“My younger brother!” the man in his 40s yelled .
“Sorry, couldn’t help it,” the man in his 30s said with a grin .
“Don’t leave any traces here,” the older man said .
They didn’t find anything after searching for a while .
“You can’t find it here?” the older man asked .
“No, but there are other places we can search,” the younger man said .
They left the area and searched elsewhere using a special method . Since Xishan Hill was not big, they soon found the broken stone .
“Look, here is their home,” the older man said as he pointed at the dead bodies of the insects on the ground .
“What are these insects?” the younger man asked .
“I’ve never seen them before,” the older man said .
Both of them squatted to study the dead insects .
“What a shame! They are all dead,” the younger man said .
“Not necessarily . I believe some of them have survived,” the older man said .
He could tell from the scene that someone had set fire to the insects . Most of the insects were burnt . A small proportion of the bodies were still complete . However, the fire couldn’t kill them all . He had studied insects for over 10 years, so he knew their general nature well . These insects wouldn’t be killed so easily .
“So, where are the ones that survived?” the younger man asked .
“Calm down, we’ll find them . ” the older man said .
Om! It seemed like something trembled in the air . The two men stopped after walking for short distance .
“The noise came from underground,” the older man said .
“Let me do it,” the younger man said .
He was wearing a unique tool on his finger . It was a dark iron fingernail that wrapped around his own fingernail . The tool was very sharp . Crack! The man inserted the iron fingernail into the stone and broke the stone .
Actually, Wang Yao had broken this stone earlier, but the man didn’t notice it . There was another stone behind the broken one, which was about three feet away .
The hard stone was like chips to the man . It broke into pieces and dropped . A moment later, more than half of the stone was broken . The man could see what was inside . As he expected, the stone was hollow . It contained the same insects, which looked like mole crickets but much smaller . The insects were black and looked creepy .
“I found you,” the younger man said .
Hush! Hush! The insects seemed to have smelled food . They started to move and were ready to attack .
“No need to hurry,” the older man said . He took out a black cylindrical wooden box with strange patterns on it . “Come inside here . ”
He opened the lid of the box . A unique smell came out of it . The insects all went inside cooperatively .
“Good,” the older man said .
After all the insects had entered the wooden box, he sealed the box and put it back into his bag .
“Done,” the older man said .
“Where should we go next?” the younger man asked .
“Let’s go to another village,” the older man said .
The two of them left Xishan Hill and went back to the village .
Woof! Woof! A local dog barked at them .
Shh! The younger man showed his teeth to indicate that the dog should stop barking .
“Don’t cause any trouble,” the older man said .
“He barked at me first!” The younger one complained .
“Let’s go,” the older man said .
The two of them left the village in the rain and headed north . A taxi was parking at the north end of the village .
“I thought you guys were not coming back . Where are you going next?” the taxi driver asked .
“Li Family Creek,” the older man said .
“Are you visiting the hot spring resort?” the taxi driver asked .
“Yes,” the older man said .
“That resort is a nice place . I’ve been there once,” the taxi driver said . He was a middle-aged man in his 40s .
He drove the taxi toward the other side of the hills in the rain .
Wang Yao’s village remained very quiet .
It was also raining in Beijing .
A young woman, who looked like she was out of fairy tale, was standing next to a lake at Pecking University . She looked at the raindrops hitting the surface of the lake, causing circles .
She thought, Is it also raining where Dr . Wang is .
“What is on your mind?” her friend accompanying her asked . .
“Oh, nothing special, I was just thinking about a person,” the young woman said .
“A person? Your boyfriend?” her friend asked .
“Yes,” the beautiful young woman admitted .
“Really?” her friend asked with surprise . Her friend was a cute and nice young woman .
“Yes,” Su Xiaoxue said with a smile .
To her, Wang Yao was her boyfriend because she liked him, and he had admitted that he liked her, too . The next step would be spending some time together .
“Do you know how many people will be disappointed to know you have a boyfriend? What does he do for a living? When are you going to introduce him to me?” her friend asked .
“He is a Traditional Pharmacist,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“Traditional Pharmacist? Same as a doctor?” her friend asked .
“Not really . He’s a Traditional Chinese Pharmacist,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“What does that mean?” her friend asked .
“I can’t tell you . Anyway, let’s go,” Su Xiaoxue said .
The two young women were walking in the rain and laughing like two pleasant fairies . A lot of people stopped to watch them .
“Those girls are so pretty,” a person passing by said .
There were no lectures in the evening .
“Xiaoxue, would you like to catch up with us in the evening?” her friend asked .
“Sure,” Su Xiaoxue said .
As it started to get dark, the rain continued .
The girls went to a restaurant near the university . They were all wearing nice clothes . They had booked a private room in advance .
Outside the restaurant, a car was parking in the rain . A man sat in the car and stared at the restaurant .
“What would you like to eat?” one of the girls asked .
“Whatever, I’m happy with anything,” Su Xiaoxue said .
These girls were good friends from the same class . They didn’t expect Su Xiaoxue would come since they knew her background . After all, people were very informative in Beijing . They admired Su Xiaoxue . She was easy-going and nice . She was not arrogant at all, which was not a common character of rich kids .
After the dishes had been served, the girls started to chat . The topic naturally moved to boyfriends .
Two of the girls had boyfriends . The other ones were all single . The two girls talked about their relationships and asked the others their criteria for choosing a boyfriend .
“Xiaoxue, what kind of people do you like?” one of the girls asked .
“Actually I’m in love with someone,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“Really?” the girls asked .
They always thought Su Xiaoxue used that as an excuse to turn down those men chasing after her . They didn’t expect that she was actually with someone .
“Where is he? What does he do for a living? When will you introduce him to us?” They really wanted to know what kind of man could attract such an extraordinary girl .
“He is not in Beijing,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“So, he lives overseas?” one of her friends asked .
“No, he lives in Qi province,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“Qi province?” her friend asked . “What does he do for a living?”
“He’s a pharmacist,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“Pharmacist?” her friend asked .
“Traditional Chinese Pharmacist,” another girl said .
“Yes, you know about it?” Su Xiaoxue asked .
“I heard about it . My grandfather is a Traditional Chinese Medical Practitioner . He told me the Traditional Chinese Pharmacist was able to treat all sorts of illnesses,” the girl said .
Su Xiaoxue laughed .
“Really?” one of her friends asked .
“Sort of,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“So, how old is he?” one of her friends asked . “He can’t be…”
“He is 27 years old,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“What? Only 27?” Her friends were surprised .
About an hour later, a car was running very fast under the lights in Beijing .
“Miss, did you have a nice evening?” Chu Lian asked .
“Yes,” Su Xiaoxue said with a smile .
“That’s good,” Chu Lian said .
“Thank you for looking after me, Auntie Lian,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“Don’t mention it,” Chu Lian said . She cared about Su Xiaoxue very much . She treated her as one of her own family members .
“I miss Dr . Wang,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“Oh?” Chu Lian was a little surprised .
“I want to visit him,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“Well…” Chu Lian didn’t know what to say . “Call him . ”
She took out a mobile phone and immediately found Wang Yao’s number . However, she didn’t dial the number .
“Do you suppose Dr . Wang has gone to sleep?” Su Xiaoxue asked .
“Aye!” Chu Lian sighed .
Beep! Beep!
“Hello, Xiaoxue,” Wang Yao said at the other end of the phone .
“Hello, Dr . Wang,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“Are you at school?” Wang Yao asked .
“No, I’m on my way home . Where are you now? On the hill?” Su Xiaoxue asked .
“Yes, I’m on Nanshan Hill,” Wang Yao said .
“I miss you,” Su Xiaoxue said .
Wang Yao kept silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll come to Beijing . ”
“Really?” Su Xiaoxue couldn’t believe it .
“I’ll come to Beijing to see you,” Wang Yao said .
“OK!” Su Xiaoxue laughed . She was ecstatic .
Wang Yao also laughed after hanging up . He didn’t know why those words just slipped out of his mouth without thinking .
“Auntie Lian, Dr . Wang is coming to Beijing to see me,” Su Xiaoxue said .
“That’s great,” Chu Lian said .
“Yeah, I need to get ready . But, there will be so many lectures,” Su Xiaoxue said .
Chu Lian looked at Su Xiaoxue through the rear vision mirror and shook her head .
After Su Xiaoxue arrived at home, she was too excited to go to sleep .
“He is coming to Beijing?” Song Ruiping asked .
“Yes, he told her on the phone . He said he would come to see Miss Su,” Chu Lian said .
“He really said that?” Song Ruiping asked .
“Yes, I overheard their conversation,” Chu Lian said .
“No wonder she’s so happy,” Song Ruiping said .
Su Xianghua didn’t arrive home until late that night .
“You are back so late tonight,” Song Ruiping said .
“I had a meeting . How come you are still awake?” Su Xianghua asked .
“I need to tell you something about your daughter,” Song Ruiping said .
“What? How is she? Is she ill?” Su Xianghua anxiously asked .
“No . ” Song Ruiping told her husband about Wang Yao’s upcoming visit to Beijing .
“Oh, I see . That’s good . We’ll welcome him,” Su Xianghua said .
“Do you get me? Xiaoxue is really in love with Dr . Wang,” Song Ruiping said .
“As long as Xiaoxue likes him . I think Dr . Wang is a nice person, although I haven’t spent a lot of time with him,” Su Xianghua said .
“Yes, he has a good reputation,” Song Ruiping said .
“What? You checked on him?” Su Xianghua asked as he scowled .
“Of course . I need to know what kind of person he is . You never know what’s behind a person’s outlook . I am responsible for my daughter’s future,” Song Ruiping said .
“Yeah, you are right,” Su Xianghua said .
“He’s really an extraordinary doctor and doesn’t have any bad habits or criminal records . On the contrary, he established a charity fund to help children living in those poor villagers . He helped them build roads and schools,” Song Ruiping said .
“Really? That’s good,” Su Xianghua said .
“His parents also have good reputation in the village . Both of them are honest and nice people . His sister works in the Agriculture Bureau . She also has good reputation . She’s going to get married this year,” Song Ruiping said .
“Darling, it’s a shame if you don’t work for an organization like the CIA,” Su Xianghua said with a smile .