The following morning, Xiao Li woke up with a headache and was exhausted. She had barely got any sleep at all and every time she finally slept she would soon wake up again.
She sat up, her face pale like a ghost and her long black hair looking like a birds nest, then she clenched her fist and punched down.
She had decided, she was going to go and visit her future husband and take a look at him. She couldn't bare waiting for her grandfather to return a month later before she got to know more about this future husband.
Last night when she couldn't sleep she had read his information over and over again and learned that his name was Ye Chen, was 28 years old, and was the captain of the Specialist Crime Investigation Unit of the Imperial Capital's police force.
Having decided, she spent the morning cleaning herself up and packed a few essentials and some extra pair of clothes into a backpack. Then she walked into her grandfather's room and took his purse.
Then she grabbed a map and looked at it carefully and calculated that it would take her about three weeks to walk to the Imperial Capital unless she could find other ways of transportation along the way. She had heard about cars and trains but didn't quiet understand what they looked like or how they worked, just that they were a lot faster than a horse carriages.
About four hours later, the sun had moved slightly past noon and she had finally reached the first road she had seen in her life. It was a narrow and uneven dirt road that snaked through the forest and up and down the terrain.
She looked to her right and left and didn't quiet know which direction she should head. She knew that the Imperial Capital was to the west from here, but she couldn't tell which direction of the road lead there. Of course, she had a map, but it didn't show these small inconspicuous roads.
After thinking for a while, she finally decided on a direction and began walking.
She had walked for about another four hours and the evening sun had begun to turn orange. She knew she had to make camp soon before it got dark, when she suddenly heard a rumbling sound coming from behind her.
She stopped and turned around and saw a white van approaching her. She took a small step back to clear the road so that the van could drive past her with some margin.
Just as the van passed her, it suddenly stopped and the passenger window was rolled down and a man with tattoos on his arms and neck, and had a short and wild hairstyle leaned out from the window.
"Pretty girl, where are you heading? Do you need a ride?" He smiled widely and showed off a row of white teeth.
"Are you heading to the capital?" Xiao Li asked, looking calm and dense as usual.
"The capital?" The man looked a bit stunned at first but then laughed loudly before saying, "Of course, babe. Wherever you want to go, we'll take you there."
He laughed again and the laugh of another person in the front seat could also be heard.
Then he opened the door and jumped out of the van before he pulled open the side door of the van.
Xiao Li walked over and looked into the dark space in rear of the van. Besides some tools and random trash there was nothing in there.
"Jump in! I'll keep you company so that you don't get bored." The man said and took a step back waiting for the girl to get in.
Xiao Li stepped into the dark space and cleared a spot and took a seat. The man followed and pulled close the door with a bang behind him. Then he banged on the wall between the back and the front and called out, "Let's go!"
The van rumbled and continued its way down the road.
The space in the rear of the van was dark and only a faint light came in through the smudged rear window.
The man who'd taken a seat not far from Xiao Li looked at her with a smile and kept talking endlessly. He didn't even give Xiao Li time to answer before he moved on to the next subject.
Xiao Li had never met such a talkative person before and felt her mind spinning.
An hour later, she had probably heard more spoken words than she had ever heard before in her life, as her grandfather wasn't much for talking.
The van stopped and the man, who'm she had now learned was called Zuge from his endless talking, quickly got up on his feet and pulled the side door open.
"Babe, we're here!"
He then jumped out and waited for her.
Xiao Li climbed out of the van and looked around. The sun was just about to go down and it was rather dark outside. She saw a large rusty warehouse and outside it she saw a fire burning in a barrel and next it stood another man smoking.
The man who had been driving came around the front of the van and wrapped an arm around Zuge's neck and they began to move toward the warehouse.
"Babe, come on in, don't be shy!" Zuge called out as he waved for her to follow.
"Sange, what's up!" Zuge called out to the man who was smoking by the barrel.
The man who was smoking, looked up and glanced at them, and when his eyes landed on Xiao Li he shook his head as if he was thinking 'idiots' and didn't say anything.
"Tch! Always such a bore! Babe, just ignore him. He's never any fun." Zuge said and continued walking into the warehouse.
"Boss, we're back!" Zuge called out as they entered the warehouse.