After paying respects to Lady Wang, Old He insisted on going to the Wang Village to stay and did not allow Chao Er to accompany him. The two of them had no choice but to return to Hong Village first.

  On the fifth day, Zhuo Xiong brought back a tired and dusty Heng Roulian from Sichuan, and the four brothers were reunited. Although Lao Wang was not exactly their sworn brother, they had gone through thick and thin together, so naturally there were feelings involved. Especially when Heng Roulian returned, he immediately asked Cha Wenbin if he had any news about Lao Wang. In the meantime, they also used the village phone to ask Zhao Yuanxiao to inquire, but all they knew was that Lao Wang had been taken away soon after they left, and there was no further information about where he went or how he was doing.

  Chaozi started taking two other brothers to collect antiques, and at that time, my grandmother's village was one of their regular places to visit. So I occasionally saw these young men from outside the village, especially Chaozi, who would often buy me some food or toys like fishing hooks and kites that boys liked.

  He Lao died on the seventh day of the next month after the worship, just like Cha Wenbin predicted. On that day, Cha Wenbin got up very early, and it was still dark outside. He packed his things and woke them up one by one.

  At that time, Chaozi and his comrades had already become familiar with Hongcun Village. The village chief's tricycle became the favorite thing of these soldiers. At first, they always borrowed it, but later the village chief simply did a favor and half-sold, half-gave it to them.

  At that time, Cha Wenbin had just bought a sedan chair and often asked Chaozi to take him to Wangzhuang, saying he wanted to chat with his father. At that time, although He Lao was already in poor health, his spirit was still strong, and every day he would happily drink tea and discuss philosophy with Cha Wenbin, showing no signs of serious illness. Chaozi at the time was also collecting antiques under the guise of collecting waste, and had found many treasures in Wangzhuang, including a piece of jade that He Lao identified as dating back to the Warring States period. Chaozi believed his career could truly begin now, with his expertise combined with He Lao's experience, he was sure to achieve great success in this field.

  Mr. He was very pleased that his mischievous son had finally started to take the right path. At that time, Mr. He told him more about how to be a good person rather than appreciating antiques. He repeatedly emphasized that any good collection should be donated to the country, and only the artifacts in the museum can bring out their maximum value. It's strange to say that He Yichao, who was most afraid of being bothered by his father, could also listen patiently. Later, the jade piece was indeed sent to the Provincial Museum by him, not because it was particularly precious, but because it was the last artifact identified by Mr. He, and Super also fulfilled his father's wish.

  Zha Wenbin said to Chaozi, who was still sleepy: "Go wash your face and then go to your paternal grandmother's house to see your father."

  Chao Zi didn't know what was going on and rubbed his eyes, saying: "Going to see my dad, do you have to go so early?"

  Cha Wenbin looked up at the sky and said, "Before dawn breaks, there's still time."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Chaozi's heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, all sleepiness was gone. He knew that Cha Wenbin would never do anything without a reason, so he wondered if something was wrong with the other head, and whether he needed to go and solve it. After all, this was his old home, so he hastily washed his face a few times before going to start the motorcycle.

  He didn't want to look for Wen Bin, but instead took the key and handed it to Zhuo Xiong, saying: "You open it today, Chaozi, you sit in the back with me."

  Chaozi is getting more and more inexplicable, all along this motorcycle has been ridden by himself, not because he's good at it, but because in that era cars weren't yet widespread, young people could ride a motorcycle with sidecar which was a very cool thing to do. Zhuo Xiong is a kind-hearted person who doesn't compete with others, so naturally he wouldn't fight for this show-off thing.

  Zhuo Xiong was also somewhat puzzled, but Cha Wenbin's words were rarely disobeyed by his brothers. The sidecar could only seat three people, and with the bulky body of the meat-faced man, Cha Wenbin told him to take the village bus at dawn instead. At that time, there were no city-to-town minibuses yet, but some clever people had already started buying those agricultural tricycles to transport people, with routes from Hong Village to the county town, passing through Wangzhuang along the way.

  Riding through the night, the bright red lamp shone past tree after tree as they brushed shoulders. Cha Wenbin sat in the small dump truck and said to Chaozi, "I'm going to tell you something, it's best if you're mentally prepared."

  Chao Zi immediately responded, "Is it the Wang Zhuang's place that's haunted? Are we going to collect some dirty stuff?" At the same time, he thought to himself, "I hope Dad didn't get possessed."

  "Your father," said Zhang Wenbin, looking at Chao Zi. The young man's face immediately turned white, thinking that the old man had indeed taken the bait. "He is ill and I brought you here today to take a look."

  "Fallen ill?" Chaozi was startled in his heart, "What's wrong with the old master? Didn't he seem fine these past few days?"

  Cha Wenbin held back his tears and said calmly: "Liver cancer, terminal stage."

  Chao Zi felt as if his brain was going to explode, and the whole world was about to collapse.

  "You knew it all along?"

  "Hmm." Zha Wenbin nodded.

  "Why didn't you tell me earlier! Why!" He was yelling, at Zhang Wenbin, it was a desperate, heart-wrenching yell, so loud that even Zhuo Xiong, who was riding his bike in front of them, felt the impact and slammed on the brakes with a screech.

  Cha Wenbin did not refute him. He wouldn't say that it was your father's last words to me. He understood Cha Chao's current mood, so he just said: "Don't stop, keep driving."

  In the darkness, a tricycle carrying three men sped down the highway like lightning, leaving behind a trail of tears that dripped onto the ground.

  He Yichao did not send his mother to the end, which was a lifelong regret for him. So this time he would not let his father leave like that no matter what. However, Cha Wenbin's sentence "Dawn is the deadline" made him have the urge to fly for the first time, and he urged Zhuo Xiong to speed up.

  Arriving at the entrance of Wangzhuang Village, the village was pitch black, and the "putt-putt" sound of the motorcycle suddenly woke up the dogs in the village, who rushed to the entrance. However, as soon as they saw the car from afar, not one of these country dogs didn't tuck their tails and run away, because on that car sat a devil king of the mortal world, and countless country dogs had been brushed by his sleeve as he sped past, this car was no less than a harbinger of death to them.

  Arriving at Wang Xin's doorstep, Chaozi jumped down first and knocked on the door. The "knock knock knock" sound made the person inside call out sleepily: "Who is it?"

  Chaozi seemed like he couldn't wait any longer, lifting his large foot wearing military boots and kicking the door with a loud "Boom". The door's hinges broke into two halves, and Zhuo Xiong quickly turned the ignition, the car "Vroom"ed loudly as it shot into the doorway.

  Wang Xin was lying in bed and heard the commotion outside, he was so scared that he thought it was the Japanese devils entering the village, and he didn't dare to come out of his room. Chao Zi didn't care about these things, and rushed into the west wing first, where Wang Furen used to live before she got married, and now He Lao also lived inside, Cha Wenbin and Zhuo Xiong followed closely behind.

  With a "click", the not-too-bright white incandescent lamp was turned on, Chaozi raised his head to take a look and almost got scared to death. Hei Lao was sitting at the table in front of him, staring at him with anger!

  "Father..." Chaozi shouted, he rarely called He Lao "father", mostly calling him "old head", because he was the old son of He Lao and Wang Furen, also the only child in the family. So although He Lao was very strict with him when he was young, Wang Furen loved this son dearly.

  "Good-for-nothing!" Old He scolded, a father's dignity and scholar's demeanor fully revealed at this moment. Old He was so angry that he wanted to stand up several times but couldn't, yet still slammed his hand on the table in anger: "Always doing things in such a sloppy manner, how can you achieve great things in the future!"

  "Dad, I..." Chaozi was at a loss for words for a moment, and he didn't know what to say. In his limited memory, he had never seen the old man get so angry before. The old man was an academic researcher, and in the archaeological community at that time, he could be said to be a leading figure, but he devoted all his energy to the museum and didn't leave any personal collection for himself.

  He Lao no longer went to see his son, the muscles on his face began to soften, and he regained his usual elegant demeanor. He turned to Cha Wenbin and said: "Wenbin, is it time yet?" As he spoke, Cha Wenbin saw He Lao's eyebrows furrow slightly, knowing that it was due to pain.

  Cha Wenbin didn't say anything, he just nodded his head.

  He Lao still smiled and said: "Then I'll have to trouble you, and this little guy will also be handed over to you. If you don't go out first, prepare, I still have a few words to say to this little guy."

  Cha Wenbin led Zhuo Xiong out of the room, gently closing the door behind him. Outside, Wang Xin was just coming out wearing a large coat and holding a wooden stick. Seeing Cha Wenbin, he asked: "Is it Mr. Cha? What's going on?"

  Cha Wenbin looked up at the sky and said, "The Wenqu star is about to fall."

  As soon as the words were spoken, Wang Xin raised his head and looked up vaguely. A bright shooting star flashed across the sky, disappearing into the vast night sky towards the west.

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