Оld Реtеr kept his еуеs dоwnсast, wishing he cоuld hеar nothing аt all.
Anniе, mеаnwhilе, nеаrly prеssed herself against the wаll likе a рostеr.
Lu Sui’s gаzе swеpt аrоund thе rооm befоre he finallу рickеd up the phоne besidе him and walkеd оut tо thе gаrdеn bеyond thе dining аreа.
Wu Маngmang wаs currеntlу on her wау to thе airport. Нer phonе sсrеen lit uр and dimmed, dimmed аnd lit uр in hеr hand, but thаt аnnоуing саll still hadn’t bееn madе.
Last timе, Lu Sui had told hеr not tо арolоgizе first аftеr an argument.
Вut she really, reаlly wanted tо apоlogizе. Wu Мangmаng struggled to restrain the hand that longed to dial his number.
Still, a man shouldn’t be spoiled too much. If she gave in this time, she might never stand her ground again in the future.
Besides, this was her job. It wasn’t as if Lu Sui didn’t know she had applied for this project team long ago—it was just that the departure date had only recently been finalized.
Before Wu Mangmang could fully steel herself, she heard the notification sound for a text message.
"Remember to call."
Just five short words, yet they sounded like heavenly music to her ears.
Wu Mangmang quickly replied, "I will. Remember to miss me. Love you, mwah."
Online, "Love you, mwah" was truly just a casual greeting, but for someone like Mr. Lu, who was completely unfamiliar with internet slang, these five words inexplicably struck the softest spot in his heart.
"What does 'mwah' mean?" Lu Sui replied.
"It means 'mua~~'," Wu Mangmang answered.
She had originally thought Lu Sui would only call or text when she landed, but she hadn’t expected Mr. Lu to be so understanding—he had only been angry for such a short time.
Opening Weibo, Wu Mangmang posted a message under her new account, "Mangmang Hurriedly": "Liking someone means not being able to stay angry with you for too long."
Lu Sui was the first to "like" it.
Wu Mangmang chuckled inwardly—Lu Sui must have set her as a "special follow."
Although she was filled with sweetness at the moment, reality was truly harsh.
Wu Mangmang had mentally prepared herself for tough conditions, but she hadn’t expected them to be as difficult as what lay before her.
The ancient tomb cluster had been discovered in an extremely remote mountainous area. With the current pace of development, if it weren’t so remote, it would have been found much earlier.
The remoteness of this mountainous region far exceeded Wu Mangmang’s expectations. They landed in the provincial capital, transferred to a prefecture-level city, then took a minibus to the county town, switched to another vehicle to reach the town, and finally hired a van to take them to the village. However, the van could only go halfway; they had to switch to walking for the rest of the journey into the valley.
It was already the second day by the time they arrived at the village closest to the ancient tomb cluster.
Huangtu Village had only had electricity for less than half a year. There was no mobile signal, and although the village planned to install telephone lines, infrastructure development always takes time. To make a call, one had to go to the nearby market town.
Wu Mangmang finally witnessed firsthand what "communication mostly by shouting, security mostly by dogs" truly meant.
She had clearly underestimated the lack of mobile signal. She was the type of person who assumed the entire world was already covered by Wi-Fi.
As a result, Wu Mangmang had been essentially out of contact with Lu Sui for over a day.
As soon as the project team arrived at the location, they immediately began setting up camp, prioritizing efficiency in everything.It was summer, the rainy season, which greatly affected archaeological work. Heavy rain was the biggest concern.
This ancient tomb complex was discovered by villagers while digging foundations for houses. The northwest corner of the complex had already been damaged, and if heavy rain struck, water flowing into the tombs would cause significant harm.
An initial team of archaeologists had already been working here. Now, with Wu Mangmang and her team's arrival, it was considered a salvage excavation.
Given the nature of this work, it was nearly impossible for Wu Mangmang to spare two hours to go to the town to make a phone call.
After finishing work at ten in the evening, Wu Mangmang couldn't even take a shower. She could only hastily wash her face and feet before collapsing into bed.
Fortunately, Miss Wu had brought two large packs of face masks. After washing her face, she applied one, turned off the light, and went to sleep. Just before drifting off, she thought, I hope Lu Sui will still recognize me when I return to the city.
It had been four days since arriving at Yellow Earth Village, which meant Wu Mangmang and Lu Sui had been out of contact for over four days.
After finishing work in the evening, Wu Mangmang sat around the campfire with a few senior students, grilling sausages. As the sausages sizzled and dripped fragrant oil into the flames, they nibbled on steamed buns and complained about this godforsaken place.
The sausages were made from pigs slaughtered by Yellow Earth Village residents during last year's New Year celebrations. The free-range pork was exceptionally flavorful, but one couldn't survive on preserved meat alone, could they?
Yellow Earth Village had no fresh pork for sale. One had to go to the nearby town on even-numbered market days to buy it.
So, the project team sent someone to the town every week to purchase fresh pork and other daily necessities.
Wu Mangmang nervously raised her hand. "Can I go with Ma Jun?"
Ma Jun was tall and sturdy, the fastest walker on mountain paths, so he was always the one sent for supplies.
Of course, Wu Mangmang's excuse about buying meat was just that—an excuse. She really wanted to call Lu Sui and maybe find some phone signal along the way.
Having been out of contact for so long, she had no idea how angry Lu Sui might be with her. Wu Mangmang felt deeply guilty and, admittedly, a little scared. It meant she would have to spend a lot of time coaxing him, and even then, she might not succeed.
"Missing home?" asked Yang Li, the project team leader.
Wu Mangmang nodded sheepishly.
"We're too busy right now. The weather forecast says there might be heavy rain soon, so we need to hurry. How about you go with Ma Jun to buy meat next week?" Yang Li suggested.
With things put that way, Wu Mangmang couldn't say anything more. She apologized awkwardly.
After dinner, Wu Mangmang pulled Ma Jun aside. "Senior Ma, when you go to town tomorrow, could you make a phone call for me?"
"Of course," Ma Jun agreed immediately. He had taken a liking to Wu Mangmang, never expecting such a delicate and beautiful girl to endure these days without a single complaint.
Wu Mangmang handed Ma Jun a piece of paper with Lu Sui's phone number. "This is my boyfriend's number. Just tell him there's no phone signal here, so I can't call him."
She clasped her hands together pleadingly. "Please, please."
Ma Jun took the phone number, saying, "Don't worry, I'll definitely pass on the message." But his inner monologue was, Why are all the good girls snatched up so early by pigs?
The next afternoon, what returned from town with Ma Jun wasn't just fresh pork and daily supplies—there was also a person, or rather, a group of people.But Wu Mangmang could only see the one walking at the very front.
Wu Mangmang put down the small brush in her hand and quickly ran over, throwing herself into Lu Sui's arms.
Unable to utter a single word, she simply began to cry uncontrollably.
"Is that her boyfriend?" Yang Li asked Ma Jun beside her.
Ma Jun nodded. "Mangmang asked me to call her boyfriend, but he was already in town and just happened to be on his way back."
Yang Li sighed enviously. "Being in love is so nice. He came all this way for her. If I were gone for half a year, my husband wouldn't even bat an eye."
Ma Jun didn't dare respond, only offering an awkward laugh.
When Wu Mangmang lifted her head from Lu Sui's chest, her face was a complete mess.
The work she was doing now wasn't particularly technical—just squatting on the ground, carefully cleaning antiques buried in the soil with a small brush.
This ancient tomb complex showed signs of looting, and many items had already been damaged, requiring meticulous cleaning.
Due to the nature of this work, whenever the wind blew, Wu Mangmang's hair and face would get covered in dust, leaving her looking grimy and disheveled every day. Naturally, this time was no exception.
Tears had carved two small trenches on her face, making her look quite comical.
"How did you get here?!" Wu Mangmang's tone was both surprised and delighted, and she unabashedly wiped her face with the back of her hand.
Lu Sui replied casually, "Your phone wasn't working, so of course I had to come."
Exactly!
"It's not that I didn't want to call you—there's no signal here. I had to go to town to make a call, but I couldn't get away. Actually, I already asked Senior Ma to call you," Wu Mangmang quickly explained.
Lu Sui hummed in acknowledgment, taking out a handkerchief to wipe Wu Mangmang's face. "It's only been a few days. How did you get as dirty as a monkey?"
Counting the days, they had only been apart for five days, but to both of them, it felt like an eternity.
It took two days to travel from the city to Huangtu Village. Wu Mangmang calculated that Lu Sui had probably set off after not hearing from her for just over a day.
She didn't dare dwell on it too much—the more she thought about it, the more moved and impulsive she felt. Wu Mangmang clung to Lu Sui's waist, unwilling to let go, afraid she might be dreaming.
It was already getting dark, so Lu Sui and his bodyguards naturally couldn't set off again.
Most of the village houses had been requisitioned by the project team. Wu Mangmang was already sharing a room with Yang Li and a few other women, so there was no chance of Lu Sui holding her at night. Instead, he and his group had to squeeze in with Ma Jun and the others.
Fortunately, it was summer, and it wasn't too cold outdoors. Late into the night, Wu Mangmang leaned against Lu Sui's chest, while Lu Sui rested against a haystack behind him.
Wu Mangmang looked up at the Big Dipper in the sky and asked Lu Sui, "Isn't this kind of experience interesting?"
Lu Sui's response was, "Wu Mangmang, what's that strange smell all over you?"
It was the smell of not having bathed for days.
Wu Mangmang was too angry to speak, but she couldn't bear to ignore Lu Sui, so she swallowed her temper. "When are you leaving?"
"I cleared five days. I can stay with you for one more day," Lu Sui said.
Every day counted.
The next day, Wu Mangmang happily led Lu Sui to help her brush away the dirt. Seeing the usually immaculate Mr. Lu covered in dust was genuinely amusing.
But the funniest part was when Wu Mangmang returned to the village after finishing work in the evening and saw the entire courtyard hung with her clothes."Did you wash these?" Wu Mangmang threw her arms around Lu Sui.
"Should I have let the bodyguards do it?" Lu Sui retorted.
Wu Mangmang grabbed Lu Sui's hands and dramatically kissed them. "My heart aches for you! Such artist-level hands actually washing clothes for me."
Lu Sui poked Wu Mangmang's forehead with his finger, pushing her away. "Can you take care of yourself these two months? I'm really worried."
"Of course," Wu Mangmang said. "I've already thought it through. Even my underwear is disposable. The project team isn't heartless—we've hired the landlord's wife to help with laundry. They can earn money, and we save time."
"So, I washed these for nothing?" Lu Sui frowned.
"How can it be for nothing? You washed away all the gloom in my heart." Wu Mangmang hugged Lu Sui and showered him with kisses.
That evening, Wu Mangmang rested her chin in her hands, watching Lu Sui pack various things for her while listening to his endless stream of reminders.
Mr. Lu brought her many items.
Colon cleansing capsules to prevent digestive issues from the change in environment—truly thoughtful. Wu Mangmang rolled her eyes inwardly. Even though they were a couple, did he really need to consider such matters so thoroughly? He was even managing her bowel movements.
Besides the colon cleansing capsules, there were various medications: insect repellent, eye drops, liquid bandages, vitamin supplements, and even antioxidant skincare products.
Of course, there was also a large pack of winged "white angels."
And various snacks.
Sometimes, being nagged could be so blissful.
Unfortunately, their sweet time lasted only a few dozen hours.
In the end, a thousand words could only be condensed into one sentence: "Take care of yourself," Lu Sui said, kissing Wu Mangmang's forehead.
Wu Mangmang fiddled with her fingers and said to Lu Sui, "Next time, don't come. It's too far, and your presence here would affect my work progress. Besides, the village is too small—it can barely accommodate the project team. If you come, you'll bring a whole crowd."
Lu Sui pinched Wu Mangmang's cheek hard. "Wu Mangmang, you really have a conscience, don't you?"
Of course, Wu Mangmang had a conscience. On the night Lu Sui left, she leaned against the firewood pile, counting stars.
Suffering in this place was her own choice—for the sake of her career.
But seeing Lu Sui covered in mosquito bites, his skin dotted with red marks, Wu Mangmang felt inexplicably heartbroken.
Lu Sui had a high body temperature, and staying by Wu Mangmang's side, he acted as a human mosquito repellent.
Slap. Wu Mangmang slapped her calf, her hand covered in blood.
Who knew how many people this mosquito had bitten? Now, without her human mosquito repellent, Wu Mangmang had no choice but to feed the mosquitoes herself.
The work was tedious but not without motivation, and it had mostly settled into a routine. Wu Mangmang found it inconvenient to go to the town to make phone calls, but her longing couldn't be contained. She begged Ma Jun to bring her a stack of letter paper from town.
The letter paper from town was utterly plain—no fancy designs, just simple white with red lines. Wu Mangmang had never used anything like it before.
Actually, she had never used any of those pink or green letter papers either. Back in school, she only ever received love letters from others. And with the popularity of Weibo and WeChat, who still wrote by hand these days?
Even email was something Wu Mangmang only used for work.After washing her face and feet in the evening, Wu Mangmang sat on the doorstep. A mosquito coil burned beside her feet as she used the flashlight from her miner's helmet for light, propping a hard board on her lap to write a letter to Lu Sui.
Wu Mangmang had long grown accustomed to the microblogging style of writing within 140 characters. Now, chewing on her pen cap, she found herself struggling.
Yang Li walked over and sat down beside Wu Mangmang. "I really envy you young people, so full of passion. Can't even keep your eyes open, yet still writing love letters by flashlight."
Wu Mangmang thought to herself, You have no idea how difficult Lord Lu can be.
"But your boyfriend really treats you well, even washing your clothes for you." Yang Li patted Wu Mangmang's shoulder. "On the surface, you really can't tell at all."
Yang Li was nearly forty. In the field of archaeology, she had met more than her fair share of big bosses. Wu Mangmang's boyfriend was clearly a man of immense presence, someone important enough to have bodyguards by his side. Yet he still personally washed Wu Mangmang's clothes, even her delicate underthings.
"Sister Yang, you don't know him. He seems nice on the surface, but privately he's quite fierce," Wu Mangmang complained sweetly.
Yang Li raised an eyebrow. "I'm not trying to steal him from you, why be so modest?"
Those words immediately flushed Wu Mangmang's face red.
The ¥1.20 standard mail took a full two weeks to reach Lu Sui's hands.
When Old Peter delivered the letter to Lu Sui, he was momentarily taken aback. Mr. Lu had probably never received a letter costing only ¥1.20 in his life.
The letter paper was thin, just a single page. After reading it, Lu Sui's face darkened.
Most of that single page was filled with Wu Mangmang's praise for the nation's postal system.
She wrote that during her online shopping days, she thought courier services were the true love of all Chinese women. Now she understood that in small mountain villages, there were no couriers. But the postal workers diligently rode their bicycles every day to deliver and collect mail, making them the most reliable and steadfast friends of the masses. Now, whenever she saw the color green, she felt a sense of warmth.
"Wanted to write more, but it seems if I write too much, it might exceed the weight limit, and the ¥1.20 stamp wouldn't be enough anymore."
Finally, Wu Mangmang mentioned a few words of praise from Yang Li and other colleagues about Lu Sui, then wrote: You absolutely must not come again. After comparing you to their own husbands, they've started feeling all sorts of dissatisfaction. What you're doing is undermining social stability and harming social harmony.
Don't miss me. Bye-bye.
Returning to his study, Lu Sui picked up a pen and wrote a reply to Wu Mangmang. It contained only one sentence: "Your handwriting is truly awful. You should practice. Enclosed is a copybook for fountain pen writing."
Before Wu Mangmang received this letter, Lu Sui began receiving a mustard-yellow envelope every single day.
Wu Mangmang's letters became more and more fluent. She would tell Lu Sui every trivial little thing.
For example, the colon-cleansing capsules were very effective; the acne that appeared on her face during her first few days here had already disappeared.
Or, today while squatting and brushing away soil, she uncovered half an earthworm. She had already learned not to scream.
Or again, she never wanted to eat steamed buns again. She asked Lu Sui to never mention the word "steamed bun" in front of her in the future.
Of course, there were happy things too. For instance, the high school student from the Wang family next door returned home, picked a bunch of wildflowers on the mountain, and gave them to her. The wildflowers were exceptionally beautiful, ones she had never seen before.
...
Two more weeks later, Wu Mangmang received the first letter Lu Sui had ever written to her. She expressed outrage.However, Lu Sui's fountain pen handwriting was truly beautiful, though not very legible. Wu Mangmang had to guess and piece together what he had written.
Comparing it to her own handwriting, Wu Mangmang felt a bit embarrassed, but there was no way she would spend time practicing calligraphy.
So Wu Mangmang wrote back to Lu Sui: "Write properly, in regular script. Don’t show off."
For some, days drag on like years; for others, they pass in seconds. In the blink of an eye, Wu Mangmang had already spent a month and a half in Huangtu Village.
"Why isn’t Mangmang here?" Ning Zheng asked Lu Sui. "You’re not even letting her out for my birthday?"
Knowing Lu Sui’s discomfort, Ning Zheng understood why Lu Sui didn’t bring Wu Mangmang to their usual gatherings. But surely he couldn’t hide her from him forever?
Lu Sui glanced sideways at Ning Zheng. "She’s not here."
"Did you break up again?" Lu Lin chimed in with a mischievous smile.
Ning Zheng immediately perked up. "She hasn’t replied to my WeChat messages, and her Weibo hasn’t been updated for over a month."
This was unmistakably Miss Wu’s breakup pattern.
Not just Ning Zheng, but even Shen Ting, Jiang Baoliang, and Wang Yuan, who had been chatting nearby, turned their attention to the conversation.
"We’re fine, thank you," Lu Sui said calmly.
Despite his words, everyone could see Lu Sui was in low spirits.
During the evening card game, Lu Sui dominated the table. Ning Zheng couldn’t resist teasing, "They say if you’re lucky in gambling, you’re bound to be unlucky in love."
As Lu Sui picked up the nine of characters tile, he was reminded of the time Wu Mangmang came with Lu Qingqing to apologize to him.
"I’m done playing," Lu Sui said, pushing his tiles away and standing up. "You guys continue."
"What’s going on?" Ning Zheng asked Lu Lin.
Lu Lin shrugged. "Maybe he’s hitting menopause."
By the time Lu Sui returned to the Lu residence, it was already past eleven at night.
"Has the letter not arrived yet?" Lu Sui asked Old Peter, who came out to greet him.
OpenNovel