Chapter Thirty-Five: The Long-Awaited Answer

  Maybe it was a change in Zhang Wei's life that made him happy, and when he came out of the hospital, his mood was particularly comfortable. After saying goodbye to Ma Ke, he hurried home.

  Suddenly, I recalled the scene of Qin Kai eating my cooking and praising my beauty. So, when passing by the vegetable market, I specially bought a big carp that was said to be from Songhua River.

  When I carried the fish and appeared at the door, there were 5 or 6 buckets of purified water at the door, while Qin Ke was paying the delivery person.

  "How did you get back so quickly!? Is Zhang Wei okay?" Qin Ke seemed somewhat incredulous that I was standing at the door.

  "It's okay, just rest for a few days. What are you doing? Ordering so many barrels of water! Are you preparing to pack and mail them as Children's Day gifts to kids in Africa?" I asked curiously, pointing at the piles of purified water on the ground.

  "Haven't you heard? The city is going to be without water for four days starting tomorrow. They say it's for pipeline maintenance."

  "Repair the pipeline? Get out of here, I don't know what you're browsing online every day, the real reason has been spread online for a long time, and only some mentally challenged people are still doing stupid things like 'covering their ears while stealing bells'. It's been so many years since liberation, and the 'old man's' idea of fooling the people is still alive!" I said as I walked to the kitchen with the fish.

  "What's going on?" Qin Ke asked in confusion.

  "You can go online and check yourself. How did you book so many? Enough for us to drink for two months."

  "Four days! Plus washing up, doing laundry, washing hair, washing feet, cooking and so on, it's almost the same!" Qin Ke counted on her fingers for me.

  "Why don't you order two more barrels and prepare the bath ones as well?"

  "You know what, not just for the water stoppage! Just now, the kind-hearted auntie downstairs specially came up to inform me that there might be an earthquake in Haicheng these days, and we should prepare more daily necessities. Right, right, you go down and buy some food back later." Qin Ke said mysteriously.

  "Experts have been debunking this on TV for days, and you still believe it!"

  "You just said it yourself, they often deceive people, can't be trusted!"

  "Wow, how refreshing! Qin Ke Yi, as a university student who has been nurtured by the Party and the state for many years, I'm deeply saddened to hear you say such things. Haven't you heard of 'rumors stop at wise men'? You don't believe experts, but instead trust those idle housewives who gather downstairs to gossip! Compared to their words, I still believe in the government. It's really puzzling - as society develops, some people's IQ hasn't improved one bit, and they unwittingly become tools for spreading rumors, wasting the country's investment in you."

  "Get out! Hurry up and cook for me! If you annoy me again, I'll bite you to death!" With a heart full of regret towards Qin Ke, I reluctantly walked into the kitchen.

  Qin Kaiyi thought his actions were very valuable, but when he watched the news at night, it was proven to be a foolish behavior. When he saw a certain leader expressing gratitude to the water truck teams and personnel from other counties and cities, Qin Kaiyi's face had already turned green, with an expression of fearing that the world would not be chaotic enough.

  These days of nursing Qin Ke Yi's injury have given me countless urges to kill with a ceramic knife. Every day, I'm ordered around like cattle, and I mustn't show any emotions. I finally understand why so many impoverished and exploited people enthusiastically participated in the revolution back then. To satisfy Qin Ke Yi's insatiable appetite, I specially bought a book on Northeastern home cooking, while secretly cursing the depth and richness of Chinese food culture.

  Under my careful care and patient massage, Qin Ke Yi's injury did not show any significant improvement. Every time I helped her walk, she still looked very painful. So I couldn't help but suspect that the doctor with a graduate student halo might have written the wrong prescription in an excited state. I remembered that Zhao Li Jia had also sprained her foot before and used a kind of medicinal water which seemed to be effective. I wondered if it was still available, so I picked up the phone and called Zhao Li Jia. After a few rings, Zhao Li Jia's tired voice came through, obviously still immersed in sleep. So I conveyed my intention with simple and concise language, allowing Zhao Li Jia to have the opportunity to revisit her old dreams. After giving me a definite answer, Zhao Li Jia said it was not convenient at the moment and asked me to pick it up in the afternoon.

  So by the afternoon, I appeared punctually at her doorstep, and Zhao Lijia, wearing a loose nightgown, opened the door for me.

  "What time is it already!? You can just sleep a bit more and you won't have to get up, why not just keep sleeping till tonight's dinner!"

  "Yesterday I was on duty, and only came back in the early hours of the morning!" Zhao Lijia said with a tired expression, then lazily fell onto the sofa.

  "Oh! Where did I put the medicine? I'll go look for it myself!"

  "In the drawer under the TV." Zhao Lijia said drowsily, lying on the sofa. I followed her instructions and started rummaging through the drawer. At this moment, a familiar-looking bottle of medicine appeared in my line of sight. It quickly reminded me that it was the same medicine Ding Ning had shown me when we ran into each other at the hospital that day. She had displayed the bottle in front of me for a moment, leaving an impression on me. Anyone with a decent brain would associate this bottle of medicine with Ding Ning and then connect her to Zhao Lijia, ultimately linking her to Tong Chen as well. Given the numerous coincidences surrounding Ding Ning, I felt it was best not to disturb her life again after our last encounter. However, the associations triggered by this bottle of medicine forced me to fantasize about her once more. Holding the bottle, I sat there in a daze, with Tong Chen's image fluttering before my eyes.

  "Have you been having stomach problems lately?" I asked Zhao Lijia with a pretended calm after going through the seemingly simple series of reasoning.

  "No?" Zhao Lijia replied casually.

  "Where is Song Wei? Is his stomach okay?"

  "His stomach is fine, what's with this question?" Zhao Lijia felt very perplexed by my sudden inquiry.

  "Tong Chen is back? Is that so?" I slowly stood up, controlling my excited emotions, and said to Zhao Lijia in a normal tone with my back turned.

  "Ah?!" Zhao Lijia was clearly caught off guard by my question.

  "Can you tell me what's going on with this bottle of medicine?" I slowly turned around, still trying to maintain a normal tone, and put the medicine on the coffee table.

  "This... this is just a bottle of medicine?" Zhao Lijia's stuttering tone and expression that seemed to be trying to conceal something further confirmed my suspicions.

  "A while back, a woman who looked like Tong Chen and claimed to be Ding Ning suddenly appeared in Ha City. Unfortunately, I ran into her on the street. Just a few days ago, she showed up again at Medical University No. 2 Hospital, and I bumped into her once more. She was even holding what appears to be the same bottle of medicine that's now suspiciously sitting on this table! And yet, it just so happens to have appeared in a place where it shouldn't be!!! Zhao Lijia!!! You can't possibly not know about these things, can you!!!! Do you think I'm an idiot!!!!" As I spoke, my emotions gradually got out of control, and my voice grew louder. The last few words were even shouted in anger.

  Zhao Lijia didn't react at all to my angry roar, she just sat there silently, staring blankly at the bottle of medicine.

  "What's wrong? Why aren't you talking anymore?" I continued to pressure Zhao Lijia.

  "Yes, she is here with me!" Zhao Lijia nodded helplessly and whispered out the answer I had been expecting for a long time.

  "You guys are something! Cheating me for so long!!! Zhao Lijia! I still considered you a brother!!!"

  I kicked over the coffee table between us, and then yelled at Zhao Lijia again. Zhao Lijia subconsciously took a step back from my angry outburst, and then stood up to yell back at me, "Kang Jian! Don't go crazy here!!! Don't think I owe you anything!!!"

  "Alright! I won't argue with you! Now tell me where she is?" I controlled my emotions and asked Zhao Lijia.

  "Never mind. Let's just forget it. What can we do even if we meet again?" Zhao Lijia also changed to her usual tone and persuaded me.

  "I must see her!! I have to figure out what happened between us that made her leave without a word and hide from me!!! I can't just let her go like this without knowing the truth!!! I'll never be at peace for the rest of my life if I don't!!" I shouted again at Zhao Lijia.

  "She's gone to the clothing city now. The place where you took your first large photo stickers. She said she's leaving tomorrow and wants to go see your large photo stickers again." Zhao Lijia hesitated for a few seconds before saying this to me. At that moment, I recalled the scene when we took the large photo stickers. Because it was very effective, after getting our consent, the boss had an extra copy printed and hung up as publicity, and I also secretly went there several times myself.

  After hearing Zhao Lijia's words, I turned around and rushed out of the house, running towards the garment city...

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