Di Ming

Chapter 2 Return to the Ming Dynasty
"President Ning, it's too cold. Our clothes aren't enough to keep us warm; we need to find somewhere sheltered from the wind..."

Zhu Yin had no time to think about anything else; if things continued like this, the three of them would soon freeze to death!
The terrifying cold left Ning Caiwei no time to think.

"Alright! Let's move out!"

In such extreme cold, without warm clothing, their bodies wouldn't last even half an hour.

The two first climbed a snow slope, looked around, and immediately saw what looked like a hut in the woods not far away.
"quick!"

Holding the tiny life in their arms, wrapped in loose clothes and dragging ill-fitting shoes, the two stumbled and rushed down the snow slope, bravely advancing towards the woods not far away!

The distance of less than two miles felt so far in the wind and snow.

The snow was deep, the wind was strong, and every step was extremely difficult.

Amidst the howling wind and snow, two small figures stood like ants between heaven and earth, tiny yet persistent.

"I can not make it……"

Ning Caiwei's legs went numb, and she tripped and fell in the snow.

To protect her younger sister in her arms, she turned to the side when she fell, avoiding hitting Ning Qingchen, but the medicine box she was carrying flew off her body.

"I'll hold him! Get up!" Zhu Yin rushed over, carrying the little puppy.

After all, he was a boy, and although he was a year younger than Ning Caiwei, he was still stronger.

He stuffed the puppy into Ning Caiwei's large bag, picked up the baby Ning Qingchen, and then slung the medicine box over his shoulder.

With her burden lifted, Ning Caiwei immediately felt much more relaxed. She followed Zhu Yin's footprints, carefully wading through the snow.

Ning Qingchen was held in Zhu Yin's arms, looking up at the boy's face so close to his.

Although he looked twenty years younger, the features between his brows still revealed that he was that annoying man.

His embrace was warmer than his sister's.

She saw the boy's tender face was flushed, white breath was coming out of his mouth and nose, his eyes, with icy eyelashes, were staring ahead with a firm and tense look, and his body was running forward with a distinct, rhythmic sway.

For some reason, Ning Qingchen suddenly thought of trains, those old-fashioned green trains.

On a winter morning, a train, puffing out white smoke and sporting a pair of eye-like headlights, chugged along rhythmically, heading into the thick fog.

At that moment, I felt like a tiny passenger.

She then remembered a mule.

She had never ridden a mule, but she seemed to see one puffing out white steam, snorting, and carrying her as it bumped and jostled along.

With these bizarre and fantastical thoughts swirling in his mind, Ning Qingchen actually forgot about the perilous situation he was in at the moment.

Zhu Yin's calves were almost stiff, so he could only grit his teeth and desperately use his still-feeling thighs to move his calves.

Soon!

We can't stop, we can't fall!
But just then, something in the snow tripped him up!
Zhu Yin suddenly rolled over, avoiding crushing the baby in his arms.

However, his legs were numb, and he couldn't stand up twice in a row.

Ning Qingchen, who experienced this scene, felt as if the world was spinning.

But he himself was unharmed. The train, or rather the mules and horses, had protected him.

"Zhu Yin!"

Ning Caiwei stumbled over and helped Zhu Yin up.

Zhu Yin stood up and looked around, only then realizing what had tripped him in the snow.

There was a dead man and a dead horse!
The dead man had his head shaved, with two small braids like rat tails on his bald head.

They're Jurchens!?
Is this the ancient Northeast?

"It's a dead person! Stop looking and get out of here!" Ning Caiwei said, trembling all over, her face already turning a faint bluish tinge.

Fortunately, the two were less than half a mile away from the hut.

The two of them, supporting each other, braved the wind and snow and finally entered the woods.

It only took the two of them a dozen minutes, but it felt like a very long time, as if they had traveled through countless mountains and rivers.

Seeing the thatched hut covered in snow, the two felt like newlyweds dying of thirst in the desert who had found an oasis river.

He suddenly regained his strength.

The hut was small, at most fifty square meters, with a simple fence outside and a tall wooden pole stuck in the side.

The two of them first cautiously observed the area, and after calling out a few times without receiving a response, they pushed open the wooden gate and entered together.

The thatched hut was deserted and empty.

In the middle was a hearth, the ash pit already cold. Above it hung a ceramic pot, blackened by the smoke.

Firewood was piled up against the east wall. A deer skull hung on the north wall.

Below is a kang (heated brick bed).

To the west is a simple shrine, enshrining some small clay figures.

This is a thatched hut filled with the warmth of everyday life.

As soon as the three entered the thatched hut, the endless snowstorm outside seemed like a distant memory, and they immediately felt much warmer.

Only then did Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei realize that they were temporarily out of danger, and they looked at each other with relief and smiled.

“This is a hunting lodge, a place to rest temporarily when hunting in the mountains,” Zhu Yin said. “President Ning, let me light the fire first. You should move your legs and feet a bit, be careful not to get frostbite.”

He took a lighter from his oversized clothes and quickly lit the fire.

Once the fire was lit, the whole thatched hut was glowing red and warm, filled with the sun-kissed scent of pine.

The chill finally fled, filled with resentment.

The wind and snow outside could no longer harm the three of them; they could only roar in vain and desperately shake the trees to vent their tyranny.

Seeing the blazing fire in the hearth, Ning Qingchen couldn't help but shed tears.

She was revived. She felt herself melting away.

But why am I suddenly so hungry again?
She wants to nurse!

Never before have I longed for milk so much!
At this moment, Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei finally had the time and inclination to think things through.

The flickering firelight illuminated their faces, making them appear unpredictable and enigmatic. Ning Caiwei slowly said, "In your opinion, what exactly happened? We've become twenty years younger and arrived in another time and space?"

Zhu Yin stared at the fire, flames dancing in his clear pupils, but his tone was utterly cold:

"If I'm not mistaken, we must have traveled through time. We may have arrived in ancient Northeast China."

He pointed outside, “That corpse that tripped me was a Jurchen.”

"Our bodies aged twenty years in reverse during the process of traveling through time."

"It's amazing, but it seems to be the only explanation."

Zhu Yin remained calm, but his body trembled slightly.

Is all of this really not a dream?
"Are you sure?" Ning Caiwei's body trembled even more violently. "This really isn't a dream?"

"It should be confirmed by now." Zhu Yin stroked the dozing puppy. "President Ning, let's not think too much about it. Survival is the most important thing."

Upon hearing the phrase "time travel," Ning Qingchen's lips trembled, and she was about to burst into tears.

Ugh.

Why can't I control my tears after becoming a baby? My threshold for crying is too low!

Has our mindset really become childish?
Ning Caiwei's little face was full of a worry that children don't have. "You have a good knowledge of history. You can tell which dynasty it is?"

Zhu Yin shook his head and said, "That's unclear. The corpse might be a Jurchen from the Liao Dynasty, or it might be a Jurchen from the Ming Dynasty. It could be from the Song, Yuan, or Ming Dynasties."

As Zhu Yin spoke, his gaze suddenly fell on the shrine to the west, and he couldn't help but pause in surprise.

"I understand!" Zhu Yin said with certainty. "It's the Jurchen of the Ming Dynasty! It must be the Ming Dynasty!"

Ning Caiwei quickly asked, "How did you confirm that?"

“Because of this shrine!” Zhu Yin pointed to the shrine and small clay statues on the west side. “Jurchen customs also evolved. The worship at the West Shrine was a custom that only existed among the Jurchens during the Ming Dynasty. It was dedicated to Mother Foduo and Lord Cuohazhan (the God of Baishan).

"And the wooden poles standing outside are a custom unique to the Jurchen people during the Ming Dynasty. They are called 'Solo poles' (pole for worshipping the heaven god). This custom did not exist among the Jurchen people during the Jin Dynasty."

He stood up and looked at the small clay statue of a god under the shrine, then said with even greater certainty:

"That's right, the clay figures are Mother Foduo and Lord Cuohazhan, and this is the Northeast during the Ming Dynasty!"

"They're either Jianzhou Jurchens or Haixi Jurchens. It shouldn't be the Savage Jurchens."

"President Ning, we need to be mentally prepared. This is Jurchen territory."

Ning Caiwei sighed, her expression bitter.

"Zhu Yin, please stop calling me President Ning. I'm a year older than you, so just call me Sister Caiwei."

"I believe that we should first be open and honest in order to work together to overcome the difficulties."

Is there anything you want to say to me?

She raised her pretty face, scrutinized Zhu Yin with a half-smile.

Zhu Yin frowned, looking somewhat surprised. "You... you knew all along?"

Ning Caiwei nodded and threw the firewood into the fire.

“I knew you were a corporate spy. But I’d like to know what you’re really up to.”

"More importantly, I want to know who sent you."

“I deliberately kept you by my side to show my trust in you, but it also attracted a lot of gossip.”

Zhu Yin's eyes gleamed. "So President Ning knew I was an undercover agent all along. Truly, he deserves to be called a legendary figure in the Chinese business world."

"I admit it, I was indeed a spy."

"But my purpose is not for commercial gain."

Ning Caiwei smiled slightly, "You're doing this for the national interest, right? You're an agent from the Secret Service."

"Are you worried that the Ning Group is colluding with foreign forces and selling off the group's technological secrets?"

Zhu Yin narrowed his eyes, his aura turned cold, and his expression became much more gloomy.

"President Ning knows a lot, and he even turned the tables on me. I'm really surprised."

"How did President Ning find out my identity? I'm very curious."

Ning Caiwei's tone was a little playful, "You're so smart, you should be able to figure it out. Think about it again?"

Zhu Yin's face grew even uglier. "My role is to deliberately expose myself when necessary? To make people think that the country doesn't trust the Ning family, that the Ning family is disloyal to the country, and that we can cooperate with them?"

"So you knew all along that a secret service agent would infiltrate your inner circle?"

Ning Caiwei smiled. "That's right, exactly. You are indeed very smart. It's a pity that these things can only be kept secret from you."

"I want to use the secret service's resources to set up a strategic deception and provide false business intelligence."

"So essentially, we're cooperating, right?"

"Okay, now we've been honest with each other."

"I hope that from now on, we can be free of any resentment and have no psychological burden on each other."

Zhu Yin had to admit that it was no fluke that Ning Caiwei had taken control of the Ning Group at such a young age.

“Sister Caiwei is right.” Zhu Yin changed his form of address. “Now that we’ve talked it out, I feel much better.”

"To be honest, I was really worried for you before, fearing that you would sell out technological secrets for profit."

Ning Caiwei gracefully tossed her hair. "Am I really that bad? You people underestimate me."

Ning Qingchen then realized that although Zhu Yin was indeed harboring ulterior motives by her sister's side, he did not actually want to become Ning's son-in-law.

Instead, they were spies planted undercover by the Secret Service! Their aim was to prevent the Ning family from betraying national interests.

The older sister knew Zhu Yin's identity, but she used this as a pretext to devise a strategic deception.

The clown is me!
Waaaaah... Ning Qingchen couldn't help but burst into tears again.

　Only a handsome man who graduated from a prestigious university and works as a bodyguard can make people mistakenly think he wants to live off a woman, thus concealing the true purpose of the spy. Everyone will assume that he wants to live off a woman.

　　That way, they won't suspect he's an undercover agent. So, this setup was actually quite clever.

　　Those readers who criticize my writing for being unreasonable should actually use their brains: think things through before you speak.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)