Qin Zhao had never had these thoughts before, but ever since he had a strange dream today, he had been feeling uneasy. Now, hearing them say this, his mind suddenly thought of the young man in his dream.

But he quickly gathered himself and said, "Thank you, but I don't have any plans for the time being."

The village chief was polite and stopped insisting when he saw that Qin Zhao had expressed his opinion.

Li Dali, on the other hand, seemed to be hesitant to speak.

After the two came out of the village chief's house, Qin Zhao wanted to go and see the vacant land that the village chief mentioned. Li Dali happened to be free, so he accompanied him and took him to see the two idle fields.

After a few days of absence, the weeds in the idle fields had grown back. Only a small patch of land had been plowed, and there were still some tender sprouts.

"At that time, before you even mentioned renting the land, I planted some corn here." Li Dali waved his hand and said, "You don't have to pay it back. Just keep it and eat it yourself."

Qin Zhao said, "After the harvest, I'll send half to your house."

"Okay." Li Dali didn't refuse and added, "By the way, I still have a few bags of unused vegetable seeds. If you want them, come get them from me. They're cheaper than buying them in town."

"Thank you very much."

The two acres of land are of good size and not far from the stream, making irrigation convenient.

Qin Zhao went to look at the vacant lots that the village chief mentioned, and after having a general idea in his mind, he walked back with Li Dali.

On the way back, Li Dali glanced at Qin Zhao from time to time.

After he returned to the house last night, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the back looked like Qin Zhao.

Linxi Village only has a small population, and Qin Zhao is tall and thin, so it's almost impossible to mistake him. And judging by the direction they were going, it was indeed Qin Zhao's home.

But if that was Qin Zhao, then who was the other person he saw?

Li Dali didn't see the man's appearance clearly at the time. He only remembered that he had very white skin, was thin and small, and looked like a man.

He had never seen anyone like that in the village.

Li Dali had been curious all the way, and when it was time for them to separate, he couldn't help but ask, "Qin Zhao, did you leave the village last night?"

Qin Zhao paused and looked back at him: "Yes, what's wrong?"

"So, did you come back with...whom?" Li Dali was different from some of the gossipers in the village. He always felt embarrassed to ask about other people's private affairs, so he just told the truth, "I saw someone last night who looked a lot like you, but I had never seen the person next to him..."

Qin Zhao's eyebrows twitched.

His heartbeat inexplicably accelerated, and even his voice became a little dry when he spoke: "You mean, you saw someone who looked very similar to me returning to the village with another stranger?"

Li Dali said: "Yes, but it was too dark at the time and I couldn't see clearly."

That wasn't his hallucination.

There was indeed a man who went to the mountains in the rain to find him and brought him back home.

But after dawn, the man left without saying goodbye, leaving no trace.

Qin Zhao breathed a sigh of relief silently. Combining all the strange things that happened today, a vague guess emerged in his mind.

But he said nothing to Li Dali, just shook his head lightly: "No, I went home before dark."

"That person you saw was not me."

Gradually regaining consciousness from his confusion, Qin Zhao looked at the little koi lying on the bed and suddenly understood the meaning of his behavior.

He's...playing dead.

Seeing that Qin Zhao didn't respond for a long time, the little koi quietly looked up at him, then stretched his body and lay down again.