A Sand Sculpture in the Red Dust - Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – Going to Cangyang

　　Mr. Li remained calm and said, “According to my plan, I will first agree to let you attend the event to distance the two sides, and then remind Qin Jin privately during this period.”

　　“…I see.” Li Xiangfu rubbed his chin with his fingertips: “That’s what you’re thinking.”

　　The topic changed quietly. Mr. Li asked, “When is the painting competition scheduled?”

　　Li Xiangfu opened his phone and confirmed: “In Li City on Monday.”

　　Mr. Li nodded: “Since you want to develop in the field of art, try to get a good ranking.”

　　•=|=•

　　Of course, he couldn’t take Li Shasha with him when he went out.

　　After Li Xiangfu contacted the people who were involved in the field trip, Li Shasha calmly asked like an adult while they were packing his luggage: “What did the organizer say about the identity of the masked man?”

　　”Interact with the official account on Weibo and post a promotional Weibo every two days during the competition.”

　　Li Shasha: “Isn’t this equivalent to exposing your identity?”

　　”From what they said, the location is quite remote, and not many people are willing to spend a lot of money to go there.”

　　”What about the contestants?”

　　Li Xiangfu laughed: “I wish I could be less popular.”

　　Take a photo of your real face and post it online, saying that the guy with the mask covering his face is not doing it to hide his ugliness, isn’t that actually helping yourself to attract traffic?

　　”Without anyone pushing behind the scenes, when the game is over, the revelations will only be small splashes like a stone hitting the water.”

　　Li Xiangfu is not afraid of his identity being exposed. As long as he does not develop in the entertainment industry, the fire about the past will not burn brightly.

　　•=•=•

　　Li City is a transportation hub where you can travel by air or by sea.

　　Artists have romantic sentiments. Before arriving, Li Xiangfu imagined taking a ship to travel on the magnificent ocean. However, the reality was that he never left the train station at all. The team leader said that he had to change to a green train directly to Cangyang.

　　There are eight contestants in this competition, all of them are quite young.

　　Literary men look down on each other, and this sometimes applies to the field of art. After the self-introductions, everyone said a few words to each other implicitly, and then began to play with their phones. Only one boy named You Fang was particularly enthusiastic and cheerfully livened up the atmosphere.

　　Li Xiangfu was drinking water when one of the two girls present suddenly spoke up: “I heard that the final prize money was doubled, and it was specially sponsored by Qin Jin.”

　　Li Xiangfu accidentally choked and hurried to the corner and coughed several times. He came back after his breath was relieved: “Qin Jin?”

　　The girl who spoke was Mo Yijing, and her tone was quite expectant: “I heard from a judge that Qin Jin is taking a year-end vacation and wants to go with us.”

　　”Really?” You Fang came closer

　　With something to chat about, the atmosphere immediately became lively.

　　The judge who helped them line up to get the train tickets squeezed through the crowd and walked over here. He coughed heavily, and You Fang’s expression was still frozen in excitement: “Teacher Zhao, is Qin Jin really coming?”

　　The judge smiled helplessly and looked past him and said, “You can ask him in person.”

　　You Fang turned around and saw a tall figure walking towards him with several other judges, and he suddenly felt embarrassed.

　　Li Xiangfu was distracted and paid attention to other details. The judge standing on Qin Jin’s left with a flattering smile had a brief eye contact with one of the contestants. Later, when his eyes fell on him, he licked his lips inadvertently.

　　…a sickening gaze.

　　He avoided it calmly and walked aside to throw away the garbage as if nothing had happened.

　　Everyone was very quiet while waiting for the bus, and Qin Jin did not greet Li Xiangfu specifically.

　　The train left on time.

　　The experience of riding the green train has nothing to do with the romantic plot in the movies.

　　Old trains have been popular for a while in recent years. After being redesigned, they are very popular with tourists. Unfortunately, the one they took was very old and the window glass was still the most original design.

　　No one knew if the air conditioner was not installed or was broken, so the scorching summer heat was given room to rage here.

　　When the conductor came to exchange the ticket, he said cheerfully: “This train will retire soon. It will be hard to see such an original green train again in the future.”

　　”…”Li Xiangfu clearly saw that several contestants’ faces turned dark.

　　They really had some bad luck on this trip as they caught the ‘last train’ which had no air conditioning.

　　There was a foreigner among the judges. He didn’t speak the language very fluently and kept saying only one thing: this was different from what he saw on TV.

　　The sad and angry expression made everyone laugh.

　　On the surface, Li Xiangfu curled the corners of his mouth, but no one could tell what was going on in his heart.

　　When he knew he was going to Cangyang, he felt very calm. Cangyang is a famous tourist province with competitive projects such as hot springs and ancient cities, but Cangyang is very large and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is sparsely populated, because many areas are risky and the terrain is not suitable for building railways, and it has not yet been fully developed.

　　After getting on the bus, Li Xiangfu realized belatedly that Tianxi Ancient Village also belongs to Cangyang.

　　There are very few posts on the Internet that mention the ancient village, and only hiking check-in photos can be seen in some travel forums. After repeatedly browsing, he even has some secret expectations for this forgotten accident site, and hopes that the field trip will be set there.

　　”I’ve read your resume,” his thoughts were suddenly interrupted. The judge who had been staring at him with ill intentions before now came over with a friendly demeanor and said, “It was me who decided to let you participate against all odds.”

　　Li Xiangfu expressed his gratitude perfunctorily.

　　There was no way to verify the facts, and it all depended on Judge Fang’s words. He had a hunch that the credibility was not high.

　　”Good luck in the competition.” Judge Fang said this and walked towards the toilet in front as if he was just passing by.

　　The train was running quite fast at first, but after passing through two tunnels, its speed slowed down significantly.

　　The scenery outside the window has changed several times. Now it is surrounded by mountains on both sides. Suddenly, his cell phone vibrated twice. He looked down and saw that the voice message from more than ten minutes ago was just received.

　　Both messages came from Li Xichun, mainly asking him where he had been and whether he could bring back some souvenirs if possible.

　　Li Xichun likes some products with local characteristics very much.

　　”Ok.”

　　Li Xiangfu agreed readily.

　　In summer, there are all kinds of vegetation in the mountains and forests, and every shot is a beautiful scene.

　　He sent a few photos to Li Xichun, who showed great interest. Soon after, they made a video call. Due to signal problems, the voice on the other end was intermittent: “Focus on… the scenery outside the window.”

　　Li Xiangfu understood and changed his perspective.

　　Li Xichun was sitting in the office, taking out snacks from the cabinet as usual. The theme of the next art exhibition was going to be the four seasons, and she was going to see if she could draw inspiration from it.

　　The towering mountains have a simple and steady aura that can be felt even through the camera. The occasional passerby is like an inconspicuous pebble that quickly rolls a long distance.

　　Li Xichun’s eating movements slowed down unconsciously, and he sighed: “Compared with nature, human power is nothing.”

　　The phone beeped, reminding me that the battery was running low.

　　Li Xiangfu retracted his arm, and when the camera shook, he accidentally captured a figure.

　　Li Xichun, who was lamenting the lack of human power, looked slightly changed and was stuck for a moment: “…Where did the nuclear weapons come from?”

　　Nuclear weapons?

　　Li Xiangfu was stunned, thinking he had heard it wrong: “What did you say?”

　　The battery was about to drop to 7%, so he stopped asking and said, “I’m going to charge it. We can talk later.”

　　After the call ended, Li Xichun stared at the screen in a daze… The figure just now seemed to be Qin Jin. Unfortunately, the picture flashed by, and she was not sure if she had seen it wrong.

　　Her body took action before her thoughts did. She immediately sat up straight and called back with a frown.

　　Li Xiangfu just took out the power bank from his bag, and his phone began to vibrate wildly. Before he could even say “Hello”, Li Xichun spoke first: “I think I saw Qin Jin.”

　　Li Xiangfu reflexively glanced at Qin Jin, then walked to the pool to answer the phone: “It’s him.”

　　Many words came up and got stuck in his throat. Li Xichun finally asked the most crucial question: “Did you meet by chance?”

　　Li Xiangfu said that the other party was the sponsor of the competition.

　　Li Xichun suddenly had a bad feeling: “Where will this field trip be held?”

“Cangyang.”

　　There was silence on the other end of the line for several seconds. Thinking it was a signal problem, Li Xiangfu raised the phone a little higher: “Can you hear me?”

　　Li Xichun lowered his voice and said, “Cangyang is not a safe place. Buy a return ticket at the next station.”

　　”Because of Tianxi Ancient Village?” Li Xiangfu asked directly.

　　Li Xichun was surprised: “You know?”

　　Skipping the eavesdropping, Li Xiangfu said, “I looked up the cactus flowers I received last time and found out where they grew. I happened to see the travel guide I made before when I was cleaning my room. The locations overlapped and were all related to Tianxi Ancient Village.”

　　Li Xichun didn’t know what to say for a moment. Li Xiangfu only knew one side of the story. At this time, she really considered seriously whether she should tell him directly about Qin Jiayu’s affairs. She took into account that the other party was now on the train and might be suddenly stimulated, and the situation might become more passive.

　　After another moment of silence, Li Xichun resumed his usual tone: “I’m fine here, don’t worry about Dad anymore, come back quickly.”

　　Li Xiangfu: “It’s okay. Dad asked me to play for a few more days before I left.”

　　“…”

　　Li Xiangfu: “Just going to Cangyang doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll go to Tianxi Ancient Village.”

　　He always believes in seeing things through to the end. In fact, his family has inherited Mr. Li’s temper to some extent. They are stubborn in their bones and do not usually show it, but once they make a decision, they will not consider turning back until they hit a wall.

　　The destination is not the point… Li Xichun stopped talking and just said, “Keep the phone on these few days.”

　　Before hanging up, he once again reminded me of the rule of survival: ‘Cherish life and stay away from Qin Jin.’

　　After standing away for a while, Li Xiangfu turned around and found that several people had fruit plates in front of them. He just missed the fruit cart.

　　”Would you like some oranges?” Qin Jin was not far from him and handed him an orange.

　　Li Xiangfu was a little thirsty, so he took it, peeled it and ate it.

　　Zhou Panbai, who was on the opposite seat, couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed. He and Li Xiangfu were in the same space, but the other party didn’t even ask a single question. What was this?

　　Moreover, Zhou Panbai had discovered from the beginning that Qin Jin had a very cold personality, but he would occasionally take the initiative to communicate with Li Xiangfu. He pretended to be casual and asked, “Did you know each other before?”

　　The nearby contestants looked over immediately, obviously touched by these words.

　　Behind-the-scenes manipulation is the most taboo thing in the game.

　　One of the judges who was looking down at his phone looked up and was also surprised: “Huh?”

　　Seeing the genuine surprise on the judges’ faces, the other contestants gradually calmed down. It seemed that the sponsor had not hinted anything to the judges in advance.

　　Li Xiangfu knew their concerns and nodded, “I’ve had the honor of meeting Mr. Qin a few times before.”

　　The tone was respectful, not much different from the way someone would normally flatter someone in front of a big shot.

　　After these light words, the carriage returned to its original peaceful atmosphere, except for Zhou Pan who rolled his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.

　　When you have nothing to do, time passes very slowly.

　　It was almost lunch time, and everyone went to the dining car.

　　Li Xiangfu didn’t move. He was reading the message Liu Yu sent him a minute ago.

　　”Luo An’s plan to send people to the resort to stir up trouble was exposed.”

　　Li Xiangfu was confused and sent a question mark.

　　A voice message came from the other end explaining, “He had someone instigate your father to deny the existence of his grandson, but he didn’t keep his promise afterwards and even tampered with the contract to cheat the other party. As a result, the man went to your father in anger to explain the whole thing.”

　　Although he didn’t know the inside story, Li Xiangfu probably knew the reason why Luo An changed his mind. The old man brought Li Shasha with him to the wedding banquet, which undoubtedly made his attitude clear. Naturally, the little tricks that Luo An had done in private were self-defeating.

　　Liu Yu sent another screenshot of Luo An’s Moments——

　　[I’ll just wait, the wicked will be punished by heaven.]

　　The accompanying picture is a picture of Qin Jin giving a speech.

　　”I guess business has been affected quite a bit, and I’m just having a hard time.” Liu Yu’s gloating voice was not concealed: “He even described Qin Jin as heaven, what a flatterer.”

　　Now that Liu Yu has decided to repair his relationship with Li Xiangfu, he can’t help but scold Luo An.

　　Li Xiangfu was still looking at the screenshot of the circle of friends, and couldn’t help but look in the direction of Qin Jin. When buying the guqin, Liu Yu had mentioned that Qin Jin and his family didn’t get along, and it seemed that he would take his anger out on him because of this. He never thought that Luo An actually had the same opinion.

　　Considering that Li Xichun has repeatedly emphasized the importance of cherishing life and staying away from Qin Jin, it seems that in everyone’s eyes he is an extremely vindictive person.

　　”Is there something wrong?” Qin Jin asked calmly after noticing his gaze.

　　Li Xiangfu held his chin up, his long hair slipping from his fingers, and said with a little emotion: “I just suddenly feel that the world seems to have many misunderstandings regarding you.”

　　He is obviously very polite and will not refuse to do a small favor for others.

　　Qin Jin raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this.

　　Li Xiangfu sat opposite him: “We…are actually quite suitable to be friends.”

　　It implies that the relationship between the two parties should be limited to a certain point and should not go beyond friendship.

　　Qin Jin stared at him without comment.

　　When he didn’t hear a rejection, Li Xiangfu thought it was an agreement. A smile appeared on his lips, and he raised his phone: “Smile.”

　　Not sure what he wanted to do, Qin Jin pursed his lips and reluctantly cooperated for a while.

　　With a click, the camera accurately captured someone’s fleeting smile.

　　Li Xiangfu quickly edited the content: [It is easy to get a lot of money, but it is hard to find a true friend.]

　　He posted it on his Moments along with the photos.

　　From his point of view, this is killing two birds with one stone. From now on, both parties don’t have to be awkward, and it can also ease the stalemate in the eyes of others.

　　Qin Jin had been through a lot, and was stunned by this operation… He was looking at the other party with a complicated look.

　　Li Xiangfu didn’t look up, so he couldn’t see the scene, and asked, “Do you want to post it? If you want, I’ll send you the photo.”

　　He hadn’t posted on WeChat Moments for a long time, and suddenly he felt a sense of real integration into society.

　　He posted it lightly, without anticipating the sensation this post on WeChat Moments would cause.

　　The author has something to say:

　　Onlookers: Irony? Conspiracy? Compromise? … or just a smile and forget the past? Too hard, this game is too hard to understand!