Chapter 39: Why Did You Take So Long to Get Here?
Lin Huaizhi didn’t go; he had already danced. Compared to going back to dance with everyone, he wanted to spend some time alone with Huo Chen.
“Tomorrow this episode’s recording ends. What are your plans afterward?”
“Work.”
“Not going to rest a bit?”
“Participating in the show is resting.”
Lin Huaizhi wasn’t surprised by Huo Chen’s answer. The novel said Huo Chen single-handedly propped up a business empire. A person who could achieve such success would absolutely not have a brain full of romance and pleasure.
“Alright…” Lin Huaizhi dragged out the ending note slightly, then suddenly asked, “Then can I come find you to hang out?”
Huo Chen didn’t even look at him. “No.”
Great.
He was indeed angry.
Lin Huaizhi couldn’t figure out exactly which point made Huo Chen uncomfortable, so he could only say nice things. “Don’t say no. A dating show films one episode every half month. I already said I want to pursue you. If we don’t meet for half a month, what if your charm is too great and you get entangled by some little vixen, and they succeed? Where would I go to cry then?”
Huo Chen remained cold. “Then you can choose not to pursue.”
Lin Huaizhi: “…”
Lin Huaizhi used all his skills, yet until the bonfire went out, the banquet dispersed, and they returned to the mud house to sleep, Huo Chen didn’t relent.
…
A rainstorm began in the early morning.
The mud house was in disrepair for years, and the roof leaked madly. Lin Huaizhi and Huo Chen salvaged their luggage and finally went to the Village Chief’s house to sleep.
It was already past ten when they got up the next day.
The rain was still falling.
Most guests had already left when the rain was lighter around eight in the morning. Lin Huaizhi glanced around the room and didn’t see Huo Chen’s suitcase.
“Sigh—”
Lin Huaizhi let out a long sigh. The road to chasing Huo Chen was long!
Zhou Ning had arrived at the nearby county town the night before. After Lin Huaizhi messaged him, he said he would arrive in half an hour.
Lin Huaizhi looked at the heavy rain outside and told Zhou Ning not to rush and to drive slowly.
After washing up and packing his things, Lin Huaizhi prepared to say goodbye to the Village Chief’s family. Aside from other things, just for Sister-in-law Wu’s feeding these past days, he would make a donation to the village in his personal name after returning.
“Have you looked in the back mountain?”
“With such heavy rain outside, she definitely couldn’t have run far! Go look again in the places she often goes! Especially over by her son’s grave!”
Only after Sister-in-law Wu hung up the phone did Lin Huaizhi walk out and call to her.
“Little Lin, going back now, huh?”
Sister-in-law Wu smiled at him. “The rain is heavy outside, and the road is bad. Do you want Old Zhao to drive you? You just have to wait a bit; Old Zhao went to do something, I’m afraid it will take a while for him to come back.”
“It’s okay, someone is coming to pick me up.”
Lin Huaizhi glanced at Sister-in-law Wu’s phone. “I heard you talking just now. Is someone missing?”
“If it’s convenient, I can help out here.”
Lin Huaizhi’s appearance was outstanding, sometimes beautiful enough to dazzle the eye, but he was very adept at dealing with people. Coupled with his worried expression and voice, Sister-in-law Wu suddenly had the urge to confide.
She moved a chair for Lin Huaizhi.
“Sit.”
Lin Huaizhi sat down as told.
Sister-in-law Wu sighed. “Caiju’s mom is missing. Old Zhao went to deliver food to her in the morning and found the door open but no one there.”
Caiju’s mom…
Lin Huaizhi remembered that hunched figure. “Is it the old lady from that mud house I borrowed?”
Sister-in-law Wu nodded.
Not knowing what she thought of, Sister-in-law Wu’s eyes became wet. “Caiju’s mom has had a bitter life. Her husband died not long after they got married. People proposed matches, but she didn’t remarry, just relied on selling tofu to raise her son. Her son was especially outstanding, good grades, good person. My kid was playful when he was little and fell into the reservoir, almost drowning. Everyone just watched; only her son went down to save him.”
“Her son was the first graduate student in our village. He sent money back to her every month. Seeing that life was about to get better, who knew…”
“Who knew later he would lose the will to live.”
Lin Huaizhi also looked surprised. “He… he lost the will to live?”
Sister-in-law Wu smiled bitterly. “That child was too pure. He just felt that if someone was in trouble and he saw it, he had to help. But some jackals shouldn’t be helped!”
“How old do you think Caiju’s mom is? She’s not much older than me by two years. It’s all from suffering these years after her child was gone. Seeing her body failing, her mind isn’t clear either…”
Sister-in-law Wu wanted to say more, but her phone suddenly rang. She quickly answered, “How is it, found her?”
“Not in the back mountain, and not at Qingtian’s grave either.”
“Then keep looking!”
Lin Huaizhi stood up. “Sister-in-law Wu, I’ll help look too. There’s strength in numbers. Don’t worry too much; Sister Caiju has trouble moving, she can’t go far.”
…
Lin Huaizhi was agile.
Even in the heavy rain, he didn’t fall. He searched within a hundred meters nearby but didn’t see Sister Caiju’s figure.
Sister Caiju had been alone all these years. Last time she grabbed his hand, she mistook him for her son. Since she cared so much about her son, the places she would go were either her son’s grave or places related to her son.
Look again.
The person was eventually found.
When Lin Huaizhi returned from Zhao Qingtian’s grave and passed a ridge, he heard a very faint cry of pain in the rain.
He slid down the ridge and sure enough, found Sister Caiju in the small woods below.
Sister Caiju had a long cut on her leg, and her head was broken too. She was soaked through. When Lin Huaizhi found her, she was still thinking about picking up the basket not far away.
It was an old woven bamboo basket.
Several bamboo strips on the handle must have broken, so it was wrapped with white cloth strips. The grey cloth covering the basket was also caught on the slope. The contents had rolled everywhere, and the bowl was broken.
“Eggs… give to A-Zai to eat…”
Sister Caiju’s delirious state greatly stimulated Lin Huaizhi. He almost couldn’t stand steady.
Closing his eyes to adjust his breathing, Lin Huaizhi stuffed the two scattered eggs into his pocket, took off his raincoat to put on Sister Caiju, wrapped the basket in his jacket, and threw it up onto the ridge.
Lin Huaizhi went to grab Sister Caiju’s hand, wanting to carry her on his back, only for the woman to struggle wildly, looking terrified.
“I’m the person renting your mud house these past few days! The Village Chief and everyone are looking for you. I’ll take you up!”
The rain was too heavy, and Sister Caiju’s ears weren’t sharp. She couldn’t hear Lin Huaizhi’s words clearly, but amidst her flailing, she grabbed Lin Huaizhi’s hand.
Like the first time they met, after rubbing it for a moment, she shouted at Lin Huaizhi: “A-Zai, is A-Zai back?”
For so many years, time and pain eroded her body and memory. Often, she couldn’t remember clearly that her son was already dead; she only remembered he was away at school, and she remembered she was waiting for him to return.
Lin Huaizhi didn’t deny it this time.
“It’s A-Zai.”
“A-Zai is taking you home!”
Sister Caiju climbed onto Lin Huaizhi’s back. Her two hands, thin as bone, hugged him, chattering some Miao language that Lin Huaizhi couldn’t quite understand.
“A-Zai… Mom wait… long… back… meal…”
The rain grew heavier.
The soil was soaked, slippery as soon as you stepped on it. This slope, which Lin Huaizhi could usually climb in two or three steps, turned into a towering mountain at this moment.
There was no signal on the phone either.
Lin Huaizhi shouted loudly for a while but didn’t hear anyone respond. He tore the fitted long-sleeved shirt he was wearing, ripped it into a rope, tied Sister Caiju to himself, and continued trying to climb up.
Too slippery.
There were some cut grasses on the slope, too short to grip well. Lin Huaizhi tried several times, climbing less than a meter before his foot slipped and he fell back down.
Finally, he almost climbed to the top.
The short root in his hand was suddenly pulled out of the soil. Losing his center of gravity, Lin Huaizhi instantly fell backward!
His breath hitched. Just as he was preparing to be a human cushion for Sister Caiju, a hand descending from the sky instantly grabbed his wrist!
Lin Huaizhi looked up.
In the rain heavy as a thousand jun, the man he thought had left was lying on the ridge. Rainwater smashed into his eyes, blocking his vision, but Lin Huaizhi just wouldn’t lower his head.
He stubbornly looked at that blurry figure.
His voice trembled as if he were about to cry.
“Why did you take so long to get here?”
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