Lin Shuyue said okay and hung up the phone.
After that, she packed up the things that were scattered over the past few days. Today, Friday, they were setting off for Saihanba.
When Lin Shuyue packed her things and went out for lunch, Aunt Zhao was particularly reluctant to let her go. After just a few days of getting along with her, Aunt Zhao felt that Lin Shuyue was a really good girl and very likable.
She stewed a fish, braised it in soy sauce and added tofu. It was the first time Lin Shuyue had eaten fish cooked this way, and she found it fresh and ate more.
"Xiao Lin, next time you come to the capital, stay here too. I'll cook a few more of my specialties for you."
Lin Shuyue soaked the rice in fish soup and added a spoonful of chili sauce that Aunt Zhao had fried herself. She ate it all up. After hearing what Aunt Zhao said, Lin Shuyue touched her face and said, "Aunt, you see I've gained weight these past few days. How much fatter will I be if I eat more?"
Winter is a good season for gaining weight, and winter in the north is even more suitable.
Since the day Lin Shuyue arrived in the capital, she has been eating well and sleeping after eating because she doesn't want to go anywhere because it's cold.
Lin Shuyue felt that she had gained at least three pounds in the past few days. When she looked in the mirror this morning, she felt that her face had become rounder.
Aunt Zhao took a close look at Lin Shuyue and said, "Where are you fat? Not at all. Besides, it's better for women to be a little fatter. It's healthier."
In the eyes of Aunt Zhao and her generation, fat people represent good fortune, and she likes chubby little girls.
Lin Shuyue did not argue with Aunt Zhao, but said that if her mother knew she had gained weight, she would have to thank Aunt Zhao especially.
Aunt Zhao smiled so hard that her teeth were showing. If Lin Shuyue hadn't been full, she would have stood up and cooked two more dishes for her.
Lin Shuyue was amused by Aunt Zhao and laughed heartily. After she finished laughing, she glanced at the east wing and asked Aunt Zhao, "He hasn't come out yet?"
Aunt Zhao was delighted: "He's still embarrassed. We even brought him food, but he still doesn't want to go out. I guess he'll come out after you leave."
For a young man in his prime to admit in front of a single woman that he was looking at HS websites was undoubtedly a social death for Zhu Shuliang, who was already thin-skinned.
These past two days, when Zhu Shuliang saw Lin Shuyue, he ran away with a red face as if he had seen a flood or a beast.
Lin Shuyue thought it was quite amusing, but she didn't approach him. In the afternoon, she and Aunt Zhao went to the vegetable market and took a group of photos of the capital's winter vegetable market.
When they came back, Hang Jiabai had already arrived. In order not to waste time, the two of them took their things and left. Aunt Zhao stuffed the apples she bought into Lin Shuyue's hands and walked her to the main road. She only went back after her car was out of sight.
It was already past three in the afternoon, and it would take more than six hours to reach Mulan County. Because the roads were slippery and the weather was cold in winter, it would be at least ten o'clock to reach Mulan County tonight.
Along the way, Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai chatted. It seemed like they had endless things to say. After several hours of journey, they didn't feel tired at all.
At six o'clock, it was already dark, and Lin Shuyue received a call from Li Mingfang.
After a few pleasantries, Li Mingfang mentioned Li Weisheng. Calculating the time, it has been more than half a month since he left. Although he sent text messages every day to report his safety, she was still very worried.
Lin Shuyue now checks Li Weisheng's text messages every day. She comforts Li Mingfang: "It's almost been a month. He should be back soon."
Li Mingfang sighed, "I know that, but I just can't help but feel uneasy. Do you think it would have been better if I had stopped him from going?"
Before Lin Shuyue could say anything, Li Mingfang continued, "Forget it, forget it. If I could go back in time, I still wouldn't stop him. He wants to be an eagle in the sky, so why should I clip his wings?"
Lin Shuyue glanced at Hang Jiabai and said, "You know the answer yourself, and you're still asking me? Just wait patiently."
"What else can we do if we don't wait?" Li Mingfang should have returned to the Xijiang Apartment where she lived. Lin Shuyue heard the sound of her closing the door.
"My mother has been asking me these days if I have broken up with Ah Sheng. I said no, but she still doesn't believe me." Li Mingfang usually sends messages to Lin Shuyue, but today she couldn't hold it in any longer, so she called Lin Shuyue.
"When will you come back? If you don't come back, I feel that life will be much more difficult!"
"It's almost time. We'll be back in a few days." Lin Shuyue chatted with Li Mingfang for more than half an hour.
After hanging up the phone, they also arrived in Rehe area. Hang Jiabai asked: "There is a place to eat and go to the toilet ahead."
Lin Shuyue had already spotted the large neon sign ahead that said "Jiā Shuǐ Chī Fàn." She said, "Let's stop to use the restroom and eat. You'll drive a little further and then we can switch seats. You must be tired from the whole journey." (TL's Note: It's a common Chinese roadside sign '加水吃饭' (Jiā Shuǐ Chī Fàn), a sign usually advertise small eateries where you can get simple food (often instant noodles, dumplings, or rice meals) and hot water for tea or noodles.)
"Okay." Hang Jiabai always listened to Lin Shuyue. He turned the car into the restaurant.
The place is very simple, with a shed as the hall and a small shop on the left that sells bread, drinks and instant noodles. There is a counter on the wall on the other side with today's menu written on the side. Anyone who wants to eat can go and get it. The prices are not cheap, more than half more than outside.
Even a simple bottle of mineral water can fetch a whopping 1.5 yuan here! Even instant noodles, a filling snack, can cost 4 or 5 yuan a box, as expensive as those in later times. Lin Shuyue was incredibly glad she'd brought instant noodles. Even in a place like the capital, 5 yuan could buy three boxes of them.
There was no stove in the hall and the door was not closed. Lin Shuyue saw someone go to get food, but it was frozen after just a few bites. A layer of white lard solidified on it, and it looked unappetizing.
"Let's have instant noodles." At least instant noodles are made with hot water, so they don't get cold so easily.
The wind was blowing hard. Hang Jiabai said, "Okay, you stay here for a while. We'll eat in the car. It's warmer there."
Lin Shuyue stay on the seat, her black hair hanging down to her waist, a little messy.
This newspaper was published in 2014. The story begins with the police cracking down on a pornographic website with an IP address located overseas. The website was filled with a large number of violent and bloody videos of the abuse of women or men.
As the police investigation deepened, the capital police randomly solved one homicide case in 2002, two in 2004, and three in 2005.
However, the solving of these three cases was just the beginning. Later, according to the other videos on the website, police across the country solved more than 30 rape cases, of which more than 20 were murders.
From the outset, this case garnered widespread public attention. After a four-month investigation, the case was brought to trial at the Capital High Procuratorate. Aside from the three individuals who were executed due to a conflict of interest, the remaining 57 individuals, including the founder, were brought to trial.
Because the facts of their crimes were clear and the evidence was conclusive, they were sentenced to death and executed immediately.
At the end of the newspaper was a list of victims that the police had identified, and Fu Sisi and Ruan Tinglan were among them.
Lin Shuyue was slightly stunned.
At this moment, a system pop-up window popped up: [ Would you like to spend 20 points to view the life history of Ruan Tinglan and Fu Sisi (murder episode)? ]
Lin Shuyue paused and chose to check.
The screen was split into two parts, one showing Ruan Tinglan's life history and the other showing Fu Sisi's. Lin Shuyue looked at Ruan Tinglan's first.
In 2005, Ruan Tinglan was targeted by Wang Chengjian. After being followed several times, Ruan Tinglan was knocked unconscious by Wang Chengjian late one night and taken to an air-raid shelter in the suburbs.
Ruan Tinglan was tortured by Wang Chengjian in that air-raid shelter for three months and was brutally murdered at the end of February 2005.
She was one of the victims in a 2005 murder case solved by Metropolitan Police.
Lin Shuyue breathed a sigh of relief. She was extremely grateful that she had stopped Wang Chengjian's lewd behavior on the bus a few days ago. She was even more grateful that there was a Lou Zhou in the organization Mei Ru Tian Xia. He did a good thing and killed Wang Chengjian directly!
Lin Shuyue went to read Fu Sisi's life story and the part where she was murdered.
Fu Sisi also died in 2005, but she lived a little longer than Ruan Tinglan. Gu Pengfei had no feelings for her, but was very interested in her money. He secretly filmed various videos with Fu Sisi and spent money from her.
At that time, the Fu family was so short of funds that they were at the end of their rope. Fu Sisi finally realized the importance of the matter and she finally agreed to the marriage with the Zhang family.
But the man she was engaged to was a psychopath, and she was taken away on the very day of the engagement. Her parents, Fu Shucheng and Lu Minxing, did nothing to stop him.
Fu Sisi's fiancé Zhang Qin is not very capable and he likes to visit pornographic websites the most. Mei Ru Tian Xia is quite famous abroad and Zhang Qin saw Fu Sisi when he was browsing the website daily.
After going to great lengths to get engaged to Fu Sisi, his favorite thing to do was to torture Fu Sisi using all sorts of means.
Fu Sisi lived in dire straits all day long. Gu Pengfei did not let her go and blackmailed her with their intimate video. She finally died at the hands of Gu Pengfei.
Her death made Zhang Qin very dissatisfied with the Fu family. The funds that were injected into the Fu family because of the marriage were withdrawn. The industry that the Fu family had just revived collapsed directly. The previous suppliers blocked their homes to demand money, and the goods in the factory were snatched away because they could not pay wages.
Three months after Fu Sisi's death, Fu Shucheng jumped to his death. It was only now that everyone knew that Fu Shucheng had accepted high-interest loans to gamble.
Lu Minxing is still alive and well, but her family has long been in decline. The Fu family's assets have been auctioned off or confiscated. For the rest of her life, she has lived as the lowest person she once looked down upon.
She couldn't stand it anymore and married a man, who beat her every other day.
After seeing the ending of Fu Sisi's family, Lin Shuyue turned off the system screen and sent a message to Ruan Tinglan.
Ruan Tinglan didn't reply to the message, but called directly: "Last night, a sister from the shop next door told me that there was a strange woman yesterday. She not only looked at me for a long time, but also asked a lot of questions about me."
"I immediately guessed that the person was Lu Minxing. I submitted my resignation to the store manager today. I have two big orders in hand, and our store manager is coveting them. As soon as I mentioned my resignation, she agreed immediately."
"I just received my salary for last month, and I'm ready to run away. I have no connection to the Fu family, so why should I go into trouble for them?"
Ruan Tinglan is single and has no ties. Her parents are in the cemetery in the capital. She is very familiar with the cemetery manager, and even if she is not there, he will help her sweep the grave.
She planned to leave the capital for a while to avoid the limelight, and then come back after the Fu family affairs were over.
Lin Shuyue smiled when she heard her say that. "It's better for you to leave. I just heard that Fu Sisi's father borrowed money from loan sharks and gambled away the money. They're in urgent need of funds. Selling their daughter is the best way."
"I know. I'm not stupid. If I go back with them, I'm afraid I'll have to suffer before I can enjoy the happiness. I've finally seen through their so-called wealthy families. They're all cannibals. I can't handle it if I go back because I grew up outside. Besides, those people definitely value birth and upbringing, which I don't have. I don't know how I'll live then."
"Damn, this family is such a piece of shit. They just treat me like an idiot. I'm running away." Ruan Tinglan didn't tell Lin Shuyue where she was going. She just said that she would contact her after she settled down.
Lin Shuyue made an OK gesture to Hang Jiabai and went to the toilet next door.
As she turned the corner, Lin Shuyue heard Hang Jiabai asking for hot water for instant noodles. The waitress said, "Two boxes of instant noodles, right? Hot water is one yuan."
Lin Shuyue couldn't hear Hang Jiabai's reply because she was already at the toilet. At that time, all the restrooms were dry toilets, and the stench was carried by the wind into her nose. Lin Shuyue held her breath. A woman in a military coat sat by the toilet door, warming herself by the fire. She held a wad of money. The woman in front of Lin Shuyue pulled fifty cents from her pocket, took a piece of paper, and walked inside, mumbling something.
Lin Shuyue followed the crowd and paid fifty cents. Paying to use the restroom was common practice across the country, and Lin Shuyue was used to it. When she hurried out, Hang Jiabai had already prepared the instant noodles and put them in the car. She got in, and Hang Jiabai got out, heading towards the restroom.
After he came back, the two of them ate instant noodles in the air-conditioned car, and then Lin Shuyue drove and continued towards Mulan County.
Not long after they started walking, the bus that had just parked on the side of the road caught up with them. Their final destination was Rehe, so Lin Shuyue followed it. When they arrived in Rehe, Hang Jiabai drove the last part of the journey.
Lin Shuyue sat in the passenger seat and fell asleep unknowingly. It didn't seem like she had slept for long when she was woken up by Hang Jiabai.
"Are we there?" Lin Shuyue yawned and looked outside. They were already in the courtyard of the Mulan Hotel. The dim street lights illuminated their car, and through the glass door of the hotel, the lobby was very warm.
Looking at the time, it was eleven o'clock, more than half an hour later than they expected, but that was normal. It had just snowed in Mulan County, and the ground was very slippery, so they had to walk slowly.
"We're here." Hang Jiabai turned off the engine. "Wait a while in the car before getting out. Don't get excited by the wind if you just woke up."
Seeing Lin Shuyue nod, Hang Jiabai walked around to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and took out toiletries for both of them.
He closed the trunk and Lin Shuyue got out. As soon as she got out of the car, she shuddered. Hang Jiabai took her hand and led her into the hotel.
It was indeed warm inside the hotel. As soon as they entered, a wave of heat hit them in the face.
Hang Jiabai booked two adjacent rooms. When Lin Shuyue arrived at the room, she washed her face and fell asleep directly on the bed.
The next day, they both got up very early. There was a breakfast shop outside the hotel. Lin Shuyue had no appetite and could not eat anymore after eating an egg, a bowl of millet porridge and a cabbage bun.
Hang Jiabai ate a tray of dumplings and a bowl of tofu pudding.
After eating and drinking, the two drove towards Saihanba.
The weather was great today, the sky a pure blue. There was still a lot of snow on the top of the mountain, so Lin Shuyue took many photos.
The car drove north, and the road became worse and worse. The roadside became more and more desolate, and there was no green at all. All she could see was yellow earth all over the sky. A gust of wind blew, and the yellow earth was blown all over the sky.
The two set out at eight o'clock. When they saw the forest farm where Hang Jiabai's parents were, it was already past ten o'clock. Two figures in military coats were standing at the gate of the forest farm.
Hang Jiabai smiled and said, "That's my father and my mother."
Before leaving, Hang Jiabai called his parents using the hotel phone.
The moment Hang Jiabai finished speaking, the two people at the gate of the forest farm walked towards Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai at the same time.
Hang Jiabai stopped the car, Lin Shuyue opened the door and got out, and Hang Jiabai's mother Yin Xin held Lin Shuyue's hand.
"You must be tired after the journey. The meal is ready at home. Your uncle went downstairs to buy some big bones and stewed some wild vegetables." Yin Xin spoke in Cantonese, but after being away from Guangzhou for many years, her accent has become less similar.
She looked very similar to Hang Jiabai, but she looked much older, with two red streaks on her cheeks caused by the wind.
"I'm not tired, I'm not tired." Lin Shuyue responded and was pulled inside by Yin Xin.
This is where the forestry staff live. It is surrounded by neatly arranged houses, some of which are emitting smoke.
Under the guidance of his father Hang Yuhua, Hang Jiabai parked the car in a specially designated parking lot in the forest area. Yin Xin was asking Lin Shuyue about the journey, and the two talked about this in a low voice.
After walking a few more steps, someone asked Yin Xin questions, and Yin Xin chatted with them in Mandarin with a clear local accent.
Lin Shuyue was standing nearby, and she also overheard some of the conversation, which was all just casual conversation. Fearing that Lin Shuyue might be cold, Yin Xin didn't stay long.
Yin Xin and Hang Yuhua were the first group of people to arrive at the forest farm. Their house was at the very back, with a total of four large tiled houses, just like all the other houses here.
There are two stoves as soon as you enter the door. Inside the stoves is a set of wooden sofas, and in the middle of the sofas is a coffee table.
The room was warm with a stove burning. Yin Xin took Lin Shuyue to the west room and said to her as they walked: "That sofa set has been there for more than ten years. It was made by your uncle, Ah Bai and his brother back then."
"It's done well." Lin Shuyue took a quick look. The sofa was coated with a layer of varnish and had a blue sponge cushion on top. If this were placed in the future, it would be the original wood style that many people pursue.
Yin Xin's smile grew even brighter. "Ah Bai's brother is out on patrol. He won't be back until tonight. Take off your clothes and put them on the kang. I'll go get the food."
Yin Xin went out after she finished speaking. Lin Shuyue took off her military coat and the cotton-padded jacket underneath, and went out wearing only a red sweater. Hang Jiabai also came into the house carrying the things he bought for his parents in the county town.
On the coffee table in the living room, there was a basin of large bones with ferns inside, and a plate of stir-fried mushrooms with green peppers next to it.
According to Yin Xin, they picked the ferns and mushrooms themselves, dried them and stored them. These dried vegetables are their main source of vegetables in winter.
The stewed big bones were delicious, and the bracken inside was even more amazing, but before they finished their bowl of rice, a scream was heard outside.
The scream resounded through the sky. Hang Yuhua stood up suddenly, picked up the pickaxe beside the sofa and went out.
Yin Xin also stood up and walked towards the east room. Before leaving, she said to Lin Shuyue, "Ah Yue, just stay here. We'll go out and take a look if there's a wolf coming. Ah Bai, you watch over Ah Yue."