After midnight

"You old man, what do you want to do?" Liujiu rushed forward but was grabbed by Saner.

This Liujiu didn't deny it at all. Saner walked forward helplessly. "So what if we are, don't talk about you, the whole Nanzhuang can't do anything to us."

San'er said this quite calmly. He was not afraid of them and they couldn't cause him any trouble.

"I know, I know. But fifteen years have passed, and I have to figure out an ending for myself." Uncle Wang finally revealed his melancholy. He looked at the lake, the high mountains in the distance, and the warm sun climbing above his head. He looked for a while, stroked his mottled white hair and said, "You guys go, I don't know where the other families have moved to, or you can continue to go south."

"If you wanted us to leave, you wouldn't have told us so much. You want to know if I'm that woman's son, right?" After saying this, Liujiu looked at Saner, who kept staring at the old man.

"Then you want to know?"

"It doesn't matter."

Uncle Wang nodded, then lowered his head and brushed off the dust on his body.

"I'm going home to do the laundry. Come back for lunch."

"Do we really want to stay? That woman is crazy." After Uncle Wang walked a little further away, Liujiu asked Saner.

"Whether she is crazy or not, it doesn't matter to me. I just want to know one thing, that is whether she is the person I am looking for. No matter who this person is, it will not hinder my future, nor will it change anything." San Er knew that no matter who it was, it would not change his ending.

After hearing this, Liujiu patted Saner on the back, then walked past him and walked forward.

"The food that Auntie Wang cooks is delicious. I don't mind staying for two more days."

After Liujiu left, Saner stood alone by the lake quietly for a while and then went back.

After returning home and having lunch, Uncle Wang brought San Er to a clinic in Nanzhuang. Standing at the door of the clinic, Uncle Wang asked again, "Have you really thought it through?"

"I've thought about it." San'er said, and walked in.

Fifteen minutes later, San Er sat on the cold blue chair in the clinic. He pressed the cotton ball hard, and the cotton ball squeezed his elbow. He was really crazy, San Er thought sarcastically. Even if there was no information about the missing children fifteen years ago, what was he doing now? Could his blood still be normal human blood?

"Let's go, come back in a week to get the results."

San'er threw the blood-stained cotton ball away and walked out.

Seven days was a really long time to wait for him.

On Saturday, the second day after arriving home, An Yan began to clean up the house. In the evening, after Su Ziling came home, he called him, "Didn't you say last night that you wanted to go somewhere with me? Let's go today."

"No, no." Xiao Su had sharp ears and she heard it and asked hurriedly.

"secret."

When Xiao Su heard this, she pouted and glared at An Yan, very dissatisfied.

"Okay, little girl, stop acting like a spoiled brat. That's not a place for children to go." An Yan patted Xiao Su's head to comfort her. "Stay home with your sister Qiqi, and wait for your father to come back in the evening and bring you something delicious."

"Okay." Xiao Su gave in.

"Then let's go, An Yan." Su Ziling finished washing the dishes and put on his gray-black cotton jacket to wear outside.

"it is good."

The two of them walked out onto the street where it was getting dark. As they walked, Su Ziling asked An Yan, "Are we going to the Black and White Bar?"

"Yes, go find Xu Xing and ask him for a favor."

"What's the deal?"

"Looking for May Fourth."

"Ask him for help?"

"Don't underestimate him, Zi Ling. The fact that he was the only one who could find me in the new world proved that he is not an ordinary person. He has his own unique way of doing things."

"You have a point."

The two talked and walked, intending to treat this as a walk after dinner, so they walked all the way without sitting in the window. When they arrived at Xishui International, the Black and White Bar was about to start the busiest time of the day. Standing outside the door 50 meters away from the Black and White Bar, An Yan walked in unwaveringly along a fork.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to the bar?"

"I'll go later. Before I go, I'll make an appointment with Xu Xing at another place."

"That's right, the bar is too noisy." Su Ziling said, and saw An Yan stopped in front of the last store on this road. The store was not big, with two dark wooden doors closed. Just above the wooden doors hung a billboard with the words "Low Room" written on it.

An Yan pushed the door, but it stopped halfway. An Yan squeezed in sideways, his movements were particularly skillful. After An Yan walked in, Su Ziling also followed him in, holding the door. It turned out that there were two solid wooden tables on each side of the door, and the brown-yellow tabletops were piled with unpacked books, which were piled high and low, without any order or rules.

An Yan walked in front of Su Ziling, passing through a narrow corridor about five meters long. This corridor was barely wide enough for one person to pass through, and after passing through the corridor was a large empty area. There were several long chairs in the middle, and behind these chairs, there were two more steps, and there were soft sofas and reclining chairs.

All the walls around were lined with bookshelves, on which stood all kinds of books. Su Ziling's eyes swept across the row of bookshelves closest to him, which mostly contained literature and novels.

"It's so quiet." Su Ziling said.

Once you enter here, all the noise and distractions typical of shopping malls are gone.

"Where's Xu Xing? Why is there no one here?" Su Ziling lowered his voice unconsciously.

"This way."

An Yan said as he pushed open a bookshelf on the left wall. The bookshelf made a series of noises. After pushing open the bookshelf, Xu Xing was sitting elegantly on the red sofa, brewing jasmine tea.

"An Yan, you finally came to see me," he said.

"You seemed to have expected us to come looking for you."

"No, I can't predict when you will come to see me. I just thought you might need my help, so I have been waiting for you. You are lucky today, I happen to be here."

"Thank you." An Yan said sincerely.

"Please sit down. What do you want me to do?" After An Yan and Su Ziling sat down side by side, Xu Xing took out two sets of water cups and poured refreshing floral tea for them.

"Help me find someone."

"Who?"

"May 4th."

"This person is not easy to find." Xu Xing's faint sigh reached Su Ziling's ears.

"So, I'm here to ask you for help." An Yan smiled.

"I really can't do anything about you, so what benefit can I get?" Xu Xing lay back lazily.

"No."

"How dare you say that."

"Okay, what do you want to do with him?"

“No plans yet.”

"Just need to know where he is?"

"Ah."

"Okay, I'll help you."

"Thanks……"

"He's right here." Xu Xing said quickly and confidently.

Before An Yan could finish thanking him, he was so shocked that he was speechless. Su Ziling's reaction was a little exaggerated. He jumped up and gestured, "Here? Where? There are books here."

"I didn't say that Wu Si was in this room. Su Ziling, please sit down first." After Xu Xing finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at An Yan. He couldn't hide his smile. "An Yan, this is the first time I see you with such a vivid expression."

"Stop being so nagging, what's going on?"

"Actually, this is really beyond my expectation." Xu Xing was silent for a while and clasped his hands.

"It's a long story. He came to me on his own initiative... Anyway, he's working in my bar now."

"You came to me on your own initiative?"

"Bar?" Su Ziling and An Yan asked in unison.

Xu Xing took a sip of tea and pondered for a while before continuing, "He came here to look for a job. It was Bai Ming who interviewed him, and it was Bai Ming who kept him. I didn't know about it at first, but later Bai Ming told me again and again that he was very strange, so I started to investigate him. Oh, by the way, he calls himself Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu works at night and sleeps during the day. He is very down-to-earth and a very good employee."

"Does anyone else here know that he is here?"

"No, I didn't tell the Revolutionary Army. I didn't even tell Bai Ming that it was May Fourth."

"I understand, thank you." An Yan picked up the tea and drank it all.

"Want to check it out?"

"No need, Ziling, it looks like we can't go to the bar." An Yan said to Su Ziling.

"Yes." Su Ziling said with a smile, and An Yan also laughed.

"Okay, stop laughing. I'm scared. I have to say, An Yan, you are really lucky sometimes."

"Xu Xing, this kind of thing can't be obtained by envy."

"Yes, yes, the two 'Sons of God' and 'Guardians', if you have nothing else to do, please leave quickly." Xu Xing was indignant and started to chase them away.

"Xu Xing, seriously, I'm going to rely on you for the period of May Fourth."

"Don't worry, no problem." Xu Xing saluted coolly.

"This is a humble room, but my virtue is fragrant. Xu Xing is really interesting. Does he also open this store?" Su Ziling asked after walking out of the bookstore.

"Yes, he has a lot of ideas and brains. If he was born in the New World, he would probably be more comfortable in it."

"You mean to say that he is a top student and then after graduation he will cross the technology and business worlds?"

"You can understand it that way." An Yan raised the corners of his lips and smiled.

As they were talking, the Black and White Bar was right before their eyes. Although they knew that Wu Si couldn't possibly see them, they still suppressed their smiles and walked away quickly.

"May 4th has been found, so what do we do next?"

"Break through from the side."

"...Qiqi?"

An Yan smiled and strode out of the mall. Outside Xishui International, the sky was vast and boundless.

A cool breeze blew in the vast night sky, which was common in the nights of Nanzhuang. There were almost no dark clouds in the nights of Nanzhuang, and the sky was clear, deep, and full of stars. Liujiu walked on the river bank with his eyes closed and his head shaking. He took a deep, deep breath of the damp wind.

He walked on his own for a while, and when he found that there was no sound beside him, he immediately opened his eyes. He looked back and saw San Er sitting alone on the shore a long way away from him. So he had to turn back.

"What are you thinking about?"

San Er ignored him.

"Oh, the report should be out tomorrow."

San Er still ignored him.

Liujiu was about to sit down when Saner suddenly stood up. "Go back, it's time to go to bed."

Liujiu followed him back helplessly. How long does it take for a person to develop a habit? Liujiu thought it would only take a few days. In the nearly twenty days since he was out of Song Yu's control, he had already gotten used to the life he was living now. Liujiu glanced at the bottomless lake behind him. Before leaving the embankment, he firmly took in the wind and the freedom here.

The next day, before dawn, at about 5:30, the aroma of food came in through the open window. San'er woke up at this time. He lay still, knowing that in about ten minutes, Auntie Wang would go out with the incubator, and in half an hour, when the door slammed again, Auntie Wang would come back. At this time, he should wake up Liujiu.

He has spent every morning like this for the past seven days.

But today would be a little different, San Er thought.

Sure enough, not long after breakfast, Uncle Wang called San Er and said, "The clinic opens at 8 o'clock, you can go and get it. I won't go, do you still know the way?"

"Yes." Eight o'clock, and it's not even seven yet.

"Where is it? Where is it? San Er, I'll go with you."

"Okay." San Er said and glanced at Uncle Wang.

"Go, go ahead." Uncle Wang waved to the two of them and went into the house.

At 6:45, after Uncle Wang entered the house, San'er and Liujiu went out together.

After being led by San'er for about thirty or forty minutes, Liujiu pointed to a crooked tree next to a house and asked, "San'er, did you just lead me past this?"

"Yeah, there's still some time until eight o'clock." San'er said casually.

"I'm not going." Liujiu instantly realized that Saner was leading him in circles. He threw his hands and walked to the stone bench under the willow branches and sat down. The stone bench was pitch black, hard and cold, except for the surface which was polished smooth, which was obvious from years of sitting.

"Wait here." Liujiu said again.

“It’s dangerous to stay in one place too long.”

Liujiu looked up, with an expression that asked, "What on earth do you want to say?" Liujiu was getting impatient, and Saner could see it, so he stopped talking and just turned his head away and sighed quietly, but then he walked over and sat down at the other end of the stone bench, only about ten centimeters away from Liujiu.

The sun was already in the sky, emitting a warm glow. The wind blew gently, bringing a hint of warmth and making the willow branches sway in front of San'er's eyes.

"Let's go, the door is about to open." The two sat in the shade for a full twenty minutes before San Er decided to call Liu Jiu to go. When the two arrived at the door of the clinic, it was already past eight o'clock. Looking inside from the door of the clinic, there was no one in sight, only green mottled walls and wet water marks on the ground.

"Go ahead, I'll wait for you here." Liujiu walked in and after a few steps sat down on the stool against the wall.

"Row."

Liujiu had been sitting there for less than two minutes when Saner came out of the innermost room. He walked towards Liujiu with a brown paper bag in his right hand, his face expressionless. Liujiu stared at the bag and asked.

"Did you open it and take a look?"

"not yet."

"Why don't you open it and take a look?"

"Then why don't you look at it for me?" San'er said as he pushed the brown paper bag into Liujiu's arms. Liujiu lowered his head and was about to open it. He glanced at San'er and saw him turn around and walk away, so he hurriedly chased after him. San'er walked out of the clinic door and turned left. He just took a step and stood there motionless.

He was not waiting for Liujiu to catch up, but was waiting for Lingyi to stand against the wall in the corner of the red brick wall twenty meters ahead.