Fu Yanlin was very happy to see them, and turned to his brother-in-law, saying, "I'm going to say a few words to my friends over there."

Chen Haitao: "Go ahead! The things are packed, I'll take them back first."

With his brother-in-law's permission, he immediately went over and saw that they had already finished eating and the waiter was already cleaning up.

Beside them stood a chubby little girl with a round face and two thick, long braids.

Who is this?

Gu Lingxiao pulled out a chair for him to sit down. "We met on the train."

Fu Yanlin extended his hand to shake hands with the other person, "Hello, my surname is Fu!"

Zhuang Ran knew that shaking hands was a city custom, so he extended his chubby little hand, shook hands with the other person, and then quickly let go.

Just call me Xiao Zhuang!

“Your surname is quite rare; this is the first time I’ve encountered it,” Fu Yanlin said.

Zhuang Ran thought the man was as pretty as a young woman, but his voice was a bit rough, so she answered in the same way he spoke.

"This is the first time I've heard your surname."

Fu Yanlin turned to Gu Lingxiao and asked, "So, did you get any results from asking Dr. Ma?"

Gu Lingxiao: "The result is quite satisfactory."

Fu Yanlin was relieved after hearing this. "As long as there's a result, it's good that you didn't come for nothing. My sister still needs to stay in the hospital for two more days. When are you leaving tomorrow? Check if the time is right. If it is, I'll see you off."

Gu Lingxiao: "It's either the day after tomorrow or the day after that."

After thinking it over in his mind, Fu Yanlin said, "In that case, we can get together for another meal. Where are you staying now?"

Gu Lingxiao: "The guesthouse on that street is called Xiangcheng."

Fu Yanlin: "Then I'll come find you guys when I have time."

Lu Zhixia thought that she might have to stay out all day tomorrow, so she told him...

"We might be going out during the day, so you'd better not come over, lest you come and find it's not there."

Fu Yanlin thought for a moment and said, "How about we have dinner here tonight?"

Gu Lingxiao: "Then let's meet here at 5 o'clock tomorrow."

Fu Yanlin breathed a sigh of relief, finally managing to make the appointment. "Okay, see you there." He glanced at his watch. "It's getting late, I have to go back."

“Okay, see you tomorrow,” Gu Lingxiao replied.

Fu Yanlin left the restaurant in a cheerful mood, whistling involuntarily, attracting glances from passersby.

Gu Lingxiao said to Lu Zhixia, "Let's go too!"

Lu Zhixia glanced at the surrounding customers again, thinking that it was still more profitable to open a store in a big city. Judging from the appearance, this store's daily turnover was at least several hundred and at most over a thousand, and the money earned in a month was incalculable.

They quickly returned to the guesthouse. Lu Zhixia didn't want to book another room, so she led them in without any pretense.

The waitress immediately stopped them when she saw them taking people upstairs like that.

"Why is there another person here?"

Lu Zhixia understood the woman's gaze. "She's my sister. I just picked her up."

The waitress took out a notebook. "Please show me your letter of introduction. I need to register you."

Zhuang Ran took out a letter of introduction from his pocket. "This was issued to me by the commune."

The waitress picked it up with disdain, glanced at the contents, then looked at them.

"You're not from the same place, have you known each other before?"

Lu Zhixia looked at her and said, "Is this also within your jurisdiction?"

The waitress didn't say anything. After quickly registering the information and returning the referral letter to the young woman, she said...

"There are all sorts of people in the city, you're young, don't get mixed up with strangers!"

"She's my sister. If you don't know what to say, then don't say it!" Zhuang Ran retorted and reached out to take Lu Zhixia's arm.

"People in big cities are really strange; they meddle in everything!"

The waiter was furious as he watched them go upstairs hand in hand, muttering under his breath, "They're so stupid, they've been sold out and they still have to count the money for the seller!"

Back in his room at the guesthouse, Zhuang Ran walked around the room.

"This house is huge, how much does it cost to stay one night?"

"Three yuan."

"That's so expensive!"

"The hygiene is okay, and there are cheap places nearby that only cost a dollar or a few cents to stay, but the hygiene is extremely poor."

"That waiter wasn't very good; he seemed to look down on people."

Lu Zhixia pulled the person to sit on the bed, "You'll understand when you get used to living in a big city; there are a lot of people like this."

"Sigh, it's so hard to be a person." Zhuang Ran knew he had a bad temper, especially his mouth; he was outspoken and said everything.

——

As Ma Jianguo sat down to eat, he was still reminiscing about things from 10 years ago. Then he remembered someone—the nurse who had taken care of the child back then. She might know some of the child's characteristics. So, forgetting about his meal, he took out a notebook from his drawer, which contained the addresses of several people. He carefully searched through it.

The woman rushed over and asked, "What's wrong? Why aren't you eating?"