses in the core areas of big cities, even take out bank loans to buy.”

The crowd was stunned at first, then burst into even louder laughter. Many people laughed so hard that tears flowed out.

Xue Liangliang sat down, and the next student went up to speak. However, many classmates still whispered to their classmates beside them while looking at him with ridicule and teasing eyes. Xue Liangliang didn’t mind. He continued to sit in his seat and applaud the student who was speaking.

Li Zhuiyuan still didn’t use the fate grid to calculate. He just silently glanced at Xue Liangliang’s face. [Smooth marriage fate, long life and peace.] Li Zhuiyuan blinked. If the result was the opposite this time, he might really be angry.

Late at night, the tea discussion meeting had long ended. On the dam, the sound of snoring was constant, like a symphony. However, everyone was tired during the day, so they didn’t have any trouble with insomnia and slept very soundly.

Li Zhuiyuan lay beside Li Weihan, using a book as a pillow under his head. As he slept, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt a chill. According to reason, it shouldn’t be so cold in this season that people would shiver even sleeping outside. He had straw that his uncles and fathers had found spread under him, and his grandpa had covered him with a quilt he had brought from home.

But soon, Li Zhuiyuan realized what was happening. Perhaps it was because his great grandpa hadn’t performed the transfer ceremony with him since that time he was injured, so he hadn’t had that kind of dream for a long time. This familiar feeling, Li Zhuiyuan knew… he had entered a dream again. But with his experience and theoretical knowledge, he wasn’t as impatient as before. He lay still, quietly opening his eyes a crack.

He saw himself still lying in the original spot. Beside him was the sound of his grandpa’s breathing in his sleep. Diagonally in front of him were his uncles and fathers and Pan Zi and Lei Zi. But he knew this wasn’t reality, this was a dream, because that strange coldness was growing stronger and stronger.

At this time, he saw a woman walking up from the steps of the dam. The woman was wearing white clothes, and the hem of her skirt trailed very long on the ground. Iron chains were still wrapped around her body. But the woman’s exposed skin was a burnt black and reddish color. As she walked, pieces of flesh kept falling off, making a sticky, burnt sound.

After walking to the center of the dam, the woman stopped. Her head began to look around, as if she was looking for someone. The other people were all sleeping and couldn’t see the woman. Just as the woman was about to look towards his side, Li Zhuiyuan completely closed his eyes.

After a while, feeling that enough time had passed, Li Zhuiyuan quietly opened his eyes a crack again. Perhaps it was just this one look, but he found that the woman had looked around several times, or perhaps she had just always been looking in this direction. In any case, in Li Zhuiyuan’s vision, he and the woman looked at each other!

Instantly, Li Zhuiyuan’s blood seemed to solidify, and his heart beat faster, “bang bang bang.” The woman’s face was bloody and blurred, like it was burned and scorched, or like it was scraped and dug out. In short, it presented a terrifying scene of blood and flesh mud rolling out on the ground in early spring. The only striking feature was the woman’s mouth. Her lips were unclear, only two rows of white teeth could be seen, which made it even more shocking!

The woman was still staring here. This time, Li Zhuiyuan didn’t dare to close his eyes and make any unnecessary movements. But the woman took a step forward, step by step, walking towards him. Damn it, did she perceive that I could see her?

Although his heart was in turmoil, Li Zhuiyuan still forced himself not to move, even controlling his breathing to be the same as before. As the woman approached, he smelled a burning smell of roasted meat, mixed with a bit of moldy sourness, which was very nauseating. However, Li Zhuiyuan was still breathing normally, as if he was still sleeping.

The woman walked to the front and slowly squatted down. Her terrifying face was almost pressed against Li Zhuiyuan’s nose. Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t close his eyes at this time and could only force himself to look at her. He watched the rotten flesh on her face, piece by piece, falling off. Two pieces of fragmented flesh even fell on his face, sliding down his cheek slowly. It was sticky, accompanied by a juice that made people want to vomit.

At this moment, time seemed to pass extremely slowly, a second like a year. After staring for a while, the woman finally stood up, turned her head, and walked step by step towards the center area. Li Zhuiyuan didn’t bother with the fragmented flesh that remained on his face. He didn’t move, even his eyes remained slightly open in a small crack.

Suddenly, the woman walking in the middle of the road, her body was still walking, but her head turned 180 degrees on her neck to look back, once again looking towards Li Zhuiyuan. This scene simply scared Li Zhuiyuan so much that he broke out in a cold sweat. A bone-chilling coldness brushed down his back from the back of his head all the way to his tailbone, then brushed back up from bottom to top. It was a good thing he didn’t close his eyes.

The woman seemed to be confirming that this child was accustomed to sleeping with his eyes slightly open. Her head turned back to the direction it was facing before and turned forward. However, her turning amplitude this time was somewhat insufficient, causing her face, which was originally towards Xue Liangliang on the right side, to turn towards Zhao Hequan after turning clockwise. Her hands also naturally moved in the direction of her head.

Immediately, she reached towards Zhao Hequan’s neck and pinched down!

()