Wilderness Romance!

"Sister-in-law, are you alright?"

"It's nothing." Nie Xiaoyu looked at the dining table: "Have you finished eating?"

"I'm done eating."

Nie Xiaoyu stepped forward and cleared away the dishes and chopsticks on the table: "Lu Pingchuan, come with me for a moment."

Lu Pingchuan didn't ask any further questions and followed Nie Xiaoyu to another room.

"Sister-in-law, what can I do for you?"

"Stop trying to claim kinship; who's your sister-in-law?"

Lu Pingchuan scratched his head awkwardly: "Okay, sister-in-law, then I'll call you Sister Xiaoyu from now on."

Nie Xiaoyu took a cloth bag out of the cabinet and sat down opposite Lu Pingchuan.

"Lu Pingchuan, these are the family's household registration book and ID cards, and this card number was left by the victim. There is still 300,000 yuan left in compensation."

"These are my parents' medical records and the medications they take regularly. Please refer to the instructions for use."

Immediately afterwards, she took out 120 yuan from her pocket and placed it in front of Lu Pingchuan: "This is all the money I have on me, you can take it."

Nie Xiaoyu's actions completely baffled Lu Pingchuan.

"Sister-in-law... Sister Xiaoyu, just give me the victim's bank card number. I'll handle the compensation. You can keep the rest."

"Lu Pingchuan, don't you understand what I mean?"

Nie Xiaoyu remained expressionless and coldly said, "Brother Pingsheng saved my life before, which is why I stayed to take care of my parents. Consider it as repaying Brother Pingsheng's life-saving grace."

"Now that you're back, what am I still doing here? I'm leaving in three days."

"What?" Lu Pingchuan stood up. "Sister Xiaoyu, where are you going? Weren't you taken away by your family...?"

Nie Xiaoyu's face darkened, clearly showing some anger.

"Lu Pingchuan, are you mocking me? Or do you think I have nowhere to go if I leave the Lu family?"

"No, no, no." Lu Pingchuan hurriedly waved his hands, "Sister Xiaoyu, I absolutely didn't mean that, I just..."

"Just what?"

Lu Pingchuan fell silent.

He really wanted his sister-in-law to stay, to give him a chance to make amends, but his older brother had already left, so what reason was there for his sister-in-law to stay in the house?

"Sister Xiaoyu," Lu Pingchuan sighed, "What happened before was all my fault, but it's too late to say anything now."

"I have no right to stop you from leaving, but please remember, this will always be your home. If there's anything you can't resolve, you must tell me immediately."

"You don't need to worry about my affairs."

Nie Xiaoyu pushed her parents' medicine and the 120 yuan in front of Lu Pingchuan: "This medicine is only enough for two days. 120 yuan is not enough to buy more medicine. You should think about what to do after you finish this medicine."

Lu Pingchuan wasn't worried about his parents' illnesses; through his treatment, they didn't need to take any medication at all.

On the contrary, Nie Xiaoyu has done so much for the Lu family, and even if she has to leave, she absolutely cannot leave in such a shabby way.

Lu Pingchuan secretly vowed that he would give Nie Xiaoyu some money before she left. Although money is not everything, at least it would ensure that she could eat well and stay warm while she was away.

"Sister Xiaoyu, thank you so much for taking such good care of Mom and Dad during this time. Please be sure to let me know before you leave."

Lu Pingchuan stood up, picked up the piece of paper with the victim's card number written on it from the table, and didn't touch anything else.

After leaving home, Lu Pingchuan went straight to the river behind the sand washing plant, where his older brother had the accident.

With such excellent swimming skills, it's impossible for my brother to drown unless the riverbed is full of silt or weeds.

He came here to check if there was any silt or weeds in the river. If not, then his brother's death must have been suspicious.

Lu Pingchuan quickly stripped off his clothes, a dagger between his teeth, and jumped into the river with a "plop".

He carefully probed the riverbed with his foot and found that the bottom was full of fine sand and gravel, with no silt or sediment and no aquatic plants. How could someone who was a good swimmer drown under such conditions?

More importantly, the river was only 1.5 to 1.6 meters deep. Keep in mind that Lu Pingchuan's older brother was 1.8 meters tall, so even if he were standing in the water, he could not possibly drown.

However, Lu Pingchuan did not draw a conclusion directly, but instead walked along the river for a full two miles from east to west.

After walking these two miles, he was 100% certain that his elder brother's death was definitely not an accident.

When he came out of the river, the sun was about to set. This was the time when the night shift workers at the sand washing plant were heading there.

Lu Pingchuan got dressed and went straight to the only road leading to the sand washing plant.

Soon, several men in their fifties with dark skin arrived together.

Upon seeing this, Lu Pingchuan immediately went to meet him.

"Brothers," he said, pulling out cigarettes and offering one to each of them, "are you going to work at the sand washing plant?"

"That's right, we're going to work at the sand washing plant."

"What's wrong, young man? Is something the matter?"

Lu Pingchuan took out a lighter and immediately lit the cigarettes in their hands.

"Brothers, I just wanted to ask if working at a sand washing plant is tiring? How much can you earn? I'd like to try it too."

"You?" One of them looked Lu Pingchuan up and down, then shook his head and said, "Young man, the wages for washing sand are not low, two hundred a night, but the work there is not easy. I'm afraid your small frame can't handle it."

"That's right, young man. With your delicate skin, you can't possibly endure that kind of hardship. I advise you not to go."

Although Lu Pingchuan has changed a lot in the past five years, in their eyes he is still a fair-skinned and delicate young man.

"It's okay, brother. As long as I can make money, I'm not afraid of hardship."

"Oh," one of them scoffed, "Young man, you're not that old, but you've got quite the nerve."

"Young people like you are rare these days. Which village are you from?"

"Red Flag Village".

Upon hearing the words "Red Flag Village," the group exchanged glances, a strange look flashing across their faces.

"Old Zhang," one of them whispered, leaning close to Old Zhang's ear, "that Lu Pingsheng from before seems to be from Hongqi Village."

Old Zhang rolled his eyes at the man: "Don't talk nonsense, I don't know him."

"Young man," Old Zhang gave a stiff smile, "at your age, you can make money anywhere."

"Yes, yes, forget about cleaning the sand pit. We're not hiring right now. Go back home."

"Alright, everyone, stop talking nonsense and let's get going, or we'll be late."

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Zhang and the others got up and left, their pace quickening as if they were afraid Lu Pingchuan would catch up with them.

Lu Pingchuan observed their behavior, which further confirmed his suspicions.

Not wanting to implicate them, Lu Pingchuan waited until Old Zhang and the others had gone some distance before slowly walking towards the sand washing field.

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