Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

Linquanzhuang is not far from Laiyang County, only about 30 kilometers away.

But if Lin Ching-hsia had relied on herself alone, she would have had to take countless detours in this era of inconvenient transportation.

However, even with Li Jiangbo's help, the two still suffered a bit.

Problems arose as soon as we hit the road.

Li Jiangbo didn't know the way, so the two of them had to ask for directions as they walked.

After finally getting directions, the two were then made miserable by the terrible road conditions.

However, none of these things mattered to Lin Qingxia, because she was so anxious that she couldn't care less about them.

After driving for about half an hour, the two finally arrived at Linquanzhuang Village.

As soon as the two got out of the car, they started asking from house to house.

"Da Ye, do you know someone named Lin Weiliang?"

"Auntie, have you ever heard of Lin Weiliang?"

"Comrade, wasn't there a family surnamed Lin living here more than thirty years ago, who moved away later?"

......

It was an hour later when we finished touring the entire village.

After the two met in front of the car, they both looked dejected.

Li Jiangbo took a water bottle from the car and handed it to Lin Qingxia. "I asked about ten families here, and they all said the village is right, but they don't recognize the people."

Lin Qingxia took the water bottle, drank a few sips, and then said, "I'm in the same situation as you."

Just as the two were feeling dejected, an old man with a cane passed by them.

Li Jiangbo, clinging to a hopeless situation, stepped forward and asked, "Grandpa, is this Linquanzhuang Village?"

The old man looked Li Jiangbo up and down and then shook his head.

"Young man, you...you're not from around here, are you?"

When Li Jiangbo saw the old man shake his head, he immediately felt there was hope and quickly nodded in response.

Lin Qingxia, who was standing nearby, also came over and looked at the old man with hopeful eyes.

The old man looked to be in his eighties or nineties, and he spoke haltingly.

Li Jiangbo and Lin Qingxia patiently waited for the old man to finish speaking, since he was the only one in the whole village who shook his head when asked.

"This village, this village, shouldn't be the Linquanzhuang Village you're talking about. The place you're looking for should be... over there."

The two looked in the direction the old man pointed.

Upon seeing this, my heart sank.

The place the old man pointed to wasn't far, just across the street, but there were hardly any houses there, and they were all rooms from the old society.

The old man continued, "Over here, over here, there are actually more people with the surname Yan. Over there, there are more people with the surname Lin. The place you... the place you're looking for should... should be over there."

Although the two didn't have high hopes, they still thanked the old man, turned around and ran to the other side of the road to ask from house to house.

An hour later, the two met up again, looking dejected.

Just as the old man had said, the places we searched this time had a lot of people with the surname Lin. But we still didn't find anything.

Lin Qingxia's voice was already hoarse, and she had some difficulty speaking.

"Director Li, do you think... this place might not even exist?"

Li Jiangbo handed her a water bottle without saying a word.

Lin Qingxia took a few sips of water and muttered to herself, "Or maybe my dad remembered wrong? That village is long gone? Everyone moved away?"

Li Jiangbo sighed, but still didn't say anything.

As it grew dark, the two had no choice but to return to the county town.

The next day, they went to another village, but the result was the same.

However, since the time available was relatively short this time, Li Jiangbo suggested going to the county archives to see if there were any clues.

In the afternoon, the two rushed to the county archives, only to find that they had already closed for the day.

On the third day, the two arrived at the archives early to check the household registration records.

The staff searched for a long time but couldn't find it.

Helplessly, all I could say was, "The notice said that in those chaotic times, there were no complete records. Even if there were, they would be long gone."

The two arrived full of enthusiasm, only to leave disappointed!

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was completely dark.

The two ate a quick meal and then went back to their respective rooms to rest.

Three consecutive days of travel left the two of them exhausted, both physically and mentally. They fell asleep the moment their heads hit the bed, completely forgetting to change their shoes and clothes.

The next morning, Li Jiangbo knocked on Lin Qingxia's door.

After a while, Lin Qingxia finally opened the door. Then, she limped into the room.

Li Jiangbo frowned. "What happened to your foot?"

Lin Qingxia shook her head. "It's nothing, I probably walked too much, it just hurts a little."

Li Jiangbo didn't say anything, but squatted down next to Lin Qingxia and hugged her legs in his arms without saying a word, carefully taking off her shoes.

"Director Li! No..."

Lin Qingxia wanted to shrink back, but how could she break free from Li Jiangbo's grasp?

After taking off the socks, I could see several shiny blisters on my fair soles, some of which had already broken, with the skin sticking to the flesh and a little blood seeping out.

Li Jiangbo frowned even more deeply. "How many days has it been?"

Lin Qingxia lowered her head and whispered, "It was worn out on the first day, I thought it was nothing..."

Li Jiangbo didn't say anything, turned around and left the room.

Lin Qingxia was somewhat taken aback, unsure of where to put her feet or what to do.

About a minute later, Li Jiangbo returned with a needle and a box of medicine.

"Bear with it, the sooner you pick it, the faster it will heal. Otherwise, it will delay your visit to your older sister."

Then, he squatted down opposite Lin Qingxia, heated a needle with his lighter, and then held her ankle and popped the blisters one by one.

Lin Qingxia looked at the person in front of her, her heart filled with mixed feelings.

She found in Li Jiangbo things that neither of the two Qins had: care, a sense of security, and trust.

Suddenly, her nose felt a little sore.

Someone I've only known for a short time dares to travel far and wide with me, all because of a promise I made back then.

She took a deep breath. "Director Li, let's stop looking and go back."

After a moment of silence, Li Jiangbo asked, "Are you sure?"

Lin Qingxia hummed in agreement but did not speak.

After Li Jiangbo finished removing the last blister, he looked up and glanced at Lin Qingxia.

"Okay, let's go back to Beijing first. But once we get back, we can try other methods."

"What method?"

Li Jiangbo threw away the needle, then took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Newspapers, television. We can place missing person ads. By the way, does your father have any siblings? We can start by looking for his brothers..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Qingxia grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

"Director Li! Thank you!"

Li Jiangbo was stunned for a moment, before he could react.

Lin Qingxia realized her lapse in composure, instantly loosened her arms, took two steps back, her face flushed, looking quite beautiful.

"I'm sorry, I got a little emotional."

Looking at Lin Qingxia, Li Jiangbo smiled and said, "It's okay, I don't mind if you hug me again."

Before Lin Qingxia could reply, he left like the wind.

After she realized what was happening, she muttered softly, "What's wrong with hugging me one more time? It's not like we've never hugged before!"

In the afternoon, the two boarded the train back to Yanjing.

Lin Qingxia was already quite impatient. She wanted to try Li Jiangbo's method, so that even if she couldn't find it, she could at least give her parents an explanation when she returned.