2 Years of Waiting, Background

Before Qin Zhan could finish speaking, two people quickly walked up behind him: an elderly man with gray hair and a robust middle-aged man.

"You...you're Zhou Rui?"

Zhou Rui frowned as he looked at the two completely unfamiliar faces in front of him.

He wasn't a villager from Jiaolong Gorge, nor was he someone he knew from his previous dealings with the commune; he had absolutely no recollection of him.

"Yes, that's me." He nodded. Since he came with Qin Zhan, he couldn't possibly be here to cause trouble.

"Zhou Rui, don't stand in the snow and talk." Qin Zhan stepped forward, interrupting their staring contest, and reached out to help Jiang Chuntao.

"It's too cold at night, Aunt Jiang can't stand it. Let's go inside and talk."

On the way here, Qin Zhan had already told most of his story about his relationship with Zhou Rui in the jeep.

Lu Duanshan also said that his family had been searching for their lost sister for twenty years.

Qin Zhan wasn't sure if there was any blood relation between the two sides, but seeing the old man's reddened eyes from the cold, his heart sank.

"Okay." Zhou Rui turned sideways, opened the courtyard gate, and led the three people into the courtyard.

The five stray dogs that had been barking so loudly just moments before had all retreated back into their dens and become completely silent, as if their frenzied barking had been nothing but an illusion.

The kerosene lamp in the room was suddenly turned on, and its warm yellow light instantly filled half of the living room.

Zhou Rui turned around and went to the kitchen to pour hot water. Lu Duanshan and Jiang Chuntao stood in place, their eyes slowly scanning the entire room.

The exterior walls look like the mud bricks commonly found in rural Northeast China, but the interior walls are entirely made of bluestone slabs.

A sturdy wooden staircase stands in the corner, leading directly to the floor of the two-story building.

The hall was bright and spacious, yet there was no trace of winter chill. Warm air flowed up from the soles of the feet, clearly indicating that the method of heating was completely different from that of other mud-brick houses that used braziers.

On the way there, the two were still talking about how Qin Zhan said that Zhou Rui had led his family to live such a life in the mountains at the age of seventeen, which was somewhat of an exaggeration.

Seeing this unique stone-paved building with my own eyes, I realized that what people said was absolutely true.

"Plop." Zhou Rui gently placed three bowls of steaming hot water on the kang table.

"Brother Qin Zhan, I just left your house this morning. It's pitch black, why did you chase after me all the way to our village in the middle of the night?"

He didn't dare to address the two strangers beside him rashly, so he could only focus his gaze on Qin Zhan's face and ask the question that had been nagging at him all the way.

Jiang Chuntao was so anxious when she was in the Forestry Bureau's family compound that she was stamping her feet. But now that she was actually standing in the earthen house in Jiaolong Gorge, her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Lu Duanshan also froze on the spot, his gaze falling on Zhou Rui's face. He searched for her face several times, but he couldn't see any resemblance to his sister's features from his memory.

His lips opened and closed repeatedly. Over the past twenty years, he had experienced too many false alarms where his hopes were dashed. He was terrified that this time would be another disappointment.

"Let me speak." Qin Zhan picked up the rough porcelain bowl and drank most of the hot water. Seeing that the two of them were hesitant to speak, he had no choice but to break the silence in the room.

"Zhou Rui, you might find this outrageous, but none of us would brave the cold wind in the middle of the night to fool you with something like this."

He was afraid Zhou Rui would react too strongly after hearing this, so he gave him a heads-up beforehand.

Zhou Rui was puzzled, but trusting Qin Zhan's character, he didn't refute, but simply nodded quietly.

"This Aunt Jiang lost her daughter more than 20 years ago, and her family searched for her for a full 20 years." Qin Zhan's voice was very soft.

"The day before yesterday, she bumped into a little girl near the guesthouse. Her eyebrows and eyes looked exactly like her daughter's when she was little. Most importantly, the child was also wearing a black iron ring with a fish carved on it on her wrist."

The few words seemed to have no beginning or end, but Zhou Rui understood them all instantly.

An elderly man lost his daughter and searched for her for twenty years. He bumped into a child wearing the same iron ring and followed the clues to Jiaolong Gorge.

And the iron ring engraved with a fish was now clearly worn on his sister An'an's wrist.

Lu Duanshan watched as Zhou Rui tapped his fingertips on the kang table, remaining silent for a long time. His heart pounded with anxiety, and he finally couldn't help but lean forward slightly.

"Young comrade... could we see your sister, just to take a look at that iron ring?"

"There's no need." Zhou Rui shook his head directly.

Lu Duanshan and Jiang Chuntao's hearts sank instantly. They never expected that this seemingly cold and aloof young man would block their path so easily with just a few words.

"Zhou Rui..." Qin Zhan frowned, about to speak and offer advice.

Zhou Rui quickly waved his hand: "An'an is already fast asleep, there's no need to wake her up."

"Actually... you don't need to look at the iron ring, just tell me the name of the person you're looking for."

"I was old enough to remember things when my mother passed away. I remember her name very clearly."

Lu Duanshan and Jiang Chuntao's eyes lit up instantly, and Qin Zhan slapped his thigh hard, making a crisp sound.

The three of them paced back and forth in the car, racking their brains over how to use the appearance and the iron ring as evidence. Their minds were completely muddled.

They forgot the most straightforward truth: Zhou Rui's mother didn't have amnesia, and her name had never been changed. There was no need for such roundabout methods.

"Lu... Lu Qingyu, nicknamed Little Fish." Jiang Chuntao's voice trembled so badly that the words rolled out of her throat like a thousand-pound stone that had been pressing down on her for more than twenty years.

Zhou Rui didn't reply immediately, but Lu Duanshan clearly saw his pupils shrink suddenly, and the heart that had been hanging in suspense for half the night instantly returned to reality.

Anyone else might have been able to put on an act, but Zhou Rui had spent his entire life wandering alone and had never met his mother's family before he died. He had never experienced anything like this before.

"My mother's name is Lu Qingyu," Zhou Rui said, his voice dry and hoarse, lacking any of his usual composure.

"Really...really?" Having received confirmation, the two were even more hesitant to believe it, and subconsciously asked again.

"real."

"My parents' marriage certificate is still at home, and her name is clearly written in the brigade's work point register." Zhou Rui nodded blankly.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

Lu Duanshan's exclamation suddenly rang out in the room. Jiang Chuntao, who had just been struggling to sit on the stool, closed her eyes and fell straight backward.

Lu Duanshan hurriedly reached out to support her shoulder, his face turning deathly pale with anxiety.

Just as Zhou Rui stood up, the curtain to the inner room was suddenly lifted, and Lin Qiuyue, wearing a cotton-padded coat, came out, looking at everyone in the room with a puzzled expression: "Zhou Rui, what happened?"

"Qiuyue, go to the far right of the kang cabinet in the inner room and bring over the wooden box that holds the pestle," Zhou Rui ordered without further explanation.

Lin Qiuyue's gaze swept across the hall, and she saw a room full of strangers, including Qin Zhan, whom she had just parted ways with that morning.

She was filled with doubt, but she didn't ask any more questions. She turned around, lifted the curtain, and went back into the inner room.

Lu Duanshan was completely thrown into disarray. He had just found the child his sister had left behind when his mother fainted.

He was so anxious that he was completely flustered and had no idea what to do.

"Pinch the philtrum." Qin Zhan's voice came.

He had just raised his hand when his wrist was suddenly gripped by an extremely strong iron hand.

"Don't move him." Zhou Rui's voice rang in his ear. "The old man fainted from extreme joy. You don't know the situation, so don't do anything rash."