Chapter 164: A Suspicious Letter
Chapter 164: Chapter 164: A Suspicious Letter
Now that her younger brother was back to normal, and with Nianqiao Village so peaceful and safe, Zhao Nuanyue felt at ease leaving Zhao Nuanyang behind. Besides, the Little Red Carp was there with him.
Seeing his sister run off, Zhao Nuanyang was too worried about her to even think about drawing.
"Little Red Carp, let’s head home. I’m worried about my sister," Zhao Nuanyang said, looking over at the Little Red Carp on the rock to get her input.
The Little Red Carp also wanted to see what Nuanyue was up to. Plus, she was worried that the woman with the evil aura might bully her. So, she nodded. "Okay, I’ll go back with you, but you have to draw two pictures for me later!"
The Little Red Carp seized the opportunity, holding up two chubby, fair fingers.
"Deal!" Zhao Nuanyang agreed cheerfully. "From now on, I’ll draw for you whenever you want!"
"You’re the best, big brother," the Little Red Carp said with a nod. "I’ll help you carry your things!"
The two of them, one big and one small, quickly gathered their things from the ground and stored them back in the cave. Then, Zhao Nuanyang scooped up the Little Red Carp and ran back toward the Dragon King Temple.
Meanwhile, after Zhao Nuanyue and the two children left at noon, the awkward atmosphere in the Dragon King Temple lessened somewhat.
Guo Dongmei acted as if she hadn’t noticed a thing, her face wreathed in a smile, looking for all the world like she was overjoyed to see her fiancé. Only Hua Yusen knew this wasn’t the case, and his heart was filled with suspicion and unease.
After Zhao Nuanyue left, Li Qiong started trying to figure out what Guo Dongmei’s true intentions were. ’It’s best to know your enemy and yourself, that way you’ll never lose a battle,’ she thought.
"Miss Guo, you came all this way. Did you have to take time off work?" Li Qiong asked, her eyes on Guo Dongmei. She noticed the woman’s pretty sandals and the fine material of her clothes—the kind of things they all wished for but could never afford or find in stores.
’The fact that Guo Dongmei could afford and obtain such things meant her family was quite well-off. To be engaged to Hua Yusen, she must come from a family of similar social standing.’
Guo Dongmei nodded. "Yes, I took some time off. We haven’t seen each other in a while, and it’s not good to go too long without a visit, so I saved up a few vacation days to come see him. Aren’t you all busy? Then again, I suppose you’re only busy during the peak season in the countryside, right?"
"It was raining heavily here for a while, so we couldn’t work. We start fishing tomorrow," Li Qiong replied. "Nianqiao Village has very little farmland, so what we hand over to the authorities isn’t grain, but salted fish, along with mushrooms and other delicacies from the mountains."
"Oh, so that’s how it is. You all must have it tough," Guo Dongmei said, listening intently to Li Qiong. "Do you girls from the city have to fish as well?"
"Yes, everyone does," Li Qiong said with a smile. "If you want to eat and get your share of wages and grain, you have to work according to the village rules."
"Goodness, you’re all so capable," Guo Dongmei exclaimed. "You must have endured so much, coming from the city to such a difficult place. Sigh, when Yu Sen was sent down to the countryside, I wanted to follow him, but my parents wouldn’t let me."
Wang Yuan observed Guo Dongmei carefully as she spoke. While her words held no open contempt, her tone was consistently condescending and full of superiority.
’This woman isn’t one to be trifled with.’
After Zhao Nuanyue left, Hua Yusen felt deeply unsettled. He prayed she wasn’t angry and looked for an opportunity to explain things to her.
Seeing Guo Dongmei chatting with Li Qiong and Wang Yuan, Hua Yusen stepped out into the courtyard to get some air.
At the entrance, Hua Yusen happened to run into Zhao Nuanyue, who was hurrying back.
"Shhh!" Zhao Nuanyue pressed a finger to her lips. She then pointed toward the back of the Dragon King Temple, motioning for him to follow. She had something she needed to say to him.
Hua Yusen saw this and did as she gestured, walking ahead.
Once they were behind the Dragon King Temple, Zhao Nuanyue frowned. "I think there’s something strange about Guo Dongmei’s arrival," she said. "Your assignment here is top secret. Did you tell her about it?"
Hua Yusen had expected Zhao Nuanyue to confront him, so he was surprised that she was suspicious of Guo Dongmei instead.
"No, I didn’t tell her," Hua Yusen answered quickly. "I didn’t even tell my own parents, so how could I possibly have told her? I was starting to get suspicious myself. After we got engaged, we only had a single meal together. There are no feelings between us, let alone any real closeness. But the moment she got here, she was so forward. That’s not like Guo Dongmei’s usual condescending attitude."
"That is suspicious, then," Zhao Nuanyue said with a frown. "You understand the current situation. Nothing can be allowed to happen to Elder Gu. You monitor Guo Dongmei openly, and I’ll watch from the shadows. If you spot her doing anything unusual, you need to act decisively and quickly."
Hua Yusen listened in silence. After a long moment, he finally nodded. "Okay, I will."
Zhao Nuanyue was relieved to see that Hua Yusen was wary of Guo Dongmei. She turned to leave.
Suddenly, Hua Yusen reached out and took her hand. His expression was a mixture of conflict and guilt. "I’m sorry," he said. "I’ve put you in a terrible position."
"You haven’t wronged me," Zhao Nuanyue said, shaking her head. "I was upset, but you didn’t lie to me, so I trust you. But this isn’t the time for personal feelings. We need to focus on the mission. If it fails, neither of us will have a way out, or a future."
Zhao Nuanyue’s strength and understanding moved Hua Yusen deeply, but it also deepened his guilt.
’If he ever got the chance, he would repay her kindness a hundred times over.’
"DRING-DRING..." The sharp ring of a bicycle bell cut through the air. "Hua Yusen, a letter for you!"
"Oh, Yu Sen isn’t here? I’ll get the letter for him, then," Guo Dongmei said with a wide smile, heading for the entrance.
"Quick, you can’t let Guo Dongmei see that letter," Zhao Nuanyue urged. "Go, now!"
With no time to think, Hua Yusen sprinted over. He was terrified it was a secret dispatch. If Guo Dongmei got her hands on it, even if it was written in code, there was still a risk of the secret being exposed.
Just as Guo Dongmei took the letter and was about to tear it open, Hua Yusen rushed over and snatched it from her hand. "That’s my letter," he said.
Guo Dongmei was secretly disappointed. ’A letter that makes him this nervous must contain something important,’ she thought.
"Ha," Guo Dongmei laughed, an awkward expression on her face. "I was just going to open it for you. I didn’t mean anything else by it. I didn’t realize you were so formal with me!"
Hua Yusen shot Guo Dongmei a look before taking the letter back into his room. He opened it and saw that it was from Chen Lei. The letter mentioned that Chen Lei had seen Guo Dongmei on the train. It also warned him that back in Jincheng City, the Guo family and the Li family were very close. Furthermore, the Hua family’s current situation was dire, and it seemed the Guo family was fanning the flames and kicking them while they were down.
After he finished reading, Hua Yusen lit a lamp and burned the letter without a word.
’So Chen Lei also thinks there’s something wrong with Guo Dongmei,’ he mused. ’The Guo family’s despicable actions are certainly cause for suspicion.’