The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

The meal lasted from dawn till dusk, and the men talked about the Taoist Association and the Calligraphy Association.

Master Yang said that Xi Lang's calligraphy was good and wanted to recommend him to join the calligraphy association. After the meal, he asked Xi Lang to write a piece of calligraphy and took it with him.

"With Mr. Xi's calligraphy, joining the association should not be a problem. Mr. Xi, just wait for my news," said Master Yang.

Xi Lang nodded and said, "Thank you for your help, Master Yang."

Master Yang waved his hand, "It's no trouble at all. We've troubled Mr. Xi quite a bit, and compared to what Mr. Xi has done for us, what we can give him is really insignificant."

After seeing off Master Yang, Song Zhaoyuan, and Song Yuanzhi, Chen Zhi finally couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going back to Sandong Village?"

"Go back," Xi Lang replied without hesitation. "Go back whenever you want, but we won't stay in Sandong Village forever."

Chen Zhi asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"

Xi Lang: "What I mean is, we can spend most of our time in Sandong Village, but we also need to have the ability to leave Sandong Village. When the regulations aren't so strict anymore, we can travel around and see the world. What do you think?"

Chen Zhi: "Sounds good."

It snowed heavily that night, and Xi Lang got up twice in the middle of the night to add coal, and the stove burned all night.

The next day, before Chen Zhi got out of bed, Xi Lang went out. When she came downstairs, she saw that there were more vegetables in the house, as well as dozens of kilograms of beef, a whole steak and offal.

"With such heavy snow, they didn't even take a break?" Chen Zhi touched the meat, which was already slightly hardened and almost frozen.

"Everyone's making money during this year-end period," Xi Lang said, dividing the meat. "Beef patties for breakfast?"

Chen Zhi had no objection, "Okay."

"Shall we have donkey meat dumplings for lunch?"

"You can arrange it."

"Then go and memorize your lessons for an hour, practice calligraphy for an hour, and then you can come down for breakfast."

"..."

The snow fell on and off for more than a month, and the college entrance examination was over.

Chen Zhi didn't pay attention to the college entrance examination, and Xi Lang didn't mention it either.

When the snow stops, it's time to prepare for the New Year.

The sun came out that day, and Chen Zhi and Xi Lang planned to go out for a stroll to buy some New Year's goods and replenish the vegetables and fruits at home.

Chen Zhi saw window decorations and couplets for sale on the street and was about to pull Xi Lang over, but Xi Lang said, "I can cut window decorations and write couplets. We can just buy some red paper."

Chen Zhi was not surprised that Xi Lang could write couplets.

"You can even cut paper snowflakes?"

"Yes, I learned it from my master when I was a child. It's just cutting paper snowflakes, not as difficult as drawing talismans."

Chen Zhi was speechless. She was still in the stage of memorizing various talismans, which was a million times more difficult than recognizing and memorizing characters.

"We can buy some fireworks and firecrackers." Xi Lang pulled Chen Zhi to another stall.

The two spent the whole day out, and even ate lunch outside – wontons and pancakes.

When the two returned home in the afternoon with their purchases, they found a person standing outside the door.

"Why are you here?" Xi Lang asked, frowning.

"Why can't I come?" Xi Fangxiu glared. "Before you came back, I was the one who took care of this house. If it weren't for me, this house would have been confiscated long ago."

"Thank you so much." Xi Lang's tone was perfunctory.

Chen Zhi opened the door without even saying hello to Xi Fangxiu.

"What kind of attitude is that? Is this how a person should act when meeting an elder?" Xi Fangxiu snorted and glared.

"You told her she doesn't need to acknowledge you." Xi Lang also went inside.

Xi Fangxiu: "......."

This unfilial son knows how to anger him.

Chen Zhi first lit the stove to warm up the house. Then she began to organize the things she had bought, putting them away in categories.

"We've been traveling all day, shall we have something simple for dinner?" Chen Zhi asked Xi Lang for his opinion.

Xi Lang thought for a moment, "There are still some dumplings left from last time, let's eat those."

The two talked as if no one else was around, ignoring Xi Fangxiu standing to the side.

Xi Fangxiu glanced at the things they had bought, then went to the storeroom in the backyard and was surprised to find that there were even more things here than at the old house. There was a wide variety of meat, vegetables and fruits.

"Where did you get the money?" He hadn't given them any living expenses for the past two months, and he hadn't even paid Liu Ma's salary. He thought these two would apologize to him and apologize, but instead, they not only didn't apologize, but they were also living a very prosperous life.

Xi Lang rolled his eyes at him. "Earned it."

Xi Fangxiu didn't believe it. "What money could you two from the countryside possibly earn?"

Xi Lang didn't want to talk to him anymore. "If you don't have anything else, you can go back."

Xi Fangxiu was even angrier. "You're kicking me out? Is this how you treat your father?"

Xi Lang fell silent.

Chen Zhi didn't respond.

"Your younger brother is missing. Could you help me look for him?" Xi Fangxiu explained the purpose of his visit.

Xi Lang refused without even thinking, "I won't help. Go ahead and call the police."

"I reported it, and five days have passed with no progress whatsoever." He wouldn't have come if there hadn't been no progress at all.

"They didn't ask you to pay a ransom?"

"no."

"Was it done by your enemy?"

"No, there are six people missing in total."

"Are you sure he's missing, and not just ran away from home to go out and play?"

"It's freezing outside, no one would choose this time to go out. Besides, population movement restrictions haven't been completely lifted, so he can't go out."

"He couldn't have just disappeared for no reason, could he?"

"this--"

Xi Fangxiu frowned. "They said they were going to see rime ice, but the whole carload of people has disappeared."

Xi Lang fell silent.

"Don't you have that kind of skill? Try to figure out where your brother is."

"I'm not good at calculations."

"You must have some ability to get Song Zhaoyuan to come to your door so many times."

"So what? Xi Yue and I are less than strangers. Why should I look for him?"

"He's your brother."

I didn't treat him like a younger brother.

"...What do you want in return for your help?"

"Give me the money, I need a thousand yuan."

"Too many, I don't have any."

"Then forget it. It seems you don't really care about his life."

"...Okay! I'll give you a thousand dollars if you can find him."

"It doesn't guarantee life or death."

"Siron!"

"He's been missing for five days now, who knows if he's dead or alive."

"good!"

Xi Fangxiu gritted his teeth, "I want to see him alive or dead. If you find him, I'll give you a thousand yuan."

"Pay first."

"Don't go too far!"

"Pay first, or there's no point in talking."

"...Okay! I'll go get the money now. Once you have the money, go find your brother immediately."

"Can."

Xi Fangxiu was furious and stormed out.

Xi Lang remained calm and composed, and did not forget to remind Chen Zhi, "Don't wait for me to go to bed tonight. If I'm not back by tomorrow morning, don't fall behind in your studies."

"......good."

Xi Lang wasn't home, so Chen Zhi studied by herself. She studied several books before she got sleepy and went to bed.

Normally, even when they lay in bed together, they didn't deliberately try to get close, but they could feel each other's presence, which made them feel inexplicably at ease. Tonight, with Xi Lang not home, Chen Zhi suddenly felt a little uneasy.

She tossed and turned, finally falling asleep while hugging Xi Lang's pillow.

When she woke up the next day, she was still alone in bed; Xi Lang had not returned yet.

The fire in the stove had gone out. Chen Zhi first tended the stove, then recited her lessons and practiced calligraphy. Only after she finished was she able to go downstairs.

Usually, Xi Lang would prepare the food, but today she was alone and had little interest in anything.

"Let's have dumplings, with some greens," Chen Zhi muttered to herself.

While she was having breakfast, there was a knock on the door.

Chen Zhi, holding her bowl, went to open the door while eating. When she saw the people outside, she was taken aback. "Why are you two here together?"

The people outside the door were Yang Hong and Feng Ruyu.

After not seeing him for a while, Yang Hong had cut his hair short, his complexion was much rosier, and he looked more energetic than before. Feng Ruyu, on the other hand, remained the same, still pale and thin.

Feng Ruyu: "Jiang You has disappeared."

Chen Zhi was surprised. Why was he missing again?

According to Feng Ruyu's description, Jiang You went to the countryside four days ago. Apparently, someone had acquired something good and invited Jiang You and his group to come and see it.

"Not only Jiang You went, but Grandpa Fan went too. As far as I know, there are at least six or seven people who have disappeared. Those who do this kind of thing are now neither legal nor illegal, so no one dares to call the police. Everyone can only search for them privately."

"I followed them for several days, but we didn't find a single trace. I was worried that they might have encountered some kind of paranormal event."

"Some people have also found masters to help them, and they have found several, but we don't know if those people have real skills."

"I don't know anyone in this industry, except you, so I came to find you."

"I was lucky to run into Yang Hong on the road, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find your place."

Feng Ruyu spoke intermittently for a long time.

Chen Zhi was dumbfounded. "I'm still a novice. If it really is a paranormal event, I might not be able to help."

"But you can fight," Feng Ruyu said. "Other things can be handled by others; you just need to focus on fighting."

Chen Zhi: "..."

Feng Ruyu: "They offered a reward of ten yuan per person per day for anyone who participated in the search. They would also give fifty yuan for providing useful clues and two hundred yuan for helping to find the person."

Chen Zhi was somewhat tempted.

Feng Ruyu continued, "If someone puts in a lot of effort during this process, they will receive five hundred."

Chen Zhi: "Okay, I'll sign up."

Chen Zhi left a note on the table and then went out with Feng Ruyu and Yang Hong.

They first took a bus to the outskirts of the city, then walked out of the city, and after about an hour, they arrived at a rural bungalow.

When Chen Zhi and his two companions entered, there were already quite a few people inside. Some, like them, had just arrived that morning. Others were covered in mud and had dark circles under their eyes; these were people who had been searching the area for several days.

"Didn't you say you didn't want women?" a middle-aged man asked, frowning.

"Uncle Ge, she's different; she's very strong," Feng Ruyu said with a forced smile.

"Even if she's a good fighter, can she beat a man? Xiao Feng, I know you're short on money, but even if you're short on money, you can't earn it by going against your conscience. What can a woman do?"

"Women are unlucky."

"Xiao Feng must have been so captivated by this woman's beauty that he couldn't resist bringing her along, right?"

"With such beauty, if she wanted to make money, she could just lie on the bed, spread her legs, and go. Why bother with this hardship?"

"Hehehe, the words may be rough, but the principle is sound."

A burst of lewd laughter erupted from inside the room.

Feng Ruyu's face darkened.

Yang Hong clenched his fists, ready to punch someone, but Chen Zhi stopped him.

Chen Zhi shook her head at him, "Let's go out first."

The three of them left the room.

Feng Ruyu: "I'm sorry, I didn't expect these people to be so rude."

Chen Zhi didn't care; in fact, she couldn't understand it very well.

"Who gave the money? Uncle Ge from earlier?" she asked.

Feng Ruyu: "No, it was a Mr. Tang."

Chen Zhi: "Then let's go talk to this Mr. Tang."