Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 18

At five o'clock in the morning, Li Zhuiyuan raised his head, sat up, leaned back in his chair, and half-opened his eyes.

This posture was maintained until half past five, when my senses gradually recovered, my head began to feel dizzy and painful, my pupils refocused, and consciousness began to return.

Li Zhuiyuan pressed his forehead with both hands and rubbed it slowly.

He didn't know how he fell asleep, or even when he woke up.

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, Li Zhuiyuan took a deep breath and looked at the desk. He found a pool of blood there and the homework book he was doing calculations on was also stained red.

When Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the horizontal lines on the notebook, he felt a sharp pain in his brain and immediately closed the notebook.

He gradually recalled that before he lost consciousness, he seemed to be calculating his own fate?

It seems that it cannot be counted as one's own.

Looking up at the time, Li Zhuiyuan stood up and began to clean the table. Then he picked up the washbasin to take a bath, and washed his blood-stained clothes and hung them up.

After cleaning up, he did not go back to the house, but sat on the rattan chair on the terrace where he read.

The cool morning breeze kept blowing on his face, making him feel more energetic, although his head was still a little uncomfortable.

The light in the east bedroom was on, and through the window, a petite figure could be seen sitting next to her, with an adult figure combing her hair.

It turns out that A'li gets up so early every day.

As I watched, the figure reflected in the window disappeared and the sky turned into the final gray and black stage.

The door to the east room was opened and the girl walked out with a small wooden box of Go in her arms.

She raised her head and saw Li Zhuiyuan sitting outside the bedroom on the second floor. The two looked at each other.

Soon, Qin Li came to Li Zhuiyuan and sat down on the small stool.

She did not spread out the oil-paper chessboard as she had done in the past, but looked at the boy.

After a while, Li Zhuiyuan found a warm and soft little hand holding his hand.

Maybe in the girl's cognition, every time he held her little hand, she would feel calm and comforted in her heart, so this time she took the initiative to hold his hand, hoping to give the same.

The boy and girl just sat there holding hands, looking at the rice waves swaying gently in the morning breeze in front of them, and witnessing the gray sky gradually being replaced by the morning light.

Time goes by slowly, yet time passes quickly.

"Ah!"

Li Sanjiang walked out of the bedroom and sneezed.

Turning my head, I looked at the boy and girl sitting side by side, and suddenly I thought of the boy and girl sitting under the seat of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the New Year pictures.

It’s not that they look alike, but the delicate looks of these two children are exactly the same as the rounded lines of boys and girls in New Year pictures.

Li Sanjiang sniffed and rubbed his hands with the back of his hands. He noticed the recent changes in himself. He used to think it was good to live a carefree life and die in a carefree manner, but he didn't expect that the appearance of Xiao Yuanhou would really make him find the happiness of playing with his grandchildren when he was old.

Aunt Liu calls us to have breakfast.

Breakfast was especially early today because Li Sanjiang and Li Zhuiyuan both had to go out.

Breakfast is not porridge, but instant noodles, three-fresh instant noodles.

Aunt Liu placed an egg under each bowl of noodles.

The noodles were delicious. Li Zhuiyuan didn't feel hungry at first, but after eating a few bites, he felt as if his body had completely melted away, and he finished the bowl very quickly.

Aunt Liu prepared another bowl for Li Zhuiyuan and brought it over.

After finishing the second bowl of noodles, Li Zhuiyuan felt that he had completely gotten rid of the aftereffects of fortune-telling last night.

"Do you want more?" Aunt Liu asked.

"I'm full, Aunt Liu."

Next to her, Qin Li also put down her chopsticks. She ate noodles slowly because she always sucked the same length of noodles, bit it off, chewed and swallowed it before taking the second bite.

Li Sanjiang had also finished his meal, smacked his lips and said:
"To be honest, this instant noodle is not as delicious as the plain noodles in the noodle restaurant in our town. Add some lard, soy sauce, pepper, and sprinkle some chopped green onions, and it will be much better than this."

Aunt Liu agreed: "That's true."

If adults in other families said this, they probably wanted to save money by devaluing instant noodles and not buying them.

But this is not the case with Li Sanjiang. The destruction of a batch of paper-folding almost cut off his cash flow. It is obvious that he really does not save money on weekdays, and whatever he earns is spent on life, especially on food and drink.

In fact, in today's vast towns and rural areas, having instant noodles for breakfast is a luxury that can make the kids next door cry with envy.

In some provinces and regions, instant noodles have gradually developed into local specialties, such as meatball instant noodles with poached eggs.

Li Sanjiang picked up his bag, stamped his feet, and prepared to set off.

His bag was extra long because he put the peach wood sword in it. Ever since the peach wood sword helped him kill the corpse demon last time, he treasured it even more.

He even went to the village committee to call the manufacturer, intending to order another batch of goods. Unexpectedly, he was told that the furniture factory had been privatized and the production line of peach wood swords had been stopped long ago.

Now, the sword in his hand has become out of print.

Li Weihan and his men arrived, each pushing a small cart with baskets and tools on it.

"Uncle Sanjiang."

"uncle."

"Master."

The four uncles behaved very well in front of Li Sanjiang, because Li Sanjiang did not indulge them on weekdays. When he saw them, he would directly scold them and call them ungrateful wolves, so that when they saw Li Sanjiang from a distance in the village, they had to take a detour.

Pan Zi and Lei Zi happily ran to Li Zhuiyuan. Li Zhuiyuan had not been living with his grandparents for some time, so they had fewer opportunities to get together.

"Let's go!"

Li Sanjiang patted his trouser legs, then took Li Zhuiyuan's hand and walked out with Li Weihan and others.

Qin Li watched Li Zhuiyuan leave. She had known that Li Zhuiyuan was going out today, but after seeing him leave, she slowly lowered her head and her eyes fell on the bowl of noodles that Li Zhuiyuan had just finished eating.

Liu Yumei immediately winked at Aunt Liu, and Aunt Liu stepped forward, put away the dishes and went to wash them.

Then, Uncle Qin came back carrying a large bundle of bamboo, threw it onto the dam, and clapped his hands.

Liu Yumei sat down next to Qin Li and said with a smile, "Ali, I'll ask Ali to make you a rattan chair like the one Xiaoyuanhou made. What do you think?"

Qin Li didn't respond.

Liu Yumei pursed her lips and said to Qin Li: "Hurry up in the next two days and make two identical new rattan chairs suitable for children to sit on."

Qin Li nodded.

Qin Li raised his head.
Not obviously, but she was happy.

……

Without waiting for long, an old bus drove up to the roadside at the entrance of the village.

At that time, rural buses had no platforms or fixed stops. Although they were managed with a license, they were generally privately contracted. They would stop when they saw someone waiting for the bus on the roadside, and passengers could ask to get off at any time.

Li Sanjiang wanted to give a few more words of advice to Xiao Yuanhou, but the car came too fast, so he could only get on. After the car drove away, Li Weihan picked up Li Zhuiyuan and put him in his uncle Li Sheng's stroller, letting him sit.

Then, everyone walked along the road together, and soon caught up with the team from Siyuan Village.

Basically, they are all strong male laborers of appropriate age in the village, and there are very few women. This is also because the grand river dredging project is now coming to an end, and the amount of labor and working hours required have been greatly reduced.

Decades ago, at certain times of year, almost all rural Jiangsu residents, young and old, men, women, and children had to be organized and carry tools to repair river embankments where there were rivers, and to build reservoirs where there were no rivers.

Sometimes when we encounter a major project, we will be organized to a remote location to work together.

It was winter, the wind was biting cold, and there were not many engineering machines that year, so everything was basically done by manpower.

Everyone within the appropriate age range had to participate; at that time the construction period was long and required a long time of living and eating on the construction site. We had to bring our own dry food and build our own sheds.

Countless elderly people have developed illnesses due to the hardships of river work.

Uncle Li Sheng laughed and said, "I still remember the hardships when I was a kid and went to ferry with my parents. At that time, my father liked to say something to us: if we don't study hard, we will have to ferry all the time, haha."

The three uncles nearby also laughed.

Second uncle Li Zheng said: "In the end, all of Dad's words were in vain. None of us brothers had the brains to study, and in the end, only my youngest sister was able to study."

Uncle Li Xiong nodded and said, "That's right, mother was partial when she gave birth to me, and left all her good brains to my younger sister."

Li Weihan pretended to be angry and laughed and scolded: "What are you talking about, you bastards? If you can study, how can I not grit my teeth and support you?"

Everybody started laughing again, and there was another round of jokes and insults between them.

Everything seemed to have returned to a long time ago.

The four people, led by their parents, went to work together to carry water, and it was the same along the way.

This is probably the reason why Li Weihan is so concerned about this river digging trip. His sons have all started their own families and are fathers of several children. They usually take care of their own families, so it is inevitable that there will be some frictions and disagreements.

It is only at this time, when everyone is carrying tools, pushing carts, and alone, that they can find those nostalgic memories of the past.

However, this warmth is destined not to last too long. Families with many children who are not well off will basically face the same problem. They can only wait until life gets better in the future and everyone is older, then they will be able to let go of those calculations and grudges and truly regain the affection and love for their family.

Of course, it is also possible that they will never let go for a lifetime, and even brothers will never have any contact with each other again.

The team kept moving forward, and the uncles kept introducing to Li Zhuiyuan and Pan Zilei what they saw on the way.

"We built this embankment back then. We were still young at that time and could only help carry soil from the back."

"We built this reservoir in the beginning. It was so cold back then that it was frozen."

"We were the ones who dug this ditch. Lei Zi and Pan Zi were still young at that time. Hahahaha."

Following their introduction, Li Zhuiyuan, who was sitting in the car, kept looking around. He felt a little touched. He had always thought that many facilities that should exist as a matter of course, turned out not to exist as a matter of course.

Today, these water conservancy facilities, which are found in almost every village, are the best imprint of that era of engineering that is coming to an end. They are the crystallization of the sweat and hard work of the vast number of workers who carried them on their shoulders and in their hands.

As the Siyuan Village team marched, they constantly merged with teams from other villages. The size of the team began to grow larger and larger, until gradually there was no end in sight.

The village leader would carry a flag with the village name on it, while the township leader would carry a larger flag and hold a loud speaker.

The flags are old, the words on them have long been mottled and fallen off, and even the large loudspeakers that have no electricity are already rusted. However, now they only have some symbolic function left. The habits and consciousness developed over decades have long been engraved in the hearts of generations.

Li Weihan's tools were shared by his sons, so he was able to light up his hookah more leisurely. The smoke he exhaled gradually made his eyes blurry. It might be because of the smoke, or it might be that this down-to-earth man suddenly felt something in his heart.

He said: "I remember when we were rushing to finish the work, the cultural troupe came to the construction site to perform to encourage everyone. I remember that paragraph, I don't know who said it on the stage, anyway, it was:
If we don't build the embankment now, dredge the river now, and build the reservoir now, then they will be left for our future generations to build. Now that we have suffered all the hardships, we won't have to suffer them again in the future.

Now it seems that what he said is true.

Pan Hou and Lei Hou will no longer have to cross the river."

The uncles also agreed that life now is indeed much better than before.

The construction site was quite far away, so teams from several towns gathered early and set out, arriving only at noon.

In addition, there are many simple work sheds near the construction site, and nearby houses have also been temporarily requisitioned to provide hot water and dry food.

Hot water can be obtained at any time, and dry food is collected and distributed in the form of teams in the village.

Everyone in the Li family sat together, eating scallion rolls, while the four uncles took out the salty sauce and pickles they brought from home.

"Little Marquis Yuan, are you used to the food?" asked uncle Li Sheng.

"Hmm, delicious." Li Zhuiyuan broke off the scallion roll and put it into his mouth. The aroma of scallion mixed with the aroma of noodles was indeed delicious.

"Meals are provided now. Before, when we went to the river with your grandparents, we had to bring our own dry food. We couldn't even get hot water, so we had to make it ourselves.

After the meal, there was no time for a lunch break, so the cadres from the team came down and began to arrange everyone's work sections.

Soon, Li Zhuiyuan saw dense crowds of people carrying tools and pushing carts, walking down the muddy ditch on both sides that had not yet been drained, like a group of ants.

But it is not humble or insignificant at all, instead it gives people a shock.

Working in small groups, everyone shouted slogans and started working enthusiastically.

Li Zhuiyuan was just a bystander and was not a laborer, so naturally he would not be assigned any tasks. There were many young children who came with their adults playing nearby, and some of them were still eating steamed buns in their hands.

However, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't play with them. He followed Pan Zilei and the others to push the cart and transport soil.

At this time, a group of young people who looked like college students came over and asked Pan Zi and others to help them tie a rope and set up a mark for measurement. Li Zhuiyuan was also assigned a task, holding a wooden awl and standing at the designated location.

Beside him were two college students, one was measuring while the other was taking notes with a pen. Since they addressed each other by their names, Li Zhuiyuan knew that the one taking the measurements was Xue Liangliang and the one taking notes was Zhao Hequan.

Zhao Hequan said with a smile: "There are fewer and fewer projects like this. My younger classmates won't have to be assigned to construction sites to do this anymore. I really envy them."

After Xue Liangliang reported a data, he lowered his head and continued to measure while retorting:

"No, there will be more such large projects in the future, but our country no longer needs to mobilize the masses for voluntary labor as in the past. The most difficult period is almost over, and things will only get better in the future."

"Xue Liangliang, what are you talking about?"

"Why, you don't believe it?" Xue Liangliang said with a smile, "Then you just wait and see. Believe me, this kind of project will be considered insignificant in the future."

"If it's so insignificant, then what are we doing here?"

"I'm talking about insignificant in the future, not the past or the present. Nantong is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and so many water conservancy projects were built in the past. One is for shipping, the second is for agricultural irrigation, and the third and most important is flood control.

Without this infrastructure, there will be no future development.”

"Hehehe." Zhao Hequan laughed. He felt that this classmate who was in the same group with him was a little silly.

After the data is measured,

Xue Liangliang stood up straight, reported the last set of data, stretched his waist, looked at the noisy but orderly construction scene in front of him, and couldn't help but sighed:
“The great people are creating great history.”

"Wake up, Xue Liangliang, you almost made me think I was taking a political class. Are you secretly memorizing for the final exam?"

Xue Liangliang smiled but did not respond. He lowered his head and saw Li Zhuiyuan, who was holding a wooden awl, also looking at him and smiling. He reached out and touched Li Zhuiyuan's head and asked:
"Little friend, you are so young and you are here with your parents?"

"Yes." Li Zhuiyuan responded, "The children are also the people."

"Hahaha!"

Xue Liangliang burst out laughing at this. He couldn't help but bend down and hug Li Zhuiyuan, then took out a few pieces of White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket and stuffed them into Li Zhuiyuan's pocket.

He thought the little boy was very interesting, and Li Zhuiyuan also thought the older boy was very interesting.

Especially the expression and tone of his voice when he said those words just now reminded Li Zhuiyuan of his Grandpa Bei.

At this time, there was a slight commotion on the construction site in the distance, and someone ran over here and shouted:

"I dug something out! I dug something out!"

It is normal to dig things up during engineering work. Although everyone finds it novel, not many people go over to take a look. After all, everyone has to hurry and complete their tasks.

However, after completing their tasks, the college students assigned to the construction site were much freer. Zhao Hequan immediately pulled Xue Liangliang and urged him:

"Come on, Liangliang, let's go and see what we have dug up."

Gradually, news kept coming in, and everyone knew that a small temple had been dug out, about the size of an ordinary family's toilet.

In theory, this is nothing. As an alluvial plain area, the density of ancient tombs and ancient buildings is definitely far less than that of the Central Plains. However, during construction work, an ancient tomb of a small landlord or a sacrificial temple will occasionally be unearthed.

However, under the special historical background, archaeological excavation and protection must be a retreat project. Anything that blocks the construction route will be excavated and pushed away.

Of course, it is also because the small landlord is not big enough to deserve the attention of relevant parties. He must be at least a small noble.

However, if they were encountered during construction in places like Xi'an and Luoyang, the small nobles would have to stand aside because they were not very rare.

However, the temple excavated this time was a little unusual. Someone spread the news that a female Bodhisattva was enshrined in the temple. The female Bodhisattva was tied up with chains, and the other ends of the chains were nailed to various corners of the small temple.

People thought the design looked a bit evil and were reluctant to step forward to deal with it.

It was two college students from Haihe University who broke the chains with a hammer and pushed down the Bodhisattva statue.

This allowed the project to continue.

By dusk, basically all the brigades and teams had already exceeded the today's tasks. Everyone had experience and could go home earlier after completing the acceptance inspection early. At the same time, they could also finish work early and arrange a place to sleep for the day.

At this time, the advantages of the four sons of the Li family were reflected.

They did not have to set up a shed near the river workers or sleep on straw mats on the ground. Instead, they occupied a requisitioned residential building next to the construction site.

Although the dam has no walls, there is a flat ground below, and there is a well and a toilet next to it, which are very good conditions for camping.

The four uncles were responsible for fetching hot water, collecting dry food, and finding hay to make beds. Li Weihan took Li Zhuiyuan and Pan Zilei to sit and rest.

There are several large light bulbs connected to the dam, which provide lighting for people below and also serve as road signs. This is also a hot water supply point and there are barefoot doctors here.

Li Zhuiyuan saw Xue Liangliang and Zhao Hequan again. Their group consisted of more than twenty college students, led by a teacher, and they would also stay here tonight.

But their conditions are better and they can live indoors.

Several uncles sat on the made beds and taught Li Zhuiyuan, Pan Zi and Lei Zi:
"Look carefully, kids. This is the benefit of studying. You must study hard."

Li Weihan, who was smoking a water pipe next to him, choked and started coughing. Wasn't this what he often said to these four guys in the past?
It’s almost the same scene, the same situation, and the same earnest words.

But it's no use.

Li Weihan finally understood and felt relieved: People cannot teach people, but things can teach people, just once. No matter how much others preach, it is useless for others to teach you about the pits ahead. You have to step into them yourself to understand the truth, but what is the point then?

Lei Zi and Pan Zi patiently listened to the sermons from their father and uncles for a while, then they could not help but stand up and call on some children of similar age nearby to play the paper bag hitting game.

Everyone has their own folded paper bags, so they put them together and take turns. Whoever can turn the other person's paper bag inside out, that bag belongs to him or her.

The older kids gathered there and were playing enthusiastically, making crisp "pa pa pa!" sounds. A group of younger kids gathered around and watched carefully, trying to learn some techniques.

Li Weihan turned his head and found that his little Yuanhou did not go over to play the game, but was sitting there with a book on his knees, reading it seriously.

Li Weihan leaned his head over and took a look. He felt that the words on it were as dense as tadpoles. He couldn't help but ask worriedly:
"Little Marquis Yuan, can you see clearly?"

"Master, I couldn't see it clearly at first, but now I can see it clearly."

Li Zhuiyuan did not bring a magnifying glass because he has now adapted to the small font. To be precise, after getting used to it, he no longer needs to distinguish the strokes of these characters precisely. Instead, he can recognize what the characters are by just looking at the general feeling.

He also realized it slowly, and after quickly memorizing the text with a magnifying glass, he gradually understood the author's original intention of writing the characters so small.

This is to deliberately train the reader's "eyesight", not the visual eye, but the feeling of seeing things, the feeling of visualizing detailed things.

Li Zhuiyuan vaguely found a breakthrough. The key to the eighth book of "Explanation of Yin-Yang Physiognomy" is the transformation from concrete to figurative. He first thoroughly understood these concepts and applications through rote memorization and a lot of calculations, and then refined them collectively, forming qualitative changes through the accumulation of quantitative changes, completing the sublimation from science to metaphysics.

He could now feel that the many eyebrows, eyes, mouths, noses, ears and the various faces formed by them that he had memorized in his mind were gradually beginning to twist and merge.

Although his level is still very shallow, he has found the direction. Eventually, there will be only one face left in his mind. Then, when he sees someone who needs a fortune-teller in real life, he will directly imprint his face into his mind to form a corresponding image.

"Well, be careful not to hurt your eyes." After Li Weihan gave this reminder, he stopped disturbing his grandson from reading.

Look at the grandson who is reading a book seriously with his head down, and look at Lei Zi and Pan Zi who are playing with paper bags and shouting loudly over there.

Li Weihan only felt that life was a cycle. Isn't this exactly the same feeling he had when he saw his daughter studying hard and his four disappointing sons?
He used to be puzzled because they were all his children, so how could there be both a phoenix and four chickens in the same nest.

Now he has a feeling that this story will be repeated among his grandchildren.

Uncle Sanjiang once said while drinking that it was because the ancestral tomb of the Li family was on fire that Marquis Lan was born. Well, in a few years, when little Marquis Yuan grows up and takes the college entrance examination, it will probably be on fire again.

The college students over there had been assigned tasks and were also doing an internship. Young people's energy is unimaginable. They did not rush back to the house to sleep. Instead, they sat around a light bulb on the dam, took out some food they had brought with them, and started a tea party.

Xue Liangliang noticed Li Zhuiyuan. He was impressed by the kid and walked over with a piece of meat floss bread wrapped in oil paper and placed it in front of Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head, saw him, and smiled: "Thank you, brother."

"Little boy, are you a local?"

Although he was also working on the river and his body was dirty, the child's dress and temperament were not like those of a country kid at all. It was mainly because of the unrestrained and generous attitude that emanated from his bones.

"Yes, my name is Li Zhuiyuan. This is my grandfather, and the ones behind are my uncles."

"Haha, my name is Xue Liangliang. You are in elementary school, right? What grade?"

"Yeah, third grade."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. In fact, he himself sometimes found it difficult to explain to outsiders what grade he was in. He only knew that when his class reached the age limit, he would automatically be promoted to the next grade.

For a while, the old professors were almost collapsed by torturing each other, and then a few very young teachers came to teach them. The effect of mutual torture increased rapidly, and everyone enjoyed torturing each other very much.

Later I learned that these exceptionally young teachers were the seniors of their class.

"Study hard and try to get into college in the future."

"I will, brother."

At this time, someone at the tea party started shouting over here: "Xue Liangliang, come and get ready, it's your turn to speak next."

"I'm coming."

Xue Liangliang turned around and walked back to sit down.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the group of college students sitting over there. He often saw similar scenes in school.

Those older brothers and sisters were students like me. They liked to sit on the campus lawn, playing the guitar and reciting poems. The boys even liked to grow their hair long to cover their eyes.

The topic of tonight's tea party is about one's future prospects. The topic was raised by the teacher who is in charge of the internship, which is very suitable for his identity.

The speaker was Zhao Hequan, a boy who had been in the same measurement group as Xue Liangliang during the day. At this moment, he had entered the final summary stage:

“The United States is a country where even the air is exceptionally sweet.

And my future lies in America!

My girlfriend and I have applied to study in the United States. We will stay in the United States in the future, in the land of freedom and dreams, to enjoy our freedom and realize our life ideals! "

As he spoke, his eyes and the light bulb above his head shone together.

His face was one of ecstasy and piety.

When he finished his speech, the students around him applauded and cheered.

At present, Western fever, especially the American dream, is sweeping across the country's intellectuals, especially young college students.

After the reform and opening up, the reality of the material living gap and the impact of Western popular culture are destroying the self-confidence of this generation with terrifying destructive power.

Going to the United States and staying in the United States are not something difficult to talk about at the moment. Instead, they are a very normal political correctness.

Even the intern teachers didn't think there was anything wrong with it. After all, there were quite a few professors from the school who had left. Many of them were sent out on official business, and then they left the team and stayed.

"I also hope that everyone will have the opportunity to go to the United States to find the meaning of their own life. My girlfriend and I look forward to meeting everyone again on the other side of the ocean."

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at Zhao Hequan. He did not use the "Theory of Deduction of Fate" to calculate, but simply used the "Explanation of Yin and Yang Physiognomy" to simply match his face.

The results obtained in this way will be less and less accurate, but Zhao Hequan's face looks more standard:
【A rough marriage leads to loneliness for life. 】

Li Zhuiyuan fell into deep thought: But, he and his girlfriend seem to have a good relationship, so, am I wrong again?

After Zhao Hequan finished speaking, he walked down, and the next person to go up was Xue Liangliang.

Li Zhuiyuan handed the meat floss bread to Lei Zi, who came back sulking after losing all the paper bags.

Then he closed the book and put his hand on his chin. He wanted to listen carefully to what his brother said about his future.

Xue Liangliang walked to the center of the classmates. He didn't raise his head. He looked calm and not excited. The light from the light bulb above his head shone on his back, creating a halo that looked like the rising sun.

“My future lies in the Southwest.

I majored in water conservancy, and I feel that in the future, the Southwest, with its rich water resources, will be the place where I can put my knowledge into practice.

The geology there is special and is not very suitable for the construction of nuclear power plants, but it contains rich prospects for hydropower generation. The country will definitely vigorously build hydropower stations there in the future, and energy is an important cornerstone for the country's industrial development.

I believe that in the future, hydropower generation in the Southwest will not only meet the production and living needs of local people, but also provide support to the whole country.

This is a great cause, and I feel it is an honor to be able to integrate my future into it.”

After he finished speaking, the students in the audience couldn't help but look at each other in confusion, as if there was suddenly an alien among them.

Some classmates who were familiar with him lowered their heads and laughed. It was obvious that they had long been accustomed to Xue Liangliang's behavior habits.

However, many villagers sleeping on the floor nearby were also listening to what the college students were saying. After Xue Liangliang finished speaking, many people shouted "Great!"

At this moment, the one who felt the most embarrassed was Zhao Hequan. Although his classmates and teachers did not show any reaction, he felt that Xue Liangliang was deliberately targeting him, and he could not help but speak in a sarcastic tone:

"Oh, why are you pretending? I don't believe that if you have the chance to go to the United States, you will not go. Not to mention the United States, even if you have the chance to go to Japan and South Korea, you will go."

Xue Liangliang asked back: "If you are going to study, why not go?"

"Puchi." Zhao Hequan pointed at him and said, "Look, you are telling the truth. Once you go there, you won't think of coming back. You don't know how big the gap is between us and them. We will never catch up with this gap."

Xue Liangliang shook his head: "We will catch up. Under its leadership, we have achieved great development achievements, and the future will definitely get better and better."

"But, you are developing, but others are not developing? There is such a huge gap. Even if they stand still for a hundred years, you will never be able to catch up!"

Xue Liangliang shook his head again: "It's impossible. This world is materialistic. Unless nuclear fusion can achieve a breakthrough and achieve commercialization, the market pie in this world is destined to be limited. As long as we continue to develop, this will no longer be a game of chasing."

Zhao Hequan frowned. He didn’t understand, and neither did the other students. Even the teacher in charge of the internship looked confused.

"Xue Liangliang, what are you talking about? Aren't we the lagging pursuers?"

"We are the pursuers, but not the chasers. The better we develop and the more developed our industry is, the more cake and market we can grab. In the future, they will not just stand there and wait for us, but will continue to retreat and take the initiative to... run towards us in both directions.

I think that in fifty years, our economic output will definitely surpass that of Japan and South Korea.”

The classmates looked at Xue Liangliang as if they were looking at a fool, and the teacher couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh.

Xue Liangliang continued:
“Is this weird?

In the future, there will be a day when the scale of our shipbuilding industry will surpass that of South Korea, and the scale of our automobile industry will surpass that of Japan. When they lose these industrial advantages, won’t they surely regress?
As for what you said about staying, maybe, the living conditions there are indeed very good now, but staying is not suitable for me. I hope that what I have learned can have a platform to be put into practice.

I don't think that you might be discriminated against if you speak different dialects in different provinces in China. But when you go abroad, people of different races and skin colors will not discriminate you but will be provided with a free platform for development.

It doesn’t make sense because it’s so inhumane.”

"Okay!" "Okay!" "Okay!"

The nearby villagers cheered even louder, including Li Weihan and the four uncles who joined in the cheering. Although they did not understand many of the words, some kind of most simple emotion and expectation in their hearts made them feel that what the student said was refreshing.

Zhao Hequan was somewhat ashamed and angry: "You don't understand. You don't understand. You don't understand America at all, and you don't understand the true meaning of freedom."

A student nearby echoed, "Xue Liangliang, since you are so sure, you must know what you can do to make a lot of money in the future. Tell me about it, haha."

"Yes, tell me about it."

"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 law of developed economies, when an economy is in a period of rapid growth, its real estate industry is bound to usher in huge development.

Therefore, if you want a more stable investment with appreciation in value, you can buy a house in the core area of ​​a big city, even if you have to take out a bank loan to buy it. "

Everyone was stunned at first, then burst into even louder laughter, and many people laughed so hard that tears came out.

Xue Liangliang sat down and the next student went up to give a speech.

However, many students still looked at him with teasing eyes while whispering to their classmates.

Xue Liangliang didn't care. He continued to sit in his seat and applauded the students who were giving speeches.

Li Zhuiyuan still did not use the fortune-telling method, but just silently looked at Xue Liangliang's face.
【May your marriage be smooth, and your life be long and peaceful. 】

Li Zhuiyuan blinked. If the result was the opposite this time, he would be really angry.

It was late at night and the tea party had long ended.

The villagers on the dam were all asleep, and the group of college students were resting. However, because there was not enough room inside and the female classmates wanted to avoid suspicion, some of the boys could only sleep on the floor outside.

Xue Liangliang and Zhao Hequan are among them.

On the dam, the snoring sound continued, like a symphony.

However, everyone was tired during the day, so there was no insomnia and everyone slept soundly.

Li Zhuiyuan lay next to Li Weihan, with his head resting on a book as a pillow.

While sleeping, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt a little cold. Normally, it wouldn't be so cold that he would shiver even if he slept outside in this season. He was lying on the straw brought by his uncles, and his grandfather was covering him with the quilt he brought from home.

But soon, Li Zhuiyuan realized what was happening.

Maybe it’s because my great-grandfather hasn’t performed the luck-changing ritual with me since he was injured, so I haven’t had that kind of dream for a long time.

Feeling this familiar feeling at this moment, Li Zhuiyuan knew... that he was dreaming again.

But with experience and theoretical knowledge, he was not as impulsive as before. He lay still and quietly opened his eyes a little bit.

He saw himself still lying in the same place, with the sound of his grandfather's sleeping breathing beside him, and his uncles and Pan Zileizi diagonally in front of him.

But he knew that this was not reality, it was a dream, because the strange chill was becoming increasingly stronger.

If he hadn't tried so hard to hold it back, he would have curled up and shivered.

At this time, he saw a woman walking up from the steps of the dam.

The woman was wearing white clothes with a long skirt that dragged on the ground. There were iron chains wrapped around her body.

But the woman's exposed skin was a burnt flesh-red color, and when she walked, pieces of flesh kept falling off, making a sticky sound.

After reaching the center of the dam, the woman stopped and began to look around, as if looking for someone.

The others were all fast asleep and couldn't see the woman.

When the woman was about to look towards him, Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes completely.

After a while, when he felt that the time was about right, Li Zhuiyuan quietly opened his eyes again.

But when he looked at her, he found that the woman looked around several times, or just kept looking in this direction. In short, from Li Zhuiyuan's perspective,
He and the woman looked at each other!
In an instant, Li Zhuiyuan's blood seemed to freeze and his heartbeat accelerated.

The woman's face was bloody and looked as if it had been burned or scraped. In short, it presented a horror like the blood, flesh and mud rolling around in the early spring.

The only conspicuous place is the woman’s mouth. The lips are not clear and only two rows of white teeth can be seen, which makes it even more terrifying!

The woman was still staring at him, and Li Zhuiyuan didn't dare to close his eyes or make any unnecessary movements.

But the woman took steps, one step at a time, and walked towards him.

It's over,

Did she realize I could see her?

But even though his heart was turbulent, Li Zhuiyuan still forced himself to remain motionless, even controlling his breathing as before.

As the woman got closer, I could smell the smell of burnt meat, which was a bit moldy and sour, and very nauseating.

However, Li Zhuiyuan was still breathing normally, as if he was still sleeping soundly.

The woman walked up to him and slowly squatted down.

Her terrifying face was almost touching Li Zhuiyuan's nose.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't close his eyes at this time and was forced to look at her.

Looking at the rotten flesh on her face falling off piece by piece, two pieces of flesh fell on his own face and slowly slid down his cheeks.

Sticky and with disgusting juice.

At this moment, time seemed to pass extremely slowly, and every second felt like a year.

After staring for a while, the woman finally stood up, turned around, and walked towards the central area step by step.

Li Zhuiyuan ignored the remaining flesh on his face. He did not move, and even his eyes remained slightly open.

Suddenly, the woman who was walking, her body was still walking, but her head turned 180 degrees on her neck and looked back at Li Zhuiyuan again.

This scene made Li Zhuiyuan break out in a cold sweat. The biting chill ran from the back of his head all the way down to his tailbone, and then ran back up from the bottom to the top.

Fortunately, I didn’t close my eyes.

The woman seemed to confirm that this child was just used to sleeping with his eyes slightly open.

Her head turned 180 degrees again and went back.

"Huh...huh..."

Li Zhuiyuan kept breathing in his heart, and he felt his head dizzy and numb.

The woman seemed to have found the person she was looking for. She walked step by step towards the group of college students sleeping on the mat outside the doorstep.

In the end, she stood between Xue Liangliang and Zhao Hequan.

Both of them were fast asleep, and had no idea what kind of horrible thing was so close to them.

The woman opened her hands and pulled her sleeves back, revealing her arms with bones exposed. Inside was not only rotten flesh, but also countless maggots crawling in and out of it.

Li Zhuiyuan still kept his eyes slightly open, and he would not change this posture until he woke up from the dream.

When Li Zhuiyuan saw this, he couldn't help but think:

Could it be that the two college students who used hammers to break the chains of the Bodhisattva statue during the day were Xue Liangliang and Zhao Hequan?
The woman slowly squatted down and reached down with both hands towards Xue Liangliang's neck on the right side.

However, just when it was about to be pinched, the light bulbs originally hanging on the dam above the head suddenly flickered a few times due to poor contact.

The woman's head immediately turned back to her own back and stared at the flickering light bulb.

The light bulb flickered a few times and then returned to normal.

The woman's head turned forward in the same direction as it had previously turned toward her back.

But this time she didn't turn enough, causing Xue Liangliang's face, which was originally facing the right, to turn towards Zhao Hequan after turning clockwise.

Her hands also naturally moved in the direction her head was facing.

Then,

Towards Zhao Hequan's neck,

Pinch it!

(End of this chapter)