Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 176

Early in the morning, in the courtyard of the earth building, Runsheng was cooking breakfast.

Breakfast is simple. Just throw in a handful of noodles, then add some cut vegetables and bacon, and you're done.

Since arriving here, everyone's three meals a day basically consist of stewing the staple foods together, mainly for convenience.

There was no way. Among all the men in the room, Runsheng was the best cook. The only woman was willing to help, but no one dared to let her get close to the rice pot.

"Have you added salt?" Yin Meng asked.

Runsheng: “Let him go.”

"Oh, okay." Yin Meng put the small spoon back into the salt shaker and then put the shaker on the ground.

Runsheng bent down, picked up the salt shaker, and put several spoonfuls of salt into the pot.

Yin Meng emphasized: "I know this is salt."

Runsheng emphasized: "I know that we all eat this together."

Yin Meng was used to it, so he sat aside and spread out his palms. The black cockroach-like poisonous insect jumped out from his sleeves and landed in his palms.

As Yin Meng's palms kept turning and his fingers kept changing, the insect moved forward and climbed like a mountaineer.

Yin Meng had a lot of fun.

The door of the earthen building was pushed open, and Xue Liangliang led two people in.

One is Cui Hao and the other is Li Ren.

The two of them were called down from the dilapidated temple on the mountain by Xue Liangliang.

Although Li Ren's leg injury has not yet healed completely, he can still walk with the help of a wooden stick.

The two men had unkempt hair and unshaven beards, and their arms and legs had become thinner. Although they had lost a lot of weight, they looked more energetic.

However, there was still fear and caution in their eyes. Obviously, the experience of being haunted by ghosts had left them with a deep psychological trauma.

Yin Meng asked Xue Liangliang curiously: "How did you get this?"

Xue Liangliang sat down and answered: "I told them that the construction team would be back in the morning. If they didn't come down, they would be expelled from the company for being absent from work without permission. So they came down."

Yin Meng wanted to laugh when she heard this, but she held it back and continued playing with the insect in her hand.

Maybe life in the mountains was too hard and they had had enough; or maybe the fear of being expelled outweighed their fear of ghosts.

In short, they accepted their fate.

After washing, cleaning and shaving, they changed into clean clothes.

When the construction team arrived here, their former colleagues came back and saw how they were now, and they couldn't help but feel sympathy for them.

Even the most senior leader began to reflect on whether he had gone too far. He thought that these two people just had unpleasant personalities and did not commit such a crime.

Xue Liangliang helped them keep the matter of absenteeism a secret.

He felt that it was normal for ordinary people to be scared and run away in that situation.

Next comes the formal handover and integration into the work.

In fact, there are no technical difficulties. It’s just that it’s not something that can be said out loud.

Finally, at a small closed-door meeting, Xue Liangliang assured that he had invited a great monk from Guiyang to perform a ritual here during the Chinese New Year.

Although everyone was still somewhat nervous, as they worked on it and found that there weren't so many incredible accidents, they naturally began to accept it.

Just like Cui Hao and Li Ren, after gradually interacting with the villagers and colleagues, they began to believe that they did not see a ghost, but had severe hallucinations that day after accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms.

Li Zhuiyuan led Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou, wearing safety helmets, and joined the work.

After all, this is what I'm studying, and it's a rare internship opportunity, so I have to do it.

Looking at the construction site that was originally stagnant and seeing new changes day by day, I really feel a sense of accomplishment.

It’s just that Li Zhuiyuan is usually with Xue Liangliang, holding the drawings; Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou are more first-line.

The village became lively again with the return of the construction team.

Many people have emerged to run supporting businesses on construction sites, such as construction site catering. They often understand the progress of the construction work better than ordinary workers.

After completing the project here, they will look for the next target. There is little competitive pressure and a stable customer base in this job. Apart from the hard work and the need to travel frequently, the income is considerable.

Two older sisters rented a room in the residential building next to the earthen building. They hung a sign saying "Massage, Cupping" on the door and their business is booming.

Many workers would sneak out to get a massage during their workday, otherwise they would have to queue up when they get off work in the evening.

After a period of peace and stability, Xue Liangliang began to prepare to leave. His mission was to provide technical assistance and he did not need to stay until the end of the project.

After discussing with the person in charge of the construction unit, we decided on the time of departure, the day after tomorrow.

Everyone began to make final preparations before leaving, and everyone actually had something to do.

With the help of his apprentice Achai, Wen Xiushan came to the earth building and asked Li Zhuiyuan to go to the Miao village to help check on A-mei's condition.

Li Zhuiyuan took Lin Shuyou with him.

At the Miao village banquet that night, Li Zhuiyuan knew that the girl who had been staring at him was fake.

But under the circumstances at that time, it was indeed not convenient for him to expose the identity of the fake A-mei, because he had to go to the old woman's lair next, and there was no need to alert the enemy.

Afterwards, he did not go to the Miao village to inquire about Zhen A'mei's situation.

Because there are only two possibilities:
Either the real A-mei is fine, or the real A-mei has been killed.

No matter which possibility it is, there is no need for me to ask any more.

But it turns out that sometimes you can't look at the world, especially people, from an overly rational perspective.

A-mei was still alive, but as if possessed by an evil spirit, she could only sit there blankly with her eyes open.

Li Zhuiyuan looked towards Wen Xiushan.

Wen Xiushan's old face turned red with shame and he lowered his head.

It was Wen Xiushan's disciple Achai who explained that Grandpa had tried various methods over the past few days but failed to make A-mei wake up.

This explanation made Wen Xiushan even more embarrassed.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't understand why the old man didn't call him earlier?
There were people in their village working on the construction site, so they knew that I was also there during this period of time.

What the young man didn't understand was the deeper logic behind this stupid behavior, but he knew why the old man did it.

Maybe he felt embarrassed to ask him again, so he wanted to use his own Miao village method to wake up A-mei. In the old man's view, this was a matter of face.

If he hadn't failed in every attempt and knew that I would be leaving here soon, he might not have been so embarrassed as to come to my house in person to invite me.

Li Zhuiyuan checked A-mei's condition and found no evil aura on her. She was not possessed, bewitched, or cursed.

She was so frightened that she closed herself off.

That is what is commonly known as... scared silly.

Therefore, all the ritual operations that Wen Xiushan had previously performed were completely just flirting with the blind.

Li Zhuiyuan arranged a separate and quiet room for A-mei, where he and A-mei were alone, and he used hypnosis to enter A-mei's closed heart.

Half an hour later, A-mei's crying voice was heard.

The heart is opened, the fear of that night is released, and all that is left is to rest and not be stimulated.

Wen Xiushan wanted to invite Li Zhuiyuan to stay for dinner so that he could express his gratitude again, but Li Zhuiyuan refused.

The problem was solved too quickly, and it was still early, so he and Lin Shuyou left the Miao village.

On the way back on foot, Li Zhuiyuan turned to the Zhaojun Temple on the mountain.

The originally broken stone tablet was buried again by a large stone. This should have been done by Zhao Yi.

Because Cui Hao and Li Ren didn't have the intention, let alone the energy.

Li Zhuiyuan sat in the dilapidated temple, enjoying the breeze and looking at the blue sky and white clouds for a while.

While emptying his mind, he would also try to imagine whether Zhao Wuyang had also sat here like this after suppressing the old woman.

Before leaving, the boy symbolically pulled out some newly grown weeds in the dilapidated temple.

Lin Shuyou climbed onto the roof of the ruined temple, trying to clear the vines, and accidentally collapsed a corner of the roof.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, I..."

"It's okay, the Dragon King won't care."

This temple was built here to frighten the sealed old witch from afar, not to seek incense and offerings.

Walking back down the mountain, I met Tan Wenbin who was walking out of my eldest sister’s rental house next to the earth building.

Tan Wenbin twisted his neck and stretched lazily, looking relaxed and comfortable.

The sign said "cupping" and the elder sister actually had a jar.

However, Tan Wenbin was the only customer who actually went for cupping.

The elder sister’s cupping skills are very rough. After all, she is not a professional at this.

But Tan Wenbin is now quite adapted to this rough technique. Every time he pulls out the cup, there will be at most a little mist inside for other people, and a few water droplets are considered extremely humid. For Tan Wenbin, water can flow out of the cup after it is pulled out.

It's not just dampness that's causing him to have too much yin energy.

Those two furry kids swallowed too much resentment and now they have indigestion, and even he, their godfather, is suffering as well.

Li Zhuiyuan suggested that he could use a formation to eliminate some of the resentment and alleviate Tan Wenbin's pain.

After hesitating for a long time, Tan Wenbin finally refused.

He said that the two children had never had a good life since they were born, and it was really not easy for them to have a full meal this time.

Tan Wenbin had just lit a cigarette at the door when an older woman came out with her hair lifted up, holding a packet of ointment in her hand.

She said she brought it from her hometown and it was very useful.

Tan Wenbin pretended to take out money and was hit twice by the eldest sister. The two of them laughed.

Soon, another older sister came out, also with a cigarette in her mouth, and handed a freshly knitted scarf to Tan Wenbin.

The scarf is not long and does not have many patterns, but the stitches are very dense.

Tan Wenbin hung it directly around his neck.

This was a gift given to Tan Wenbin by the two elder sisters when they knew that he was leaving.

The two older sisters are both straightforward. There is no such thing as forcing women of good character into prostitution. They just come here on purpose to make some money and leave. They earn money through labor. They have men and children in their hometown, and the men also know what they are doing.

After returning to the earth building, Tan Wenbin wondered, "Where are Mengmeng and Runsheng?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "They told me that they would go to the bottom of the lake again."

Tan Wenbin: "Mengmeng still wants to continue catching bugs?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head.

Although it was Yin Meng who suggested it, he knew that it was not Yin Meng who wanted to go.

……

Runsheng: "You can stay on the shore and wait for me."

Yin Meng: "You haven't fully recovered yet, I'm worried about you coming down alone."

The two of them walked forward and came to the main temple of Zhaojun Temple at the deepest part.

The ground here is densely packed with crystals, and there are traces of impact everywhere.

Yin Meng sighed, "It wasn't easy for Brother Xiaoyuan to be here in the beginning."

After expressing her feelings, Yin Meng's attention was focused on these crystals. She tried to touch them with her hands, but found that the crystals had deteriorated internally and turned into dust and fell off after being touched.

Not only has the project at the hydroelectric power station caused the feng shui here to change, but also because of the old woman herself, which is one of the necessary conditions for the formation of these crystals.

Yin Meng felt a little sorry.

Runsheng walked up to the decapitated body of the old witch. The body was still there, but because all her vitality had been drained away when the "boy" was born, it was like bones that had been stewed over and over again, and it had no taste anymore.

Yin Meng asked: "If I hadn't asked Brother Xiaoyuan to tell you that you wanted to come down, would you not have come down?"

Runsheng: “Yeah.”

Yin Meng: "Don't you want Brother Xiaoyuan to know that you eat these? In fact, Brother Xiaoyuan must have known about it a long time ago."

Runsheng: "Xiaoyuan is smart, he must know."

Yin Meng shrugged. She could understand Runsheng's stubbornness.

On the one hand, he has a strong desire for these things, which is almost an instinct.

It can even be said that the incense that is a must-have with every meal is also a substitute for "that thing".

But he would always unconsciously suppress this impulse in front of Xiaoyuan, not wanting to ruin his image in front of Xiaoyuan, even if it was just deceiving himself.

The "boy" was blown to ashes, leaving no trace of his body.

Fortunately, if it was left with its corpse, looking at its face that was almost the same as Xiaoyuan's, Runsheng really wouldn't be able to eat it.

Yin Meng spoke again: "If Zhao Yi came first, would the old woman choose Zhao Yi as a model to give birth to a child?"

Runsheng: “Probably.”

Yin Meng sighed: "That should be easier."

Runsheng: “Indeed.”

Squatting down on the altar again, Runsheng lowered his head and looked at the dried corpse of the Gu boy in front of him.

He picked up the mummy as if he was lifting a huge dried bullfrog.

The bones are hard and strong.

Runsheng swallowed.

Yin Meng reminded: "He is a Gu boy. Anything with Gu is poisonous."

Runsheng: "But, he smells good."

Yin Meng: "Then you eat it."

Runsheng opened his mouth and was about to bite, but then he closed his mouth and stopped.

Yin Meng: "What's wrong?"

Runsheng: "Go out for a while."

Yin Meng: "Well, now you not only need to pay attention to your image in front of Brother Xiaoyuan, but also your image in front of me?"

"I'm used to eating this when I'm alone."

"Okay, okay, I'll wait for you outside."

Yin Meng walked outside, where there was a large pool of rotting meat.

He raised his hand and swung it forward. The poisonous insect flew out and landed among the broken body parts. After turning around a few times, the poisonous insect ran back, climbed up along Yin Meng's trouser leg, and returned to Yin Meng's palm.

Yin Meng stretched out her finger, flicked it, and flipped it over.

He laughed and cursed:
"You've become more picky with your mouth."

After waiting for a long time, Runsheng finally came out.

Yin Meng turned around and looked over, and found that not only was Run Sheng's eyes red, but the expression on his face was constantly alternating between calm and ferocious.

She had said long ago that eating Gu Tong would cause problems.

Now, here comes the problem.

Yin Meng: "If I had known earlier, I should have asked Brother Xiaoyuan to come over and check it out."

Runsheng: "Xiaoyuan doesn't want to turn me into that."

Yin Meng: “Isn’t that right?”

Runsheng looked at the rotting body parts he had created outside and said, "If I were stronger, I could have dealt with them right then and then went in to help Xiaoyuan."

Yin Meng stopped talking.

Runsheng sat down: "Wait for a moment, I need to relax."

Yin Meng: "Okay."

Runsheng closed his eyes.

The air valves throughout his body kept opening and closing, but this time the air waves that blew out carried a faint scent of toxins.

The poisonous insect in Yin Meng's hand issued a warning, and its two long tentacles kept intertwining.

After putting away the insect, Yin Meng stepped back for a distance.

This wait lasted for more than an hour.

Runsheng stood up from the ground and opened his eyes. This time, his eyes were completely red.

Yin Meng: "You are completely poisoned."

Runsheng didn't say anything.

Yin Meng: "It's over. Brother Xiaoyuan will scold me when I go back."

Runsheng still didn't say anything.

Yin Meng: "Do you still have enough self-awareness now?"

As she spoke, Yin Meng started to walk out, waving to Runsheng.

Runsheng took a step forward and started moving forward.

"call……"

Yin Meng breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she could still walk, no matter how big the problem was, Brother Xiaoyuan should be able to solve it when they returned to the Tulou.

In this way, Yin Meng led the way in front and Runsheng followed behind.

"I hope you can be this obedient when I take you shopping for clothes in the future."

Hearing this, Runsheng, whose eyes were red and expressionless, showed a look of pain on his face.

Walking to the outermost platform, Yin Meng reminded: "It's almost time to get into the water."

Runsheng stopped moving.

"What's wrong with you?" Yin Meng asked with concern.

Runsheng squatted down and picked up a black stone. He rubbed it with his hands, and there were some corroded and discolored attachments on it. After wiping them off, a soft dark golden texture was revealed.

It's a piece of gold.

The White Crane Boy had killed two dead monsters here before. Like the noblewoman on the construction site, those two dead monsters were also buried wearing gold and silver.

After death, it turned into pus, which corroded and covered all the jewels, but some of them could still be found.

Runsheng handed the piece of gold in his hand to Yin Meng.

Yin Meng reached out and took it.

When I looked up again, I looked into Runsheng's eyes and found that the red had faded and he had returned to normal.

Yin Meng: "Are you okay?"

Runsheng: "Yeah, I'm full."

……

"I say, have you two fallen into the trap of money?"

Tan Wenbin looked at the bag Yin Meng handed to him, which was full of gold and silver. Although the color was not good, it was still heavy after being remelted.

I don’t know when it started, but a tacit understanding was formed within the team that this kind of spoils would be handed over to Tan Wenbin to deal with first.

Tan Wenbin would divide these up, donate most of them through suitable channels, and keep only a small portion for his own expenses.

That is... money laundering.

Tan Wenbin: "These are the blood and sweat of the local people in history. The bulk of them should be donated to the county school."

Yin Meng: "It's up to you how much you can lose."

Tan Wenbin: "It's enough for you to go shopping several times."

Yin Meng nodded with satisfaction: "That's fine."

Shopping requires money, but not too much money, otherwise you will lose the fun of shopping itself.

At least, Yin Meng thought so.

Tan Wenbin scratched his head with a wry smile: "Fortunately, the money was donated in various ways and under various names. If it had always been donated under my own name, it would have been exposed and would have been on the news, touching the top ten figures in Nantong, right?"

Xue Liangliang: "Is this all your ambition?"

Tan Wenbin: "It's too high to even think about. How about Brother Liang take me to buy stocks? I can trick my parents and my partner's parents out of their retirement money and invest it in stocks?"

Xue Liangliang knew that Tan Wenbin was joking, so he patted him on the shoulder and handed him some proof.

It was a series of various documents including an internship certificate, all stamped, and containing some allowances.

However, everyone is leaving tomorrow, but the end date is set for the next two months.

Tan Wenbin joked: "Brother Liangliang, this is not your style."

When they were in the mountain city, Xue Liangliang borrowed the company's car to take them out to play, and he would fill up the gas himself and return it. He would never take advantage of the public.

Xue Liangliang shook his head: "It's an unspoken rule. Overseas work is hard, not many people are willing to do it, and other people don't have side income like me."

In the evening, the construction team held a small internal dinner to see off Xue Liangliang's team.

There have been no accidents on the construction site recently, and everyone assumes that it is the work of the eminent monk from Guiyang. Of course, the monk was invited by Xue Liangliang.

After the dinner, everyone took a rest.

After Tan Wenbin went out, he returned to the earth building. He gave return gifts to the two older sisters next door, a red envelope for each of them. After calling out, he stuffed the red envelope directly through the crack in the door.

The next morning, they refused the construction team's vehicle and chose to ride Ran Dacheng's tractor to the county.

On the way, we passed a small waterfall and saw a group of children from a nearby village jumping into the water in their briefs.

This is a game and entertainment that children from the plains could never dream of.

Waterfalls are such a luxury after all.

Xue Liangliang looked at Li Zhuiyuan and asked, "Xiaoyuan, do you want to play?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head.

Xue Liangliang: "I want to play for a bit."

Li Zhuiyuan: "When the Nantong cross-river bridge is built, you can dive as much as you want. The bridge is much higher than this waterfall."

Xue Liangliang was choked for a moment, then said: "You've worked hard this time. I've prepared a travel guide. Can I take you guys to have a good time in Guizhou?"

It was really hard this time. First I killed the evil spirits, then I recuperated from my injuries, and then I went to work at the construction site.

In the past, I would always return immediately after going out to deal with evil spirits. It has never been delayed as long as this time.

Xue Liangliang originally wanted to see Xiaoyuan refuse, but what he didn't expect was that Xiaoyuan nodded directly:
"agree."

Xue Liangliang: "I was just kidding."

The group first went to the county, then to the city, and then went straight to the airport in the provincial capital.

Nowadays, for most Chinese people, flying is just something they see on TV.

This was also one of the main reasons why Xue Liangliang was able to go to Nantong frequently in the past. Not only could he finish his work and leave early, he also didn't care about reimbursement of his train tickets. He could buy himself a plane ticket and use the time he would have spent on the road to jump into the river.

This is also a great benefit of going out with Brother Liangliang.

Even the chartered car outside the airport after the plane landed in Shanghai was booked by Xue Liangliang by phone in advance. He was very familiar with this process.

But even so, after sitting in the car, Xue Liangliang still felt dissatisfied:

"The transportation is still not developed enough. When the infrastructure is built, it will be more convenient to travel to and from any city, and it will save a lot of trouble."

Tan Wenbin: "Then wait until later."

Xue Liangliang: "When the time comes, we will be old too."

As soon as they entered Nantong, Xue Liangliang had to get off the bus as he had reached his destination.

Tan Wenbin asked him whether he would go to Uncle Li's house. Xue Liangliang said that unless there was a special situation, he would not go, and asked Tan Wenbin to say hello to Uncle Li on his behalf.

Everyone continued to ride in the car towards Shigang.

Li Zhuiyuan, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, looked out the window and calculated the time it would take to get home based on the speed of the car.

He didn't know why he wanted to do this, but he just wanted to do it.

At the bottom of the lake, facing the "eight-year-old self", I was able to recover from the relapse of my illness so quickly because I am now very different from the past.

Compared to a normal person, I am still lacking in emotions, but compared to my past self, I am now emotionally rich.

When he got home, he walked along the village road and turned into the new wide road leading to his great-grandfather's house. When he saw the slender figure sitting on the second-floor terrace, Li Zhuiyuan felt like he was dreaming.

Tan Wenbin took out his notes and on the way back, he wrote and drew, polishing the story he had prepared for Old Lady Liu in advance.

For this purpose, he specially asked Brother Xiaoyuan for some advice. This time, quoting from classics should sound more comfortable than before.

Li Sanjiang was not at home. He had gone to observe vegetarianism, taking Uncle Qin and Xiong Shan with him.

In fact, it was already exaggerated to bring Xiong Shan to the vegetarian feast, and he also brought Uncle Qin with him.

With this configuration, let alone holding a funeral, it is more than enough to hold a collective funeral for an entire martial arts sect.

There was a bigger job the next day. An old overseas Chinese in Shigang Town wanted to return to his roots and hold a big celebration.

These are overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia who have truly returned to China to invest, not people like Ding Dalin who are just selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton.

The son was willing to spend money to save the situation. This time, Li Sanjiang not only continued to bring Xiong Shan and Uncle Qin, but also appointed Runsheng, Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou, which was equivalent to bringing Li Zhuiyuan's Dragon King team over.

Uncle Qin has long been used to it. He has been doing this when he lived here in his early years.

Tan Wenbin and his friends were also happy to cooperate with Uncle Li and enjoyed going out to play with him.

The house became a lot quieter because of this.

Li Zhuiyuan and A'li painted in the house first. When they got tired, they went to the rattan chairs on the terrace and sat there playing chess while enjoying the scenery.

Liu Yumei was sitting downstairs drinking tea, looking up at the two people upstairs from time to time with a smile on her face.

There is nothing more wonderful than the joy of playing with grandchildren.

Before preparing dinner, Aunt Liu put some melon seeds in her pocket, leaned against the kitchen door frame, and ate them while watching the two children upstairs.

No matter how fierce the waves are, after they pass by, the river surface will return to its calm state.

Li Zhuiyuan was grateful to Liu Yumei.

Indeed, because he lit the lights suddenly, his equipment when he crossed the river was far inferior to Zhao Yi's.

But the old lady recreated the atmosphere of "home" for herself.

She has been doing her best and giving herself everything she can.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan walked into the east room.

The original altar tablets have long been rearranged here.

Familiar table, familiar stools, familiar candles, familiar layout, familiar names and brand new tablets.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down on the chair and looked at the tablet on the altar.

Liu Yumei likes to sit here and chat with the tablets on weekdays.

Li Zhuiyuan had nothing to say.

Ahri had been standing quietly by the side, waiting for the two boys to finish staring at each other so that she could go up and choose the tablet as the raw material.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan finished reading and stood up.

A'li stepped forward and chose the ancestor.

Then, Li Zhuiyuan accompanied A'li and shaved the object he had been staring at into wood flower rolls.

People in the countryside eat dinner early, and those who don’t need to wait for their children to come home from school eat even earlier.

After school, Cuicui would eat at home and then bring her homework to Li Sanjiang's house to do.

She wants to play with A-li.

Although, most of the time, A'li would paint, do handicrafts, or sit on the terrace to enjoy the scenery and would not pay any attention to her.

Cuicui didn't need to pay any attention to her. She was content as long as Sister A'li was by her side.

Sometimes, after finishing her homework, she would help grind and wash the brushes. After Ali did her handicrafts, she would help clean up.

When she sat on the terrace with A'li and daydreamed together, she couldn't help laughing secretly.

When she encountered a question she didn't know how to answer while doing her homework, she only needed to scratch her head with a bitter look on her face, and Ali would pick up a pen and help her write down the process and the answer.

When Li Zhuiyuan was tutoring Tan Wenbin to prepare for the college entrance examination, A-Li was watching beside him.

At night, Li Sanjiang returned with a "large group of people".

Li Sanjiang took the lead and talked about the host's meal today. It was obvious that the grandfather had enjoyed both drinking and eating.

Before going to bed at night, Li Zhuiyuan would sit face to face with his great grandfather for a while as usual, except when his great grandfather was drunk.

After covering his great-grandfather with a quilt, Li Zhuiyuan returned to his bedroom and began to write "Zhuiyuan Secret Scroll".

The last wave was not drawn from Alimeng by myself, and later it was discovered that Zhao Yi’s team was involved.

He had to incorporate this new rule style into it again.

Although you can reap all the merits by doing the task yourself and completing it ahead of schedule, you also have to consider risk hedging.

This time it was Zhao Yi, and I knew him too well, so nothing was a problem. But what if it was that kind of young and incompetent guy?

The ones who can be calculated are smart people, while those stubborn fools are immune to all poisons.

As the difficulty of waves increases in the future, the frequency of cooperation models like this will inevitably increase, so we have to prepare a plan in advance.

I looked at the time, put down my pen and turned off the desk lamp.

Before going to bed, Li Zhuiyuan walked past the drawing table and saw the unfinished painting of A'li.

This time, after listening to his own story, A'li improved the layout of the scroll.

She divided a painting into five scenes, corresponding to Lin Shuyou, Yin Meng, Tan Wenbin, Runsheng and herself.

This is their first time in a painting.

However, the boy knew what Ari meant.

If you draw it this way, you can compress the picture of Li Zhuiyuan. You only need to draw the scene of Li Zhuiyuan confronting the big-bellied old woman, without going into details and including the "eight-year-old boy".

In Ah Li's idea, this sketchbook frame was to be used for flipping through and appreciating together in the future. She didn't want the boy to frown and feel uncomfortable every time he turned to this page.

I went to bed too early yesterday and woke up too early. When Li Zhuiyuan went out with the washbasin to wash up, he happened to see A'li coming up.

Today, she was wearing a white dress. The dress blocked out the early morning sunlight, but was then covered up by the girl herself.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm going fishing today."

Ahri blinked, turned around, and walked down the stairs.

Soon, the old lady's voice came from downstairs: "It's dirty, so it's dirty."

The clothes she made for her granddaughter, in addition to the ones that the boy liked, her granddaughter would wear them several times, such as the horse-faced skirt.

As for the rest of the clothes, many of them are put away after being worn once.

It’s not that A’li doesn’t wear old clothes, but Liu Yumei likes to design clothes. If a piece of clothing has to be worn for a long time, her design will be of no use.

Liu Yumei is a bit of a perfectionist in this regard. Every set of clothes for her granddaughter must have corresponding accessories and hairstyles.

To change her clothes, she has to start all over again.

After washing up, Li Zhuiyuan walked into the east room somewhat embarrassedly.

Liu Yumei glared at the boy unhappily, implying: You are the one who is troublesome.

Li Zhuiyuan took the comb from Liu Yumei and started combing A'li's hair according to her instructions.

Liu Yumei went looking for new accessories.

The white dress was changed into a black one, which was graceful and elegant.

After breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan and A'li went fishing.

The boy held the girl's hand and used the "Qin's Method of Observing Dragons" to observe the density of fish on the river, and then selected the most suitable fishing spot.

If he still feels that the fish are not being caught fast enough, Li Zhuiyuan can use the "Liu's Qi-Watching Art" to wave his hand in front of him to change the feng shui pattern of the area and draw the fish underwater.

If Feng Shui masters and fishing enthusiasts saw this scene, they would probably vomit blood.

Too many fish.

Li Zhuiyuan released many more fish, and then returned with A'li, carrying enough fish soup for the whole family.

As soon as I got home, I saw Li Weihan standing there.

"Xiao Yuanhou, this is a letter from your mother."

"My letter?"

"Yes, your mother still cares about you."

Ever since the household registration book incident happened, Li Sanjiang put Li Lan on the same level as his "brothers".

Li Weihan and Cui Guiying didn't dare to mention Li Lan in front of Li Sanjiang.

But the elderly always like to smooth things over and hope that everyone in their family can live in harmony, even if it's just for the sake of appearance.

Li Zhuiyuan took the envelope. He didn't know why Li Lan would write to him.

Li Weihan handed over more money: "This is what your mother gave you."

Li Zhuiyuan rejected the money.

"Grandpa, my great grandfather will be unhappy if he finds out."

"you can……"

"I won't lie to my grandfather about this."

"Ah, okay."

Li Weihan knew that the child still hated his mother.

The thing that makes Li Lan better than her uncles is that she doesn't rely on her parents for support. The monthly alimony and gifts for festivals are mailed on time.

After Li Zhuiyuan went to school in Nantong, the tuition and living expenses were included.

Yes, even now, Li Lan would send money to herself regularly.

But Li Sanjiang did not allow Li Zhuiyuan to take the money, and Li Zhuiyuan himself did not want it either.

In Li Sanjiang's opinion, those ungrateful uncles may live off their parents, but at least they still have some warm and polite words, at least they sound nice; Li Lan, although she gives a lot of money, is really inhumane.

If the child really lacks food and clothing and money to go to school, he will have to accept his mother's kindness. But he has the conditions to support the child and does not spend her money. When the child glares at his mother in the future, she will have confidence. If he works hard to make money and solves the basic problem of food and drink, isn't this what he wants?

After Li Weihan left, Li Zhuiyuan opened Li Lan's letter.

There were no words in the letter, but a folded printed picture.

When the painting is unfolded, it is a corner of a landscape, as if it was cut out from a New Year picture.

But the label on the lower right corner is still there...Beautiful Ji'an.

Li Zhuiyuan's brain thinks quickly.

He believed that he could definitely come up with the answer.

This is based on the trust between mother and son in each other's intelligence.

Li Zhuiyuan has never been to Ji'an, and there are only two key words he can associate with this beautiful small border city.

One, there is one of the nine secret realm coordinates recorded in the bamboo slips.

The other one is Luo Gong.

When he was young, Luo Gong participated in a civil defense project with a high level of confidentiality, where he came into contact with the ghost of ancient Goguryeo.

Li Lan knew the relationship between herself and Luo Gong.

So, this is a reveal to yourself in advance?

Li Zhuiyuan did not continue to dwell on the letter because he knew that there would be news soon.

The news came the next day, and it was brought by me personally.

Several official vehicles drove into Siyuan Village and drove onto the dam where Li Sanjiang lived.

This scene made Li Sanjiang feel a little helpless.

Mr. Luo came in person. After leaving school, his status rose rapidly. When he came here, he was accompanied by local leaders.

Xue Liangliang was also in the car. After getting off, he smiled at Li Zhuiyuan like a lazy little fish that had been caught.

"Xiaoyuan, get in the car."

Li Zhuiyuan was called into the car by Engineer Luo.

Engineer Luo looked at Tan Wenbin who was standing next to him.

"Tan...Student Tan, you get in the car too."

"Hey, good."

Li Zhuiyuan reminded: "Teacher, that classmate Lin Shuyou is also from our school. We are in the same class and have participated in internships together."

"Well, let him get in the car too."

Lin Shuyou was also able to get on the bus because of this.

Engineer Luo came here for a meeting, but during the meeting, he received a notice. This notice made him lose control of his emotions and even ignored some things on the scene.

We first took a bus to the city and had a communal meal together. After Mr. Luo finished his afternoon meeting, he ordered some tea downstairs in the hotel and everyone sat around on the sofa.

Mr. Luo lit a cigarette and took a deep puff.

Everyone could see that Mr. Luo had something on his mind, but only Li Zhuiyuan guessed what it was.

The boy could understand Mr. Luo's current mood. Back then, he was just an ordinary investigator, limited by his authority, and knew little about the incident that had left a deep impression on him for half his life. But now, if he could participate in this matter again with his current identity, the mystery lingering in his heart would have a chance to be solved.

That is the white moonlight in Luo Gong's heart.

The power of white moonlight lies in that it will not fade with the passage of time, but will become brighter and brighter, adding more filtered beauty.

Luo Gong put out his cigarette, cleared his throat, and a look of reminiscence flashed in his eyes. Then, it turned into a firmness. He said in a tone that was both nervous and excited:

"The higher-ups have decided to restart the Ji'an 572 civil air defense project!"

(End of this chapter)