Out of the wolf’s den and into the tiger’s lair. After stepping off the bus, the scorching heat at the station seed to roast Tian Sangsang’s skin inch by inch.
Tian Sangsang held ng Shuyan tightly in her arms, the little guy’s face just as flushed. Fortunately, she had planned ahead, preparing iced orange juice at ho and hiding it in a black water bottle that wouldn’t draw attention.
ng Shuyan took a sip from the bottle, curiosity and intensity gleaming in his jet-black eyes as he exclaid, "Wow, Mom, the city is so big."
There were no cars constantly zipping around in their village, nor people bustling back and forth everywhere. Yes, he liked this vast place. It broadened his horizons all at once. So, the world could be this big after all.
"Indeed. From now on, we’re going to live here." Tian Sangsang gazed at the scene before her. It wasn’t exactly rivers of cars and crowds like dragons, but it carried a wholly new and unfamiliar vibe. Perhaps a change of environnt wasn’t such a bad thing after all. She had never realized just how exhilarating exploring unknown territory could be.
Life could go on anywhere, as long as one’s heart let go of so unfounded attachnts.
Sotis, it’s not the body that needs more weight, but the heart that could stand to feel a little lighter. That makes life so much easier.
Tian Sangsang strolled around with ng Shuyan, taking in the sights. In the early 80s, the streets of East Sea Province’s cities were pretty impressive—spacious and open. Vendors had already begun setting up small stalls along the roadsides, selling various goods, and shops like noodle houses, bun shops, grocery stores, and departnt stores dotted the area. Occasionally, fashionable young won with bright eyes, white teeth, and slender legs passed through the crowd, causing Tian Sangsang’s heart to leap with excitent.
Uh-oh. She suddenly wanted to shop for clothes.
After inquiring about the prices at so city stores, Tian Sangsang first headed to a bookstore to buy a newspaper. To get to know a place, reading the local papers was one way to start.
Then, she handed the newspaper casually to ng Shuyan and took him up to the second floor of the departnt store to browse clothing. One outfit caught her eye—a floral short skirt paired with a lace top and classy little leather shoes. Refreshing yet stylish, it gave her the urge to change her entire style. Unfortunately, her current figure didn’t suit such attire at all.
"Mom." Suddenly, ng Shuyan tugged gently at her pant leg.
The newspaper he was holding was as large as his upper body. With a stern little face, he stared intently at the page in his hands.
"What is it, son?" His serious focus and concentration made him look like a tiny prodigy.
"This person..." ng Shuyan pointed at the newspaper, "I think I’ve seen him sowhere before."
"Which person?" Tian Sangsang rested her hand on his small shoulder, crouching down and leaning closer. Slowly, her expression turned grim. "It’s him... Chen Biao."
She took the newspaper and carefully read it. The photo on the paper showed a face, black and white and a bit blurry—but unmistakably, it was Chen Biao. There was a small news snippet: Police were searching for Chen Biao, a suspect who had stabbed a pedestrian three tis on the street recently. The identity of the victim wasn’t specified, but Chen Biao was clearly a dangerous individual. The longer he remained at large, the greater the threat to public safety. Chen Biao had been eluding justice and was still on the run.
"Mom, is he Brother Biao?" ng Shuyan frowned, as if recalling sothing.
"It’s okay, Yanyan. He’s a bad person, and the police are trying to catch him." Tian Sangsang no longer felt like shopping for clothes. She rolled up the newspaper, grabbed her son, and left the departnt store.
Outside, Tian Sangsang grew dazed, unsure of what to do next. It felt like sothing had slipped her mind!
Oh right, Zhao Chun! She hadn’t received a letter from Zhao Chun in ages!
She concentrated, ntally accessing the number he had once left for her and morizing it. Then she found a public phone booth and dialed the number.
"Beep—beep—beep—"
"No luck, no one’s answering."
Heavily, Tian Sangsang replaced the receiver. She resolved to write him a letter when she got ho to find out what was going on. Asking was always better than wallowing in worry—it gave her peace of mind. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Still, for so reason, every ti she thought of Chen Biao, she also thought of Zhao Chun. Perhaps it was just her overthinking things.
By the ti all this had happened, it was noon. Spotting a small restaurant nearby, Tian Sangsang remarked, "Yanyan, shall we have lunch outside today? Let’s try sothing made by soone else."
"Sure, Mom." ng Shuyan’s eyes curved with excitent—it was his first ti eating out, and he was clearly thrilled.
"Boss, two bowls of braised noodles, please." After entering, Tian Sangsang spoke as she helped ng Shuyan up onto a chair.
"Coming right up!" the boss responded. About ten minutes later, he brought out two steaming, fragrant bowls of braised noodles in large ceramic bowls, filled to the brim. Tian Sangsang noted these seed quite authentic—the ingredients were generous. The noodles were adorned with oysters, clams, scallops, razor clams, shiitake mushrooms, red mushrooms, fava beans, lean at, bean sprouts, and chives. The combination of flavors unique to braised noodles was utterly appetizing.
"Yanyan, there are clams in these, so eat carefully. Don’t bite into any shells," Tian Sangsang advised, handing him his chopsticks. "Otherwise, like what happened to that Chun Zisu Susu—the shell getting stuck in your throat—wouldn’t that be unpleasant?"
Obediently, ng Shuyan nodded but then suddenly pouted, "Mom, do you think Chun Zisu has forgotten about ?"
"Of course not." Tian Sangsang pinched his cheek and gently replied, "He’s just really busy. Next ti we see him, I’ll help you teach him a lesson. A couple of slaps and a kick—it’ll serve him right for not writing back sooner."
ng Shuyan giggled. "But if you do that, Chun Zisu might cry."
The mory of Zhao Chun’s younger, helpless self brought a laugh out of Tian Sangsang as well. Ah, that guy really was kind of adorable.
They enjoyed a satisfying al. Since ng Shuyan was so little, he couldn’t finish even half his bowl. But he hated the thought of wasting food. Inheriting her mother’s frugality, Tian Sangsang had no choice but to finish his leftovers.
In truth, Tian Sangsang had been craving food, too. Her recent heartbreak had dulled her appetite, but today, the braised noodles tempted her to eat her fill. Especially since this shop’s noodles were delicious.
"Mom." As they left, ng Shuyan tilted his head up, his eyes sparkling as he whispered, "Theirs aren’t as good as yours."
Ruffling his fluffy hair, Tian Sangsang couldn’t help but feel delighted.
To reach the bus station, they had to cross a bridge spanning a large river. The water shimred with ripples, lively and radiant, rushing along more aggressively than usual. Tian Sangsang’s curiosity piqued—she leaned closer to take a look. Suddenly, a cacophony of alard bird cries rang out. A flock of white egrets shot up into the sky, their wings flapping wildly as they flew away as if thoroughly spooked.
That group of startling egrets.
"What on earth..." Tian Sangsang muttered. For a brief mont, she thought a quake was about to hit. But an earthquake? That couldn’t be. Sure, she had read so ti-travel and reincarnation novels before, and earthquakes almost never happened to the protagonists. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in earthquakes—it was just that these were natural disasters one would rather never encounter. Especially in this era, an earthquake would be catastrophic. However, at least the buildings of this ti weren’t as densely packed or as towering as in the future, slightly mitigating the danger.
Moving a few steps aside, she seed to brush past sothing green. Startled, Tian Sangsang quickly scooped up ng Shuyan and hid behind one end of the bridge.
It was lucky they had already reached this spot. Had they been stuck in the middle of the bridge, they would’ve been left with nowhere to hide.
"Jinghuai, what are you looking at?" Fang Tongzhou followed Jiang Jinghuai’s gaze but saw nothing.
Jiang Jinghuai touched the jade thumb ring in his hand, his voice calm yet thoughtful: "Oh, nothing. Just sothing felt... odd." He caught a faint whiff of an unusual fragrance.
Fang Tongzhou didn’t notice anything out of place. Scratching his head, he peered into the distance. "There sure are a lot of white birds around here—they all flew off in the sa direction."
Jiang Jinghuai let out a soft "Hmm." "The current’s fast, too."
Tian Sangsang remained frozen in place, clutching ng Shuyan. She only dared to breathe easy after seeing the two figures walk far away.
"Mom, what’s going on?" ng Shuyan asked, puzzled, wanting to wriggle out of her arms and crane his neck to look around.
The sound of rushing water didn’t let up. Staring at her son’s delicate little face, Tian Sangsang smiled. "We just shook off a big trouble, but everything’s fine now. Gosh, the water in this era is so clear... Wait, no... it’s murky."
She turned to face the river.
"Not good." ng Shuyan furrowed his brows, staring at the water intently. "They’re not happy. They’re saying it’s too hot."
"They? Who’s ’they,’ son?"
"The fish," ng Shuyan replied.
"Son." Tian Sangsang’s smile disappeared as she leaned in seriously. "It’s okay. Don’t stress yourself. If the fish are unhappy, it doesn’t an you have to be."
"If they’re upset, then I’m upset, too," ng Shuyan muttered.
"It’s fine, let’s go ho." Tian Sangsang caressed his head, holding him close.
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