39 chapters Encounter

The next day, when Chen Hai woke up, it was already past nine in the morning.

Cousin Sun Jinzhong was nowhere to be seen.

The bed beside him was neat and tidy, without any signs of anyone having slept in it.

It seemed that last night, Sun Jinzhong hadn't slept there, and Chen Hai didn't know whether he had gone back home or had some other arrangement!

Yanbei Village was in the suburbs, not far from the county town.

On Sun Jinzhong, there was one thousand yuan that he himself had given him. It wouldn't be surprising if Sun Jinzhong found a girl to stammer some English lessons with him.

Chen Hai wasn't worried about him!

Yesterday, he did a divination; although Sun Jinzhong still showed some weakness, it was merely a bit of mental fatigue, and he would definitely have no problem sitting, standing, or walking normally.

Feeling quite hungry, Chen Hai washed up and headed straight outside the guest room.

At this time in the hotel, breakfast was already over and lunch had not yet started.

With plenty of money in his pocket, Chen Hai naturally headed outside to eat.

The local rice noodles in Liuyuan County were very tasty, especially the beef noodles, which just thinking about could make one's mouth water.

To be honest, if you really wanted authentic rice noodles, you had to go to those small eateries tucked away in alleys.

The cleaner and more lavishly decorated noodle houses seemed to lack something; their noodles just didn't taste as good.

"Beauty, room 8301, help me clean up!"

Walking to the hotel lobby counter, Chen Hai gently knocked on the counter and smilingly said to the receptionist inside.

The room he stayed in was actually very clean; it didn't really matter whether it was cleaned or not.

His action was to test how long Li Dajiang had booked the room for him.

He had already sent a message to his parents when he arrived in Liuyuan County yesterday.

For the next few days, he wouldn't be going back and would definitely be staying in Liuyuan County.

If Li Dajiang continued to keep this guest room for him, it would naturally be the best.

Otherwise, Chen Hai wouldn't insist.

After all, with money in his pocket, he could simply switch to a cheaper hostel for a few days if staying at the Garden Hotel became untenable.

As for Cousin Sun Jinzhong, Chen Hai felt that unless absolutely necessary, he still shouldn't bother him!

"Room 8301? Are you Mr. Chen Hai?"

The receptionist lifted her head, her face wearing a professional smile, and asked.

"Yes, I am Chen Hai!"

Although he felt somewhat puzzled, Chen Hai still nodded with a smile.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Li from room 8308 left a message for you this morning before he left; he had an emergency and needs to head back to Yuedong first!"

"He has already extended your room, 8301, for another ten days, and he'll come to find you after he returns to Liuyuan County and finishes his business!"

The receptionist explained to Chen Hai with a smiling face.

"Li Dajiang is going back to Yuedong? Okay, I got it."

Still puzzled, Chen Hai nodded and replied.

According to the original plan, after resting for three to five days until his body was more or less recovered, he would start helping Li Dajiang search for graves.

However, Li Dajiang's sudden departure had clearly disrupted this plan.

He had left in such a hurry that he must have had an important reason that required his immediate departure.

Inside the guest room, where telephones were installed, Li Dajiang only left a message at the front desk and did not directly call Chen Hai.

It seemed that he thought Chen Hai had suffered a significant loss of vitality and wanted him to rest well without disturbing him.

Nowadays, getting in touch with someone was indeed quite inconvenient.

Especially in a small county town like Liuyuan County.

In the little shops on the streets, although there were many public phones, the cost of a call was one yuan per minute.

As for private households with phones, there might be some in the county, but in the rural areas, they were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, barely a few could be found.

Cousin Sun Jinzhong's house also had no phone.

If Chen Hai wanted to call him, he would first have to call the village party secretary's house.

Then, they would use a loudspeaker to announce it, and after about fifteen or twenty minutes, he would call again, and only then might he be able to find someone.

Of course, all this presupposed that Chen Hai knew the phone number of Yanbei Village's party secretary.

"I heard that the county post office is selling something called a beeper!"

"After we finish eating, let's go to the post office and have a look. If it's not too expensive, we can get one to use."

In a small alley near the Garden Hotel, Chen Hai found a small restaurant where he ordered a bowl of beef noodles and two sticks of fried dough.

The beef noodles cost six cents a bowl, and the fried dough sticks were one cent each, so he spent only eight cents in total and was fully satisfied, letting out several loud burps.

"Chen Hai..."

After he had paid and was just about to leave the alley headed towards the post office, a clear and pleasant greeting rang in his ear.

Not far away, Lin Lan with a single braid was carrying several bags, waving excitedly at him with a thrilled expression on her face.

Besides Lin Lan, there were two other girls there.

"Chen Hai, how come you're here? Yesterday Hu Zhiyong asked about you. Didn't you say you weren't attending our class reunion?"

As Chen Hai approached, another girl named Li Ying looked at him with doubt and asked.

"I'm here in the county town for some business. What about you guys? Are you going to Shuang State for the barbecue?"

"Is it just you few? Where are Hu Zhiyong and the others?"

Chen Hai, chuckling, looked around as he talked.

Apart from the three girls in front of him, he really didn't see any other classmates nearby.

"Forget it, we planned yesterday to go to Shuang State for barbecue in the afternoon!"

"But later, Hu Zhiyong and Zhang Zhi said we should camp during the day at Shuang State and have the barbecue at night for a better atmosphere."

"They changed the plan like that, and we had to prepare more stuff, so people split into several groups. We just came back from buying things at the market, see?"

Compared to the somewhat shy Lin Lan, Li Ying, the girl speaking, was obviously more lively and talkative.

Holding up the various large and small bags in her hand, she showed them off to Chen Hai and even purposefully made a face at him.

"A barbecue at Shuang State in the evening? That place is fine during the day, but it gets really chilly and nearly deserted at night. Aren't you scared?"

Chen Hai laughed and joked.

"With a group of more than a dozen classmates, what's there to be scared of?"

Covering her mouth with a laugh, Li Ying gave Chen Hai a meaningful look and teased, "Chen Hai, as a grown man, how come your courage is even smaller than us girls!"

"No wonder Hu Zhiyong asked you, and you were reluctant to join the gathering. Turns out, you're afraid of going to those less populated places!"