Yunqi and Yun Liping teamed up and went around the city with sunflower seeds, striking up conversations with people and inquiring about news from various places.

"Yunqi?"

Yunqi heard someone calling her and felt that the voice was somewhat familiar, so she looked around.

"It really is you!" A bald, dark-skinned, thin man stood in front of her. She felt he looked somewhat familiar, but didn't recognize him.

"Who are you?"

"I really didn't recognize you," he said, touching his face with a hint of disappointment.

But he quickly recovered and said, "It's my fault for changing so much. We used to work together, do you remember me?"

Reminded by him, Yunqi finally recognized the person in front of her, but she was still a little unsure. "Are you Hehe?"

After all, the two hadn't seen each other for many years. Although there might have been some changes, the changes were still too great.

"It's me. Haven't I changed so much that I can't even recognize you? On the contrary, you haven't changed at all."

Upon hearing that she was a former colleague, Yun Qi shoved the melon seeds in his hand into Yun Liping's hand and casually wiped his hands on his clothes.

"How did you become like this? All the flesh on your body is gone." In Yunqi's memory, Cao Wulin's biggest hobbies used to be stock trading and food. Because of a lack of exercise for a long time, his whole body was round and chubby, which is very different from his current appearance. No wonder she didn't recognize him at first.

"Who can gain weight in this situation? I regretted not signing up for a gym with you back then. I almost got left behind because I couldn't keep up with your stamina."

"When did you get here? I remember you were from the next province."

"It's all because of this drought. We finally made it through the freezing weather, but then the venomous snakes started to proliferate, one disaster after another. Eventually, we couldn't stay in our hometown anymore, so we started wandering with everyone else. We were rejected everywhere we went, and there was nowhere to take us in. We finally made it here after two difficult months, and we shamelessly stuck with everyone else here."

Hearing this, Yunqi looked at him with some sympathy, realizing that just one province apart could lead to such different fates.

"So, where are you staying now? Have you settled in?"

Speaking of this, Cao Wulin smiled and said, "The fellow villagers who just came with us last month have found a place to build a new village, and life has finally given them some hope. Judging from your appearance, you must be doing quite well."

"It's alright, this is my hometown after all. I remember leaving my address with you when I left. You probably forgot." Yunqi remembered that he sent each of them an address when he left the company.

Cao Wulin wouldn't tell Yun Qi that back then, he thought communication was so convenient that if he needed to find someone, he could just make a phone call or send an email. Why would he need to leave an address? So he didn't save it.

"The phone was completely out of battery, and I didn't have time to think about that at the time."

Yunqi nodded in understanding. She took out paper and pen from her bag and wrote down her address carefully, word by word, and noted how long it would take to walk and all the rest stops along the way.

"Here you go, don't lose it again this time. If you need anything, you can come to Pinghe Village to find me, and I will definitely do my best to help."

"Okay, I'll definitely keep it safe this time." He took the paper from Yunqi, carefully folded it into a small square, and put it in his pocket.

“I’m currently living in Xinliu Village, which is on the back mountain of the village in front of me. It’s not far from here. If you need any help, you can ask over there, but I don’t think you probably need it.” Cao Wulin could tell from Yun Qi’s attire that he was living a good life.

Are you here to exchange supplies as well?

"How could we afford to exchange it? It's only because the leaders here are taking care of us that we've been asked to come here for the next few days to help maintain order and clean up. They'll give us some subsidies later." Cao Wulin didn't feel ashamed at all about being in such a difficult situation in front of his old colleagues. Being alive was already the luckiest thing in the world.

"They're quite humane here. So, are you going back to your own village or staying here to keep watch?"

"We won't be going back to the village for the next few days. We can only go back after all the other villages have left! I have to go and inform a few more villages." Cao Wulin thought about his unfinished business and didn't dare to talk any longer.

"Then you go ahead and get busy. But we'll be going back to the village early tomorrow morning. If you have time tonight, you can come over to our place." Yunqi pointed to the location of his village.

"Okay, I'll get back to work now." With that, he hurried off to his destination. This job opportunity was rare, and he couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

After watching the person walk away, Yun Liping came closer and asked, "Your former colleague?"

"Yes, I used to bother him a lot when I was working. But after I got pregnant and resigned, we lost touch. I never expected to run into him here. He used to be so chubby, but now he's so thin I can't recognize him. He must have suffered a lot."

"Let's go. In this world, just being alive is already a blessing." Yun Liping sighed. No matter what profession you had or how high a position you held in the past, in this era, you can only start from scratch.

Despite this unexpected encounter with a colleague, Yunqi regained his composure and continued to follow Yun Liping around, inquiring about various things.

With the help of the group of acquaintances who had fled with him, Angkor finally made some progress.

After confirming and comparing the descriptions repeatedly, it turned out to be quite similar to the Dong Ge they were looking for. After thanking his friends, Wu Ge returned to the camp to wait for everyone to come back so they could summarize the information.

"These people are like eels; they disappear into some corner in an instant, leaving no trace."

"They've walked so carefully, yet there's not a single trace."

"It seems everyone's the same. Could these people just vanish into thin air?"

"That shouldn't be the case. There should be some traces, more or less. We must have just not found the right person."

"Their ability to conceal themselves is so high, so we should be even more vigilant."

Before dark, everyone returned to camp in small groups, exchanging information along the way. However, despite so many people going out, no one had obtained any useful information.

"Has anyone gotten any useful information?" Si Cheng and Political Commissar Wang and the others inquired about it. They were also looking for this group of people and were wondering why there wasn't a single clue.

"I did manage to find out some information, and I roughly know their route, but no one knows their exact whereabouts." Brother Wu also felt that this information was hard-won, and he had to ask many people to find it.