Chapter 31 I am destined to be a lone star.
Zhang Qian felt increasingly wronged and sat alone on the sofa, tears streaming down her face.
The room door opened just then, and Chen Cheng came out carrying a sheet. The air conditioner was on in the living room, and he was worried that Zhang Qian would catch a cold, so he planned to let her sleep in the room while he slept outside.
"Oh, why is this dignified policewoman crying?"
Chen Cheng understood, and couldn't help but smile wryly as he whispered.
Zhang Qian ignored her and continued wiping away her tears.
Seeing that this wasn't a solution, Chen Cheng turned off the lights, grabbed her, and pulled her into the room.
This made Zhang Qian angry: "Let go of me, what are you doing?"
But she also knew that Cheng Ming and Mu Lili were next door, so she suppressed her anger and said.
"Come in first and we'll talk!"
"I'm not going. You go to sleep. Why pretend to care about me? Are you pitying me or just want to see me make a fool of myself?"
She became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and in the end she covered her mouth and cried.
Chen Cheng sighed helplessly and pulled the stubborn Zhang Qian to sit on the bed: "Qianqian, this is not like you. Where did that mischievous and clever policewoman go? Where did that righteous goddess who dared to challenge everyone go?"
Seeing that she still didn't speak, Chen Cheng turned off the room light, moved a small stool, and sat opposite her, saying, "Qianqian, what I told you is all true. I was born with the curse of causing my mother's death, and six months later, my father also died in a car accident. My one-eyed grandmother took care of me until I was two years old, crying incessantly every night. A passing Taoist priest met me and immediately saw that I was destined to be a lonely star, destined to die alone. Moreover, I was born with ghost eyes, and ordinary people simply couldn't raise me. My grandmother gave me to this Taoist priest to save my life. He is my master, Xiao Quansheng. When I turned eighteen, my master told me about my origins. I rushed back to my hometown, and the neighbors treated me like a jinx. Only a kind aunt told me that my grandmother died the year after I was taken away. She died at home for several days without anyone noticing..."
Zhang Qian stopped crying and listened quietly. Chen Cheng lit a cigarette, and with each puff, as the cigarette tip turned red, she could see the desolate look in his eyes.
"And now, my master has left me too. I'm a true orphan. I dare not make friends, let alone develop feelings, because I know that things destined to have no outcome are a double-edged sword. They hurt myself, they hurt others, and they might even take someone's life. Qianqian, that's why I don't want to get too close to you. And the Xiaoshuang they're talking about, her real name is Jiang Shuang. Her family moved away because of me. We used to play together a lot when we were little, and then she became unwell. In the end, my master persuaded her family to move away. And whenever she wants to see me, she occasionally goes to the old teahouse to help out, and then she goes back home..."
He threw the cigarette butt on the ground, lit another one, took a puff, and said, "You call me a miser, and I admit it. I like money, but what you don't know is that I donate most of the money I earn. My master told me since I was little that my destiny is too strong and will harm those around me, so I should do more good deeds, not to accumulate merit for myself, but for those around me. The more merit I accumulate for them, the more I can offset some of my negative influence on them. So, Qianqian, do you know why I treat you this way?"
Zhang Qian gently took the cigarette butt from his hand and tossed it aside. She leaned forward, cupped his face in her hands, and gazed intently at his face and his vacant eyes through the gradually brightening dawn outside the window. Perhaps this was the first time he had confided in anyone; perhaps he was afraid of hurting her, so he told her everything; perhaps he was afraid that fate would hurt him and leave him.
Zhang Qian closed her eyes and kissed his lips. She felt Chen Cheng's body tremble and try to struggle, but she held him tightly, kissing him passionately yet awkwardly. At that moment, Chen Cheng also let go of the heavy shackles in his heart, turning the loneliness, grievances, and sadness of the past twenty years into strength to embrace her tightly and kiss her. It was as if even if the sky fell, it could not separate the two of them. Just as Zhang Qian's eyes became more and more hazy and her breathing became heavier and heavier, Chen Cheng calmed down, pushed her away, stood up and walked out of the bedroom to the balcony alone.
Zhang Qian didn't know whether she was happy or sad at this moment. She could feel that Chen Cheng had feelings for her, but could the two of them really not be able to be together?
At eight o'clock in the morning, after having breakfast at Cheng Ming's house, Chen Cheng and Zhang Qian set off in Cheng Ming's car. Today, Chen Cheng wanted to first scout out the terrain before making any plans.
Panlong Mountain is not close to the county seat, and it is all provincial highways, not expressways. It would take at least an hour to get there. However, according to Cheng Ming, this is just a parking lot to a village near Panlong Mountain. If you drive on the dirt road to the place you visited last time, it will take at least 40 to 50 minutes, almost an hour.
Cheng Ming also told them that Panlong Mountain is not a single mountain, but a mountain range composed of dozens of mountains. Because the connected mountain peaks look like a dragon's spine from a distance, it is called Panlong Mountain. The county town is named after this, and it is said that it was called that during the Tang Dynasty!
As Cheng Ming explained, Chen Cheng could see the majestic and magnificent mountain ranges in the distance. Due to his preconceived notions, the connected mountain peaks did indeed resemble the spine of a dragon. As the car got closer, the majestic mountains looked even more spectacular.
"Has this area been developed for tourism?"
Chen Cheng asked.
"I asked the locals before, and they said that two developers wanted to develop tourism projects here, but both projects ran into trouble soon after they started. The second one even consulted a master, who looked at the situation and advised the developer to leave as soon as possible. He said the feng shui here was too strange and not something ordinary people could handle. The second owner had also invested a lot of money and was reluctant to let his money go to waste, so he gritted his teeth and continued construction. But a few days later, a fire broke out in the owner's house, and at night, all five members of the family were burned to death in the luxury villa. So the project was abandoned again, and no one dared to develop it again. The road leading up the mountain was also built by two different developers, but construction stopped before it was even halfway to the main peak."
As the two were talking, the car arrived at the foot of the mountain and began to climb up the dirt road that had been under construction. Fortunately, Cheng Ming's car was an SUV; a sedan would never have been able to make it up.
On the way, Chen Cheng took out two talismans, one for Cheng Ming and the other for Zhang Qian, saying, "This is a concealment talisman. Keep it with you so we don't alert the enemy. Although weasels don't like to be out during the day, this guy has already developed some skills and can sense that we're here."
The two nodded and put the talismans in their pockets.
Just as Cheng Ming had said, it took nearly an hour to climb the mountain, because the road was not in good condition and the mountain path was quite steep.
Then, we came to a small fork in the road, which led to a flat area. "We've arrived at Master Chen's place. We stopped here last time!"
After parking the car, the group got out and Chen Cheng asked, "Where did you have your picnic last time?"
"We had to walk further in along the path. It was a holiday, so there were a lot of people visiting and we walked a little further in."