A Sand Sculpture in the Red Dust - Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – Mr. Qin Wants a New Ringtone

　　Li Shasha leads a very regular life every day. He plays with Rubik’s Cube puzzles, reads books, and browses headlines on his computer to avoid being out of touch with the times.

　　”News?” Mr. Li’s first reaction was that Li Xiangfu had secretly gone to participate in a variety show.

　　Li Shasha promptly reversed his wrong thinking and said, “This is social news.”

　　To avoid misunderstanding, he decided to emphasize again: “The very social kind.”

　　“…”

　　He went upstairs and brought down the tablet, operating the whole process very efficiently. It was expected that Li Xiangfu would frequently appear in the news in the future, so Li Shasha specially set aside a disk to store the materials.

　　Mr. Li suddenly asked Li Huaichen: “What grade did you enroll him in?”

　　Without responding directly, Li Huaichen said calmly: “All the same.”

　　“…”

　　”Just last night, a group of thugs broke into a private house, but their purpose was incredible.”

　　Li Shasha had already started playing the video, and the content quickly attracted the attention of the other two. Even Aunt Zhang temporarily put down her work and took a few more glances.

　　The suspect on the screen had a plaster cast on his arm and complained helplessly: “We were not going to kill or burn anything. Our employer only wanted us to kidnap a person and force him to watch striptease.”

　　The camera turns to the police speaking: “After our verification, this is indeed one of their purposes for committing the crime. Because the main suspect is currently mentally unstable, the deeper reasons need to be uncovered.”

　　The last one to appear was Li Xiangfu. Although his face was blurred, people around him could easily recognize him from his outfit and his eye-catching long hair, even if his face was covered with mosaics.

　　The reporter asked him what he thought of the purpose of this criminal gang.

　　The microphone was very close, and the familiar bass sounded in the ears of everyone around the table: “Everyone has their own aspirations. I just want to say…times have changed.”

　　The last four words were a mixture of sighs and relief.

　　The corner of Mr. Li’s mouth twitched: “What is he sighing about?”

　　Li Shasha said seriously: “Dad has made it very clear. We have caught up with a good era.”

　　“…”

　　•|•

　　Li Xiangfu—The day was quite wonderful.

　　The reporter finished the interview at noon and did not leave for the time being.

　　Their car broke down, so they could only wait for the city to send someone to pick them up at daybreak. Even so, the reporter who was interviewing Li Xiangfu sent the written manuscript and video over, and the review was done there without delaying the publication.

　　The reporter’s surname is Cao. She is young but has rich professional experience. She is not idle here, looking around for hot spots. When she saw Li Xiangfu making cakes, she immediately came over with interest.

　　Li Xiangfu stood aside a little, and started frying sesame seeds without stopping his hands.

　　”Would it be convenient for us to record this with the camera?”

　　Li Xiangfu nodded and continued to work in an orderly manner. The malt sugar was bubbling in the pot. He used the strength of his wrist to gently toss the spoon, and the syrup was evenly sprinkled into the freshly ground powder.

　　Reporter Cao doesn’t like sweets, as she always thinks they’re choking, but she particularly enjoys watching the production process and quickly figured out what’s going on: “Are you making candy beans with embedded characters?”

　　Li Xiangfu nodded.

　　Because cakes with words on them are auspicious, originally this kind of snack was mostly eaten during the Spring Festival. However, Li Xiangfu also saw this point and prepared to make bean candies with the word “Fu” on them, as a way of conveying some kind of blessing.

　　Reporter Cao had a strong sense of news. She knew that introducing food alone would not be attractive, but she could add a piece of news tomorrow. She had already thought of the beginning.

　　”Do you still remember Mr. Li who was almost kidnapped by robbers to be forced to watch a striptease? He is actually an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage…”

　　The word-embedded candy beans were cut into super cute little pieces, and Li Xiangfu distributed some to reporters and photographers.

　　Perhaps because the portion was small and she witnessed its creation process with her own eyes, the pastry tasted particularly sweet.

　　Desserts are suitable as a change after the meal, and Li Xiangfu made braised pork and stir-fried green beans. The aroma wafted out, and the owner of the house, who was busy supervising his children’s homework, swallowed his saliva and couldn’t help but lean in half.

　　”What are you making? It smells so good.”

　　Li Xiangfu smiled and said, “I left some of the braised pork without adding any chili. Give it to the child.”

　　The homeowner immediately took a liking to him and thanked him repeatedly.

　　The distance was not far, so Li Xiangfu borrowed a tray and took it over directly.

　　The door hadn’t been repaired yet, Qin Jin had moved to another room and was packing up. Li Xiangfu walked in and pushed the plate forward a little: “I think my cooking skills are pretty good.”

　　Qin Jin glanced at him, sat down, picked up the chopsticks and took a bite.

　　The braised pork is crispy and soft, and the soup will stimulate the taste buds on the tip of the tongue every time you chew it. Paired with fresh and tender green beans, you won’t feel sick after eating it.

　　When Li Xiangfu said that his cooking skills were good, it was absolutely a humble statement. It was more than good, his cooking skills could easily surpass many top chefs.

　　Halfway through the meal, Qin Jin looked up at him and said, “If you want to start a business by opening a restaurant, the bonus from the field trip will only be a small fraction of the total.”

　　Li Xiangfu shook his head: “Cutting vegetables can easily hurt my hands, which will affect my guqin playing.”

　　“…”

　　Speaking of injuries, Li Xiangfu suddenly thought of Zhou Panbai: “I don’t know if that group of people have been transferred.” The concern between his eyebrows was not false: “What if the prison food is not delicious?”

　　Qin Jin paused when he heard this.

　　”If he hadn’t shown up in time, I don’t know when I would have been able to get rid of my dizziness when I saw naked people.” Li Xiangfu pondered and said, “I want to send some snacks.”

　　He lowered his head and sighed, his long hair hanging on his jade-like cheeks. Who wouldn’t say that he felt pity for him?

　　Qin Jin pursed his lips and said, “Keeping your gratitude in your heart is the best way to repay Zhou Panbai.”

　　•|•

　　The free creation session eliminated half of the contestants. In addition to Li Xiangfu, only Mo Yijing, Yu Bin and Lin Yanshu remained. The eliminated contestants still have their food and accommodation covered, and can follow the team to broaden their horizons and concentrate on creation.

　　That night, everyone was called together, and Judge Zhao stood at the front and spoke: “The original plan was that I would lead the team tomorrow and take everyone to the designated location for field trips. However, the weather forecast issued a rainstorm warning, so I discussed with several other judges and decided to change the departure date to the day after tomorrow.”

　　It only took a few minutes to explain the competition. The second half mainly emphasized psychological issues, using Zhou Panbai as an example to warn everyone to act rationally.

　　Back at his residence, Li Xiangfu stared at the ceiling and fell into deep thought. Judge Zhao’s words vaguely revealed a message: the finals were not about a certain feature of Tianxi Ancient Village, but about the outside world.

　　Snowy mountains?

　　After thinking about it carefully, he shook his head. The snowy mountain was too far away and there were safety risks, so the probability was not high.

　　With something hidden in his mind and the cicadas chirping loudly outside the window, Li Xiangfu lay flat on the bed and it took him a long time to finally fall asleep.

　　The owner of the house raised chickens. The next day, before the rooster crowed, Li Xiangfu had finished washing up and stood in front of the window, considering whether to practice writing first or run a lap.

　　At this moment, Qin Jin’s phone suddenly came in.

　　Knowing that he was at the door, Li Xiangfu hurried down the stairs to open the door.

　　Qin Jin did not come empty-handed, there was a tall box standing next to him.

　　Li Xiangfu glanced at the words on the outer packaging and was a little surprised: “Guqin?”

　　Qin Jin: “Luoxia Pavilion has just received a nice zither. I asked them to send it here.”

　　Li Xiangfu first considered the shipping cost: “Don’t we have to send it back when we leave?” Qin Jin nodded.

　　Without looking at Qin or him, Li Xiangfu silently thought about the other party’s purpose in doing this.

　　”Yesterday I heard you say that you are very good at playing the guqin,” Qin Jin said calmly, “I’ve been thinking about changing my cell phone ringtone recently.”

　　Li Xiangfu believed it, and raised questions one by one: “It will take at least two days for the express delivery to arrive, which proves that it has nothing to do with what I said yesterday…”

　　After saying this, he was about to bring up a second point of logical contradiction, but this time he was interrupted before he could open his mouth.

　　Qin Jin casually threw out three words: “I have money.”

　　Three words can sum it up – everything.

　　Some people are willing to spend 100,000 yuan to buy a plastic bag with a trademark, but he spends several million yuan to buy a guqin and sends it to someone to record a cell phone ringtone. What’s wrong with that?

　　“…”

　　•|•

　　The rainstorm warning is very accurate. Today is not a good day.

　　There was a flash of white light in the sky, followed by a loud thunder.

　　There were no cars on the muddy road on either side, and the hitchhiker driver inevitably felt a little uneasy. Picking up passengers in this weather had to pass through the wilderness, and at the moment his mood was as heavy as the dark clouds in the sky.

　　From time to time, he would secretly glance at the passengers in the back seat through the rearview mirror, and comfort himself that such a good-looking person would not take the risk of robbery.

　　The man’s phone vibrated twice in a row, and both times he hung up. The third time he finally chose to answer the call and said coldly, “I don’t like making phone calls during thunderstorms.”

　　The voice on the other end of the phone was quite loud, and the driver could vaguely hear it.

　　”It would be fine if it was just Qin Jin, but he was on the news yesterday because he encountered robbers. It’s so strange that something happened in the ancient village. How could it be such a coincidence…”

　　”…If he delays any longer, who knows how much more punishment he will have to endure.”

　　”I’ll contact you when I get there.” Li Anqing didn’t give the other party a chance to chatter and ended the call directly.

　　The driver silently characterized the man in the back seat as a guest who was not easy to deal with.

　　Everything spread quickly in the village. After Li Anqing got out of the car, he found out where Li Xiangfu lived after a little inquiry.

　　The homeowner was packing up his things and became wary when he saw the stranger.

　　Li Anqing put down a few hundred-dollar bills and said, “I’m here to find someone.”

　　Just the night before, some thugs broke in, and the owner of the house was struggling over whether to let them in.

　　Li Anqing said calmly: “It’s not revenge. People with brains wouldn’t choose to commit a crime in the daytime.”

　　The owner of the house thought it made sense, so he stepped aside to make way and pointed to the room on the second floor, where guqin music was flowing out of the half-open window. The door on the second floor was ajar, and one could peek into the scene inside.

　　—As the song draws to a close, the person playing the guqin looks focused, and the strings seem to have new life when they are plucked by the slender fingers.

　　At the end of the song, Qin Jin clapped his hands to express his admiration: “You play well…” He then pointed to the cakes on the plate: “The cakes are also well made.”

　　Li Xiangfu is used to listening to Li Shasha’s comments every time he finishes playing, and he would smile and ask him to give his comments as well.

　　Qin Jin leaned back in his chair with his eyes half closed, as if thinking.

　　The harmonious scene was broken when the vibration of the cell phone outside the door startled the two people in the house.

　　When Li Xiangfu saw the person coming, his breathing stagnated. He took a few seconds to react before calling out, “Second brother?”

　　”You guys continue, I’m going to take a call.” Li Anqing answered the call expressionlessly, but he didn’t put the phone to his ear. Instead, he pressed the speakerphone button to make sure everyone could hear him.

　　Li Xichun’s voice immediately echoed in the room—

　　”Hasn’t he arrived yet? No matter how much Xiangfu misbehaves, he is still your brother. He already knows the truth and must be terrified these past two days…”

　　”Hey, can you hear me? I’m talking to you. When you get there, go check on him. Is he scared?”

　　Li Anqing suddenly looked at Li Xiangfu and said calmly, “Answer her, how are you doing?”

　　Li Xiangfu: “…”

　　The author has something to say:

Li Xiangfu: Thank you for the invitation, next question.