Wu Lingyun realized she still didn't understand her father.
Even Chen Jinzhao, standing beside her, looked at Li Qiutao in surprise. He had been gone for so many years; even if there were lingering emotions, it shouldn't be enough to cause such profound grief.
In any case—
Li Qiutao struck her as strange.
Perhaps he harbored a colossal secret.
But clearly, now was not the time to discuss it.
"Dad, don't be too sad. The dead cannot be brought back to life. If—Grandpa and Grandma knew you were living well out here, they would be happy for you," Wu Lingyun quietly corrected herself.
Li Qiutao nodded and wiped his tears again.
He said to his daughter, "Lingyun, you must always remember this: my roots are in Gushan Village. This is a fact that nothing can change."
"If I die in the future, bury me in Gushan Village, do you understand?"
Wu Lingyun quickly replied, "Dad, what nonsense are you talking about? You're only in your early fifties, and that topic is still a long way off."
Li Qiutao sighed, "Everyone dies, sooner or later. I fear if I don't say it now, I won't have the chance later."
Wu Lingyun could only say that she understood.
"I still have some things to say to your grandparents. You two can go wait a bit further away. I haven't been back in so many years, and all my thoughts have been bottled up," Li Qiutao said.
Chen Jinzhao also chimed in at the opportune moment, "Then I'll go take a look at my father over there."
His father's grave was not far away.
Li Qiutao nodded. After Chen Jinzhao turned and left with the sickle, he said to Wu Lingyun, "Go see if you can help your cousin."
Wu Lingyun didn't want to upset her father, so she reluctantly followed Chen Jinzhao to his father's grave. This grave had also become overgrown, covered in weeds.
"Um, is there anything I can help with?" Wu Lingyun asked.
Chen Jinzhao, while clearing weeds, replied, "There's nothing you need to help with. Just sit aside and watch."
Wu Lingyun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Chen Jinzhao didn't ask her to help; she had only been being polite and had no intention of actually assisting.
With nothing else to do and her phone out of battery, she squatted down, resting her chin on her hands, and watched Chen Jinzhao work. She noticed he was very competent, with no wasted movements.
"Hey!"
Wu Lingyun broke the silence.
Chen Jinzhao turned to look at his cousin, "What is it?"
"Did you often do farm work when you were little? You look so skilled," Wu Lingyun asked curiously.
Chen Jinzhao smiled, "Yes, before my elementary school moved to the county town, we even raised a few pigs. The first thing I did every day after school was to go up the mountain to cut grass for the pigs. I got used to it."
Wu Lingyun suddenly felt that Chen Jinzhao was a peculiar person. He was an accomplished general, yet he seemed like an ordinary person, lacking any of the 'arrogant aura' of those from elite families in the capital.
"By the way, I have another question," Wu Lingyun asked.
"With your status, shouldn't many people want to curry favor with you? If you so much as hinted at it, the officials in the county town would likely rush to help you clear weeds, or even develop this place into a scenic spot."
"Why didn't you do that?"
Chen Jinzhao hadn't expected his cousin to have so many questions. Regarding this one, he didn't offer any empty platitudes, but simply shook his head, "I just don't like hearing people flatter me."
Wu Lingyun said "oh" and didn't press further.
After about ten minutes, Chen Jinzhao finally finished clearing his father's grave. The tombstone, covered in dust, was also wiped clean, revealing a line of large characters—
'Grave of my late husband Chen Yangfu'
Chen Jinzhao burned paper money, poured wine, and knelt to kowtow a few times, just as he always did.
Wu Lingyun quietly watched him complete the entire ritual before speaking again, "Huh? Why are you different from my dad? He cried when he visited Grandpa and Grandma's graves, but you don't seem to have any feelings?"
"My dad died when I was very young," Chen Jinzhao replied.
Wu Lingyun's expression froze. Chen Jinzhao added, "To be precise, I never saw my father from the time I could remember. He passed away not long after I was born."
"I see..."
"I'm sorry, I touched a sore spot," Wu Lingyun said with a tone of guilt.
This was a rare expression for her in front of Chen Jinzhao.
Chen Jinzhao smiled with a sense of freedom, as he had long since come to terms with it. He chuckled, "It's nothing. My father is too distant and unfamiliar to me. I just treat him as if he never existed."
He only deeply loved his mother.
Because after his father's accident, his mother was still very young and could have abandoned him and remarried.
But she didn't.
Wu Lingyun seemed to understand, yet not fully.
However, Chen Jinzhao's detached demeanor, in stark contrast to Li Qiutao's emotional state, made her feel a sense of inexplicable strangeness. Both had barely known their fathers, yet one had long moved on, while the other was almost beside himself with grief?
She couldn't figure it out.
Chen Jinzhao glanced at the sky and said to Wu Lingyun, "It's almost four o'clock. We should head down the mountain back to the city, or the road will be difficult to navigate at night."
Wu Lingyun nodded and got up, following Chen Jinzhao. Chen Jinzhao took out his phone to check the time, and his brow furrowed. Why had his phone suddenly lost signal?
"Lingyun, check if your phone has a signal?" Chen Jinzhao stopped.
Seeing Chen Jinzhao's grim expression, Wu Lingyun didn't dare to delay. She took out her phone and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, why doesn't my phone have a signal either? I remember it was working when we came up the mountain. What's going on?"
"Could it be because there's no signal in the mountains?"
"No," Chen Jinzhao shook his head.
"Why?" Wu Lingyun asked, confused.
Chen Jinzhao pointed to a signal tower less than two hundred meters away. Wu Lingyun's face instantly turned awkward; she had really made a fool of herself in front of her cousin today.
"I think things might not be as simple as they seem. We have to be on guard. Stay close to me, we're going to find Uncle now," Chen Jinzhao said. Wu Lingyun's heart tightened, and she grabbed Chen Jinzhao's sleeve, afraid of getting lost.
The two successfully reunited with Li Qiutao.
Seeing Chen Jinzhao's solemn expression, Li Qiutao instinctively asked, "What's wrong? Did you run into trouble?"
Chen Jinzhao shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Uncle, our phones have no signal. Check yours to see if it does."
Li Qiutao realized the seriousness of the situation and took out his phone to check. His face turned grim, "My phone also has no signal. I remember there's a signal tower nearby. How could this happen?"
"Perhaps someone intends to make a move on us," Chen Jinzhao deduced.
He took out his phone and tried to call someone. The prompt that came up was not about poor signal, but rather informed him that his phone number was invalid and could not be connected.
In other words, it had nothing to do with the signal.
Subsequently, Li Qiutao and Wu Lingyun both tried to make calls and received the same invalid number prompt.
Chen Jinzhao took a deep breath.
"Someone has tampered with our phone numbers. They want to kill us to silence us!"