I'm caught in the cycle of endless competition, you're waiting for me in the apocalypse.

“The whole village is very deserted, and it feels particularly cold and gloomy when you get here.” Li Qingchuan observed carefully. “Today is the weekend, and the children don’t have to go to school, but I haven’t seen any children playing along the way, which is very rare for a village.”

“I think so too, it feels really out of place. Especially here, it’s so cold and gloomy,” Wei Ran chimed in.

"Hmm, Second Senior Brother, you're quite skilled with talismans. Do you have any way to see or hear ghosts?" An Xin looked at the soaring resentful aura in the courtyard and felt uneasy, sensing that it was a bit troublesome.

"I have a way, but if you use a talisman, the effect of seeing or hearing ghosts won't last long. It's best to use it at night, when ghosts are more active."

"Hey! Who are you?" an older woman called out to them from afar along the edge of the field. When she got closer, seeing three people who looked like college students, she added, "Are you backpackers? College students? Did you book a guesthouse here?"

“Yes, that’s right, sister~ We couldn’t book a room online, so we thought there must be some guesthouses in the village, so we came here directly.” An Xin’s little brain was working fast, and her bright smile and the word “sister” made the auntie completely smitten. “We saw that this courtyard seemed to be empty, and we were just about to ask other places. Look, isn’t it a coincidence that you’ve come here.”

"Sigh~ This courtyard is no good, everyone's been missing for a long time, it's been locked the whole time, only the village chief has the key. Why don't you come stay at my house? I happen to have a spare room." The auntie couldn't stop smiling.

An Xin and the others exchanged glances, nodded, and negotiated the price with the aunt, booking a room for three days.

"Come on, come on, follow me. This is the farthest part of the village, and few people come here usually. That's why it's been so long since anyone last saw this place. The police have been here before..." The aunt seemed to have found a reason to vent, and she kept babbling on and on, spewing out all sorts of random things.

"Huh? No way, Auntie, I'm getting a little scared." An Xin started chatting with the aunt, hoping to get some information out of her.

"Haha, what's there to be afraid of? It's probably just that brat went out to work and hasn't come back. Most of the young people in our village are working outside, and the police said the same thing later."

"Where are the children? We've walked all this way and haven't seen any kids." Li Qingchuan joined the conversation.

"Ah, my grandchildren are all with their parents."

"Sister, you have grandchildren?"

"Hmm~ Hmm~ My eldest son is working in Chengdu now, with his wife. They had a grandson who is already 6 years old, and this year they had a daughter."

"Congratulations, auntie! Why didn't you go help watch the kids?"

“There’s only one old man at home. If I go and help them take care of the children, who will take care of the old man?”

"Then bring the child back. I see many people do this. Young people work hard in other places, and their children are sent back to their hometowns to be taken care of by their parents. Besides, it's just you and your spouse at home, so taking care of the child is easier and more lively, isn't it?"

“That’s exactly what they say. Back when we went out to work, didn’t we send our children back to our hometown to be taken care of by our grandparents? My son just wouldn’t agree, saying it would be safer for the children to stay with us, and that they would be closer to their parents. Sigh! What’s this about safety? They won’t be in danger if they stay with us. We can’t do anything if our son won’t budge. You see, that’s how it is in our whole village, so we just let them be.”

It was clear that the woman truly longed to be surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She even seemed a little melancholy as she spoke.

"Hey! We're here, right here. How's my house? It's pretty good, isn't it? Our house is one of the better ones in the village. It was passed down from my husband's ancestors. When he's home, he sometimes paints the walls or repairs the tiles." The aunt pushed open the courtyard gate and shouted into the house, "Old man, old man, come out quickly, we have guests."

"Hehe, by the way, I haven't asked you your surname yet!" Wei Ran said to the aunt while picking his ear.

"Ah! Look at my brain, my surname is Tian, ​​my old man's surname is Dong, hey~ most people in this village are surnamed Dong. I'm from Tianjia Village, and most people in our village are surnamed Tian."

"Sister Tian, ​​we came here on a field trip as required by our school, and we need to write a report about our experience when we get back. Can we interview you and Uncle Dong then?"

"Great! Your daughter, I liked her at first sight. She's beautiful, has a sweet tongue, and is a college student. She's really good at studying. My daughter used to be good at studying too. She even went to the best junior high school in town, but she didn't get into the provincial high school, so she dropped out and went to work with her older brother." Aunt Tian started talking about her children again, sighing. When she saw Uncle Dong, she put on a smile again and said, "Old man, come here. These three young people are college students. They've come to our village for tourism, and they're doing... what are they doing...?"

"We're here for research. Auntie is doing research, and Uncle is like this: we're sociology students, and we're here to write a research report, it's our assignment! The three of us want to do a study on the current situation and development of villages and towns. Fulin Village is a great place, although it's remote, it's very unique, so we came here."

An Xin and Wei Ran looked at Li Qingchuan, who was talking nonsense with a straight face, with admiration: Did he just cover up our identities? Second Senior Brother, does Master know that you lie without thinking?

"Oh, oh, I see. Our village is indeed different. Come, let's sit in the yard for a while. Old woman, go and get some snacks and fruit for these children."

"No need, no need, don't be shy, we'll just have some water." The three of them politely followed Uncle Dong around the screen wall into the spacious courtyard.

Several small tea trees grew in the courtyard, while a large, sturdy locust tree stood in the center, clearly an old tree. Clusters of snow-white locust blossoms swayed gently in the breeze, releasing a delicate fragrance that was intoxicating.

A stone table and four stone benches sit under the tree, creating a scene that evokes a sense of poetic beauty. One can imagine how leisurely and pleasant it would be to enjoy tea, play music, play chess, and meet with friends here.

"Come, sit down." Uncle Dong invited the group to sit at the stone table, pointed to the locust tree, and said, "This is my ancestor. He's been here for who knows how long. Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yes, it is indeed beautiful. By the way, Uncle Dong, we've been strolling around and we think Fulin Village is really nice. The outside is picturesque with clear water and lush mountains, and the village is quiet and peaceful. Moreover, the village is full of houses with blue bricks and tiled roofs, which is very distinctive." Li Qingchuan spoke skillfully, subtly guiding Uncle Dong to speak.

“That’s right. Our village can actually also be called Dongjia Village. We migrated here at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty to escape the war. Back then, the clan chief took all his possessions and the clansmen who were willing to go with him to escape here. They saw that this place had excellent feng shui, so they settled here.” Aunt Tian took a few cups, put some tea leaves into each one, and finally poured water from the thermos. Uncle Dong shook his head and instructed, “Go and tidy up their rooms. Don’t neglect them.”

"Thank you, Sister Tian~ Thank you, Uncle Dong," An Xin greeted sweetly.

Li Qingchuan took a sip of tea to show his respect: "By the way, Uncle Dong, how's your village chief? We'd like to interview him tomorrow. But we're a little worried about giving him a bad impression if we don't say anything right. Is there anything we should be careful about?"

"Dong Wenyu? He's one of the few in our generation who went to school, and he really likes you kids. His ancestors were also influential elders in the village. Don't let his position as village chief fool you; he's quite easy to talk to. If you want to make an appointment with him, I'll talk to him and see when he's available."

"Uncle Dong, you're so kind. Thank you so much. We'll be bothering you for the next few days."

"It's alright, it's alright. We're just having a lot of peace and quiet. It's rare for someone to come and talk to this old man like me. I'm happy about it."

"Old man, stop talking. The rooms are all set up. Let the kids go inside and rest first."

"Okay, okay, you guys rest first, we'll call you for dinner later."

"Thank you, Uncle Dong and Aunt Tian. We'll head to our rooms now. See you tonight!"

Aunt Tian warmly led the three to the side room on the other side of the courtyard. The side room had two rooms side by side; the smaller one was for An Xin, and the larger one was for the two boys.

“This is where my son and daughter originally lived. They haven’t been back for a long time. They took turns picking us up for the Chinese New Year. But it’s very clean. The beds I gave you are all new and unused. You can use them without worry.”

"Oh, thank you, Sister Tian." An Xin turned her head to look at her second senior brother and winked at him.

"Oh, right, give Auntie the money for the three days' accommodation and meals." Li Qingchuan took out a wad of cash from his backpack, counted it, and was about to give it to Aunt Tian when he saw An Xin winking at him again. After thinking for a moment, he took out three more red bills and handed them to Aunt Tian. "Um, Aunt Tian, ​​you're too kind. We feel bad about it. How about we give you some more money, and maybe you can cook us some special dishes later?"

"Haha~ No problem, no problem, you guys rest first, I'll go to Zhang the butcher's house at the village entrance now and get you something good."

After Aunt Tian left, An Xin put her luggage in her room and went to her senior brothers' room. She closed the door and pulled them to sit down. The group huddled together, discussing in hushed tones.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, this village is too strange!"