With a car for transportation, especially when driving on the main road, the speed naturally becomes incredibly fast. In the afternoon, I had already returned to Shuhe County and went straight to the old man's house. The old man was still sunbathing; he had finally settled down for a few days and hadn't gone out wandering around. Otherwise, I wouldn't know where to find him again.
"Master, I'm back," I said as I approached him.
"Hmm, is everything taken care of?" asked the old man.
"Yes, it's all done. Hey, my heart can finally rest easy now. Actually, the final result was somewhat unexpected; I thought there would be an emotional scene with tears shed but instead it ended up being just a calm smile," I sat down next to him with my legs crossed enjoying the gentle breeze and sunshine.
"Many times things are like this; we often can only guess at how they begin but it's difficult to predict how they will end," chuckled the old man while reaching for his bag of dried tobacco and smoking away contentedly. He then asked me: "So what do you plan on doing next? Shouldn't you go back and focus on studying?"
"QingYue's remains haven't been properly laid to rest yet," I replied.
"That doesn't need any special arrangements; leave them here with me because who knows if they might come in handy later." The old man said mysteriously without giving any clear answer or explanation.
Feeling helpless about his response, all that remained was for me to nod my head in agreement before putting YunQingYue's skull back into its urn which was then placed carefully in a corner before walking out again asking: "Master, there is one more important matter that needs attending."
"No matter how important it may be Master cannot help you with it so figure something out yourself." Before even hearing what my matter was, the old man had already shut me down.
"Master, what do you mean?" I frowned and looked at him: "I know that my strength is not yet strong enough to deal with the King of Yin but I never said that I would go save Xiao Hufu right now. All I wanted to know was where Mount Modu is located; why can't you tell me?"
"The secrets of heaven cannot be revealed," replied the old man as he stood up and knocked his pipe against something hard before saying stiffly: "Alright then, everything has been taken care of so hurry on your way."
"You old geezer..." Feeling helpless again, all I could do was leave slowly while riding my bike towards school.
Due to YunQingYue's situation taking too much time, it was already the weekend by this point and there should have been no one left in school. However, I still went there first because I was worried about how things were going for Lü Shi father and daughter; wanting to see how Zhou Qi had arranged things for them.
When arriving at Guanshen Town just as night fell upon us completely darkening the sky above our heads. Directly heading over to Zhou Qi's small shop front door only then did we realize they were all gathered together eating dinner inside.
It really wasn't bad seeing them five sitting together like a happy family enjoying their meal. Upon seeing me arrive they quickly invited me over to join them for dinner which made sense since my stomach had started growling from hunger anyway. So without any hesitation or politeness on either side, we sat down together and began eating.
During dinner time Zhou Qi told me about Lü Tao's situation after I left last time. Apparently after discussing it with him they decided to rent out an adjacent storefront next door allowing Lü Tao open up a paper-cutting store since his skills in this area were quite good.
In these few days, a group of people have been busy together and the storefront has finally taken shape. The store has one advantage: there is a small room behind it where Lü Tao and his daughter can temporarily live in. As for the things they lack, they can slowly acquire them over time.
According to them, business is good after opening the shop mainly because Lü Tao's paper figures are exquisite and beautiful. Therefore, when there are red or white celebrations nearby, people will come to him to make paper figures.
This situation makes me very happy. I talked with Lü Tao and told him that he could come to me if he had any difficulties.
Lü Tao was naturally grateful towards me but hesitated at first as if there was something he couldn't say.
"Lao Lü, is there anything you want to tell me? Just say it out loud. As long as I can help you with it, I'll try my best." I said to him.
"Little Master, logically speaking you've already helped me a lot. It's not right for me to keep asking for more favors from you like this but this time it's not about myself; it's about Xiao Ling (his daughter). She's still young and I want her to continue going to school but she doesn't have household registration here. Yesterday when I went looking for her at the elementary school nearby they refused us saying we need pay tuition fees which are quite expensive." Lü Tao said dejectedly.
When Lü Tao spoke those words his daughter looked up at me hopefully with her eyes full of anticipation.
"I mean Old Man Lu do you carry your household registration book on yourself?"
"Yes," replied Lü Tao who then took out his household registration book from his pocket carefully wrapped in plastic baggie.
"That makes things easier," taking hold of his household registration book from him while flipping through its pages before returning it to him, I said: "It's getting late now and it's also the weekend. It won't be easy finding someone to help us with this matter. Let's do it next week instead. I'll take you to the police station then and have them transfer your household registration book over here."
"Okay, Little Master has a good relationship with Director He so this matter is definitely reliable." Hearing my words, Zhou Qi spoke up.
I smiled without saying anything while looking at Lü Long Ling asking Lü Tao: "Her household registration book shows that she is already twelve years old but from her appearance she doesn't seem that old."
Hearing my question, Lü Tao sighed before replying: "It's all my fault for making her suffer like this. Her nutrition hasn't been able to keep up which naturally affects her growth rate. In our hometown we count one year as soon as they are born so there might be some discrepancies in age."
"What grade did she reach back home?" I asked.
"She was halfway through fifth grade; our elementary school system lasts five years so logically speaking she should start junior high school this year," replied Lü Tao.
Hearing his answer made me nod in agreement before saying: "That works out well then; let Xiao Ling go straight into junior high school when we get back since we will be together anyway and it would make things easier for me to look after her."
"Alright! Thank you very much Little Master!" exclaimed an elated Lü Tao.
"Yeah! The Little Master knows how to take care of people really well haha..." Zhou Qi teased causing me some embarrassment before quickly coming up with an excuse and bidding farewell before heading home.