Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 57

Early in the morning, the door of the east room was opened from the inside, and A'li, wearing a lotus pavilion jacket, walked out.

In the past, she was always the first one to get up in the family, but not today.

On the dam, Runsheng and Tan Wenbin sat opposite each other, each with his head down, sharpening the sickles in his hands.

When Ah Li passed by, Run Sheng looked up and smiled at the girl: "Good morning."

The girl stopped, then moved back into the house and went upstairs.

Although no words were spoken, the previous pause was the biggest response.

She pushed open the door of the room and walked in. The boy was still asleep, so the girl began to admire the boy's paintings hanging on the wall.

There are three completed paintings, the first one is the little yellow warbler.

The woman in the painting does not have a green face and fangs. Instead, she appears to be restrained and reserved. She moves with a swaying body and her lips and teeth seem to be complaining, as if she is about to walk out of the painting and sing and dance.

The second picture shows a kind white-haired old woman sitting in the yard basking in the sun, with a black cat sleeping on her lap.

The third painting is of a middle-aged man. His image seems to be deliberately blurred, with only his back shown. However, the ancient bronze coin hanging around his waist is depicted in great detail and with extremely clear structure.

A lot of thought went into the background processing of the three paintings.

The first one has a hazy feeling, the second one is warm yet desolate, and the third one is very depressing.

When A'li was watching carefully, Li Zhuiyuan woke up.

The boy walked to the girl's side and watched with her for a while.

After washing up, he played chess with the girl as usual. Now he played three games at the same time, which greatly improved Li Zhuiyuan's efficiency in losing chess.

"Breakfast!"

Every day, it is Aunt Liu’s call that officially marks the beginning of the day.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin came back from the fields together. It was the autumn harvest, and the fields had been busy these days, so Tan Wenbin got up early on purpose to help.

He had never suffered hardship before, and he got blisters on his hands from doing this, but he didn't care and just picked them out with a needle.

Even Li Sanjiang told him to stop doing it, but Tan Wenbin responded with a smile:
"It's okay, strong and strong."

At the end of morning self-study, Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin walked into the classroom.

There is a pot of flowers on Zheng Haiyang's desk.

What happened in his family was defined as a home invasion, robbery and murder. Tan Yunlong did not directly tell Li Zhuiyuan whether anyone from above had come, nor did he continue to follow up with Li Zhuiyuan on the details of the subsequent investigation. But sometimes, no news is also a kind of news.

This means that the three of them have been able to get out of this matter.

Although he and others had been there and left many traces, they would definitely be able to find them through careful investigation, but everyone has their own expertise. Li Zhuiyuan didn't know whether Yu Shu had come back or someone else had replaced him, but after all, they were not professional criminal investigators, and their perspective would instinctively ignore the existence and role of "ordinary people" in it.

During this period, Tan Wenbin studied very hard. Except for accompanying Li Zhuiyuan to the toilet during breaks, he was doing his own homework.

"Zhuiyuan Secret Scroll" is now printed and sold by the school, which saves Tan Wenbin a lot of trivial things. However, his current exercise book is specially designed by Li Zhuiyuan based on his personal learning progress and situation.

After Li Zhuiyuan entered high school, he didn't learn much textbook knowledge. If it weren't for his much better memory than ordinary people, his "academic performance" might have declined.

But his ability to teach people has greatly improved, as if he was not attending high school but a normal school.

Binbin is still cheerful, knows how to joke and talk, and he also sings and sings with Li Sanjiang to create a good atmosphere when eating at home.

But in his own time, he would be relatively silent because he always seemed to have something on hand.

He would do exercises in class at school and learn the basics with Runsheng at home. Every once in a while, he would bring his own learning problems and stuck questions to Li Zhuiyuan for solutions.

Li Zhuiyuan could feel that these problems were really difficult for Tan Wenbin to understand, and he must have gone through rounds of screening and overcoming them himself.

Slow growth is a kind of happiness.

But maturity gained overnight is often not envied.

In the past, Tan Wenbin shouted that he wanted to be admitted to "Haihe University", but he was more inclined to make a wish. Now, he is actually working towards his goal step by step, and he has become very focused.

A retired philosophy professor from the family compound once said to Li Zhuiyuan that there are two kinds of smart people in this world. One is the smart person like Li Zhuiyuan, and the other is the smart person with clear cognition.

The former is that the brain is simply too good and one can learn anything quickly. No matter how much others envy him, they cannot imitate him. This is innate and in the genes.

But the latter is no worse than the former. It means that at a certain age in life, you know what to do in the next stage and can make plans and work hard to implement them.

The competitive pressure in society and life is high, but most people are pushed into the next stage of life to participate in the competition with confusion and helplessness. But what if they could start planning and preparing two or three years in advance?
At that time, there were actually very few competitors around you.

Xue Liangliang is a genius among the latter, because his vision can not only see two or three years later, but even twenty or thirty years later.

Even Li Zhuiyuan often unconsciously regards Brother Liangliang's words as a prediction of the future. This is not witchcraft or prophecy, but the other person really has the ability to see the main contradictions and find the objective laws.

Although they had telephones, making phone calls was not very convenient after all, and there was really nothing to talk about directly, so the two of them were still accustomed to communicating through letters.

Last time, Li Zhuiyuan mentioned the matter of making a collection of exercises in his letter, and also told Xue Liangliang about Tan Wenbin's ideas.

In his reply, Xue Liangliang said that Tan Wenbin was a business genius. He was certain that this industry would be a huge blue ocean in the future with broad business prospects, because the Chinese people's emphasis on education is a cultural instinct, and most families, no matter how frugal they are, will not hesitate to invest in education.

Xue Liangliang also said that if Tan Wenbin wanted to continue doing this in the future, he could invest some money, and suggested that he should not limit himself to personal brand influence, but should use the label of Nantong Education Examination to negotiate cooperation with famous middle schools, and then build the entire city as a big brand name.

Li Zhuiyuan told Tan Wenbin what Xue Liangliang said. Tan Wenbin was stunned for a while, then slapped his thigh:
"Fuck, this is a great guy!"

But when Li Zhuiyuan asked Tan Wenbin if he was willing to do this business, Tan Wenbin shook his head and said he was unwilling.

He wants to go to college and continue learning.

Now that he is on the ship, he wants to go on a long voyage, take a real look at the scenery in the distance, and then go to that destination.

To this end, he added enthusiastically: "My parents are both in the government sector, so I don't have to worry about their retirement."

That’s right, for those who have experienced the horror of life and death but still managed to maintain an optimistic and positive attitude, it is indeed difficult for them to focus solely on making money.

For lunch, Li Zhuiyuan did not eat with Tan Wenbin. Instead, he got on a bus parked on the campus, which was equipped with various foods and drinks.

Principal Wu was still the leader of the team, with Teacher Yan as the assistant. The bus set off for Jinling to compete in the Provincial Mathematical Olympiad.

The other six students in the car ate and drank all the way and were very happy.

Li Zhuiyuan just ate something to fill his stomach, then leaned against the car window and looked at the scenery outside.

Wu Xinhan noticed it and sat over to ask if the food was not to his taste.

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head and said frankly that it was because his living conditions were good before.

This answer made Principal Wu stunned for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face. Outsiders might think he was showing off at first, but people who were familiar with him could hear his sincerity.

Anyone who can become a principal will not be bad in terms of interpersonal skills. The difference lies in who is worthy of his use.

Therefore, he actually liked this simple and straightforward boy. Being with him, he didn't have to pretend and didn't feel tired.

Wu Xinhan helped Li Zhuiyuan lower the back seat of the car so that he could lie down and rest.

The school rents buses to take students to the exam with this in mind, in order to reduce the students' fatigue from the journey as much as possible.

Arrived in Jinling and checked into the hotel.

Everyone else had a standard room, but Li Zhuiyuan had a single room.

No one thought this was unfair, and the six students also knew that they were able to pass the city competition thanks to the boy's help.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan was lying on the bed, holding Wei Zhengdao.

The door was knocked.

Li Zhuiyuan got out of bed and was about to open the door when he heard Principal Wu's questioning voice from outside: "Who are you?"

"I am Xiaoyuan's brother."

"elder brother?"

The standard room that Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan shared was right across from Li Zhuiyuan.

At this moment, Teacher Yan is in another room, leading the six students to do the Mathematical Olympiad test paper. The test will start tomorrow. Doing it today is not to fill in the gaps or cram, but just to let everyone keep up the feel.

Wu Xinhan's door was always open so that he could keep an eye on what was happening with Li Zhuiyuan. He was like the giant python guarding the treasure in the myth.

Li Zhuiyuan opened the door and smiled when he saw the person coming.

The person who came was Xue Liangliang.

Haihe University is located in Jinling.

Only after Xue Liangliang handed his student ID to Principal Wu for inspection was he able to pass the security check and allowed to meet his baby.

After closing the door, Xue Liangliang said with a smile: "Xiaoyuan, your principal really treasures you very much."

As he spoke, Xue Liangliang bent down and reached out to pinch the boy's face.

"Come, let me absorb the spiritual energy of the child prodigy to help me cultivate and become a fairy soon."

"Then Liangliang brother, you shouldn't suck my ass."

Xue Liangliang: “…”

"Brother Liangliang, what are you holding in your hand?"

"Some Jinling specialties. I know you are too lazy to bring a lot of food home, so I will prepare some food for you to taste together."

He took out a number of snacks from the bag, one of which was salted duck.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece and tasted it.

"How about it?"

"good to eat."

"I'm not used to eating this." Xue Liangliang shrugged, "But here, whether it's a public or private company, they all like to give out salted duck during festivals."

"It depends on personal taste. I like to eat light food."

This duck, apart from being salty, is basically white in taste.

"Hey, you know, the first time I saw your letter saying you were in the third year of high school, I thought I had misread it, and then I wondered if you had written it wrong. Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were in the junior class?"

"I told you so."

"Really?" Xue Liangliang thought for a moment, "Then I must have been distracted at the time. You are going to take the college entrance examination next year, right?"

"Ah."

"Um, would you like to be an alumnus?"

"it is good."

"Really?"

"Well, really."

Xue Liangliang showed joy on his face, and then took out a letter from his pocket:

"You make me, a lobbyist, feel very unsuccessful. Here, this is the letter that Luo Gong asked me to give you. You have seen it. He wants me to persuade you to apply for our school in advance."

It’s still early for the college entrance examination, but the competition has already begun.

Although the provincial exam is tomorrow, the werewolves will already smell blood when the city-level results come out.

This mainly depends on the quality of the small competition area, plus Li Zhuiyuan's exaggerated age.

Principal Wu mentioned to Li Zhuiyuan that many universities have recently made inquiries and will begin the real hunting operation after the provincial examination.

Wu Xinhan was very happy because his middle school was not yet eligible for admission.

Although teaching quality work is an overall matter, the effect of having a leading horse in a specific circle or even industry is also very significant, and can bring more attention and resources to the school.

"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan accepted the letter. "When will you admit me in advance?"

"Puff..." Xue Liangliang just raised the cup to drink water and almost spit out half of it. He wiped the corner of his mouth and said, "Are you so impatient?"

"hold head high."

"Your attitude makes me wonder if there is a treasure hidden under our school."

"No need for treasure, death would be good enough."

"No, no, no, I'm most afraid of Xiaoyuan's ghost stories."

"Ok?"

"Campus Ghost Stories."

"Oh, really? I don't believe it."

"I'm a very timid person."

Li Zhuiyuan just looked at him, his eyes fixed.

Xue Liangliang shrank his neck: "That's different, she's not a ghost, nor is she dead, she's hot."

Li Zhuiyuan asked in confusion: "Is there something hot under the river?"

"Once the provincial exam results come out, we can go through the process. I think you can get full marks in the municipal exam, and there will be no problem getting an award in the provincial exam, which will definitely meet the requirements for early admission."

In fact, what Xue Liangliang said was not accurate. The conditions are not calculated in this way. However, the conditions are set to save screening costs. When some people’s abilities and talents are sufficient to break the constraints, the conditions can also be flexible and changeable.

"Well, I've asked for leave. When you guys go back, I'll shamelessly take the same car with you guys."

"what?"

"I have already got my internship and employment, and will be going to the mountain city at the beginning of next month."

"Oh, you want to go see your sister-in-law before you leave."

"You call them sister-in-law quite smoothly. I thought you would be afraid and disgusted with them."

"I hate the Bai family, but she can make all the Bai family members go back underwater, which I think is good. That's where they should be."

Xue Liangliang took a deep breath, exhaled all at once, and muttered softly: "That's still my contribution."

"Then should we write you into the local annals, Brother Liangliang? After all, you have made great contributions to protecting the country and the people."

"Hahaha, that's really embarrassing. When people see this in the future, they will probably call me and the person who recorded this incident a little idiot."

"Then you still want to go see her?" "After I go to the mountain city, I don't know when I can come back. Let's go and see her first. After all, this is a fixed mission."

"Like my grandfather and great grandfather paid their taxes?"

"Hey, kid, don't think I can't see that you are just pretending to be innocent!"

Xue Liangliang threw Li Zhuiyuan directly onto the bed and started tickling him.

He let the boy go only after Li Zhuiyuan kept begging for mercy.

After chatting for a while, Xue Liangliang was ready to leave:

"Come on, do well in the exam tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you outside the exam room."

"Ah."

At this time, the knock on the door rang again.

"Who are you?" Principal Wu next door asked again.

"I'm looking for Xiaoyuan. I'm his brother."

"Another brother. Xiaoyuan has so many brothers in Jinling?"

Li Zhuiyuan opened the door and saw the person coming.

The man was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. Although he was wearing plain clothes, he looked like a sharp knife standing there.

"Principal Grandpa, he is my brother."

"Oh, okay, you brothers, have a meeting."

Wu Xinhan waved his hand and swam back to his room.

The visitor stood at the door, did not come in, and said bluntly:

"Grandma wants you to return to Beijing."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "No."

"Your mother used that application report to submit a request to the higher-ups, and your grandfather didn't allow the family to interfere, but you can make your own choices for your own life."

"This is my choice."

"Although your parents are divorced, you are still a member of our family."

"My last name is Li now."

"No room left?"

"No."

"Ah."

The person turned around and left.

Xue Liangliang asked in surprise: "Who is he?"

"My father's eldest brother's son."

It wasn't that Li Zhuiyuan addressed him so coldly on purpose, but he was a little confused about his cousins ​​for the moment.

"Do your father's relatives usually get along like this?"

"No. It should be Grandpa Bei who gave the order to the family."

"Giving orders? Don't mention it, that man does look like a soldier."

"he is the one."

"But even if your parents are divorced, how come you get along like this? Your mom wouldn't change your last name, would she?"

"Well, she did."

"Oh, no wonder."

“But that’s not the main reason.”

Li Zhuiyuan knew that his Grandpa Bei was a man of principles. Li Lan had made a special application to arrange this for his son, so Grandpa Bei had no choice but to agree to it and not allow his family members to interfere and influence this arrangement.

The boy now doubts that Li Lan is doing the same thing as Zhu Changyong, although not in the sea.

The fact that he came here to find me was actually a violation of my grandfather's will. This was something that was hard to imagine at home in the north. If my grandfather knew about it, he would really break his legs.

Therefore, the other party's attitude is indifferent only because he is used to it, and one's own indifference is because one does not want to convey misunderstanding, for fear of giving them the impression that they have room for maneuver.

Otherwise, if he reported something wrong to Grandma Bei and they did something wrong, Grandpa Bei would get angry.

In Grandpa Bei’s eyes, Li Lan’s arrangement for him was like his comrade’s last wish.

"Oh, by the way, if you are admitted early, will you still go to school?"

"I will take the college entrance examination."

"Then do you want to go to the mountain city with me?"

"Well……"

Li Zhuiyuan doesn't really want to travel far, at least for now.

"Forget it, there's nothing fun here. My workplace is definitely not in the city, but in the mountains. There's nothing but mountains and water."

"Okay."

"Ok?"

"I can go play."

Mainly because the frequency of deaths in my hometown has greatly decreased recently.

At the beginning, we hoped to see some results within a few days. Now, we don’t see any results for a month or so. Theory is seriously divorced from practice, which will also cause problems.

"Okay, I'll arrange it then."

"Can I bring a friend?"

"Is this a problem?"

"Thank you, Brother Liangliang."

"Then do well in the exam. I'm leaving now."

"Goodbye, Brother Liangliang."

At night, Li Zhuiyuan went to bed early.

When we woke up in the morning, Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan took everyone to the examination room.

Coincidentally, Li Zhuiyuan's examination seat was still in the row next to the window, and when he looked outside, he could still see a group of ginkgo trees.

However, this time, after the exam bell rang, he did not continue to stare at the scenery, but lowered his head and answered the questions.

The questions are much more difficult than those in the city competition. The intention of the question setters is purely to make things difficult for people. You can even see their sinister smiles from the numbers and symbols.

Li Zhuiyuan felt the same way, just like when he was giving advanced questions to Tan Wenbin.

After finishing the questions, Li Zhuiyuan handed in his paper early. He walked under the ginkgo tree again and looked at the yellowing leaves on it.

He really wanted to suggest to the principal that he plant some in the school, but then he thought there was no need as he probably wouldn't have many opportunities to see them.

As I walked out of the examination room, Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan immediately ran over, one handed me a towel and the other handed me water.

"How's it going, Xiaoyuan?"

"Is the question difficult?"

“I’ve made them all.”

After hearing this, the stone that was already in their hearts felt heavier.

The next day after I came back from the exam was the midterm exam.

Originally, Wu Xinhan thought that Xiaoyuan would come to his office to rest after the first exam, just like he did in the last monthly exam. For this reason, he even brought a thermos bucket filled with chicken soup cooked by his wife.

But no matter how long I waited, the boy didn't come.

He was a little restless, not because he was worried that the chicken soup would be wasted, but because he was afraid that the boy would go somewhere else to rest and get caught a cold by the wind.

He went to Sun Qing's office first.

Sun Qing had just finished supervising an exam and was sharing persimmon cakes with the teachers in the office.

Sun Qing is now much more confident and calm than when she first became a class teacher. After all, only those who have no achievements will be caught up in the vortex of gaining seniority and torture and struggle with each other.

This qualification that falls from the sky is still qualification.

When you mention it in the future, you will just say that you taught "so-and-so" before. No one will really dig deep into what you taught him.

You can even cover your mouth and say: "Actually, he is very smart. We as the class teachers don't have to worry about anything. He can just develop freely."

What you say is true, but people who hear you will just think you are really humble.

Just like Principal Wu who was sarcastic during meetings, everyone has inner spiritual needs. Sun Qing's favorite thing to do now is to lie on the bed before going to sleep, close his eyes and imagine the future.

"Teacher Sun, please come out for a moment."

"Okay, Principal." Sun Qing came out and handed Wu Xinhan a piece of persimmon cake.

Wu Xinhan took a bite and asked, "Where's Xiaoyuan?"

"He's taking an exam."

"Ah, the exam isn't over yet? Aren't the papers printed out long ago? No one of you gave them to him?"

"No, Xiaoyuan said that he wanted to take the exam according to the normal process this time and get familiar with the college entrance examination process."

Midterm exams are different from monthly exams. The time is not compressed so extremely. Instead, they are divided into two days to simulate the frequency of the college entrance examination as much as possible.

"What a good boy."

"Teacher Su is very happy."

"hehe."

Teacher Su teaches English. Chinese and math can be the first subjects, but she has never seen any exam where English is tested first. She also doesn't want to recall her glorious resume with the only "flaw" being English. This would make her look incompetent and unable to teach even a child prodigy.

After each exam, Tan Wenbin did not check his answers, but sat back in his seat and either did some exercises or prepared for the next exam.

These days, some food appears under his drawer in the mornings.

It was given by squad leader Zhou Yunyun.

Even if Tan Wenbin was a little bit stupid, he knew what the squad leader meant. He would return the gift by buying some snacks.

But apart from discussing topics during breaks, he did not have much contact with Zhou Yunyun. As soon as school was over, he rode his bicycle and followed Runsheng's tricycle home.

Zhou Yunyun didn't continue to take the initiative. The two of them just occasionally gave each other small gifts, and neither of them crossed the line.

Perhaps, this is the most beautiful throbbing of youth, and it is also the warm arc that will still appear at the corners of your mouth when you look through your memories in the future.

While harvesting rice, he told Runsheng about this.

Runsheng turned around and asked, "When are you going to have a child?"

If it weren't for the fact that Runsheng was holding a sickle in his hand, Tan Wenbin would have wanted to duel with him.

Along with the midterm exam results are the Mathematical Olympiad results. Although the grades are still divided by ranking, colleges and universities have their own channels to know the real scores.

The happiest thing for Wu Xinhan these days is sitting in the office and answering the phone.

"Hello, I'm Wu Xinhan, the principal of Shigang Middle School."

Then wait for the following to introduce yourself.

Isn’t this more fulfilling than during a military training review?
Unfortunately, Xiaoyuan had already told him his target university, which deprived him of more room to flatter and explore happiness.

On the night when the midterm exam rankings were announced, Tan Wenbin returned home.

After handing the report card to his mother, she cried with joy.

When Tan Yunlong came back, his wife excitedly shared her joy with him, which made Tan Yunlong himself feel a little dazed and unreal.

He walked to the door of his son's room and wanted to push the door open directly, but he still knocked.

The son didn't even say "Come in", but walked over and opened the door.

"Let's go to the balcony and chat."

"Ah."

The father and son came to the balcony.

Tan Yunlong: "I did well in the exam this time."

"There's still some way to go. We need to keep working hard."

Tan Yunlong wanted to touch his son's head, but when he raised his hand, he ended up patting his son's shoulder.

“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.”

"Yes, I know."

Tan Yunlong took out the cigarette box, pulled out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, hesitated for a moment, then pulled out another one and handed it to his son.

Tan Wenbin suddenly felt his eyes moist and instinctively lowered his head to avoid his father's sight.

It’s funny that when the scene I had always dreamed of really appeared, what I wanted in my heart was to turn back time.

He stretched out his hand to push away his father's hand offering a cigarette and said:
"Dad, I quit."

-

I'm not feeling well today and in a bad condition, so I'm sorry for this poor chapter.

(End of this chapter)