Chapter Sixteen: Nerve Cutting

  Shi Wei originally wanted to get Long Bao drunk so that he and Qiu Ya could have a romantic evening, but ended up getting drunk himself; Qiu Ya had hoped that Long Bao would stay with her at the villa, but he made an excuse about needing to return to work and left abruptly; Jiao Siwei secretly breathed a sigh of relief that she had arrived in time, otherwise it was uncertain whether this man could withstand Qiu Ya's gentle temptation.

  Long Bao is quite satisfied with the three new recruits, who never say more than they need to and won't interfere with him like Kang Ding Zhuang did. They won't even think about what Long Bao is doing or going to do in their minds, simply executing their protection tasks.

  Two days later, when Long Bao and several subordinates were studying cooperative project materials in the office to determine negotiation conditions, Lin Yang, the newly appointed secretary of the president, reported that two employees of Liheng Electronics brought a middle-aged man to the reception room requesting to see him. The middle-aged man claimed to be Teacher Long Bao, named Liu De Xian.

  Liu Dexian was his class teacher when he was young, and also the son of Liu Laozhongyi. Long Bao thought for a moment before coming to the reception room. He recognized Liu Dexian at a glance and hurriedly went forward to shake hands with him, saying in a respectful tone: "Teacher Liu, I really didn't expect you to come!"

  Liu De Xian confirmed that the chairman and president of this large corporate group in front of him was indeed his proud disciple Long Bao. Suddenly, he stuttered: "It's you, it's you, Long Bao! Fellow villagers all said you became the boss of a big company, I and your grandparents Liu Ye Ye and Liu Nai Nai didn't dare to believe it. Now that we've seen you, this is real, this is really true!"

  Long Bao smiled and asked Liu De Xian to come down and talk, Liu De Xian's eyes sparkled with excitement and unknown tears, staring tightly at Long Bao and said: "Long Bao, earlier those few people who work in your company said that we all thought they were deceiving us. Later, Liu Chu (he pointed to one of the electronic employees), Liu Chu is a schoolmate of yours from Tianlei Middle School, has seen you, brought back your company's magazine, it's this one (he took out a plastic-wrapped internal publication of Liheng, and flipped open the page with Long Bao's photo). We saw the photo and knew it was definitely you! (His smile was extremely excited) I was afraid of making a mistake, so I called your classmates Zhang Haitao and Shi Wei, but at that time they said something strange, saying this is you and not you, I was puzzled and then found Wu Wenli, who is your high school and college classmate, she said you have become the boss here, we only confirmed it then. But after calling twice to here, you didn't answer, we were worried that we made a mistake and made fools of ourselves. This time Liu Chu went home for his engagement, so I took leave to come and take a look, haha, it's still good to see with your own eyes!"

  Long Wan smiled awkwardly and said, "Teacher Liu, I'm really sorry. I've been extremely busy with work lately, maybe my secretary forgot to inform me. I was actually planning to go back to my hometown after finishing these days of work."

  Liu De Xian did not notice that Long Bao was lying, he was still immersed in his inner joy, and hurriedly said: "You have a thousand things to do, your affairs are more important than ours, when I called you at that time, it wasn't anything else, just Liu Ye Ye and Liu Nai Nai missing you, wanting to see you, and also the matter of your old house."

  The reception room was crowded and noisy, so Longbiao invited Liu Dexian and the other two to his office. Liu Dexian spoke up somewhat anxiously: "Longbiao, I heard from Shi Wei that you're planning to build a reservoir for our fellow villagers, is that right?"

  Long Wan nodded slightly.

  Liu De-xian hastily said: "Repairing the reservoir will cost a lot of money, do you have that much money?"

  Long Bao revealed a smile: "Teacher Liu, I know."

  "Alas, our mountain city has suffered a drought of the century this time. The fields that fellow villagers planted are all cracked with palm-sized gaps, many families have no harvest, and even the Zijiang River has dried up to the bottom..."

  "What's going on?"

  "Alas, it has been more than five months since June, and just the other day there were two light drizzles, not even enough to wet the roads."

  "The news only said Hunan has a drought, how come it's so severe in our mountain city?"

  "It's strange, other places in the mountain city are fine, but our Tianlei Township and the surrounding towns near Xiongshan are particularly severe. There is no reservoir, and many places even have difficulty getting drinking water."

  Long Pan was silent and speechless.

  Liu De-xian fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Nowadays, many villagers have no choice but to dig their own wells or go to distant places to fetch water. The township has also submitted a report to the government about the drinking water project, but it's likely that nothing will come of it. Even if funds are allocated, they won't be enough, and in the end, we'll still have to rely on our own fundraising efforts to solve the problem. So, fellow villagers don't expect you to fix the reservoir, but rather hope you can help resolve this drinking water issue."

  Long Bao puffed out smoke and said after a long while: "Don't worry, Teacher Liu, I have it under control."

  Liu De-xian felt a bit relieved in his heart, and then said: "Long Bao, your old house was blown down by the strong wind last time. The villagers discussed to repair it, I came to ask for your opinion."

  Long Bao felt his head was swelling, took a deep breath and called Secretary Lin Yang over, saying: "Teacher Liu, go to the villa to rest for a while, I'll handle things, I'll come see you tonight."

  He then turned to the two employees and said, "I didn't even know you were electronics staff. Alright, you go back to work first, I'll take care of Teacher Liu. Oh, don't tell other colleagues about our family matters, just do your job well."

  Jiao Siwei and Louise began to study the treasure box. Louise had received special training in unlocking, so she first filled the keyhole of the treasure box with a special rubber mud, waited for it to heat up and solidify, then took it out and determined that the key was a small knife-shaped thing with several concave serrations. She then used an emery board to repair the rough edges, inserted it into the lock and tried to open it, but couldn't. She then took out her special unlocking tool and tried to open the ancient strange lock through the contact of steel sheets and wires, but still couldn't.

  "Louis, it seems that this lock has another mystery."

  Louise said with a frown, "Impossible! Your Chinese metal locks were only invented in the Han Dynasty, and they're all just simple mechanisms like the 'hiding poem lock' that requires two keys to open, or the 'linked ring lock' that needs three palms to strike before it opens. The most difficult one is probably the 'hiding poem lock' that requires a few turns of the wheel to decipher the password. Compared to those, this box's hidden compartment lock is child's play! How could I possibly not be able to open it? Shall we just cut the box open?"

  Jiao Si hesitated for a moment before saying, "These ancient things can be mysterious at times. Let's not touch them randomly, in case we accidentally damage the internal mechanisms. How about this: let's put the items away for now and find an opportunity to invite an expert to open them."

  The treasure box was in her hands, but she couldn't figure out the secrets inside. At this moment, she inexplicably walked into Long Biao's office.

  Long Bao had just sent off Teacher Liu and was now holding the small knife he had retrieved from Jing'er, lost in thought: Shancheng is my hometown, Xiongshan is where my ancestors have lived and rested for generations, I should go back and take a look, do something for my fellow villagers, repay the kindness, and retrieve the box buried underground, the box contains the genealogy of my Long family's ancestors, this small knife is the key to opening the box, Jing'er has kept it for a long time, I wonder if there is still any lingering aura of Jing'er on it...

  Jiao Siwei knocked on the door twice and then came in.

  Long Wan woke up from his contemplation, stood up and greeted: "Vice Chairman Jiao, you're here? It's just in time, I wanted to discuss something with you, haha."

  Jiao Siyu's eyes landed on the small knife in Long Bao's hand, and his heart skipped a beat: wasn't this exactly the same as the key model he had made with Louise? Could it be that this was the key to the box? Yes, it must be, it must be! The key had been in his own hands all along! How could he get his hands on it now?

  Jiao Siwei pouted intentionally and said in a spoiled tone: "I hate it, you always call me 'Vice Chairman Jiao' 'Vice Chairman Jiao' whenever you see me, just like I'm some kind of old lady! Can't you just call me by my name?" After that, she pretended to be annoyed and sat down on the sofa.

  Long Bao walked over with a knife, smiling faintly: "So you're Vice Chairman Jiao, I suppose you want me to call you Vice President Jiao? Or perhaps you'd like to be Chairman Jiao or President Jiao?"

  "You do everything for me, what's the use of being a chairman or president? Look at you, can't sleep well, can't eat well, always frowning and looking worried, never see you happy, exhausted to death. Which one is more carefree like me?"

  "It can't be that exaggerated, I don't think it's as tiring as you said. Seeing the group's new business progress getting smoother and smoother, and the investment company's stock is also good, I'm so happy that I want to give everyone a raise. How come you say I have a worried look on my face?"

  "Long Bao, can you deceive others but not me? Do you think I don't know the troubles in your heart?" Her eyes intentionally or unintentionally stared at the knife in Long Bao's hand, and she said with concern, "Hey, be careful, don't let the knife hurt your own fingers!"

  Long Bao lowered his head and took a look at the small knife, using his thumb to pinch the handle of the knife in his palm, saying: "It's nothing, this knife is not a murder weapon."

  Jiao Siyu stretched out her slightly trembling palm and said in a gentle voice, "Come on, let me take a look. I think it looks like an antique, not something made with modern craftsmanship."

  Long Bao hesitated for a moment, and handed it over to Jiao Siwei without any defense. Jiao Siwei took it in his hand and examined it carefully, saying: "This is really an antique, Long Bao, oh, Chairman Long, what material is it made of? It doesn't look like copper or iron, how can I not tell?"

  "I don't know either."

  "Why don't you just take it and have it checked?"

  "There's no need for that."

  "Where did you buy this knife? The style is so classic and simple, I want to go buy one too."

  "This is one of a kind under the sun, can't be bought anywhere."

  "Where did you get it from?"

  Long Wan smiled and didn't answer, but said to Jiao Siwei: "Vice Chairman Jiao, I,"

  Jiao Siwei's face immediately fell, and Long Bao woke up and said again, "Alright, alright, in the future if it's just you then I'll call you Miss Jiao, otherwise it's Jiao Siwei. Miss Jiao, you know that someone from my hometown is coming, so you need to pay more attention to the group's work with the other old men. I'll be going back to my hometown in a couple of days, and for important matters just contact me by phone."

  Jiao Siwei knew that Long Bao would definitely go to retrieve the treasure box that had already fallen into her hands, and she suddenly wanted to see Long Bao's angry and sad expression when he lost his family heirloom... So she said in a spoiled tone: "No, I also want to go with you to your hometown to take a look. You promised me last time that if there was an opportunity, you would bring me to see the life of Chinese rural people. I want to see what kind of mountains and rivers can nurture such a monster like you!"

  This sentence was what Shi Weihai had said to him before, and Long Bao's mind flashed back to the scene from before, and for a moment he felt somewhat down.

  "You're not going back on your word, are you? If you really go back and forth like this, then I won't believe you again!"

  Long Bao let out a light sigh, took the small knife from Jiao Si's hand, and pulled out an exquisitely embroidered thick cloth case from his pocket to put the knife in. The case was made by Jing Er, with a red silk thread on it that could be hung around the neck.

  Jiao Siwei immediately snatched the pouch to take a look, and this pouch was made according to the shape of the small knife. She saw at a glance that it was in the typical Su embroidery style, and immediately thought that it might be made by Qiu Ya or Jing Er. Qiu Ya's personality would not have learned embroidery, only Jing Er had the possibility of having embroidery skills. Jiao Siwei took advantage of Long Bao's inattention to sniff with her nose, and there was a faint fragrance on it.

  This must be Jing Er's doing! Jing Er's relationship with him is by no means simple!

  Jiao Siyu opened the silk thread, gesturing as if hanging it around her neck. She thought to herself that Jing'er might have hung the dagger around her neck like this. Such a precious thing would only be entrusted to the person she loved most, but she didn't know how the dagger had ended up back in his hands.

  She burst out laughing and said to Longbiao, "Longbiao, Chairman Long, I'll give you a multiple-choice question. You must choose an answer, or else I'll turn against you, hehe."

  "What's wrong?"

  "If you want me not to quarrel with you, you only have two choices: either give me this small knife and this lovely coat, or take me to your hometown to play and see. Which one do you choose?"

  On November 25, Long Bao gave himself a three-day holiday and handed over the daily affairs of the group to Qian Yu Hui and others. Then he, Jiao Si Wei who had succeeded in his trick, two guards responsible for driving, Liu De Xian who was returning from a trip, Shi Wei Duo who couldn't help but follow, and eight people including Bao sat in two small cars and headed towards the mountain city, of course, Baozi was among them.

  From Chang'an to Shancheng is nearly a thousand kilometers, driving takes about thirteen or fourteen hours, the car arrived in Shancheng already past eleven at night, they stayed at the Zijiang Hotel in Shancheng.

  Long Bao couldn't fall asleep, he didn't know what gifts to bring for the familiar seniors in his hometown, being partial was a big taboo, the more he thought about it, the more he felt a headache, gradually feeling like his head was going to explode, he hastily got up to take a cold shower and only then did he feel slightly better.

  The sound of bathing woke up Shi Wei, who was sleeping next door. Shi Wei looked at Long Bao with a strange expression and said: "Wow, you're really something, Old Six! Didn't you take a bath before going to bed? Why are you taking another one now? Is your desire burning so fiercely that you need cold water to calm down?"

  Long Bao wiped his hair with a towel and replied after a while, "No, I was thinking of buying some gifts for those teachers and fellow villagers. Can't go back empty-handed, right? You said I've never bought them anything before, if I don't show my appreciation this time, people will laugh at me."

  Shi Wei's eyes lit up as soon as he heard this, and he sat up straight, took out a cigarette, lit it, and said with a pleased smile: "Why didn't you come to me about something like this? Do you know what's the most practical thing? RMB! You say you want to buy good cigarettes and wine, but they won't even drink them, and you can't carry them around easily either. Are you going to bring back a whole truckload of cigarettes and liquor? Except for a few people you think are very important and must give gifts to, just give RMB instead. Put a little more or less in each red envelope according to your preference, isn't that simple?"

  "Give money? Isn't that a bit too common?"

  Shi Wei burst out laughing: "What's vulgar or not, who doesn't like money? In the face of money, what's still vulgar or not? Now everyone from top to bottom only recognizes the old man's head, but it's you who's carrying big bags and small bags that's really vulgar! This matter will be handled by me and Duqiuyan. For each of you kids in Dafeng Village, 50 yuan, for adults, 100 yuan each. How about it? If it's okay, you can give us the money tomorrow. Anyway, you have a lot of money, over 10 billion, damn!"

  "It's easy for villagers, but I couldn't possibly give those teachers the same treatment, could I? Wouldn't that be an insult to their dignity?"

  "Got it! Why don't you donate a few hundred thousand yuan to your school as a reward fund for students and teachers?"

  After daybreak, they set off towards Tianlei Township.

  This road was still visited by Longbiao two years ago, the road surface had not been paved with asphalt, it was still a gravel road, and the maintenance was not in place. The potholes were uneven, and the dust flew all over the sky. Longbiao noticed that the fields on both sides of the road were indeed cracked into independent blocks, just like the shell of a turtle.

  Jiao Siwei smiled and asked Liu De Xian: "Teacher Liu, how come there isn't even a decent road here?"

  Liu De-xian said with a somewhat helpless tone: "What can we do? We don't have industry here, and the economy is not developed. It's a poor and remote mountainous area. The government won't invest in building roads for you!"

  With a thoughtful nod, he jokingly said: "But it's still much better than African countries. Your county town looks quite prosperous and crowded, just like Hong Kong."

  Long Bao was pulled by Jiao Siwei and Liu Dexian to talk, but he didn't say a word.

  The first stop was to his alma mater, Shancheng No. 12 Middle School, but Long Wan didn't expect to hear from the school teachers that just two days ago, the principal Wang, whom he respected, had been investigated by the Education Bureau's Discipline Inspection Team and transferred to the Anti-Corruption Bureau for suspected corruption and embezzlement of new teaching building construction funds and accepting bribes from contractors.

  He stepped into his hometown, but was met with a slap in the face. Long Bao's mood turned sour. He distributed those gifts to several teachers and declined their invitation to stay. He also didn't make the donation to No. 12 Middle School as planned, and left by car.

  The second stop was to visit Wenli's parents' home along the way.

  Shi Wei didn't quite understand Long Bao's decision. In Shi Wei's eyes, Wen Li's parents were almost petty and selfish people. Although Long Bao also had this feeling, after all, Wen Li's parents still had kindness towards him. Without their financial support at the time, he couldn't even afford tuition fees. Repaying kindness is a must, and as a man living in this world, one should do so. Moreover, it was said that Wen Li's father was already seriously ill and needed a kidney transplant to survive.

  When they saw the now billionaire Long Bao bringing such a large entourage to visit their home, Wen Li's parents were so nervous and excited that they couldn't speak. Wen Li's mother was extremely regretful, thinking that if she hadn't been superstitious about some curse back then and forced Wen Li and Long Bao to break up, maybe Long Bao would be her son-in-law now.

  Wen Li's father indeed looked haggard and ill, when Autumn Leaf asked about his health with concern, Wen Li's mother burst into tears: "If he hadn't become this **** deputy town head, how would he have ruined his body? Drinking every day and going to restaurants, now his body is ruined. If it weren't for Wen Li sending back some money from Shenzhen every month, that little salary wouldn't even be enough for medicine. And the unit still hasn't set up medical insurance, if he doesn't get a kidney transplant, it's a dead end..."

  Long Bao took out Wen Li's father's medical records and looked at them. After confirming that Wen Li's father needed a kidney transplant, he instructed his bodyguard, Meng Yuan, to take 200,000 yuan from the password-locked box filled with renminbi and put it on the table. He said to Wen Li's parents: "You said Wen Li works in Shenzhen, her monthly salary is only a few thousand yuan at most, and it will be impossible for her to afford the surgery costs. Since the unit cannot cover this medical expense, let me help you pay."

  Two hundred thousand bright red RMB stacked on the table thickly, Wen Li's mother's voice trembled: "This, this, this..."

  Wen Li's father was shocked, he had only seen so much money at the bank counter in his life. He didn't expect Longbiao to give it to them so easily. With this amount of money, not only could they afford the surgery, but they would also have some left over! He immediately dispelled that absurd idea and stuttered: "Longbiao...this money...I can't take it...can't take it..."

  Long Ping calmly said: "Your surgery can't be delayed any longer, if it's delayed again, your body will collapse. This amount of money is nothing to me, but for you, it can save your life! Don't decline anymore, take it. Oh, and tell Wenli that if she doesn't develop well in Shenzhen, come to Chang'an to find me."

  Long Bao didn't want to stay for long, after chatting for a couple of sentences he stood up and bid farewell. The leopard, who was still playing around the house, hadn't had enough fun and was reluctant to leave. Long Bao ignored Wen Li's parents' repeated attempts to persuade him to stay and strode out of the door in three steps. The leopard could only follow him helplessly. Wen Li's parents saw them off at the courtyard gate. Wen Li's mother was extremely anxious about the 200,000 yuan and turned around to rush back into the room, afraid that thieves would come to steal it. Wen Li's father looked at Long Bao's hasty footsteps and couldn't help but shout: "Long Bao, Little Dragon, why are you doing this? How can you help me like this?"

  Long Bao stopped in his tracks, paused for a moment before turning back, his eyes heavily gazing at the frail figure of Yun Li's father, and replied in a low tone: "You once did me a favor, this is my way of repaying it."

  Wen Li's father watched as Long Bao walked further and further away, then dragged his difficult steps back to the room, repeating Long Bao's words in his mouth, tears finally flowing out uncontrollably.

  Longgui returned home, and the news spread quickly. Before he even got back to the car parked on the side of the road, he was met with Jiangping Town Secretary and Mayor who came to show their friendliness. Longgui felt extremely disgusted by their fawning attitude and exchanged a few pleasantries before getting in the car and leaving.

  Unexpectedly, these leaders immediately followed in their cars, and the police cars from the local police station also set off.

  Police cars were driving on the rural road in a humorous way, occasionally sounding their sirens. Longbiao's vehicle was an armored brown Rolls-Royce, followed by Shi Wei's Mercedes-Benz 600, and behind them were the Santana vehicles driven by these town leaders.

  Long Bao did not realize that he already had a faint sense of satisfaction and vanity in his heart, which was observed by Jiao Si with keen eyes.

  Sitting in the back of the Mercedes-Benz, Shi Wei burst out laughing: "Look at these officials, with money they really are big shots!"

  Lei Dashan, who was driving, suddenly said: "Shi Wei, you're wrong. Those with power are the big shots, and sometimes those with money are turtles in front of officials."

  Long Bao got out of the car and saw Liu Laozhongyi and Liu Laonainai standing on the steps in front of the pharmacy, waiting for him. Long Bao didn't bother with the crowd of onlookers, but instead walked straight to the two elderly people, greeting them very respectfully. After entering the house, he respectfully presented a gift that had been prepared long ago - a genuine Changbai Mountain wild ginseng worth 200,000 yuan.

  The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger, with everyone wanting to catch a glimpse of the former child prodigy who used to sell paintings, herbs, and game, now a great rich man, Long Bao. The town mayor and party secretary of Jiangping Town, along with the township head and party secretary of Tianlei Township, all came out in an attempt to invite Long Bao to join them for lunch, but Shi Wei and Meng Yuan, who were blocking the entrance, had no choice but to let these "parent officials" in.

  Long Wan accepted the invitation of these township leaders to have an afternoon wine party, after sending away these township leaders, he simply had a light meal and left bodyguard Li Dashan to guard the sedan chair, then a group of people went together towards Xiongshan Dafeng Village.

  Liu Dexian shooed away the children following behind, watching the excitement. Shi Wei pointed at the scenery around and chuckled to Long Bao, saying: "Old Six, look at your Xiongshan, it's all yellow and withered everywhere. Where is the beautiful scenery I saw in my previous two visits? I thought Teacher Liu was joking about the hundred-year drought, but now it seems it's true. So this is what a drought looks like."

  Long Bao walked to the edge of an unharvested rice field, pulled down a string of rice ears and pinched one, they were all empty shells. He took another look at the rice plants, they were all withered and yellow. He walked down into the field, the ground was as hard as the road surface, the cracks in the soil could hold a palm! Looking up at the land on the hillside, under the autumn sun, it was all reflecting a withered light.

  The more he walked up the mountain, the heavier his mood became: Oh heavens, what's going on? How can there be such a severe drought? The plan to repair the reservoir must be carried out immediately!

  Qiu Ya's heart was extremely excited, she thought that she would soon see her lover Long Bao's ancestral home where he was born and raised, thinking that she would soon go to worship Long Bao's ancestors as the daughter-in-law of the Long family, she became tense and excited with a flushed face.

  Du Cui didn't have a pleasant mood, she felt that it was so far away and tiring to walk, unexpectedly Long Bao used to go to school like this every day, she really admired him!

  Jiao Siwei gazed longingly yet nervously at Long Bao's back, fantasizing about his expression when he discovered the lost artifact...

  Returning to familiar territory, the leopard was extremely excited. It didn't have any of the dull thoughts that humans do. All the way, it ran forward and backward, constantly sniffing the ground to see if its own urine smell still remained, and continuously leaving behind its glorious urine as a mark.

  Standing by the Zijiang River, Long Bao was somewhat dazed and stared blankly at this riverbank where he had left many childhood memories. Now the river has dried up, and perhaps the fish and shrimp are also dying out.

  Behind the body is Xiongshan, on the mountain is where those ancestors rest and sleep, I heard that the house has collapsed, what would a collapsed house look like? I heard that the grass on the ancestor's tomb is very deep, how deep would it be?

  Everyone didn't dare to make a sound, and Long Bao was left standing there in a daze. After a long while, he finally walked towards the mountains with a sorrowful expression, not saying a word.

  Longbiao arrived at Xiongshan to Dafeng Village, the first person he wanted to visit was Wu Lao Ye, who had transferred the best coffin in the village four years ago. He thought that Qi Ye Ye must be sleeping very comfortably and peacefully inside.

  The yard was packed with onlookers and welcomers, everyone excitedly pointing at Long Bo and the crowd that came with him. The yard was in an uproar. The gift that Long Bo brought to 93-year-old Old Man Wu was a gold-inlaid jade cane worth tens of thousands of yuan, plus 10,000 yuan in cash. Then he asked Shi Wei and village scribe Liu Jinfu to distribute red envelopes according to the list of registered villagers, making the scene even more boisterous!

  A nearly forty-year-old uncle shouted indignantly: "Little Dragon! You can't do this! Some losers are your enemies and don't even deserve red envelopes!"

  One stone sparks a thousand waves! Everyone suddenly realized that Longbiao could help them, and they immediately began to shout and plead with him.

  "Little Dragon, Second Uncle is right! Have you forgotten which bastards your ancestors were?"

  "Ah Bing, don't be silly, don't show off! Even if you're generous and give out red envelopes, you absolutely cannot give them to those despicable things!"

  "Come! Long Baoji, I'll tell you the truth about what's happened over the past four years! Just look at our village now, it's a mess! There's never been a village cadre like this under the sky!"

  Longbiao knew they were talking about Wu Xizhong, the village branch secretary who had once taken orders from Hu Zhenzhang and smashed his house, as well as some running dogs. But now he didn't want to remember anyone's hatred at all. He felt that he had long since faded away all the injustices and hatreds. This time he came back not for revenge, but for gratitude, of course, also to sweep the ancestral tomb and take back the family heirloom.

  Long Bao stood on the stairs, raised his hands to signal the excited villagers to calm down, and said in a deep and powerful voice: "Let bygones be bygones, I don't want to pursue it and think it's unnecessary. Our Long family has lived here for generations, everyone is my fellow countryman, I thank you all for taking care of me and the Long family over the years!"

  He bowed deeply to everyone, and then said, "I have learned that our Xiongshan, Tianlei Township, and Shancheng have suffered such severe drought losses. I offer this small red envelope to everyone, representing my heartfelt wishes. I hope fellow villagers can use this money to buy some food and production materials. Today, I want to tell you all that in order to alleviate the hardship of carrying water for fellow villagers from now on, I will build several water towers on the mountain, connecting the accumulated spring water to every household; To facilitate everyone's travel and transportation of goods, I will build a cement road from Xiongshan directly to the countryside; I also want to invite agricultural experts to help improve crop varieties and establish a company to purchase new varieties. Finally, I will do my best to build the Xiongshan Reservoir!"

  The villagers first didn't dare to believe their ears, then came to their senses and immediately applauded, saying: "Little Dragon, if you can do this, it will really solve our big problem!"

  "It's leading us to prosperity and a well-off life! Much better than that son of a bitch Wu Xizhong!"

  "Xiao Long, when are you going to start? Don't keep us waiting for too long! You can't just dream about it forever! Haha!"

  "You damned drunkard, what nonsense are you spouting! Scram and see how long the red envelope Little Dragon gave you can last!"

  "Little dragon, I'll go with you to Guangdong and help you work, how about that?"

  ……

  Jiao Siyu looked at Long Bao's face full of smiles and felt that her soul was touched by something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

  The villagers immediately started teasing Longbiao: "Little Dragon, do you have a girlfriend?"

  "Which one of these two girls is Xiaolong?"

  "Wow, such beautiful girls, any one of them is like a heavenly immortal, and I want every single one of them!"

  Long Bao was most afraid of getting entangled with them in such matters, so he hastily took his leave.

  Long Bao looked at his own ancestral house, which had already collapsed halfway, turned around and told everyone not to follow him. He then walked towards his ancestral house with Meng Shan, carrying a hoe and a large package between the two of them.

  The villagers didn't know what Longbiao was going to do, but in their hearts they had already regarded Longbiao as the savior of their happy life, so they naturally followed his instructions.

  Jiao Siyu watched Long Bao leave with a disappointed expression, regretting that he had missed a good show to vent his anger. However, in his heart, a faint sense of discomfort suddenly arose.

  At the foot of the mountain, Long Bao couldn't be seen digging earth, nor could the sound of digging be heard. Jiao Si felt as if several hours had passed before he finally heard Long Bao shouting loudly on the mountain. Village scribe Liu Jinfu immediately came up.

  His mind was suddenly suspended in mid-air.

  Jiao Siyu glanced at his watch and saw that it was already three o'clock in the afternoon, before Long Bao finally came down from upstairs with a gloomy face.

  People crowded around, asking what had happened?

  Long Bao forced a smile and said to everyone: "Nothing's wrong, nothing's happened."

  Liu Jinfu also looked at Long Bao with a timid and shrinking gaze as if responding to everyone.

  Jiao Siwei knew what was going on and also guessed that Long Bao's intention of keeping a low profile was for the sake of conducting secret investigations in the future.

  Longbiao didn't say another word, and under everyone's watchful eyes, he hastily lit a few incense sticks on his ancestors' graves, without even burning paper money or clearing the weeds from the grave. He then bid farewell to everyone and left.

  Jiao Siwei guessed that Long Bao must be too ashamed to face his ancestors.

  Long Bao refused to see off any villagers except Liu Jinfu and also refused the watermelon, peanuts and eggs that the villagers had prepared as a return gift. Jiao Siwei noticed that Long Bao, Meng Yuan and Liu Jinfu deliberately kept a distance from everyone else and talked in secret for a long time.

  What's even more unusual is that Long Bao took the initiative to find the Tianlei Township government, claiming that he would invest 200,000 yuan to renovate the Tianlei Township market, invest 200,000 yuan to rebuild the Tianlei Township primary school, invest 100,000 yuan to build a water tower in Dafeng Village, and invest 600,000 yuan to repair the cement road. He also told the township leaders that he would take Dafeng Village as a pilot site for introducing new agricultural varieties, etc., and announced that Meng Yuan was his fully authorized representative in Tianlei Township responsible for this matter. He would send relevant professionals later and requested the township leaders to support his plan and provide corresponding convenience.

  Longbiao then rushed to the county seat of Shancheng County, found the county magistrate and the director of the Education Bureau, and inquired about the truth of Principal Wang's corruption.

  The evidence is conclusive, and Principal Wang has indeed violated the law.

  The county magistrate and the director of the Education Bureau immediately told Long Bo that Principal Wang's matter was still under investigation, and the organization would handle it with caution to clear Principal Wang's name. At the same time, they expressed their hope that Long Bo could strongly support the construction and education undertakings in Shancheng.

  Long Wan nodded and said that he would donate ten computers to the Shan Cheng Education Bureau at an appropriate time, and donate 300,000 yuan to the No. 12 Middle School for building student dormitories and establishing a school library.

  Then Long Biao shook hands with these leaders and bid farewell. After returning to the Zijiang Hotel, he hid in his room, drinking wildly like a madman, and no one could persuade him. Later, whoever persuaded him would scold him, until he got drunk and fell to the ground.

  Eyes opened to a blurry scene, surrounded by a thick layer of dark grey matter. Long Bao felt his body floating lightly yet his head was heavy and dizzy. He wandered aimlessly in this dark grey space, pacing back and forth...

  Where is this place?

  There was no light, and there were no other people in this space. It was empty, not even a single item was placed here. This space was also eerie, subtly expanding and contracting, with an almost imperceptible breathing sound, as if something or some creature was struggling to survive.

  Suddenly, a gust, no, to be precise, it should be said that a thread of icy wind like a flying marble hit the body, stirring up the damp coldness in the space, and also shook the light and dizzy self into the empty space. Instantly, the chest and abdominal cavity were churning over, and the throat was surging with a feeling of vomiting.

  Floating in mid-air, with no sense of direction or support, unable to feel the pull of the earth or his own weight, Long Bao felt extremely uncomfortable. His arms flailed about helplessly as he shouted at the top of his lungs: "What's going on? What's going on?"

  At this moment, a cold object was tightly attached to his forehead. Long Bao shook his head, trying to shake off the object, but it seemed to have taken root and stuck tightly no matter how he shook his head. Long Bao then tried to use his bewildered and helpless hands to tear off the object, but he found that he couldn't control his hands at all. His hands had become like straw floating in a river, only able to move up and down with the rhythm of his swaying body.

  Splash!

  This is the sound of streams and waterfalls often heard on the top of Xiongshan Mountain during the spring and summer rainy season. The silver water mixed with yellow mud and stones rushes down, hitting the ground and making this sound. It's said that in the past, there were many big trees on Xiongshan Mountain, and at that time, the waterfalls were crystal clear, and the water was sweet and drinkable. Later, the big trees were cut down, leaving only grass and some sparse pine and cypress trees that have been replanted in recent years but haven't yet matured. The water has become like this and can no longer be drunk. Only the water that seeps out of the mountain springs can be drunk.

  I'm thirsty, but can I drink this kind of water?

  Can't drink, otherwise you will also get the kidney stone disease of the villagers, many villagers have got kidney stone disease, the villagers can't get this disease! It takes thousands of yuan to treat the disease, even if it is cured, it cannot be engaged in heavy physical labor again. If you can't work, there's no food to eat, and the villagers will go hungry. We must think of a way to help the villagers. I also can't drink this water and get sick, otherwise I won't be able to think of a way for the villagers.

  But I'm really thirsty now, I want to drink some water.

  Is this sound of water really the sound of Xiongshan's stream? All around is dark and gloomy, like a room. How could it be Xiongshan? Xiongshan is so big, in the past when I brought the leopard to hunt and circled around Xiongshan for a whole day. This place looks at most only a few dozen square meters, this must be a room, right? Maybe it's even a hotel room.

  Yes, the hotel room has a bathroom with a faucet, and the faucet has running water. When you turn it on, the sound of the water splashing into the sink is like this "gurgling" noise. It's okay to drink the tap water. Long Bao struggled to move his body in this cramped space, trying his best to open his eyes wide to search for the faucet.

  Suddenly, he felt a gentle warmth take away the cold object on his forehead and lightly slide over his face, passing over his eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and finally stopping at his cheek. However, he found that his open eyes couldn't clearly distinguish what this gentle warm object was!

  Before long, a hubbub of noise echoed through the space and the object left again. With its departure, Long Bu felt he could move about freely in this space like fish swimming in a river. He quickly followed the sound of water.

  Look, it's a faucet that's turning on water, right in front of me! Now I can drink water to my heart's content!

  He happily smiled and thought to blink his eyes. Blinking is a continuous action of two movements, the first must close the eyelids, then open them again. Long Bao smiled and closed his eyelids, then smiled and tried to open them again.

  Close your eyelids, and the world in your eyes is pitch black. The previous dark gray will disappear, and only by opening your eyelids can you see this dark gray space again.

  Can't open them anymore! Heaven, how can they not be opened?!

  My hands can move, my body can move, but I just can't control my eyelids to open and look at this dark grey space!

  Is it that the eyes are very tired and want to rest for a while? In these days, how many documents, data reports, personnel resumes, and faces have been seen, indeed enough to be tired. Let's let them rest for a while! Long Bao smiled and let his eyelids rest, and only after a good while did he try to open them again.

  It is said that Li Heng Building Materials is working with the UK's DG Group to develop a new adhesive substance, an important project for which 50 million yuan in research funding has been approved. If successful, it will bring huge benefits to both parties. Is this new substance already successfully researched and now being tested on his own eyes, causing his eyelids to stick together and making it impossible for him to open them? If not, why can't he separate the stuck-together eyelids even when using both hands to grab an eyelid each and exerting all his strength?

  The dark world is a world without any sense of security, it's a world that can't be faced calmly! Long Bao thought to himself.

  Darkness is terrifying because there is no light; and the instinct of living organisms is to seek light, that is, to need light, especially for humans. The origin of human civilization is precisely because humans extracted fire from the world in unnatural circumstances, and fire brought light to humans. If you can't open your eyes, you can't see the light, if you can't see the light, you can't see the world, if you can't see the world, it's a blind man, only the world of the blind is forever dark.

  When you fall asleep, you enter the world of dreams. In this dream world, there is light that belongs to the dream itself. However, in reality, you are not actually sleeping but rather awake. If you can't open your eyes, then aren't you just a blind person? A blind person!

  Long Bao suddenly felt a chill of fear spreading from the eyelids, quickly transmitting to every fine pore, the pores opened with a "hiss" sound, and the intense cold fear shot out like billions of spider silk threads, immediately wrapping his entire body!

  Splash! Splash!

  The water in the faucet was still flowing, and Longbiao tried his best to suppress the trembling of his skin, feeling his way closer to the faucet, trying to use water to wash his eyes, perhaps this would make his tired eyes open.

  The faucet was touched and caught in one's own hand, the dragon head searched for the water outlet, the sound of the water was so clear, soon there would be cool water to wash one's eyes.

  Good heavens! What's going on? There's a faucet but no water? There's the sound of water but no water? Where is the water? Where is it? Eyes? What about the eyes? Without water to rinse the eyes, what about the eyes? Can't see, can't see anything, what to do?

  The dragonfly's wings fluttered rapidly as it spun around the faucet handle, and with its hands repeatedly touching the spout, but suddenly the faucet disappeared! The hand was empty! I clearly had just grasped the faucet in my hand a moment ago, how could it have suddenly disappeared? The sound of water also vanished into thin air at this moment, the surroundings were silent and still, I clearly heard it so clearly, how did it disappear again?

  It's as if the sound of water from that faucet just now was all an illusion! A dark world is frightening, but a quiet world is also frightening!

  Long Bao's chest heaved with rapid, shallow breaths, trying to produce a gasping sound, but only now did he realize that he wasn't breathing at all - the icy air was automatically entering and exiting his body, beyond his control. He frantically tried to swing his arms and strike his chest, hoping to create some noise in this silent world, but the impact on his chest felt like hitting a ball of cotton, and suddenly his entire head and limbs turned into cotton balls, as if he had become just a ball of cotton.

  Long Wanfen frantically stretched her hand into the cotton ball, wanting to find something in the cotton, but even this search became a desperate and futile effort! Her hands were empty, with nothing to grasp, her body floating aimlessly in mid-air, unable to touch the ground, her eyes closed and unable to see anything, the space under her eyelids was black, the surroundings were absolutely silent, without a single sound, her ears had become mere decorations, her chest was hollow...

  No, I have nothing and am nothing, just a big empty cotton ball! Then even this space becomes a thoroughly desperate cotton ball!

  Ryner's fear has inflated to an extreme degree...

  All these years, he has gone through so much darkness, yet never felt that darkness is terrifying; he has heard so many voices, yet never realized that the absence of sound is a terror; he has possessed so many things, yet never thought that not possessing is a despair; he has been in touch with reality at all times, yet never thought that the empty void is utterly helpless!

  He suddenly exploded completely! Only his mouth, throat, and head were left floating in this cotton space.

  Isn't this exactly what you wanted?

  "Who says this is what I want?"

  "This throat pipe actually sent a stream of air through the mouth and made a soundless sound: 'What's wrong with you, coming to fight over this too?'"

  A sentence flashed into his mind: "Why did you say we have a problem? Am I one of them? I warn you to be careful with your words!"

  "Are you kidding me? You're the ones who are crazy!"

  Two sentences flashed into his mind, one questioning "Why do you say I'm a neurotic?", and the other ambiguous "Really? You tell me, what kind of neurotics are we?"

  "Two halves that were fine on their own, you insist on cutting them apart. You think your way, I think mine, and it's still like this - what is wrong with people these days?"

  "Head spinning with shock: 'We are obviously one, why did you say we were cut off? I think you're the one who's mentally ill!'"

  "Are you kidding me? I'm not a mental patient, I'm just your tool, like your hands, feet, neck, nose, eyes, ears, intestines, liver, lungs, kidneys and everything else. You're the ones who decide what to say and do, so stop shifting the target of attack! Look at yourselves, you've already split apart, what's the point of arguing?"

  At that moment, this head split into two halves, and soon an invisible force rapidly pushed the two halves apart. In the debris of the body and in a cotton ball, it rotated out at lightning speed. One half of the brain painfully flashed out a line of text: "Heavens, what's going on? Don't leave me, you must obey my control!"

  The other half of the brain proudly flashed out a sentence: "Joke! Leaving you, I live in reality! Without you, I have paradise!"

  One half of the brain desperately tried to get closer: "We were originally a whole, without me you will die!" The other half of the brain rolled over thousands of times: "I'm tired of your oppression! I tell you, stop acting like a boss in front of me! This time I also gained a vast world, everything became my stage where I can do whatever I want!"

  "This half brain is pitifully pleading: 'You have always been obedient to me, why do you want to go against your obedience to me?'"

  The other half bluntly accused: "Go die for me! I have never obeyed you! I have always been at war with you! In the past, your power was too strong and I had no way to deal with you, but now your power has almost disappeared, while I am getting stronger and stronger! Now I want you to obey me!"

  "You're doing this will bring poisonous consequences to everyone!"

  The other half was arrogant and domineering: "You don't understand anything! Look at what kind of ghostly things you've done? You've made everyone suffocate with bitterness, today we won, now get out of my sight and into your stinky ditch!"

  "You have to listen to me, listen to me..."

  "Hmph! Why should I listen to you? If it weren't for me, could you have escaped capture all these days? Could you have defeated your opponents? Could you have secured your position? With your simple and foolish appearance, do you think you'd have such good fortune?"

  "Don't forget that we all still have to face that curse, I'm doing this so that we can live with some meaning before the curse arrives..."

  The other half suddenly stretched out countless tentacles like a shape-shifting worm, grabbing the head of this half and tearing it apart with all its might, while scolding: "Fool! It's because of this curse that we have to do this! We can only live for ten or so years, if we don't hurry up and spend some good days, then it's all over! This life is all over!"

  "We've all lost that heart, let's not be divided anymore, okay?"

  The other half was thrown into the void of cotton balls with a flick of his tentacles, and then he wrote ominous words on top of the cotton balls: "You want to isolate, isolation will entangle you, you want to hide, hiding will grasp you even tighter! Curse is an enigma, don't mention curse to me again, now that the thousand-year record of this enigma is gone, you're not even qualified to talk to me!"

  "Under the curse, all are equal! Under the curse, all are equal! Without the curse, the boss is in charge! Without the curse, the boss is in charge!"

  The other half of the brain slapped this half with its countless tentacles, also slapping the throat, mouth and debris of the torso: "What is 'connected heart' you don't even know, yet you boast that you have no heart at all, what a fool! From today on, let me take charge of everything! I guarantee everyone will be relaxed and satisfied, and I'll help you fulfill your wishes, so you won't be muttering to yourself day and night."

  One half of the brain wants to avoid the slap of the hand, the other half of the brain turns to firmly grasp it with its tentacles, writing extremely strange words: "Reality has become an illusion, illusions are reality, everything is nonsense, nonsense is everything, the contradiction of reality is a fart, the curse of illusions is a fart, until everyone dies, death is also a fart!"

  As soon as the text came out, the cotton ball suddenly disappeared, and Long Bao's eyes also opened. He clearly saw that all the floating body fragments in space gathered together in a strange shape, slowly attaching themselves to those two half-heads, gradually transforming into their own shape. The two half-heads also lost their repulsive force, merged together, but still flashed with black and white light in the merging process. This black and white light was spinning, and this spin became faster and faster, spreading rapidly from a tiny vortex. All the material that made up the two half-heads participated in the rotation of this vortex, rotating into a chaotic and blurred mess.

  This chaotic mind thought: Is this really one's own brain?

  No, no, don't, this isn't, it's nothing!

  ……

  Long Bao's four limbs were violently shaking, and he suddenly woke up, opened his eyes, and saw that the people who came with him were standing beside him, as well as several strangers wearing white coats.

  He looked around and saw the medicine bottles hanging from the top. Ah, white coats are worn by doctors, so he was in a hospital.

  As soon as Long Biao woke up, everyone let out a sigh of relief. Qiu Ya grabbed Long Biao's arm and said with tears in her eyes: "Biao, Biao, you're awake! You scared us to death, you kept talking nonsense that no one could understand, you scared us to death!"

  Shi Wei also let out a sigh of relief and said, "Old Six, you're really something! Others get drunk for half a day or one day, but you've been drunk for 48 hours!"

  Long Wan didn't respond to them, instead he mobilized all his nerve endings to feel his body, and found nothing uncomfortable. He tried breathing a few times, and his breath was smooth. He clenched his fists, and they were full of strength.

  He finally smiled and said to them: "Well, I've finally had a good sleep."

  After finishing the infusion, Long Biao smiled and shook hands with his fellow villagers who had come to visit him, as well as several leaders from the mountain city, promising to send personnel and allocate funds to complete those projects as soon as possible. He then ignored everyone's request for him to continue resting in the hospital and led his team back to Guangdong.

  Meng Yuan and Long Bao, along with two other professionals they had hired, arrived in Shancheng again two days later. Four days later, all of Wen Li's movements were locked down by Li Da Shan. Three days after that, Long Bao arrived at Wen Li's rental place in Luohu District, Shenzhen City, under the escort of Kang Ding Zhuang.

  Li Da Shan had no evidence to prove that Wen Li was the thief from her whereabouts and the tapped phone calls, but Long Bao suspected that only Wen Li and Liu De Xian could be the suspects. Meng Yuan had already conducted three lie detector tests on Liu De Xian, who had not received any professional spy training, and basically ruled out his suspicion. Now the target can only be locked on to investigate the villagers of Da Feng Village and track down Wen Li.

  Long Bao called Wen Li to meet in the car, and after chatting with Wen Li for a couple of sentences, he smiled and said: "Wen Li, I'd like to invite you to work at our company, what do you think?"

  "Thank you, Longbiao," Yunli replied with a shake of her head, "I'm still doing okay at my job here and I don't plan on switching jobs for now."

  Long Bao stared tightly at Yun Li's eyes and continued: "This time I went back to Xiongshan, do you know?" Yun Li's eyes suddenly dimmed, and after a while, she said: "Thank you, Long Bao. My parents told me, I will return the money to you later."

  Since the suspect is unwilling to come to the group, we can only disrupt the suspect's formation and force her to reveal herself. Long Bao still smiled and said: "Wen Li, do you still remember that thing passed down from my family that we buried together in the vegetable field?"

  Wen Li had no idea that Long Bao was visiting and what he meant by asking this question, so she replied vaguely: "I remember, what's up?"

  Long Bao took out a card and placed it beside Wen Li, speaking in a very calm tone: "Wen Li, we've grown up together since childhood. If you have any difficulties, I'll definitely help you with all my might. I've already found the best surgeon for your father, and in a few days, you can bring him to Guangdong for surgery. This card has 300,000 yuan on it, which is also for you."

  Wen Li pushed Tuo and said: "Long Bao, I don't want it, I don't want your money! The money you lend to my family, I will definitely pay you back."

  Long Bao's expression didn't change as he said, "Your family is having a hard time, this money is for you, no need to return it. I only have one request, I hope you can tell me where this thing is, it's very important to me, Old Man Qi entrusted it to me and told me not to lose it."

  Wen Li suddenly heard that she didn't understand Long Bao's meaning immediately, and it wasn't until a while later that she realized, asking somewhat nervously: "What, has that thing disappeared?"

  Long Bao stared at her tightly without answering. Yun Li's face turned pale: "Is it gone?"

  Long Bao continued to smile and replied, "Wen Li, don't think too much, I just want to ask you about the situation. I believe you won't take this thing, I'm afraid that if you accidentally mention it to others, they will take it away."

  She opened the car door and ran out.

  Long Bao stared at her receding back, his swirling mind speculating: this woman who loves vanity and is as changeable as a willow in the wind had been in Shenzhen for only four months and already had two colleagues, two Hong Kong men, and one Shanghai man pursuing her. Her monthly salary was 2,700 yuan, rent was 600 yuan, and on average she sent 1,000 yuan back home each month. Roughly estimating her expenses for cosmetics, clothing, and living expenses, it added up to over 3,000 yuan per month. The shortfall of 2,000 yuan must have been made up by those men. Wasn't this suspicious?

  When did things disappear after all? This question can no longer be investigated, but the most likely possibility now is still only on her body.