Chapter 40 Evening

  Seeing her daughter just came back and was about to go out again, now it's already the afternoon of New Year's Eve, her parents who always treated Baiwei as a precious treasure would certainly not agree.

  "Xiao Wei, what are you doing going out at this time?"

  Bai Wei shouted angrily:

  "My benefactor was driven out of his home."

  While speaking, he was about to take his outer garment and put on his shoes. A shout from Peri startled her grandparents, who were talking with their granddaughter and grandson-in-law in the study. They came out together and asked what had happened.

  Originally, Ba Wei's parents would go to the city where her grandparents lived for Chinese New Year. However, since Ba Wei had to stay in Guanhai City for medical treatment this year, her grandparents made an exception and moved to Guanhai City to spend the Spring Festival with her. After listening to Ba Wei's story, her grandfather said:

  "Xiao Wei, don't be in a hurry, you ran out like this, and although Guanhai City is small, it's not that easy to find someone."

  "There is still a glimmer of hope, if you don't look for it, then there will be no hope at all."

  "Listen to Grandpa,"

  Ba Wei had no choice but to stop and listen to what Grandpa had to say.

  "I remember you said that guy was a demobilized soldier, and he had just arrived in Guanhai City. If so, he shouldn't be very familiar with Guanhai City. Besides, most retired soldiers don't have much money, so they definitely won't stay in a big hotel. Why don't you call your friend Qingcheng to ask about that young man..."

  "It's Congye, Grandpa."

  "Oh, ask Cong Ye if he has ever stayed in a hotel when he first arrived, and if so, which one. Besides, it's Chinese New Year, many hotels are not open for business, maybe he will go back to stay near that hotel."

  Bo Wei immediately felt that Grandfather's words were reasonable, so she quickly dialed Yan Qingcheng's phone number. Upon hearing that Bo Wei wanted to go find Cong Ye, Yan Qingcheng was overjoyed and promptly told Bo Wei the name and location of the hotel where Cong Ye had initially stayed.

  "Xiao Wei, whether you find it or not, remember to give your sister a call."

  "Got it, Jing Cheng sister."

  To be honest, although it was guessed that it was because of Zhixiaohui's reason that Congye had to leave Rizhao Lane, however, Baiwei still had some opinions about Yan Qingcheng. In her heart, she thought that if Qingcheng sister had persuaded a little, it would not have ended up like this.

  When Sun saw her granddaughter knew where Congye used to live, Peiwei's grandfather immediately said:

  "Like this, Baichuan, you go with Xiaowei."

  At this time, Bai Wei's cousin Guo Xiaoqian also walked over to Bai Wei and said:

  "Sister, I'm going too."

  Watching the three of them leave after getting dressed, Bertha's mother couldn't help but complain:

  "Why doesn't he just buy a phone?"

  "Hehe, you don't know that a retired soldier doesn't have much money on him. He just arrived in Guanhai City a few days ago and definitely wouldn't be willing to spend the money. Besides, according to what Baiwei said, that Ye Xiang is an orphan, probably thinking that even if he bought a cell phone, it wouldn't be of much use, so he didn't buy one."

  When Ba Wei and her father, and cousin arrived at the location according to Yan Qing Cheng's phone call, the small hotel was not open. Not only was this small hotel not in business, but also many of the nearby hotels were not open either, and the three people had turned around everywhere, none of them were open.

  Guanghai City is a tourist city with no less than a thousand hotels. After searching for more than an hour, the three of them had only visited fewer than twenty hotels and still hadn't found Congye.

  "Xiao Wei, it seems like it's going to be tough finding Cong Ye."

  "I don't care, can't find Congye, I won't go back home for New Year's either."

  Ba Wei's temper flared up, and Ba Can had no choice but to accompany her in continuing the search. Until the sun set and night fell, the three of them still had nothing to show for it. Ba Wei's tears were all cried out.

  "Sister, it's getting dark, Grandpa and Grandma are still waiting at home, let's go back."

  "Yes, Xiaowei. The card that Dad gave me has 100,000 yuan on it, so there's no problem even if we stay at the Swan Hotel."

  Although Bai Wei was anxious about Cong Ye, she knew that she couldn't let everyone have a bad New Year because of her own problems. She could only follow her father home. In her heart, she had completely developed a dislike for Zhi Xiao Hui, including Yan Qing Cheng. Bai Wei didn't even call her as Yan Qing Cheng had said, no matter what the outcome was. In a fit of anger, she simply turned off her phone.

  Yan Qiancheng of Rizhao Lane, waiting left and right, did not wait for Baiwei's phone call. As night fell and firecrackers sounded everywhere, she couldn't help but walk into the courtyard to make a phone call to Baiwei.

  "Hello, the number you dialed is currently unavailable, please try again later."

  Yan Qingcheng also knew that Bai Wei must have blamed herself, otherwise she wouldn't have turned off her phone. Standing in the courtyard, listening to the dense firecrackers, looking at the stars in the night sky, tears flowed down her face again.

  "Sister-in-law, it's time to cook dumplings."

  "Here."

  It had been discovered that Sister-in-law had been somewhat absent-minded since the departure of Cong Ye, and Zhi Xiao Hui pretended not to notice. In her heart, however, she was muttering to herself, "Hmph, Brother has only been gone for less than two years, and Mother for just over a year, yet she's become so impatient? Is this still the gentle and virtuous Sister-in-law Yan Qing Cheng in my mind?"

  Leaving the alley, Congye didn't go to find an inn immediately, but instead walked alone to the seaside. On New Year's Eve, the seaside was quiet and deserted, without a single person in sight. Congye simply found a spot that was relatively sheltered from the wind and sat down, lost in thought.

  Cong Ye didn't regret giving up on taking the military school entrance exam for a promise that was half-joking, and he wouldn't regret coming to Guanhai City after a series of unpleasant experiences. He didn't blame Yan Qingcheng at all for what happened today; he chose to leave quickly, without even packing his bags, precisely because he didn't want to make things difficult for Yan Qingcheng. Of course, Cong Ye also didn't blame Zhi Xiao Hui - after all, this was her home, and she was the younger sister of Zhi Xiao Kang, the squad leader. His trip to Guanhai City wasn't just about taking care of Yan Qingcheng; he also had a responsibility to take care of Zhi Xiao Hui.

  Intelligent and elegant, with a slender figure, her beauty was not exceptional but still rare to see. She wore simple yet elegant makeup, shoulder-length hair, and had an air of aloofness on her pale face that seemed to keep people at bay. Around her eyebrows and eyes, one could vaguely make out the shadow of Rong Zhi's features.

  A person sat by the sea, without eating lunch, yet felt no hunger. As the sky gradually darkened, Cong Ye couldn't help but think of the dozen or so New Year's Eves he spent in the orphanage. At that time, every time night fell, the aunts and uncles in the orphanage would divide them into groups of ten, sitting around a large round table, with ten dishes for each year's New Year's Eve dinner, plus dumplings.

  After finishing the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone would gather together to watch TV. Cong Ye would often sneak out after watching TV for a while, find a quiet place, and sit there alone until late at night, just like now. He would gaze at the stars, listen to the distant sounds of firecrackers that belonged to others, and time would always pass quickly. It wasn't until he couldn't withstand his sleepiness anymore that he would return to his room to sleep.

  The distant firecracker sounds gradually subsided, and Cong Ye felt a chill, stood up and took two steps, then sat back down with his legs crossed, circulating the warm flow in his meridians. Since he had cleared Bertha's meridians, especially after the last time when the warm flow ran through both of their bodies, Cong Ye felt that the mysterious warm flow had grown by nearly half and become much more docile. If the previous warm flow was like a curious and mischievous child, then the current warm flow had transformed into a gentle maiden. It could truly be described as "still as a young lady, moving as swiftly as a rabbit". Now when Cong Ye wanted to mobilize the warm flow, he almost didn't need his own thoughts to guide it, feeling that the warm flow could anticipate his thoughts. Just like walking normally, you don't need to command your legs, they will naturally follow the established path.

  I remember hearing Bai Wei and Yan Qingcheng mention in Ri Zhao Xiang that Bai Wei was one of the rare pure yin bodies, who could mysteriously produce a strange hot flow in her meridians. Could it be what Bai Wei said, the pure yang body opposite to the pure yin body?

  At this thought, Cong Ye suddenly stood up.

  "Yin and Yang in harmony?"

  The more he thought about it, the more Cong Ye believed that this was indeed the case.

  "If it's really like that, then the process of curing Bertha is seemingly saving Bertha, but also saving herself."

  The old saying goes: "Lonely yin does not give birth, lonely yang does not grow." If I hadn't met Bai Wei's pure yin body, wouldn't it be said that the hot flow in my meridians would never flourish again? Moreover, a pure yin body can torment Bai Wei to the point of being unable to read books. As for myself, if I let the hot flow develop further, won't something unexpected happen? Cong Ye thought back to the last time he fought with Yu Fu and his gang, when he was overly excited. Wasn't that because his pure yang body hadn't met Bai Wei's pure yin body, and what would be the final outcome?

  He reached into his pocket and touched the bank card that Bai Wei had given him, Cong Ye smiled awkwardly.

  "It seems like I should be thanking Bertha instead?"

  Congye sat on the beach in a daze, time had long since passed three o'clock on New Year's Eve.

  At this time, Yan Qingcheng in Rizhao Lane was lying on the bed that had been slept in by Cong Ye all along, and there was an obvious breath coming from Cong Ye's body between the quilt.

  "Cong Ye, where are you?"

  Yan Qingcheng asked herself countless times in her heart. Tossing and turning, she couldn't sleep no matter what. Cong Ye's departure made Yan Qingcheng always feel guilty towards him. She picked up her phone to take a look, seeing that it was already past two o'clock in the morning, almost three. Yan Qingcheng didn't lie down again either, instead getting dressed and quietly opening the door to come out into the courtyard.

  Since marrying into the Ye family, Yan Qingcheng had always had a habit of going for a walk by the sea on New Year's morning after serving her mother-in-law and Zhi Xiaohui. Because she didn't have any relatives or friends in Yangzhou, there was no need to go pay respects. Even those who came to visit their own homes wouldn't arrive until the afternoon. So, going for a walk by the sea wouldn't delay anything.

  A person walked slowly, occasionally there were families who stayed up all night to celebrate the New Year's Eve, and they would come out to set off firecrackers. Yan Qingcheng had been afraid of the sound of firecrackers since she was a child, so as soon as she saw them, she would cover her ears and walk around.

  As soon as she arrived at the seaside, Yan Qingcheng seemed to see a figure on the beach under the distant streetlight behind her. She thought to herself that there was actually someone else who shared the same habit as her. Not wanting to run into strangers in this dark night, Yan Qingcheng subconsciously walked towards a place far away from that figure.

  Congye had already heard the footsteps coming from afar, but he didn't turn his head. He was clear in his mind that no matter who it was, they wouldn't be someone he knew. So, he continued to saunter along slowly, thinking to himself that when daybreak came, he would go find an inn to stay at.

  Until the dawn's twilight gradually enveloped the beach, the two almost simultaneously recognized each other's figures.

  "Cong Ye!"

  "Sister-in-law!"

  Yan Qingcheng suddenly ran towards Cong Ye, and Cong Ye also took two steps forward to meet Yan Qingcheng. However, when there was less than half a meter between them, they both stopped in their tracks at the same time.

  "Happy New Year."

  After exchanging the most clichéd greetings with each other, neither of them knew what to say next. They stared at each other for a moment and suddenly fell into silence.