54. Heavy Rain Comes to Zhuang
A week later, Zhou Yun and Fang Cheng arrived at the school gate at the agreed time to wait for the tour group to pick them up.
It's December now, the weather is sunny, and the air is dry and cold.
After waiting for ten minutes, the minibus slowly arrived.
The car door opened, and the dark-skinned driver got out first to help carry the luggage. Another man leaned out of the car and asked, "Are you Professor Fang and Miss Zhou?"
Zhou Yun smiled and nodded, "Yes."
"Come on up, you two are the only ones left," the man called out.
Zhou Yun got into the car first and saw that there were already several people inside, both men and women.
Fang Chengjin followed behind, wearing a mask. He was tall and slender, and his dark blue cotton vest accentuated his cool and noble air.
As soon as he got on the bus, one of the pretty girls sitting by the window exclaimed, "A handsome guy has arrived!"
Fang Cheng didn't even glance at her, turned around and sat down, ignoring the girl behind him.
Zhou Yun wore a light three-piece set of down vest, hooded sweatshirt and wide-leg pants, sporty style, which is convenient for arresting criminals and allows for swift action... Of course, this has also become her professional habit.
After the two sat down, a man wearing a megaphone began to speak.
Director Chen has thick hair, wrinkles around his eyes, and slightly graying temples. Even in the dead of winter, he is wearing a thin tracksuit with red trim and white background, and he speaks without any breathlessness.
Director Chen took out several printed booklets from his backpack and distributed them to each passenger.
"Everyone, this Yelaizhuang B&B Hotel is a high-end resort hotel. We will be spending a pleasant three days and two nights there. This is the B&B's brochure, please take a look. Here, I will also give a brief introduction to this B&B hotel."
After saying this, Director Chen grinned at everyone and made eye contact with each of them.
"Ten years ago, Yelaizhuang Guesthouse was a local sugar factory. Due to poor management, the factory went bankrupt and was acquired by the current guesthouse owner. After renovations, it became Yelaizhuang Guesthouse. This guesthouse is very spacious and fully equipped, allowing guests to fully enjoy the natural scenery. Moreover, the guesthouse is surrounded by mountains on all sides, so no matter which room you stay in, you can open the window and see beautiful natural views..."
The pretty girl in the back seat let out a soft "Eh," just loud enough for everyone in the car to hear. "Surrounded by mountains on all sides, wouldn't it be extremely difficult to escape if we were caught here?"
The woman sitting in the seat in front of the pretty girl, who also had long, wavy hair, couldn't help but interject, "Hey young lady, we're here on vacation, not dragged to the mountains. Don't talk nonsense."
The pretty girl was wearing headphones and shaking her head, seemingly oblivious to the sounds coming from the row in front of her, as she didn't respond.
The woman with wavy hair said coquettishly to the person next to her, "Old Lei, I'm a little scared to come to this kind of awful place. If it weren't for your love of natural scenery, I wouldn't want to come to the village."
Old Lei, with his slicked-back hair and large belly, wrapped tightly in his Zhongshan suit, patted the woman with wavy hair with his big hand and said, "Don't worry, this travel agency is legitimate."
Director Chen laughed heartily twice, “Don’t be afraid, everyone. Our travel agency is very legitimate, with all the necessary licenses and permits. We are one of the top travel agencies in Hong Kong. This trip is a high-end customized tour, and I will accompany you all the way.”
Upon hearing this, no one offered any further opinions.
It's not close to this guesthouse from the city center of Hong Kong Island; it takes about three hours to drive there.
Before coming here, Zhou Yun had already researched the place. The guesthouse was located in a remote suburban mountain forest on Hong Kong Island. This forest had not yet been included in the development zone, meaning it was still a very primitive and natural primeval forest. Originally, the local government took the lead in building a sugar factory in the mountains to facilitate the extraction of sugar from the surrounding sugarcane. Later, the sugar factory's business did not go well, so the government planned to outsource this area to businessmen.
Zhou Yun also discovered that the guesthouse was surrounded by mountains and forests, and there were no cars that could drive up there. There were very few reviews of the guesthouse online, probably because it was too expensive, costing more than 10,000 yuan a night.
This means that there is probably no security in this area. If there is no security, is it safe to stay there at night?
Zhou Yun had many thoughts in her mind, and unconsciously she thought about security, which was probably a professional habit.
Zhou Yun was a little tired. She put away the travel brochure, put on an eye mask, and drifted off to sleep.
**
"I'm so sorry, Yunyun. If I hadn't gone with him that day, maybe Dad and Mom wouldn't have argued and had conflicts, and then Dad would have cheated on me and gotten a divorce... Maybe Mom wouldn't have gotten sick... Yunyun... Yunyun... It's my fault that you're like this..."
The sound was mournful, fading into the distance.
Zhou Yun was slowly awakened by the voice. She couldn't lift her eyelids, as if a thousand-pound stone was pressing on her heart, making her want to cry.
Is she the older sister?
Zhou Yun shook her head slightly, her voice trembling...
The stones on the ground began to move, revealing a clump of "thing" on the ground.
Red dress, long hair, and her whole body was pale.
Zhou Yun's pupils dilated, and her entire face showed terror.
How did she end up back at the scene of her sister's crime?
No, impossible, the murderer has already been caught... Impossible, impossible...
Zhou Yunxin cried out in surprise, and as she lunged forward, her body suddenly twitched.
A biting wind blew in through the car window, so cold it felt like it could freeze you.
Zhou Yun's back was damp with sweat, and she felt warmth in her palms. She looked down slightly and found that her hands were clasped together with Fang Chengjin's.
The big hand and the small hand are crossed, with the ten fingers tightly clasped.
Classic and elegant piano music played from the car's radio. As expected of a high-end customized tour, even the music on the bus wasn't the ubiquitous "most popular ethnic music."
Zhou Yun tilted her head slightly and met a pair of dark eyes.
She noticed that Fang Chengjin's forehead was covered in sweat, and his hair was damp. A pair of eyes behind his mask were staring at her intently, with a tenderness in them that she couldn't decipher.
Fang Cheng spoke first, his voice muffled behind his mask: "You had a nightmare."
Zhou Yun subconsciously whispered, "You too."
The two stared at each other for a few seconds, the air thick with an ambiguous silence.
Zhou Yun turned her head back, quickly withdrew her hand, cleared her throat, and slightly curved her lips into a smile.
She looked out the car window and realized that the car had entered a mountain road, with barren fields on one side and bare mountain peaks on the other, and there was hardly anyone around.
The other passengers were also dozing off, and the car was extremely quiet. Only the driver and Director Chen occasionally chatted a few words in front of the driver's seat, and their voices were not loud.
After Zhou Yun woke up, she was still quite energetic. Because she was sitting in the front row, she could hear Director Chen and the driver chatting.
Driver: "Where did you find this hotel? It's so remote. This is the first time I've ever picked up and dropped off passengers here. I wouldn't have known there was a guesthouse here if I hadn't taken your order."
Director Chen: "I don't know either. This is actually my first time here. My boss picked me up. I heard he had been here once before and thought this project was good for high-end tourism."
Driver: "If I remember correctly, there are hardly any people left in several villages around here. After the sugar factory declined, there was no livelihood left here. People can't just rely on farming to make a living. I heard that many villages have been relocated. Were the hotel staff recruited from outside?"
Director Chen nodded: "Probably. I didn't ask in detail, but T has someone managing things there, and I guess the salary isn't low. Otherwise, who would want to stay here 365 days a year..."
The two chatted back and forth, and soon arrived at the foot of the mountain where a signpost was located.
Next to the sign, a tall, thin middle-aged man was already standing. He had a buzz cut and was dressed in a chef's uniform, only missing a hat.
The car slowly stopped in front of the man, who smiled and placed his hands folded in front of his abdomen, a standard service industry greeting posture.
Director Chen got up from the passenger seat, held up the small bee (a type of small car), and shouted, "We've reached the foot of the mountain! Everyone get out! This guesthouse isn't accessible by car; only the hotel staff can take us up the mountain. This is a way to get close to nature!"
Upon hearing this, the woman with wavy hair retorted, "Climbing such a high mountain would be exhausting, and I'm not wearing sneakers. I'm not going."
Director Chen smiled and said, "We informed everyone in advance that they all agreed to participate in this trip. I have also prepared two pairs of sneakers. If Miss Liang doesn't mind, you can change into one pair."
Liang Mei tossed her curly hair, about to say something, when the man beside her patted the back of her hand. "Change into it, be a good girl."
Liang Mei's expression fell slightly, but she still didn't lash out.
After getting off the bus, Director Chen informed everyone that the hotel would arrange for someone to help carry their luggage up the mountain, and that everyone should go up the mountain with the guesthouse manager first.
No one had any objections.
The guesthouse manager stepped forward and smiled slightly at everyone: "Dear guests, I am the manager of Yelaizhuang Guesthouse. You can call me Ashi. I will be accompanying you on your journey for the next few days. Please feel free to call me if you need any help."
As Zhou Yun got closer, she noticed that the guesthouse manager had a small blue cross on his shirt and black apron, as if it were embroidered.
Fang Cheng said quietly, "Why does the smell of blood smell so strong?"
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