Chapter 21

"So, Brother Liangliang, does this mean that the statue dug up at the river project and the coffin pried open at the aquaculture farm both have at least three hundred years of history?"

"That's right, that can be understood this way, but the strange thing is, three hundred years is indeed a long time, but it shouldn't be enough to make you locals not retain any sacrificial customs about 'Lady Bai' at all, not even the elderly have any impression of her.

But the local chronicles record it clearly, and we even dug up her temple. There are both written records and real relics. It's impossible to have no retention in folklore. This is too strange."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head and said: "Brother Liangliang, an old retired professor once told me that existence is not necessarily reasonable, but existence must have a reason."

"Xiao Yuan, you mean, non-existence must also have a reason?"

"Yeah, I think, maybe Lady Bai is not suitable for sacrifice, nor is she suitable to evolve into a custom. Her image, or rather the image of the Bai family and Baijia Town, might be very different from what we imagine.

I just read the local chronicle records you brought back, Brother Liangliang. It indeed records quite a few deeds about Lady Bai. They really did a lot of things during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The style of the records is very similar to some monster stories, but they generally lack one point...

The endings of those monster stories generally add descriptions like 'the local people were grateful for her kindness, built temples and statues, and the incense was constant.'

But the records about Lady Bai in the local chronicles here are really just records. If it were ignored once or twice, that would be fine, but all relevant records don't write it.

However, there are quite a few other relevant temples locally, real-life heroes, Daoists and monks in monster stories, and even the Dragon King Prince in the East China Sea, all have the kind of records I mentioned above.

Even if the incense is good or bad now, at least a sacrificial temple can be found.

Therefore, I think there is a necessary reason for the isolation between Lady Bai and local folk customs.

Their deeds are 'slaying demons and eliminating monsters,' but the purpose of their behavior might not be to 'protect one side'."

Xue Liangliang looked at Li Zhuiyuan with surprise again. He had already forgotten how many times he had looked at this elementary school student with such a gaze today.

"Brother Liangliang, do you still remember the appearance of the temple dug up at the river project?"

"I remember, it was very small and cramped. If it weren't for the height of the statue, I would even suspect that the person who built the temple would imitate the specifications of the land temple by the village road."

"And the chains..."

"Right, the chains. That statue was tied with chains, and the other end of the chains was connected to the surroundings of the temple. Without breaking the chains, it would be very difficult to push the temple down by human power."

"Then it shouldn't be for sacrifice, but more like for suppression."

"Suppression?" Xue Liangliang immediately showed a look of sudden realization. "Right, isn't that just it? Where would anyone use this kind of image to accept incense sacrifices!"

Immediately after, Xue Liangliang paced somewhat excitedly:

"The layout in the coffin at the aquaculture farm and the text on the wooden carving also clearly state that it is suppression. Doesn't the behavioral logic of Lady Bai in these two places match up?

But why don't the people appreciate this kind of self-sacrificing way?"

"What if Baijia Town only pursues the process and not the result?"

"Xiao Yuan, you mean, what Lady Bai wants is just the way of suppressing evil spirits with her own body. As for whether what is being suppressed is really an evil spirit, and how this evil spirit came to be, it's worth pondering?

Ah... if this evil spirit was released by them themselves, raised by them themselves, and then suppressed by them themselves, then the people would indeed not only not appreciate them, but would avoid them like the plague.

In this way, it makes complete sense."

"Yeah."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. In "Records of Jianghu Monsters," there are quite a few records about 'dead-turned' beings of evil cultivators in the Profound Sect. These guys who pursue raising corpses to attain immortality can be said to use every means possible.

In their group, there is a relatively large common cognition, which is:

The lake is a corpse-raising ground, the river is a ladder to heaven, and when the river enters the sea, then one ascends to the heavenly gate to attain immortality.

Nantong is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and Chongming Island is the gateway to the Yangtze River. Substituting the peculiar thinking perspective of those people, isn't it equivalent to the heavenly gate?

The evil path Profound Sect people in the mountain city upstream either spend effort to raise their own corpses or occupy others' coffins. When the time is ripe, they go down the river, heading straight for the sea, and it really takes a lot of time and energy to plan.

The Bai family is much simpler and more direct. They directly 'suppress evil spirits' at the heavenly gate, and by stepping on their right foot with their left foot, they head for ascension.

Thinking of this, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but reach out and rub his temples. Their group of people has amazing ideas, but there is indeed a worldview that can be substituted into it, and he substituted himself.

"Xiao Yuan, this is why your sister's grandparents died miserably. Although the aquaculture farm boss hasn't been found yet, he might have already been harmed.

Logically speaking, it shouldn't be.

If Lady Bai is the righteous side, and what is sealed in that porcelain bottle is an evil spirit, why would the evil spirit impatiently harm the benefactor who released it, and why would it be so ruthless, leaving no room at all?

So, the one who is truly angry and starts killing people is that Lady Bai, who at first glance represents justice!"

Li Zhuiyuan also looked at Xue Liangliang with surprise.

You know, Xue Liangliang hadn't read "Records of Jianghu Monsters," but he was able to analyze very deep things through conventional clues.

"Then Zhao Hequan..." Xue Liangliang was still concerned about his classmate. "Isn't he being targeted by that Lady Bai at the river project, and the revenge is all concentrated on him?"

If it were just an offense, then an apology and saying some nice words would be enough, but if you have already ruined someone's good deed, then you will incur their relentless revenge!

Xue Liangliang asked in confusion: "But why would that Lady Bai forgive you and me? No, this has nothing to do with you, it should be that she let me go?"

"Maybe, she can only choose one person."

The scene in the dream that night was very clear. The woman could only take one away. For this reason, she even hesitated many times between himself and Zhao Hequan, as if she had noticed a bit of his specialness, which made her very conflicted for a time.

"Ah?"

"The book says so."

"Oh, there's this rule too. Then isn't Zhao Hequan doomed?"

"It feels like it."

"Then we..." Xue Liangliang waved his hand at Li Zhuiyuan. "Quickly set up the offering table, hurry up and completely break the relationship with her!"

Thinking that the other party didn't forgive him out of generosity, but was temporarily unable to spare the energy to deal with him, Xue Liangliang felt a sense of urgency.

"Good." Li Zhuiyuan felt that what Xue Liangliang said made a lot of sense. He pointed to his cabinet: "Brother Liangliang, the snacks are inside, and there are wooden stools outside. You tidy them up and set up two tables. Note that it's an even number... let's set four portions for each table. I'll go downstairs to get incense, candles, and paper money."

After assigning the tasks, Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs to get candles and paper money. When he came up, Xue Liangliang had already set up two small offering tables in the bedroom.

The two of them immediately began the offering.

In the east room, Qin Li, who was originally sleeping, suddenly opened her eyes.

Liu Yumei, who was holding a fan and resting with her eyes closed while fanning gently, also woke up immediately. She used the fan to gently cover her granddaughter's face, blocking her line of sight, and said softly:

"Good, it's fine. They are breaking the last bit of karma. You rest well. We still have to go find Xiao Yuan tomorrow morning."

Qin Li slowly closed her eyes.

Liu Yumei looked at the screen window, through which she could see the night sky outside.

For a long time, she said to herself with a tone of slight mockery:

"What era is it, and you're still having that kind of beautiful dream?"

Just as she had closed her eyes and intended to go back to sleep.

The next moment,

Liu Yumei and Qin Li opened their eyes together.

This time, Qin Li's eyes were deep, and rarely, when she wasn't looking at Li Zhuiyuan, her pupils showed clear focus.

Liu Yumei's expression was also slightly more solemn than last time, but she still held the fan, waving it back and forth above Qin Li, as if she were cutting something.

Qin Li looked at her grandmother beside her.

Liu Yumei said: "Good, this one is not looking for Xiao Yuan. Sleep. You can't play too much tonight, otherwise your spirit won't be enough. You don't want to meet Xiao Yuan with two dark circles under your eyes, right?"

Qin Li closed her eyes once again.

Liu Yumei felt somewhat lost. She had gradually gotten used to using Li Zhuiyuan's name to communicate with her granddaughter. It was very sad, but very useful.

Getting up and getting off the bed, Liu Yumei pulled open the screen window and closed the outer window, completely isolating the outside.

"Out of sight, out of mind. Sleep."

The offering ended, and Xue Liangliang was responsible for cleaning up the burned paper ash. He had always been very careful in doing things.

When he came back, he saw Li Zhuiyuan looking at him: "Brother Liangliang, look at your arm."

Hearing this, Xue Liangliang immediately rolled up his sleeve to look and found that there wasn't a single trace left. He immediately asked excitedly:

"There's not a single trace left. Xiao Yuan, what about you?"

"I don't have any either."

"Phew..." Xue Liangliang let out a long sigh of relief. "Then can we consider this a success?"

"Yeah, it should be. It's just that classmate of yours..."

With the two of them breaking it off, that Lady Bai at the statue could concentrate all her attention on retaliating against that person.

Xue Liangliang wasn't very sad; instead, he pointed at his forehead and shoulders in turn and said:

"The Lord will bless him."

Li Zhuiyuan's mouth tightened, wanting to laugh.

He could feel that Xue Liangliang's previous words about wanting to help his classmate were sincere, but this didn't prevent him from letting go of his desire to help others after discovering the terrifying seriousness of the situation.

Xue Liangliang reached out and rubbed Li Zhuiyuan's nose, saying:

"In everything, you have to think openly. To live happily, you have to learn to refuse emotional internal friction."

Saying this, Xue Liangliang turned around and asked: "The shower room is in the back, right? I'll go take a shower first."

Watching his departing back, Li Zhuiyuan slowly fell into deep thought.

Xue Liangliang's words had touched him.

Maybe, it was precisely because he had been thinking about how to play himself well that he was becoming less and less like himself.

The walls of Li Sanjiang's bedroom were covered with statues.

These were all bought by him in one go during the temple fair the year before last, and then thrown into the cabinet and never used. Today, they all came in handy.

Among them was a painting, the old man on it had a kind face and a celestial appearance. Li Sanjiang placed him in the center position.

He thought it was Laozi, but actually... it was Confucius.

After a day of toil, he was indeed tired. After setting everything up, he went to sleep very early.

Then, he had a dream.

It was very strange. It seemed that ever since he did the luck-changing ritual with Xiao Yuan Hou, his dreams had become exceptionally frequent.

Only this time, the dream wasn't on the roof of the town health center, but on the road.

Turning his head to look at the right side, it was a familiar gate. On one side of the gate, there was also the sign he had kissed many times during the day.

Behind him, footsteps came.

Li Sanjiang looked back and saw a petite figure slowly walking out of the shadows, carrying great resentment.

Without hesitation, Li Sanjiang ran directly into the police station.

The young girl stood outside the police station, her expression venomous, her mouth opening and closing.

When he had the dream the first night, the threat was heard clearly; she wanted him to die. When he was napping on the tractor, her voice became blurry.

And now,

He could only watch her small mouth opening and closing continuously. Although he couldn't hear anything at all, she must be cursing very dirtily.

"Hehe."

Li Sanjiang laughed, then lay down on his own.

When encountering someone who could be reasoned with, he didn't mind lowering his old face to beg and say soft words, and even kneeling down to kowtow wouldn't be a problem.

But evil spirits are transformed from people after all. Some people can be communicated with, but some people just can't be communicated with.

When encountering this kind, paying any more attention to her is a waste of energy.

At least in his dreams, Li Sanjiang had seen the world. After all, he was the leader who had led a group of zombies to do exercises in the Forbidden City in his dreams.

Therefore, Li Sanjiang lay down directly, folded his hands, and placed them on his navel.

Tired, he went to sleep.

Outside the house in reality, Xue Liangliang walked out of the shower room while wiping his hair. He looked curiously at the willow tree diagonally opposite the house.

The willow branches were swaying continuously, as if blown by the wind, but the strange thing was that he didn't feel any wind here at all.

"Strange, why can't the wind blow in?"

He didn't think much about it. Mainly, today's encounter was too bizarre, and he had no heart to study the wind direction anymore.

When he returned to the bedroom, he saw Li Zhuiyuan sitting at the desk, turning on the desk lamp and reading a book.

Leaning closer to look, he found that the words on it were dense and small to an outrageous degree, and he couldn't help but worry:

"Reading such small words at night is easy to cause nearsightedness."

"It won't, Brother Liangliang. I'm used to it. I can recognize the content by scanning it based on feeling."

"So magical?" Xue Liangliang didn't think Li Zhuiyuan was lying and got into bed first.

The characteristic of the old-fashioned wooden bed was that it was spacious enough.

"Xiao Yuan, are you sleeping on the outside or the inside?"

"I can do either."

"Then I'll sleep on the outside. Kids have a sense of security sleeping on the inside."

"Yeah."

"When do you plan to sleep?"

"I'll read for a while longer and then go take a shower and sleep."

"I think, just treat these as hobbies. You still have to spend more effort on studying."

"Yeah, I know."

In the past, Xue Liangliang would definitely have persuaded him a few more times, but today, he couldn't persuade him anymore. Thinking carefully, he really relied on the useless books Li Zhuiyuan read to help a lot today.

Therefore, he couldn't help but change his tone: "Xiao Yuan, thinking about it, it's really quite interesting. Before the day before yesterday, I really didn't expect that there were really these things in the world, but somehow, I don't seem to be very scared. It's not that I'm not afraid, but I'm not that panicked."

"Fear comes from the unknown. Brother Liangliang, you've already found out the hometown of Lady Bai, what else is there to be afraid of."

"Indeed. However, do you think I should also read some books in this area? Do you have any recommendations?"

Li Zhuiyuan hesitated for a moment and said: "These books are my Great-Grandpa's. I can't make the decision to lend them to you. You have to ask my Great-Grandpa first."

"Then forget it. Your Great-Grandpa specializes in this line of work. These books should all be his treasures, and he definitely won't lend them to outsiders easily."

On this point, Xue Liangliang thought wrong.

For so many years, Li Sanjiang just put so many boxes of books in the basement to eat dust.

"Xiao Yuan, what is your village's phone number? Let's leave contact information?"

Li Zhuiyuan reported the phone number of the village committee and also reported the phone number of the small shop in the village.

Generally, people in the village who want to make a call go to these two places. If there is a call from outside, it is also made here. After saying who to look for, they hang up, leave time to call the person, and then call again after a quarter of an hour.

Li Zhuiyuan remembered this phone number, also expecting his mother to call him, and his mother really didn't let him down; she never called even once.

"Forget it, I'll write it down." Xue Liangliang got out of bed, walked to the desk, took paper and pen to write down the number, and then sighed.

Although Li Zhuiyuan had been reading without raising his head, he could still do two things at once and said:

"Brother Liangliang, are you going to say that one day every household will have a phone?"

"There will be such a day, do you believe it?" "I believe it, but it seems that pagers are popular now."

A few years ago, bp machines began to enter the country and became popular on a large scale rapidly. Young people in the city were even proud of having a bp machine tied to their waist.

"I'm just preparing to get one too, so I'll get it together. I'll give you one, how about it, Xiao Yuan?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "I don't have use for it."

"Oh, right." Xue Liangliang slapped his forehead. "I said I would buy you snacks and toys, but I forgot. I'll mail them to you after I go back to school."

"Thank you, Brother Liangliang."

"Then I'll sleep first." Xue Liangliang got back into bed, and soon, he fell asleep.

Li Zhuiyuan finished reading the volume in his hand, went to the shower room to take a shower, and when passing in front of Great-Grandpa's bedroom, he clearly heard the sound of Great-Grandpa's snoring through the door panel.

It seems Great-Grandpa is sleeping very soundly.

Returning to his bedroom, he put a new toothbrush in the washbasin, then climbed to the inside of the bed, lay down, and went to sleep.

The next day, Xue Liangliang woke up very early.

He had a characteristic, which was that while his sleep quality was high, his sleep duration was relatively short. He only needed half the sleep time of others to get better energy recovery than others.

Opening his eyes, he looked at Li Zhuiyuan who hadn't woken up yet beside him. Xue Liangliang couldn't help but think that if this kid really got into Haihe University and became his alumnus in the future, it would be fun.

Getting out of bed lightly, he saw the new toothbrush in the washbasin. He picked up the washbasin and prepared to wash up. Just as he pulled open the door.

"Mom!!"

Xue Liangliang was so scared that the washbasin in his hand fell to the ground, and the wash cup, towel, and toothbrush scattered all over the floor.

Anyone who opens the door early in the morning and sees a little girl standing silently at the door would probably be terrified.

Li Zhuiyuan was woken up, hurried out of bed, rubbed his eyes while running over, used his other hand to hold Qin Li's hand, and urged:

"Brother Liangliang, go wash up quickly."

"Oh, okay."

Xue Liangliang immediately picked up his things and went out. He didn't know that if Li Zhuiyuan had gotten out of bed a moment later, he might have ended up covered in bruises.

Because when Li Zhuiyuan held A Li's hand, A Li's body was already trembling. This was a sign that she was about to explode.

Originally, according to past habits, Li Zhuiyuan could sleep in. Even if A Li came and he hadn't woken up, she would quietly come in and sit and wait for him to wake up.

It was just that Xue Liangliang sleeping here last night broke this habit.

Moreover, because of his shout, the breakfast time for everyone in the house was moved forward.

After washing up, just as they were eating breakfast, Auntie Zhang from the small shop in the village shouted across the wheat field: "Grandpa Sanjiang, phone!"

"Oh, coming!"

Li Sanjiang added some pickles, then took his chopsticks and porridge bowl, and walked out while eating porridge.

Arriving at the small shop, after waiting for the time it took to smoke a cigarette, the phone rang again. He answered it; it was from Chen Xiaoling, Yingzi's aunt.

The phone said that the aquaculture farm boss had already been found, dead at the widow's house in town. The widow was quite affectionate and was preparing to hold a funeral for him.

As a result, the things weren't found. It was said that the singer also came, and the three of them were often together.

The singer was not a local, and her workplace had been inquired about. It was said that she didn't come to work without saying hello last week, and the identity information registered was also fake.

Currently, it is suspected that the lost jewelry and porcelain bottle are all in the woman's hands, but it is very difficult to find her now.

Zhou Hai should be cleared of suspicion and will be released at noon.

Chen Xiaoling anxiously asked what they should do as a couple, because she had nightmares again last night.

Li Sanjiang patiently comforted her for a few words and instructed her to go burn incense under the Zhiyun Pagoda on Langshan Mountain with Zhou Hai after he was released.

Chen Xiaoling asked somewhat uneasily if that would be enough?

Li Sanjiang also suggested that they burn incense at the other four mountains today, which were Junshan, Huangnishan, Maanshan, and Jianshan.

Actually, whether it was useful or not, Li Sanjiang didn't know either. He mainly didn't want to continue to get involved in this matter.

Yesterday, he and that Lady Bai could be considered to have broken ties. A bad break is also a break.

He didn't have to continue to wade through this muddy water for the Zhou Hai couple. He didn't take money, and they weren't close relatives, and that thing was so fierce, why bother?

Besides, it was their own greed and cheapness that started the matter, and he had already done his best.

Thinking about having to burn incense at five mountains, Chen Xiaoling's confidence grew. She thanked Li Sanjiang continuously on the phone and then hung up the phone when the seconds were almost at 60.

Auntie Zhang smiled and said: "Grandpa Sanjiang really has a lot of work now. When I went to the Shigang wholesale department to get goods, I heard people discussing your affairs."

"It's not all good things, just make do. Come, give me a pack of Great Front Gate cigarettes."

"Alright."

This is a kind of tacit understanding in the village. You can't let people run errands for you for nothing. After receiving a call, you have to buy something, even if it's buying two candies for the child.

Carrying the cigarettes and walking home, when he reached the intersection where he was about to turn in, he saw Xue Liangliang walking out.

"Grandpa, I'm going back to school."

"What, you're leaving already?"

"Yeah, I only asked for one day off."

"Then be careful on the road."

"Hey, good, Grandpa, I'll come to see you again in the future."

"Hehe."

Li Sanjiang gave two dry laughs and waved his hand. Coming to his house to sleep and eat a breakfast and then leaving, without even tutoring his own great-grandson, this university student is really shrewd.

Just as he was preparing to walk in, he saw someone riding a bicycle running towards him from afar. He looked familiar. After thinking carefully, he remembered that this seemed to be the Niu family, Niu Fu's youngest son.

That person quickly got off the bicycle and trotted to Li Sanjiang, opening his mouth anxiously:

"Grandpa Sanjiang, please go see my Dad again, my Dad is in trouble."

Li Sanjiang frowned and said directly: "Sigh, it happened after all, but that has nothing to do with me. That is heaven's will and fate."

Joke, he Li Sanjiang is not selling televisions in a shopping mall, how could he provide after-sales service for you?

"No, Grandpa, really, not only is my Dad in trouble, my second uncle and my aunt are also in trouble. Everyone is very panicked, so they asked me to come and beg you to go see them again."

"This won't do, this won't do. Breaking the rule once already makes me very overwhelmed. If I continue to break the rule, do I still want to live my life? My coffin hasn't even been painted yet."

"Grandpa, really, please, I beg you, now the family can only rely on you." While speaking, he took out a red envelope from his pocket and stuffed it into Li Sanjiang's hand.

Li Sanjiang's attitude was softened by the thickness of the red envelope.

"Then... I can only go see. Actually, if something really happens, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for me to do anything else. What I can do is pray for blessings, protect, and purify the feng shui for you juniors."

"That's great, that's it, you can do that, really, we are very grateful."

Actually, these juniors of theirs aren't that concerned about the three old people; they are worried that after the three old people have accidents one after another, the next batch will be their turn.

"You go back first. I have to tidy up and prepare here. I'll go over in the afternoon."

"Alright, alright, alright, Grandpa, we'll wait for you at home."

After the other party rode far away, Li Sanjiang walked along the rice field path while opening the red envelope. After confirming that each one was a 'big unity' (ten-yuan bill), a smile appeared on his face.

Heh, the feeling of getting money early in the morning is really good.

It's true, how could he always get bad jobs?

Actually, just as Liu Jinxia said, this line of work itself cannot avoid being deceptive, and many times it's just acting.

But it also depends on the person. For some guys who are already full of shit, coaxing them and earning their money is earning it. Just treat it as breaking wealth to eliminate disasters for them, which can be considered helping them, right?

Returning home, Li Sanjiang didn't make any preparations. He lay on the rattan chair on the second-floor balcony, turned on the radio, and prepared to nap until the afternoon before going out.

Just as he was adjusting his posture, Li Sanjiang saw two children in the northeast corner, each lying on a small lounge chair, side by side.

And those lounge chairs were made such that one lacked the right armrest and one lacked the left armrest. Putting them together just happened to make a pair, and there was no barrier in the middle.

"Stinky kid, you really know how to enjoy life."

Near noon, a shirtless teenager pushed a cart onto the threshing floor. It was Runsheng.

He accompanied Grandpa Shan to get dentures, served for two days of injuries, and after buying a batch of rice, flour, and grain oil with the Niu family money he earned last time, he was kicked out of the house by Grandpa Shan.

Liu Yi greeted politely: "Runsheng is here. Are you hungry? I'll cook in a while, hehe."

Runsheng nodded: "Hungry to death. Grandpa didn't let me eat the day before yesterday, saving my stomach to come over and eat."

"That's good. I made a new batch of incense here. When it's time to eat, you taste it and see if it's authentic."

"Good, I'll wait."

Runsheng said, and wiped the corner of his mouth.

Li Sanjiang on the second floor heard the conversation below and was so angry that his teeth itched. He thought that old thing had forgotten about this, but he didn't expect he still drove his family's mule to his own house to eat forage.

But it was indeed the right time to come. In the afternoon, he could let him push the cart to send himself there.

This kid, although he can eat, as long as he is full, he is better to use than an ox.

"Runsheng Hou, you're here."

Runsheng looked up at Li Sanjiang above and nodded vigorously: "Yeah, I'm here, Grandpa, I missed you so much."

"Grandpa also missed you, good boy. In the afternoon, send Grandpa to the Niu family to do a job."

"Alright, Grandpa."

Li Zhuiyuan heard the movement and heard what Great-Grandpa said, knowing that the Cat-Faced Old Lady had already done the initial work.

"Brother Runsheng."

"Hey, Xiao Yuan."

Runsheng and Li Zhuiyuan greeted each other simply, then went to squat in front of the batch of new incense Liu Yi was drying. He was really too hungry and couldn't care about anything else for the time being.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to Li Sanjiang and showed a well-behaved smile: "Great-Grandpa."

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"In the afternoon, I want to go to Shigang Town to buy some stationery."

"Alright, then go with Great-Grandpa in the afternoon."

Li Sanjiang agreed readily. He felt that there was no danger at the Niu family's side. After all, that 'dead-turned' being had already been beheaded by his peach wood sword.

"Thank you, Great-Grandpa."

Li Zhuiyuan stepped forward, hugged Li Sanjiang's neck, put his face on his chest, and hugged him.

Li Sanjiang laughed and patted Li Zhuiyuan's head lightly:

"Yo yo yo, hahahaha, small matter, small matter. Whatever you want to buy, Great-Grandpa will buy it for you. Great-Grandpa has money, has plenty of money."

This kind of intimacy from a junior made Li Sanjiang very satisfied.

However, he also tasted it carefully himself. It seemed he didn't like juniors, he just liked Xiao Yuan Hou.

Although this kid doesn't put his mind on studying, he is really likable.

After agreeing with Great-Grandpa, Li Zhuiyuan sat back on the chair and continued to read.

While reading, he suddenly felt two hands stick over. The movement was very slow and very unfamiliar, but gradually it hugged his neck, and then the face also stuck to his chest.

Li Zhuiyuan immediately understood. A Li was imitating the action he had just used to please Great-Grandpa.

Immediately, he noticed the doubt revealed in the girl's eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan understood and could only reach out his hand and pat the girl's head lightly:

"Whatever you want to buy, I'll buy it for you. I have money, I have plenty of money."

The girl was satisfied, let go of her hand, changed back to her previous normal posture, her eyes bright, at least in this corner, it overshadowed the scorching sun.

Downstairs, Liu Yumei, who was drinking tea by herself, had her hand holding the teacup tremble slightly, and she scolded sourly in her heart:

"You have money, you hairy kid has a fart of money!"

But in the sourness, there was no lack of great relief, and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.

When had her granddaughter made this kind of action since she got sick?

Sometimes, the hardest thing is often the breakthrough from zero to one. She was already fantasizing about a certain day in the future when her granddaughter would also hug her neck like this and let her pat her head lightly.

Lowering her head, she continued to drink tea, then frowned slightly.

Is this tea leaf spoiled? Why is it sour and sweet?

After Xue Liangliang left Siyuan Village, he first took a bus to the city people's hospital to visit Zhao Hequan, who was hospitalized.

Zhao Hequan's situation was very bad. After being sent in, his symptoms were constantly worsening. Now, his whole body from head to toe looked like it had been dyed, presenting a blue-purple color.

It just so happened that Luo Tingrui also came to visit at this time. After a routine glance at Zhao Hequan, he signaled for Xue Liangliang to come out with him.

He really didn't like Zhao Hequan. As a department head, he would often take them out of school to arrange field internships. Zhao Hequan was a person who loved to talk and show off. Even if he saw a dog peeing on a telephone pole on the side of the road while sitting in the car, he would have to express some cynical remarks.

Luo Tingrui was a person who did practical things. Although he also came from his student days and understood that the current social trend was like this, he still looked down on the moaning and groaning of these people who didn't work, because besides moaning, they were just groaning.

On the contrary, Xue Liangliang had always been in his eyes. If it weren't for the fact that this kid seemed determined to go to the great southwest after graduation, he would have intended to introduce his daughter to him.

"Liangliang, are you going back to school?"

"Yeah, Director, I'll go to the station in a while."

"Come with me. Comrades from above happen to be coming down, plus some comrades from local areas. We are going to the riverside to take a look and inspect. After the inspection is finished, we will go back to school together."

"Alright, Director."

Although the inspection team was temporarily put together, there were quite a few people.

Three small cars and one bus were all full. After leaving the city, they went south and arrived at the Yangtze River. This place belonged to a county under Nantong.

After everyone got off the car and exchanged pleasantries, it was mainly based on the introduction of local comrades, and then everyone would ask for Luo Tingrui's opinion from time to time.

Xue Liangliang, who was following behind, understood. This was planning and conceiving for the future cross-river bridge. The higher-ups intended to build a bridge here to connect Nantong and Shanghai.

It's just that it's currently only in the planning and conception stage and doesn't have the conditions for construction and implementation yet.

But this was enough to make Xue Liangliang feel excited. After all, any magnificent project cannot be separated from this step.

A boat that had been arranged came over, picked everyone up, and the boat sailed to the river surface, allowing everyone to feel it more intuitively.

"Although there are ferry boats that can solve traffic problems, without a real bridge, it still seriously hinders local economic development..."

While the local comrades were explaining the actual situation, Xue Liangliang listened while leaning on the ship's side, his gaze looking at the river surface, admiring the vast scenery where the river and sky connected.

Immediately, he frowned again, lowered his head, and looked at the river surface below:

"According to the wrongly marked orientation in the local chronicles, it seems Baijia Town,

At this moment...

Is right under my feet."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 22 =====