Ye Liuxi left town at 4 a.m., as she always does—she prefers to arrive early and doesn’t like to make others wait. As the car passed through the dirt road, she saw groups of people standing or crouching under streetlights, wrapped in cotton coats, hunching their shoulders to ward off the wind. These were villagers coming from the countryside, waiting to work on construction sites. It was said that around 5 a.m., site supervisors would drive by to select workers, taking them on as they went—since work has been light lately, competition has intensified, and people now wait even earlier. There was a breakfast stall by the roadside still open, selling soy milk, buns, and fried dough sticks. Ye Liuxi went in and packed a portion. When she paid, the cash glowed clearly under the soft light of the pendant lamp beside the glass cover. Blood sweat money. At 4:15, the car stopped at the entrance of the Forward Bridge. The surroundings were dark and quiet. She still felt it was too early to eat, so she turned on the in-car DVD to listen to music. The car was a bit old, and the discs were all bought by Huang Defu The gongs, drums, chimes, cymbals, and moonlute all rang out inside the carriage. In the old-style lead tenor's performance of "The Case of the Imperial Chancellor's Judgment," a single word could leave one gasping—"Bao Longtu sits at the Prefectural Court, honored驸马, listen closely..." Ye Liuxi exhaled on the car window, blurring the stars beyond, then wiped them away. At 4:30, Changdong had not arrived. Ye Liuxi stepped out, glanced back along the route—no sign of movement. She switched to the famous Xipi Lvyu section from "Su San's Release," sung with a sharp, strained voice, as if by someone unfamiliar with the style. The wind carried the melody out, like a ghost wandering through the countryside. A man making a woman wait—what a thing. Ye Liuxi got back into the car. The door slammed shut with a loud crash. She pulled out her phone and set the alarm for 5:00—people should be patient, but her usual patience spanned only thirty minutes. The car had been customized—enough space was needed to store goods and hang a bed, so the rear seats were completely removed, leaving only the driver’s and passenger seats. Ye Liuxi, bored, rested her legs against the backrest, doing suspended仰卧起 sits. After twenty repetitions, her waist and thighs grew sore; she remained suspended, motionless, like a bat in a trance. The song was changed to "Night Journey"—a martial actor paused on horseback, singing: "The night stretches far and long... I rush through the wilderness... My body light, unafraid of the long road." This was the final song; once it ended, the machine automatically powered down, and a crisp click echoed through the car, leaving quiet as if Chen Shimei had just been beheaded. At six o'clock, Ye Liuxi wrapped herself in her cotton coat and looked eastward. Before sunrise, the sky would first be draped in a soft, rosy hue, gradually deepening until it became vivid—like a crash scene: Chang Dong was either severely injured and immobile, or he had passed away; otherwise, it was hard to forgive him. At the very moment of sunrise, Ye Liuxi finished her now-cold soy milk, raised her eyes, and said, "Damn it."—The cars had re-entered the town, and the people who had been waiting along the roadside had already vanished—likely having found work and accepted their fate. But what had she gained? After折腾 two or three hours, she had only witnessed the sunrise. Ye Liuxi drove her car to the hotel where Chang Dong was staying. She wanted to check whether Chang Dong had checked out and when, but the front desk refused, maintaining a stiff demeanor about protecting guest privacy. Ye Liuxi stopped talking and simply entered the elevator. As the elevator doors were about to close, someone outside called, "Hey, excuse me, wait a moment." Ye Liu Xi pressed the door button. The man hurried in, turned to say "thank you," but his smile froze on his face. Fei Tang. Ye Liu Xi stared at him. "Chang Dong is still living here?" Fei Tang replied, "Yes... yes." He felt uneasy with her—on that night, she had grabbed his neck and pulled him off the car, making him remember the scene of a pig being slaughtered when he was a child. Ye Liu Xi's gaze settled on the bag he was holding. Fei Tang volunteered, "Dumplings... soybean porridge. I brought it for Dong Brother for breakfast." Ye Liu Xi said, "Oh." Fei Tang felt a prickling of goosebumps all over his body from her simple "oh." In the confined elevator space, with her breathing beside him, he felt especially uncomfortable and realized time seemed to move too slowly. Finally, they reached the third floor, and now he had to let her go first. Ye Liu Xi reached out to him, "I'll have the soybean porridge." Whoever brings Chang Dong always ends up the same. Fei Tang quickly hands over the bag to her, and Ye Liuxi uses her finger to guide it. As she passes the trash can, she lets go—just as the tofu pudding lands perfectly, flipping open the lid and going inside. Fei Tang promptly stops, deciding not to follow: the morning air is fresh—she’ll take a stroll around a bit more. To her surprise, Ye Liuxi instinctively followed suit. Chang Dong slipped past her and went into the living room to fetch water; Ye Liuxi followed him out, frowning slightly. "Is there some misunderstanding?" There are people who won't cry until they see the coffin. Chang Dong sat down on the sofa and pushed a piece of paper toward her. It was a map of Longcheng that he had drawn yesterday. Ye Liuxi felt something was off—had she perhaps given the wrong directions? Indeed, Chang Dong pointed to the location of the beacon tower. "On this map, I deliberately made a mistake—Longcheng doesn't have a beacon tower." Ye Liuxi thought quickly, her expression sincere. "The Yadan formations are naturally irregular; it's no surprise that they resemble beacon towers. Besides, I was only referring to the general direction..." "Then, point it out again." Ye Liuxi paused, sensing that Chang Dong was testing her. If she changed the location now, she'd have fallen right into his trap—she had pointed to one place yesterday and now to another, which clearly showed she didn't even know the general direction. There's just no beacon towers. So he points to the same spot: "That's it." Chang Dong remains silent for a moment, then says: "Pretty smart of you." Ye Liuxi smiles gently, only to have it fall short— "…I've never seen someone with such a big heart. At least, someone who doesn't even take the time to check online resources, let alone do a bit of research?" He picks up his pen and crosses out the road sign: "Long City doesn't have gasoline can road signs." Then he goes on, crossing out one after another: "No extensive canals filled with camel skeletons, no this east-to-south-east, then west-to-north-west crossing route—Long City's shape isn't even a slanted triangle. Am I making myself clear?" Clear enough. Good heavens, what a hassle. Ye Liuxi sits down on the sofa, offering a polite smile: "I apologize sincerely. This truly wasn't my intention. I didn't mean to be so careless. Then, please tell me how you'd like me to resolve this." "You're so straightforward and smile so beautifully—it truly makes sense that 'when you extend a hand, you don't strike a smiling face.' Knowing she's full of nonsense, he simply can't get angry. If he persists any further, she'll surely say with genuine sincerity: 'Changdong, I've already apologized. What more do you expect? As a man, how can you be so particular?' Changdong spreads out the photo: 'I already know Kong Yang is in Longcheng, but you—indeed, you don't know the exact location. That means, I no longer need you.' 'I can go on my own. I can even settle in Kuerle and visit Longcheng periodically, dividing the city into zones and sections. With Longcheng covering 3,500 square kilometers, it will take me a year or two—more than enough.' 'So, tell me now—what makes me still need to bring you along?" "Yexiaoshi said: 'This matter, actually...' Chang Dong interrupted her: 'I'd like to remind you that one lie can still earn a person a second chance; but two lies, and trust is gone forever.' Yexiaoshi sighed: 'I don't tell the truth because you won't believe me...' Chang Dong replied: 'Do you think, among all people, how many would believe that someone is embedded into a stretch of yellow loam in the unpopulated region? I've already believed it—what else could I possibly not believe?' Yexiaoshi changed her tone again: 'This isn't even the main point. The real issue is...' She lowered her voice, earnestly: 'I'm afraid you'll be startled.' Indeed, this was the most exasperating woman he had ever encountered. Chang Dong lost patience, pointing his finger at the door: 'If I hear one more word of nonsense from you—just one word—I'll have you removed from that place.' 'Four thirty in the afternoon, at the head of the Forward Bridge. See you there. I promise you'll find out everything you want to know. I'll be gone by then. See you in the afternoon.' … To convey her sincerity, she closed the door gently, the latch making a soft, crisp click, a touch of thoughtfulness. Yet she didn’t immediately leave—she stood at the door for a few seconds, fingers curled inward, her nails lightly dragging across the door surface. —— Around five in the afternoon, Chang Dong had boiled a pot of instant noodles. Fei Tang came over with polite enthusiasm, insisting on adding a piece of ham to his bowl. To find the most affordable four-wheel-drive SUV, he had gone to great lengths: finally securing an older Jeep online for a monthly rent of 2,000 yuan. Though the owner had paid only around 30,000 yuan for the used vehicle, which wasn’t expensive, he had put on a strong show—painting the body in camouflage, attaching a military-grade shovel across the spare tire, and even mounting a flagpole with a pirate flag at the front. Fei Tang himself felt like a piece of celery stuck in a pig’s nose, yet Chang Dong merely glanced at him and surprisingly let him pass. I'm truly grateful—there's only so much I can do, really, like buying breakfast for him, stuffing in some ham and sausages to show my appreciation, and just verbally checking in on everything about Changdong—“Bro Chang, you said you were meeting that woman tonight, right? What time?” Changdong picked up a plastic fork and rolled the noodles: “Four thirty.” “Four… thirty…” Fei Tang checked his phone. “Oh, Bro Chang, it’s already past that.” “She never arrives on time.” After all, he’d made her wait nearly three hours, during the most grueling part of the day. After eating, Fei Tang took the initiative, warmly helping Changdong carry the soup bowl out and discard it, citing that although there was a trash can in the room, it felt too stuffy to keep the bowls inside. When they returned, Fei Tang just happened to see Changdong opening his music case, selecting a shiny chisel, and tucking it into his sleeve. The chisel resembled a pen, with a slanted edge—when carving, a dull blade dragging across the skin was most dreaded, so the blade had to be sharp. Chang Dong always sharpened his chisels, and Fei Tang, having observed this routine for several days, began to dream of it at night. Once, he dreamed of the chisel's edge gliding across his throat, the arc of blood spurted being especially graceful. Chang Dong looked up and noticed Fei Tang staring at him, so he explained. —"For protection, in case she decides to kill me." Fei Tang smiled awkwardly, "Dong, what a joke! We're in a rule-of-law society, after all." And as he kept smiling, he found himself no longer smiling. He recalled the night he was caught unawares—Ye Liuxi had her chisel tucked under one arm, stepping in with a sudden motion, the light of the blade even piercing into her eyes. —Ye Liuxi had indeed arrived late. She appeared only at dusk, arriving from the west in a swift rush, like a bullet shot out from a streak of sunset. Approaching, she hurriedly got out of "Chang Dong said, "No problem. I'll take you to see the sunrise, and you'll show me the sunset—fair enough." Ye Liuxi smiled warmly, "Then I'll take the lead and you follow. The drive should take about one and a half hours." "Where to?" With a one-and-a-half-hour drive, and given the location of Qi Zhen, the area to the east, west, north, and south wasn't desert or rocky plateau—especially since it was already sunset. Ye Liuxi slightly bent down, resting her arms against the window ledge, "Afraid? I'm a single woman, attractive, and tonight's so dark, I'd think I'd be the one afraid to go out into the countryside with you." Chang Dong replied, "Then you haven't read *Liaozhai Zhiyi*, have you?"