By the time dinner ended, the night was already late.
At the dinner table, Zhao Lanxiang had asked plenty about her son's experiences at the forest farm. With Zhao Xiaozhi chiming in and embellishing every detail, Lian Youming was praised nearly to the heavens.
Not only was the girl a talented dancer, but she also had a wonderfully nimble tongue. The moment she discovered Zhao Lanxiang was a veteran of an art troupe, she grew even closer to her, peppering her speech with "Auntie this" and "Auntie that" until she had Lian Youming's mother charmed senseless and laughing uncontrollably.
Watching from the side, Lian Youming muttered inwardly to himself. He had never seen her this chatty back at the forest farm; how had returning to the city transformed her into an entirely different person?
Granted, while they had both been sent down to the countryside in the same area, one had stayed within the female educated youth group while the other stuck with the male educated youth, so their interactions had been pitifully rare.
She certainly acted as if they were old friends.
Still, Zhao Xiaozhi had done him a huge favor today, and they had become friends.
Besides, through their casual chatter, it turned out this girl was indeed from a military family. Her father's generation had served in a heroic company, and her going to the Northeast after being sent down to the countryside had been purely to experience the path trodden by those who had come before.
On top of that, with Third Aunt gasping in admiration from time to time, and Lian Shuang and Lian Lei joining in on the fun, there was no chance for Lian Youming to get a word in edgewise.
*She really kept that hidden deep.*
Deep indeed. For a youth raised in a military compound to blend quietly into a group of educated youth without a word, willingly enduring the same hardships and suffering the same exhaustion without anyone suspecting a thing—such dedication was usually ingrained through their parents' nurturing and guidance from childhood.
Just then, a voice called out:
"Sister-in-law, my brother says he won't be back tonight! Don't wait up for him!"
In the alley, someone pedaled past on a bicycle, shouting into the courtyard as he sped by.
Hearing that his father was not coming home tonight, and seeing how enthusiastically the women were chatting, Lian Youming tactfully retreated to his room.
After lying on his bed for a while, he took out the items he had brought back from the Northeast one by one.
Tiger bone, Eastern pearls, two large gold bars, several silver dollars, Journey to the West, and the Buddhist scripture concealing the Golden Bell Shield...
Lian Youming carefully took inventory of everything, his gaze finally settling on a jade box.
This was what Xie Laosan had handed to him before he died.
Inside, there had originally been two maps: one was a map of the Kwantung Army underground fortress, which Lian Youming had already handed over to Li Da; the other was a hide map.
He carefully took out the map and looked at the Changbai Mountains depicted upon it. According to Li Da, deep within the mountains lay a grand tomb, beneath which something extraordinary seemed to be buried.
"A grand tomb?"
The thought of a tomb naturally brought to mind the secret chamber at the forest farm.
To this day, the secret guarded by the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain remained a knot in his heart. Who was the person Yang Shuang had spoken of, buried in the soil and yet still alive?
And the ancient poem carved into the stone in the secret chamber—did Mount Lu hold some hidden hint?
Who was the person beaten to death in the stone coffin?
What were Xue Hen and Gong Wu'er searching for?
And what had the heretics of the White Lotus Sect been pursuing all along?
A real headache.
Lian Youming could not help but ponder it.
Because that was where his dream of the jianghu had begun; that was where the story had started.
Trace every thread back to its root, and it all led to that place, back to the secret guarded by the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain.
Lian Youming's eyes glinted as he carefully put each item away. "No matter. It will all be unraveled."
...
The next morning, at first light.
After a night of chilling wind, a layer of cold frost coated the courtyard.
*Squeak!*
With the dry, raspy groan of the gate hinge turning, a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue uniform and a fleece cap pushed a bicycle into the courtyard.
In the front basket sat two lunchboxes filled with food he had brought back, wrapped in a cotton towel to keep them warm.
The man had a broad frame, gaunt facial contours, and bright, spirited eyes, exuding robust vitality.
After parking the bicycle, the middle-aged man pulled off his gloves, revealing a pair of large hands. Riddled with crisscrossing old scars and injuries, those hands nonetheless looked hard as iron—honorable medals left behind by the grueling years of the past.
"Lanxiang, I brought food back! No need to make breakfast!"
Wiping the snow from the stubble on his chin, he headed into the house with the lunchboxes.
But lifting the door curtain and seeing two unfamiliar girls inside, the burly man froze. Second-guessing himself, he backed out into the courtyard and hurriedly looked at the neighboring houses on either side.
"I didn't take the wrong door. This is my house!"
When Lian Youming poked his head out, the man narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing him from head to toe before venturing somewhat uncertainly, "You little brat?"
Hearing this timeless moniker, Lian Youming's mouth twitched. "Dad!"
This was his kind and endearing father, Lian Bin.
"Life over in the Northeast must be pretty good, if being sent down to the countryside can feed someone up like this. Your mother was worried you weren't getting enough to eat—just fretting over nothing, if you ask me."
Looking at his son's towering frame, a good head taller than himself, Father Lian chuckled heartily. He patted Lian Youming on the shoulder, then wrapped his arms around his waist to test his weight.
"Aiyah, you're solid as a boulder!"
Zhao Lanxiang stepped out as well, shooting the father and son a sidelong glance. "We have guests in the house! You're both grown men—do you think your son is still seven or eight? Mind you don't throw your back out."
Unlike the rigid Qin Yuhu, Lian Youming's father was a man of firm principles and strict discipline, yet he rarely kept a stern face. If his children caused trouble, he beat them; if they brought honor, he praised them; and on ordinary days, he enjoyed teasing all three.
Seeing the two young women sitting inside, Father Lian simply refrained from entering. "All right, I'll head to the factory first. Tonight, your dad will spar a couple of rounds with you... Growing big and strong isn't enough; if you can't fight, you're just a good-for-nothing. If you've dared forget what I taught you, prepare for a thrashing tonight."
With that, humming a tune, he pedaled his bicycle back out of the courtyard.
Without lingering, after breakfast Lian Youming went to the subdistrict office to take care of his household registration, then headed out with Yan Tao and Zhao Xiaozhi.
Sun Duhe would surely rush over the moment he received word; by Lian Youming's estimate, he would likely arrive around noon.
Acting as a proper host, Lian Youming showed the two girls around the city, introducing them to the local customs and culture of the Guanzhong region.
In the Xijing of this era, Textile City was the bustling heart of town, dubbed "Little Hong Kong." Half a dozen state-owned enterprises stood practically shoulder to shoulder—the State-Owned Cotton Mill No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, the Printing and Dyeing Mill, lined up from north to south. With so many workers employed there, shift changes resembled an army of ten thousand charging into battle.
However, there were also plenty of street loafers.
Though called loafers, they were actually idle youth waiting for job assignments at home.
In recent years, the number of educated youth returning to the city had been staggering, but those who could land an "iron rice bowl" were vanishingly few. With too many wolves and too little meat, unable to find jobs and no longer attending school, they were bored out of their minds. Every few days, they would wander about aimlessly. Grouping up in twos and threes, exchanging idle words and reckless notions, they were bound to stir up trouble sooner or later.
Moreover, the vast majority of workers at the state cotton mills were young women, so many idle young men loved flocking around Textile City. Whenever the shifts let out, they craned their necks longer than anyone. Add to that a roller-skating rink on the main street—one of the few forms of entertainment available to youth in this era, where showing off, playing the dashing hero, and chatting up girls all depended on roller-skating prowess—and it naturally became the primary gathering ground for youth.
With so many people, chaos was inevitable.
Every few days, groups would schedule fights in secret, causing constant commotions.
Lian Youming's father was the chief of the security section at Mill No. 3, and his mother was also a worker there, so he had grown up alongside the children of the workers. Yet he had rarely thrown punches, generally keeping to the well-behaved side.
In truth, he had caused trouble before. Once, without realizing it, he had beaten up a boy from a martyr's family, which earned him a sound thrashing and taught him a hard lesson.
Along the way, the two girls strolled and looked around, eventually spending some time at the roller rink. One was gentle and refined, while the other carried a spirited, heroic charm in her brows. With Zhao Xiaozhi's dancer's poise complemented by roller skates, the moment she took to the floor, she drew every eye in the house.
Some wanted to hit on them, but catching sight of Lian Youming's imposing, terrifying build and locking eyes with him, their eyelids twitched violently, and they swallowed hard. Especially after a few recognized him, everyone gave him a wide berth.
Seeing Lian Youming standing motionless, Zhao Xiaozhi skated over. "Student Lian, they seem terrified of you."
"How could they not be? Last time, a guy who harassed a girl spent six months in the hospital."
Lian Youming briefly recounted the incident, though his heart felt no ripple of emotion, remarkably calm.
As for the girl he had saved back then, his Third Aunt had quietly mentioned last night that she had been sent down to the Xinjiang Gobi and had never returned, likely having settled down there.
In truth, Lian Youming really wanted to tell them they were all overthinking it. Perhaps he had felt a measure of indignation at the beginning, but without that ordeal, he would never have had the chance to catch a glimpse of that wider world.
Every sip and every bite seemed predestined by fate.
Besides, he had only resented the outcome; when it came to his choice, he had never regretted it.
Seeing that the time was about right, Lian Youming led the two girls toward the railway station.
After waiting for nearly forty or fifty minutes, they saw Sun Duhe sprint out of the station exit, eyes bloodshot and expression frantic. The moment he saw Yan Tao standing before him safe and sound, he nearly burst into tears.
"As long as you're safe, as long as you're safe... I was nearly driven out of my mind with worry."
Yan Tao wiped away tears as well.
Sun Duhe turned to Lian Youming, his wide eyes red-rimmed. Taking a deep breath, he said hoarsely, "Brother, words aren't enough. From now on, whenever Sun makes his fortune, a share of everything I earn is yours... If anything had happened to this girl, I wouldn't have had any reason to go on living. You've saved both of our lives."
"To be safe, I think you should leave her at home. She ought to have things of her own to do."
Lian Youming offered his perspective. Yan Tao was simply too innocent; wandering the world with Sun Duhe was far too dangerous.
Sun Duhe gritted his teeth, terrified in hindsight, holding Yan Tao's hand tightly. "As long as you're safe, anything is fine."
Lian Youming turned to Zhao Xiaozhi. "All right then, you should head back to Beijing with the two of them. Everyone back to their own homes and their own mothers."
Zhao Xiaozhi chuckled. "Trying to shake me off already? Let me tell you something: I'll be becoming a transit railway police officer soon."
Lian Youming was about to retort, but thinking back to everything that had happened on the train, he could not resist cautioning her, "Then you'd better stay sharp. Some people aren't easy to handle."
Pausing, he added, "If you run into something tricky, don't act recklessly."
Zhao Xiaozhi narrowed her smiling eyes, a gleam dancing in them, and asked with seven parts anticipation and three parts delight, "So you do know how to care about people! If I run into something tricky, can I come ask you for help?"
Lian Youming thought for a moment and answered seriously, "Depends on the situation."
Zhao Xiaozhi laughed merrily. "It's a deal then! Student Lian, I'll be counting on you for my future promotions."
Before long, watching the three disappear into the crowd entering the station, Lian Youming turned and headed home.
He now faced an important choice in his own life.
Study, and take the university entrance exams.
Chapter 62