Зал астрологии с плотью и кровью

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"Mmm!" Fang Lei responded, then stepped forward and gently shook my hand.

"Wait a minute, stop at that supermarket up ahead. I'm going to buy something," Fang Lei said to me.

"Okay," I said, parking the car. I was about to get out and go into the supermarket with Fang Lei when she said, "You don't need to get out. Just wait for me in the car. I just want to buy a bottle of water, I'll be right there!"

"Oh, okay!" I nodded, the image still flashing through my mind, completely unaware of the slightly shy expression on Fang Lei's face.

Sure enough, Fang Lei returned with a bottle of water in just about five minutes. I didn't ask anything and started the car to drive home.

Lying in bed at night, I absentmindedly flipped through the newspaper. Fang Lei was still taking a shower in the bathroom. It seems that women spend hundreds of times more time in front of the drawing table and dressing table than men. But today, Fang Lei seemed even slower. I looked at the clock on the wall and it was already 45 minutes past three. Could something have happened to her?

Just as I was about to go in and check on her, Fang Lei came out wrapped in a bath towel. Perhaps because she had been in the bathroom for too long, her whole face was flushed.

"Are you alright?" I asked with concern.

"Hmm..." Fang Lei sat on the bed, then clasped her hands together, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" I reached out to touch Fang Lei's forehead, but she slapped my hand away shyly.

"Are all men like this?"

"What does it look like?" I was even more confused.

"Oh dear, do I really have to say it out loud?" Fang Lei's face turned even redder.

"How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me?" I said, feeling wronged.

"I..." Fang Lei lowered her head and whispered, "I...I'm pregnant!"

Ahhhhh! I'm petrified!

"Hey! Are you stupid!" Fang Lei nudged me, who was almost in a daze.

"Oh my god, are you sure?" I felt my mouth go dry.

"Of course, you think I really went to the supermarket to buy water? I went... to buy a fertility test!" Fang Lei looked like she wanted to strangle me.

"Is...is that so?" I felt my whole body trembling. I'm going to be a father! Oh my god!

"Mmm!" Fang Lei said with a happy expression.

"Great! Let's go get our marriage certificate tomorrow!" I said.

"Is this your proposal?" Fang Lei pouted, a little dissatisfied. She hadn't expected her proposal to be like this; it wasn't romantic at all.

"Hehe!" I immediately jumped out of bed, walked to Fang Lei's bedside, knelt down on one knee, and said, "Miss Fang Lei, will you marry me?"

"Ugh, get up!" Fang Lei tugged at me with a satisfied look on her face.

"Hehe," I chuckled as I stood up, saying, "Great! I need to tell Li Yang, A Bao, and the others, oh, and my sister too."

"Yes, I also need to tell my master," Fang Lei nodded.

Sister? I suddenly thought of her. I wonder where she's gone looking for inspiration again? Thinking of my sister, I suddenly thought of my deceased parents. Should we let them meet their future daughter-in-law too?

"By the way, Fang Lei, after we understand that case, why don't you come back to my hometown with me? I want to take you to my parents' graves to offer incense, so they can know they're going to be grandparents," I said to Fang Lei.

"Okay!" Fang Lei immediately agreed.

Go back to my hometown? I suddenly remembered Yin Xue's warning to me back at our alma mater: "Don't go back, don't go back!"

Don't you want to go back? But I have to let Fang Lei see the place where I grew up, let her see my parents, and maybe she should also come and see you, Yin Xue.

I tried to shake off the unease in my heart, but it still felt empty, as if I had taken another step onto the path that someone else had laid out for me...

Volume 4, Chapter 3: The Mysterious Stalker

Volume 4, Chapter 3: The Mysterious Stalker

I glanced sideways at the two people sitting in front of me and sighed helplessly. I hadn't expected that even a trip back to my hometown would involve having two tails and third wheels. Although that strange case ultimately went unsolved—investigating the sender and receiver yielded no clues, and the driver was dead, and while a head was found on the body, there seemed to be no response from missing persons reports—the case seemed to have become a cold case, shelved. Only the owner of the freight company was fined for illegally transporting a corpse.

Fang Lei and I quickly got our marriage certificate, planning to have a big celebration after we returned to our hometown. But... but why did these two have to come along too?

"Alright, Lin Xiao, why are you being even more stingy than Sister Fang Lei? It's just going back with you guys, we both happen to be free anyway, let's treat it as a trip!" A Bao said to me while looking at the scenery outside the train window.

"Yes, yes! I also have a long holiday!" Li Yang eagerly handed over a peeled orange.

"I think you guys are trying to save on food and lodging expenses!" I offered all the oranges in my hand to Fang Lei next to me, since she's eating for two now!

"Hehe, alright! It's rare for the captain to let us all out, so let's stop arguing." Fang Lei took the orange and started to act as a peacemaker.

"By the way, why didn't your sister come along?" Li Yang asked me with concern.

"I think you're just after my sister's looks," she said. "She said she'd arrive first and would pick us up at the train station."

"Really? I heard Lin Xiao's sister is a great beauty!" A Bao's eyes sparkled.

"I think so!" I said.

“Lin Xiao, you never used to talk much about your family. Now that you’re going, please tell us about it!” Li Yang said.

"There's not much to say, it's just located in a small mountain valley," I replied.

"So, it's just you and your sister left in your family?" Li Yang continued to ask.

"Yes, my parents died in a car accident," I said casually. It wasn't that I wasn't sad, but my memory of the time was too vague, and it felt like I was telling someone else's story.

"Really? I'm sorry," Li Yang said apologetically.

"Hehe, it's nothing. Anyway, it's been a long time." I suddenly realized that I couldn't even remember how many years they had been dead?

"The Lin family members must all be quite remarkable, it's a pity there aren't many left," Abao sighed softly from the side.

"Hehe, to be honest, I can't really be considered a full member of the Lin family yet," I said.

"Oh? How so?" Li Yang immediately became interested again.

"Because my father married into the family. That is to say, my sister and I both have my mother's surname." I explained, "Because my father was an orphan back then, I think he was sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution."

"Huh? Didn't you say your mother had two older brothers? Is it because they both died young that your father married into the family?" Fang Lei asked.

"I don't know, but I think they were still alive before I was born," I said.

"Huh? That's strange. Since the Lin family has male descendants, why won't they marry your mother off?" Li Yang asked curiously. His question was quite normal, because usually, the only reason the woman's family needs to have a son-in-law is because they have no other male descendants.

“I’m not really sure, but I heard from my sister that my maternal grandfather seems to really like my mother.” I shrugged and added, “He probably loves her too much, so he doesn’t want her to get married. Anyway, my dad is an orphan, so marrying into the family doesn’t mean much to him.”

"And what about your maternal grandfather?" Abao interjected.

"He died of illness before I was born." I said, "I heard he used to be a general in the Kuomintang!"

"Haha, so you're saying your family has high-ranking officials' children?" Li Yang laughed.

“He’s a member of the Kuomintang! Besides, he retired a long time ago, so he didn’t have the chance to go to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek,” I replied.

"Maybe your grandfather even fought against former local leaders on the battlefield!" Fang Lei joked from the side.

“Impossible.” I shook my head and said, “Because my sister said that my grandfather never participated in any war to suppress the Communist bandits. He was assigned to Burma to participate in the rescue of the British army and to support the American army in fighting the Japanese there.”

"Isn't that Southeast Asia? I heard that the troops that went there got lost as soon as they entered the tropical rainforest, and very few came out alive," Li Yang said, seemingly quite familiar with that period of history.

"Yeah, so even if my grandfather came back alive, he was left with a host of health problems." I clapped my hands and said, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, we're almost there."

Looking out the car window at the lush greenery, I felt as if I had suddenly returned to my childhood and adolescence, a place filled with countless hazy memories and so many vivid old friends.

That girl in the flowing white dress, that bittersweet first love, and my few departed relatives I barely remember. Do you see? I've returned, about to set foot on my homeland, with my lover, my friends…

In a daze, my eyes welled up with tears. The rapidly passing green mountains stirred a sudden longing within me. Even though the memories weren't all pleasant, it was, after all, my hometown, the place where I was born...

Just as I was lost in thought, Li Yang kicked me under the table. Then, while he was looking out the car window at the scenery, he whispered to us, "It looks like there's a tail."

"What tail?" Abao looked at Fang Lei and me in confusion, but Fang Lei and I understood what Li Yang meant. It meant that we were being watched!

Is someone following us? Who is it? I didn't dare look around rashly. I could only whisper to Li Yang, "Who is it? Where?"

"There are two middle-aged men in the two directions behind you," Li Yang replied. "I've noticed they've been watching us for a long time."

"Are you sure?" Fang Lei asked.

“Of course,” Li Yang said. “I’ve been keeping an eye on them.”

"Who are they?" Abao wasn't afraid at all and said, "Should we teach them a lesson?"

Seeing Abao's eagerness, I quickly shook my head. "We have pregnant women here. Can you please stop fighting all the time?"

"Don't make any rash moves for now. We don't have any evidence that they're definitely following us." Fang Lei patted A Bao's hand and said, "Besides, you're a girl, so behave yourself, okay?"

"Okay, okay." Abao pouted in dissatisfaction and didn't say anything more.

We could only ignore them for the time being, but we still carefully watched our surroundings. Strangely, they didn't seem to have any intention of causing us any trouble. And just as the train was about to arrive at the station, they actually left their seats and walked out of the carriage.

Perhaps we were being too cautious. But now that the person keeping watch has left, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

*****************************

With a deafening whistle, we finally arrived at our station. Carrying our luggage, we slowly followed the crowd off the train, and the first thing I saw was my sister, Lin Yao. Strangely, she was wearing a long white dress today, something she almost never does. This exhibitionist, what's gotten into her today?

Her long, wavy hair was draped over her shoulders, and her red top was quite eye-catching. The woman in the red and white outfit seemed to have a serene composure today, but there was a hint of unreality in her smile.

What's wrong? I tried to smile at her. I felt so close to her, yet so far away...

"You've finally arrived!" Lin Yao said happily as she walked up to us.

"Hmm, you arrived very early? I'm so sorry." Fang Lei seemed a little awkward as well.

"Why don't you say something nicer?" Lin Yao casually put her arm around Fang Lei's shoulder and glanced at me.

"Hehe..." Fang Lei lowered her head shyly and called out softly, "Sister!"

"That's more like it!" Lin Yao nodded smugly, then turned to look at Li Yang and A Bao behind her and said, "Hello, I am Lin Xiao's older sister, Lin Yao."

"Hello, my name is..." Before Li Yang could finish speaking, A Bao next to him immediately clasped his hands together and exclaimed in a lovestruck manner, "Wow, sister is so pretty, I like her!"

After saying that, she immediately pounced on Lin Yao and grabbed her hand, clinging to her older sister Lin Yao like a koala.

"Can't you be a little more polite?" Li Yang pulled A Bao down with dissatisfaction, but of course he didn't forget to introduce himself to the beautiful woman: "Hello, beautiful sister, my name is Li Yang, Li as in wood and Yang as in ocean. I'm Lin Xiao's colleague, but I'm a criminal police officer, not a forensic doctor."

“I’m Abao, the ‘Bao’ in ‘Baby’,” Abao shouted from the side, unwilling to be ignored.

"I know, Lin Xiao mentioned it to me." Lin Yao said with a smile, "Let's hurry up, it's still a long way from the train station to home!"

"Hmm." I nodded. It seemed she hadn't said anything to me yet, and I felt a little jealous. But then, my sister suddenly reached out and patted my head.

"Sister!?" I looked at her, and there seemed to be so many things in her eyes that I had never understood before.

"Welcome home." My sister said softly, just four words. Her voice...it sounded so familiar...