Tangdun Strange Tales Notes

Chapter 11

As we passed the HanX Bridge, Lai Bao and I had just stepped onto it when we saw a man preparing to jump off. We were both startled at first, but then we quickened our pace. Just as we reached the man's spot, he jumped, and Lai Bao followed. I tried to grab him, but it was too late. I stood on the steps waiting for him to come up. Less than a minute later, I saw Lai Bao climb up, looking embarrassed, and say, "Damn it, it's just a path down there, far from the water!"

Nonsense, I used to walk this road all the time when I was in college. Even if you jumped off the bridge into this lousy river, you wouldn't drown, but you would be seriously injured and then choke to death, because the water depth is definitely no more than half a meter.

Just then, I saw the man who had just jumped down standing below, smiling at Lai Bao and me. I looked closely and realized that this man was the idiot who had been sitting next to me in the internet cafe earlier. How did that idiot end up here?

After laughing at Lai Bao and me for a long time, that idiot actually came up to Lai Bao and thanked him. Lai Bao politely replied, "You're welcome. Don't stand here scaring people next time."

The man then said, "Actually, I didn't know there was a path down there. I really wanted to jump in and drown."

Lai Bao and I were stunned. So this idiot was really planning to commit suicide? The man continued, "But I regretted it the moment I jumped in, because I can swim, and the survival instinct of a swimmer will make him float to the surface."

Brother, you're more humorous than me! If you jump in from here, the water's so deep, your survival instinct will only make your body float to the surface.

The man took out his cigarette case, shook it, and found he was out of cigarettes. He then asked me and Lai Bao for cigarettes. I took out a cigarette and handed it to him. After taking it, the man said, "Thank you. It's good that people still smoke Ashima cigarettes these days."

I nodded and said, "I've always smoked widow's cigarettes."

After hearing what I said, the man looked at the cigarette and muttered to himself, "Now she's a widow too."

About ten minutes later, Lai Bao, that idiot, and I sat down at a bar by the river. We each ordered a bottle of ice-cold Snow Beer and started drinking. After drinking for a while, the man blurted out, "My name is Lu Shan."

After Lu Shan finished speaking, Lai Bao continued, "Your name is not common; it's a bit strange."

I glanced at Lai Bao. Do you really think that my name, Tang Dun, and your name, Lai Bao, are common and therefore not surprising?

Lu Shan chuckled twice and said, "It is indeed not common. This is my pen name. My real name is not this, and I don't want to tell you what my real name is."

A pen name? This idiot makes a living with a pen? It seems he's probably a writer in the same industry. Lu Shan even said he was a writer, which immediately shocked Lai Bao and me. Lai Bao and I exchanged a glance, feeling a little excited. This was because Lai Bao and I had always dreamed of becoming writers, and the kind of bestselling writers who became famous while still alive, not the kind who only became famous after they died. I never thought that today I would finally meet a writer, and a living one at that, sitting very energetically in front of Lai Bao and me.

Before Lai Bao and I could even finish being shocked, Lu Shan said something that shocked us even more: "I killed someone."

Notes on Lu Zhi's Revenge, Chapter Two: The Story of Lu Shan

Before Lai Bao and I could react, Lu Shan continued, "But I'm not sure if I killed this person or not. It's funny, isn't it?"

Next, Lu Shan began to tell his story. Lai Bao and I sat there smoking one cigarette after another, listening to him talk about his own affairs, while I was mentally planning that if anything seemed amiss, I would make an excuse to go to the bathroom and then call 110...

Chapter 31 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Chapter 31 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

Lu Shan is a freelancer. Years ago in City C, "freelancer" was still an unfamiliar term. Most people didn't understand what these people did every day; some even thought freelancers did everything. But what freelancers like Lu Shan did was quite simple: earn money by writing from home. He owned a small apartment of about 90 square meters in the suburbs of City C. Lu Shan had resigned from his previous job three years ago. After resigning, he changed jobs many times, eventually working as a security guard with the encouragement of his girlfriend, while also writing his essays and poems. He sent letters to some newspapers and magazines in the west, but unexpectedly, this led Lu Shan to another path. According to Lu Shan, perhaps he was lucky since childhood and that God was particularly kind to him. In just a year and a half, he built his own fixed circle. Of course, this circle consisted of magazines and newspapers that liked his articles and were willing to pay money for his words. At this time, Lu Shan had no worries about food and clothing and even planned to buy a car. Gradually, because several of his novels had been published, he had a large following of fans, including quite a few women.

At a so-called online friend gathering, Lu Shan met a woman in City D. According to Lu Shan, the woman was exceptionally beautiful and had a great figure. They quickly became involved. However, secrets can't stay hidden forever. His girlfriend soon discovered their affair and left him in anger. Shortly after, Lu Shan discovered that his girlfriend had a new boyfriend—the kind who drove a BMW and frequented high-end clubs. Lu Shan's guilt vanished, replaced by anger. At the same time, Lu Shan began his decline. He couldn't write a single word of the 20,000-word novel he had agreed upon with the publisher. With the deadline fast approaching, Lu Shan spent nights in front of his computer, smoking and lost in thought. Finally, a thought popped into his head: the culprit behind his current state was none other than his ex-girlfriend.

So Lu Shan began to follow the relationship between his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend through various channels. Of course, those who are observant will guess that Lu Shan's ex-girlfriend is the woman named Li Fang mentioned earlier.

Lu Shan finally received the news that Li Fang was getting married soon. Then, Lu Shan began to "accidentally" contact Li Fang. When Lu Shan told this story, Lai Bao and I basically felt that besides being able to make money by writing, Lu Shan had an innate talent: picking up girls, and his methods were particularly unique. Under Lu Shan's planning, Li Fang slept with him again. Lu Shan also took a semi-nude photo of himself and Li Fang lying together while she was asleep, and then sent the photo to that man...

“I thought my revenge plan was over. Actually, my original plan was to leave City C after I finished that. What difference does it make where I write in my line of work? But I’m naturally lazy. I stayed for two months and nothing happened. Li Fang didn’t come looking for me, and there didn’t seem to be any other movement. I thought that this matter was really over, so I gave up the idea of leaving City C. Who knew…” Lu Shan lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and then gulped down half a bottle of beer.

Two months after that incident, one night, Lu Shan had just seen off the woman from D City who was still reluctant to part with him after they had just finished their business. It was already 11 p.m. when he got home. Facing the somewhat deserted house, Lu Shan regretted letting the woman stay overnight. Just as he got home and was about to close the door, a hand blocked it. Then the owner of that hand pushed the door open and walked in. When Lu Shan saw the person, he felt a chill run down his spine. The person who came in was none other than Li Fang's later boyfriend.

After the man came in, Lu Shan became more cautious and carefully looked outside the door. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he found that there was no one there. After all, if the man came alone, he wouldn't suffer any losses if he started a fight. But if there were more people, it would be much more troublesome.

The man entered with a smile and introduced himself. His name was Zhang Ke, the vice president of a real estate company in City C.

Seeing that Zhang Ke's arrival seemed to have no hostility, Lu Shan couldn't quite figure out what he was there for, so she invited Zhang Ke to sit in the living room. After Zhang Ke sat down, he began to praise Lu Shan, from the living room's decorations to the choice of furniture, and finally he talked about Lu Shan's novel.

Lu Shan was somewhat surprised: "You've read my novel?"

Zhang Ke, still smiling, said, "Your novel is easy to find; you can find it in any slightly larger bookstore in the city. I used to think that your novels were definitely not good, but I didn't expect them to be so interesting. They helped me pass many sleepless nights, and I really should thank you."

Lu Shan didn't understand what Zhang Ke meant by those words. Maybe he was just overthinking it, but Zhang Ke's words, "helped me pass many sleepless nights," made Lu Shan lose focus for a moment. He didn't notice that Zhang Ke had called him several times. When he came to his senses, Zhang Ke said apologetically, "Is there anything to drink? My throat isn't feeling very good. I guess I smoked too much today."

Lu Shan took two cans of Coke from the refrigerator. Just as she opened her can, she discovered another can of Coke that she had opened but not finished under the coffee table. Zhang Ke was drinking Coke while chatting with Lu Shan about some trivial things, but Lu Shan had a question in her mind: Did Zhang Ke come here today to discuss my novel with me?

While chatting with Zhang Ke, Lu Shan kept getting distracted, but Zhang Ke suddenly said, "You sent those photos, didn't you?"

Lu Shan was stunned for a moment, but quickly regained her feigned composure. After all, Lu Shan, a womanizer who was a master of lying, wouldn't panic so easily.

Notes on Lu's Revenge, Chapter 3: Luck or Bad Luck?

"What photos?" Lu Shan asked Zhang Ke in return.

Zhang Ke took a photo out of his bag and placed it in front of Lu Shan. He then remained silent. Lu Shan had expected Zhang Ke to take out a photo, so she picked it up and pretended to look at it for a long time before suddenly standing up and asking Zhang Ke, "Who are you?"

Zhang Ke calmly said, "I am Li Fang's current husband. We registered our marriage two weeks ago and are now a legally married couple. I'm here today to verify something very simple: were you Li Fang's ex-boyfriend, her first love?"

Lu Shan plopped down on the sofa, covered her face with her hands, and after a long while, said in a trembling voice, "I'm sorry... I... I didn't know..."

Of course, Lu Shan was faking it, but what happened next made him break out in a cold sweat whenever he thought about it.

Zhang Ke stood up, walked around the balcony, and then returned to the living room. He said to Lu Shan, "I only came to verify this matter. There's nothing else. You don't need to do this. I still know you're Li Fang's ex-boyfriend, so this matter isn't that complicated." After saying this, Zhang Ke chuckled, a very sincere laugh.

Before Lu Shan could speak, Zhang Ke got up again, looked into the study, and asked Lu Shan, "Is your computer always on? Can I use it for a bit? I want to check my emails; I just got back to City C today."

Lu Shan said, "Go ahead and use it, it's fine. I rarely turn off my computer."

Zhang Ke said embarrassedly, "I'm basically a computer illiterate. When Li Fang and I are at home, Li Fang is usually in charge of the computer. At most, I can only check emails."

Lu Shan went to the computer to help Zhang Ke open his email. At that moment, Zhang Ke said he needed to use the restroom, so he grabbed a Coke bottle and ran to the bathroom. After Zhang Ke returned and finished with the email, Lu Shan and Zhang Ke sat back down in the living room and started chatting about trivial topics like municipal construction, stocks, and real estate development...

"I've done everything I needed to do today, and I feel much calmer now. I should go now, it's getting late. Come on, let's finish this Coke. Let's pretend the past never happened. After all, we're all men, and men should prioritize their careers. Cheers!" Lu Shan and Zhang Ke finished their Cokes, and then Zhang Ke said goodbye to Lu Shan and went downstairs.

After Zhang Ke went downstairs, Lu Shan stood on the balcony watching him drive away. After Zhang Ke's car left the gate of the community, Lu Shan's phone rang. Lu Shan saw that it was an unfamiliar number, but she still answered it. Zhang Ke's voice came from the other end of the line: "How are you, buddy? Do you feel uncomfortable now? That cola tasted good, right? I added something to it, something new, from abroad. You won't be in that much pain, and you won't die that quickly. You still have about half an hour before you die. You can choose to go to the hospital."

Then Zhang Ke hung up the phone, leaving Lu Shan standing alone on the balcony, stunned. Only then did Lu Shan realize why Zhang Ke had gone to the bathroom after asking her to set up the computer. He hadn't gone to the bathroom at all; to get there, she had to pass through the living room. He had gone back to the living room to drug the cola. Thinking of this, Lu Shan suddenly felt a pain in her stomach. She slowly walked back to the living room and sat on the sofa, preparing to call an ambulance, when she suddenly saw the cola on the table and inexplicably laughed again…

While Zhang Ke was on the balcony, Lu Shan put the newly opened can of Coke under the table. He then took out the half-finished can of Coke from under the table and took a sip. Shortly after Zhang Ke went to the bathroom, Lu Shan came out again because he felt the previously opened can tasted a bit off. He then replaced it with the original Coke from under the table. So, after Zhang Ke drugged the Coke, Lu Shan didn't drink a single drop...

Lu Shan took a deep breath and looked at me and Lai Bao, saying, "I'm not smart, but I'm not stupid either. I'm mostly lucky. Sometimes I'm very lucky, but sometimes I'm very unlucky."

"Really?" I smiled, inwardly marveling at Lu Shan's incredible luck, but also at Zhang Ke's audacity in daring to poison someone. Thinking this, I pressed on, "And Zhang Ke?"

Lu Shan gave a bitter smile and said, "He committed suicide!"

Lai Bao and I were shocked: "Suicide out of guilt? Didn't he know you weren't dead?"

Lu Shan said, "It wasn't because of this that he committed suicide. His suicide was caused by me, or you could say I killed him."

Lu Shan's words left Lai Bao and me completely bewildered...

Lu Shan continued, "That's because he has a disease, a terminal one!"

I said, "Is it really that bad? According to what you've said, Zhang Ke should be a very wealthy person. Even if he has a terminal illness, he wouldn't think of committing suicide, would he?"

Lu Shan took a drag of his cigarette and continued, "Some diseases can't be cured with money, many diseases can't be cured with money, especially this kind of disease."

Seeing that Lai Bao and I still looked blank, Lu Shan took out a sheet from his clothes. Just as I was about to reach for the sheet, Lu Shan glared at me fiercely, and I quickly withdrew my hand. Then Lu Shan placed the paper flat on the table and pressed the two corners of the paper firmly with his hands, meaning that we could look at it like this if we wanted to.

Chapter 32 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Chapter 32 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

Lai Bao and I looked at the form in the dim light of the bar. When Lai Bao picked up a lighter to examine it closely, we discovered that it was a "Laboratory Report for STD/AIDS Clinical Treatment Center of XX Hospital," with two words stamped in red after HIV: Positive.

Lai Bao and I were truly terrified, as if we'd been electrocuted. We both slumped back in our chairs, and then Lu Shan burst out laughing, saying, "I knew you'd react like this..."

After Lu Shan got up and paid for the drinks, he came back to us and said, "I got my revenge, and Zhang Ke came back to get revenge on me, but he didn't get his revenge, while my revenge was too great, too much, and there's no room for redemption."

After saying that, Lu Shan left the bar, asking me for the pack of Ashima cigarettes before she left. From then on, Lai Bao and I never saw Lu Shan again at the bar, but Lai Bao and I were only human, so the next day we went to the hospital…

The End of Chapter Four of Notes: The Revenge of Lu

There are too many questions in this story. All Lai Bao and I know are Lu Shan, Zhang Ke, and Li Fang. According to Lu Shan, all three of them are HIV carriers. Li Fang was infected with HIV by Lu Shan. Zhang Ke is Li Fang's husband, so he was naturally infected as well. But who infected Lu Shan?

Lai Bao's statement is: Judging from his way of speaking, a man like Lu Shan is at best a literary youth. What is a literary youth best at? It is coaxing women into bed, or coaxing others into bed with themselves. The consequence of promiscuity is either getting sexually transmitted diseases or directly developing AIDS.

I think that when Lu Shan told us about that incident, he mentioned the woman from City D several times...

Not long after, I saw a news report about a woman who, after being infected with AIDS by her boyfriend, angrily went out and prostituted herself as a form of revenge against the world. In the end, she even wrote a letter to the police to tell them the truth, causing panic in a certain city for a long time.

When I finished reading this news, I wondered if this woman was deliberately seeking revenge on the world, and what about Lu Shan? Did he choose the least noticeable way to take revenge? Who was he taking revenge on? Li Fang or the world?

Sometimes, those who seek revenge fail to achieve their goal and instead lose their lives. Zhang Ke is an example of this, as is Lu Shan... Those who seek revenge often mean that they are targeting a specific person, not the world. However, the chain reaction caused by one person's revenge is something you could never have foreseen.

After I finished telling Lao Fu this story, he remained silent for a long time before suddenly blurting out, "You're right, what if Mi Dou has AIDS?" I almost fell off my chair after hearing what Lao Fu said. Was Lao Fu's brain filled with nothing but mush and tofu? Was he completely impervious to reason? Lao Fu went to the balcony, stretched his arms, and said, "Lao Tang, don't tell me this anymore. Actually, I don't hold a grudge against anyone, really. It's like Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai, one is willing to hit and the other is willing to be hit. Besides, Mi Dou has never indicated that she wants to be with me. I once told her, but she didn't say anything. I know she was afraid of hurting me. What am I anyway? A useless piece of trash, living off the money my dad left me, never worrying about food or drink, but without a father or a grandfather, the whole family is incomplete."

Listening to Lao Fu's words, I felt resentful, but at least I had finally left behind that extreme path.

“Old Tang, I’m missing a hope right now. I didn’t have any hope of finding my father before, so I pinned my hopes on Mi Dou, hoping to have my own home, a complete home. Now I see hope again. Maybe this invitation can bring me something. What do you think?” Old Fu finished speaking and grinned at me. His smile was very honest and kind. This was probably the most natural smile Old Fu had ever given me in a long time.

"Actually, Lao Fu, I think that as long as a person has a place to sleep and enough to eat, their hopes and dreams are greatly supported." As I spoke, I picked up the invitation and put it in my bag. Then I took out the letter that Shi Ping'er had written to me and looked at it. After thinking for a long time, I decided to keep it with me.

[over]

Notes on Lu's Revenge: My Compilation

To be honest, I originally intended to list this note as the beginning of all my notes. I don't know if this is strange, but a few years ago, before I organized these notes, Lai Bao, Rou Gou (whose background can be found in Lai Bao's "Lai Bao's Diary" and my "Youth in Full Bloom"), and I co-wrote three short stories similar to the Hong Kong film "Three Extremes." Coincidentally, after we finished writing them and looked at them, we all unanimously included the balcony scene in our stories. Lai Bao's story was adapted from an experience told by a stranger on his QQ, while Rou Gou's was adapted from a strange rumor in his neighborhood. But we all know that the most authentic one is my revenge story (which I actually wrote in the first person). I definitely used a pseudonym for Lu Shan, otherwise a simple online search would reveal him. Although he hasn't published anything for many years and is rumored to have gone into seclusion, the veracity of what he said is still questionable. If what he said is false, what if he comes back alive and accuses me of defamation? I even worry that this is just a story he made up. Maybe one day someone will turn this joke into a short film or a movie, and he will jump out and accuse me of copyright infringement or plagiarism?

However, the news about the woman who contracted HIV from her boyfriend many years ago is true. Interested friends can search for it. I am not at liberty to say which region the news story took place in, as I am afraid of sparking an argument: someone might accuse me of regional discrimination.

In this era of excessive sexual openness, physical pleasure seems to have overcome the fear of disease. The era of having only one sexual partner seems to have never existed in the world. Contact between men and women can progress from meeting, shaking hands, holding hands, hugging, kissing, and finally to sex. Too many people engage in contact simply for physical pleasure, like a joke: a child points at his parents and says, "You gave birth to me, raised me, but weren't you just enjoying the process of creating me?" I don't want to delve into the disease, human nature, or even values and worldviews. I'm simply recording this event; it's not a moral observation or a condemnation of society…

I originally intended to put this as the first entry in my notes, but after thinking it over, I realized it was too heavy and didn't fit the timing of when I told Lao Fu this story. So I put it here in chronological order, hoping that this "heavyness" won't cause any other displeasure.

Notes on the Horizon, Part 7: Chapter 1 - About the Cloud-Avoiding Cave

Note: I believe most people will find this note confusing, because even I felt a bit dizzy when I was organizing it from memory. I have prepared a simple floor plan at the end for reference.

Chuanshan is a famous tourist attraction in J City. It gets its name from the fact that the entire mountain is shaped like a boat. It is also one of the few places in the country where Buddhism and Taoism coexist. Moreover, the architectural style is very strange. The buildings from the main gate are entirely in the Taoist style, while the main hall halfway up the mountain is entirely Buddhist. There is also a side hall next to the main hall, which houses the "Nine Heavens Mysterious Treasury", which is now a national key cultural relic. This is one of the characteristics of Chuanshan. Another feature is the two isolated peaks on the top of Chuanshan. Each of the isolated peaks has a small temple built on it, one for Taoism and one for Buddhism. The only way to connect the isolated peaks to the main peak is with iron chains. Therefore, it was an extremely difficult task to build the temples on the two isolated peaks. To this day, no method has been found out how the houses were built on the two isolated peaks. Moreover, the records left by the local county annals only start from the late Qing Dynasty. The records before the late Qing Dynasty are all fragmented and pieced together.

The mention of Biyun Cave on the invitation is based on a legend that has been passed down in Chuanshan since the late Qing Dynasty. Legend has it that this is where Dou Ziming cultivated himself into an immortal. However, some historical records indicate that the cave dates back to the Xiantong period of the Tang Dynasty. The legend says that a famous local Taoist priest practiced alchemy and cultivated immortality within the cave, but the exact location of the cave is not clearly recorded and is mostly speculation. Some say it is "located beneath a solitary peak," while others say it "hides at sunset and appears at sunrise." However, these legends of immortals did not attract much attention until the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty... To resist the Qing government, the White Lotus sect collected a large number of treasures among the people. The White Lotus rebels in Xiangyang moved to Sichuan and joined forces with the White Lotus rebels in Sichuan, which greatly increased their strength. However, because the White Lotus sect was too scattered and fought independently, they were defeated by the Qing army in the Battle of Matigang (a place in present-day J City) in the fifth year of Jiaqing's reign. After the defeat, the White Lotus sect hid most of their wealth and treasures in Biyun Cave, and then used explosives to collapse the entrance of the cave and cover it with grass and trees. Finally, in the sixth year of Jiaqing's reign, the White Lotus uprising was declared a complete failure.

The legend of the Biyun Cave treasure began to circulate from that time. It is said that the treasures hidden in the cave were equivalent to half a year's fiscal revenue of the Qing government at that time. The Qing government then sent people to search all over Chuanshan, but after two whole years, they could not find the exact location of the cave and had to give up. Later, during the Republic of China period, the Sichuan warlord Xiong Kewu also sent people to search for the cave, but he also returned empty-handed. Subsequently, warlords such as Yang Sen and Liu Wenhui also sent people to search for it, but all of them declared failure.

Chapter 33 of "Strange Tales of Tangdun"

Chapter 33 of "Strange Tales of Tangdun"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

The night before Lao Fu and I set off for Chuanshan, we made a special trip to Zhong Sheng's place to ask him about his knowledge of Chuanshan and his views on the Biyun Cave legend. Zhong Sheng said he didn't know much about Chuanshan, and what he knew was probably about the same as mine. However, he and some friends had studied the Biyun Cave legend in a casual way (because most scholars believe that Biyun Cave does not exist, since there are no very accurate documents or historical evidence to prove its existence). From the few remaining records, they came to two speculations: First, the cave does not actually exist; it was just a means for the White Lotus Sect to deceive the Qing Dynasty, making the Qing Dynasty believe that the White Lotus Sect had not been eradicated and could make a comeback at any time with this treasure. Second, the cave does exist, and it may contain the White Lotus Sect's treasure, but not as huge as the legend says, only a part of it. It is possible that there are a large number of weapons and other items inside, which may actually be an altar set up by the White Lotus Sect in Chuanshan. The White Lotus Sect was founded during the Northern Song Dynasty. It was originally a Pure Land sect of Buddhism and was first called the White Lotus Society. After the Southern Song Dynasty, the White Lotus Sect transformed into a heretical sect. Some records even say that the White Lotus Sect's purpose changed to demonizing the people for its own use. There were no fewer than a thousand White Lotus Sect altars throughout the country, but most of the larger ones were destroyed by war. Biyun Cave was very likely one of the larger altars of the White Lotus Sect at that time.

On the drive to J City, Lao Fu kept repeating the words "Biyun Cave," even mispronouncing it as "Contraception Cave" when he was fast-paced. He then said that we had all misunderstood the ancients. There was no treasure at all; it was just that the population was too large, with families having seven, eight, or even ten children, and they couldn't even get enough to eat. There were no good methods to avoid the clouds, so someone discovered that if a woman gave birth and then went to live in that cave for a period of time, she would become unable to have children. So the cave was actually called Biyun Cave, but we just misheard it.

I said, "Old Fu, the reason these place names and cave names are chosen like this is so that you'll misunderstand. You're never serious."

Old Fu kept complaining that I always had to go to Zhong Sheng for everything. I knew Old Fu was only doing it because Mi Dou was Zhong Sheng's student and they had such a close relationship, like father and daughter. After things didn't work out between him and Mi Dou, he was a little upset. I wanted to say something to Old Fu, but then I remembered that the purpose of this event was to help Old Fu relax, so I decided against it and closed my eyes to go to sleep. After all, it would take at least an hour and a half to get to J City. If I had time after we got there, I could go see my parents. It had been so long since I'd seen them. Although I knew I'd have to listen to their nagging when I got home, my ears were starting to feel uncomfortable after not hearing it for so long.

Old Fu's mouth never stopped. After talking to himself about Biyun Cave, he started discussing with me what good food J City had. I said that Chuanshan in J City had been contracted out, and the owner was on good terms with my father. I heard that the roasted lamb, roasted rabbit, and roasted chicken there were quite good. As soon as I finished speaking, I saw Old Fu's eyes light up with greed, and the car started to speed up. I quickly told him to drive carefully, that all the roasted lamb and roasted rabbit were waiting there, they couldn't escape. With money, you can eat anything, even roasted bear if you want.

It was almost noon when we arrived in J City. I took Lao Fu home, but my parents weren't there. So I searched the house for some old materials about Chuanshan that I had kept before, and even brought a ticket stub from the earliest Chuanshan tourist attraction. Then I rummaged through the house for a quick bite and headed to Chuanshan with Lao Fu. In the car, Lao Fu kept saying that we were supposed to have roast lamb for lunch, but we just ate something casually and he was really upset about it. I ignored him. Why would a grown man have so many fuss over nothing?