Chapter 31: Existence and Non-existence
After school, Lu Li and An Baili said goodbye to Chu Jingyi and headed to the mobile phone store. He had some money now and wanted to buy An Baili a phone so it would be easier to contact her. He would use Sister Yameng’s old SIM card for now and get a new one for An Baili next year when she turned eighteen.
Lu Li focused on choosing a phone at the counter while An Baili chattered non-stop beside him. Buying a phone offline wasn’t the most cost-effective option. Brick-and-mortar stores targeted middle-aged and elderly customers who weren’t sensitive to specs and technology, so the prices were usually inflated. Receiving deliveries in the low-rent district was inconvenient and unsafe, so Lu Li decided to buy the phone offline after careful consideration.
“Li, listen to me, I’m now one thousand percent sure that Wen Hupo also has memories of the past life, or even the one before that!” An Baili started her serious analysis. “With Wen Hupo’s personality, she would never participate in the sports meet. She never showed any interest in it in the past life. Why the sudden change of heart in this life?”
Although An Baili wasn’t always reliable, what she said this time made sense.
Just like the Mulan City epidemic, things that never happened in his past life were now occurring one after another.
“How about this phone? The specs are decent, and the color is quite nice.”
“Oh, Li, listen to my analysis!” An Baili stamped her foot impatiently.
“Huh? I think you’re right.” Lu Li nodded absentmindedly.
An Baili pinched his waist angrily. “You’re so annoying.”
The saleswoman chuckled, covering her mouth. “Are you two university students or working adults?”
Actually, just high school students. Lu Li pointed at an indigo-colored phone in the display case. “We’ll take this one. Do you have it in stock?”
“Please leave your contact information. We need to retrieve it from the warehouse. You can pick it up tomorrow afternoon.”
Just then, Lu Li’s phone rang. He nodded at An Baili, signaling for her to fill out the information. An Baili snorted, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then slowly wrote down their contact information.
The saleswoman said enviously, “You two have such a great relationship. I also want a boyfriend… Sigh…”
Yeah, right. An Baili puffed out her chest proudly. A hundred of your boyfriends can’t compare to my Lu Li. And girls who said things like that usually had a harder time finding a partner. They claimed to yearn for love, but their standards were impossibly high, their understanding of themselves and society still unclear.
If you looked for love with a materialistic or transactional mindset, you would never be able to truly accept and embrace someone.
Lu Li answered the phone. It was Secretary Long, who had been transferred to another province. As the saying went, “When a man gets rich, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.” After Chu Xiaodong entered the central leadership circle, his secretary also rose through the ranks, becoming a young cadre in an important city. Even at the peak of his career in his past life, the highest-ranking officials Lu Li had met were of this level. Secretary Long wasn’t even forty yet, was he?
As soon as the call connected, Secretary Long said casually, “Hey, Xiao Lu, I have a favor to ask. Long Jing has been driving me crazy these past few days. She insists on coming back to Chuanhai to see you…”
Before he could finish, Long Jing’s voice came from the phone, screaming, “Brother-in-law! You owe me a lot of money! You got rich and didn’t tell me! I contributed too!”
Secretary Long was clearly a doting father, his tone gentle even when scolding his daughter. “Long Jing, Daddy is talking to your brother-in-law—your Brother Lu. Go watch TV.”
“No, no, no! I want to talk to brother-in-law!” Long Jing continued to whine.
Being a father was tough. How could he resist the urge to spank this little brat?
Secretary Long got straight to the point. “Xiao Lu, I’m planning to send Long Jing to the Chu family’s in Chuanhai for a few days. Could you please spend some time with her…?”
“Ahhhhhhh!” Long Jing screamed. “Who needs company?! I want him to pay me back! Ahhhhhhh—”
Lu Li moved the phone away from his ear to protect his eardrums.
“Don’t worry, I’ll play with her with Jingyi.”
Secretary Long chuckled. “Good, good, thank you for your trouble, Xiao Lu.”
“It’s no trouble at all. When is Long Jing coming?”
Long Jing yelled, “Brother-in-law, I’m coming next week! Get my money ready!”
This brat is just like Chen Jianing. Lu Li thought. Long Jing was like an extroverted version of Chen Jianing, equally annoying, but somehow even more obnoxious? She was definitely spoiled. Just you wait, you little brat, when you come next week, I’ll make you cry and call me “big brother”… Lu Li thought with a malicious grin.
Lu Li suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, Uncle Long, thank you for your help with the Shanzhu Village matter last time. I wouldn’t have been able to find it without you.” It was Secretary Long who had gathered the information about An Baili’s grandparents.
“Shanzhu Village?” Secretary Long paused. “What Shanzhu Village?”
“The village where An Gulai’s parents-in-law lived.”
“Xiao Lu, are you mistaken?” Secretary Long chuckled. “I remember Shanzhu Village. That village was abandoned a long time ago due to the outflow of young laborers and the relocation of the elderly. I was the one who handled the administrative closure procedures back when I first started working…”
“…?”
Lu Li’s pupils constricted.
What was wrong with Secretary Long? Was he mistaken? He was the one who gave him the information about Shanzhu Village! And wasn’t Shanzhu Village still there? The motorcycle driver knew about it, didn’t he?
“Your memory is getting worse and worse.” Secretary Long chuckled, not noticing Lu Li’s sudden silence.
After hanging up the phone, Lu Li stood on the street, watching the cars and people coming and going, his mind buzzing. He suddenly took out his phone and started searching for information about Shanzhu Village online – nothing. It was as if a village called Shanzhu Village had never existed.
What about the chat logs?
He had mentioned Shanzhu Village once when chatting with An Baili and the others. The chat logs couldn’t be wrong, could they?
Lu Li anxiously opened the chat logs and searched for “Shanzhu Village,” but only got “No results found.”
Impossible… impossible… He had done his research before going to Shanzhu Village. He found information about the village online and even its exact location on Baidu Maps.
Just then, An Baili came out of the phone store. Lu Li nervously grabbed her shoulders. “Baili, do you remember Shanzhu Village? The one I told you about, your mother’s hometown?”
An Baili looked at him blankly, then reached out and touched his forehead. “Honey, do you have a fever? My mother’s hometown isn’t Shanzhu Village…”
Hearing this, Lu Li was speechless. He stared blankly at the passersby on the street. Their expressions were so ordinary. The world was like a perfectly functioning computer program. There was no Shanzhu Village, no price, all the disasters and fears had vanished, leaving only a false sense of peace and tranquility…
For the first time, Lu Li felt a deep, bottomless fear, a chilling dread that made him tremble. For the first time, he was terrified of the so-called “price.” If this was also a form of the price, did it mean that someone around him had already disappeared from his memory because of it?
Lu Li swallowed hard. He suddenly thought of someone, someone who definitely wouldn’t forget about Shanzhu Village.
Zhu Xi!
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