With that, Ling Feng raised the cup of tea to Ji Ziming. However, the man was unmoved and, instead, sneered,””You can drink it yourself. I, Ji Ziming, disdain to deal with people like you, who have honeyed words but mean swords!” After saying that, he took out two hundred Yuan bills from his wallet and said to Ling Feng,””I’ll treat you to today’s meal. Treat it as a reward for helping us find the person you’re looking for. I’m going to pick up Pei Pei and the rest now. Please stay here for a while and have some tea. ”
In the next second, Ji Ziming got up and strode toward the teahouse’s entrance.
Ling Feng looked at his back, then at the two hundred-Yuan bills on the table. The corner of his mouth curled up, and he shook his head with a smile as he poured himself a cup of tea.
It was already oneo’ clock in the afternoon when the four of them arrived at the so-called Old Street. PEI GE, Ji Ziming, and Wen Xin did not expect the so-called Old Town to be so far away from the town. It took them nearly an hour to drive there because the road was not easy to walk on. If this was city A and City B, it would be like the distance between the two cities on the highway.
Moreover, the old Street here really looked a little desolate. Although there were many houses, at a glance, it was not as bustling as the town. The villagers who occasionally walked on the road were only doing so to make a living. Even the laughter of children was rare.
“Is … Is this the old Street?” Wen Xin asked hesitantly as she pointed at the alleyway paved with stone slabs and bricks.
“According to what Ling Feng said, this should be the place.” Not sure if she was replying to Wen Xin or asking for Ji Ziming’s opinion, she shot him a glance from the corner of her eye.
Along the way, the man drove silently with a dark expression on his face. It was as if the words ‘strangers are not to get close’ were written on his face, making people shiver.
“This is the old Street. If one person were to go from house to house and finish asking, it would probably take a day. However, there are four of us now. If we split up, we can still get it done before it gets dark. Don’t be too late, or it’ll be hard to return to town. ” Ji Ziming did not say anything, but Ling Feng cleared his throat and gave a suggestion.
“My God, four people going from house to house asking about this Street, and it still took more than half a day? “This …” Wen Xin was very surprised.”But these old streets don’t seem to have many people living there.” Why are you taking so long?”
Wen Xin’s question was also PEI GE ‘s.””That’s right, Ling Feng, you said you’re very familiar with this place. But why was it so difficult to find someone in this small and desolate Old Street? Do you know something that’s hard to say?”
Ling Feng lowered his head and looked at his feet. With one hand on his waist, he said,””Actually, it’s not something that’s hard to say. It’s just that most of the people on the old Street are more nostalgic and conservative Aboriginals. They don’t really interact with the outside world, so they’re more unfamiliar with each other and feel a little distant. If we rashly ask them, we’ll definitely get nothing, so we need to be patient and get closer to them first. This will take some time and thought. That’s why we need to spend so much time searching for someone here. ”
Hearing his explanation, Ji Ziming coldly said,””Let’s go and start. Don’t waste time talking nonsense.” After saying that, he started to walk towards the alley on the right by himself.
Ling Feng looked at PEI GE and spread his hands. PEI GE could only helplessly smile and then said to Wen Xin,””Wenxin, hurry up and catch up. Contact us if you need anything. ”
“Alright,” Wen Xin nodded.”I understand, sister Pei Pei.”
Just like that, the four of them began to investigate each house with serious expressions.
Just like before, be it Ji Ziming’s group or Ling Feng’s group, they were both rebuffed when they knocked on the first house.
Some of them felt that Ji Ziming and his friends were here to discuss the acquisition of land. Many well-known real estate developers had wanted to acquire this place, but because most of the original residents were more United, they had not succeeded all these years. Some felt that Ji Ziming’s group was too abrupt and strange, so they scrolled through a photo on their phone and suddenly wanted to find this person who was not a local. There were even some who felt that the man was a multi-level marketing expert because his speech and appearance were too formal and formal, as if he was a pimp.
Naturally, they rarely saw successful people from big cities, so they thought that most successful people would not personally come to such a remote town and knock on their doors. It was only when they were searching for someone to question that they felt a little uneasy, so they tried to hide it.
In short, after a busy afternoon, when the sky was almost dark, the four of them had not succeeded in finding the whereabouts of Cheng Ningyuan’s mother.
After much discussion, the four of them decided to rest for a while before making other plans. They couldn’t continue to search for a needle in a haystack.
“Hey, didn’t you say you were confident? How come we’ve been asking around for so long, and there’s still no news?” The four of them sat down in an old pavilion to rest. Ji Ziming asked sarcastically, annoyed at Ling Feng’s boasting.
“Ziming, let’s not talk about Ling Feng for now. He’s a local, but he doesn’t know if he can really find Ning Yuan’s mother. After all, we only got the information from someone else. We can only try our best. ” Since they were still blaming each other for not being able to find him, she could only advise him to stop blaming Ling Feng.
Ji Ziming’s heart burned with anger when he heard this. He did not expect PEI GE to defend Ling Feng and, in turn, criticize him. He was about to argue further when Wen Xin suddenly pointed at a woman selling flower wreaths under an old tree not far from the pavilion and shouted,””Look! Doesn’t that Auntie look like Cheng Ningyuan’s mother?”
Ji Ziming suppressed his anger and followed everyone’s gaze.
That was right. The woman was sitting on a small wooden stool with a large bamboo basket filled with wreaths beside her. She had a faint smile on her face that was as calm and peaceful as the spring breeze. Although she did not put on any makeup, her snow-white skin and black hair, coupled with her innate good temperament, made it hard for people to look away even if she was quiet. If it wasn’t the woman they had knocked on so many doors and searched for, who could it be?
Although it was very different from the coldness revealed by Cheng Ningyuan’s brows, one could still tell at a glance that the two were mother and son.
