"What, maintaining silence?"
"No, just very curious," Ye Tian examined the woman carefully. Tang Su snorted coldly, then pulled out a cigarette from her bag.
Her unpainted fingernails indicated a pragmatic woman; the clean fingers without any yellow stains showed she was not addicted to smoking, the cigarette was merely a tool for her; the lighter was the kind you get from the convenience store for one yuan, frugal, not flashy; squinting her eyes while lighting the cigarette, she was proud, self-confident; after it was lit, she took a deep drag and then slowly savored it, a strong desire for control.
"Speak up, silence isn't a good way to solve problems for me," she said with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth after smoking—so full of herself! That was enough!
Ye Tian smiled, "Miss Tang, since you already know, do I still need to say it?"
Jade hands reaching out the window, gently flicking away the ash, Tang Su sighed, her eyes revealing some melancholy, "I knew it, you were sent by my grandfather, only he would have someone like you, but... you are really far from those people, so I had my doubts..."
"I was raised free-range," Ye Tian interjected.
Tang Su laughed out, "That term is quite fitting to describe you; all the people under him are cold as the Dead Man, not to mention following me, I get annoyed just by looking at them!" Tang Su frowned, as though she was thinking about something extremely distasteful.
"I'm only an exception, who knows…" Ye Tian stopped speaking because he saw Tang Su looking at him with a smile. A beauty's smile, the ultimate poison!
"After all this talk, I still don't know you at all, Ye Tian, your skill in changing the subject is also incredible!" Ye Tian waved his hand, wanting to explain, but Tang Su bluntly interrupted him, "Forget it, I have no intention of having you follow me."
Hearing this, Ye Tian's heart felt cold, "So my first job is down the drain?"
In fact, Ye Tian was already prepared to be dismissed. Even if Tang Su slapped him now, he would face it without a word because he had just been joking with her life. Even though he was very confident, he hadn't asked for her consent. In this regard, he was not a qualified bodyguard.
"You don't need to follow me tomorrow," Ye Tian guessed right. Tang Su took out a compact mirror and tidied her hair, then continued, "Starting tonight, you will be a security guard at the Waterfront... Oh, right, a trainee security officer, for a one-month period. If you qualify, you stay; if not... you understand?"
Ye Tian's spirits lifted, eyes gleaming, "Understood! Tian will definitely not let the organization down!"
"Good. Get out of the car," Ye Tian was stunned, staring at Tang Su, "What, you didn't understand? I'm telling you to get out of the car now."
Ye Tian was compliant, opened the car door, stepped out, and Tang Su, sitting in the driver's seat, looked at Ye Tian outside and said, "It's ten in the morning now; go to the company to register at two in the afternoon, and sorry, but if you're late..." Tang Su laughed as her shoulders shook, Ye Tian's heart was a mix of emotions, "What place is this, Xiahuai Tree Village? You... Ah, never mind, it's none of my business." The car started, and an arm stretched out from the Toyota to wave at Ye Tian, unclear whether it was schadenfreude or truly reluctant to part.
Ye Tian curled his lips, shrugged his shoulders, and muttered to himself, "Women with big breasts just have no conscience."
Watching the black car fade into the distance, Ye Tian turned his head and looked at the small village not far away. He had intentionally driven here, to a village called Xiahuai Tree Village.
The morning sun was warm and gentle, lacking the harsh bite of noon or the laziness of dusk. The entire village basked in its glow, as if donning a golden cape. On the large rock at the entrance of the village, a few old men soaked up the sun, with a chessboard drawn on cowhide paper on the ground. Two old men with goatee beards were engrossed in their game, surrounded by a handful of spectators. Ye Tian walked over.
"Sir, do you know where Liu Tieniu's home is?"
"What? Say that again?" An old man watching the game cocked his head and asked, evidently hard of hearing.
Ye Tian raised his voice, "Liu! Tieniu! The tall, dark-skinned guy with big eyes and a mouthful of big white teeth when he smiles." Recalling the appearance of his old comrade, Ye Tian suddenly felt something stuck in his throat, lodged there, unable to be swallowed or coughed up.
"Kid, are you asking about that big goofy soldier?" An old man with a shaved head and missing two front teeth seemed to know something and looked up to ask.
"Yes, yes, that's him. He was in the military. Do you know where his home is?" Grasping at hope, Ye Tian asked eagerly.
The toothless old man waved his large hand and pointed down the main road leading into the village, "Follow this road straight in, all the way to the end. On the left, a row of houses, the most dilapidated one is Shaniu's home!"
Though the old man meant well, Ye Tian was still upset. He didn't want his honest companion to be called an idiot. He wasn't stupid; he was smarter than anyone. Ye Tian walked away with a cold face, and behind him, he heard the toothless old man muttering incessantly, "Shaniu hasn't come back for years, I heard he even became some kind of officer in the army... Quick, take his 'elephant'!"
Following the old man's directions, Ye Tian walked slowly. He was curious to see what kind of place had nurtured a human being as extraordinary as Tieniu. Walking, a worry gnawed at him; this was the last place. He had already visited the hometowns of the other two members of their group. If he couldn't find any valuable information here, he would have to start all over again.
Ye Tian remembered what the old man said, follow the main road to the very end, then turn left, look for the most rundown... Ye Tian found it, and in an instant, his eyes grew moist. As if struck by lightning and chiseled by an axe, his heart was pounded by relentless blows.
This was a structure that could scarcely be called a house. In an age of increasing modernization, even in rural areas, thatched cottages were rare, let alone one that was actually inhabited. The courtyard was surrounded by piles of firewood, like an isolated island in the sea, unconnected to any other house, more like a child shunned.
"Woof woof!" As Ye Tian approached, a burst of barking ensued, a large untethered black dog ran out from the yard, standing at the door barking wildly at Ye Tian.
This must be the big black dog that Tieniu often talked about.
"Big Black, quiet down! Who's there?" Stopping the black dog, the master of the yard came out, a hunched old man with lifeless eyes, a head of white hair, his face crisscrossed with deep wrinkles that spoke to the sorrows of life, wearing a shirt of indistinguishable original color filled with holes, holding a large smoking pipe with a black bowl, swaying, "Who are you looking for?"
"Hello, I am Tieniu's comrade-in-arms." Ye Tian tried hard to maintain his composure, but his voice still trembled. He knew only that Tieniu came from the countryside, but he really didn't know that the foolish man who donated half of his monthly allowance to the Red Cross came from such poverty. How could he possibly have known!