Chapter 34: It Doesn't Matter

They lingered in the cemetery for quite some time. Two hours later, Luo Xingyu reluctantly stood up and, looking back every three steps, followed Gao Yuan back to the tricycle.

Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu left first, with Xiang Weiguo following behind.

Standing in front of He Jingyi's grave, Xiang Weiguo did not kowtow like Gao Yuan. He simply bowed and said in a low voice, "Xiaoyu is a good child, I will take care of her. You don't have to worry over there. Xiao Yuan is also a good kid; you must bless them."

After he finished speaking, Xiang Weiguo scooped up some soil nearby and added three handfuls to He Jingyi's grave.

Xiang Weiguo didn't leave immediately. He walked to Li Jun's grave. Standing still, he then said solemnly, "I just heard from Xiaoyu that you were a veteran. As a driver and bodyguard, you fulfilled your duty. As an old soldier, you didn't disgrace our military. To show my respect, I salute you."

After saying that, Xiang Weiguo puffed out his chest, raised his head, and gave a military salute, exclaiming loudly, "Salute to the old soldier!"

After the salute, Xiang Weiguo put down his hand and, having added three handfuls of soil to Li Jun's grave as well, turned and strode away.

The diesel fuel had frozen again. To keep using the tricycle they had to continue heating it, which was to be expected.

When Xiang Weiguo arrived after a slight delay, Gao Yuan was already arranging to start a fire.

It wasn't a question of whether it was worth the time wasted on such matters, but rather being fortunate enough to have the opportunity to delay at all; it was luck, happiness.

It was clear that Luo Xingyu's state of mind was different now. She was very sad, but she had forgotten some things and had rebuilt the image of her mother in her heart.

The image of her mother turning mad and biting people would not be forgotten, but would be replaced, with a grave taking its place.

Luo Xingyu would often wake up from nightmares at night, but that probably wouldn't happen anymore.

Looking at Luo Xingyu sitting inside the vehicle, Xiang Weiguo squatted down, lowered his voice, and asked, "When do you plan to tell her?"

"I reckon she might have guessed it?"

"Not necessarily. She's probably not in the mood to think about other things right now, so it's better to remind her."

Gao Yuan hesitated for a moment and then said, "I'll just tell her after getting in the car."

Xiang Weiguo gave Gao Yuan a look and said in a low voice, "If her dad is really like we suspect, and you help her find her father, then it's hard to say whether you two can stay together or not."

Gao Yuan began to smile at Xiang Weiguo, saying, "Uncle Xiang, are you testing me?"

Xiang Weiguo shook his head, then he sighed, "Never mind, it's not a test. I just feel like you two really fit well together, and I can't bear to see you two part."

"I never thought of marrying her, and besides, how old is she? Also, if her father is really impressive and in some particularly good place, he'd have to give us a place there out of consideration for Xiaoyu's feelings, right?"

Xiang Weiguo exhaled and said, "I don't want to leave anymore. I'm already home, and I don't want to leave again. But I will help you, yes, let's leave it at that."

Xiang Weiguo didn't seem very upbeat. After the two busied themselves for a while and got the tricycle running again, the first thing Gao Yuan said upon boarding was, "Xiaoyu, now both Uncle Xiang and I believe your dad is still alive."

Luo Xingyu, truly exhausted from emotional strain, nodded and said, "I believe so too."

Gao Yuan looked at Xiang Weiguo and, seeing no reaction from him, continued, "Your dad should be in a shelter. We'll look for a chance to take you to the shelter to find your dad. Where do you think he is most likely to be? I mean, which shelter is he most likely to be in?"

Luo Xingyu was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "I don't know."

"Then where were you going in the car?"

Luo Xingyu pondered for a while and said, "I really don't know the destination. Even my mom didn't know. My dad had Uncle Li pick us up. He said someone would come to meet us, but something happened midway, and I have no idea where we were supposed to go."

Xiang Weiguo said in a deep voice, "Since it was leaving Stonegate heading towards Shanxi Province, and we were not far from the provincial boundary, then it should be in Shanxi Province, right?"

Luo Xingyu spoke softly, "My dad was very busy, extremely busy. He had a project in Shanxi Province, but I've never been there and I don't know the exact location. My dad has too many projects, and I've never cared about these things."

Xiang Weiguo looked at Gao Yuan and asked, "What does her father do?"

Gao Yuan scratched his head and replied, "Real estate, metallurgy, chemical industry, cement, and what else?"

Luo Xingyu said expressionlessly, "Real estate is the main thing. It brings in money fast. The rest doesn't matter much."

Gao Yuan looked at Xiang Weiguo and asked, "Uncle Xiang, what do you think?"

Xiang Weiguo shook his head and said, "It's a bit tricky. Normally, we would assume he'd be at the construction site, but why would her father wait for them at a construction site? Unless he was prepared in advance. Considering the military's involvement, her father's work must be more than just building some villas on the surface. It's like those shelters that popped up overnight. I'm eighty percent sure that her father's project isn't just a villa but actually a shelter."

By logical deduction, reaching this conclusion was natural, but it left the only problem of where Luo Guodong could be.

Gao Yuan felt conflicted, but at this point, Luo Xingyu spoke softly, "Let's not bother about him for now. Actually, I don't really want to find him at the moment."

She didn't even call him 'dad' anymore. Gao Yuan looked at Xiang Weiguo, and Xiang Weiguo, with a troubled expression, said, "Why are you looking at me? Shouldn't you be handling this?"

Gao Yuan cleared his throat and said, "Xiaoyu, actually, it's understandable that your dad is busy, right? You can't blame him for not receiving you. Things were so chaotic at the time, any kind of accident was normal, you shouldn't hold it against him."

"I don't hate him."

Luo Xingyu appeared very calm. She sighed softly and said, "You don't need to persuade me or talk any great truths to me. I just think that we're doing very well without my dad right now. I don't even know where to start looking for him, so why bother taking the risk to search everywhere? Brother, you don't need to persuade me anymore, I'm actually doing quite well now."

Xiang Weiguo made a dismissing gesture, and Gao Yuan stopped trying to persuade her. Whatever he said now, Luo Xingyu probably wouldn't listen; it would be better to wait and talk about it slowly in the future.

The tricycle continued forward until they could see a village in the distance. Gao Yuan and the others knew they would have to abandon the tricycle then.

If they continued forward, the tricycle would pass through the village. If it were up to Gao Yuan, he would drive straight through the village because he believed zombies couldn't catch up with the tricycle.

But having traveled this road and encountered similar situations too many times, Xiang Weiguo didn't think they should pass directly through the village, and of course, he had his reasons.