Chapter 77: (End of volume)

The morning breeze steals a moment of summer coolness.

When Li Zhuiyuan was brushing his teeth by the water vat on the second floor, he happened to see Tan Wenbin, wearing a tank top and athletic shorts, running down the terrace in a high-knee posture, beginning his morning run.

Tan Wenbin had maintained this habit for half a year.

Humans are truly a species with infinite potential.

A year ago, Tan Wenbin was still a spirited youth who stole money from his mother to buy game consoles, tucked adult comics into his textbooks, hid explicit magazines under his quilt, and liked to tuck a cigarette behind his ear to pretend to be an adult.

Now, he is a self-disciplined youth who studies hard during the day, practices martial arts attentively at night, and treats the forty-minute morning run every day as a form of emptying his mind and enjoyment.

Because of his illness, Li Zhuiyuan sometimes felt a bit dazed and unreal when looking at himself in the mirror. If Tan Wenbin could see himself from a year ago through a mirror, he would probably only stubbornly say that the person inside must be an illegitimate child left behind by his father's misconduct in his youth,

And add a supplementary sentence:

"Look at this crooked, ugly appearance; sure enough, the bloodline is impure."

After washing his face, he returned to his room.

A Li was standing at the drawing table painting.

The girl was painting landscapes, and in the landscapes, there was not only a grand atmosphere but also a large dam.

This side of the wall was covered with paintings; just for the cross-river bridge from Nantong to Shanghai, there were four or five versions.

Among them, there was one version where the bridge on the river was bustling with traffic, while below the river, Baijia Town was filled with ghostly energy—it could be called a perfect combination of reality and nothingness.

At the other end of the drawing table was the boy's desk, which was full of professional books, and below it were several cardboard boxes containing data plans and design drawings.

These were just the ones on hand; many that had already been read and studied had been sent by Li Zhuiyuan to the east room to enrich A Li's collection box.

For the past half year, Xue Liangliang had basically been Luo Gong's secretary, and Luo Gong had been in the project-running stage for the past half year, frequently needing to attend demonstration meetings and reporting meetings in various places.

Whenever he came near Nantong, Xue Liangliang would take a day or half a day off from Luo Gong under the pretext of delivering study materials to his junior brother.

Tan Wenbin's pager was only used to receive messages from two people: one was his father, Tan Yunlong, and the other was Xue Liangliang.

Brother Liangliang would page Tan Wenbin once each time, then leave the things by the Yangtze River. Runsheng would have to ride a tricycle a long way to transport the materials and design drawings back, and at the same time, he had to bring him a set of clean, dry clothes.

Just like that, the higher the frequency of Xue Liangliang's visits to Nantong, the more materials Li Zhuiyuan had here.

Besides this, Luo Gong would also irregularly mail Li Zhuiyuan journals, magazines, and some data documents that were relatively high-spec but did not involve confidentiality.

At the same time, he would set problems for the boy, letting him produce his own designs. For convenience, multiple topics were conducted simultaneously and mailed to him together, and he would then uniformly grade them and reply.

The two sides were truly like they were competing; one was desperately "absorbing," and the other was desperately "helping seedlings grow by pulling them."

Li Zhuiyuan had reason to suspect that the "university professional courses" he was previewing here were already a bit beyond the syllabus.

No matter how smart a genius is, wanting to achieve accomplishments in a certain field cannot escape the steps of deep cultivation. Over the past half year, Li Zhuiyuan had indeed been distracted by "learning" for too much time and energy.

But there was no other way. As long as the person under the peach tree forest didn't die, he would have nothing to do in the village.

Now, whenever an ordinary drowned floater appeared, Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Yinmeng would all fight to salvage it, and even Great-grandfather had become a hands-off manager.

As for the kind of Dead-Fall that could come ashore and walk on its own, it had truly not been seen for a long time. If he hadn't experienced it personally, he would have doubted if this was just a delusion from when he was mentally unstable before.

When tired of drawing, Li Zhuiyuan would stand up and walk to the girl's drawing table, and the girl would also leave the drawing table and come to the desk.

Li Zhuiyuan would pick up a brush to relax by painting, while A Li would flip through those design drawings.

The girl could understand them; otherwise, she couldn't have painted them.

And she seemed to naturally possess some kind of special sensing ability, able to turn cold data drawings into dynamic flowing water in the painting.

Li Zhuiyuan had also created a painting with A Li as the prototype, but the boy still couldn't paint A Li's front, so he only took her back view.

In the painting, the girl stood on the mountain peak, before her was a surging big river, and behind and below her were a crowd of ancient commoners.

This kind of composition was very suitable for appearing in murals of water burials.

This counted as the boy's self-entertainment amidst dull learning, and then when he woke up the next day, a boy's back view had been added beside the girl in this painting.

The two were also holding hands.

The painting style suddenly changed into a kindergarten wall painting.

Actually, the two were still children after all; in essence, they were no different from the children of the same age in the village playing with mud, only their mud looked a bit more high-end.

Li Zhuiyuan had already finished deciphering "Qi's Spring and Autumn Annals." The further he deciphered this book, the more difficult it became, and the more time it consumed. Li Zhuiyuan later also discovered that this book should have a codebook.

Otherwise, with his own deduction and calculation ability, it would take so much energy. For normal Qi family members, not to mention wanting to learn, just to understand the words on it would require a lifetime of painstaking study. This was obviously impossible.

And the codebook should be something basic passed down by the Qi family, similar to the Liu family's "Liu's Qi-Gazing Technique."

Precisely because this thing was missing, Li Zhuiyuan could only adopt the stupidest method of hard-gnawing decipherment.

This book itself was a kaleidoscope of mechanisms. After deciphering it, what was recorded inside were techniques of mechanisms and space, belonging to the skills the Qi family ancestors relied on to settle down. Even within the clan, it indeed had to be kept secret and could only be spread and passed down on a small scale, because this involved the secrets of unknown numbers of mausoleums. Once leaked, it would inevitably suffer the resentment of ancient authorities.

The book was a good book, but for Li Zhuiyuan now, it was a bit of a chicken rib. His major was water conservancy engineering, and he didn't need to design any "security" or "anti-theft" because near large-scale water conservancy projects, there would be troops.

Compared to the ancient fear of tomb-raiding gangs, what needs to be worried about in terms of defense now are missiles from the sky.

However, it is a chicken rib now, but it will definitely be useful in the future. The old professors at the family compound helped him decipher the coordinates in the bamboo slips. Although three places were still ambiguous, the approximate locations were all determined.

From the Northeast to Yunnan-Guizhou, from the grasslands to the Gobi, from the ten thousand mountains to the lake of a thousand islands, from basins to plateaus, and in rivers, streams, and even the sea.

The vastness of the geographical coordinates made Li Zhuiyuan feel incredible looking at the map, but the masked man born in the Spring and Autumn period, even after turning into a Dead-Fall, still carried this bamboo slip with him, so there must be secrets in it.

Moreover, among the coordinates in the bamboo slips, one was actually very close to the "Investigation Report on the 572 People's Air Defense Project in Ji'an," which was very likely the same place.

That is to say, the white moonlight that Luo Gong was thinking about was also one of the nine major coordinates recorded in the bamboo slips.

This couldn't help but make Li Zhuiyuan suspect whether the three documents Li Lan threw at him in the capital half a year ago, which corresponded to the sea, Ji'an, and Fengdu respectively, also contained some deep meaning.

Li Lan, who had completely fallen ill and considered herself to have shed her humanity, was still continuing her work. What kind of purpose was she harboring?

Li Zhuiyuan found it difficult to empathize with her thinking, and he didn't dare to try to empathize, but from the side, there must be something deeper attracting Li Lan to pursue it.

Unchanging, the one who unveiled the prelude to every day was still Liu Yi:

"Breakfast is ready!"

Li Zhuiyuan held A Li's hand and went downstairs. On the side of the living room door on the first floor hung a small blackboard, which was originally used for temporary bookkeeping, such as how many tables and chairs the east family needed or how many paper people the west family needed. Most of the time, it was idle.

But three months ago, Li Sanjiang solemnly wiped the blackboard clean with water, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote very seriously on it—"Pot One Hundred Days."

After being told that "One" was written wrong, Great-grandfather simply erased it and changed it to "100 days," continuing to count down in Arabic numerals thereafter.

This board was of course not written for his great-grandson to see; after all, the great-grandson had already been admitted in advance, and the relevant certificates had been enshrined by Li Sanjiang under the statue of the Master (Confucius) in the small compartment.

Li Sanjiang wrote this for Zhuangzhuang.

Today, the number "3" was newly written on the blackboard.

Tan Wenbin had returned from his morning run, showered by the well, and changed into clean clothes.

It had to be said, even if he only practiced the corpse-salvager's martial arts to the point of strengthening his body, that was still compared to a freak like Runsheng.

He came from a family of police officers, his physical genes were not bad to begin with, and plus he exercised hard and ate a lot, so when shirtless, he was no longer a "white-cut chicken" but visibly tough.

Yinmeng's craftsmanship in making coffins was impeccable; sleeping inside was truly warm in winter and cool in summer.

Every night, Tan Wenbin and Runsheng slept in coffins—one was Li Sanjiang's, and one was Grandpa Shan's.

The reason why Grandpa Shan's longevity coffin was still kept here was because Li Sanjiang was worried that if he sent it to his house, Shan Pao would lose money gambling and sell the longevity coffin.

Anyway, when Shan Pao kicked the bucket one day, it wouldn't be too late to let Runsheng send the coffin over.

Regarding this, Runsheng also expressed deep agreement.

"How come there's still a holiday tomorrow?" Li Sanjiang smoked with some confusion, "It's almost time for the college entrance exam."

Tan Wenbin said: "Grandpa, our school is not a college entrance exam test site. We have to go to the test site school. It just so happens there's a two-day holiday for everyone to prepare. We'll collectively go to the test site school the day before the exam and stay in their dorms."

Li Sanjiang asked: "Can I send food?"

"Yes, if you don't stay in the test site dorms, you can even go home."

"That's fine." Li Sanjiang shook off the cigarette ash, "I'll let Ting Hou prepare rice cakes and zongzi that day, and I'll send them to you on the morning of the college entrance exam."

"Hehe." Tan Wenbin didn't decline, just smiled.

"Study hard!" Li Sanjiang patted Zhuangzhuang's shoulder, "Studying well, really, studying well is good."

"Don't worry, Grandpa, I have no problem. I filled in your address for the admission notice. After you've seen it, I'll take it home for my parents to see."

"Haha!" Li Sanjiang laughed happily, "Zhuangzhuang is not bad, didn't waste so much of Grandpa's food in vain."

After breakfast, Runsheng rode the tricycle out, and Li Zhuiyuan and A Li sat on it.

The school was holding the final mobilization meeting for the college entrance exam today. At the school's request, the boy had to show his face today.

Arriving at the school, the banners "Warmly Congratulate Our School's Student Li Zhuiyuan for Winning the First Prize in the National Math Olympiad Competition" at the school gate and on the teaching building behind were still brand new, and the even older "City Award" and "Provincial Award" also looked very bright.

Because the school truly replaced the banners regularly.

"Xiao Yuan, A Li and I will wait for you nearby." Runsheng pointed to a small alley in the distance.

"Hmm." Li Zhuiyuan responded, then looked at A Li, who was still sitting on the tricycle, "In a while, we'll go buy things, and after buying things, we'll go eat fried skewers."

The girl nodded.

It was said to be a holiday tomorrow, but after the meeting ended in the morning, it was actually self-study. Students could go home directly to prepare, and Tan Wenbin would also come out.

Li Zhuiyuan walked into the school holding a copy of "Wei Zhengdao." Last semester, he would still come back to take the monthly and midterm exams, but this semester... it was his first time crossing the school gate.

The school didn't urge him to come to school or take exams, but would use Tan Wenbin to side-swipe Li Zhuiyuan's "breathing."

The boy walked straight toward the principal's office, attracting many teachers to follow along the way. If they could see him every day, it wouldn't be strange, but this was the first time the boy had appeared since winning the National Math Olympiad.

Sun Qing must have been prepared long ago; she wasn't in her own classroom but was waiting here.

Seeing Li Zhuiyuan arrive, she stepped forward, took the boy's hand, and said with a smile: "Let me, the head teacher, take a look. Oh my, long time no see, our student Zhuiyuan has really grown taller."

A head teacher calling herself a head teacher was already very awkward. That sentence "long time no see" to a student in her own class was even stranger.

But the gazes cast by the surrounding teachers were all jealous and envious; no one cared about this grammatical error.

Putting themselves in her shoes, if they could pick up the title of a college entrance exam top scorer's head teacher for nothing, they would only be more uncomposed than Sun Qing.

Writing this on their resume in the future, who would know that the top scorer in their family didn't come to class at all?

Sun Qing led Li Zhuiyuan to the principal's office, where Teacher Yan, Teacher Su... that is, all of Li Zhuiyuan's subject teachers were there.

A camera was also set up in the office.

Next, Li Zhuiyuan stood in the very center, maintaining a smile, while behind him and beside him, various permutations and combinations were constantly changing.

After taking the photos, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but rub his cheeks. Even with his good acting skills, he felt a bit sore at this moment.

Then, Wu Xinhan brought the boy to the school auditorium.

Facing the long table below, the very center position was Li Zhuiyuan's, and the principal and vice-principal only sat on the boy's two sides.

The high school seniors were gradually entering. Li Zhuiyuan noticed that many of them were wearing bright yellow talisman papers; these were the "Zhuiyuan Secret Scrolls" lucky charms.

When the boy failed to draw the talisman initially and racked his brains thinking about what this talisman could be used for, he really didn't expect it could have this kind of effect.

Especially that group of boys sitting in the first two rows, who simply unfolded the talisman paper and stuck it on their foreheads, hoping to absorb some of the prodigy's luck at this moment.

This scene looked like two rows of stiff Dead-Falls sitting in front.

When interests are involved, when young people become superstitious, they can make even the elderly feel it's simply too feudal and superstitious.

Li Zhuiyuan saw Tan Wenbin, who was making faces at him from below, and then Zhou Yunyun walked over. The boy sitting beside Tan Wenbin consciously gave up his seat.

The principal and several teacher representatives began to speak.

Different from the 100-day oath-taking meeting, where they had to boost morale and even spend money to invite "speech experts" from outside the school to specifically inject chicken blood.

This meeting focused on stress relief, telling students that the college entrance exam was not the only path in life, and at the same time, teachers of various subjects also gave pointers on things to pay attention to during the exam.

Wu Xinhan turned his head and asked the boy in a low voice: "Xiao Yuan, do you want to say a few words?"

Li Zhuiyuan made the final speech, a very brief joke:

"Everyone remember to write 'Solution' first for the answer questions."

Below, there was a collective pause, followed by collective laughter, and then enthusiastic applause. Many people waved the "Zhuiyuan Secret Scrolls" and talisman papers.

The meeting ended, and Li Zhuiyuan, accompanied by Wu Xinhan and a group of leaders and teachers, walked to the school gate.

The boy could feel the sadness coming from the surroundings, because everyone knew very clearly that after leaving the campus this time, it would be very difficult to meet again.

The boy was very grateful for the school's preferential treatment toward him, so he stopped at the flower bed by the school gate.

Ignoring the sign that said "No Entry to the Flower Bed," the boy walked in, bent down under a ginkgo tree, picked up a few leaves, and tucked them into his book.

This was also the purpose of him specifically bringing a book in this morning.

Wu Xinhan took off his glasses and cried.

The subject teachers also had red eyes.

The other teachers and leaders, seeing the principal crying, also silently cooperated and wiped the corners of their eyes.

Although there was no such deep affection and no such strong expression, it couldn't be counted as fake.

Because sometimes tears fall just to leave some damp traces in the book of life, convenient for savoring.

The high school senior classroom had gone crazy.

Students tore up test papers and notebooks, then scattered them toward the floor below.

The junior high school students on the balcony opposite watched the high school seniors having an episode, with envy and longing.

Teachers rarely came to maintain order, and the school cleaning aunties were happy to pick up sacks and start packing them to sell as waste.

Tan Wenbin rested his head on his hands, his feet propped on the desk, watching the shouting and yelling classmates around him in a half-lying posture.

If he hadn't met Brother Yuanzi, if he hadn't experienced those things half a year ago, he, who should still be the left protector, should be the one leading the most joyful trouble.

When others were going crazy, they at least kept a little sobriety. He was afraid he would even tear up his textbooks and end up being an idiot with no proper books to read for the last two days.

It's just that now, he only felt his classmates were really cute. He could enjoy this atmosphere, but was too lazy to move to join in.

With Brother Yuanzi's help, his results in several mock exams were very stable, all ranking at the forefront of the class. For the college entrance exam the day after tomorrow, he just treated it as a process that was destined to be walked, nothing to be nervous about.

Zhou Yunyun sat in Li Zhuiyuan's original seat. The surrounding environment was noisy and bustling, and everyone's voices were covered and masked.

The female class monitor gathered her courage and said in Tan Wenbin's ear:

"Tan Wenbin, I like you."

Tan Wenbin heard it. His first reaction was to want to pretend he didn't hear it.

But thinking that wasn't appropriate either, he turned his head to look at Zhou Yunyun. The girl wasn't shy and didn't retreat; she was very frank.

Tan Wenbin instinctively wanted to uninhibitedly reach out and hook the class monitor's chin, then imitate the tone of Young Master Gao:

"Come, girl, give Grandpa a smile."

But in the end, the boy only extended one arm and gently patted the class monitor's back in a half-hugging posture.

Many classmates nearby saw this scene, but no one booed, because it was too clean, so clean it was like a farewell between classmates in advance.

"Come on, let's get into a good university together!"

Neither promising nor refusing, not a commitment, but rather more like a blessing.

Zhou Yunyun also generously returned the hug, and the two briefly smelled the scent on each other's bodies.

Youth, once spoken, has no regrets.

Immediately, Tan Wenbin picked up his schoolbag, nimbly flipped over the desk, first came to an empty desk to put the potted plant into his schoolbag, and then shouted and yelled as he squeezed out of the crowd.

After indulgence, it was inevitable to feel a bit dejected.

When he accompanied Brother Yuanzi to finish shopping at the small commodity street and sat down to eat fried skewers, Tan Wenbin held a skewer and was self-indulgently "lingering" the two pieces of fried tofu left on the plate.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a piece of paper and helped A Li gently wipe the sauce from the corner of her mouth.

Then he turned his head to look at Tan Wenbin and deliberately asked in return: "Confessed to the class monitor and got rejected?"

Tan Wenbin: "Hmm."

Runsheng glanced at Binbin, didn't say anything, lowered his head and took a bite of the incense, then continued to eat the chicken skewers.

This fried skewer stall was right at the street corner, and their table was also in the most secluded place. Only here could A Li sit quietly and eat something.

Li Zhuiyuan said: "Since it's a choice you made yourself, don't regret it."

"No regrets." Tan Wenbin drank a sip of soda and hiccuped, "Brother Yuanzi, our future is the Dead-Fall in the vast ocean. Only in this way can we live up to the biceps I worked so hard to practice!"

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze fell on Tan Wenbin's schoolbag, which was obviously excessively stretched. Inside was the potted plant that had always been placed on Zheng Haiyang's desk.

Some things, Binbin had never forgotten.

This was also the place Li Zhuiyuan admired Tan Wenbin the most. After all, he, who lacked emotions, could even sever ties with his own mother.

Just then, a few guys whistling reached out and pressed down on two young students at the next table, saying they were short of money recently and wanted to borrow some to spend.

Tan Wenbin picked up the plate with sauce in front of him and slammed it directly onto one of their heads.

Just as the other party turned around, Tan Wenbin kicked him in the heart, knocking him to the ground, and then followed up with another kick, sending the person rolling away.

This was a move aimed at Dead-Falls; used on a living person, the force was even more terrifying.

Seeing this, the other two companions of the other party searched for things around them, one holding a lemon acid bottle, one holding bamboo skewers.

Runsheng looked at Li Zhuiyuan. Li Zhuiyuan opened his mouth to take a bite of the starch sausage A Li handed over, while nodding.

Runsheng stood up and walked over.

Tan Wenbin retreated behind Runsheng while swearing.

It wasn't because he was afraid or felt he couldn't beat them, but because he was about to take an exam and couldn't hurt his hands.

Soon, the few hooligans were beaten to the ground by Runsheng. The hooligans no longer had the arrogance of wanting to extort pocket money from others, but instead were spitting blood foam and crying and shouting to report to the police.

Runsheng counted the teeth on the ground with his toe. Seeing the number wasn't enough, he stepped directly on the one with the best teeth.

"Puff! Puff!"

After the other party spat out the teeth, Runsheng finally felt comfortable in his heart.

At this time, not far away, a police car drove over. It wasn't here because of a report; it just happened to be passing by on official business and saw the fighting here.

Tan Wenbin picked up his schoolbag, patted it lightly, then carried it as a single-shoulder bag, whistled, and bumped Runsheng with his arm:

"Run, the cops are coming."

Runsheng glanced at it and replied: "It's your dad."

The police car door opened, and Tan Yunlong walked down. On the way here, Tan Yunlong took off his police cap, and then gave Tan Wenbin several consecutive kicks.

No way, he had just pointed to the front while sitting in the car and told his colleague: "That's my son."

And then even through the car window, he could see his son's lip-reading of the word "cops."

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

Tan Wenbin kept dodging. Fortunately, his old man had a sense of proportion, not lifting his feet high, only kicking his calves—painful but not hindering anything.

After venting his anger, Tan Yunlong asked: "What's wrong?"

Tan Wenbin: "Hooligans collecting protection money."

"You beat people like this?"

"That's righteous action, contributing to building a harmonious society."

The two students who had been oppressed for money earlier had originally slipped away, but seeing the police had come and found Tan Wenbin and Runsheng, they were afraid they would be misunderstood, so they immediately ran back to testify.

Tan Yunlong said: "Tonight, your mother and I are going to Grandpa Li's house to send you rice cakes and zongzi. Your mother even dug out the cheongsam she wore when she was young."

"Can my mom still wear that cheongsam now?"

"I secretly took it out and found a tailor to help enlarge it."

"Not bad, Captain Tan."

"Poverty-stricken again?"

"Really not poor, just lucky you have this kind of method, otherwise I, this miracle, wouldn't have been born."

"Study hard for the exam."

"Yessir!"

The college entrance exam test site was at Pingchao Middle School. Tan Wenbin went to school a night early to take the bus organized by the school with his classmates to the test site, and at night he also stayed in the dorms of the lower-grade students who were temporarily on break.

Early in the morning, Tan Wenbin ran to the school gate. Many parents were gathered here, all bringing breakfast.

Tan Wenbin muttered while eating rice cakes and zongzi: "Grandpa, you let Runsheng ride the tricycle to send you here early in the morning? This is quite far."

"No, Principal Wu drove to pick up Xiao Yuan to the test site, so I hitched a ride."

"Where's Xiao Yuan? Did he eat? Oh, no, Xiao Yuan doesn't need to eat this."

"How could that be? He ate in the morning. After all, it's an exam, and Principal Wu brought some himself."

"Alright, I'm done eating, Grandpa."

"Come on, Zhuangzhuang, skip the hard questions, just do what you can do, just try your best..."

Tan Wenbin listened patiently to Li Sanjiang's nagging, but Li Sanjiang had only said a few words when this stinky brat didn't wave his hand to complain about the nagging and say "I know, stop talking," but instead set him up.

"Alright, Grandpa Li, I understand."

Tan Wenbin opened his arms and gave Li Sanjiang a hug, then turned to find his head teacher.

Li Sanjiang smiled. He would always be most biased toward Xiao Yuan Hou, but Xiao Yuan Hou was too sensible and well-behaved. In life, Zhuangzhuang was the one who best matched his temper.

Seeing Zhuangzhuang walk away, Li Sanjiang waved at his back again:

"Study hard, child."

Other classes had the head teacher personally collect and distribute the admission tickets, but here, Principal Wu personally controlled it. When getting off the bus, the stationery bag, admission ticket, and other things were all handed to the boy.

The first subject in the morning was Chinese. Li Zhuiyuan spent a little more time than usual because he had to write the characters more beautifully.

When taking the second subject, Math, Li Zhuiyuan quickly finished the paper. Before handing it in early, he tried to substitute the thinking of setting problems for Tan Wenbin to review this math paper.

Then, he blinked.

Because he discovered that from Tan Wenbin's perspective, this math paper was too difficult.

No, it should be that for this year's candidates, it belonged to a difficulty that was seriously excessive.

Li Zhuiyuan was a bit confused: Who set these questions? Do they have a grudge against the students?

Although everyone had the same set of difficult questions, students with poor psychological quality might have their mentality explode directly after finishing the math exam.

Li Zhuiyuan handed in his paper early and got into Principal Wu's car. Principal Wu opened the thermos for Li Zhuiyuan to eat.

"Principal Grandpa, this math exam was a bit difficult."

"Ah?" Wu Xinhan was stunned for a moment. A National Math Olympiad first-prize winner said it was difficult? Then how terrifyingly difficult must this year's math be?

"For ordinary students."

"Oh, okay, I understand." Wu Xinhan ate a reassurance pill first, then immediately realized something, "Xiao Yuan, you eat first, I'll go inquire."

Li Zhuiyuan finished eating and took a nap in the car.

Then, he was awakened by the crying outside the car.

Turning his head to look, he found that many students were indeed crying after finishing the math exam.

Even more terrifying was that several students were laughing, laughing like Ji Gong, seeing through the secular world.

Wu Xinhan returned to the car, wiping sweat while cursing: "Found out, a bastard student stole a test paper and was caught. This math exam used a backup paper temporarily.

The difficulty of this backup paper is a bit exaggerated. I've already asked the teachers to go and soothe the students' emotions in each class."

"Principal Grandpa, who set the backup paper?"

"Don't know yet, but I think this guy will probably be cursed by students for decades."

After the afternoon exam, Li Zhuiyuan was sent home. Before dawn the next day, Wu Xinhan came to pick him up again.

After the afternoon exam, at Li Zhuiyuan's request, he waited for Tan Wenbin, who came out after finishing the exam.

"Ah, the bed in the dorm really isn't as comfortable as the coffin at home."

Wu Xinhan glanced at the rearview mirror, just treating Tan Wenbin as saying something witty.

Tan Wenbin added: "Other subjects were fine, but this math was really difficult. I really couldn't write several big questions at all. I could only follow what you taught, write the word 'Solution' first, and then stuff all the formulas that looked relevant into it."

Li Zhuiyuan: "They will calculate the points."

"Really?" Tan Wenbin blinked in disbelief, "This is math, not Chinese or politics."

Wu Xinhan also pricked up his ears. He was the principal, but he didn't manage specific teaching work.

Li Zhuiyuan: "This time the questions were set too difficult. The college entrance exam is for ranking. When grading, they will definitely try to find ways to pull apart the score differentiation and try to find ways to give you points. Maybe if you just write 'Solution' for the big questions, they'll give you a lot of points."

Tan Wenbin: "Then our school won't be finished this time. Among the classmates I know, basically everyone followed what you said at the pre-exam meeting. When they got the test paper, they wrote 'Solution' for all the answer questions first."

Wu Xinhan honked the car horn happily: "Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!"

... After the exam, all that remained was waiting for the results, after all, the volunteers had already been filled out before the college entrance exam.

Li Zhuiyuan also officially began to prepare for his university life. The first thing to do was to move all the dozen boxes of books in his great-grandfather's basement out to dry.

He had too many books and document drawings on hand over the past half year and hadn't gone to the basement to find books to read for a long time.

But since he was going to Jin Ling, he definitely had to pick a few more sets to take with him.

Runsheng, Yinmeng, and Tan Wenbin were busy moving the boxes to the second floor, then taking them out set by set, spreading them out for Li Zhuiyuan to screen.

Actually, the terrace was more spacious, but Liu Grandma was sitting there drinking tea after all. Li Zhuiyuan didn't want to spread out any Qin Liu family cultivation techniques there.

That would be too embarrassing.

But what Li Zhuiyuan didn't expect was that he found an even more awkward one.

"Qi Gate General Outline."

After the boy opened it and read a few pages, he held the book and stood there for a long time.

He had painstakingly spent time and energy deciphering that set of books, only to find that the codebook had been sitting in the basement at home?

Fortunately, Li Zhuiyuan didn't find the text version of "Qi's Spring and Autumn Annals" in the books below, otherwise he might have really collapsed.

At the moment, he could only comfort himself that the process of forced decipherment itself was also a kind of learning, which could allow him to deepen his understanding and comprehend the Qi family's mechanism and space techniques faster.

Worldview, moral, health-preserving, harvesting yin to nourish yang, extracting yang to nourish yin...

These types occupied the majority. They were actually quite important, and could even be described as "precious," but for a teenager, they could all be swept aside first.

Li Zhuiyuan mainly wanted reference books. Finally, he chose three sets: "Classic of Miasma Methods," "Outline of Qi Forms," and "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra."

Although Wei Zhengdao's book also talked about methods of breaking miasma, and the Qin and Liu families also talked about qi-gazing, they were all equivalent to formulas and not so grounded. These first two books counted as specific examples under those formulas, which could help him better lay a foundation.

The "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra" talked about walking in the underworld. The Yin family's twelve methods he learned were basic underworld-walking methods, while this one was more high-end. The cover of the book wrote:

Those who master this method can traverse the netherworld and step on the yellow springs, arriving at the Bodhisattva's seat to listen to Buddhist principles.

Of course, this was an exaggerated technique, but it also explained the wonderful use of this book. Anyway, the books in Great-grandfather's basement had never talked nonsense.

What made Li Zhuiyuan a bit disappointed was that he couldn't find Wei Zhengdao's books again, nor the Qin and Liu families'.

And Li Zhuiyuan also vaguely discovered that his previous method of improving through simple "reading" had reached a certain critical threshold.

Because inheritance ultimately relies on "people." Even in today's industrial era, one will face the phenomenon of technology being "lost" due to the generational gap of industrial technical workers.

Just like the things Luo Gong "mailed" to him now, they had long since departed from the scope of books. Behind every piece of data and design material was the painstaking effort of countless people in the contemporary era.

Next, Runsheng and the others re-packed the reclassified books into boxes and moved them back to the basement.

These books were treasures. The price wasn't low now, and when the antique craze arrived in the future, the price would only be higher, especially that guy Wei Zhengdao, who liked to use Buddhist skin paper to write books—that thing was even more precious.

It could be said that Great-grandfather had always lived on a pile of gold.

But... Great-grandfather didn't seem to be short of money either.

Even if Great-grandfather's wealth were multiplied tenfold in an instant, he would still live the life he was living now.

When Li Zhuiyuan came back from washing his hands by the well, he saw Li Sanjiang sitting on a chair in the corner of the terrace, holding a pen, facing a notebook, as if calculating accounts.

"Grandpa, what are you calculating?"

"Grandpa is calculating your tuition fees."

"Grandpa, my tuition fees are waived."

"Then the accommodation and book fees?"

"Also waived."

"Living expenses..."

"There are scholarships."

"So, Xiao Yuan Hou, you going to college doesn't cost the family a single cent?"

"Should even be able to earn some."

"Hmph!"

Li Sanjiang threw the pen away and folded his arms.

Providing for his great-grandson to go to college was a burden but even more a joy, and now his joy had been deprived.

He had previously fantasized about going to the post office to remit money to his great-grandson on a fixed day every month. When people on the road asked him what he was doing, he would sigh while proudly raising the remittance slip: "Sigh, isn't this going to remit money to our Xiao Yuan Hou!"

If the child didn't have enough money to spend and called Auntie Zhang's small shop temporarily, he would also be happy to scrape together some more money and remit it quickly to help.

Alright, now the dream is shattered.

Li Zhuiyuan could only step forward and hug his great-grandfather's neck: "Grandpa, the money isn't enough to spend. I have to buy books, I have to buy materials, I have to buy new shoes and new clothes, and I have to compare myself with other classmates in class."

Li Sanjiang's mouth began to curl up.

"I can't live worse than the classmates in the city, can't let them laugh at me for being from the countryside, so, Grandpa, you still have to remit money to me every month."

Li Sanjiang nodded vigorously, agreeing: "Right, that's the logic!"

In the distance, Liu Yumei, who was drinking tea, almost sprayed the tea she had just taken into her mouth out.

The old lady wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief and said to Liu Yi, who was standing beside her: "This stinky brat, he has already mastered how to coax his great-grandfather to perfection."

Liu Yi reminded in a low voice: "The stinky brat is coming."

Li Zhuiyuan walked over. Seeing the tea was a bit cold, he first helped re-brew a pot.

"Liu Grandma, after I go to college, will you continue to live here?"

"You go to your college, what does it have to do with me."

"But..."

"But what, really think you're some kind of remarkable figure, heh."

"Yes, yes, yes, you are right."

"People, sometimes don't look too highly upon yourself, that's easy to stumble."

"You are educating me, I have remembered it."

"Go, don't bother me."

"Hey, okay."

Li Zhuiyuan ran away.

Liu Yumei gently cut the tea lid and said to Liu Yi in a low voice: "A Ting, do we have a residence in Jin Ling?"

"Yes, but it's a bit far from Haihe University."

"Then choose one to buy nearby."

"Understood."

"Sigh, I am also doing this for A Li's illness. Over this past year, A Li has become much better in all aspects. It's normal for the child I raised to have a cold personality. I don't expect A Li to be the kind of lively and active girl, but how come she still can't speak.

No matter what, I must let that stinky brat cure our A Li until she can speak."

"Then do you intend to accept him as a named disciple? Aren't you leaving here?"

"Not in a hurry. Now we have something to ask of him. Accepting a disciple directly now is not good to get along with.

After arriving in Jin Ling, you find a time to put "Liu's Qi-Gazing Technique" on his desk and let him learn to read it first. When there are more things he doesn't understand, he will be unable to help but ask me for advice, and then we will go down the slope."

"You are still the thoughtful one."

"Hehe, no matter how smart a child is, they are ultimately just a child. How many schemes can they have?"

"Hehe, that's true."

Liu Yi covered her mouth and chuckled. She was a bystander who saw clearly; she had already seen that the boy had deliberately run over to ask for a scolding just now.

The old lady laughed at Li Sanjiang for being played to perfection, but she herself was actually being handled just right.

At dinner, the postman rode a bicycle and shouted across the rice fields:

"Admitted, admitted!"

In this day and age, if a child gets into a technical secondary school, the family has to hold a banquet, let alone a proper good university.

Tan Wenbin immediately put down his chopsticks and was about to go out when Li Sanjiang stopped him, then took two packs of cigarettes out of his pocket and threw one unopened pack to Tan Wenbin:

"Go quickly!"

"Hey!"

Tan Wenbin went to take the admission notice. He had been admitted to Haihe University.

Actually, he wasn't that excited. Even though the college entrance exam math paper was very difficult, it didn't affect his mentality and the performance of other subjects. This admission notice came very logically.

However, when walking past the cover of the rice fields and about to appear before everyone on the terrace, Tan Wenbin still raised the admission notice and ran wildly excitedly, shouting:

"I've been admitted, I've been admitted!"

Dinner ended in laughter, and everyone chatted until late at night.

Then, those who should return to bed returned to bed, and those who should enter the coffin entered the coffin.

Li Zhuiyuan took a bath and first pushed open his great-grandfather's door and walked in.

Li Sanjiang was sitting on the bed, counting money.

"Grandpa."

"Hey." Li Sanjiang nodded, "This is the congratulatory money for Zhuangzhuang."

"Hmm."

"Brother Runsheng and Brother Meng are also accompanying you to Jin Ling, right."

"Yes."

"Then you have to set aside the money for renting a house. I'll scrape some together here, no problem."

"Brother Liangliang has a rented house outside the school. I'll live in the school, and they can live at Brother Liangliang's place. Anyway, Brother Liangliang doesn't go home often."

"But, living at someone else's place is ultimately inconvenient."

"Uncle Tan is going to rent a house for Brother Binbin. This was the condition Brother Binbin raised before the college entrance exam."

"That's fine, Zhuangzhuang is not an outsider."

"Grandpa, will you be lonely after we leave?"

"You are going to college, it's not like you aren't coming back after the break. Child, don't worry about your Grandpa. When I was young and had energy, I should have gone out to explore and see. When I was young, I was also the kind of person who mixed outside and didn't go home."

"Then the things at home..."

"I've already discussed it with your grandparents. They will move in and live with me. Your grandfather's body is still okay, he can help with work and farming. Your grandmother's craftsmanship is not good; the paper people she makes, even ghosts can't bear to look at.

Just let your grandmother be responsible for cooking; Grandma Guiying can cook."

"Grandpa, do you know Liu Yi is leaving?"

"She has already pickled several jars of salted vegetables and sauce in advance, and the paper people at home have been made in a large batch in advance. The meaning is very clear. I reckon she will mention it to me in a few days.

It's just that I have to find another one who is clever and can work. Tsk, I'll ask around in a while."

"Grandpa, as long as you have a plan in your heart."

"Xiao Yuan Hou, don't worry about your Grandpa. In this world, there is no one who really can't live without someone else." Li Sanjiang reached out and touched the boy's head, "Outside, play if you should play, don't worry. If your Grandpa gets sick or can't make it, I won't hide it and not call you."

"Hmm, I understand."

"Oh, right, there is one more thing to deal with. The things here were notarized in front of the village chief and the others, and they were left to you.

But the bearded man's house, phew, no, it's Brother Lin's house, although that house and that peach tree forest are also under my name, they actually weren't in the will notarization that day.

In two days, I will invite the village chief and the others to have another drink and notarize that place too.

I reckon Brother Lin has been gone for so long, without a phone call or a letter, I guess he's gone too."

Li Zhuiyuan knew that Ding Dalin and the others had been gone for almost a year.

Li Sanjiang puffed out a smoke ring and smacked his lips: "Although doing this is a bit ugly, Xiao Yuan Hou, you are going on a long journey after all. In case I really have something happen, phew phew phew, in short, we have to prevent a case of 'just in case.'

In the village, if you don't lay out the rules in advance, it's easy to have disputes.

Anyway, I have an agreement with that Ding Dalin. The house and land are under my name. He can live there. After he leaves, it's for you, Xiao Yuan Hou. If he comes back one day in the future, you just continue to let him live there."

The day after tomorrow, Li Sanjiang set up a small drink at the bearded man's house, invited the village chief and the others over to set up a new will, and then everyone drank.

Li Sanjiang was in high spirits today and drank too much. Runsheng carried him back, and then pushed the tricycle over.

On the tricycle were some candles and yellow paper. Everyone set up an offering table on the terrace facing the peach tree forest.

Although the original intention of that friend of Wei Zhengdao was bad, what he actually did was indeed a good deed. No matter how many times everyone belly-ached about him in their hearts, he did indeed protect the place for a whole year of peace.

I reckon he can continue year after year. Heaven knows when he will finally stop breathing.

In this world, there are few pure and flawless existences. Many "patron saint beasts" in myths and legends from various places, if you look into them carefully, are not good things at the source. It mainly focuses on looking at the traces rather than the heart.

What Li Zhuiyuan did today was a small enfeoffment ritual.

Adding the word "small" in front actually has nothing to do with the enfeoffment behind. In essence, it's the same as villagers and commoners worshiping the Dragon King and throwing a pig's head into the water.

No matter if you are willing or not, I will put this "high hat" on you first, so that even if you want to cause trouble in the future, you will have some face to lose.

Burning paper, chanting spells, reciting scriptures—Li Zhuiyuan walked through this set of ritual processes very seriously.

This set of processes had no substantial effect and was purely formalism, far less effective than directly lying on the peach tree forest ground and having an underworld walk.

But this was a performance for the Dead-Fall to see, mainly to show an attitude.

After the ceremony, Li Zhuiyuan was in front, holding a bowl of yellow wine in his left hand and incense in his right, sliding the bottom of the burning incense in the wine bowl three times.

Behind, Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Yinmeng were also holding the same things and doing the same actions.

"Offer wine."

The three stepped forward together, extended their bowls outside the terrace, and poured the wine into the mud below.

Subsequently, Li Zhuiyuan stepped forward alone. Three wet traces could be clearly seen below the terrace, but when Li Zhuiyuan poured the wine in his hand down, the wine was instantly absorbed by the ground, the ground returned to dry, and not even a drop of wine stain could be left.

This was truly dry.

Li Zhuiyuan could even imagine the ferocious laughter of that thing underground. He really wanted to see himself practice the methods in that Wei Zhengdao black-skinned book, and finally end up as miserable as him.

Unfortunately, he was destined to be disappointed. He had already learned the black-skinned book and had even used it several times, yet he hadn't left any trace of being possessed by a Dead-Fall.

Suddenly, Li Zhuiyuan thought of a possibility.

Perhaps, while he and the others were belly-aching about him, he was also belly-aching about him and the others underground.

Because from his "perspective," because of his existence, no Dead-Falls would appear nearby, which led to the fact that even if he learned the black-skinned book, there were no Dead-Falls to manipulate, and he couldn't "get infected."

But he had to hold on hard, wanting to see his miserable ending. But the more he held on hard, as long as he didn't leave his hometown village, he wouldn't encounter any Dead-Falls.

This belonged to a dead knot where both sides were uncomfortable.

However, it could be utilized.

Departing from the previous ritual of chanting scriptures, he could say something else.

Li Zhuiyuan splayed his toes slightly outward, stood firm, and looked straight ahead.

"Snap!"

He snapped his fingers, opened his eyes, and walked in the underworld!

In his vision, half was reality and half was gray.

Before, he hadn't learned the basics and thought that every underworld walk required sleeping. Later, he gradually explored the semi-dreaming and semi-waking state, but in reality, one could take care of both simultaneously.

Otherwise, those Daoist priests and monks who went to solve dirty things, if they had to sleep to see the dirty things, how could they solve them if they were sleeping?

Looking back at the road he came from, Li Zhuiyuan admired himself a bit, just like deciphering "Qi's Spring and Autumn Annals," he always relied on his good brain to force out stupid methods.

The boy didn't see "it," but under the original pond location in the peach tree forest, he could see a faint layer of black.

"Before meeting you, I could often encounter Dead-Falls. After meeting you, I couldn't encounter them anymore.

Now, I am going to leave home to seek knowledge. I will definitely be able to encounter many Dead-Falls outside. I will use the methods in the black-skinned book you gave me.

But I don't believe I will become a human-not-human, ghost-not-ghost existence like you. I have better talent than you, I am smarter than you, and I have a better life than you.

Don't believe it?

In a few years, let's wait and see.

Oh,

Right,

If there's nothing wrong at home, I won't come back."

After speaking, the originally black layer of soil gradually stained with a layer of blood red, but soon disappeared again.

Li Zhuiyuan snapped his fingers again, ending the underworld walk, and his vision returned to normal.

Standing behind him, Tan Wenbin also imitated the finger-snapping action.

Of course, he was just simply imitating this posture of Brother Yuanzi. If he wanted to actively walk in the underworld now, to increase the success rate, he would have to burn incense and chant scriptures first.

Li Zhuiyuan had finished speaking. His implication was: You don't want me to continue returning here to safely survive, then you continue to ensure my hometown is safe and sound, so that I can roam outside to my heart's content, mix until I have a miserable ending like you, and then come back crying to see you, letting you get your wish.

However, speaking in detail, his hometown only had his great-grandfather, grandparents, and that group of relatives. If one were to investigate further, looking at the relationship on the household register, in fact, there was only one great-grandfather in the family.

But Great-grandfather had good fortune and didn't seem to need the care of the one below.

Even if he and the others left, Great-grandfather only needed to recruit another worker to continue living a nourishing life with wine and meat.

Taking a step back, if there was really trouble, there was also Grandpa Shan who could come over to stand in for Great-grandfather.

After all, Grandpa Shan's longevity coffin was still held in Great-grandfather's hands.

After everyone left the bearded man's house, they didn't go straight home but first went to Auntie Zhang's small shop to page Xue Liangliang. Not long after, the phone was called back.

Li Zhuiyuan inquired about the accommodation situation there. Xue Liangliang guaranteed that there was no problem and everything had been arranged.

After both sides confirmed the date of early school entry, Xue Liangliang took the initiative to suggest that considering everyone had a lot of luggage, he would drive a truck back from Jin Ling to pick everyone up.

During the phone call, Luo Gong's questioning voice came from behind. Xue Liangliang replied: "Teacher, I'll drive a truck to pick up my junior brother in a while. He has a lot of luggage, a pile of books and design drawings. It's inconvenient to take the train or long-distance bus, and he's still young.

It's fine, it's not troublesome, junior brother is important. I have that driver's license; I took it for construction convenience, hehe. I'll borrow a car from you then. Hey, alright, alright."

Li Zhuiyuan knew that Brother Liangliang was so enthusiastic and didn't hesitate to drive over personally, definitely not just for the sake of brotherhood; he was thirsty for the opportunity to ask Luo Gong for leave.

Thinking about it now, it was fortunate that Uncle Qin was one step slow and couldn't break through Baijia Town in time.

Hanging up the phone and returning home, Li Zhuiyuan told Liu Yi in the kitchen the date of school entry.

Liu Yi was a bit surprised: "Isn't there still a long time left in summer break? Why so anxious to enroll?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to enter the university campus."

"That's fine, after your great-grandfather wakes up from his drunkenness, I'll go tell your great-grandfather."

"Okay, thank you Liu Yi."

"What's there to thank for such a small thing? It's just a matter of convenience."

After Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs, Liu Yi wiped her hands on her apron, walked out of the kitchen toward the east room, and told Liu Yumei the date.

"So early? Have we decided on the house?"

"It was decided long ago."

"That's fine, you should also pack up your things, mainly A Li's clothes and the design patterns I made. Don't leave them behind."

"You can rest assured about this."

"Oh, right, and A Li's collection box. You number them all, don't bump or break them; those are all her treasures."

"I understand."

The east room was an east room bungalow. Because there was no fire, the kitchen wasn't here, so it was a layout of one hall and two bedrooms. Liu Yumei and A Li slept in the north bedroom together.

Liu Yi walked to the door of the south bedroom and opened the door. She was also stunned for a moment. These boxes were piled high, all the way to the bedroom door.

"Whoa, there are actually so many?"

Liu Yumei sighed helplessly: "You don't know how much space those design drawings take up, and also, that son-in-law of the Bai family sends them so diligently."

"Don't worry, I will arrange for people to move them. There is a basement in the Jin Ling house, which can be stored. Then these memorial tablets..."

Liu Yumei's gaze looked toward the offering table. Initially, the memorial tablets were aged, then gradually replaced by new ones, and now, they were all brand new.

"After going to Jin Ling, purchase some thunder-struck wood and carve another set. No, make two sets. Don't cut off A Li's handicraft materials."

"Wouldn't it be more convenient to give A Li thunder-struck wood materials directly?"

Liu Yumei shook her head, stood up, walked to the table, opened the drawer, pulled out a painting, and slowly unfolded it: "This is A Li's painting."

Liu Ting walked over and saw that the painting was a room. The threshold of the room was very high. Outside the door, strange ghosts were rampant, and inside the door, the oil in the offering table was exhausted, and all the memorial tablets were cracked.

"They are willing. When A Li stops carving them, it proves that A Li doesn't blame them in her heart anymore."

Xue Liangliang drove a truck to pick people up. In order not to block the village road, he simply arched it down a section into the field. Anyway, it was Great-grandfather's land, and no one would say anything.

Runsheng and the others started moving the luggage. There were indeed many things, and an ordinary pickup truck might not be able to fit them.

Li Zhuiyuan and A Li had already said goodbye in the room. The boy and girl had a tacit understanding and had no sadness about parting.

But when they went downstairs together, in front of Liu Yumei, the boy showed reluctance to part, and the girl lowered her eyes, her expression dejected.

After Li Zhuiyuan got on the truck, he asked Xue Liangliang with some concern:

"Brother Liangliang, can you still drive?"

"Sit tight and don't worry." Xue Liangliang started the car, and while turning the steering wheel, he said, "Xiao Yuan, take that cushion on your side and give it to me. I'll cushion my waist."

A few days after Li Zhuiyuan and the others went to school, Liu Yi also formally resigned from Li Sanjiang.

Li Sanjiang had expected it long ago. Everyone had a simple farewell meal. When settling the wages at the end, Li Sanjiang wrapped two extra red envelopes.

"One is for you, one is for A Li."

Liu Ting looked at Liu Yumei, not knowing whether to accept it or not.

Liu Yumei nodded: "Accept it, it's a token of Uncle Sanjiang's heart."

Immediately after, Li Sanjiang took out an even thicker red envelope and handed it to A Li carefully.

Although Li Sanjiang had seen the girl's changes this year, he was still a bit afraid of this girl, especially when Xiao Yuan Hou was not by her side.

Liu Yumei's gaze froze, and she asked: "Old thing, what are you thinking?"

"This is for the child. Our Xiao Yuan Hou is pitiful, his parents divorced and left him here alone. Fortunately, there is a girl here to accompany her to play."

Seeing that Li Sanjiang didn't say words like "for the great-grandson-in-law," Liu Yumei couldn't help but feel a warmth in her heart.

She reached out and took it:

"I'll accept it for A Li. After going to Jin Ling and seeing Xiao Yuan, I'll return a bigger one to him."

After Liu Yumei's family moved away, Li Weihan and Cui Guiying moved in immediately.

With Li Weihan accompanying him to drink and chat, Li Sanjiang didn't live a lonely life.

For Li Weihan, this already counted as starting to fulfill his promise to provide for Uncle Sanjiang's old age, although Uncle Sanjiang's body was still very tough.

However, he still used this as a pretext to let his four sons take back all the grandchildren who were staying with him. Serving the old before taking care of the young—he, Li Weihan, could distinguish clearly.

Soon, someone came to the door wanting to do paper-crafting work.

It was a woman, looking to be in her thirties, who looked very honest and dutiful. She was from Shigang. Her husband had died, she had no children, she had come out of her husband's family, and her maiden family's brothers didn't treat her well either, so she thought about working here and eating and living here.

Li Sanjiang let her make a paper person first to see. Unexpectedly, the woman's hands were really clever, and she soon made one, the paper person lifelike.

"Alright, it's you, stay. Right, you just said your name is Ying Hou, what was your big name again?"

"Xiao Yingying."

(End of volume)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 78 =====