Cassandra's Quest Through the Gorges Chapter 2

Mother Evelyn's residence is on the north side of the Summer Palace. She refused to live in the city, saying that the bustling city there made her feel very noisy. She was transferred from Chengdu to Beijing and worked as the deputy director of the Municipal Publishing Bureau before retiring. Now she is re-employed with full salary by a publishing house to help read novel manuscripts that the publisher has come up with but dare not publish. She rarely goes to work. One or two days a week, she takes the car to the publishing house on the East Third Ring Road for a few hours, and then the car comes back.

The taxi stopped in front of the gate of a residential community with security guards. Cassandra Liu opened the door and came out carrying her bag.

The house here is not high, with only nine floors. Each unit has an independent elevator, and there are two households on each floor. Although the exterior walls are a bit old, the inside of the house is well maintained and bright. The environment of the community is also good, with gardens and lawns. In addition to flowers, More evergreen pines.

Cassandra Liu walked into a unit with familiarity and took the elevator to the fourth floor. As soon as she got out of the elevator, the lights in the corridor automatically turned on.

She rang the doorbell and her Mother Evelyn answered, but it took a long time before she opened the door. When she saw Cassandra Liu, she hurriedly said:

"Dust it clean, dust it clean! Dust it clean before coming in."

Cassandra Liu smiled. She knew her Mother Evelyn's cleanliness. The floor at home was cleaned by the cleaner kneeling on the ground with a cloth. Since her father passed away, her obsession with cleanliness has become worse as she got older. Her Mother Evelyn was wearing a neat and ironed dress and a pair of soft-soled slippers, which was totally out of place in this world covered with gray and yellow dust. Cassandra Liu thought that such an overly clean person should return to her hometown, the picturesque Jiangnan, to listen to the swallows flying through the green bamboo pavilions, or stand by the bridge and watch the water lilies under the bridge.

But the Mother Evelyn didn't curse Chensha together with all the people in Beijing. She just quickly took out her daughter's slippers from the cabinet. My Mother Evelyn doesn’t have many wrinkles on her face and she takes the time to take care of it. Cassandra Liu often feels that she is not like a daughter, but like a sister, and she is a sister who is far less outstanding than her elder sister. She is not as smart as her Mother Evelyn, nor is she as sensitive as her Mother Evelyn. However, they are equally tall, about 1.67 meters tall, and have similar builds. They even like to have short hair, which is shorter than most women, and even shorter than a few men.

Cassandra Liu took off her coat, fluttered it vigorously in the corridor for a while, and then hung it on the hanger behind the door.

The house with three bedrooms and two living rooms is very spacious and has two balconies. The shiny waxed parquet floor, Ming-style furniture, and the original large color TV disc seem to have been moved into the bedroom. On the wall are large oil paintings by domestic new-school painters collected by my Mother Evelyn, and several exaggerated and fierce smiles.

The wind and sand did not abate, roaring wildly outside the glass window, but the house was a clean world, and the wall lamp in the living room was on. Mother Evelyn handed Cassandra Liu a hot towel to wipe her hands and asked Cassandra Liu if she was cold? It said that the collective heating has been stopped, but the electric heating can be turned on. Cassandra Liu shook his head, took the towel, and simply went to the bathroom to take a shower. There is a porcelain basin filled with water on the bathroom floor, with a few rose petals floating on it. It has a really refreshing fragrance. She dried her body carefully and felt the pain on her face from the sand. She applied some skin cream, put on her slippers and returned to the living room.

She pulled up the cushions and sat down on the L-shaped sofa. Then she noticed the orchid on the coffee table. The only branch had nine pink and green butterfly-shaped flowers. She couldn't help but exclaim:

"it's beautiful!"

My Mother Evelyn always liked the Yunnan tea "Lan Guiren". She brewed two cups, a small plate of almonds and a small plate of dried fish slices, and brought them on a Japanese tray with the teapot and placed them on the coffee table. She took over Cassandra Liu's words and said, "There are also such flowers in Liang County. Put a pot in the courtyard and it will bloom all the time." Her description was delicate and exquisite: "There is also a kind of peach blossom fish in the Yangtze River, which is rarer than the finless porpoise." Her accent was of southern accent.

"minnow?"

"Have you never seen it?" My Mother Evelyn said that at that time, the river was green and clear, and there were transparent peach fish floating in the water. They may have swam into the Yangtze River from the mountain streams, and they were in groups and came in various colors: The jade white, milky yellow and pink colors complement each other with the petals of peach blossom trees on the distant mountains.

"I'm afraid it's a freshwater jellyfish," Cassandra Liu thought carefully and said tentatively. "I'm afraid it's not a fish."

"Anyway, I've seen it." said the Mother Evelyn proudly.

"Why didn't you tell me that you had such a good fortune?"

"You are never interested in my experiences. When will we have a night to talk? You are a great expert and a busy man."

The Mother Evelyn turned on the antique floor lamp, took out a wrapped gift box from the bookshelf, handed it to Cassandra Liu, and said that this was a gift for her.

Cassandra Liu tore open the gold paper that was obviously wrapped when she bought it in the store, revealing a shiny black lacquer box with exquisite Chinese landscapes inlaid on the top. When she opened it, she found a bottle of French perfume with blue velvet inside. Yves Saint Laurent's famous brand "Opium". Cassandra Liu had seen it before, but had never used it, and had never tried to smell the perfume with this strange brand name.

Cassandra Liu then remembered that she was the one who sent the person who brought gifts to her Mother Evelyn. She took out the perfume, looked at it left and right, unscrewed the perfume cap, sprayed a few drops on the palm of her hand, smelled it, couldn't tell why, and held out her hand for her Mother Evelyn to smell.

"What does this mean? Lu Sheng sent me perfume? It's a bit unlike him to find a secretary to send it to me."

She deliberately didn't say "female secretary" because she didn't want to scare people.

The Mother Evelyn did not smile, but asked Cassandra Liu: "Are you really stupid or just pretending to be stupid?"

If there was really any twist in it, her Mother Evelyn was much smarter than her and was very careful about such things. She watched her Mother Evelyn put away the wrapping paper and put it into the black bamboo basket in the corner. There must be something roundabout in this bottle of opium perfume. She couldn't figure it out, so she could only wait patiently for her Mother Evelyn to speak.

"The secretary is pretty good, very stylish, with the latest hair and clothes. You said you didn't have time, so you asked her to come to me. Since you entrusted me with such an important task, I asked her to come here." Mother Evelyn smiled contemptuously, "But of course it wasn't her. It's not that your husband has such a refined taste in women. If it was her, she wouldn't have come to see me."

"Your intuition tells you that there must be someone else?" Cassandra Liu dressed generously. She didn't want to be intimidated by her Mother Evelyn.

The Mother Evelyn took a sip of tea and said, "I'm afraid so." She paused, looking at Cassandra Liu's expression without any reaction, and then continued, "But Lu Sheng has not decided what to do, or rather, he is still not sure whether he should keep your marriage."

"So this gift is a warning?"

"I think he is reminding you: Are you still a woman?"

Cassandra Liu laughed: "I'm afraid this is a problem in your mind, right?"

"You used to be a tomboy, but now you don't look like a woman at all. I've long been reluctant to talk to you about this matter. But Lu Sheng has asked you to go many times, but you just don't go. You can't say that his question is unreasonable."

"It's not that I didn't mean not to go, I just couldn't leave because of work. He has plenty of opportunities to come to Beijing." She explained to her Mother Evelyn that bioengineering was on the eve of a breakthrough development, and a brand new world was opening up in the hands of scientists. She was the key to domestic genetic engineering. As the host of the project, the project has reached a critical stage, so what else can we do to make the routine of visiting relatives a reality?

"So, do you understand his work and care about what he does?" Mother Evelyn asked.

"You mean the Three Gorges Project?" Cassandra Liu said. "I've read some debate texts. I'm not sure about the technical aspects, such as immigration issues, power generation issues, flood control issues, ecological environment issues, cultural relics issues, etc. But the basic point of the debate - should humans transform nature? ―At this point, I think the opponents are naive. People have always changed nature. They have always changed it in the past and will change it in the future. This is also my business. "

"It seems you know his work very well." Mother Evelyn's eyes drifted to the big bubbling goldfish in the tank, the two goldfish with lion heads and colorful tails. "You should be a good couple, both of whom are 'changing the world.' What's the point of getting into trouble? Let's get together and talk."

"I don't know. They are both too busy. There is no need to rush to talk." She pondered for a while and said reluctantly, "I'm afraid there is a slight change. Neither of them can talk to each other. Since he became the general manager, I have no intention of listening to him, and he has no intention of listening to me. "

"It's definitely not a good thing for a couple to be separated for a long time." The Mother Evelyn suddenly raised her head and looked at her. "Are you not interested in men?"

She should have said this. Since her father passed away, her Mother Evelyn has been a widow. Once, Cassandra Liu saw that her Mother Evelyn looked very lonely and felt that her Mother Evelyn should have remarried a long time ago. However, she didn't need to persuade her about this matter. Anyway, her father was an old cadre who had fought in the Anti-Japanese War and the welfare of a widow was well taken care of. There was a reason why her Mother Evelyn lived in this remote high-ranking cadre area.

She threw back: "Didn't you always warn me to be careful with men and not to be too accommodating?"

"Don't be too accommodating before marriage," the Mother Evelyn said patiently, "you have to be accommodating after marriage. You should understand that for men nowadays, power is their aphrodisiac."

Mother Evelyn smiled. She would have this proud look every time she said something she thought was a good idea. Although Mother Evelyn had been a Party member for many years and was considered an old cadre, Cassandra Liu felt that she was actually quite free-spirited.

Cassandra Liu couldn't stand such sharpness, and the conversation between the two became less and less congenial. She put down the teacup in her hand and stood up:

"Mom, do you have anything else to say? Otherwise, I have to go home."

The Mother Evelyn stopped laughing, but did not argue with her as before, causing the two to break up. Instead, she took her hand and said very sincerely: "Xiao Cui, can't you even hear a joke? You stay here." . Why are you going back in such a stormy weather? If you feel too tired, you'd better sleep with me. We haven't had a good talk with each other for a long time. I really want to persuade you to go to the south. This is up to you. Decide for yourself. But there is another reason for me to keep you. You can stay here in peace and listen to me tell you some things about your past. I should have told you a long time ago, but I never had the chance. "

She stopped asking Cassandra Liu if he agreed, stood up, and walked to the kitchen to take care of something. "The new aunt is very good at cooking. I have asked her to prepare dinner and cook a few dishes. I'm afraid you haven't had a good meal. In this windy and sandy day, she helped me keep a distinguished guest."

Trip to Yichang

A Mother Evelyn's sensitivity is always like this: it's unpleasant at first, but it turns out to be very reasonable in the end. Cassandra Liu woke up early in the morning, went home to pack a few clothes, made three calls: one to book a ticket, one to ask for leave from the institute, and one to tell Victor Li, and then went to the airport with her small suitcase.

The sandstorm that had been blowing for a day and a night stopped, and the whole world was filled with sunshine. Everyone forgot yesterday's complaints. The flight was smooth and arrived in Yichang on time. A shiny black Audi sedan was waiting for her outside the airport, but Victor Li was nowhere to be seen. The person who came to the airport to pick her up was Director Elliott of the company's office. He said that Victor Li happened to be in Beijing and had to go there for an emergency meeting. He couldn't call to notify him because his wife's plane was also taking off from Beijing.

They happened to be staggered in the sky, and maybe she looked out the window and saw Victor Li's company's small jet flying through the sky.

When the director said he was sending Mr. Li away, Mr. Li asked him to stay at the airport to pick up his wife and apologize on his behalf.

The director looks to be in his late thirties at most. He is thoughtful, speaks clearly, and gives off a capable impression. Although he is a bit short, he has smooth skin. He is wearing a crisp silver-gray suit and a pair of rimless glasses. He looks like a dedicated store manager in Hong Kong's financial industry.

From Yichang Airport to the dam, the green trees on both sides of the highway look like they were just planted in the past few years. Just when Cassandra Liu was about to ask, the director said: "If we choose fast-growing tree species, we will have shade in three years."

When we arrived at the dam project area, both sides of the road were actually covered with cherry blossom branches, which were so brilliant that even the ground was colorful, with a thick layer of petals falling down.

Director Elliott gave instructions and introduced, "Mr. Li insisted on building a tourist attraction first: building a garden site first, and then it became a green project. We didn't understand it at the time and thought it was just a flower display. At that time, Mr. Li was the first to build roads and green projects. Investment, the debate was fierce in the headquarters, and the fight went all the way to the central government. Now it is proved that he is absolutely right! "
 
"Really?!" Cassandra Liu didn't know that Victor Li had caused such an argument. He had never told her about it, and it seemed that he didn't really want to tell her.

The director exclaimed, "Look far ahead!" He told Cassandra Liu that the reservoir area now receives millions of tourists every year, most of whom visit the dam construction site. The income from tourism is still a small thing, but the image of the project and the atmosphere at the construction site are completely different. Sooner or later, the environment needs to be done. If you build a shed and then beautify it after it is completed, you are making the wrong move.

"In modern society, image is substance." The director said, "Mr. Li saw this move before anyone else."

The car saw the headquarters building and the 25-story hotel towering in the distance in Jiangbei. They drove quickly across the specially built highway bridge and arrived at the five-star hotel in the dam area. Before Cassandra Liu could even look, the director's praise filled her ears.

Director Elliott sent Cassandra Liu to the top-floor room. He said, "The presidential suite is next door, which is difficult to access. Mr. Li asked me to ask my wife's forgiveness."

This is not worth answering. This suite is already too good. Even the suite of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It has two three-seater sofas and a table against the wall. The floor lamps, wall lamps and cabinets are all exquisite and elegant. There is a table in the back room. Between the big bed and the window, all the tables and chairs were carved, almost in the style of a first-class hotel in Shanghai, and there was also a plate of fresh fruit. The walls are almost blank, except for a black-and-white photography of Wushan Goddess Peak hanging above the bed stall.

Opening the French windows, the dam construction site that crosses the entire river appears in front of you. Construction machinery is cutting through the mountains, and heavy trucks are driving back and forth on the top of the dam. Apart from the glaring welding light, there is almost no human activity on the construction site. There is a striking slogan hanging on the head of the sixth permanent ship lock: "See yesterday as backward, and see quality as qualified." The entire work is arranged like a chessboard, and the vast Yangtze River is blocked by two-thirds of this wide river surface.

Seeing how fascinated she was, the director also walked to the window. He said proudly: "The newspapers said that this is the largest project in human history. But Mr. Li refused to let it be said, thinking that it was unfounded. Besides, there is no benefit in boasting. A big tree attracts wind."

Cassandra Liu turned around. This person was full of admiration for Victor Li, which didn't seem fake. But she didn't expect Victor Li to be so scheming and to handle things like propaganda. For a person who studied engineering planning and management in the United States, it was a waste of time to be in charge of such things.

The director didn't notice Cassandra Liu's expression and continued his praise.

He said that President Li emphasized that every place in the reservoir area and every gorge bank should be marked with the first flooding water level of 145 meters above sea level and the final flooding water level of 175 meters above sea level. At that time, many people opposed it, saying that this would provide ammunition for the "anti-Three Gorges faction" and how much of the beautiful scenery of the Three Gorges would disappear. President Li said that not marking it would make people more suspicious. Now these two rows of marks have also become a scene in the Sichuan River! It is said that the decision-making of the Three Gorges is transparent, respectable and reassuring.

Just as Cassandra Liu was about to stop his gushing praises and ask him for a local map, the phone in the room rang.

The director walked to the table against the wall and as soon as he picked up the phone, the smile on his face disappeared. He whispered into the phone, "No." His face was expressionless. After listening for a while, he just said, "Absolutely not." and put down the phone. Then he took out his mobile phone, opened the door to the corridor, and closed the door behind him.

The phone in the room rang again, and Cassandra Liu had to answer it herself. It was a woman's voice. "Director Elliott," the woman said, her voice was very calm, and she was a woman with her own ideas. But what she said scared Cassandra Liu: "You are loyal, like a dog, which is an excellent quality. But I want to talk to someone, I have this freedom, you can't stop me forever."

Cassandra Liu immediately understood what was going on. Although her Mother Evelyn had fully prepared her mentally, her face turned pale with anger and her heart beat wildly. This insult was not directed at her, but the other person used the insult in a calm tone, which made her feel that she did not need to lower her status:

"Wait a moment," she said, "I'll ask Xiao Kan to answer the phone."

The other party was stunned for a moment, but immediately regained his composure: "You must be Mr. Li's wife, Ms. Cassandra Liu." Without waiting for her to answer, the other party continued: "Can I have a few words with you?"

Cassandra Liu had to keep calm with the other party. "I think what you want to say has absolutely nothing to do with me." She said as quickly as possible, "You'd better talk to the relevant person." At this time, she saw Director Elliott nervously pushing the door in, and she deliberately raised her voice into the microphone. He raised his voice and deliberately let the visitor hear: "No need to look for me again, I have something to do and I have to leave for a while!"

Director Elliott wanted to answer the phone, but it was too late. Cassandra Liu put down the phone as soon as she finished speaking. Director Elliott's outstretched hand stopped in mid-air.

Cassandra Liu suppressed her emotions and said coldly: "Since Mr. Li is not here, I don't have to stay here."

Director Elliott said, "Madam, you are about to leave just after arriving? Can you tell me where you are?" He pushed up his glasses twice, his voice trembling, as if there were fish bones stuck in his throat. "Please tell me where you are going, please"?

A little careerist who wants to climb up! The dog butler who specializes in handling various secret activities for Victor Li! Cassandra Liu cursed in her heart, picked up her unopened handbag, and walked out the door, telling him: "Of course there is no need to tell you." Her pace quickened.

At the elevator entrance, the director caught up with him, his face turned pale. It seems that he got into trouble and took care of the mistakes that he must never make, but it happened at the beginning. "Madam, can I arrange a car and boat to take you off?"

He reached out to take the tote bag, but Cassandra Liu pushed it away rudely. "Okay, it has nothing to do with you. I have my own business, so I don't need to bother you with it!"

When the elevator door opened, she walked in. When she pressed the button, she looked at Director Elliott sternly. He was about to walk into the elevator, but was stopped in his tracks.

The elevator slowly descended, and Cassandra Liu was the only one inside. In such a six-sided box, Cassandra Liu's anger and pressure built up in her heart. She couldn't imagine her husband doing such a shameless thing. She didn't need to care about that woman. Since this woman had shamelessly called her directly, she was probably even more desperate than she was. But her husband's betrayal gave her self-confidence a slap in the face: since he could be with this woman, it was also possible - very likely that he had betrayed her before! Their happy marriage may have been a fake show from beginning to end!
 
She would not compete with any woman for a man. She wouldn't look down on herself so much. She had never experienced anything like this, but she immediately realized that the first thing she had to defend was her own dignity, otherwise, she would no longer be herself.

husband

So she came to Liang County.

Cassandra Liu climbed up the stone steps. Workers were unloading goods at the dock, and trucks were kicking up mud and sand. Moreover, garbage was piled up everywhere. The roadside, the beach, and even the roofs of some low-rise houses were all covered with garbage, and the stench was steaming in the sun. The garbage of the whole city was

It seems that no one has moved it for many years, and it has been piled here to ferment, perhaps waiting to enter the reservoir when the river water floods?

In fact, plastic items floating in the Yangtze River, foam blocks for padding boxes, and even rotten mattresses can be seen everywhere. Cassandra Liu can imagine that after the reservoir is filled with water, the plastic foam blocks will drift for many months without being able to wash into the sea. Victor Li's "garden construction" tricks! Just take care of this smelly garbage first!

At the top of the stone steps, both sides were covered with cloth umbrellas and stalls. The vendors displayed all kinds of food on mobile wooden tables. The dried tofu, pork heads, braised chicken and duck were all shiny and oily. The stall owner used a plastic swatter to shoo away flies. A huge square kitchen knife lay on a blackened meat-cutting block. Cassandra Liu tried to avoid looking at it. She couldn't imagine anyone eating these things. But there must be customers before there are stall owners.

"Sister, buy it while it's hot, Jiang's braised duck!"

Someone actually called her "Mei'er"! Only when she was a child did her nanny call her that. She could understand Sichuan dialect, so she spoke Sichuan dialect to the nanny until her parents found out and fired the old nanny. When the person called her "Mei'er" for the second time, Cassandra Liu felt that Sichuan dialect was not only not unpleasant, but also felt friendly.

A motorcycle drove up and said he could take her to a hotel for fifteen yuan a night.

She asked, "How far?"

"Not far."

But she has seen that the old city can be traveled around without transportation, and she also understands that the new city that dominates the old city is more suitable for living, but that has returned to her life circle. Therefore, she thought she should live in the old city. The motorcycle found other customers and soon picked up a young woman. The young woman hugged the driver's waist. When the engine started, the sound was like a gunshot. A puff of smoke drove up a winding dirt road and penetrated the market.

Most of the streets and alleys do not have street names and numbers. Those that may have existed originally may have been removed because the street signs hindered the transportation of bricks and stones. The houses were in decay, and the wooden windows were creaking.

Seeing such a house, Cassandra Liu had to change her mind. She decided to find a place to live in the new city above. The hotel in the Ba District that she left in the morning was too luxurious, but the sanitary conditions in this place may not be acceptable to her. Just as a taxi finished picking up the guests, it stopped on the street. She walked over, sat down, and said to the driver: "Go to the best hotel here." She thought to herself that in this place, the "best" would probably have to make do.

"Jinyue Hotel, four stars." The driver said proudly.

"Just go there."

This Jinyue Hotel was unexpectedly beautiful, located at the highest point of the new city, towering over the entire city. There were exquisite seasonal flowers in the lobby, huge flower baskets, arranged in a very grand manner, and the marble floor was often wiped and shiny, reflecting the magnificent glass chandelier, with the style of Beijing Tianlun Dynasty Hotel. Cassandra Liu really wanted to know what kind of people this hotel was built for.

From here, you can see the tight river gorge on both sides and the open Liangxian flat beach in the middle. It is indeed majestic. When she came to the Three Gorges for the first time, she was originally prepared to feel a bit disappointed, but she was unexpectedly pleasantly surprised. Every time I visit a world-famous scenery, there is always a regret: the camera angles in the movie are too much, and the mystery is lost when you see it with your own eyes. Even the Colorado Canyon is not as steep and steep as in the movie. A well-known actor, his conversation is tacky and his appearance is ordinary, and he has no charisma on the screen at all.

The Three Gorges, which has been boasted by literati and poets for thousands of years, is as pure as when the flood first opened. According to the crew, the Yangtze River in April and May is the most popular. The unique climate of spring in the South, "it rains on the first day of the lunar month, disperses on the second lunar month, and rains on the third lunar month until half a month later" has just passed. The winter cold has been washed away by the rain, but the sultry plum rain season has not yet arrived, and there may even be heavy rains and floods. , the torrential flood water has not yet filled the river with yellow pollution, and it is a beautiful and sunny weather.

Watch it for one more minute, and the gorge will see endless changes. Under the blue sky, a motorboat slowly cuts a long white line in the silk-like river. The lush green mountains on both sides of the river seem to be just the background of this winding silk ribbon. Farther away, at one end of the river that can only be seen with a telescope, the gorge gate cut out by thousands of years of turbulent water opens, and the reddish granite is split into two pieces like an axe. The river surface suddenly shrinks from four or five miles to one mile wide. After a wide period of calm, the river suddenly gasps and cries again.

The old city beneath your feet does not exist unless you go to see it.

It's not such a bad thing to be able to completely submerge a place like that, she thought.

When Cassandra Liu settled down, it was already a quarter past four in the afternoon. She called for room service: a bowl of beef noodles, which was a supplement to her lunch. After watching the waiter put the dishes away and closing the door, she lay down on the bed, trying to sort out the messy things that happened that day, but it was difficult to find a clue. She remembered that she should hang up the phone to her Mother Evelyn, even if she didn't ask her for help - she never wanted to let others give her advice, she still had to tell her Mother Evelyn that she had come to this place.

However, the phone in the room did not have an out-of-town line. She called the front desk and was told that the deposit she paid was only for the room fee, and the deposit for long-distance calls had to be paid separately.

She didn't have much cash with her. She had no choice but to go back down to the first floor and pay the deposit. She turned around from the service desk and felt much better. She seemed to have recovered her spirits. She thought she could continue with her mission. It wouldn't be too late to call her Mother Evelyn when she got back.

When she was about to leave the hotel, she realized that she had not brought her address book, so she had to return to her room. She had never been so messy in doing things. When she went to the bathroom to wash her hands, she saw the woman in the mirror wearing a suit. Wearing such an outfit, she looked too much like a fashionable female cadre from Kyoto or the provincial capital. She first opened her suitcase, found an ordinary casual top and cotton trousers, took off her high heels, and changed into light shoes that were easy to walk in.

This might make her look a bit like a female teacher. But when she glanced at the dressing mirror in front of the closet, she found that she looked more like a female college student. Because of her short hair, if you don't look closely, she looks much younger. Little did she know that her menstruation was becoming more and more irregular, and she often suffered from insomnia and could only sleep four or five hours a day. Cassandra Liu thought about it and felt sad: she was already close to menopause, and she was deceived by a man! Nonsense, how could I be such a character. She was so angry that she simply took out her clean clothes and went into the bathroom.

Compared to the old city, this bathroom is like heaven, with a large mirror, spotlights, wall lamps, chandeliers of all sizes, shiny patterned tiles, spotless black and white floor tiles, and two picture frames hanging vertically on the wall, which are handmade flower and bird paper-cuts by folk artists, very simple and elegant. There is an antique lacquer box on the large washstand, the paper inside is as white as silk, and the toiletries are placed in a large lacquer tray. There is a thick stack of white towels, which smells like lemon.

She stepped into the bathtub and closed the curtain. The water was just right and she lowered the shower head.

Amid the sound of running water, she heard the phone ring. No one here could possibly know her, so she turned down the water. It was indeed the phone that was ringing, but she didn't want to answer it, thinking it must be the front desk asking something. The phone finally stopped ringing. She continued to rinse the foam off her hair, turning the water up a little hotter. After a while, the phone rang again, so she had no choice but to step out of the bathtub, dripping wet, to get the phone hanging on the wall above the toilet. The mirror in the bathroom was made of good quality, with only a little moisture clinging to it.

The call turned out to be from Victor Li. He said, "Are you in Liang County? How are you? I'm still in Beijing." He was not surprised at all that she came to this place.

"How did you find me?" Cassandra Liu did not answer, but asked in a very calm voice. She turned to see the person in the mirror, his eyes full of pain and anger.

In fact, she knew the answer: someone must have watched her when she boarded the boat at the dam area, and kept watching her until she got off the boat at this place. Director Elliott, Victor Li had such a large number of people who were responsible for everything, so they knew exactly where she could go.

Victor Li answered the question irrelevantly: "Be careful and be safe."

Cassandra Liu finally got angry, but she suppressed her anger and said with gritted teeth: "I think you are the most insecure! I ask you, how did you find out that I live here?"

"There are still some problems with security in this area."

"Stop the b*llsh*t!"

"Have you not seen those little posters with slogans, in the old city and in the new city, on the walls and doors?"

"I did not notice."

"That means it has been cleared. Leave Liang County as soon as possible! Do you want me to send someone to pick you up?"

Cassandra Liu felt that Victor Li was deliberately trying to make things worse. She went to Liang County to pursue her own purpose and did not go to look around. There were some self-built shanties by the river. They were people who were forced to demolish their houses but did not get houses or refused to move to other places. This was nothing big. Even the taxi driver said it was normal. If what Victor Li said was true, why did she have to run away? She felt that her original intention of visiting her relatives had become a wound that hurt all the time because of a woman's phone call.

She was born in this place called Liang County. She has her own things to do, which have nothing to do with this man.

Victor Li said, "Let's leave there and return to the dam area!"

"I'll leave tomorrow. Please don't send your lackeys to watch me."

"don't want......"

Cassandra Liu raised her voice into the phone and said harshly, "It's no use staring at me!"

"Actually, I have no ill intentions," said Victor Li.

This only ignited her anger. She shouted: "You are malicious, your intentions are very bad! The perfume you asked someone to send me stink!"

Victor Li obviously didn't want to notice her anger, "You have never let me down, and neither will I."

"Hypocrite!" Cassandra Liu wanted to throw these words at him, but she hung up the phone with a click.

She turned around and got into the bathtub, turned on the water, but turned it in the wrong direction, and the cold water rushed over her body. She quickly turned it back. She turned the water to the maximum, and it was like a waterfall hitting her. I was not so excited, I am afraid not, but there was no need to be nice to this Victor Li.

She was betrayed. It was clear that the woman who came to her door that morning! She looked like she was going to have a showdown with her. Victor Li pretended to be calm and asked about "safety"! The woman was deeply involved in their marriage life. She must be anxious, or even ignored by Victor Li, otherwise she would not have taken such a reckless action to capsize the boat. The woman's voice was very pleasant. She was not very young. She might be very beautiful and capable. She was restrained in her words and deeds, but aggressive. She did not take Director Elliott seriously at all. She was a woman who knew where her own interests lay. That's good, Cassandra Liu thought, no one will compete with you for this stinky man!

It seems that this is true. Victor Li's intentional non-mentioning is a tacit consent. She knows her husband's character too well. Victor Li always says that whoever can keep calm the most will win. So, should they divorce? Mother Evelyn is right. She is not without fault in this marriage. They were supposed to go their separate ways. She has been living alone for a long time. Divorce is just a formality, just like marriage.

Thinking about it this way, she completely understood that she had been used all along, and their marriage was actually just a convenient empty shell, to make it easier for Victor Li to do his philandering and to give his boss a good impression of a "tech family".

I'm afraid it's not easy to tell who "betrayed" whom. Her self-esteem tortured her, and she didn't want to ask her husband what the relationship was between him and that woman. She would rather not know. Not knowing the inside story would also reduce the specific harm, which is very different from knowing some specific details. This marriage probably gave her a convenient excuse to be too lazy to lead a family life.

Suddenly, she became frightened. Something was wrong with her. A normal woman would be so angry that she would overturn jealousy jars, throw pots and pans, or at least cry loudly. But she didn't. It would be fine if he was an unwanted husband. She loved him and he loved her. Director Elliott said that this husband was an "important figure" in the world's largest project; my Mother Evelyn heard this from the widows of political elders. , "He has a bright future." So, what reason does she have to be dissatisfied with the name of a happy marriage?
 
Perhaps because of this, this man did not need her care. Without her as a wife, it would be of no consequence.

When she was writing a paper in the United States, she was probably exhausted for a while. She always saw a desert under the microscope. She didn't know what the desert meant to her. There was only one person in the desert, who looked like a woman trudging hard. She felt that person was her. She was distracted several times, as if the desert entered her brain, and a market appeared in her field of vision. She walked desperately to meet her father. There were bright lights, people singing and dancing, and her father was holding a camel in his hand. He said, "I can't bear to see you unhappy like this. If you are happy one day, I will come to see you again, otherwise you won't see me." After the father finished speaking, he disappeared in the crowd of the market.

Since then, she has never met her father under a microscope, or even dreamed of her father at night.

She remembered that Victor Li happened to be in the United States for a meeting that day and stopped by to see her. Before he left in the morning, she spoke of the Gestalt reaction the pieces of glass gave her.

He said that Cassandra Liu's father was a hero in his heart, who carried his injured father down from the battlefield and saved his father. "Our two families are friends for life and death, and you are more important than anything else in my heart."

His words comforted her, but they made her feel extremely unreal. Although Victor Li was a soldier, he never thought that it was a great thing for the previous generation to conquer the world. On the contrary, he thought that people of his generation could do much more. In this case, of course there is no need to be "loyal" to her to the end because of the friendship between the fathers.

This so-called city seems to have no buses and the urban area is not big enough. Taxis are everywhere, and the prices are quite cheap: they start at five yuan, twice as much as in Beijing, but the distance from the hotel to anywhere is only the lowest price. There are several shops and companies opened on Huansha Road, the new central street, with large and small flower baskets on display, and horizontal and vertical couplets in red and gold letters posted on the foyer.

The police stood in the middle of the street directing vehicles in an orderly manner. An advertisement for Wahaha mineral water was displayed on the large electronic screen, and then changed to stock market news. Once you go downhill and enter the old city, it is completely different from the new city. The streets are crowded and stalls are set up on both sides. Dark bacon and bacon are hung at the door of the store. The vegetables are fresh, some are washed, and some are still stained with dirt. , bunches piled on the ground. But everyone seems to have another face. They are anxious and anxious. They are demolishing houses and building bricks and wood everywhere. It is almost like fleeing from a war. In fact, there is still a long time before the initial water storage in the reservoir area, and it may not be possible soon in 2009. Water is stored to the 175-meter water level. Since the reservoir has long been the center of life for everyone here, it is better to live as soon as possible as the reservoir was built.

The taxi suddenly stopped leaving, and the driver said to Cassandra Liu impatiently:

"You'd better get off. You can't go any further after the vegetable market. It's full of baskets and trucks."

What the driver said is true. The old city is not easy to drive by car. "How far is it from Shad Lane?" She tried to speak in Sichuan dialect.

"It's very close." The driver collected her five yuan.

Cassandra Liu got out of the car and retreated to the roadside, not knowing the direction. She had to ask for directions. The locals sounded like they were yelling. The pronunciation of the Sichuanese dialect was too high, as if they couldn't talk about something calmly. But the people here were not cunning and told her the truth. She walked to a place hanging on the hillside without taking any detours. residential areas.

It is quieter here than the streets in the He District, too quiet, and there is no sense of escape. Cassandra Liu estimated that this place was already above the 175-meter horizontal line, and the old city could be replaced with new ones. But there was no hope for the old city above the flood line.

Most of the houses here are bungalows surrounded by courtyards. Except for some two- or three-story brick and wood houses, there are no high-rise buildings. The rotten houses have cracks in the board walls, and you can see into the house. However, there are banana trees and soapberry trees between the houses, and oleanders are often on the hillside. In the yard, there are some old wooden barrels, even porcelain toilets and spittoons to plant flowers, which creates a peaceful atmosphere.

The road was just as dirty, full of rotten vegetables, coal dust, broken glass bottles and plastic films, and moss and weeds growing in the cracks between the rocks. She carefully walked down a large slope of stone steps and found a side house attached to a yard opposite a telephone pole. It was exactly the address Cassandra Liu was looking for: No. 1, Attached to No. 78, Shad Lane.

The Mother Evelyn said, "Go and see Aunt Mabel." As the Mother Evelyn said, she went into the bedroom to find the address, and then copied it on a piece of paper and gave it to Cassandra Liu, saying that it was from a letter she received many years ago. She hoped Aunt Mabel still lived there. There.

Cassandra Liu asked curiously: "What does Aunt Mabel do?"

"Like me," the Mother Evelyn said, pointing to herself, "a housewife."

"That's not what I meant." Cassandra Liu knew that her Mother Evelyn was silent again, and she said, "I mean before retirement - she must be about the same age as you. You are at the director level. What level is she?"

The Mother Evelyn thought for a while and then said: "Her life was not going well. It should be said that it was miserable: her husband was a veteran soldier, but he made mistakes many times and never dealt with them. She defended her husband in the workplace and was fired from her job. I want to retire. She was a female worker before, assuming she found a job later. "

This was a bit beyond Cassandra Liu's expectation, and her Mother Evelyn explained:

"We haven't been in touch for decades. There is only this letter, which was written almost 20 years ago. It said that her husband had passed away and asked the old leader - your father - to help her deceased husband's "rehabilitation". She didn't know that your father was no longer around at that time." Mother Evelyn sighed and said, "Of course I couldn't reply."

"Why can't I reply?"

"That's a long story," said my Mother Evelyn. "I think we'll have a lot to say tonight. Aunt Mabel's 'rehabilitation' is directly related to your father."

"Is it related to what happened when you were in Liang County?" Cassandra Liu asked hesitantly, "Then, why do you want me to find her?" What kind of trouble can two widows get involved in an old account?

"She was my best friend when I was pregnant with you," my Mother Evelyn said. "To find out some things about your birth - some things I have never understood - I'm afraid you have to go find her. Okay, my eldest lady, you are a very smart person, you know how to deal with things , and you are not the person involved, you are the next generation. Can you please go out for me? "
 
At that time, Cassandra Liu did not feel any difficulty at all and agreed to her Mother Evelyn's request easily. Now, she felt uneasy when she thought of her Mother Evelyn's words. Before a person is born, it is almost a world belonging to ghosts, just like when a person is dying, he is in a dark and strange place with no one to share the same journey with. Now standing at the door of this world, she suddenly felt a little panic.

The blackened wooden door was half-open, and most doors here were not closed. It was hard to see inside from the outside, so Cassandra Liu walked closer and found that the inside of the house was actually a few steps lower than the outside. An unpleasant smell of Chinese herbal medicine came towards her.

"Is Aunt Mabel at home?"

Cassandra Liu called out, but no one answered. She called again, a little suspicious. However, he still bravely stepped into the door and walked down the steps, several stone steps. Before she could see the furnishings in the room clearly, a woman suddenly stood in front of her. Cassandra Liu was startled and shrank back.

This woman had a frosty look on her face.

Cassandra Liu could see that the woman was very young because the light outside the door hit the woman's face. She was about thirty or so. She looked very strange, with two braids, a haggard face, and bloodshot eyes. Cassandra Liu calmed down and said, "I'm looking for Aunt Mabel."

The woman was deaf and did not speak. A pot of potion was boiling on the earthen stove. The woman squatted on the ground and fanned the stove with a sunflower leaf fan. There was a smell of soot in the room.

Cassandra Liu knew that this person did not welcome her. She had no choice but to return to the stone steps. Some children gathered at the door to watch the fun. Cassandra Liu looked back and saw the woman turning her head. In the darkness, she showed her white teeth and looked like she was smiling.

Obviously you got the wrong person.

She was embarrassed. In the dark doorway of the yard next to it, there were several men and women playing mahjong, with washed children's underpants clothes hanging on their heads. They were playing intently around a dark table, and no one wanted to stop. This was a common scene across the country, she thought. Whether it was ordinary people, businessmen, or even intellectuals, most of society was surrounding the mahjong table like a drug addict. Those who have no money bet on a bowl of noodles, and those who have money bet on a car and a house.

Cassandra Liu asked twice, and then a little girl standing watching the battle turned around and answered her: There is indeed an Aunt Mabel living here, and it is indeed No. 1. But her husband is in the hospital, and Aunt Mabel may have gone to the hospital to visit her.

Cassandra Liu breathed a sigh of relief. The person her Mother Evelyn was looking for was indeed still living here. She asked, "When will you be back?"

Just as the little girl was about to speak, another woman who was watching the mahjong game started scolding her: "Girl, if you don't behave well, why are you meddling in other people's business? I'll tell your Mother Evelyn about it later."

The little girl stopped talking. The other mahjong players rolled their eyes at Cassandra Liu, disliking her for disturbing the peace.

But the group couldn't fight, because a fat mouse suddenly climbed onto the table and crossed across the table. The mouse was completely bald and looked very scary. First, a woman with a perm screamed. Cassandra Liu also saw it and couldn't help but scream. Rats run around among people. Some people say, hurry up and meet the Rat King who is not afraid of people. They went to get shovels and spray chemicals, and there was a mess. Someone knocked over a bucket of water, which made people jump up and curse loudly. The sour smell is really unpleasant. This big rat must have taken medicine. It was already running around on its deathbed and couldn't run fast. It was beaten to death by a shovel, and its blood and flesh were spattered.

"We just sprayed pesticides and the rats died. We had two days of peace and quiet, and now they're back again."

Someone shouted, "It must be your family that didn't get the medicine, so we are all implicated. When Harry comes back and fines us, you son of a b*t*h will pay for us."

"What are you doing with insinuations?"

The man, wearing a pair of slippers, pulled the table away, walked straight up to him, and started arguing on the spot.

In less than a minute, everyone on the street came out to watch.

Cassandra Liu felt bored. Since Aunt Mabel was not here, waiting here was not a solution. She had to go back to the hotel to rest. Thinking of this, she felt quite tired.

When she walked out of the yard, she saw a bright poster on the gray wall, "Yunhu Zundi", with a picture of a beautiful garden villa. The content of the advertisement surprised her.

Enjoy the European and American style, increase career confidence, clarify your noble status, and cultivate patriotic sentiments.

Beishan Garden exclusive swimming pool luxury residential area, tailor-made, individually designed, elegant and generous, world-class. Surrounded by mountains and water, it is exclusively for successful people to buy.

Exclusive use of swimming pool, exclusive use of tennis court, exclusive use of boat dock, exclusive enjoyment of Sanxia New Lake.

Attached are the floor plans of several villa-style houses, with two living rooms, five bedrooms and four bathrooms covering an area of ​​300 square meters. There are separate doors for the master and servants, and there is also a separate place for the servants to eat. The roof is a glass house, the backyard is a rockery, waterfall and winding corridor, and the front yard is a blue swimming pool. The spacious garage can park two cars, and the exclusive garden is built along the slope with more than 400 square meters. She took a closer look, and sure enough, the cruise ship dock still painted on the picture had Western-style yachts anchored, and there were patches of colorful sails in the reservoir.

She was quite surprised: there are really so many people in the Kurdistan Region who have suddenly become rich, and they are ready to turn this remote rural area into a luxury villa area.

She wanted to go to the toilet to relieve herself. Finally, she saw a brick public toilet on the street. She went in and was so frightened that she ran out quickly. Moreover, she could clearly hear the sound of someone having diarrhea in the men's toilet next door. She no longer had the urge to pee. It had been more than twenty years since she had entered such a toilet. It was the only sanitary facility shared by residents on several streets. She had been there before but had forgotten about it.