“So, Brother Liangliang, does this mean that the statue excavated at the river construction site and the coffin pried open at the fish farm are at least three hundred years old?”

“Exactly, that’s one way to understand it. But what’s strange is that while three hundred years is a long time, it shouldn’t be enough to completely erase all local customs of worshipping ‘Lady Bai.’ Even the elderly have no memory of her. Yet, local gazettes record her clearly, and we’ve even excavated her temple. There are both written records and physical remains, so it’s impossible for there to be no trace in local folklore. That’s very odd.”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head and said, “Brother Liangliang, a retired old professor once told me that existence isn’t necessarily reasonable, but it always has a reason.”

“Xiao Yuan, are you suggesting that non-existence also has a reason?”

“Hmm, I think it’s possible that Lady Bai was not suitable for worship, nor for evolving into a folk custom. Her image, or rather the image of the Bai family and Baijia Town, might be very different from what we imagine. I just looked at the local gazette records you brought back, Brother Liangliang. They do indeed contain many accounts of Lady Bai’s deeds. They certainly did many things during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and their records are similar in style to some supernatural tales. However, one common element is missing… The endings of those supernatural tales usually include descriptions like ‘the local people, grateful for her benevolence, built temples and statues, and incense burned continuously.’ But here, the records of Lady Bai in the local gazette are just that—records. If it were omitted once or twice, that would be fine, but it’s absent from all related accounts. Yet, there are many other related temples locally, for real-life heroes, Taoist priests and monks from supernatural tales, and even the Dragon King’s son from the East Sea—all have the kind of ending I mentioned. Even if some now have more incense than others, you can at least find a temple dedicated to them. Therefore, I believe there’s a definite reason for Lady Bai’s isolation from local folk customs. Their deeds involved ‘slaying demons and dispelling evil,’ but their purpose might not have been to ‘protect a region’.”

Xue Liangliang looked at Li Zhuiyuan with renewed surprise. He had already lost count of how many times he had looked at the elementary school student with such an expression that day.

“Brother Liangliang, do you remember the appearance of the temple excavated at the river construction site?”

“I do. It was very small and cramped. If it weren’t for the height of the statue, I would even suspect the builders intended it to be similar in scale to the local earth god shrines found along village roads.”

“And the chains…”

“Yes, the chains. The statue was bound with chains, and the other end of the chains was connected to the temple’s surroundings. Without breaking the chains, it would be very difficult for people to tear down the temple.”

“Then it shouldn’t have been for worship; it seems more likely it was for suppression.”

“Suppression?” Xue Liangliang immediately looked enlightened. “Of course! That makes sense. Who would accept incense offerings with such an image?”

Then, Xue Liangliang began pacing excitedly:

“The layout inside the coffin at the fish farm and the inscriptions on the wooden carvings also clearly state it was for suppression. Don’t these two instances of Lady Bai’s actions align? But why wouldn’t the common people appreciate this self-sacrificing act?”

“What if Baijia Town only cared about the process and not the outcome?”

“Xiao Yuan, do you mean that the Lady Bais only cared about suppressing evil in their own way, and whether what was suppressed was truly evil, or where that evil came from, becomes an intriguing question? Ah… if the evil was originally released or cultivated by them, only to be suppressed by them again, then the common people indeed wouldn’t praise them; instead, they would shun them. That would make perfect sense.”

“Yes.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. In “Records of Rivers and Lakes Supernatural Tales,” there were quite a few accounts of evil cultivators from the Xuanmen sect dying and falling. These individuals, who sought to raise corpses for ascension, would stop at nothing. Within their group, there was a widespread common belief: a lake was a place for raising corpses, a river was a ladder to heaven, and when rivers entered the sea, it meant ascending to the gate of heaven and achieving immortality. Nantong is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and Chongming Island is even considered the gateway to the Yangtze. From the peculiar perspective of those individuals, wasn’t this equivalent to the ‘gate of heaven’? Evil Xuanmen practitioners from upstream mountain cities would either painstakingly cultivate their own corpses or usurp others’ coffins. When the time was right, they would descend along the river, heading straight for the sea, requiring considerable time and effort to plan. The Bai family, however, was much simpler and more direct: they would forcibly “suppress evil” directly at the ‘gate of heaven,’ essentially trying to achieve ascension by pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Thinking of this, Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t help but rub his temples. The ideas of these people were astonishing, but they did have a coherent worldview that one could immerse oneself in, and he had indeed immersed himself.

“Xiao Yuan, this is also why your sister’s grandparents met such tragic deaths. Although the fish farm owner hasn’t been found yet, he has likely also been killed. Logically, this shouldn’t be the case. If Lady Bai was on the side of justice and the porcelain vase sealed an evil spirit, why would that evil spirit be so eager to harm its benefactor, who released it, and do so with such ruthless intent, leaving no room for escape? Therefore, the one who truly became enraged and desperate enough to start killing was Lady Bai, who at first glance seemed to represent justice!”

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Xue Liangliang with an equally surprised expression.

It was noteworthy that Xue Liangliang had not read “Records of Rivers and Lakes Supernatural Tales,” yet he was able to deduce something so profound from conventional clues.

“Then Zhao Hequan…” Xue Liangliang was still concerned about his classmate. “Wouldn’t he be targeted by that Lady Bai from the river construction site, with all the retaliation focused on him?”

If it were merely an offense, an apology and some kind words would suffice. But if you had already ruined someone’s plans, that would invite relentless retaliation!

Xue Liangliang asked, confused, “But why would Lady Bai spare you and me? No, this has nothing to do with you; it should be ‘why did she let me go’?”

“Perhaps she could only choose one person.”

The scene from that night’s dream was very clear: the woman could only take one person. For this, she had repeatedly hesitated between him and Zhao Hequan, seemingly having sensed something special about him, which made her very conflicted at one point.

“Huh?”

“The book said so.”

“Oh, there’s that rule? So Zhao Hequan is doomed?”

“It seems so.”

“Then we…” Xue Liangliang waved his hand at Li Zhuiyuan. “Let’s quickly set up the offering tables and sever ties with her completely!”

The thought that the other party had not generously forgiven him by choice, but was simply temporarily unable to deal with him, filled Xue Liangliang with a sense of urgency.

“Okay.” Li Zhuiyuan felt Xue Liangliang had a point. He pointed to his cabinet. “Brother Liangliang, the snacks are inside, and there are wooden stools outside. Please set them up to make two tables. Remember, it should be an even number… let’s put four offerings on each table. I’ll go downstairs to get incense and joss paper.”

After assigning the tasks, Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs to retrieve candles and joss paper. When he came back up, Xue Liangliang had already set up two small offering tables in the bedroom.

The two immediately began the offerings.

In the east room, Qin Li, who had been sleeping, suddenly opened her eyes.

Liu Yumei, who had been resting with her eyes closed while gently fanning herself with a cattail fan, also woke up. She gently covered her granddaughter’s face with the fan, blocking her view, and softly said:

“Be good, it’s nothing. They’re just severing the last bit of karma. Rest well; you’ll want to play with Xiao Yuan tomorrow morning.”

Qin Li slowly closed her eyes.

Liu Yumei then looked towards the screen window, through which she could see the night sky outside.

After a long while, she murmured to herself with a hint of sarcasm:

“In this day and age, who’s still dreaming such beautiful dreams?”

However, just as she closed her eyes, intending to go back to sleep.

The next moment,

Liu Yumei and Qin Li opened their eyes simultaneously.

This time, Qin Li’s eyes were deep, and her pupils, uncharacteristically, focused clearly even when she wasn’t looking at Li Zhuiyuan.

Liu Yumei’s expression was also slightly more solemn than before, but she continued to hold the cattail fan, waving it back and forth above Qin Li, as if making a cutting motion.

Qin Li looked at her grandmother beside her.

Liu Yumei said, “Be good, this isn’t for Xiao Yuan. Go to sleep. You mustn’t play too much tonight, or you’ll be tired, and you wouldn’t want to see Xiao Yuan with dark circles under your eyes, would you?”

Qin Li closed her eyes once more.

Liu Yumei felt a bit lost. She was gradually getting used to communicating with her granddaughter by invoking Li Zhuiyuan’s name. It was heartbreaking, yet very effective.

Getting up and out of bed, Liu Yumei pulled open the screen window, then closed the outer window, completely sealing off the outside.

“Out of sight, out of mind. Time to sleep.”

After the offerings concluded, Xue Liangliang was responsible for cleaning up the burnt joss paper ash; he was always very meticulous.

When he returned, he saw Li Zhuiyuan looking at him. “Brother Liangliang, look at your arm.”

Hearing this, Xue Liangliang immediately rolled up his sleeve and saw that there wasn’t a single mark left. He excitedly asked:

“Not a single mark left! Xiao Yuan, what about you?”

“Mine are gone too.”

“Whew…” Xue Liangliang let out a long breath. “So, we’re done with this?”

“Yes, it seems so. It’s just about your classmate, Brother Liangliang…”

Now that they had severed ties, the Lady Bai from the statue could focus all her attention on retaliating against him.

Xue Liangliang wasn’t particularly saddened. Instead, he touched his forehead and then his shoulders in turn, saying:

“The Lord will protect him.”

Li Zhuiyuan’s lips twitched; he felt like smiling.

He could sense that Xue Liangliang had been sincere when he said he wanted to help his classmate, but that didn’t stop him from abandoning his helpful intentions once he realized the terrifying seriousness of the situation.

Xue Liangliang reached out and tapped Li Zhuiyuan’s nose, saying:

“You know, you have to be open-minded about everything. To live a happy life, you must learn to avoid emotional drain.”

With that, Xue Liangliang turned and asked, “The shower room is in the back, right? I’ll go take a shower first.”

Watching him leave, Li Zhuiyuan slowly fell into thought.

Xue Liangliang’s words resonated with him.

Perhaps, by constantly thinking about how to act like himself, he was becoming less and less like himself.

Li Sanjiang’s bedroom walls were covered with images of deities.

He had bought all of these at a temple fair two years ago, then stored them in a cabinet, unused. Today, they were all put to use.

Among them was a painting of an old man with a benevolent face and an ethereal, Taoist demeanor, which Li Sanjiang placed in the center.

He believed it was Laozi, but in reality… it was Confucius.

After a day of toil, he was indeed tired, and after arranging everything, he went to bed very early.

Then, he had a dream.

It was strange; ever since he performed the transfer ritual with Xiao Yuanhou, his dreams seemed to have become unusually frequent.

Only this time, the dream wasn’t on the rooftop of the town clinic, but on the road.

Turning his head to the right, he saw the familiar main gate, and beside the gate hung the sign he had kissed many times during the day.

Footsteps sounded from behind him.

Li Sanjiang looked back and saw a small figure slowly emerging from the shadows, filled with immense resentment.

Without hesitation, Li Sanjiang ran directly into the police station.

The little girl stood outside the police station, her expression venomous, her mouth opening and closing.

On the first night he dreamt, he had heard her threats clearly—she wanted him dead. When he dozed off on the tractor, her voice had become blurred.

But now,

He could only watch her small mouth continuously open and close. Although he couldn’t hear anything at all, she must have been swearing profusely.

“Hehe.”

Li Sanjiang chuckled, then lay down on his own accord.

If he encountered someone reasonable, he wouldn’t mind humbling himself, begging, speaking softly, or even kneeling and kowtowing. That was no problem.

But after all, evil spirits were once human. Some could be reasoned with, but others simply couldn’t be communicated with.

With such a being, even acknowledging her was a waste of energy.

At least in his dreams, Li Sanjiang was experienced; he was, after all, a leader who had led a group of zombies in calisthenics in a dream version of the Forbidden City.

So, Li Sanjiang simply lay down, folded his hands, and placed them over his navel.

He was tired and went to sleep.

Outside in reality, Xue Liangliang emerged from the shower room, drying his hair. He looked with some curiosity at the willow tree diagonally opposite the house.

The willow branches swayed continuously, as if blown by the wind, but oddly, he felt no breeze at all where he stood.

“How strange, why isn’t the wind blowing in here?”

He didn’t dwell on it; today’s events were simply too bizarre for him to bother investigating wind directions.

When he returned to the bedroom, he saw Li Zhuiyuan sitting at the desk, reading by the light of a table lamp.

Leaning closer, he saw that the characters were incredibly tiny and densely packed. He couldn’t help but say with concern:

“Reading such small print at night, you’ll easily become nearsighted.”

“No, Brother Liangliang, I’m used to it. I can recognize the content by just scanning it with a glance.”

“That amazing?” Xue Liangliang didn’t think Li Zhuiyuan was lying, and climbed onto the bed first.

The old wooden bed was characteristically spacious.

“Xiao Yuan, are you sleeping on the outside or inside?”

“Either is fine.”

“Then I’ll sleep on the outside. Children feel safer sleeping on the inside.”

“Okay.”

“When are you planning to go to sleep?”

“I’ll read a little longer, then I’ll shower and go to bed.”

“I think it’s fine to treat these as hobbies, but you should still put more effort into your studies.”

“Yes, I know.”

In the past, Xue Liangliang would have offered more advice, but today, he couldn’t bring himself to. After thinking about it, he realized that he had indeed been greatly helped today by these seemingly useless books Li Zhuiyuan read.

So, he couldn’t help but change his tone. “Xiao Yuan, it’s really interesting to think about. Before yesterday, I truly never expected these things to actually exist in the world. But somehow, I don’t feel particularly scared—not fearless, but not panicking either.”

“Fear comes from the unknown. Brother Liangliang, you’ve already investigated Lady Bai’s origins, so what is there to be afraid of?”

“Indeed. But tell me, should I also read some books on this topic? Do you have any recommendations?”

Li Zhuiyuan hesitated for a moment, then said, “These books belong to my great-grandfather. I can’t decide to lend them to you. You’ll have to ask him first.”

“In that case, never mind. Your great-grandfather specializes in this field; these books must be his treasures. He certainly wouldn’t lend them easily to outsiders.”

On this point, Xue Liangliang was mistaken.

For all these years, Li Sanjiang had merely left so many boxes of books in the basement to gather dust.

“Xiao Yuan, what’s your village’s phone number? Let’s exchange contact info.”

Li Zhuiyuan recited the village committee’s phone number, and also gave the number for the village convenience store.

Typically, villagers who wanted to make a call would go to one of these two places. If an outside call came in, it would also be directed there. After stating whom they wanted to reach, the caller would hang up, allow time for someone to call the person, and then call back after fifteen minutes.

Li Zhuiyuan remembered this phone number, also hoping his mother would call him. And his mother, true to his expectations, never called him once.

“Never mind, I’ll write it down.” Xue Liangliang got out of bed, went to the desk, took paper and pen to write down the number, then sighed.

Although Li Zhuiyuan continued reading without lifting his head, he was still able to multitask and said:

“Brother Liangliang, are you going to say that one day, every household will have a phone?”

“That day will come, do you believe it?”

“I do, but it seems pagers are popular right now.”

In previous years, pagers had begun to enter China and quickly became widely popular, with young people in the cities taking pride in wearing a pager on their waist.

“I was just about to get one too. So I’ll get two and give you one. How about it, Xiao Yuan?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. “I wouldn’t use it.”

“Oh, right.” Xue Liangliang slapped his forehead. “I said I’d buy you snacks and toys, but I completely forgot. I’ll mail them to you once I get back to school.”

“Thank you, Brother Liangliang.”

“Okay, I’m going to sleep now.” Xue Liangliang got back into bed and was soon fast asleep.

After finishing the scroll he was reading, Li Zhuiyuan went to the shower room to bathe. As he passed his great-grandfather’s bedroom, he could clearly hear his great-grandfather’s snoring through the door.

It seemed his great-grandfather was sleeping soundly.

Returning to his own bedroom, he placed a new toothbrush in the washbasin, then climbed into the inner side of the bed, lay down, and went to sleep.

The next day, Xue Liangliang woke up very early.

He had a peculiar trait: high-quality sleep combined with relatively short sleep duration. He could get better energy recovery than others with only half the amount of sleep.

Opening his eyes, he glanced at the still-sleeping Li Zhuiyuan beside him. Xue Liangliang couldn’t help but think how interesting it would be if this child really got into Haihe University and became his alumnus later on.

He quietly got out of bed, saw the new toothbrush in the washbasin, picked up the basin, and was about to go wash up when he opened the door.

“Oh my god!!!”

Xue Liangliang was so startled that the washbasin in his hand fell to the floor, scattering the toothbrush, towel, and mug everywhere.

Anyone who opened their door first thing in the morning to find a little girl standing silently outside would likely be terrified.

Li Zhuiyuan was woken by the noise and quickly got out of bed. Rubbing his eyes, he ran over, took Qin Li’s hand with his free hand, and urged:

“Brother Liangliang, quickly go wash up.”

“Oh, okay.”

Xue Liangliang immediately picked up his things and left. What he didn’t know was that if Li Zhuiyuan had gotten out of bed a moment later, he might have ended up covered in injuries.

Because the moment Li Zhuiyuan took Ah Li’s hand, her body was already trembling, a sign that she was about to lash out.

Originally, according to his usual habit, Li Zhuiyuan could sleep in. Even if Ah Li arrived and he wasn’t awake, she would quietly come in, sit down, and wait for him to wake up.

However, Xue Liangliang sleeping there last night had disrupted this habit.

Furthermore, his shout had also called everyone in the house to breakfast earlier than usual.

After washing up, while they were eating breakfast, Aunt Zhang from the village convenience store shouted from across the wheat field, “Grandpa Sanjiang, phone call!”

“Oh, coming!”

Li Sanjiang put some preserved vegetables into his bowl, then walked out, using his chopsticks to scoop up porridge from his bowl as he went.

Arriving at the convenience store, he waited for the time it took to smoke a cigarette, then the phone rang again. He answered it; it was Yingzi’s aunt, Chen Xiaoling.

The call informed him that the fish farm owner had been found dead in the town widow’s house. The widow, who seemed deeply devoted, was preparing to arrange his funeral.

However, the items weren’t found. They also said the singer had visited and that the three of them were often together.

The singer was not a local; inquiries at her workplace revealed that she hadn’t shown up for work the previous week without notice, and her registered identity information was also fake.

Currently, it was suspected that the missing jewelry and porcelain vase were with that woman, but finding her now would be very difficult.

Zhou Hai, on the other hand, should have his suspicions cleared and would be released at noon.

Chen Xiaoling anxiously asked what she and her husband should do, as she had another nightmare last night.

Li Sanjiang patiently comforted her with a few words, instructing her to go with Zhou Hai to burn incense at the foot of Mount Lang’s Zhiyun Pagoda once he was released.

Chen Xiaoling hesitantly asked if that would be enough.

Li Sanjiang then suggested that they also visit and burn incense at the other four mountains today: Junshan, Huangnishan, Ma’anshan, and Jianshan.

In truth, Li Sanjiang wasn’t sure if it would be effective, but his main reason was that he didn’t want to get involved in this matter any further.

Yesterday, he had severed ties with Lady Bai, and even a bad severance was still a severance.

He no longer needed to wade through this muddy water for Zhou Hai and his wife. He wasn’t getting paid, they weren’t close relatives, and that entity was so dangerous. Why bother?

Besides, it was their own greed that started it, and he had already done more than enough.

The thought of burning incense at five mountains boosted Chen Xiaoling’s confidence. She thanked Li Sanjiang repeatedly over the phone, then hung up just as the seconds approached sixty.

Aunt Zhang said with a smile, “Grandpa Sanjiang, you really have a lot of work these days. I even heard people talking about you when I went to the wholesale market in Shigang.”

“It’s not all good things, just getting by. Come on, give me a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes.”

“Alright.”

This was an unwritten rule in the village: you couldn’t expect someone to run an errand for free. After taking a call, you always had to buy something, even if it was just two candies for a child.

Carrying his cigarettes, he walked home. As he approached the turn to his house, he saw Xue Liangliang walking out.

“Grandpa, I’m heading back to school.”

“What? You’re leaving already?”

“Yes, I only took one day off.”

“Alright, be careful on your way.”

“Okay, Grandpa, I’ll come visit you again sometime.”

“Hehe.”

Li Sanjiang let out two dry chuckles and waved his hand. This university student was truly cunning, sleeping over and having breakfast, then leaving without even tutoring his great-grandson.

Just as he was about to go inside, he saw someone on a bicycle speeding towards him in the distance. The person looked familiar, and after some thought, he remembered it was seemingly from the Niu family, Niu Fu’s youngest son.

The person quickly dismounted his bicycle, pushed it as he jogged to Li Sanjiang, and anxiously said:

“Grandpa Sanjiang, please, I beg you, go see my dad again. Something has happened to him.”

Li Sanjiang frowned and directly stated, “Sigh, it still happened. But that’s no longer my business. That’s fate.”

What a joke! He, Li Sanjiang, wasn’t selling televisions in a mall; how could he offer after-sales service?

“No, Grandpa, really, not only has something happened to my dad, but also to my second uncle and my aunt. Everyone is very panicked, and they sent me to beg you to take another look.”

“This won’t do, this really won’t do. Making one exception has already taken a toll on me. If I keep making exceptions, how will I live my life? My coffin hasn’t even been painted yet.”

“Grandpa, please, I’m begging you. The family can only rely on you now.” As he spoke, he pulled a red envelope from his pocket and pressed it into Li Sanjiang’s hand.

Li Sanjiang’s attitude softened at the thickness of the red envelope.

“Well… I can only go and see. Honestly, if something truly serious has happened, I’m afraid there’s little more I can do. All I can really do is pray for good fortune for you youngsters, offer some protection, and purify the feng shui.”

“That’s wonderful! That’s exactly it. If you can do that much, it’s enough. Really, we’re very grateful.”

In truth, these younger family members weren’t particularly concerned about the three elders; rather, they feared that after the elders’ misfortunes, it would soon be their turn.

“You go back first. I need to get ready here. I’ll go over in the afternoon.”

“Okay, okay, Grandpa, we’ll wait for you at home.”

After the other person had ridden away, Li Sanjiang walked along the rice field path, opening the red envelope. After confirming that each note was a ‘Great Unity’ bill, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

“Heh, this feeling of getting money first thing in the morning is great.”

Indeed, how could he keep getting bad jobs?

Actually, as Liu Jinxia had said, this line of work inherently involved a bit of deception and trickery. Many times, it was merely putting on a show.

But it also depended on the person. Some individuals were already mired in trouble; placating them and earning their money was fine, considering it a way to help them avert disaster by losing some wealth. It counted as helping, didn’t it?

Back home, Li Sanjiang didn’t do much preparation. He lay down on a rattan chair on the second-floor balcony, turned on the radio, and planned to nap until the afternoon before heading out.

As he was adjusting his position, Li Sanjiang noticed the two children in the northeast corner, each lying on a small lounge chair, side by side.

What’s more, the lounge chairs were designed so that one lacked a right armrest and the other a left, fitting perfectly together when placed side by side, with no gap in between.

“Little rascal, he certainly knows how to enjoy life.”

Nearing noon, a bare-chested young man pushed a cart onto the embankment. It was Runsheng.

He had accompanied Grandpa Shan to get his dentures fitted, then tended to his injuries for two days. After using the money he earned from the Niu family last time to buy a batch of rice, flour, grains, and oil, Grandpa Shan had kicked him out of the house.

Aunt Liu greeted him politely, “Runsheng, you’re here! Are you hungry? We’ll be cooking soon, hehe.”

Runsheng nodded. “I’m starving. My grandpa didn’t let me eat the day before yesterday, told me to save my appetite and come eat here.”

“That’s great. I just made a new batch of incense. You can try some when dinner is ready and see if it’s right.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

As Runsheng spoke, he wiped his mouth.

Hearing the conversation downstairs, Li Sanjiang, on the second floor, was furious. He thought that old man had forgotten about it, but it turned out he still sent his mule to graze on his own pasture.

But he had indeed arrived at the right time; he could have him push the cart and take him there in the afternoon.

This kid, though he could eat a lot, was more useful than an ox once he was full.

“Runsheng Hou, you’re here.”

Runsheng looked up at Li Sanjiang above him and nodded vigorously. “Yes, I’m here, Grandpa. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, good child. This afternoon, take Grandpa to the Niu family for a job.”

“Alright, Grandpa.”

Li Zhuiyuan heard the commotion and then his great-grandfather’s words, knowing that the cat-faced old woman had already completed the initial work.

“Brother Runsheng.”

“Hey, Xiao Yuan.”

Runsheng and Li Zhuiyuan exchanged brief greetings, then Runsheng squatted down in front of the new batch of incense Aunt Liu was drying. He was simply too hungry to care about anything else for the moment.

Li Zhuiyuan, meanwhile, walked up to Li Sanjiang, showing a docile smile. “Great-Grandpa.”

“Hmm, what is it?”

“I’d like to go to Shigang Town this afternoon to buy some stationery.”

“Alright, then you can go with your great-grandfather this afternoon.”

Li Sanjiang readily agreed. He felt there was no danger at the Niu family’s place, as he had already slain that fallen entity with his peach wood sword.

“Thank you, Great-Grandpa.”

Li Zhuiyuan stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Li Sanjiang’s neck, pressed his face against his chest, and hugged him.

Li Sanjiang chuckled and gently patted Li Zhuiyuan’s head:

“Oh, oh, oh, hahaha, it’s nothing, nothing. Whatever you want to buy, Great-Grandpa will get it for you, alright? Great-Grandpa has money, plenty of money.”

This kind of affection from a junior brought Li Sanjiang great pleasure.

However, he had also carefully considered it and realized that it wasn’t juniors in general he liked, but rather just Xiao Yuanhou.

Although the child wasn’t diligent in his studies, he was truly likable.

After confirming with his great-grandfather, Li Zhuiyuan returned to his armchair and continued reading.

As he was reading, he suddenly felt two hands gently touch him. The movements were very slow and clumsy, yet they gradually wrapped around his neck, and then a face pressed against his chest.

Li Zhuiyuan immediately understood that Ah Li was imitating his earlier action to please his great-grandfather.

He then noticed a look of confusion in the girl’s eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan understood and, reaching out, gently patted the girl’s head:

“Whatever you want to buy, I’ll get it for you, alright? I have money, plenty of money.”

The girl was satisfied. She let go and returned to her previous normal posture, her eyes bright, outshining even the midday sun, at least in that corner.

Downstairs, Liu Yumei, who was drinking tea, felt her hand tremble slightly as she held the teacup. She grumbled bitterly to herself:

“You have money? You little brat, you have no money at all!”

But amidst the bitterness, there was also immense relief, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Since her granddaughter fell ill, when had she ever made such a gesture?

Sometimes, the hardest part is the breakthrough from zero to one. She was already imagining a day in the future when her granddaughter would also hug her neck like this, letting her gently pat her head.

She lowered her head and continued drinking tea, then subtly frowned.

Had the tea gone bad? Why did it taste both sour and sweet?

After leaving Siyuan Village, Xue Liangliang first took a bus to the Municipal People’s Hospital to visit Zhao Hequan, who was hospitalized.

Zhao Hequan’s condition was very poor. Since being admitted, his symptoms had progressively worsened. Now, his entire body, from head to toe, appeared discolored, showing a purplish-blue hue.

Coincidentally, Luo Tingrui was also there visiting. After a perfunctory glance at Zhao Hequan, he gestured for Xue Liangliang to step outside with him.

He genuinely disliked Zhao Hequan. As department head, he often took them out of school for practical fieldwork. Zhao Hequan, being someone who loved to talk and show off, would always make sarcastic remarks, even if he saw a dog peeing on a utility pole by the roadside from the car.

Luo Tingrui was a pragmatic person. Although he had also been a student, and understood that such was the current social trend, he still disdained the baseless complaints of these detached individuals, for all they did was whine and lament.

Xue Liangliang, on the other hand, had always impressed him. If it weren’t for the fact that the young man seemed determined to go to the Great Southwest after graduation, he would have considered introducing his daughter to him.

“Liangliang, are you heading back to school?”

“Yes, Director. I’ll go to the station shortly.”

“Come with me. We have comrades coming down from higher up, along with some local comrades. We’re going to the river to observe and inspect. Once the inspection is done, we’ll return to school together.”

“Understood, Director.”

Although the inspection team was formed on short notice, it comprised a considerable number of people.

Three cars and a large bus were full. After leaving the city, they drove south, arriving at the Yangtze River, in a county under Nantong.

After everyone got off, there were exchanges of greetings, primarily introductions by local comrades, and then everyone would periodically ask Luo Tingrui for his opinion.

Xue Liangliang, who was following behind, understood. They were planning and conceptualizing a future cross-river bridge; the authorities intended to build a bridge here to connect Nantong and Shanghai.

However, it was currently only in the planning and conceptualization stage, and the conditions for construction and implementation were not yet in place.

But this was enough to excite Xue Liangliang. After all, no grand project could proceed without this initial step.

A pre-arranged boat came over to pick them up. The boat sailed onto the river, allowing everyone to experience the surroundings more directly.

“Although ferry boats currently address the transportation issue, the lack of a true bridge still severely hinders local economic development…”

As the local comrade explained the situation, Xue Liangliang listened while leaning against the boat rail, his gaze fixed on the river surface, silently marveling at the vast scenery where the river met the sky.

Then, he frowned again, lowering his head to look at the river surface below:

“According to the incorrectly marked location in the local gazette, it seems Baijia Town,

at this very moment…

is right beneath my feet.”