The ancestral shrine doors were closed.
The butler's anxiety, which had risen to his throat, slowly settled down.
He looked at Bai Lian, his gaze equally complex.
Xiangcheng, the most remote and also the furthest city from Jiangjing on the border of Beicheng.
Dirty, chaotic, a haven for crooks and criminals, the most corrupt place in the country, that even lacked a high-speed train station.
Bai Lian seemed contemplative as she looked at the Bai Family ancestral tablets, with only two hundred years of history.
With complex emotions, she asked the butler, "Is 'White Clothes' still around?"
'White Clothes' is one of the ten most famous ancient tunes, the school song of Jiangjing University, known to any schoolchild, so the butler thought she was making conversation and replied, "Miss, why must you create such a spectacle? A person's destiny is what it is from birth. That's why some can turn their fate around even born in adversity, while others, despite being given the best conditions, merely squander their potential..."
The eldest young master had grown up in harsh conditions but had become the top student in the city and went to Jiangjing University, even had a PhD supervisor, backed by the Jiangjing family. The status of the Bai Family in Beicheng was increasingly stable, and everyone knew the eldest young master was destined for greatness.
Bai Qiming was waiting for Bai Shaoke and his sister to bring glory to the family, to enroll in Jiangjing, and hopefully even get a mention in the provincial or city annals.
In contrast to Bai Lian...
"What isn't yours will never be yours, and the second miss's accomplishments today are all due to her own abilities," the butler said for a while and then felt it unnecessary to waste time with her, and turned around.
He had to deliver the letter of introduction to the second miss right away.
No sooner had the butler turned around than Bai Lian spoke in a soft voice, "Where are you taking my things?"
The butler was stunned, "I..."
He hadn't finished his sentence when suddenly—
Bai Lian reached out and seized the collar of his shirt, her slender, fair fingertips exerting just a bit of force.
A clear sensation of being strangled surged through his neck, forcing the butler to bend down involuntarily, his heart felt as if it was being gripped, and he was compelled to look into her dark eyes!
He vaguely remembered that Bai Lian's mother, Ji Mulan, had once been a beauty who disturbed the entire Beicheng.
It seemed to everyone that Bai Lian hadn't inherited the fine qualities of Bai Qiming or Ji Mulan, and he had thought so too.
But at that moment, he was somewhat unsure.
Bai Lian seemed to take pleasure in this for a while, then suddenly smiled again. She tightened her grip on him, asking slowly and deliberately, "Do you know what happened to the last person who provoked me?"
The butler's face reddened quickly from the lack of oxygen.
She let go of his throat, still unhurried, and she adjusted his collar for him, her voice soft and gentle, "You see, I was just making a little joke, what are you afraid of?"
The move could be described as gentle.
Yet inside, the butler felt his hair stand on end, and the alarm bells in his head were screaming wildly!!
He covered his neck with his hand, coughing continuously.
Once again, his gaze towards Bai Lian was filled with fear.
Bai Lian pushed him away and suddenly retracted her smile.
Like boiling water suddenly turning to ice.
She picked up the letter of introduction from his hand lazily with two fingers, casually blew off the non-existent dust from the name card, and said with an unclear meaning, "Make arrangements. I'm going to Xiangcheng."
**
Two days later, Xiangcheng.
The most remote border city in the country, untouched by three years of poverty alleviation efforts.
There were no developed transportation systems here, not even many slightly taller buildings.
Bai Lian stood beneath the city wall, flipping back the hood of her sweatshirt and looking up.
The ancient walls, weathered through thousands of years, collapsed stones, moss thriving in the shaded areas, flanked by rows of languid banyan trees, through whose gaps light and shadow flickered and danced.
She held a black backpack in one hand, and beneath her feet, five sticks of incense burned, their smoke spiraling into the clear sky.
A little boy squatting on the ground, fixated on a large waterwheel, glanced at her twice, and seeing that Bai Lian hadn't moved on, continued to stare at the waterwheel.
A cell phone ringtone roused Bai Lian from her reverie.
"Alian, haven't you arrived yet?" It was the voice of her maternal aunt in Xiangcheng, tentative and cautious.
Bai Lian scooped up her backpack and swung it onto her back, "I'll be right back."
In the distance, a drop of water plummeted down, melting into the dust.
She watched the incense burn down to stubs before she slapped the hood of her sweatshirt onto her head and walked toward the bus station.
Outside of Xiangcheng ran a moat, split and diverted into the city. Inside the city gates, a large wooden windmill was perched over the water. As the water flowed, the windmill rotated at a leisurely pace.
The little boy, Yu Guang, noticing her departure, finally decided to move, following her to the bus stop.
Bai Lian stood in the shade of the trees, looking down at the little friend who barely reached her waist. Her slender fingertips rested against her phone, tapping away casually.
This little friend had been following her since he got on the bus with her from the train station.