Chapter 48 – Homecoming
by Salted FishToday, I met a very important person.
My father.
Counting the years, it’s been fifteen since we last saw each other.
When I was young and ignorant, I thought he never paid attention to my life. After leaving with my mother, I actually held some resentment toward him in my heart.
But now that I’m working myself, I can finally understand him.
I noticed his hair had turned much whiter, and his face had gained more wrinkles. He looked different from the tall, silent man in my memories.
The only thing unchanged was that he still rarely smiled.
All these years, he’s been alone. It must have been very hard for him.
I heard that the Senior Division is about to bring in new people. Both she and I really want to take the competitive test.
As they say in the company, only by entering the Senior Division can one become Weiyao’s “favored son.”
She’s much more outstanding than me—smart, and several times when we entered Blizzard together, she was the first to break through the mission objectives.
They say that like-minded people are easily drawn together.
The thunder outside is so loud. I’ll stop here for today.
The rain had stopped, but the mountain path remained difficult to traverse.
As the saying goes, going uphill is easy, but coming down is hard—let alone a mountain with no proper paths after a thunderstorm.
Mud pits, depressions, and swamps were everywhere, and one misstep could send you sinking in.
“Careful!”
Qi Youxuan stepped into a patch of rain-soaked wetland, her ankle twisting as she nearly fell.
I was right beside her and reached out to steady her.
Qi Youxuan steadied herself and pushed my hand away.
“I just wasn’t paying attention. I’m fine on my own,” she said, as if to prove her point, walking ahead briskly.
She really was a stubborn girl.
As she walked, Qi Youxuan looked around, likely searching for Wei Qinzhou’s figure.
Her silhouette was slender and delicate, fragile even. If Wei Qinzhou were here, he would have held her, taken her hand, and walked slowly with her.
Perhaps one day, she’d find someone else to lean on. But that person would never be Wei Qinzhou again.
Qin Yuezhang suddenly whispered in my ear, “Are you sad?”
A strange feeling rose in my chest. I looked at him. “Sad about what?”
“You lied to her.” His voice was low. “Will she ever see Qinzhou again?”
Of course… not.
She would never see Wei Qinzhou again.
Because ten years ago, after that confrontation on the mountaintop, I never saw Wei Qinzhou again. He left this place disappointed, abruptly ending his volunteer teaching stint.
As a projection of real memories, Wei Qinzhou wouldn’t appear anymore. Even if he did, it would be in the form of that pitiful, half-dead figure collapsed in the ditch.
I don’t think she’d want to see that. Wei Qinzhou wouldn’t want her to see him in such a wretched state, either.
I didn’t tell Qi Youxuan the truth, letting her cling to a sliver of hope. Earlier, she had refused to give me Wei Qinzhou’s safety gate code and even used it as leverage to strike a deal with me.
If she knew she’d never see Wei Qinzhou again, who knows what she’d do?
I didn’t want to take any more risks, so I had to keep Qi Youxuan steady for now.
“Who knows?” I said. “Blizzard is so powerful these days. You can always meet in dreams.”
Qin Yuezhang’s expression darkened. “But they’re just dreams. The living can’t drown in dreams and the past forever. You have to move forward eventually. Don’t you agree?”
“You should be saying that to Qi Youxuan,” I scoffed.
His words carried a deeper meaning—what was he trying to persuade me of? No matter what, I’ve already come this far. It’s not something Qin Yuezhang has the power to change.
Qin Yuezhang was a smart man. Of course, he’d understand what I meant. True enough, he fell silent, a self-deprecating smile tugging at his lips as he quickened his pace, putting distance between us and leaving only his lean back in my sight.
For some reason, I sensed unhappiness in that retreating figure.
What was he angry about? My affairs had nothing to do with him.
Before I knew it, we had traversed the long mountain path and found ourselves at the foot of the mountain.
Looking back, the mountain was now obscured by fine mist and layers of clouds, no longer clear. But a new path stretched beneath our feet.
In the distance, the outline of a village should have been visible, with fields and crops. But they were all blocked by the mountains closer to us.
“That’s my hometown over there.” Qin Yuezhang pointed naturally, as if he truly knew this place well. “I feel like there’s something very important there.”
Gu Lanshan and Xu Anran exchanged glances before Gu Lanshan said, deliberately casual, “I think I’m a little hungry. Can we go get a meal?”
Qin Yuezhang smiled. “You’re welcome to.”
The rural path wound around, flanked by low hills. Occasionally, crops sprouted stubbornly between the slopes. Rickety power poles and black antennas fragmented the sky, leaving no room for even a single bird to perch.
Xuehua Village was a poor place, enclosed by mountains that made roads nearly impassable. For a long time, it had relied on self-sufficiency. It was said that in the era of emperors, bandits had once occupied this place, using its natural defenses to hold off authorities.
“This road really is tough!” Gu Lanshan kicked at an uneven stone pit. “It’s not even that far from Xue City…”
Xue City was a bustling metropolis, yet few paid attention to this remote village barely a hundred kilometers away.
Later, the government funded the construction of a cement road up the mountain, allowing vehicles to barely make it in. But entering the village still required walking.
As we rounded the mountain, the village came into view.
Nestled between the peaks, the village consisted of typical rural houses scattered sparsely or closely together. The fields were well-tended, their seasonal fruits ripe and heavy on the branches.
A few farmers, their pants rolled up and straw hats on their heads, worked in the fields, their clothes smeared with dirt.
By all appearances, it was a peaceful, harmonious village.
“This is a retirement paradise!” Gu Lanshan exclaimed.
I shot him a cold glance. He was too busy admiring the scenery to notice.
He thought it was a paradise only because he’d never truly experienced labor. If he had to toil for every grain of rice he ate, or draw water from a well for every sip, he wouldn’t say such things.
In the fields below the slope, one farmer closer to us straightened up, saw our group, and suddenly looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
Pointing at Qin Yuezhang, he demanded in dialect, half-accusing, half-confused, “Yan Ru, what the hell are you doing back here?”
Just as I worried Qin Yuezhang might slip up, he remained unruffled and replied calmly, “I’m visiting home and brought some friends along. Is that a problem?”
The man’s expression darkened. He threw down his hoe and jabbed a finger at “Yan Ru,” snarling, “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? Watch your tone! I’m your granduncle!”
That was how things were in this small village.
Because of its isolation and traditions, almost everyone was related in some way, tracing back to the same ancestors a few generations prior.
In such an environment, if something happened to one family, the whole clan would know quickly. Elders often treated younger generations with a lecturing tone.
Qin Yuezhang’s brow twitched, his gaze flicking toward me. I gave him a look urging him to ignore it and keep walking.
Understanding, Qin Yuezhang led us forward.
My granduncle, still standing in the field, grew even angrier at being ignored. He cursed loudly in dialect: “Did Chen Dahong and Yan Yan’er kick you out? Coming back with a bunch of no-good ruffians! Don’t you dare bring trouble here!”
We were all stunned.
The others hadn’t expected such blunt hostility—being insulted to their faces. As for me, I marveled at how long it had been since I’d heard such thick dialect.
Gu Lanshan sidled up to Qin Yuezhang and clapped him on the shoulder. “Damn, your popularity’s really tanking. Even your granduncle can’t stand you.”
He waggled his eyebrows, thinking he was joking. But the joke wasn’t funny at all.
Qin Yuezhang brushed off Gu Lanshan’s hand and walked away.
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