Back in the village, they lived in the pet.i.tioner's house. It was 3pm, and it began to snow outside.

Yu Hao tapped on his camera and transferred photos. The signal here was really bad. With two unconscious patients and an old lady, he couldn't get the WIFI pa.s.sword out of them either, so he had to make do with the transfer speed.

"I'll go to the village and continue asking about the situation." Jin Weicheng said, "I'll be going door to door, gathering statistics on the number of deaths, you're in charge of sending the pictures back."

"Alright." Yu Hao said, "Laoshi, beware of the village committee."

Yu Hao looked at his phone. Zhou Sheng didn't text him, did he sleep for the entire day?

After he was roughly done with the interview, Yu Hao suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.

【Piggy, get up.】Yu Hao,【It's already 3pm.】

Yu Hao waited for the photos to transfer. Lin Ze sent him a picture of the pregnant lady's medical record that he had taken yesterday.

Lin Ze:【Are you sure?】

Yu Hao:【No.】

Lin Ze:【I've alerted the police and reported it to their provincial office for further investigation.】

Yu Hao:【They'll care?! Why did I hear that a lot of villages are colluding and wouldn't allow any investigation.】

Lin Ze:【Of course they will. So many human trafficking cases had been exposed in recent years, every region worries about it a lot. As long as you encounter one and report it to the provincial office immediately, they'll definitely care. Don't worry, how's progress on your side?】

Yu Hao thought that it was a good thing for the media to pursue hot topics with great fanfare. At the very least, now they were afraid that something would happen that could affect their political achievements, so at the first sign of trouble they would rather kill the wrong person than let one criminal escape as they demanded a thorough investigation of all cases.

Yu Hao:【We've taken all of the photos, Laoshi went to gather more data for the investigation.】

According to the usual interview process, the last stage was the most important one, which was data. Yesterday, Jin Weicheng took photos of the patient's medical records and obtained their first set of data. Next, he started aggregating data within each village.

There were four villages in total, and he interviewed them one by one. If he was quick, they would be able to finish everything by tomorrow and go back.

Yu Hao:【It wasn't as dangerous as you said it would be, everything went pretty smoothly.】

Lin Ze:【Oh right, there's one more very important skill that I forgot to teach you.】

Yu Hao:【?】

Lin Ze:【During interviews, no matter what the situation is like, don't say, "the interview went really well this time". It's just like how night-shift emergency doctors can't say "there's nothing much to do tonight".】

Yu Hao:【*covers face emoji* Okay, I got it.】

Yu Hao leaned against the back of his chair and looked at the photos that were being transferred. He could only use his phone's hotspot, and his phone only had 3G signal. After transferring for more than an hour, he had only transferred about a dozen photos. Yu Hao hadn't eaten lunch yet, so he took out the meat floss bun he had fed dogs with and choked badly on one. At 4:30, urgent knocks suddenly sounded on the door.

Yu Hao, "Who is it?"

"Me!" Jin Weicheng said, "Open the door!"

Yu Hao opened the door. There was a loud ruckus outside the living room — a group of people were crowding at the entrance. Jin Weicheng darted in, reeking of alcohol, then locked the door.

Yu Hao, "………………"

Jin Weicheng, "Have you finished transferring the photos?"

Yu Hao, "What's going on?! The village committee is here?"

"No, no." Jin Weicheng said, "I've collated the casualty data, they asked how much they would be compensated……"

The people outside rushed into the living room and started smacking the door, shouting in dialect to ask them to get out and talk. Jin Weicheng gasped for breath, "Then they asked me to quote a price and tell them how much each person would get. How could I quote one? Someone must have told the plant, and the plant asked him to come catch us to give them money! People from the plant are about to come too!"

People outside began kicking the door. Jin Weicheng said, "How many more photos are there left?!"

"It won't finish transferring in time!" Yu Hao said.

Jin Weicheng made a decision on the spot, "Run!"

Before anyone could react, Jin Weicheng went to open the window. Yu Hao unzipped his bag, grabbed his camera, and stuffed it along with the chargers and the family's socket into the bag before tossing it onto his back. Jin Weicheng flipped out of the window, and Yu Hao followed along. They jumped toward the firewood house in the backyard one after another——

"Woof……"

Yu Hao flung his half-eaten meat floss bread over, and the world was quiet. They jumped onto a firewood stack. Jin Weicheng slammed his whole body against the iron door in the backyard before realising in despair that the iron door was locked.

Yu Hao jumped onto the stack of firewood again and flipped out of the yard. A group of villagers were clamouring as they ran out to chase them. Jin Weicheng followed along and flipped out of the yard.

Yu Hao, "Where do we run to?!"

Jin Weicheng, "Onto the national highway!"

They started dashing away like mad. A series of barks sounded out behind them. Jin Weicheng bounded along large steps and ran in front, Yu Hao said, "Where do we run to?! There's still ten kilometres to go before we can reach the county town!"

Jin Weicheng said, "Check the other village! My phone ran out of battery again!"

Behind them, some people chased after them on foot while others rode electric bicycles to catch up. Yu Hao rushed past a fork in the road and looked down at his phone. Zhou Sheng was calling him.

"I'm on the run!" Yu Hao shouted, "I'll talk to you later!"

"What the h.e.l.l did you do this time?!" Zhou Sheng roared angrily.

Yu Hao hung up, checked the map, and shouted, "Jin Laoshi! Run along that road!"

Several young people were chasing after them. Yu Hao didn't expect that their situation would take such a turn. He rushed into a meadow behind several empty houses and shouted, "Jin Laoshi! Let's split up! I'll lure them away!"

Jin Weicheng was about to say something when Yu Hao shouted, "I'm a student! I'll be okay!"

Jin Weicheng said, "Regroup at the destination!"

Following which, more than ten women chased after from behind again with brooms in their hands as they beat up the men in their families. They shouted to Yu Hao, "Hurry and go!"

Yu Hao, "……"

Apparently, the villagers weren't united in their views and started an armed confrontation amongst themselves first. However the pursuers on electric bicycles had overtaken them and continued their relentless pursuit.

Yu Hao rushed onto a road and ran a few steps to the middle of the road. He glanced at the group of people on electric bicycles, then ran to the side of the road and straight into a wasteland.

This way, the electric bicycles wouldn't be able to chase him anymore. Although Yu Hao wouldn't get beaten to death if he were caught, this still concerned his professional dignity, so he definitely couldn't get caught! Yu Hao rushed into the wasteland. The villagers parked their electric bicycles by the roadside and chased him down with rods in their hands.

Yu Hao looked back as he darted along the wasteland covered in gra.s.s that were as tall as half a normal human. He jumped as he ran and rushed up a mound, then rushed back down again before running towards another road.

The people behind him kept shouting. Yu Hao roughly guessed that they hadn't realised that Jin Weicheng had gotten away successfully. Good, then it's my turn now.

But he had just run up to the road on the other side when another group of people arrived. Counting all the people in the front and back, there were about a dozen or so people blocking Yu Hao.

"Come back with us!" Someone shouted in Mandarin, "We won't hit you!"

The engine sound of a motorcycle blared in the distance. Yu Hao looked left and right, but there was nowhere else to run on the national highway.

Yu Hao turned around again and rushed into the wasteland. The villagers caught up in an instant, but right at the next moment, a motorcycle drifted over with a whoosh and flew right across horizontally, knocking the pursuers onto the ground.

A man wearing a black woolen cap came down from the bike, holding a tap water iron pipe that he had picked up from somewhere. He ran forward and performed a flying kick!

Yu Hao, "……"

Yu Hao stood in the wasteland, completely dumbstruck. Snowflakes floated down, and Yu Hao felt like he was dreaming.

Yu Hao hadn't seen Zhou Sheng fight in a very, very long time. At the moment he raised his fist, Yu Hao let out a crazed shout!

Zhou Sheng was well versed in the art of group fights. As long as one is surrounded, aim at the other group's leader and throw out the first punch! That punch immediately hit the leader in the face and sent him flying! This deterrent force subdued the entire crowd in an instant; the remaining people restrained their momentum, then Zhou Sheng swung the tap water pipe and rushed forward!

"Come at me all at once!" Zhou Sheng roared furiously, "Hobbits! Hurry up! Laozi doesn't have the time to play with you guys!"

Yu Hao was thoroughly stunned now. The villagers retreated one after another and talked to one another in dialect for a while. Zhou Sheng made a threatening gesture as he stepped forward, and the group all ran away immediately.

Yu Hao stood within the weeds that were half a man's height, and the edges of his vision actually blacked out for a moment. Zhou Sheng stood gasping for breath, turned around to look at Yu Hao as he trembled slightly, and didn't dare walk towards him.

The two stood looking at each other like that. The snowflakes swirled everywhere, and soaked Zhou Sheng's whole body until he was dripping wet.

Yu Hao shouted again and ran onto the road.

Yu Hao rushed forward quickly, Zhou Sheng came over by condensing three steps into two, and the two embraced each other tightly. Zhou Sheng bowed down and kissed him forcefully, with a choking scent of smoke on his body.

A gunshot suddenly sounded in the distance. Zhou Sheng was alert at once and pulled Yu Hao behind him, then turned around to examine the source.

"Hunting gun, villages use it for shooting wolves." Yu Hao said, "Don't worry."

Zhou Sheng pulled Yu Hao and dragged the motorcycle up, then mounted it. Yu Hao straddled the bike behind him. Zhou Sheng twisted the motorcycle handle and drove away with a "buzz".

Someone chased after them with a hunting gun and fired at the sky, but the gunshot sounded farther and farther away, and they could no longer catch up with the two of them.

Yu Hao, "Why are you here!"

Zhou Sheng lowered his head as he faced the wind and drove the motorcycle with Yu Hao behind while he was speeding the entire way. He didn't answer.

Yu Hao, "When did you come?!"

Zhou Sheng still didn't answer him. The sun gradually set at the end of the national highway. The engine roared, and snowflakes swirled around gently in front of the two of them, like thousands of goose feathers that were sweeping by.

"Zhou Sheng!" Yu Hao hugged Zhou Sheng's waist tightly and buried his head into his back as he shouted madly.

Zhou Sheng's brows furrowed deeply. He turned sideways to glance at Yu Hao. He was dressed in a black suit from head to toe and wore motorcycle gloves that he had gotten from somewhere. His tie had been fluttering madly in the strong winds the whole way.

Zhou Sheng finally shouted with his head turned sideways, "Are you cold?"

Yu Hao said, "I'm okay!"

Zhou Sheng's back had blocked all the wind.

Zhou Sheng, "I'm cold!"

Yu Hao quickly said, "I'll lend you my jacket! Stop driving so fast!"

Zhou Sheng, "Don't move! Tighten your grip!"

Yu Hao hugged him even tighter now. Zhou Sheng's suit jacket flew up as they rushed to the end of the national highway. Yu Hao's down jacket had been torn when he climbed over the wall, and now from the rip countless feathers were flying out that drifted in the wind, merging into one with the snow that was fluttering about between the heavens and the earth — no distinction could be made, and they would never be separated ever again.

—

Juurensha: Awwww at long last, a reunion