Chapter 29#

Chapter 29 Inspection Team

Nothing was found out about Shi Shan in the end. The thin page of paper was full of official jargon. The most crucial thing was that they didn’t even know where the person was now.

After Wei Xiangjin came back, he stayed at home for one night and hurried back to the army the next day.

Three months after returning, two major events happened one after another. Gu Chenzhou didn’t care about the mastermind behind the scenes at this time—since the other party could start planning five years ago, it showed their patience and dormancy. It was useless for him to be anxious. It was better to sit at the table and wait for the other party to play cards, and see what other cards the other party had in hand.

After sending Wei Xiangjin away, Gu Chenzhou didn’t stay idle. He carefully extracted clues from the recorded fragmented events of the dream, picked out a place called Qingxiang County, joined the government inspection team going there for inspection, and left the capital without notifying anyone except his family.

Qingxiang County is located in the Huainan area, surrounded by mountains, with an area of about two thousand square kilometers and a population of hundreds of thousands.

When the inspection team arrived at Qingxiang County, it was already dusk the next day.

Gu Chenzhou and a group of young staff helped move various inspection equipment from the bus into the county guesthouse. Just after putting the things away, someone came over and handed a cigarette:

“Xiao Gu looks young, just graduated?”

“Graduated for a year, Engineer Dong.” Gu Chenzhou said, taking the cigarette from the other party’s hand, but didn’t smoke.

Engineer Dong, who handed the cigarette, was one of the persons in charge of the Qingxiang County Water Conservancy Project Inspection Team. The day before yesterday, he was about to lead the team away, but someone was temporarily stuffed in, saying to follow along to gain knowledge. He muttered in his heart at that time. His job was hard and had no profit. Which official was doing so badly that he had to stuff a fresh graduate here to gain work experience? When the person arrived, he took a look and saw a gentle young man, which confirmed his guess by eighty percent. Thinking that since he came, just treat him as an extra piece of movable equipment. Unexpectedly, after two days, this young man was very low-key, spoke little, didn’t shirk when it was time to work, and was more careful than ordinary staff when moving equipment. Only then did he have the idea to come over and probe.

“Did Xiao Gu study water conservancy in school?” Engineer Dong laughed, “This line of work is not easy. Exposed to wind and sun, climbing up and down is tiring enough. Many survey places can’t be reached by car. At that time, relying on a pair of feet and hands, it’s hard to climb and carry. It’s not surprising if any accident happens…”

“Studied water conservancy.” Gu Chenzhou smiled, “Just happen to have some interest.”

Engineer Dong gave an “Oh”: “Your father is quite assured—specially arranged for you to come here? Actually, there are several engineering teams in the same period, and this place is considered the most difficult to walk…” Speaking of this, there was a bit of injustice between his eyebrows.

Gu Chenzhou said: “My father used to stay here, and I also want to come and have a look.”

Engineer Dong frowned: Was an official in this small place of Qingxiang County? Then he was mostly a marginal figure. No wonder he arranged his son into this team. Thinking of this, he put down his worries, and the smile on his face faded a bit: “So that’s it. Very good, very good. Father and son visiting the same place, haha.”

How could Gu Chenzhou not understand the other party’s expression? He smiled slightly: “Engineer Dong, someone seemed to call you outside just now. Do you want to go and have a look?”

“I didn’t hear it, but you’re right. It’s safer to go and have a look,” Engineer Dong said, “The equipment here is not cheap. Xiao Gu, keep an eye on it.”

“Okay, Engineer Dong.” Gu Chenzhou nodded in agreement.

Engineer Dong then turned and left. As soon as he left, the staff member who walked away before came back: “What did he say to you just now? This person is the most direct.”

“Didn’t say anything, just asked about some small things.” Gu Chenzhou said casually. Together with another staff member, they guarded for about an hour or so before people who finished dinner came to replace them.

That night, the names of the personnel on duty to guard the equipment became Gu Chenzhou and the staff member who spoke to him before.

The two just happened to come back together. The staff member named Li Youcai heard his name and spat softly on the spot.

This was a bit too impatient. Most likely he didn’t even check if there was a leader named Gu in Qingxiang County. Gu Chenzhou thought so in his heart and didn’t think much of it. Returning to the room where the equipment was piled up, he made himself a pot of tea.

About an hour later, Li Youcai walked into the room with a bad look. He didn’t pay attention and tripped over the equipment placed in the middle of the road. He kicked the iron sheet equipment angrily, making a loud thud. Even so, he was not relieved, and his face was so ugly that he seemed to want to kick twice more.

Sitting on a chair flipping through an economics book, Gu Chenzhou spoke up: “Drink a cup of tea?”

Seemingly just realized that he was not the only one in the room, Li Youcai squeezed out a smile: “Thanks.”

Gu Chenzhou stood up and poured a cup of freshly brewed tea for Li Youcai.

Li Youcai took the cup, took a sip absent-mindedly, and was stunned: “This tea is quite clear! Seems not from the guesthouse?”

“Brought from home.” Gu Chenzhou had sat back in his original position and continued to flip through the book.

Li Youcai gave an “Oh”, looked at the tea and then at Gu Chenzhou, his expression moved slightly: “Xiao Gu, it’s only nine o’clock, still early before rest. How about we play a game?” As he spoke, he took out a deck of poker from his pocket.

Gu Chenzhou pressed his forehead, put down the book, thinking no wonder the other party was so angry when he came in, he must have lost red-eyed.

“Play what?” Gu Chenzhou asked. There was no need to be unhappy for a few days, anyway, it was only a little time.

“Just poker.” Li Youcai became visibly happy, “How about playing for five yuan?”

Eldest Young Master Gu, who always played perfectly, followed the local customs: “Okay, but I don’t know how to play poker very well.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Li Youcai was even happier, patting his chest and saying, “I’ll teach you!”

Gu Chenzhou was noncommittal, letting the other party shuffle and deal the cards.

“Three of Hearts!”

“Pair!”

“Three with two!”

“Five of Diamonds!”

After dozens of rounds, Gu Chenzhou drew cards entirely by luck, and actually won eight or nine out of ten. He glanced at Li Youcai whose face became uglier and uglier as time went by. After winning another round, he threw away the cards in his hand: “That’s about it, let’s stop here.”

Li Youcai said unhappily: “What time is it, how is it about it?”

“True, it’s still early,” Gu Chenzhou laughed, “But I’m really a bit tired. How about we forget about these?”

Li Youcai was surprised: “This won’t do. Willing to bet, willing to admit defeat. How can it be like this!” As he spoke, he stood up to take out his wallet to get money.

Gu Chenzhou quickly stopped him: “I stopped playing first, spoiling Brother Li’s interest. Brother Li can’t take out money to embarrass me anymore!”

Li Youcai stopped embarrassedly: “Hey, how can this be justified…”

“How can it not be justified? It was just for fun,” Gu Chenzhou laughed, and then changed the subject, “I’ll go add some water. The water in the kettle has boiled dry.”

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it. Brother sit, sit.” Li Youcai quickly picked up the kettle and went to the bathroom to get water. Soon he filled a kettle of water and put it on the base to heat. Then he saw the poker cards scattered on a piece of equipment, felt a bit embarrassed, quickly packed them up and said, “Brother, then I’ll rest first.”

Gu Chenzhou, standing by the window looking down, nodded, ignoring the car driving in the dark below. He turned off the main light in the room, turned on the small bedside lamp, went into the bathroom to wash up, took off his coat, leaned on the bed and continued reading.

At dawn the next day, the inspection team packed up and left the guesthouse, found a local driver, and drove towards the destination of this inspection, Qingxiang Mountain.

Qingxiang Mountain is north of Qingxiang County, separated by a Qingquan Village with only dozens of households. The road connecting the county, village and mountain was very difficult to walk, narrow and potholed. Plus it rained heavily last night, making it even more muddy and difficult to travel.

Gu Chenzhou and Li Youcai sat at the back of the car. The occasional bumps made everyone in the car feel like riding a roller coaster. Fortunately, the people in this inspection team were all young and strong men, and few people got carsick. Some who looked bad solved the problem by taking a pill.

This journey of dozens of kilometers took fully four hours. When the car drove slowly onto a relatively flat loess road at a speed of ten miles per hour, and saw the faint brick houses in the distance, more than half of the people in the car felt that their bones were falling apart.

At this time, no one cared about the pile of equipment at the back of the car. The person in charge of the inspection team took the driver to negotiate with the village head, asking the other party to arrange some food and accommodation. The rest of the accompanying personnel walked around, and some who brought snacks ate a little to pad their stomachs.

Qingquan Village was not big. It took only fifteen minutes to walk around from beginning to end. While walking, Gu Chenzhou saw several motorcycles, two oxen, and a sedan parked at the end of the village, with the body below the window completely covered by yellow mud.

Just as he looked at this car a few more times, Li Youcai came from the other end, his hands stained with wet mud, frowning, looking not very good: “Xiao Gu, have you noticed that the houses in this village are relatively in the middle?”

In the water conservancy project inspection team, basically everyone had some geographical knowledge. Gu Chenzhou said: “Afraid of landslides on both sides.”

“That’s right,” Li Youcai nodded, patting the mud on his hands, “The soil layer here is loose, and there is no vegetation fixation, only some nets…” He pointed to the nets on the slopes on both sides, a bit speechless, “This is really useless. Look at the stones and mud on the ground. Yesterday’s rain made the mountain shake.”

Gu Chenzhou walked to the bottom of the slopes on both sides, looked for a long time and shook his head: “The weather is good these two days, there should be nothing… I’ll mention it to the village head later.”

Mention it to the village head? Li Youcai was stunned, thinking you take yourself too seriously, and what I want to say is not this at all: “This village has been built here for decades, would the villagers not know? I’m not talking about them…” He paused, smiling bitterly, “It’s us! We have to go up the mountain for inspection in these two days!”

Hearing this sentence, Gu Chenzhou glanced at Li Youcai, didn’t say anything, and just walked towards the team leader standing in the center of the village, waving his arm vigorously to greet everyone.

“These eyes are really sharp.” After Gu Chenzhou left, Li Youcai muttered quietly, threw away the apprehension in his heart, touched his nose and followed.

The one shouting in the center of the village was still Engineer Dong who looked for Gu Chenzhou yesterday. Seeing that everyone around had gathered, Engineer Dong spoke up: “Today we will stay here for a night. In the afternoon, we will explore the terrain first, and officially go up the mountain tomorrow. As for today’s lunch and dinner, my opinion is to make do and eat here. If you have any plans, feel free to say them, let’s discuss together…”

What plans could there be in a place in the middle of nowhere? Everyone agreed in twos and threes, and ate a lunch with chicken and duck, but a bit greasy for city people, on the ground in front of the village head’s house.

After lunch, it was close to two o’clock in the afternoon. The bumps all morning made several older team leaders unable to bear it, and they found villagers to adjust houses for naps one after another.

Gu Chenzhou walked around for a while. After the people in the inspection team separated in twos and threes, he turned back to find the driver who sent them to Qingquan Village.

“Master, have a cigarette.” The driver was an old acquaintance with the village head here, squatting on the ridge chatting together. Gu Chenzhou leaned forward and handed a cigarette with a smile, greeting the village head in dialect by the way—he had never been here, nor had he heard or spoken the local accent here, but during a meal, remembering simple words that appeared many times was no problem for anyone.

“Kid, what’s the matter?” The driver didn’t refuse Gu Chenzhou’s cigarette, and even took one for the village head next to him, asking in Mandarin with a heavy accent.

It was the first time Gu Chenzhou was called a kid. He pulled his pants and squatted down like the driver and the village head: “Master is a local, right?”

“Otherwise an outsider?” The driver laughed.

Gu Chenzhou said: “I see Master went out from Qingquan Village.”

“Oh, kid has sharp eyes!” The driver was a bit surprised, “He is my clan uncle.” He said this sentence in dialect once, and then in Mandarin once.

The old village head only understood dialect, and smiled sideways at Gu Chenzhou.

Gu Chenzhou said: “I see the old village head is also from here. Appointed directly by the higher-ups, right?”

“Can’t do otherwise. Say, in such a remote place, which official would come?” The driver paused, “Even if they come, they can’t manage. There are only dozens of households in total. Look, the ancestral hall is still kept here.”

“Still in use?” Gu Chenzhou looked in the direction the driver pointed: diagonally in front of the ridge, adjacent to the village head’s house, was a very old building with columns standing at the four corners, and black arc tiles on the roof next to each other.

“More useful than the law.” The driver said and felt a bit wrong, quickly adding, “But the rules of the ancestral hall here have long been similar to the law. It’s a society ruled by law now!”

Gu Chenzhou’s focus was not here: “That ancestral hall is built under the slope. If it rains, will mud and sand slide down and press on the roof?”

“Why not? Often pressed. Sometimes children accidentally get close and may be hit by rolling stones.” The driver said.

“Has the village head mentioned it to the county?” Gu Chenzhou frowned, “This should be considered a high-risk range.”

“The county says no money, we can’t help it, right?” After a few sentences, the driver opened up, “Actually, don’t blame the county. Qingquan Village and Qingxiang County are both extremely poor. Sigh, the road is hard to walk, remote, poor mountains and bad waters… What are you here to inspect this time? Is it to develop some tourism project?” He looked at Gu Chenzhou expectantly.

Gu Chenzhou shook his head: “Not a tourism project, but to survey land and water sources,” he saw the driver’s disappointed face and added, “Whether it is development or survey, the slope problem must be solved.”

“That’s good too, that’s good too!” The driver became happy again.

The conversation came to an end here. Gu Chenzhou stood up, walked around the village for a while, and came to the white Porsche parked in front of the jujube tree, almost covered with mud. He scraped the mud on the license plate with his thick boot sole.

Beijing A00875.

Gu Chenzhou’s eyes flashed slightly.

“Time is up, everyone get ready, start going up the mountain!”

The sudden shout of the person in charge broke the tranquility of the village.

Gu Chenzhou withdrew his gaze, walked back to the middle of the village like people coming out from other corners, and walked up the mountain under the leadership of the driver.

The forests in the Huainan area probably all look similar.

Gu Chenzhou carried a large backpack and was originally walking at the end of the team. But with the half-meter or one-meter high dirt platforms and the muddy loess mountain road with a 45-degree inclination angle, he gradually walked to the side of the leading driver.

The driver held a stick to explore the way in front, while introducing the surrounding terrain: “From here to the north is a dead end, can’t go through. Forward leads to a stream. The stream flows down from the top of the mountain. The spring on the top of the mountain is called Qingquan, and the stream below is called Qingquan Stream… Going up from here is the way up the mountain. We have walked halfway now, but if you want to go to the top of the mountain, the road ahead will be even harder to walk…”

“Even harder to walk?” This was definitely not repeated by one person. The wave of disappointment almost drowned the leading driver.

The driver’s voice lowered by an octave: “It is not easy to walk, otherwise with this landscape, how could we not do a tourism project?”

“I wouldn’t want this kind of tourism even if you paid me.” A quick-mouthed inspection team member said.

The driver wasn’t angry, just sighed and continued forward.

Everyone helped each other up for a distance and came to a platform on the mountainside. The cool breeze blocked by trees blew away the heat of climbing. The open view and the white clouds that seemed to be swimming in front of eyes made the most tired inspection team members smile.

“Everyone take a rest.” Engineer Dong spoke at the right time.

Everyone exhaled. Several people who walked to the edge of the platform to look suddenly gave a cry of surprise, pointing to a thatched cottage at the bottom of the mountain and said: “Someone lives here?”

The person next to him said: “How is it possible? This is not acting in a TV series. The village is right at the bottom of the mountain. Would anyone specially run into the mountain to build a house?”

The leading driver was from the village. Hearing the conversation of several people, he laughed without walking to the cliff to look: “Someone lived there more than ten years ago, but the resident there hanged herself after living for a few years.”

These words…

The people in the inspection team looked at each other. Someone sensible handed a cigarette to the driver: “Master, tell us about it?”

There was nothing that couldn’t be said. The driver thought for a while: “Probably about twenty years ago. I was still staying here at that time. Except for the nearby small villages, we couldn’t see a strange face for months. So that night, when the resident below—a big-bellied woman—came, the whole village was alarmed.”

“Big-bellied woman?” This noun phrase modified by an adjective hooked three-quarters of the surrounding attention.

“Six or seven months pregnant. It was raining that day, and she was soaked all over, looking so pitiful…” Obviously, this woman left a deep impression on the driver, and he could still remember some details clearly until now. “And then?” Someone asked.

“What then?” The driver said, “She couldn’t go anywhere with this big belly, and refused to live with the people in the village. We had no choice but to set up a house for her in that place and help her from time to time. But she didn’t like seeing people and almost never went to the village. Everyone slowly stopped going to her place.”

“Alright, alright,” Engineer Dong interrupted the driver’s story, “Everyone has rested enough. Let’s climb up a bit more and then go down the mountain!”

Everyone stood up one after another and followed the driver to continue up the mountain. Gu Chenzhou fell behind, looked down for a long time, and then caught up with the team under Li Youcai’s greeting.

It got dark early in the forest. After walking for a while, the leading driver saw that the sky was not good and immediately greeted everyone to go down the mountain: “We don’t climb mountains on rainy days here. It’s easy to be dangerous. You should also pay attention. If the weather is bad, ignore everything else and go down the mountain immediately.”

After half an afternoon of mountain roads, everyone had an idea of some basic situations.

Li Youcai leaned close to Gu Chenzhou and muttered: “Where do you think this mountain has value for inspection? With this geology,” he stomped his foot hard, “How is it possible to use machinery for construction? It’s more reliable to do some small projects in the village down the mountain to solve irrigation water or something.”

Gu Chenzhou was a bit absent-minded. The car down the mountain and the story in the driver’s mouth up the mountain connected together was a secret carefully kept by the He family.

He didn’t expect to know this secret. He specially circled this place and ran over not because of He Hailou… But here, he found a past of He Hailou.

Is it a coincidence?

—Or was this part of the events in Qingxiang County in his dream started by He Hailou?

Returning from the mountainside to the foot of the mountain, the mountains just covered the last ray of slanting sunlight in the sky.

Shortly after everyone had dinner, it began to drizzle. Now the few inspection team members who were walking outside had to return to the house and sit idly. In the countryside, without internet or TV, the poker cards Li Youcai carried with him were greatly welcomed. Everyone sat around playing cards and chatting, not bored for a while.

Gu Chenzhou didn’t join in. He sat in the corner, finished reading the last page of the economics book from yesterday, put it into his backpack, took out an umbrella, stood up and walked out.

When he walked to the door, someone asked him what he was going to do. He responded casually, opened the umbrella, and walked into the deep black rain and fog.

The loess moistened by rain was muddy and sticky. Except for a little light from the scattered small buildings on both sides that could illuminate a vague outline of the houses, the road ahead and the entire village were shrouded in darkness.

Gu Chenzhou walked forward with a flashlight. When he came here in the morning, he had already looked around. He Hailou’s mother’s cottage was not far from the village, just passing a small path. That small path was not easy to walk, and there was a fork that was the way up the mountain…

Gu Chenzhou suddenly stopped, raised his wrist, and shone the flashlight that was shining on the ground forward.

The figure in the darkness laughed: “What a fate, Young Master Gu.”

Gu Chenzhou also laughed, simply hooking the corner of his lips. He said: “Seeing Young Master He’s car last night, I was wondering when I could see Young Master He.”

“Is Young Master Gu surprised to see me?” He Hailou asked, and without waiting for Gu Chenzhou to answer, said coldly, “I am very surprised—to actually meet Young Master Gu here!”