After barely three or four hours of sleep, Xiao Liang was jolted awake by the alarm at dawn.

He saw his mother already busy in the kitchen. After washing up, he went straight in to help.

Breakfast was simple—congee, pickled vegetables, and the leftover meat dishes from the night before.

There was no refrigerator at home. If they didn’t finish the food now, by evening it would spoil.

Xiao Liang noticed his brother hadn’t slept much, but his complexion wasn’t too bad. It seemed that the matter of health supplement formulas and production had at least distracted him for the time being.

Snatching the morning paper from his father’s hands, Xiao Liang flipped through it. Aside from the opening of the 1994 World Cup in the United States, nothing else felt familiar.

Just then, his mother came over holding a bundle wrapped in old newspapers, faintly scented with camphorwood. Xiao Liang looked up, puzzled.

“Mom, what’s this? Why are you staring at me so seriously first thing in the morning?”

“I talked it over with your father half the night,” Ge Minglan said. “Your job transfer won’t be settled anytime soon, but you should keep your distance from those people in the township. How can you possibly go up against them? From now on, stay at home whenever you can. The bus ride requires transfers—it’s inconvenient. Take this money and buy yourself a motorcycle.”

The distance from the city to Yunshe Town was only about a dozen kilometers, but the mountain road cutting through Suyun Mountain was in poor condition. Buses crawled along, stopping frequently.

From home, Xiao Liang still had to walk two stops to reach the starting station at the Normal College, and with waiting time included, a one-way trip easily took over an hour.

In Dongzhou in the 1990s, that was already considered a brutal commute.

With a motorcycle, it would take no more than twenty minutes.

“I’ll be fine taking the bus, even if I stay at home,” Xiao Liang said.

“Just take it,” his mother insisted, pressing the money into his hand. “We only have four thousand in cash right now. If it’s not enough, there’s a fixed deposit maturing soon…”

After breakfast, Xiao Liang grabbed his father’s newspaper and headed out.

It was rush hour. At the alley entrance, buses passed by packed like sardine cans.

Pickpocketing was rampant on buses in those days. After a moment’s thought, Xiao Liang decided to walk the two stops to the Normal College and board Route 9 from there.

As the bus slowly rolled into Sucheng Town, Xiao Liang glanced out the window and spotted Lin Xi standing at the stop.

He didn’t see He Hong’s mother anywhere.

Checking his watch, it was already 7:30. The early summer sun had just climbed above the treetops. Lin Xi stood there with a heavy schoolbag on her back, her eyes slightly swollen, lips pressed tight—as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

A few others waited nearby, keeping their distance, whispering among themselves.

Yunshe and Sucheng both belonged to Shishan County, but separated by Suyun Mountain, they weren’t closely connected. News of the attempted assault hadn’t spread to Sucheng earlier.

But what Lin Xuetong had stirred up yesterday was far louder—hundreds of villagers had gathered. It wasn’t surprising the news had spread through Sucheng overnight.

From the back of the bus, Xiao Liang watched quietly as Lin Xi boarded, struggling to fish out a bill from her pocket to pay the fare.

He lowered his gaze back to the newspaper on his knees.

A moment later, the light dimmed slightly. He looked up.

The girl stood before him, her expression complicated.

The Route 9 bus was crowded heading into the city, but almost empty heading out. There were plenty of empty seats.

To be honest, Xiao Liang was caught off guard. From her expression, it was clear she had already guessed who he was. He had no idea what to say.

Lin Xi bit her lip and silently sat down beside him, setting her heavy schoolbag on her lap.

Xiao Liang reached over, took the bag from her, and placed it on the empty seat by the window. Seeing that she had no intention of speaking, he returned to reading his paper.

When they arrived in Yunshe Town, Xiao Liang picked up the bag again and helped her sling it onto her back. He watched as she got off first and walked toward the town’s middle school before heading north himself toward the government compound.

The Economic Management Office was on the second floor of the office building. The station chief, Du Xuebing, didn’t even have a private office—he shared a large room with three staff members and two borrowed personnel.

By the time Xiao Liang arrived, aside from Du Xuebing—who had been suspended pending investigation—no one else was there yet.

He took a thermos to the hot water room, filled it, brewed himself a pot of strong tea, and pulled a stack of newspapers from the rack in the corner onto his desk.

There was no internet yet. The best way to reacquaint himself with the era was to read the papers.

He wasn’t sure Wang Xingmin would come looking for him, but patience cost nothing—and this gave him time to review the year’s news.

“Officer Xiao, you’re here so early? Didn’t Secretary Wang give you two days off yesterday to rest?” a round-faced girl asked, poking her head in through the doorway.

It was Wu Yun, another clerk from the Party and Government Office.

The moment Xiao Liang saw her, his expression darkened briefly. But as he set down the paper, a smile spread across his face.

“I told Director Liang yesterday,” he said lightly. “The county is investigating the Nanting Juice Factory case. No one knows the situation better than I do. If I stayed home now, wouldn’t I just be holding things up? Wu Yun—there’s no one else in the office. Aren’t you afraid I, a ‘rapist,’ might do something to you?”

Wu Yun had been assigned to Yunshe Town the same year as him. At first, she’d been quite friendly—always dropping by his dorm during lunch breaks or in the evenings to chat.

But back then, Xiao Liang’s attention had been elsewhere—on He Hong.

He’d disliked Wu Yun’s habit of gossiping about others, especially her snide remarks about He Hong. He hadn’t even realized she was trying to get close to him.

After he avoided her a few times, she’d turned cold, her tone laced with sarcasm.

When he’d been falsely accused, she had been among the first to kick him while he was down.

Not just during his time in detention in his previous life, but even in these past few days after his escape from the accident scene, she’d already been spreading rumors—claiming he’d aggressively pursued her, even tried to touch her inappropriately, and that she’d wisely seen through him and kept her distance.

Now that Liang Chaobin had sent her to probe him, Xiao Liang had no intention of being polite.

Wu Yun’s face stiffened, a flash of guilt crossing her eyes. “Like I wanted to come here,” she snapped.

“Thanks for that,” Xiao Liang said, stepping into the hallway and raising his voice. “From now on, Officer Wu, please stay as far away from me as possible. Otherwise, when you go around spreading rumors again—saying I have wandering hands—I won’t be able to clear my name even if I jump into the Yellow River! And while you’re at it, maybe take a look in the mirror—or better yet, drop your pants and look at your reflection in a puddle. Ask yourself if you’re even worth me laying a finger on.”

If Wang Xingmin wouldn’t summon him, and Liang Chaobin chose to test him through Wu Yun, then Xiao Liang would make sure the whole building heard about it.

As staff on the second floor began to gather, drawn by the commotion, Xiao Liang grabbed Wu Yun, who was trying to flee, nearly in tears.

“Wu Yun,” he said sharply, “don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been saying these past few days. Now, in front of everyone, tell us clearly—when you kept coming to my dorm, and I couldn’t avoid you fast enough, how exactly did I ‘harass’ you? Don’t even think about denying it. If I bring in witnesses, you’ll only embarrass yourself further.”

“Xiao Yujun and He Hong are already behind bars. I can choose not to pursue this—but you’d better think carefully. Fabricating lies and slandering others—are you ready to bear the consequences?”