Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

After seeing An Xiaohai's appearance clearly, the man was also visibly stunned.

An Xiaohai is far too young.

The man gestured for An Xiaohai to roll down the car window so they could talk, but An Xiaohai was more cautious this time and only opened the window a crack.

"Boss, this is Gujiang Village. Who are you looking for? Did you take the wrong road?" the man asked, revealing a set of brown teeth, probably from smoking.

"I've come to see Director Zou," An Xiaohai said truthfully.

That's how it is in villages; people are very wary of outsiders, especially in small mountain villages like this. It's normal for villagers to ask questions when they see a stranger.

Zou Laoquan is the director of the Gujiang Village Police Station.

"Oh, so you're here to see Director Zou. What do you need him for?"

"It's nothing important, just a personal matter. Do you know Director Zou, sir?" An Xiaohai asked with a smile. Of course, he couldn't tell this man that he was here to create a fake identity.

"Oh, I see. Of course I know him. Everyone in the village knows him."

"Please park your car to the side, don't block the road. Get out and I'll help you across. The road ahead is difficult to navigate; you can't drive that way in."

After saying this, the man slowly walked down the muddy road, carrying his hoe.

An Xiaohai didn't rush to get out of the car. He first observed the surrounding situation and found nothing unusual.

An Xiaohai looked at the location where the pistol was hidden again, thought about it for a while, but still didn't take it. He just picked up his backpack, locked the car door, and followed.

The villager who spoke to An Xiaohai didn't turn around; he just kept walking. An Xiaohai followed behind him at a leisurely pace, carrying his bag, always keeping a certain distance from him.

After walking for a long time, some paddy fields began to appear on both sides of the road.

Most of these paddy fields are idle, barren and lifeless. Only a small portion are actually planted with rice. The people busy in these paddy fields are mostly elderly people with white hair.

"There are fewer and fewer people in the village. The young people have all gone out to make their way in the world. Those who are left can't leave. In another ten or twenty years, when all these old people are gone, this village will probably be completely ruined."

The villager sighed, as if talking to himself.

Since there were already signs of human presence, An Xiaohai lowered his guard considerably and slowly walked over to the villager. After listening to the villager's words, An Xiaohai felt a pang of sadness.

The process of urbanization is unstoppable, and small mountain villages like this will only continue to decline. What surprised An Xiaohai the most was that this decline had already begun in this era.

"There's a small shop over there that sells really good rice wine. Director Zhou really enjoys it. If you need to see Director Zou, go buy a few pounds and take them with you. It's not a good idea to go empty-handed!"

"Okay, I'll go buy it right away, thank you, sir!"

An Xiaohai readily agreed. According to Xigou, the going rate for a new identity was 3000 yuan. Since the main purpose was to deliver money, An Xiaohai hadn't even considered this aspect, which was a real oversight.

A few kilograms of rice wine was no big deal for An Xiaohai, so he simply bought a whole jar. The shop owner greeted and chatted with the villagers with a smile, speaking in the local dialect, which An Xiaohai couldn't quite understand.

The jar with the wine was quite heavy, and An Xiaohai struggled to carry it. The villager immediately came up and helped him lift the jar, as if it were a straw.

"Uncle, isn't just alcohol not enough? Is there anywhere around here to buy snacks to go with it?"

"Hmm, not bad, being a boss is different, you get it right away! There's a family up ahead that has some good pig's head meat, you can go and buy some from them."

Actually, it doesn't matter whether the food is good or not, Director Zou, as long as there's wine, that's fine.

"I'll still buy some; it was definitely my oversight."

Gujiang Village is really too small. Apart from a dilapidated little shop, you have to buy everything else from the villagers' homes.

The villager led An Xiaohai around almost the entire village, buying a lot of things that left An Xiaohai panting heavily. Luckily, the villager helped carry a lot, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to carry them all.

Just when An Xiaohai was about to give up, they finally arrived at their destination, and An Xiaohai was a little stunned.

This doesn't look like a police station at all. It's no different from a regular villager's courtyard, except for a very inconspicuous sign hanging at the entrance that says "Gujiang Village Police Station".

The door wasn't closed. The villager led An Xiaohai into the yard and piled all the things in a side room. Just as An Xiaohai was getting more and more confused, the villager pulled out a hat from somewhere and put it on his head.

"Alright, I'm Zou Laoquan. What do you want? Who recommended you?"

Damn... An Xiaohai was completely speechless!

Haixi Province is truly a magical place, a land of outstanding people and abundant resources, always offering surprises and unexpected delights!

"Are you really Director Zou?"

"It's genuine, no doubt about it. Would you like me to show you my ID?"

Zou Laoquan cleared the table, put some of the cooked food he had just bought on it, and eagerly poured himself a glass of rice wine, gulping it down before letting out a satisfying sigh.

"No need for that, it was Greyhound who introduced me."

"Xigou... So it's Gou Yi, that kid. I haven't seen him for years. How is he doing now?" Zou Laoquan asked, taking another big gulp of rice wine.

"He's doing pretty well now; he's made some money in Shenhai City."

But that's not bad. Judging by the timeline, Greyhound should be in Deepsea City right now with his gang, plotting to rob the factory accountant who just withdrew money from the bank.

They should have succeeded in the next few days, stealing a full 80,000 yuan. They then lived a carefree life for half a year before being caught by the police and detained in the First Prison of Shenhai City for a long time.

"Alright, alright, I'm not going to argue with you about this anymore. You don't need to say why you came to see me. Do you even know the rules?"

"I know, 3000."

"3000 isn't enough!" Zou Laoquan peeled a peanut and threw it into his mouth. "3000 is the price for acquaintances in the neighborhood. Since you were introduced by Xigou, it'll be 5000."

"Boss, with such a nice car, spending an extra 2000 yuan shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Of course it's not a problem!" An Xiaohai nodded, inwardly cursing.

That old fox is clearly trying to rip him off! The car is one thing, but taking him around the village and buying so many things is also a test of his bottom line.

But 2000 yuan isn't too much, so it doesn't matter.

"Great!" Zou Laoquan nodded, looking somewhat annoyed, feeling he hadn't asked for much. But since he'd already said it, there was nothing he could do.

"Okay, wait a moment."

Zou Laoquan took another sip of wine, took out a pair of reading glasses and put them on, then shakily pulled a key from his clothes and opened a filing cabinet next to him.

How old are you this year?

"22".

"22..." Zou Laoquan muttered to himself and then began searching through a pile of files. After a while, Zou Laoquan pulled out a few files and pushed them in front of An Xiaohai.

"These few are quite suitable for you. They're about your age, their elders have all passed away, they have nothing to worry about, and no one will care about them anyway."

An Xiaohai frowned. He had originally thought that Zou Laoquan would help him fabricate a new identity, but it turned out that he was being asked to impersonate someone else. This was clearly problematic.

"Don't worry, boss, those kids are all gone. Some died of illness abroad, some were killed, and some committed crimes and were smuggled abroad, and they probably won't be coming back."

If you're still worried about problems, then choose from these few. These are definitely no longer here; I've personally confirmed them, there are no issues, and only I know they're gone.

As Zou Laoquan spoke, he picked out three more files from the list and set them aside.

An Xiaohai nodded.

That's more like it. Otherwise, it would be ridiculous if you were putting on a great show outside and then the real person showed up.

"Zheng Xiaoniu... Chen Maogan... He Shuipiao! What the hell are these random names?!"

An Xiaohai was almost speechless.

After hesitating for a long time, An Xiaohai finally reluctantly chose Chen Maogan. For no other reason than that his surname was Chen, the same as his mother's.

"Don't worry about the names. All the information about these identities is complete and verifiable. Even if someone comes to visit, they won't find anything wrong with it."

A name is just a label; safety comes first, right?

An Xiaohai nodded; there was nothing wrong with what he said.

In this remote mountain village, Zou Laoquan, the head of the village police station, is like a local tyrant. If he says you are Chen Maogan, then you are Chen Maogan!

However, An Xiaohai knew very well that this approach could only last for another ten years or so at most.

More than a decade later, when fingerprints and facial recognition begin to be collected on a large scale, and when even buying a kitchen knife requires real-name registration, this identity will certainly not be able to be preserved.

He could only choose between An Xiaohai and Chen Maogan.

However, ten years is enough!