Chapter 64

Liu Ting walked into the pavilion with a smile. She was still wearing the same simple, loose, and practical clothes she had on at Li Sanjiang's house. To an outsider, she might have looked like a kitchen hand from the clubhouse who had wandered out without knowing the rules.

“I heard Xiao Yuan is here?”

Liu Yumei slightly raised her head towards the southwest corner. Liu Ting followed her gaze to find a boy and a girl sitting close together on a stone bench.

That spot, with the lotus pond on the left and a commanding view of the mountain city on the right, was truly an excellent place for appreciating the scenery.

The boy was engrossed in telling something.

The girl leaned sideways, resting her chin on her hands, her eyes sparkling as she listened attentively.

Whenever the boy laughed, the girl's lips would also curl upwards. When he spoke excitedly, unconsciously spreading his hands, the girl would gently shake her head in response.

In their daily interactions, Liu Ting had always found the boy to be outwardly cute and lively, yet with an underlying maturity and composure beyond his years. He would play with children his own age, but discerning eyes could still detect a sense of detachment, a top-down sort of tolerance.

Now, he actually resembled a village boy, sitting on a hay bale, enthusiastically recounting: "Let me tell you a secret, but you absolutely must not tell anyone, I'm telling you about yesterday..."

As for their own A-Li, she was nothing like her past self. No, in fact, before the boy arrived, she was still distant and serene. But the moment he appeared, she transformed into a normal, innocent little sister, always so curious and adoring of the stories told by the "big brother" in the courtyard.

Liu Ting exclaimed, "Our A-Li and Xiao Yuan truly get along surprisingly well!"

"Heh, they're just kids, that's how they are."

Liu Ting just covered her mouth and chuckled, not daring to deliberately prod and ask: "Which kids are like these two?"

She understood the old madam's stubbornness, but that didn't stop her from watching with a hint of amusement, curious to see how long the old madam could maintain her facade.

"When I came earlier, I saw a woman causing a scene in the front hall. It's Ding Laoer's youngest son, who just divorced his legal wife and is bringing in an outsider who's pregnant. Today is apparently her formal introduction."

Liu Yumei asked, "And Ding Laoer was willing to meet her?"

"He wasn't willing at first, but his youngest son pleaded so bitterly that he couldn't refuse and finally nodded."

"Then this Ding family probably doesn't have many good years left. When Ding Laoda was around, he could barely uphold the rules, but now that he's gone, this grand structure is probably not far from collapse. Ah, what a joke, to brazenly display the act of favoring a concubine and abandoning a wife!"

"Look at you, saying that. Times are different, after all."

"Yes, times are different, but some principles are unchanging. One cannot enjoy the benefits of the old ways while clamoring for the freedom of the new.

People, it's not a big problem if their legs are different lengths, but if they want to walk in separate directions, they are bound to stumble."

"Ding Laoer hinted that he hopes you would grace them with your presence and accept a cup of tea offered by the younger generation."

"Accept tea?"

Liu Yumei smiled, pointing towards the boy and girl who had finished talking and were now playing an imaginary game of chess across the distance:

"Call the two children over, it's time for dinner."

Liu Ting turned around, standing at the edge of the pavilion and called out in that direction:

"Dinner time!"

Li Zhuiyuan immediately "resigned" from the game, taking the girl's hand and standing up.

After many days away from home, in Aunt Liu's call, the boy seemed to hear the call of nostalgia.

They walked through the lotus pond, then followed a winding path into an open-air stone gate. Inside, stone platforms held various potted plants, all meticulously trimmed and artistic, clearly maintained regularly by specialists.

Along the way, Aunt Liu proactively introduced things to Li Zhuiyuan, as if they were on a scenic tour.

At the end, they saw two sets of stairs, one leading up and one down. Ding Laoer, leading a group of his sons, was quickly descending from above.

His elder brother originally had one son and one daughter, but both passed away before their elder, so the Ding family had been supported by the second branch for a long time.

Ding Laoer had five sons, born to three different mothers. The age gap between the wives was large, leading to an even greater age difference among the sons. Ding Laoer's eldest grandson was even two years older than his youngest son.

The closer he got to Liu Yumei, the broader Ding Laoer's smile became, almost fawning, and his body bowed lower and lower.

"Young Mistress."

This title, given Liu Yumei's age, was indeed not quite appropriate.

But Li Zhuiyuan understood that the Ding family had likely been part of the former Qin family line.

It was like visiting a couple's home: if you were closer to the husband, you'd address the wife as sister-in-law; if closer to the wife, you'd address the husband as brother-in-law.

"Young Mistress has rarely left the house for a long time, and it's a rare occasion for you to show your face. So I brought the young ones from our family to pay their respects. Please come in and take a seat in the main house, and let the young ones offer you tea."

The second generation male members all stepped forward, standing in a line, their faces also bearing ingratiating smiles.

As for the female relatives, they all remained on the steps above, also standing in a line. The others were all dressed appropriately, with their hands clasped in front of them, except for the very last one, who had a perm and heavy, garish makeup, carrying a bag in her left hand and a string of beads dangling from her right.

She was "like a crane among chickens," but in Liu Yumei's eyes, these "proper chickens" were not much better. They could teach but didn't, could advise but remained silent, clearly intending for her to make a fool of herself in front of outsiders.

In-fighting within a private residence was normal, but to display such messy affairs publicly only showed that the rules of this family had completely decayed.

"No need. They're all crooked melons and cracked dates, nothing worth seeing."

These words showed absolutely no respect.

Many present changed their expressions.

Ding Laoer and his eldest son both showed panic.

The other sons wore expressions of displeasure, especially the youngest, who opened his mouth as if to curse, but was pulled back by his elder brother's hand.

The women standing above also had their chests heaving. Taking advantage of the distance, they began to whisper complaints. The woman with the perm thought she had found a good opportunity to integrate with the elder wives and immediately spoke loudly:

"Oh, I wonder which grandniece this is. What grand airs you put on, coming here to eat and stay at someone else's place, and then getting so arrogant!"

"Thud!"

Ding Laoer, scared, knelt down.

The eldest son also knelt, though a little slower, as he wasn't as practiced at kneeling as his father.

The remaining sons, seeing this, first froze for a moment, then also followed suit. Even the youngest son, who had previously appeared most disgruntled, finally came to his senses and knelt down with them.

The woman with the perm who had just spoken stood with her mouth agape, unable to utter a sound. She realized she had caused big trouble.

Ding Laoer immediately glared at his youngest son and said, "Tell that vixen that she will never step foot into my Ding family's door in this life, and the child in her belly will not bear the Ding surname!"

Hearing this, the youngest son dared not retort.

Ding Laoer then raised his head and looked up: "Young Mistress, I..."

"I'm not interested in your family's messy affairs. Go pay your respects to your brother instead."

Liu Yumei walked past the kneeling crowd and descended the stairs. From beginning to end, she did not even spare a glance at the woman with the perm.

The cicadas of summer were indeed annoying, but who had the time to really investigate which specific cicada was making the noise?

Below, there was a wider platform. In the front hall, several round tables were set up, with a group of elderly people seated, each with someone standing behind them.

The closer an elder was to the main seat, the younger the person standing behind them appeared, clearly grandchildren. For two empty seats, the people standing behind were actually grandchildren of similar age to A-Li.

Those standing behind elders seated further down were generally older, some clearly sons with white hair already showing.

The Qin and Liu families' ancestral homes were along the river, but if one were to trace their lineage carefully, the mountain city was one of their original homes. The people gathered here now were all the two families' former "relatives and friends" from the mountain city area.

As soon as Liu Yumei arrived, everyone stood up, dropping their canes and waving away the support of the younger people behind them.

Some performed ancient rituals with their right arm tilted forward, some did a formal bow with an upright thumb, and others, like Ding Laoer just now, simply knelt. The various forms of etiquette represented their different past statuses and roles in the fraternal societies.

Even the forms of address were divided into two:

"Greetings, Young Mistress."

"Greetings, Eldest Miss."

Liu Yumei stood still and accepted their bows.

Then she waved her hand, smiling faintly: "What era is this? Still performing these old-fashioned things. It's out of fashion, long out of fashion."

Hearing her words, everyone's faces cooperatively broke into smiles.

Some elders even turned back to look at the younger relatives they had brought, with a childish sense of showing off.

They themselves had long stopped using these old rituals. Firstly, they were indeed out of fashion, and secondly, in their daily lives within their own residences, they truly didn't encounter anyone to whom they needed to bow.

But performing this bow, they genuinely felt a sense of recalling past years, as if they had all suddenly become decades younger.

The two elders who brought their young grandsons and granddaughters spoke one after another: "Eldest Miss, this old bag of bones of mine feels useful only when paying respects to you."

"Young Mistress, when it comes to flattery, I truly admire this old dog."

"Hahahaha."

"Hahahaha."

Liu Yumei placed her left hand on A-Li's shoulder, but leaned towards Li Zhuiyuan, pointing to the two elders and introducing them:

"This one is Zhen Mubai, and that one is Su Wenluo."

Liu Yumei only introduced these two; clearly, none of the others were qualified for her to introduce by name individually.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled, bowing slightly: "Hello, Grandpa Zhen." Then another slight bow, "Hello, Grandpa Su." Finally, he deeply bowed to all the elders, "Hello, Grandpas."

The elders warmly responded, with various praises rising, while secretly wondering to themselves, "Who is this boy?"

They all knew that the girl next to him was the only remaining bloodline of the Qin and Liu families. Could this boy be a child-husband specifically brought up by the Young Mistress (Eldest Miss) for training?

However, all the elders present were old enough to compare their age to river turtles, so they could naturally discern the boy's neither humble nor overbearing demeanor.

Clothes are easy to acquire, but temperament is hard to change.

What could be taught and what truly came from the heart's composure—it couldn't escape their eyes.

In fact, even Liu Yumei was quite surprised by the boy's reaction.

The reason she asked the boy to greet everyone was also because A-Li still couldn't speak.

Standing behind them, Liu Ting watched this scene silently. She really wanted to know how long her respected mistress could maintain her stubborn pretense.

This kind of meeting was a handover of connections and a transmission of favors.

How could this be the treatment a future registered disciple would receive?

"I'm going to pay my respects to that old Ding fellow."

Liu Yumei walked through the front hall towards the back. The elders all followed behind her.

In the back hall, a memorial hall was set up. Because of Liu Yumei's arrival, it had been specially maintained and cleaned. Although more than a month had passed since his death, it looked as if the funeral had just taken place yesterday.

At this moment, Ding Laoer, leading his eldest son, hurried over from the side corridor.

Ding Laoer knelt on the prayer cushion, preparing to return the courtesy, while his eldest son personally took incense and handed it to him.

Combining this with the reactions of the elders during the previous greetings, Li Zhuiyuan guessed that the Ding family had likely been a servant family to the Qin family in earlier years.

Liu Yumei staying at the Ding family's residence was like entering a servant's home; as a servant family, they naturally had to kneel to their master.

Although it was an old custom, some elders still acknowledged it.

Of course, the reason they acknowledged it was certainly not out of respect for "traditional customs."

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but wonder, with the Qin and Liu families' lineage so withered now, what could possibly make these elders still willingly lower their heads and revert to old customs?

Reality wasn't a wuxia novel. The reason kindness and loyalty were so praised and sought after in the jianghu was precisely because they were so rare. Not taking advantage of someone's weakness to destroy them, not swarming to completely wipe out a family line, could already be called "unparalleled righteousness."

Yet, those people were genuinely afraid, and Granny Liu was remarkably confident.

Liu Yumei reached out and gently stroked the boy's head, saying calmly:

"Half of the memorial tablets in the East Room were erected when we fought the Japanese invaders with Fourth Master; the other half were erected during the crossing of the Great River."

After having late-night snacks with A-Li, Li Zhuiyuan was arranged to take a car back to the hotel.

The car drove along the river, and the boy looked out the window at the river surface under the night sky; it was very gentle now.

He got out at the hotel lobby entrance and was about to walk in when he saw Xue Liangliang sitting by a flower bed.

"Xiao Yuan, you're back."

"Brother Liangliang, what are you doing...?"

"Runsheng and Binbin haven't returned since they went out this afternoon. I couldn't leave, and I was afraid you'd come back to an empty place. Now it's good, let's go look for them together."

"Okay."

After all, they were two grown men, and Runsheng was with them, so there was no need to worry about anything happening to them.

What was called "looking" was essentially a stroll.

Xue Liangliang described his new job. He could stay in the mountain city for two more days, then he would go to Wanzhou below.

There was a project there in the exploration and site selection phase, and he was going to join and learn. Luo Tingrui also instructed him to bring his junior apprentice brother along.

When he first heard the term "junior apprentice brother," Li Zhuiyuan was still unaccustomed to it, especially since Xue Liangliang described him as Engineer Luo's "last disciple."

The boy knew this was a choice between two paths: if he couldn't get used to having a "master," then he would have to get used to the tedious life of a university student.

Xue Liangliang even exaggeratedly teased him: "Look at you, you can't even date in university."

Li Zhuiyuan retorted: "Did you date in university?"

They walked and chatted like this, not deliberately searching, but coincidentally ran into Tan Wenbin and Runsheng, who were returning together, both very excited and happy.

Xue Liangliang found a barbecue stall by the road, ordered three bottles of beer and a bottle of soy milk, and the four ate and chatted, during which they learned what Tan Wenbin and Runsheng had been doing that afternoon.

After leaving the hotel that afternoon, the two of them wandered around Guanyin Bridge. Although Nantong also had a city area, its population was far less than that of the mountain city, and it was nowhere near as lively here.

When they got tired of wandering, it was already dark. They ate something at a roadside stall to fill their stomachs and asked the stall owner where there were fun places nearby.

Then, following the stall owner's suggestion, they arrived in front of a large building. From a distance, they heard the sound of billiards clashing, and Tan Wenbin suggested teaching Runsheng how to play billiards.

Upon entering the building, they saw the sign for the billiard room—"Midnight Strike."

They opened a table and while playing, noticed people constantly entering the billiard hall and going up to the second floor. While playing, they could also hear singing continually coming from the staircase on the second floor.

Driven by curiosity, they went up to look. There was a ticket seller at the door, not expensive. After buying two tickets and going inside, the place was really crowded.

A large group of men and women were dancing in the dance floor, not scattered, but each embracing their dance partner, constantly squeezing into the crowd.

When a song ended, the lights would briefly come on. Those who didn't want to continue dancing would step out, then the men would pay the women, the women would stand on the outer circle, and the men would wander around to choose their next desired dance partner.

When the next song began, the lights would go out again.

Xue Liangliang asked if they had gone in and danced, and both shook their heads.

They were both thin-skinned and shy. They sat on chairs by the wall the entire time, watching. Besides the ticket money, their only other expense was two cups of tea, and they even got two refills of hot water from the bar.

Xue Liangliang laughed so hard he bent over after hearing their story.

After chatting, everyone returned to the hotel to rest. For the next two days, Xue Liangliang took them to visit many scenic spots in the mountain city, ate hotpot and rabbit meat, and even specifically went to ride the Yangtze River Cableway.

When the river water churned beneath their feet, Li Zhuiyuan felt a sense of mystery and awe.

However, what the four of them enjoyed most over these two nights was that after work hours each evening, Xue Liangliang would go to his unit's office building downstairs, pull some strings to borrow a car, and drive them around the mountain city.

Xue Liangliang drove with one hand out the window, pointing out future developments at each spot: here a new bridge would be built, there a new development would take place, and how prosperous the mountain city would become in the future.

He must have seen government planning documents, but much of what he said was also his own "imaginings." He truly saw himself as a future urban designer, sharing his inner blueprint with his friends.

Whenever this happened, Xue Liangliang seemed to possess a very special charm. Everyone would easily become engrossed in his "perspective." The static scenery before their eyes would rapidly fast-forward: bridges erected, roads laid, buildings rising from the ground, the entire city "changing with each passing day" at a visible speed.

After driving around, Xue Liangliang would always fill up the tank when he returned the car to his unit.

Before leaving the mountain city, the four of them went to Jiefangbei and had another hotpot meal nearby.

Li Zhuiyuan had originally thought he didn't like spicy food, and neither did Tan Wenbin, but after eating it several times, they found it addictive. It was as if the spiciness was just the surface of the mountain city hotpot, and its true essence was its aroma.

The car to Wanzhou was also dispatched by the unit. Xue Liangliang was still the driver. The difference was that this time, the fuel costs for the journey could be reimbursed.

After leaving the mountain city area, the scenery along the way was extremely beautiful, though the road was a bit difficult to drive. Furthermore, their destination wasn't in Wanzhou city proper, but further down. The last stretch of road, because it had rained last night, their wheels got stuck in a mud pit. Fortunately, Runsheng was there and pushed the car out directly, allowing them to continue driving.

They arrived at the work site late at night. Although the town guesthouse had simple conditions, the room was very spacious.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed open the window, and directly below was the river. Even in Nantong, where people liked to build houses along rivers, those were gentle small rivers, not as turbulent as this one.

People who enjoyed fishing could sit indoors, cast their rods, and wait for a bite while drinking tea and listening to the radio.

Xue Liangliang went down and came back up, saying the meeting was still ongoing and asking if Li Zhuiyuan wanted to listen. Li Zhuiyuan naturally agreed and went with Xue Liangliang to the meeting hall on the guesthouse's first floor.

Here, tables and walls were covered with blueprints. A group of people were divided into two factions, arguing furiously, their faces red with anger. The table had been slammed several times, and who knew how much red paint had flaked off its already mottled surface.

In the middle, the leaders of both sides tacitly paused. Some drank water, others ate snacks, but it seemed the discussion wasn't over. They'd need another argument before they could go to bed, or they'd regret it in their sleep if they didn't vent their frustration.

Xue Liangliang didn't participate in the debate, just sat and listened attentively.

Li Zhuiyuan, however, was curious about the blueprints and kept observing them.

The two sides finally had their fill of arguing and decided to each propose a plan, which would then be submitted to their superiors for final decision.

Early the next morning, a whistle blew, followed by knocking on doors, calling everyone to get up and continue with fieldwork.

Xue Liangliang had official status, and even though Li Zhuiyuan hadn't officially enrolled, he had a semi-official status. As for Runsheng and Tan Wenbin, the team welcomed them, as who wouldn't like two more strong laborers?

This time, in addition to equipment, they also brought tents and food.

The road in the direction they were going was under construction. When they reached an area where the car could no longer proceed, everyone began carrying their things and hiking.

It wasn't too far, but not too close either. The main issue was that the path was difficult, requiring them to cross streams, traverse gullies, and climb several small hills.

This made Li Zhuiyuan realize that Langshan, which was cherished like a treasure in Nantong, would only be marked as a small hill with a string of numbers on a map in true mountainous regions.

Upon arrival, they first set up camp, then built a fire to boil some water. Everyone ate biscuits with canned food.

Afterwards, work began. Li Zhuiyuan and the two others followed Xue Liangliang to a slope and began surveying.

The boy learned quickly, while Tan Wenbin struggled a bit but remained very enthusiastic, as he was determined to pursue this profession in the future.

They returned to camp after dark. Ma Yiming, the deputy team leader, organized data compilation and a temporary discussion meeting.

The second day was a repeat of the first. The four-person team was again sent to a location to measure data. At noon, they paused temporarily, sitting on a large rock to eat and rest.

Xue Liangliang laughed and told Tan Wenbin it wasn't too late to change his mind, but Tan Wenbin immediately shook his head, reaffirming his determination.

"Our work is like this. Whether it's the exploration and design phase or the construction phase, it's day after day of monotonous repetition. Only when the project is truly completed can we experience our unique sense of romance, like waking from a dream."

In the afternoon, Li Zhuiyuan, after two and a half days of exploration and learning, demonstrated another kind of romance to Xue Liangliang.

He integrated the methods of Feng Shui observation into the surveying. When Xue Liangliang continued to set up equipment and calculate, he found that the margin of error was actually within acceptable limits. For a moment, even he himself couldn't determine which set of data was more accurate.

However, relying solely on Feng Shui to record data made Xue Liangliang uneasy. But not using this method felt foolish. Finally, Xue Liangliang found a good solution: first use Xiao Yuan's data, then verify and cross-check it. This ensured data accuracy and saved a lot of work processes.

Unfortunately, this method was destined not to be widely adopted; it could only help their own small team cut corners. Other teams in different locations couldn't benefit from it. So, at dusk, Xue Liangliang took the three of them down to the