Su Ruyi's hair stood on end—how could her master, an eighty-year-old man with a broken leg, not be home at this time?
She and Yu Min exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Let's go check out the brigade headquarters!"
The two of them took off running towards the brigade headquarters.
From afar, I could see the old man sitting by the window, frowning as he stared at the telephone.
Beside her, Zhong Misu, who also had a broken leg, stared intently at the telephone.
Li Wang was lying face down opposite the two of them, clearly asleep.
"Master?" Su Ruyi pushed open the door and called out tentatively.
Jin Dachun turned around and hesitated before asking, "Ruyi?!"
Su Ruyi smiled and said, "Master, it's me! What are you doing?!"
"You little brat!" Jin Dachun grabbed a book from the table and swung it at Su Ruyi.
However, it was obvious to everyone that he deliberately missed.
Su Ruyi dodged the question symbolically, then said with a grin, "I'm sorry, Master, for making you worry."
Jin Dachun snorted angrily, "You little brat, such a big thing happened and you ran off without telling me."
Zhong Misu didn't say a word, but her eyes were red.
Li Wang woke up at this moment and quickly got up to stand in front of Su Ruyi: "Grandpa, isn't Su Zhiqing back now? Please don't be angry, your health is the most important thing!"
As he spoke, he turned to Su Ruyi and said, "Su Zhiqing, the old man is so worried. He heard that you were taken away by that wicked woman, and he's been calling around since this afternoon to call for your return! He's made at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, calls!"
"Master..." Two lines of tears streamed down Su Ruyi's face. "Master, I was wrong!"
Jin Dachun was still fuming: "Hmph! A young girl like her, going anywhere without saying a word all day long! What an ingrate!"
Su Ruyi quickly clenched her little fists and started patting his back: "Master, I know I was wrong! I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would worry! By the way, how did you know?"
Jin Dachun pointed at Zhong Misu: "This kid had Li Zhiqing come and tell me!"
Su Ruyi's gaze shifted to Zhong Misu.
Zhong Misu's heart skipped a beat—it seemed she had once again done more harm than good...
However, Su Ruyi's gaze swept straight past Zhong Misu, and she said to Li Wang, "Don't scare my master anymore. I was just taken away for a medical check-up!"
"The Iron King didn't make things difficult for you?" Jin Dachun asked incredulously.
"No, she's mentally impaired and will never recover," Su Ruyi replied briefly, omitting the foolish experience of trying to save her.
"Good! Well done!" Jin Dachun clapped his hands and laughed, "Ruyi, you have done a great deed by eliminating this scourge!"
“Master, she became an idiot on her own, it has nothing to do with me!” Su Ruyi blinked.
Jin Dachun blinked at her, mimicking her gesture: "Don't worry, Xiao Yu is one of us!"
Yu Min, who had been standing guard at the door, turned around and smiled at the group: "Grandpa, have you had dinner yet?"
Li Wang pointed to the lunchboxes on the table: "Shulan brought us food. I ate it, but Grandpa and Zhong Zhiqing didn't!"
Yu Min laughed and said, "Then you're out of luck, Li Zhiqing! Old Jin, I brought back some goose pancakes from the state-run restaurant in the provincial capital!"
Jin Dachun's eyes lit up instantly: "Quick, help me up!"
As Li Wang helped him up, he said, "Actually, I feel like I can eat a little more!"
Su Ruyi laughed and said, "Let's go together. I brought back a 13-pound goose. There's plenty to go around!"
Zhong Misu smiled as she looked at Su Ruyi.
Su Ruyi paused, then continued, "If Zhong Zhiqing has difficulty walking..."
“I’ll carry him on my back!” Li Wang said, patting his bony chest.
Su Ruyi laughed: "You and Captain Yu carry him, I'll carry my master!"
As she spoke, Su Ruyi easily carried Jin Dachun on her back and picked up his crutch, tucking it under her arm.
At this moment, Hu Zhenbo, who had gone to relieve himself, finally returned, limping with legs that had gone numb from squatting.
He has always suffered from constipation, and his symptoms have worsened these past few days because he has been eating meat and vegetables at Zhong Misu's kitchen.
He quickly took Zhong Misu and gently placed her on his back.
Yu Min and Li Wang then took Jin Dachun from Su Ruyi's back.
With two flashlights in hand, Su Ruyi and the others walked through the quiet summer night village and returned to Jin Dachun's courtyard.
The evening breeze was exceptionally gentle, and the goose seemed to smell especially sweet.
Just as everyone finished eating, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.
Li Wang responded, "Who is it?"
"I am Su Tie." It was Fifth Brother's voice from outside the door.
Su Ruyi hurriedly opened the courtyard gate.
There was only Fifth Brother, not that annoying little green tea Ding Xiuping.
Su Tie stood in the shadows, his expression unreadable: "Ruyi, come out, I have something to ask you."
"Okay." Su Ruyi left the courtyard.
"What do you mean by canned food?" The two walked a few steps away and stood in the moonlight. Su Tie asked impatiently.
"Fifth Brother, Fourth Brother and I, along with Fourth Brother's two friends, Shen Heping and Ji Xuchang, went to the back mountain to look for you once," Su Ruyi recounted. "That time...it was very strange..."
"What's strange?" Su Tie's voice trembled slightly.
“When we got to the foot of the mountain, we all inexplicably lost consciousness. Then, I had a dream!” Su Ruyi said with a serious expression. “This dream, how should I put it, felt incredibly real, yet incredibly absurd!”
"What exactly did you dream about?" Su Tie clasped his hands together, looking very nervous.
"I dreamt of an old man with a white beard! I used to dream about him a lot when I was little! Later, my fourth brother said that he also often dreamt about this old man when he was little!" Su Ruyi continued to keep him in suspense. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell him all at once, but this way she could guide her fifth brother to believe her more.
"What... Grandpa? Is he white-haired and beard, and looks a bit like Su Xueshu?" Su Tie addressed his grandfather by his given name.
“Yes, yes, yes! But it’s definitely not Su Xueshu! Fifth Brother, how do you know? Did you dream about it too?” This time, it was Su Ruyi’s turn to be surprised.
"I dreamed about it several times when I was little. In my dreams, he was always holding that agate pendant from Su Manao, asking me to persuade you to accept it." Su Tie forced a smile. "It might just be a fantasy from my childhood. I always thought that if that agate pendant from Su Manao were yours, you wouldn't have to suffer so much!"
"Fifth Brother..." Su Ruyi felt like she was about to cry, her nose was very sore. "Fifth Brother, listen to me. This old man told me that you fell off a cliff, but he used his magic to make you get caught on a tree branch."
"Say that again?" Su Tie's eyes widened, and he felt a chill run down his spine.
"The old man said that his magic power was limited, and he could only keep you hanging. It took him many days to recover his magic power. When he saw that you had accidentally fallen into a place with guns and canned food, but you couldn't hold on and had already fainted, he took you to his house to recover!" Su Ruyi said, pretending to try hard to remember.
Su Tie's expression had completely changed.
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