Baishan Bath Center
"Huh." The pale face was mostly covered by the scarf, but the exhaled air still formed a misty smoke in the air.
Li Xingzang stood in front of the train station, slowly pulled down his thick scarf, took a deep breath, and after a while, suddenly laughed.
It had rained the night before, and even then, thin layers of ice could be seen in the puddles on the roads. Although it was still late October—strictly speaking, not even late autumn, nor was it snowy—for the Northeast, winter was already upon us.
The air of Snow City carries a distinct aroma from the Northeast. Biting cold winds, burning coal and straw, frost-covered pine needles, and crushed yellow leaves intertwine to create the aroma of home that Li Xingzang remembers. It hasn't snowed yet, but when winter finally arrives, the ice and snow will blend with the other scents, creating the unique sweetness of this wilderness.
She had deliberately chosen the early morning train and got off around five o'clock, neither too early nor too late. While the light couldn't compare to spring or summer, it was still daylight. Following the crowd, the sunlight wouldn't affect her too much, and she wouldn't stand out too much by being alone on a night train.
"Where are you going, sister?!" The driver followed her enthusiastically, his smile just right, but his voice was extremely loud. There was no other way, with so many drivers around, if you didn't speak loudly, you would be driven away by others.
"Ah, I'm going to Baishan Street--" Before he could finish his words, the suitcase was taken by the driver, "Okay! I'll leave my car here, sister, sit in the front and wait for a while, I'll pick up two more and we'll go!" The driver moved quickly and put the suitcase into the trunk.
Li Xingzang hadn't come back for a long time and was almost unable to react. He only shook his head and laughed after getting in the car.
He took out his phone and was about to send a message to his grandmother when the car door beside him suddenly opened. A flash of red flashed across Li Xingzang's eyes. He lowered his speed and slowly raised his head. He saw the tall figure in front of the door and his eyes widened.
"Uncle Li...why are you here?"
"Hey?! What are you doing? There are people in my car!" The driver who was leading people over here yelled, why is this guy not following the rules!
"Excuse me, brother!" a cheerful voice shouted, "This is my sister. I'm here to pick her up!"
The driver looked at Li Xingzang and only helped her take out the suitcase when he saw her nod. Since there was one person missing, he had to hurry and get another one, as most people had gotten off the bus.
"Brother, are you taking other jobs too?" The young man asked with a smile after taking the suitcase.
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"Ah, my family runs a shop in the Baishan Street area. I'll come to you by car next time. I'm sorry for today." The young man shook the business card he had just taken from the front of the car.
"Oh! It's no big deal! Come to me if you need a car next time!" The driver waved his hand and hurried to the front of the station.
"Let's go." The young man glanced at Li Xingzang and took her to another off-road vehicle.
Li Xingzang didn't expect that he would come to pick him up in person. Thinking back on what happened to him, he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.
"Hey! You've been chattering all the time since you were little, why are you so quiet now? What? Do I think I can eat you?" Li Long snorted coldly, looking her up and down. "Look at what you've done. Wait until you get home and see how your grandma will scold you." [1]
Li Xingzang was a little embarrassed. "Uncle Li, weren't you by the river? Why are you back?"
Xuecheng is located at the junction of Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province, and is closer to Baishan Mountain in Jilin Province. He spends most of his time by the river in Heilongjiang Province. How could it be such a coincidence today?
"Don't you know why I came back, an old man?" Li Long glanced at her and said sarcastically while turning the steering wheel.
"Look at you! It's okay if you haven't come back for a few years! I wouldn't say anything if you were living well in the south, but look at what you've become now! Not only are you so skinny, but you've also become like this. If I hadn't come, you would have bitten someone in the car later!" Before Li Xingzang could say anything, Li Long started talking non-stop, leaving her no chance to interrupt. [2]
After talking for a while, seeing the child sitting there without saying a word and looking listless, Li Long sighed, "You should first think about how to get past your grandma."
Li Xingzang couldn't help but smile bitterly when he thought about the storm he would face soon, "Uncle Li, this is purely an accident..."
"Ha! What you said is true. If you hadn't had an accident, would I still come to pick you up in a nice mood?" Li Long looked at her, a cold light flashed in his eyes. Suddenly, a loud thunder sounded in the sky outside the window, and the sky, which was originally clear, suddenly changed color.
Li Xingzang didn't dare to argue anymore and could only admit his mistake honestly.
Li Long didn't say anything more. It was better for her to figure it out with him than to go against Lao Bai later.
The roads in Xuecheng are flat and open. Although the off-road vehicle is huge, there is not much traffic jam. After a while, it drove in front of a small building on Baishan Street.
"Let's go." Li Long got out of the car first. Li Xingzang sighed and followed him into the door.
"Oh, Zang Zang is back!" In the magnificent lobby, there is only one receptionist working the early shift, Aunt Guan, who has been here since the Baishan Bath Center opened.
"Hello, Aunt Guan." Looking at the familiar aunt, Li Xingzang felt a surge of warmth in his heart. She had really returned home.
Just as she was smiling, she saw the originally kind Aunt Guan's newly tattooed eyebrows stand up, "Oh, Zang Zang, you really are..." She looked at the bag behind Li Xingzang, "Why do you bring everything home!"
Li Xingzang looked back at his bag, which contained...
"Okay, give it to me. I'll arrange it for her." Aunt Guan took the schoolbag and patted her shoulder. "You are different now, but you can't just carry something like this on your back."
Li Xingzang felt his heavy body suddenly lighten. Aunt Guan glanced at Li Long, who was sitting on the sofa in the hall playing with his phone. She didn't dare to say anything, but just looked at Li Xingzang with a smile, "The boss is in the backyard. Aunt Guan will make you something delicious. You can eat it after you finish talking."
Li Xingzang nodded, looked at Aunt Guan's back and looked at Li Long, "You know it too, right? Why didn't you say anything?"
Li Long looked at her with a half-smile. "What are you talking about? You've already turned yourself into a half-human, half-ghost creature. What's the big deal about having a little ghost on you?"
Li Xingzang smiled but didn't dare to respond.
She knew from a young age that the Baishan Bath Center near their home was something special. Of course, many years ago, its name was more down-to-earth.
She was still a child when her parents came here after their factory closed. A warm and friendly neighbor, Grandma Bai, ran a bathhouse, and when her parents were busy, they left her in her care. Perhaps because she was still a child, they assumed she didn't understand, so they kept many things from her. Or perhaps they simply didn't care to reveal them. In short, she experienced many strange things from a young age.
The old men and women who scrub baths can light their cigarettes without a flame; Aunt Guan who dresses up in formal attire and dances on special occasions; Uncle Zi, who is nimble but always wears mink fur regardless of winter or summer; and Li Long, who has always had the same face from Uncle Li to Brother Li...
This place was not only where she grew up, but also her only home after her parents passed away one after another. And... that "old man" who had no blood relationship with her but raised her...
Li Xingzang looked at the old woman who was busy sweeping fallen leaves, walked over and took the broom from her hand, "Grandma, I'm back."
Her delicate white hands were in stark contrast to her aged face. Grandma Bai looked at her calmly, "Hey, isn't this our college student? Long time no see!"
Li Xingzang twitched his lips. Her breasts were still so sharp.
"Come in, don't stand here." Bai Shan glanced at her and walked towards the back room first. [3]
Li Xingzang looked at Li Long as if asking for help. He raised his chin, indicating that she should be obedient.
The back room is connected to several large bungalows. When the kang is lit, it is warmer than the heated bathing center in front. It is used as a staff dormitory and also includes a large kitchen and warehouse.
Through the kitchen piled with cabbages, Li Xingzang saw a small building next to it. That was her home.
"What are you dawdling about?" Bai Shan's dissatisfied voice came from the room, and she hurried back to her senses and walked in. [4]
"Where is the pendant?" On the sofa, Baishan was twisting the wool, apparently intending to knit a sweater.
Li Xingzang took off his scarf and hat one by one and took out a strange white jade pendant from his neck. It vaguely showed a mother holding a child. But the strange thing was that the area under the mother's feet was red.
Grandma Bai sighed and looked at the brighter sky outside the window. "Do you want to be a human again, or..."
Li Xingzang looked at Grandma Bai with his eyes wide open in surprise, "Grandma..."
"I can help you change back, but it depends on you. What do you think?"
Li Xingzang looked at the landscape painting of white mountains and black waters with some confusion, "Grandma, as long as I want to be a human being, will I forget you like before?" Ever since she decided to return to her father's hometown, she found that her memory of this place was gradually becoming blurred.
Here are the family who raised her. She knows they are extraordinary, but she can't remember what happened in the past. It wasn't until she had an accident and the pendant saved her that her memories gradually returned. This is why she made up her mind to return here.
Originally, she wanted to turn back into a human. After all, her desire for human blood affected her all the time. But when this choice was placed before her, she hesitated.
After years of working hard in Hecheng, she realized that it wasn't as beautiful as her father had said. Now, thinking back on her father's expression and words, she finally understood what he meant: "home" is where the family is.
"No." Bai Shan gave her a strange look. "You forgot it before because you are not trustworthy at all and have no interest in this world. If you still want to remember these things after you change back, then you will remember them." [5]
Li Xingzang opened his eyes wide. Is this really the case?
"Can you stop being so stubborn? Do you really want to change back? Just give me a definite answer!" Seeing her struggling for a long time, Bai Shan became a little impatient. [6]
"I want to become a human again." Li Xingzang took a deep breath. Although she did gain some special powers now, she still preferred to be a human.
Grandma Bai nodded, holding the pendant tightly in her hand. The milky white liquid slowly dripped down, "It's gone." [7]
Li Xingzang simply picked up the cup, tilted his head back, and the liquid flowed down.
Li Long suddenly laughed at the side, "Look at you, you must have drunk a lot outside."
Li Xingzang felt a little embarrassed. It was one thing for him to drink because of pressure, but it was another thing for his elders to see through it.
Before she could say anything, the thirst and fear of the sun that had surged up after she took off the pendant actually subsided a little. She looked at Grandma Bai in surprise, but before she could be happy for too long, the familiar desire to suck blood surged up again, even more severe than before.
Li Long and Bai Shan looked at her in disbelief. How could this happen? Could the power within her be enough to rival the mountain god?
A white hand covered Li Xingzang's forehead, and his gray hair moved without wind. After a while, Li Xingzang fell into a deep sleep.
"What's going on?" Li Long asked in confusion.
"It's the power of those idiots in the West. Zang Zang has been absorbing it for too long. Even with my magic weapon, her body still mutated." Bai Shan sighed. She had always been optimistic about this child, but she didn't expect that the power of the West would take the initiative. [8]
"What do you mean?" Li Long asked unhappily when he saw her sigh, "If you don't want to care, I'll take her back to Heilongjiang Province."
"Get out of here!" Bai Shan glared at him. "This is my granddaughter!" Even if she had other powers within her body, it was still protected by her, Old Bai! [9]
Li Xingzang was unaware of the quarrel between the two. She opened her eyes dazedly. Beneath her was a warm kang. Her grandmother was knitting beside her. "Are you awake? Your Aunt Guan made you some blood sausage. Come and eat."
Li Xingzang sat up and looked at her in confusion. Blood sausage? She didn't like it very much. Aunt Guan never made it for her.
Bai Shan chuckled and said, "You'll know after trying it."
A large white porcelain bowl was filled with light yellow sauerkraut and large bones, with sliced blood sausage spread on top. In a short while, it was all eaten up by Li Xingzang alone.
"Hiccup——"
When her parents made this dish in the past, she always felt that the sauerkraut was too sour and the blood sausage was too fishy.
Now...she just wants to say, it smells so good!
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