The two chatted for a while longer, and as it gradually got dark, Aunt Wang got up to leave.

Lin Ziyan: "Okay, I'll go to your shop tomorrow and have you prepare the kinds of fish I just mentioned."

Aunt Wang had a lot of questions in her mind. Just now, when the topic of barbecue came up, she mentioned wanting to buy fish.

Can fish really be grilled?

Should we slice the fish into pieces and grill them one by one?

Aunt Wang left with a bunch of questions.

The glow of the sunset reflected on the pond, and the water droplets on the lotus leaves held that orange-red color, shrinking until they disappeared.

Li Lijuan had a fight with her family and ran away, sitting by the pond.

The sounds of frogs and cicadas blended together, making her feel even more hot and uncomfortable.

"If you're so capable, why don't you be like that girl from the Lin family and lead the villagers to a better life?"

You're the same age, graduated from the same university, so how come you're so different?

Others go to school, so you go to school too. How come other people's minds work so well, they can make money...

Li Lijuan recalled what her mother had just said, and a fire shone in her eyes.

If you're going to make comparisons, why don't you compare your parents?

Li Lijuan felt indignant, but dared not say it out loud.

“Lin Ziyan was spoiled by her parents since she was a child. She never lacked pocket money, sometimes as much as a person’s salary…” Li Lijuan murmured to herself.

During holidays she wanted to go home, but now she just wants school to start again soon.

Hearing the rustling footsteps, Li Lijuan quickly hid, thinking it was someone from home coming to look for her.

But upon seeing the two very short "boys," Li Lijuan quickly covered her mouth.

Those two didn't look like boys; they looked more like men who would never grow up.

Li Lijuan's pupils constricted, and her whole body stiffened.

smoke?

How could a little boy possibly smoke?

She remained motionless, hiding behind a tree beside the pond.

She heard the two talking, but she couldn't understand what they were saying; it sounded like English, but it didn't seem so.

After the last port explosion, her grandmother had mentioned that there were definitely enemy agents nearby, and warned everyone to be careful.

Li Lijuan scoffed inwardly, thinking the old woman was exaggerating.

Now, she felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen, and she couldn't move her legs at all.

"Go over there."

"It's normal for children to accidentally fall into the water."

Li Lijuan heard them say their last two sentences in English.

Although her English grades were average, she could still understand the basics...

Who accidentally fell into the water?

Li Lijuan didn't have time to think much before the two people left, but she didn't dare to move.

The moon hangs high, its cool light shining on the pond, as if veiled by a thin gauze, hazy and mysterious.

"Jiaojiao, stop hiding, I see you. Come home and have dinner."

Li Lijuan heard a girl's voice and breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to walk out, "Pfft!"

Has someone fallen into the water?

"Help…"

…

Meanwhile, in the Lin family's courtyard...

When Lin Ziyan returned home, she saw Jiaojiao pouting, as if she was angry, hiding behind the water tank without saying a word.

The air was filled with the aroma of meat, mixed with the fresh scent of lemon.

"Jiaojiao, where is Second Sister?" Lin Ziyan asked casually.

Her eyelids kept twitching; she felt something was wrong.

Grandma brought out the dishes, "Xiaoxiao, go find Jiao..."

She saw Jiaojiao hiding by the water vat, looking at the sky outside, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Ayan, go find Xiaoxiao,"

Lin Ziyan was rubbing her hands when she got up and walked out of the courtyard.

As she walked down a path, she saw two boys running past and paused for a moment.

Those two boys... something's not right.

"Xiaoxiao..."

Lin Ziyan walked and shouted, her heart growing increasingly panicked.

At this time, the village roads were only illuminated by moonlight, making them pitch black.

She left in a hurry and didn't bring a flashlight with her.

Lin Ziyan searched around but didn't see anyone. Thinking that Xiaoxiao might have gone home, she started walking back.

As she approached the pond, she heard a voice and her heart skipped a beat.

"Something dark is floating up here..." Granny Li muttered as she washed the chamber pot.

She grabbed the black mass and pulled it up forcefully.

"ah……"

A scream shattered the silence of the pond.

People living nearby heard the noise and rushed over.

"Someone fell into the pond! Someone fell into the pond..."

Lin Ziyan quickened her pace and walked inside.

The pond is semi-circular, and usually only a few stones are placed there to step on as you walk in.

Grandma Li was washing the bucket on the stone mat next to her, and everyone seemed to have accepted that it was okay to wash it there.

People started coming over with flashlights...

"Quick, lend a hand and get the water out..." Grandma Li asked, not seeing who it was, as she was holding someone and patting them.

When Lin Ziyan saw Xiaoxiao's pale face, her hands and feet went weak.

In the village, children who fall into the pond have a very low chance of survival.

She had heard too many similar stories before, so she repeatedly told her two younger sisters not to go near the pond.

“Grandma Li, I’m here…” Lin Ziyan immediately began first aid.

She doesn't know anything about medicine, but she has taken first aid classes.

People started walking this way, and a few of them were shining flashlights inside.

Granny Li collapsed to the ground, her face equally ashen.

She had just seen a black mass floating on the water and thought it was a black plastic bag blocking the drain, so she pulled it out.

Unexpectedly, they even managed to rescue a... person.

Grandma Li patted her chest, her hands trembling.

She comes here every night to wash her urine so that it won't smell like urine in her room at night.

She used to pick up dead chickens and ducks by hand whenever she came across them...

"Grandma Li? Were you the one screaming just now?"

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