Chapter 615

In the end, we were unable to bring Guo Wei back.

But some of the secrets Guo Wei handed over to us left the Deputy Mayor unable to sleep at night, filled with constant anxiety.

Four days later, we took a flight back to the country.

Xu Mengda did not return with us; he wanted to stay in the United States to accompany Xue Bing in her studies.

On this trip, I deliberately avoided seeing Xue Bing. Peng Xiaoyuan, who was studying in the United States with Xue Bing, came to find me. She sat in my room for an entire afternoon and left without saying a word.

When I returned to the country, she entrusted me to bring an Alaskan sweater back for her father, Vice Principal Peng.

Secretary Chen of the Municipal Committee spent an entire afternoon listening to our report. On this trip, not only did we bring back all of Guo Wei's confession materials, along with recordings and videos, but in his testimony, I saw a towering iceberg with its ferocious corner exposed.

Secretary Chen immediately arranged for us to report to the province and specifically instructed that no one was to leak any news about the case.

Coming out of the Municipal Committee, I called Chen Meng, and the first thing I said was, "Mengmeng, we're about to see the sun."

Chen Meng didn't seem to understand and said into the receiver, "What sun?"

I laughed, "The sun, of course!"

Chen Meng pondered for a while and asked where I was. She wanted to see me.

I looked around; apart from the armed police at the entrance of the Municipal Committee, the surroundings were empty, and not a soul could be seen.

I said, "I want to go mountain climbing."

"Okay! I'll go with you," Chen Meng said, naming a place and saying she would wait for me at the intersection leading to the road for this mountain.

I knew this mountain; it held historical traces of the Great Yu controlling the floods in ancient times. There was a clear spring on the mountain that flowed all year round. Even in the fifties, when the land was barren for thousands of miles, this spring water continued to flow. Back then, people from dozens of miles around relied on this spring water to get through the most difficult years.

This mountain was covered with primeval forests, and snakes and insects often appeared, so few people went up it. In recent years, the local area had intended to turn this mountain into a tourist attraction, so they had built a road leading directly to the summit.

Leaving Hengyue City and driving twenty kilometers along the national highway, there was a small exit. A concrete road connected the mountain to the national highway.

After getting off the national highway and driving another twenty kilometers on the concrete road, one could reach the foot of the mountain. At the foot of the mountain was a large flat area, originally intended to be a parking lot, but because of insufficient funds, only half of it had been built so far.

I saw Chen Meng's car parked by the side of the road at the exit of the national highway.

I slowed down, honked the horn, and drove straight ahead.

I had been to this mountain several times, and every time I came, it brought me surprises. No matter how bad my mood was, as long as I walked around the mountain, I could feel my courage increase and my spirit refreshed.

Chen Meng followed me, and we drove our cars into the parking lot one after the other.

The parking lot was empty, without a single car or a single person.

We parked our cars side by side and simultaneously rolled down the windows.

"Come over and sit," I shouted to her.

She hesitated for a moment, but still closed her car door and got into my car.

"Want to go for a walk?" I asked, pointing to the road up the mountain.

Chen Meng smiled beautifully and said, "I'm tired. Let's sit for a while first, okay?"

"Okay!" I said, "I'll help you recline the seat."

As I spoke, I leaned over from my side, reaching the upper half of my body across hers, and reached out to pull the seat adjuster by the car door.

She curled her body into a ball, dodging me, and said, "I'll do it myself, I'll do it myself."

I pulled the seat down, let her lie flat on the chair, looked at her face, and said, "You rest for a while, I'll get out of the car and walk around."

She grabbed my hand and said, "No, stay here and keep me company. I'm scared!"

I stared at her strangely and laughed, "It's broad daylight, what are you afraid of?"

Chen Meng laughed embarrassedly. She turned her face away and said in a low voice, "I just don't want you to leave me."

My heart stirred; I scratched her palm lightly, smiled, and said nothing.

She was clearly ticklish but deliberately held back her laughter. I saw the muscles on her face twitching slightly, like a calm pool of spring water rippled by a falling leaf.

"I have something to tell you," I said, taking out a cigarette and asking, "Can I smoke?"

"Of course you can," she said, closing her eyes slightly and whispering, "As long as it's something you like, you can do anything."

I lit the cigarette, took a puff, hesitated, and put it to her lips, encouraging her, "Take a puff, it's a good cigarette."

She refused, saying, "I don't smoke. Women who smoke don't leave a good impression on men."

"There's no one else here," I scanned the empty parking lot and said, "Apart from you and me, there isn't another living soul to be found."

"I don't care in front of others," she opened her eyes to look at me, a blush spreading across her face.

My heart stirred again; I looked at the windshield and said, "Mengmeng, I want to..."

"What do you want to do?" She moved slightly, and her chest heaved.

"Nothing!" I said in a panic, throwing the cigarette out of the car, "What about Su Ya and the others?"

"They're doing fine."

"What are they doing now?" I asked.

"You haven't told me what you want to do yet," Chen Meng asked relentlessly.

"Nothing," I said faintly, "Just a thought in my heart, but I don't want to now."

"Do you want to kiss me?" Chen Meng suddenly opened her eyes and stared straight at me.

I hurriedly avoided her gaze, smiled awkwardly, and said, "I didn't say that."

"You, if you want to kiss, just kiss. It's not like you haven't kissed me before," she teased, "Chen Feng, tell me, I'm your cousin's wife; if you kiss me, aren't you eating your cousin's leftovers?"

I was speechless. This woman didn't care about anyone else's feelings at all; she spoke directly, plunging me into boundless embarrassment for a moment.

She sat up from the seat, reached out to pull my head over, kissed me on the mouth, and giggled, "Chen Feng, you're having an affair."

"I am not!" I said in a fluster, "You're the one who kissed me."

"Don't you want to kiss me?" She tilted her head and looked at me.

I could no longer control myself; I hugged her, pressed my lips against hers, and extended my tongue to pry open her teeth.

She obediently opened her teeth, letting me drive straight in.

"Chen Feng," she murmured, "do you love me?"

I held her lips and nodded earnestly.

"What about the girl?"

"I love her too," I said, and went back to licking her lips.

"Glutton!" she teased, "Do men like you all like to be gluttonous?"

I said seriously, "I'm not gluttonous. But you, I want to eat."

"How do you want to eat me?" She laughed coquettishly, pushed me away, opened the car door, and jumped out, running lightly along the road up the mountain.

I hurriedly got out of the car, locked the doors, and chased after her.

There were two roads up the mountain: one was the newly built concrete road, which didn't have much traffic yet, and one could see the cleanliness and smoothness of the road surface. The other was a small path, obviously walked by many, but it was winding and traveled through the dense forest.

In the distance, there was the sound of tinkling water; I knew this was the spring water flowing down from the summit.

Chen Meng turned onto the small path, stood in front, and waved to me, shouting, "Chen Feng, let's go see the water!"

I nodded, caught up to her in a few steps, held her hand, pushed through the thorny path, and followed the sound of the water.

There was no path here anymore, and the grass was waist-high. Several clusters of unknown shrubs were covered with red fruits.

Suddenly she screamed, and I saw that she had been caught by a cluster of thorns. Her ankle was bleeding, and beads of blood rolled down; the pain made her beautiful face almost twist.

I squatted down with a pained heart, helped her pull away the thorns, hugged her waist, and said, "Mengmeng, let's not go over there."

"No, I want to go," she said stubbornly, "I can already hear the sound of the water. I want to see the water."

I had no choice but to hold her hand and probe the path forward step by step.

Looking back, the path we had come from had disappeared into the grass. Here, apart from the sound of insects, the world was as quiet as a mother's womb.

Before us was a pool of green spring water, held in a three-foot-square stone basin. The water came down from the summit and had washed into this pool here. The spring water was clear and cold, and one could clearly see the white sand and round pebbles at the bottom.

We sat side by side on a rock, smelling the fragrance of flowers, listening to the sound of the water, and feeling the tranquility from nature.

"It's so good!" Chen Meng said softly, "If one day I make up my mind, I'll come here and build a thatched cottage, listening to the sound of the water morning and night, and falling asleep with the fragrance of flowers as my pillow."

I flicked her nose and said, "By the time you make up your mind, I'm afraid you won't even have the strength to climb the mountain."

She smiled and leaned her head against my chest, saying, "Chen Feng, if there really is such a day, I hope you can come and keep me company!"

"I can't!" I laughed, "I'm just a vulgar person; I don't have your level of cultivation."

"Bad person!" she laughed and pinched my waist.

I pressed my hand against her chest, reached two fingers through the gap in her buttons, and touched her soft, smooth bra, saying, "If a man isn't bad, a woman won't love him."

Chen Meng glared at me and said, "If your hand messes around again, I'll chop it off."

I was so scared I hurriedly pulled it out, laughing, "My dear, I just wanted to see which of your mountains is deeper and more charming than the one under our feet."

Her face turned red; she didn't dare look at me at all and whispered, "Let's talk about serious business first."

"What is serious business?" I teased, "Here, you are my serious business."

"Damn Chen Feng." She was about to pinch me again. This time I was prepared; before she could exert any force, I had already picked her up and laid her flat on a cluster of warm, soft grass.

In my ears was the tinkling sound of the spring water, in my nose was the faint fragrance of flowers, and before my eyes was the body of a beautiful woman. I suddenly felt that everything between heaven and earth had become gentle.

"We're having an affair!" she covered her mouth and giggled.

I unbuttoned her clothes, buried my head in her white, warm, and soft chest, and murmured, "Even if you brought a cannon to blast me now, I would still want to love you."

Chen Meng hugged my head with affection, and the teardrops in her eyes fell onto the grass with a plop.