As soon as Shi Dazhuang stepped out of Spring City Airport, he spotted the burly Peng Jiahu standing in the crowd of people waiting to pick up passengers. Peng Jiahu immediately punched Shi Dazhuang: "I heard you got promoted to bureau chief, you're something else, Abbess!"
Shi Dazhuang said, "The deputy."
Peng Jiahu glared at him. "It's a big city, even a deputy is still a full-fledged department head. Don't be ungrateful, the brothers are all waiting for you to treat them to drinks!"
Shi Dazhuang said, "You've been a branch captain at Baoteng for two years now, you'll be promoted soon, right?"
"Hey, I can catch drug dealers, but I can't be an official. I'm always in meetings and studying, it's driving me crazy!" Peng Jiahu waved his hand and turned to look at Yu Meiren. "Oh, Beauty has grown taller!" Without thinking twice, he picked Beauty up and, with his stubble, kissed Beauty face.
The Beauty, tickled by his prickly touch, giggled and exclaimed, "Ah, Peng Yeye, your beard is too stiff!" Then she shouted to Yao Jingjing, "Aunt Jingjing, help!"
Peng Jiahu then noticed Yao Jingjing, put Yu Meiren down, and said with a smile, "Oh, excuse me, this... you wouldn't happen to be my sister-in-law, would you?"
Shi Dazhuang retorted, "What nonsense are you talking about! She's already taken; it was just a coincidence that we bumped into each other."
Peng Jiahu scratched his head, repeatedly apologizing. After introducing themselves, he invited Yao Jingjing to have dinner together. Yao Jingjing declined because she was in a hurry to return to Cuanzhou.
After saying goodbye to the Beauty, she hailed a car to the high-speed rail station.
She recalled that night two years ago, when she took a taxi to the high-speed rail station in the same way. Although so much time had passed, Yao Jingjing still couldn't help but tremble every time she thought of that thrilling moment.
If Qingmu hadn't arrived in time, her life would have been ruined by that driver. Her mother had leukemia, and now her daughter was facing another misfortune—how tragic that would have been for this family! But they were undoubtedly lucky; they met Qingmu, and everything turned out alright, and their lives got better and better.
But what about the families who didn't encounter the same situation as Qingmu?
There is only one Qingmu in this world, and even that one, like He-Tu-Shu, has disappeared without a trace.
When Yao Jingjing returned home, she found no one there. She called and learned that her cousin had already taken her parents to Cuan Family Village. Mama Yao told her to drive there herself, that the car was parked in the community, and the car keys were in a small drawer on the coffee table in the living room. She also told her to be careful on the road, as there had been many landslides due to the recent heavy rains.
The car was purchased not long ago. After Mama Yao and Papa Yao returned from Wuzhong, Yao Jingjing strongly suggested that her father buy a car so that it would be more convenient for him to take care of her mother. At that time, they were not short of money, but after looking around, Papa Yao finally bought a used car, saying that it was cheap and easy to use.
Yao Jingjing took the keys, retrieved the car from the garage, and headed straight for Cuan Family Village. Just as Mama Yao had said, the rocks from the landslide were still piled up on the road. This road was already difficult to drive on, winding and narrow, and with the rocks blocking the way, it was very strenuous to drive.
As she rounded a sharp bend, there were several rocks on the road ahead, including a sharp-edged one that was blocking her way. There was no time to avoid it. Yao Jingjing heard a thud from under the car and had a bad feeling. She steered the car forward a bit to avoid being hit by someone making a sharp turn from behind, then pulled over to the side of the road.
There was a faint mark on the ground at the rear of the car, like a drop of oil. She took out the jack from the trunk, lifted the car, bent down and crawled under to take a look, and found that the fuel tank had indeed been cracked by a stone, and oil was seeping out of the crack.
This place is in the middle of nowhere; if you want to get your car repaired, you'll have to drive back.
Yao Jingjing emerged from under the car, looked at the undulating mountains, and sighed. She took out two pieces of chewing gum from her pocket, unwrapped them, and popped them into her mouth.
The stones from the road in the distance still lie there, sharp and jagged, waiting for the next unlucky one to fall into their trap.
Yao Jingjing glanced at it, then went back and moved several large stones to the side of the road so that cars coming from behind wouldn't get hit.
Back at her car, she leaned against the door, gazing up at the blue sky in a daze.
Only after the chewing gum had lost its sweetness did she bend down and crawl under the car again, stick the chewed gum to the crack in the fuel tank, press it down firmly with her fingers, and the fuel stopped leaking out.
"This method really works!" Yao Jingjing crawled out from under the car, dusted herself off, and suddenly burst out laughing.
She remembered the day Hou Biao returned from the United States, when he mysteriously gave her a gift box. The box was wrapped in beautiful wrapping paper and tied with a ribbon.
Yao Jingjing hadn't expected Hou Biao to give her a gift; this tattooed giant didn't seem like the kind of man who would wrap a gift box with such care. She smiled and asked:
"You didn't make this, did you?"
"I asked a girl at the stationery store to help me wrap it," Hou Biao said, stroking his bald head.
"It's not a stationery item, is it?"
No, no, that's not it.
What is that?
"It's delicious."
"Delicious?"
Yao Jingjing suddenly remembered that the day she wanted to talk to Professor Mei about the key, when she called Hou Biao, she heard him making smacking noises while eating. She had asked him, "What are you eating?"
Hou Biao said on the phone, "Eat something delicious, I'll buy it for you when I get back."
She hadn't expected him to actually buy it for her; the unexpected surprise warmed her heart. But the food was so tiny! Even a little girl wouldn't be full!
She eagerly opened the box and saw two packs of chewing gum inside, the kind you can buy at the supermarket. She immediately smiled and said:
"You're not talking about this being delicious, are you?"
Hou Biao chuckled as he rubbed his bald head with his large hand, recounting what had happened in Beverly Hills, and then pointed to the chewing gum, saying:
"This is a real gem; it's an essential item for people in our line of work."
Then he went on to list a whole bunch of benefits of chewing gum.
Yao Jingjing was amazed to hear that chewing gum had so many uses. She finally understood Hou Biao's intention; he was teaching her a skill! However, from Hou Biao's expression, she could also sense that he genuinely wanted to give her a gift. It was just that a man like him probably wouldn't give anything to please a girl, so he could only use this kind of opportunity to give her chewing gum.
From then on, she also started carrying chewing gum with her at all times.
After temporarily "fixing" the car, she set off again, arriving at Cuan Family Village in the evening.
The Cuan Family Village have been living in fear these past few days.
At first, rumors circulated that it was thieves, but no one in the village had anything missing. Only a few dilapidated houses in the old family home on the mountain had been ransacked, and Old Madam Cuan's grave had been dug up, with her body gone. It was a decades-old earthen grave with nothing of value; who would be so foolish as to rob such a grave?
Some say it's the old lady's old enemies coming after her. The old lady was a ruthless woman back then; she was involved in revolution, served in the army, and was a bandit, killing countless people. Her old enemies don't dare to come to her door for revenge, so they must have instructed their descendants to dig up her grave and whip her corpse.
Some say the old woman has risen from the dead. The Cuan Family Village moved to a new location, and the old house was left unattended. The old woman got angry and crawled out of her grave to settle scores with her descendants!
Because of this, the villagers invited Mama Yao back home, since she was closest to the old lady. Mama Yao was exhausted by this matter and was restless all day long.
"I 'Tushu hoping your great-grandmother has really come back to life, but I also don't want it to be true. It's so painful!" As soon as she saw her beloved daughter, Mama Yao began to complain.
Yao Jingjing first went to the old house. Old Madam Cuan's room had been ransacked, and the photos under the glass on the dressing table had been moved. The box containing the photos and the album inside were missing. She then went to the Cuan Family's ancestral cemetery. The old lady's grave had been dug up, and rainwater had accumulated in the pit.
She crouched down to examine it closely and found some scratch marks left on the hard soil and rocks around the pit. The pit did indeed look like it had been dug open by hand, but she couldn't tell whether it was dug from the outside in or from the inside out.
Yao Jingjing remembered the dream her mother had while sleeping with the photo album box. Her intuition told her that this might be related to the desert in the dream.