The Trembling World

The fish activity must be within the range of detection and only through patience were they able to catch them. If they didn't know the location of where the fish were most active, they could only blindly guess and set up rods everywhere. The chances of catching a fish by random was just like relying on luck for a raffle draw. However, with [Forage] from Wang DeCheng, it made fishing a lot easier.

In the whole late afternoon, every member had plenty of gains. The total weight of fish caught was nearly ten pounds. For dinner, there were a few members that demonstrated their outstanding cooking abilities by making a whole seafood themed dinner with dishes like: braised fish, sweet and sour fish, deep fried fish, and boiled fish soup. With such a happy event, everyone started to drink beer, especially Liu Gan, Zhang ShengLi and Wang DeCheng. It seems that they drank quite a lot as they were speaking belligerently.

The white-coat scientist was lead to the restaurant by Han GuangMing. Han GuangMing was a very earnest person. Since he had the responsibility of watching the scientist, he didn't touch any alcohol.

“The fish taste so fresh! The beer is good enough to quench my thirst! Finally, in the few days that we took to escape, we were able to find a peaceful location. It wasn't easy! Come, let us drink and toast to those that aren't here!” Liu Gan continued to drink with Zhang ShengLi.

“Cheers!~ If you aren’t drunk tonight, you can’t leave!” Zhang ShengLi continued to pour the alcohol down his throat.

The last people out of the restaurant were Liu Gan and Zhang ShengLi, they were carried out. Han GuangMing was also escorting the white-coat scientist back to the guest room at the same time. The scientist witnessed Liu Gan, Zhang ShengLi, and Wang DeCheng get carried out of the restaurant onto the beds of their own room.

“Brother Han, I drank too much tonight. I’ve arranged the night shift, but you will have to stay up to keep watch on the scientist. Don’t let the scientist make a fool out of you.” Wang DeCheng said to Han GuangMing.

“Don’t worry. Brother Wang, just rest up early. I didn’t drink any alcohol so I can guarantee that I won’t let him do anything sly in front of me.” Han GuangMing promised Wang DeCheng.

“Okay, I will go to sleep.” Wang DeCheng headed toward his own guest room.

At night as everyone headed toward bed to sleep. Besides Han GuangMing staying up to keep watch of the scientist, Yin He was hiding in the darkness and observing the situation. Liu Gan definitely knew that the scientist was hiding something, but as to what secrets he was hiding, those were still unknown. If there was a chance for the scientist to escape, then everything would be revealed when the snake escapes from its cave.

…

The night got darker and everyone was asleep. Even the assigned night guard, Zhao Meng was asleep on the lobby couch since he had drank beer during dinnertime.

Only Han GuangMing wasn’t asleep. Liu Gan personally assigned the duty to Han GuangMing, so Han GuangMing would try his best to finish the task. Han GuangMing was a honest person, but he was also a deep sleeper. His eyes wouldn’t stay open, no matter how hard he resisted the urge to sleep.

“So that Elder Liu is your leader?” the white-coat scientist decided to chat with his watcher, Han GuangMing.

“Yes, he is very powerful. It’s best that you don’t aggravate him.” Han GuangMing replied.

“Why is he so powerful? Is it some ability?” the white-coat scientist asked again.

“Aren’t the questions you ask too nosey?” Han GuangMing was getting alarmed.

“I am only casually speaking with you. If you don’t want to talk with me, then I won’t speak.” the scientist was embarrassed.

“Yeah, it’s best if you keep your mouth shut.” Han GuangMing obviously didn’t want to continue chatting with him.

The white-coat scientist immediately shut his mouth up. After a long while, Han GuangMing yawned a few times. When Han GuangMing turned around to face the bed, his eyes widened with shock. With expressions of shock, fright, and fear all in one bottled up body, Han GuangMing didn’t yawn anymore.

The person sitting on the bed wasn’t the white-coat scientist, it was his already dead grandma.

Han GuangMing had a painful look on his face. In his train of thought through his sea of memory, he looked back into the memories of the real world.

When Han GuangMing was very little, his parents had left him behind to make a living. So Han GuangMing was essentially raised by by his grandma. His early childhood moments and memories were created at his grandma’s house. He also had a large shiba, a large jujube tree in in the front yard and a small pear tree nearby. In addition, there were many special type of plants that his grandma grew.

[TL: Red dates = Jujube]

Han GuangMing loved to eat dates. When dates were in season, he would climb the highest jujube tree like a monkey. He would sit on the thickest branch and eat the jujube. This was his earliest and deepest memory.

His grandma knew that he liked to eat dates, so she would store up the uneaten dates. With her method of storing them in the basement, they would last several months. So occasionally, when Han GuangMing was behaving well, she would take out a few to surprise him. This surprise would remain until Chinese New Year. Han GuangMing had no idea how his grandma kept the dates fresh. Even storing them in the fridge wouldn’t keep them fresh for long.

By the time Han GuangMing had turned 8, his parents were self sustaining and they taken him to the city. That was when he left the courtyard that he grew up in. That was when he left his nearly seventy year old grandma and grandpa.

Even though the city had better living conditions, Han GuangMing definitely missed his grandma and grandpa. He longed for the days of when he was still at the countryside courtyard of his grandparents. Due to circumstances of being separated by over a thousand miles from the countryside. Only on days of Chinese New Year, would he be able to return to his grandparent’s side.

Most of his childhood memory was very fuzzy, the only aspect that Han GuangMing remembered clearly was that everytime he went back, his grandparent’s hair would gradually become more white with every passing year. His grandparent’s wrinkles would also become more profound with every time they meet. The one thing that didn’t change was the happiness they revealed when Han GuangMing saw them.

One of his memory of his grandma was when she would go into the basement to pull out the preserved dates. With the white basin to hold the large red dates, that was placed in front of Han GuangMing. With the wrinkles forming a smile, they watched as their grandson ate the dates one by one.

Nevertheless, Han GuangMing’s parents tried to move their parents to the city. This way, the grandparents could break away from rural country life and enjoy life with ease, but the grandparents weren’t suited for living there like trapped birds in the reinforced concrete jungle of the city. Eventually, they chose to remain in the countryside.

It was when Han GuangMing reached junior high school, that school work got more hectic. Taking into account to not affect his studies, Han GuangMing’s parent gradually decreased the times they would take him, from once a year to every two years to every three years eventually.

In Han GuangMing’s mind, he wanted to focus on his studies to get into a good college. After his first year in high school, he went once during the summer break and after that, he hasn't gone back since.