Wei Yuan didn't expect me to say I was leaving and then act on it right away.
In his impression, women were all delicate and weak, always relying on men to make decisions.
Seeing me start to pack my things, he asked uncertainly, "I rode my motorcycle here today. Should I call a sedan?"
"No need!"
I put the written talismans into my backpack and stuffed the broken compass in as well. Then I looked up at Wei Yuan and said, "A motorcycle is faster. Let's try to go and come back as soon as possible!"
"Um..."
It was only then that I noticed Wu Mingyu was still in the shop.
She had been almost scared out of her wits by Wei Yuan and the others just now.
Zhao Donglin threatened to call the police and have her arrested and sent to jail.
A crime worth five hundred thousand yuan was enough to land her in prison for over ten years.
That's why she dragged me into it to clear her suspicion.
Now seeing that I seemed to have taken control of the situation, she finally dared to speak up, "Du... Xiao, Xiaohe, is it okay now? We don't have to go to jail, right?!"
I had no idea about the threat she'd received. I was completely confused and turned to look at Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan frowned and glanced at her.
He remembered clearly how she had been so eager to shift the blame just now.
He thought that since I could give her such an expensive helmet, we must be very good friends. So he couldn't help but sneer, "Miss Du, your friend isn't a good person. She'll end up hurting you one day."
I was stunned for a moment and then suddenly understood what Wei Yuan meant.
This guy was so petty. He'd thrown back at me exactly what I'd said to him just now.
"Hehe."
My eyes crinkled with laughter. "Thanks for your concern. I don't have any friends."
Then I glanced at Wu Mingyu and said, "She just owes me the payment for the goods. We're not close."
...
To be honest, I'd never ridden on a high - speed motorcycle before.
Wei Yuan didn't drive too fast, but I still felt like I was flying through the air.
My hair was tucked inside the helmet, and the ends were wildly fluttering in the airflow created by the motorcycle, like countless tentacles stretching out behind me.
"Hahaha!!"
I hadn't laughed so happily since Du Wenzhong was hospitalized.
It felt like all my gloom and worries were being left behind the motorcycle...
Wei Yuan focused on driving the motorcycle and occasionally glanced at me in the rear - view mirror.
I made a face at him and laughed so hard that my mouth almost reached my ears!
I bet there had never been a girl as unrestrained as me sitting on the back of his motorcycle!
I was actually a bit impressed by his courage. After seeing the ghost in the backseat, he still changed his vehicle and continued to ride!
Sure enough, motorcycles were his true love!!
Because of the high speed of the motorcycle, we drove into the area of Miaofeng Mountain just as it was getting dark.
The sun was slanting between the mountain peaks, and the light had turned into a charming orange - red.
The Wei family's villa was by a pond not far from Lu Village.
It faced the lake with the mountains at its back... Well! It was obviously a great feng shui location.
Before we came, Wei Yuan had informed Uncle Li, the caretaker of the house. When the red - copper and wrought - iron gate saw our motorcycle, it automatically slid open to both sides.
In the villa's yard, Wei Yuan parked the motorcycle, took off his helmet, and looked at me. "Miss Du, it seems your phone has been vibrating since just now..."
"Ah!"
Only then did I notice that my phone in my jacket pocket had countless missed calls and text messages.
When I opened the phone, several text messages popped up first.
"Miss Du, hello. I'm Assistant to General Manager Si. I called but you didn't answer, so I'm sending this text message. May I ask if you're in the shop now?"
"Miss Du, may I ask where you are? General Manager Si asked me to assist you with the matter in Lu Village."
"Miss Du, are you no longer in the urban area?"
Then there were the red notifications constantly popping up on WeChat, which made my heart skip a beat.
I seemed to have forgotten something!
I'd forgotten to tell Si Jiangchen that I'd gone to Lu Village first!
Trying hard to calm my racing heart, I carefully clicked on Si Jiangchen's WeChat name.
"Where did you go?"
On the blank WeChat chat interface, there were only these four short words!
But I broke out in a cold sweat.
I admitted that I was scared of him!
This monster Si Jiangchen could make my heart leap out of my chest even with just a casual glance.
I wanted to type an explanation, but I couldn't control my trembling fingers. In the end, I had to use voice input: I didn't run away. I'm in Miaofeng Mountain.
There was a moment of silence on the other end.
Seeing how nervous I was, Wei Yuan casually asked, "Your boyfriend?"
"No!"
I quickly shook my head. "He's... also a client."
"Really? Does he pay more?" Wei Yuan asked.
"No, not much... Less than what you pay."
I told the truth. Even including the three hundred thousand yuan given by the little ghost Si Tong, Si Jiangchen had only promised me one million and three hundred thousand yuan.
Wei Yuan must have been asking on purpose. He naturally knew that the ten million yuan he'd been coerced into promising was an astronomical figure.
He didn't believe anyone would pay more than him.
"Well, there you go!"
Wei Yuan hung his helmet back on the motorcycle and pointed at his villa. "Go in and take a rest, have dinner, and ask Uncle Li about that Lu Dayong. We can go find him early tomorrow morning."
For the first time, I thought this Wei Yuan was quite organized. He wasn't as arrogant and hot - tempered as he looked.
Dinner was cooked by Uncle Li's wife.
It was all wild game raised in the mountains, including chicken, fish, and vegetables freshly picked from the backyard vegetable garden.
I enjoyed this meal to the fullest. Since Du Wenzhong was hospitalized, I'd either eaten instant noodles or ordered takeout. Only the landlady, Aunt Xu, took pity on me and occasionally brought me some of her own home - cooked food.
Wei Yuan was used to seeing girls who only ate two leaves of lettuce for each meal to lose weight.
A glutton like me, tearing into a chicken leg with gusto, even made him forget to pick up his chopsticks.
"Uncle Li, may I ask if there's a man named Lu Dayong in your village?"
I was gnawing on the chicken leg when I saw Uncle Li walking into the dining room with a plate of stir - fried lettuce with oyster sauce. I asked, "He's a very skillful carpenter."
Uncle Li was in his sixties. He was an outsider in Lu Village, having married into a local family.
He had lived in Lu Village for over forty years and was now a local.
Hearing me ask about Lu Dayong, he squinted his eyes and thought for a while before saying, "There is a carpenter in our village, but his name isn't Lu Dayong! He's also an outsider. His surname is Liu. People call him Carpenter Liu."
"Huh?!"
My eyebrows knitted together. The first thing that came to my mind was that the address Si Jiangchen gave me was wrong.
No... The divination I did also pointed to this place. Could there be a mistake?!
"Uncle Li, think carefully. Or call your wife and ask her."
Whether I could repair the compass or not was directly related to Wei Yuan's life, so he was even more anxious than me.
Uncle Li's wife's surname was Lu. She was a local. She was upstairs helping Wei Yuan and me tidy up the bedrooms. Hearing Uncle Li's call, she quickly came downstairs.
"... There is a man named Lu Dayong in the village."
Aunt Li's expression was a bit strange. "But... he's been dead for a long time."