Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 54

The woman threw herself onto the table like a madman. Her arms were restrained by her clothes and she couldn't stretch them out. Her body could only curl and twist violently like a stressed python.

Her eyes were so red that they seemed to be bleeding, and her expression was so fierce that she seemed to want to choose someone to bite.

Everyone outside the visiting room, except Li Zhuiyuan, could not help but be shocked and moved. Even Tan Yunlong was not immune to this, because any normal person would feel extremely uncomfortable seeing this scene.

After all, the other party is a human being, one's own kind. After a long period of peaceful environment, everyone is generally unable to accept this kind of animalistic hysteria.

Li Zhuiyuan had a different feeling. Through the glass, he could see a kind of catharsis in the woman's screams and frantic body movements.

What seems scary to ordinary people is, to him, a sign that the benign stage of the cycle is about to begin.

This kind of empathy makes no sense. A crude analogy is like a drug addict who can tell where to buy drugs by just strolling around the alleys in the city, or a pimp who can tell whether there is any big business inside by just taking a glance at the door of a store.

It’s like special people have a radar installed in their heads that allows them to sense each other’s presence, which is another kind of “birds of a feather flock together”.

But it was obvious that Aunt Xu didn't understand, because she began to put away the photos on the table, thinking that the interrogation was over and that no further questions would yield any results.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that Li Lan kept her by her side as her secretary not because of her ability, but because she was from the same hometown and could speak Nantong dialect, which could be used to call her parents in the future.

Even though the call was made several years later, this is indeed what Li Lan would do.

"Brother Binbin, I know the auntie inside, and I don't want her to know that I'm here."

These words were not just directed at Tan Wenbin.

After saying that, Li Zhuiyuan turned around and ran into the toilet on the side of the corridor.

The man next to Xu Wen helped her open the door. She walked out and saw three people standing at the door.

Xu Wen asked: "Who are you?"

Tan Yunlong replied: "I am the police officer of the place where the people are registered. I will bring them here to have a look."

As he spoke, Tan Yunlong reached out and patted Tan Wenbin on the shoulder.

After all, Tan Wenbin had eaten at the same table with Sidao.

At this moment, he lowered his head first, so as to avoid the other party noticing the similarity between his brows and those of the "policeman" behind him, and then shrugged his shoulders slightly.

Xu Wen showed a bit of guilt. After all, it was she who caused the woman inside to go crazy, so she just nodded, turned around and walked out. The man who accompanied her followed her.

When they reached the toilet door, Xu Wen stopped and washed her hands.

The man lowered his voice and said, "I didn't get any results."

Xu Wen was not aware of this and said in a normal voice, "She probably didn't go down there. She was just severely traumatized by her husband's incident. Where will the next crew member be placed?"

“Lianyungang.”

"Then let's set off quickly."

“Do you want to visit all of them?”

"Otherwise, I want to see him alive or dead."

"This is your hometown, why don't you go back and take a look?"

"I have already taken my mother to Beijing, and I don't have any relatives worth visiting in my hometown."

"I heard……"

"I don't dare to contact the director's relatives, otherwise when the director comes back..."

They left the toilet and walked outside, and the conversation that followed could no longer be heard.

Li Zhuiyuan came out of the toilet and turned on the faucet to wash his hands.

Thanks to the fact that he was blind for nearly a month, his hearing had been further developed and he had heard the previous conversation.

Aunt Xu was looking for someone, but that person was not Li Lan, because Xu Wen would not describe Li Lan as "I want to see her alive or dead."

Therefore, the mission that Li Lan was assigned to was not in the area where Zheng Haiyang’s parents had the accident, but Li Lan has indeed not returned yet.

What kind of task would take so long? It’s already been two months.

Li Zhuiyuan walked back while swinging his hands. In the past, he would take the initiative to meet and greet Xu Wen, calling her "Aunt Xu" affectionately, but now, he is very reluctant to contact with Li Lan and the people around her.

If he had a choice, he would rather not have any contact with Li Lan for the rest of his life, and he believed Li Lan had the same idea.

Because after the mother and son met, no matter what they did or said, they were just peeling off each other's skin.

The doctor came out and was communicating with Tan Yunlong.

"The patient is really emotionally unstable right now and is not suitable for visitation anymore."

Tan Yunlong pointed at Li Zhuiyuan who had returned and said, "Let the child go in alone. The child is very pitiful."

The doctor looked down at Li Zhuiyuan, hesitated, and nodded: "Okay, let him go in alone, you all wait outside and are not allowed to come in."

Tan Yunlong bent down and seemed to be whispering in Li Zhuiyuan's ear: "That man was a soldier and fought in the battlefield."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "Thank you, Uncle Tan."

Tan Yunlong smiled and sat back on the bench in the corridor.

Li Zhuiyuan was put into the visiting room.

He sat down opposite the woman. At this time, the woman was no longer as excited and crazy as before, but she was still breathing heavily, and the redness in her eyes was still scary.

Li Zhuiyuan just sat there and didn't say anything.

He came here because of "interest" and it had nothing to do with friendship with classmates, so he didn't want to mention Zheng Haiyang and use him as a starting point for the conversation.

He didn't even want to use his mind and methods to guide the development of the topic, even though he was very good at it.

Xu Wen's style of doing things made him feel that it was boring to do so. He didn't want to build his own fun on the basis of destroying and playing with innocent others.

What’s interesting is that when I decided to use Li Lan as my collection of wrong questions and go against her style, I was actually defending humanity.

Tan Wenbin, who was watching from outside through the glass, asked Runsheng in confusion: "Why isn't Brother Xiaoyuan talking?"

Runsheng shook his head: "Xiaoyuan not speaking means there is no need to speak."

After chewing it carefully, Tan Wenbin said, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

But soon, the turning point came.

The woman calmed down and began to speak on her own initiative. She was not screaming or going crazy. She just sat there and spoke normally.

Unfortunately, the volume is too normal and cannot be heard outside.

This made Tan Wenbin so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks, and he wanted to rush in to listen together.

Runsheng didn't understand and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"How can we not be anxious? We can go in now and hear first-hand information. When Brother Xiaoyuan comes out to tell us, it will be what he has summarized."

"Isn't this bad?"

"My bad, why am I discussing this with you."

Inside the visiting room, the woman's expression returned to normal.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that his "sense of empathy" was not wrong and he had picked the peach.

Xu Wen successfully provoked the woman, causing her emotions to lose control, and then she left, leaving herself with a better situation.

If Li Lan were here, she would never make such a low-level mistake.

"I tried to persuade him not to go down with them, but he wouldn't listen. Besides, he persuaded me to go down with them."

"You went down?"

"Yes, I went down. I shouldn't have gone down."

"I'm curious, what's down there?"

"A very big place. In it, there is the sun, the moon, and the stars."

"You mean, under the sea?"

"Don't you believe it?"

"I believe it."

"Out there, there are a lot of sunken ships."

“There should be a lot of treasures there.”

"Yes, but they are hard to find because the ships are all broken, except for a few special ones."

"Why is it special?"

"Most of them are made of wood, but a few are not. They are all buried under the sea sand, with only a little exposed. It is in a turbulent area and cannot be excavated at all. After so many years, even if there were some on it, they have been blown away or deeply buried."

"That's a shame, so you guys went in?"

"Yes, we are in. Once we are in, we can take off our oxygen masks. There is a patch of dry land there. We can surface and see the sun and stars."

The sun and the stars...

Li Zhuiyuan knew that the woman was now sober, so the counterintuitive juxtaposition of the sun and the stars might have a special meaning.

Due to the lack of relevant professional knowledge, Li Zhuiyuan was unable to judge from a scientific perspective whether this place on the seabed could really exist, but he felt that the woman did not lie.

You still need to go to college.

"This isn't your first time going in, is it?"

"It was my first time, but not my husband's, he came in for the second time."

"Does a seaman's job also include this?"

"It depends on how you understand it. This is just a job, and work is not everything in life. In fact, our salary is quite high, but we don't get much of the proceeds from smuggling. My husband is jealous and wants to make a lot of money quickly so that he can never go to the smuggling business again. I feel the same way."

"I see. How many of you went down there in total?"

"I can't remember clearly, there should be more than a dozen."

"so much?"

"Because we are just leading the way."

"Who asked you to lead the way?"

"There should be two groups of people, both under the name of the Marine Ecological Protection Organization. The leader of one group is named Honda, and the leader of the other group is named Ashley, who is British."

"should?"

"There is another new seaman named Zhu Changyong. He has a good relationship with my husband, but my husband said that he probably came here for this place as well."

"So there are three groups of people. Please lead the way. How will the profits be divided?"

"The guide fee is very high, and there will be a share of the profits afterwards."

"Go on and tell me what happened after you went in. I want to hear what's inside."

"There is a wall inside, and on the wall there is a very big door, but this door cannot be opened. Honda said it serves a decorative purpose and the inside is solid and closed. Since it was built, there has been no plan to open it to let outsiders in."

"Then how did you get in?"

"There is a gap between the top of the wall and the cave. It may have been tightly fitted at the beginning, but over time, it separated from the wall. We climbed up and then crawled in.

When I went in, I saw…”

The woman's face showed pain and struggle.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped asking questions and waited patiently.

After a while, the woman calmed down and continued with a trembling tone, "After entering, we found that this is the location we came from."

Li Zhuiyuan frowned slightly and asked, "How long does the drilling process take?"

"Ten minutes. It's very narrow and we can only crawl forward with our equipment."

"That's a really long time. So what are you afraid of? Even if you go in, you can get out again."

“That’s where we were when we came.”

"Yeah, you said that."

The woman looked at Li Zhuiyuan and said word by word: "We are still where we were when we came."

Li Zhuiyuan sat up straight subconsciously.

He understood why he was afraid.

"Then what?"

"They started fighting."

"them?"

"I was the last one to get out, and according to Honda and Ashley's requirements, my husband and I had to be in the front and the back.

When I came out, they were already down, using the rope ladder.”

"You mean the rope ladder?"

Li Zhuiyuan began to try to picture the scene in his mind as best as possible from the woman's simple description, trying not to miss any details.

"It was the ladder that Zhu Changyong hung."

"Is Zhu Changyong also on the other side?"

Li Zhuiyuan suspected that the person Xu Wen was looking for was definitely not the Honda and Ashley groups, but most likely Zhu Changyong.

"Yes, when I came out, they had already gone down the rope ladder, they were talking to each other, my husband was also inside, two husbands.

When the two of them stand together, I, as his wife, can’t tell which one is real.”

"What about you? Have you seen the other you?"

The woman smiled, and the smile was gradually widening, with deep and meaningful expressions in her eyes.

She did not answer the boy's question directly, but asked a rhetorical question:
"What do you think?"

Li Zhuiyuan turned slightly and continued to ask, "You said they fought later?"

"Yes, there was a fight. Many people died and were lying on the ground, covered in blood."

"Who died?"

"I can't remember clearly, but those who were still standing alive at the end were the only ones."

"Are you also lying on the ground?"

"What do you think?"

Li Zhuiyuan sat up straight again, lowered his head, looked at his fingers, and asked, "Is there one left for Zhu Changyong?"

"Ah."

"What's next?"

"Then we went in again."

"Or that hole?"

"No, this time they went through the door, because the remaining Honda found that the door could be opened. It couldn't be opened completely, but it could be pried open enough for a person to pass through sideways."

"You guys, are you going to team up again?"

"Ah."

Li Zhuiyuan really wanted to ask, how did you tell apart, among the survivors, who were the group that came in with you and who were the group that you met?
The door that could not be entered from the outside can now be entered.

So, did you guys go in or come out?
But the boy didn't dare to ask too much details. He had already noticed that the woman's condition was fluctuating again.

This brief calmness obtained after venting is actually similar to drinking poison to quench thirst. It is also because it has just happened to her not long ago. If nothing unexpected happens, her subsequent mental problems will become more and more serious.

Eventually, the occasional moments of calm and rationality will be completely submerged.

In other words, I was most likely the last person to learn the information from her.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but complain to Xu Wen again in his heart. If he hadn't come here today, this information chain would have been buried forever. No wonder Li Lan didn't bring you, her secretary, with her when she went to execute that project.

"After going through the door again, does the environment change?"

"Yes, it's very open and bright inside. The sun, moon and stars are all above our heads."

"What are the specific things? I mean, under the feet."

"Under my feet, there are pits one after another. Next to each pit, there is a stone sculpture. There is water in the pit. The stone sculpture is tied with a bronze chain that extends into the pit next to it."

"How many are there?"

"Countless, all the way forward, to that...house."

"House? Is there a house there? How big is it?"

"It's big, very big."

"Shouldn't that be a palace?"

"It's not a palace, it's just a house, it has two horns, a long beard, and a big scary mouth."

"Animals? Huge animals?"

"It's either an animal or a house."

Li Zhuiyuan sighed inwardly. The woman's condition had worsened, and her narration became increasingly halting. He could no longer describe the circumstances in detail in his mind.

"Have you entered this room?"

"I didn't. I was left there while my husband and his people went in. They went into the house."

"Who are you referring to specifically, your husband and others?"

"Honda, Ashley, Zhu Changyong."

"Who else is staying with you?"

"About four or five people."

"Why separate?"

"Because we are responsible for tying the ropes."

Her description no longer has progressive logic.

"Tie a rope? What happened to the road ahead? I mean the road leading to the house."

“It’s flooded.”

"Isn't it dry? Where does the water come from?"

"The water in the pit gradually overflowed, and they walked forward with ropes tied around their bodies."

As the woman spoke, she stood up and her body began to tremble.

"What happens next?"

Li Zhuiyuan felt that he could not wait any longer and had to get the result clearly.

"Then it was black, black, everything turned black, and the things in the house woke up. The sun, moon and stars above disappeared, and there was only a circle of red, like an eye, a very big eye.

It woke up, it was enraged, and they all crawled out of the pit, so many that they couldn’t be counted…”

"What are they?"

"So many, so many, all of them, the rope broke, the rope that tied my husband broke, they were swallowed by the house, ahhhh!"

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and said, "What about you, and the rest of you who are staying here?"

The woman held her head and said, "I was running. We were all running. We squeezed out from the door. The gap was only big enough for one person to get out. They were still squeezing. One of them killed two people with a pickaxe. He squeezed in first, and I went in later.

I left my husband behind, I left him behind."

"You couldn't save him. It's not your fault."

"Is that so..." The woman's emotions stabilized a little after hearing these words.

Li Zhuiyuan was not trying to comfort her on purpose. In such a strange environment, it was beyond the scope of traditional dangerous situations. It was difficult for people to be rational at that time.

"How many of you were the last to go out?"

"Two, me and him."

"Is he coming out too? Back to the boat, I mean."

"No, I saw the diving equipment we left behind where I came in. His equipment is still there."

"Where's everyone else's equipment?"

"They are all here. I am the only one who came back with the equipment."

"It was you... who killed him." The woman's eyes fixed and her expression was solemn, but soon a smile appeared at the left corner of her mouth.

This seems to be a default.

"Why did you kill him?"

"Because I suspect that he and we are not from the same group."

"So, in the end, you came back alone."

"Correct."

"How was the ship after you came back?"

“On the return flight, they all started acting strange.”

"How weird is that?"

"Like crazy."

"Same as you are now?"

"Correct."

Li Zhuiyuan breathed a sigh of relief. He had finished asking questions.

And the woman seemed to finally hold on and finished her words.

Although it is fragmented, with many details missing and many inconsistencies, the context of the story finally has a beginning and an end.

What is most hidden and the most difficult to describe in detail is how the remaining teams, after two identical teams of people killed each other, intrigue and guard against each other.

At this time, the woman was no longer excited, and there was confusion in her eyes.

This means that her condition is more serious than Li Zhuiyuan had previously expected. Sometimes, intense emotional reactions actually prove to a certain extent that one has a strong sense of self-awareness.

The woman began to shake her head and hum a ballad.

She chose to escape, destroy that memory, and destroy her own life.

From beginning to end, she never asked about her children.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Thank you for your story. Please take care of yourself."

The woman ignored him and continued humming.

Maybe soon, she won't have to be restrained anymore and can wear loose patient clothes.

Li Zhuiyuan walked a few steps out, then suddenly stopped, turned around, looked at her, and asked:

"Are you the same person who went in?"

The woman paused visibly, then continued humming and shaking her head.

Li Zhuiyuan took out the talisman he had drawn from his pocket, walked quickly around the table to the woman's side, and stuck the talisman on the woman's forehead.

"Snapped!"

The bright yellow talisman paper fell off immediately after it was pasted on and fell to the ground.

The woman continued to hum without any response.

Li Zhuiyuan bent down and picked up the talisman paper.

The talisman paper has turned pitch black.

After Li Zhuiyuan walked out of the visiting room, the doctor behind another door came in and took the woman out.

Tan Yunlong put down his crossed legs and asked, "Are you done?"

"Ah."

"How's it going? Has your curiosity been satisfied?"

"No, I became more curious."

If he had the chance, he really wanted to go there now and see what a strange place it was.

Maybe, I can see another identical self.

Then, will you fight with yourself?
Li Zhuiyuan could understand that in that environment, the most normal choice was to "kill the other party."

But for myself, if that "self" is really exactly the same as myself, then why not hold hands and explore the secrets inside together?
He often worries about being exhausted and it would be great if he had an extra brain to spare.

Unfortunately, he can only think about it at the moment, as he does not have the external and internal conditions to make the trip.

As for the external conditions, you have to wait until you go to college or even graduate before you have the corresponding opportunities. As for the internal conditions, you have to at least grow up.

On the way back in the seafood cart from the market, Li Zhuiyuan recounted the story the woman had told him, without avoiding Tan Yunlong.

After all, this story was facilitated by others, so it should be shared. Besides, like son, like father...

Looking at Tan Wenbin, Tan Yunlong probably has similar preferences deep down in his heart.

After listening, Tan Yunlong said while driving: "This world does have too many mysteries, which is good. It's waiting for you to explore when you grow up, so you won't get bored."

Tan Wenbin teased, "Dad, why are you suddenly adding value?"

“I just felt that when I reached your father’s age, I sometimes felt that no matter how much money I made or how high my position was, what I saw and lived was still the same.

Those researchers, with a glance under a microscope, can see a new world that most ordinary people will never be able to experience in their lifetime.”

"Dad, where's your money, where's your position?"

"Little beast!"

Li Zhuiyuan could resonate with Tan Yunlong's words. Isn't what he is currently learning a brand new field?
To a certain extent, Li Lan seemed to have chosen this path. Since Xu Wen came to investigate this matter, it proved that Li Lan was not a traditional archaeologist as she thought.

Only the unknown and mysterious realm can make them, mother and son, feel like human beings.

"Xiaoyuan, who is that woman to you?"

"Uncle Tan, I didn't mean to hide it from you, I just didn't want to tell you."

"Well, it's okay, uncle, I understand. So are you going home now, or to school?"

"Let's go back to school. We have classes at noon."

"Binbin, look at Xiaoyuan, and then look at you. He has such good grades, but he still wants to go to class."

"Dad, I'm going to class, and he's going to class."

Tan Yunlong understood: "Who is Xiaoyuan teaching?"

"It's the Mathematical Olympiad class organized by the school." Tan Wenbin replied.

"Then can you get in? I heard that winning this award is very helpful for the college entrance examination."

"dad."

"Ok?"

“I don’t have good genes.”

"Buzz!"

The pickup truck accelerated suddenly.

After being dropped off at the school gate, Li Zhuiyuan looked at Tan Wenbin and said, "Brother Binbin, aren't you afraid of being beaten by your uncle when you get home if you talk like that?"

"He beat Binbin, what does it have to do with me, Zhuangzhuang?"

"I'm hungry, let's go to the cafeteria to eat."

"You know, Xiaoyuan, ever since my academic performance has improved, I feel like I'm exceptionally powerful.

I used to know in my heart that if I didn’t do well in the college entrance examination, I would have to rely on my parents for the rest of my life, including getting married and having children, and I would have to live under my parents’ shadow for the rest of my life.

If you eat their food, use their things, and occupy their things, you will have to continue to endure their comments on your life.

Now, I feel my wings are starting to get stronger.”

"Brother Binbin, this is not a shadow."

"It's just an exaggerated rhetoric. What kind of parents would deliberately put such a big shadow on their children?"

"Well, you're right."

The fourth class had not yet ended and the cafeteria was empty. Tan Wenbin went to get the food while Li Zhuiyuan went to get the free soup.

This soup can be made at will, and many students eat it with the dry food they bring with them.

After we finished eating, the bell for the end of get out of class rang.

Tan Wenbin walked lazily to the classroom, while Li Zhuiyuan walked into the small classroom alone.

What surprised him was that there were already quite a few people sitting inside. Some students were eating steamed buns, while others had not eaten at all and just ran in after class with their books.

They all cherish the opportunity to compete, as it is also their chance to change their lives.

Li Zhuiyuan was a little dazed. This was probably what it meant: what was within his reach was what others dreamed of.

Conversely, I also envy their health.

Everyone smiled with gratitude at Li Zhuiyuan's arrival. They had heard that the child prodigy had taken a leave and did not come to class in the morning.

Someone ran over with a steamed bun in his mouth and helped to lift the stool, while someone else stood by and prepared to support.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, picked up the chalk, and began to write down the solutions to the questions that were not checked on the blackboard.

The people below were watching and discussing quickly, and everyone seemed very anxious. This weekend was the city's competition day, and logically, a few people had to be eliminated.

After writing down the solution, the taller students helped to wipe the blackboard while Li Zhuiyuan continued to ask questions.

After I finished asking the question, I clapped my hands and a classmate handed me a wet towel.

Teacher Yan and several other math teachers were also sitting downstairs at this time. When Li Zhuiyuan came down, Teacher Yan stood up and handed out the test papers in his hand:
"After you copy the questions on the blackboard, do this test. It takes two hours. You can hand it in early and don't have to worry about the afternoon classes."

The final participating teams will be determined based on the rankings.

When Li Zhuiyuan found out that he was not given a test paper, he said goodbye to the teachers, got up and left the small classroom, and walked to the principal's office.

Zheng Haiyang was eating in the principal's office. Wu Xinhan was sitting across from him at the desk and eating with him. The dishes were stir-fried dishes from the cafeteria.

As soon as the funeral was over, he returned to school. After all, the body had not been brought back, so there was nothing tedious to do.

"Xiaoyuan, have you eaten?" Wu Xinhan asked with a smile.

"Principal Grandpa, I ate it."

Zheng Haiyang stood up awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

He was very grateful that the principal had found him in the morning and invited him to have lunch and chat together at noon, but he still couldn't adapt to this atmosphere. Most students would probably feel uncomfortable.

But from another perspective, it is already very good for a principal to be able to achieve this level.

"Brother Binbin is back too." Li Zhuiyuan said to Zheng Haiyang with a smile, then walked into the partition curtain, lay on the spring bed, closed his eyes and began to take a nap.

He fell asleep quickly and had a dream.

In the dream, I was standing on the deck, and I seemed to have grown taller, as tall as Brother Binbin is now.

The one he was holding in his hand was Ah Li, and the one standing beside him was Cuicui;

Further away, there are Runsheng and Tan Wenbin. Behind them, there are many other figures, but their faces cannot be clearly seen.

The ship dropped anchor in an area.

In the dream, he was standing on the side of the ship, pointing downwards: "This is the position, get ready, let's go down!"

Behind me, a group of responses came, and then everyone started putting on diving equipment.

Li Zhuiyuan also wore one, and after putting on the mask, his vision became a little blurry.

Some people climbed down the ladder, while others simply jumped off.

Li Zhuiyuan chose the latter and jumped.

"Snapped!"

The moment he fell into the water, he sat up and woke up.

The curtain was lifted, and Wu Xinhan asked kindly, "Are you dreaming?"

"Ah."

"If you are tired, just take a rest. It's hard for you. The school has put too much burden on you."

"no……"

Li Zhuiyuan was really embarrassed to say that he was tired, after all, he was either sleeping or reading extracurricular books during class.

"Xiaoyuan, this is the scholarship and subsidy the school gave you. The detailed catalog is inside, and the money is also inside. Take it back and give it to your parents."

"Thank you, Grandpa Principal."

"Um, this is..." Wu Xinhan took out a piece of money from his pocket, "This is the pocket money I give you as your grandfather."

"I can't have this."

"Here, go for the competition this weekend. I've already had a banner made to celebrate. And don't blame Grandpa for putting pressure on you."

"Thank you, grandpa."

Li Zhuiyuan took the money. He didn't feel any pressure. Even if there were talented students from other schools participating in the competition, he was not worried. After all, the whole class was full of geniuses.

"Thank you, Grandpa."

Wu Xinhan breathed a sigh of relief. This was the money he was willing to give. All he wanted was to be able to be sarcastic during the meeting.

"Principal Grandpa, I'm going to class."

"Well, I don't think that's necessary. The bell for fourth period is about to ring."

Li Zhuiyuan was surprised. He actually slept for the entire afternoon?

The effect of sleeping for the whole afternoon was that I couldn’t sleep at night after returning home, so I painted with A-Li until late at night.

Ali sat there, acting as her own model, and I drew her myself.

But as he continued to draw, he was still not satisfied and tore off many pieces of paper.

This made Ah Li, who was sitting there, feel a little guilty. She looked at Li Zhuiyuan with a questioning look: Did she do something wrong?

"Ari, it's your fault. You're too beautiful and charming. My skills are too poor. I really can't draw you like that."

The girl frowned and pouted slightly, as if glaring at the boy.

"Hehehe..." Li Zhuiyuan laughed. Now A'li can understand the opposite of what is said.

In fact, it is true. Beautiful things are actually easier to draw, mainly because of the temperament.

A'li's temperament is partly innate and partly cultivated by Liu Yumei.

In this day and age, people are all following the trend to learn Western aesthetics from everything from living habits to clothing styles, regardless of whether it suits them or not. Only a minority of the population wears traditional costumes, and they can only be seen on stage.

Li Zhuiyuan sighed helplessly. It was indeed too difficult to draw Ahri now. But even if his painting skills continued to improve, Ahri would grow up, and by then she would have a different temperament and style, which would most likely make her even more difficult to draw.

Or, how about changing someone and practicing with them first?
After taking Ah Li back to the east room downstairs, Liu Yumei opened the door in her white pajamas and asked, "Where's the painting?"

“It’s not drawn.”

"It's our Ahri who is so pretty."

"Yes."

After returning to the room, Li Zhuiyuan did not rush to bed to rest. Instead, he spread out the paper again, mixed the paint, picked up the pen, and started painting.

This time, what he painted was a little yellow warbler.

After finishing half of the painting, Li Zhuiyuan finally felt sleepy, so he put down his pen and went to bed.

The evening breeze blew in through the screen door, shaking the drawing paper and gently curling up a corner.

It looks like someone is standing in front of the drawing table, admiring it carefully.

……

The day of the City Mathematical Olympiad has arrived.

Different from the previous low-key and humble style of going and returning in a hurry, this time Shigang Middle School got a bus with banners hanging on both sides of the body and even red flowers hanging on the front of the bus.

In short, it's very rustic and arrogant.

In addition to the teachers who accompanied the exam, Principal Wu led the team personally this time. After getting on the bus, he first pumped up the gas and distributed fruit, bread and drinks.

The test site is Pingchao Middle School, which is very large and grand.

After sitting down in the classroom, Li Zhuiyuan looked out the window, where there was a row of beautiful ginkgo trees.

After the test papers were handed out, Li Zhuiyuan was still in a daze.

The invigilator came over and tapped the desk gently as a reminder.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head, picked up the pen, wrote his name, answered the questions quickly, and then handed in the paper.

After leaving the classroom, he stood under the ginkgo tree for a long time.

But when he left the examination room, he was still the first one and his speed was still amazing.

The exam buses from each school were parked on the playground, and the teachers from each school gathered together, smoking and chatting. They seemed polite to each other, but in fact they were engaged in verbal battles.

The examination hall is a battlefield for students and even more so for teachers. To a certain extent, young students are often not very sensible, so teachers, on the contrary, feel more involved in this battle.

When Li Zhuiyuan came out, Teacher Yan hurried over with water and food.

Wu Xinhan was not here. He was staying in the principal's office of the school, absorbing the other party's yin and yang, while also accumulating his own strange energy.

The teachers accompanying the students from other schools were all shocked when they saw such a little kid coming out, and they all had a bad feeling in their hearts.

Or, you think that the teachers at Shigang Middle School have completely given up on themselves and brought the principal's grandson over to experience the exam atmosphere.

Or, this child is from a very important and extraordinary background.

Obviously, no one is stupid enough to believe the former.

We all work in the education circle. Even if we have never eaten pork, we must have seen pigs run. Even if we have never taught a child prodigy, how is it possible that we have not heard of their stories?

At the same time, everyone was deeply puzzled. How could such a child end up in a township middle school?
Immediately, everyone began to actively approach Teacher Yan and inquire about the boy's background. Their tone was genuinely polite and respectful, and not fake.

What a joke! They have already taken out their secret weapons. If you use a bigger one now, wouldn't you be offering your face to them, making it easier for them to hit you after the test results come out?

Teacher Yan was very happy and extremely excited. He was also glad that Principal Wu was not there, allowing him to enjoy the spotlight all by himself.

As a transparent person who used to focus on participation and accompanying, Principal Wu had already prepared a draft, so how could Old Yan not prepare a small essay? The math teacher is also talented in writing.

"Hey, hey, hey, you guys have said too much. This is nothing. It's just a city competition. It's not worth getting excited about. There will be provincial and national competitions in the future. Those are worth celebrating a little."

Li Zhuiyuan lay on the bus for a long time before the bell rang to signal the end of the exam.

There were indeed some students who submitted their papers early, but they were very few. Most students submitted their papers at the last minute. For example, students of our school were jointly asked by Teacher Yan and Principal Wu not to submit their papers early!
Of course, Xiaoyuan is not among them because he is an assistant teacher.

On the way back, Teacher Yan and Principal Wu began to ask other students about their test results, and the feedback they received was relatively positive.

After all, he is a top math student in the school and has gone through targeted question type simulations, so it is normal for him to achieve good results in the exam.

Principal Wu was very happy and even led the group in singing a song in the car:

"The sun sets in the west and the clouds turn red. The soldiers are returning to the camp after target practice. Returning to the camp..."

It was already afternoon when we returned to school. Principal Wu waved his hand and signaled the candidates to leave school early today.

Li Zhuiyuan returned to the classroom and walked out of the school gate with Tan Wenbin after school.

At the school gate, I saw Tan Yunlong sitting on a motorcycle.

Tan Wenbin panicked all of a sudden and quickly protected Xiaoyuan in front of him.

Tan Yunlong got off the motorcycle, pointed at his son, and then pointed at the trash can in the distance.

Tan Wenbin saluted and immediately moved away.

"Uncle Tan, what happened?"

"Zheng Haiyang's mother died in a mental hospital. It was suicide."

"how come?"

Li Zhuiyuan didn't believe it. She had gone crazy, and she had accepted the madness voluntarily. For her, the next goal should be to survive.

"She had a visit record yesterday. In the story you retold, this name appeared many times. According to the story, he should have stayed at the bottom of the sea."

"who is it?"

"Zhu Changyong."

(End of this chapter)