A military-plated jeep came to a crashing halt in the compound.

The buzz-cut young man in the passenger seat flung open the door and started retching.

On this side, Chang Yuncheng got out of the car efficiently, raised his hand, pondered for a moment, and finally patted the steering wheel, just like he habitually soothed his horse.

Indeed, driving was much more comfortable than being a passenger. Self-control felt much better than being controlled by others.

Outside the house, the old man was carrying a birdcage, smiling as he looked over.

“Not bad, you learned quite quickly,” he said.

Chang Yuncheng nodded in acknowledgment, stepping up the stairs.

On this side, the housekeeper ran over to help the buzz-cut young man.

“This is killing me, this car isn’t meant for people to ride in…” he said.

After entering the house and drinking water for a while, he finally recovered, looking at Chang Yuncheng sitting across from him.

Chang Yuncheng was seriously flipping through a stack of papers in his hands.

“What’s this?” the buzz-cut asked, leaning over to look.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t answer.

“Addresses, phone numbers, photos – everything’s there,” came the old man’s voice from the doorway. “These are registered physicians screened from across the country, aged twenty to eighty. However, if the person you’re looking for isn’t a registered physician, we’ll need to search elsewhere.”

Chang Yuncheng grunted acknowledgment, flipping through the list.

“Looking for what?” the buzz-cut asked again, unwilling to be ignored.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t look up.

“Tea,” he said, extending his hand.

The buzz-cut instinctively handed over the teacup in front of him. Chang Yuncheng took it, drank a sip, put it down, and continued looking at the papers.

“Oh my god…” The buzz-cut came to his senses and realized what he had done. He was about to curse but saw his grandfather’s figure in the doorway and swallowed his words back.

This kid has problems! Who does he think he is? I’m the young master of this house! How dare he act like we’re all here to serve him! And I actually served him…

“There are cell phone numbers on there, but they may not be accurate. You can try,” the old man said again.

Chang Yuncheng grunted acknowledgment.

“Hey, do you have a cell phone?” the buzz-cut finally found an opportunity to ask with some smugness.

“No,” Chang Yuncheng said, still not looking up.

I knew he wouldn’t have one. I should have asked if he knew how to use one…

The buzz-cut was about to happily add another comment when Chang Yuncheng looked up at him.

The buzz-cut didn’t know what happened, but that one look suddenly made him not dare to speak again.

“I just don’t have one now,” Chang Yuncheng said, closing the thick stack of papers. He stood up and looked toward the old man at the doorway. “Thank you, sir.”

The old man smiled slightly.

“You’re my savior. This small matter is nothing,” he said.

Chang Yuncheng nodded, accepting it calmly.

“Then I’ll take my leave,” he said.

The buzz-cut snapped back to attention. He was quite depressed about being intimidated by someone’s glance earlier and instinctively picked up the teacup on the table to cover his discomfort. Hearing this, he looked over in surprise. What was this guy pretending? Having encountered such a thick thigh to hug, instead of clinging tight, he wanted to leave?

Playing hard to get?

The old man wasn’t surprised and continued smiling.

“Do you have money?” the old man asked.

“No,” Chang Yuncheng said. “But I can earn some.”

“What can you do?” the old man asked again.

“Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting,” Chang Yuncheng said.

The buzz-cut, who was drinking water, spat it out upon hearing this.

Oh dear, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting…

Are wild men nowadays all at this level?

“Those are accomplishments, not skills,” the old man didn’t laugh but said. “Do you have education? Do you understand foreign languages? Can you use computers? Do you know industry standards?”

Chang Yuncheng looked at him, his expression unchanged.

“I don’t understand now, but I will,” he said.

The old man shook his head.

“Young man, overcorrecting is not good. Not good,” he said.

The buzz-cut peered from inside the room. What were these two talking about? Why couldn’t he understand?

Chang Yuncheng looked at the old man, then smiled.

“Then, sir… are you hiring?” he asked.

The old man laughed heartily.

“Oh, this old fool,” he said, teasing the bird in the cage. “I’m just dead weight now, barely able to feed myself…”

Chang Yuncheng smiled.

“Do I need to… beg you?” he asked with a slight bow.

The buzz-cut behind him was already dumbfounded.

Oh my god, does your tone sound like you’re begging? This is… gracious condescension, right?

What kind of person is this? No, is this even human? Does he have mental problems?

The old man laughed heartily.

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare,” he said, thinking for a moment. “I’m still short a gatekeeper here. If you don’t mind, I’ll have to trouble you with that.”

Chang Yuncheng nodded.

“Thank you,” he said.

To the buzz-cut’s ears, this “thank you” sounded like saying “nice weather today.”

This person really is a wild man! A gatekeeper! He’s really going to be a gatekeeper!

The gatekeepers here are all from the Central Guard Regiment!

The Central Guard Regiment!

How many people struggle their whole lives and can’t get in!

Damn, this country bumpkin…

Anyone who doesn’t believe he’s a real grandson is lying!

The old man smiled and went to walk his bird, beckoning a guard over.

“Go call Major Zhang over. I have something to tell him,” he said.

The guard saluted and ran off.

“There’s a computer on the second floor. All this information was extracted from the computer,” the old man said again, pointing to the papers in Chang Yuncheng’s hands.

Chang Yuncheng’s eyes lit up.

“Study it well. It’s very useful,” the old man said, walking away with his hands behind his back.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t stand on ceremony and turned to go upstairs. The buzz-cut followed him.

“Hey, hey, kid,” he called.

Chang Yuncheng stopped and looked back at him from the stairs.

This looking down made the kid’s expression even more arrogant. So irritating!

The buzz-cut stepped upstairs, squeezed to the front, then turned back to look at him.

“Who exactly are you?” he asked with a stern face and serious tone.

Chang Yuncheng looked at him and reached into his pocket to take out his ID card…

“Go, go, go,” the buzz-cut waved his hands frantically. “I’m not stupid. My grandfather got you this ID!”

“But the person on it is me,” Chang Yuncheng said calmly, putting his hand back and walking past the buzz-cut.

His movements were slow and his figure imposing. The buzz-cut watched, slightly dazed.

This demeanor – where did it look like someone picked up from the wilderness? He was clearly a young master from a great family!

“Oh, you know how to use computers, right?”

The great family’s young master stopped on the stairs again, turning back to ask.

The buzz-cut nodded instinctively.

“Come. Teach me,” Chang Yuncheng said.

The buzz-cut made an acknowledging sound and stepped forward. After taking two steps, he came to his senses.

“Who do you think you are?” he glared and shouted. “You tell me to do something and I do it? Young master doesn’t have time to serve you!”

With that, he turned and stomped downstairs.

“If you won’t teach, you won’t teach. You’re not the only one who knows how,” Chang Yuncheng said, looking downstairs. “Who knows computers? Teach me.”

A orderly downstairs had already heard the conversation between the old man and Chang Yuncheng, so he responded and came upstairs.

When night fell, a military-plated jeep was driving through the streets, neon lights flashing on both sides, tall buildings rising on all sides. The roar of cars and music from the streets wove together, opening the curtain on the bustling city’s nightlife.

Chang Yuncheng was driving alone, still swift and shaky. Compared to his horse, this cold iron contraption was really not easy to use.

He held the steering wheel with one hand and supported his cheek with the other. The car windows were wide open, and night wind mixed with various strange smells howled past his face.

This was that woman’s world.

You people…

We…

Words she would often say back then… only now did he understand what they meant.

A sharp car horn beeped. Chang Yuncheng jerked the steering wheel and narrowly missed a car on the left.

“Damn, can’t you drive…”

The window of the other car rolled down, and a man stuck out his middle finger and started cursing.

Before his curses finished, Chang Yuncheng didn’t even look and casually threw the half cup of tea water beside him, hitting the man right in the face. Then he stepped on the gas, leaving the car behind along with the shouting.

“The tea here really tastes awful,” Chang Yuncheng said, shaking his head as he put the small teacup back.

The car originally had bottled water and such, but he couldn’t get used to it, so he replaced everything with teapots and cups.

The car turned onto an eight-lane road, and the night scene became less noisy and more peaceful.

Chang Yuncheng maintained the same posture but slowed down.

To properly look at the world where this woman lived…

Lonely…

That woman’s voice echoed in his ears.

Her long sighs back then – he thought she was trying to understand his heart, but it turned out she was just lamenting.

A strange world, strange people, strange customs, strange everything.

Chang Yuncheng exhaled and stopped the car.

This sudden stop caused a chorus of car horns behind him.

Only then did Chang Yuncheng unhurriedly drive to the roadside and stop, leaning back in his seat. He took out a file folder and opened it – inside were pages and pages of the name “Qi Yue.”

He extended his hand, his slender fingers slowly caressing those two characters.

Fortunately, you wrote this name for A’Ru, otherwise, with the infinite variations of “Yue,” it would truly be like finding a needle in a haystack.

You must be here somewhere, right? But where?

Young Master Chang, you must know this cannot be guaranteed – not knowing when, not knowing where. Are you willing?

Young Master Chang, have you thought about what if there’s never this opportunity? What if she never sees this scalpel, or sees it but doesn’t take it? Then you’ll be forever trapped in that dark world, endless, boundless, without beginning or end, without shore or bank. Are you willing?

Young Master Chang, have you thought about what if you really can reach Miss Qi’s place, but her voice and appearance are completely unrecognizable? What if she’s a young child, or has white hair and wrinkled skin, or is already just dry bones? Are you willing?

Young Master Chang, do you know this matter has a million-to-one chance of danger and only a one-in-a-million chance of success? Are you truly willing?

Chang Yuncheng’s fingers slowly caressed the names on the paper. Behind each name was a small portrait – no, a photograph.

The people in these photographs were old and young, beautiful and plain.

Qi Yueniang, you’ve already seen and taken the scalpel, right? Do you know I’ve come?

Qi Yueniang, I am willing.

He reached for the cell phone beside him, pressing on the first “Qi Yue” with one finger. The photo showed a woman of about forty. His finger finally settled on those strange symbols.

He pressed the same symbols on the phone one by one according to those symbols, took a deep breath, and pressed the call button without hesitation.

Ding-dong-ding-dong ringtones sounded in his ear. Just when Chang Yuncheng was about to suffocate, the call connected, and a somewhat impatient voice said “hello.”

“Qi Yueniang, this is Chang Yuncheng,” Chang Yuncheng said, his voice trembling slightly.

“Crazy! Wrong number!” the voice on the other end shouted, followed by a busy tone.

Hung up?

Chang Yuncheng exhaled, used the pen from the file folder to check off the first one, and began dialing the next number.

Under the streetlights, with traffic rushing past on the road, the military vehicle parked on the side stood out particularly.