At 3 a.m., the landmines in front of the station

"What kind of man did you sleep with? Did you go to the hospital for tests? How many months pregnant are you?"

"...I've only been gone for less than a month!"

Bai Chu gritted her teeth in exasperation: "Alright, alright, Grandma, I'll buy a ticket and go back later. We'll talk about it in detail when we get home! By the way, you absolutely must keep them here! Also, don't reveal any account information or anything like that, it's very dangerous! Understand?"

"Hey, they didn't ask. Besides, Grandma isn't as silly as you."

"..."

Bai Chu gave up talking to her grandmother and decided to go buy tickets directly.

"Should we wait until you get home before we start eating?"

"No need! You guys eat first!"

Bai Chu hung up the video call and immediately found another app called Xiecheng Travel, intending to buy a bus ticket for a trip departing this afternoon.

Just then, a middle-aged man's voice came from behind:

"Chuchu, what's wrong? Are we canceling the rehearsal later?"

Bai Chu turned around and saw that Master Lu had just come out of the recording studio, seemingly going to the balcony for a smoke.

So he quickly gave up his seat and said respectfully, "Well... something has come up back home, and I have to go back immediately..."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Master Lu became quite interested: "What is it? Can I help?"

"Uh, no need, no need! Senior, you're so busy, you don't need to worry about my little problems. I'm just worried that my grandma has been scammed by a pyramid scheme in the city, and I'm afraid she won't be able to keep her retirement money..."

"Retirement money? You mean, there are people in the city who specifically go to the countryside to do door-to-door sales, swindling and deceiving elderly people?"

"Yes, almost. That's why I was in a hurry and had to leave early."

"understood."

Master Lu nodded, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took out a lighter, and lit one while standing on the balcony.

"Xiao Bai Chu, if I remember correctly, your home is in a rural area near Tianhai called 'Huangshan Village,' about an hour's drive away, right?"

"How...how did you know?!"

Bai Chu was suddenly startled!

Logically speaking, Master Lu, a leading musician in Tianhai City, should have no idea that his hometown was such an obscure and remote place.

How could this be...?

Before I could think any further, I saw him exhale another puff of smoke and continue asking:

"There's a pond at the crossroads, and a sacred tree in the pond. And at the very back of the village, there's a very efficacious Buddhist shrine, right?"

"?!"

The girl was finally stunned.

She opened her small mouth and said cautiously, "Senior Lu, it seems like you... lived there before..."

His description is entirely accurate, and the ancient trees and Buddhist shrines are among the few representative features of the village.

"Ah."

Master Lu took a deep drag on his cigarette, a look of reminiscence on his face.

"Indeed, it left a deep impression."

He didn't say—"After all, I grew up in your village too."

That deserted house on the outskirts once held more than a decade of someone's life.

But now it seems that the past is no longer important.

Lu Shi took out his phone and opened a mysterious app—

He glanced at the GPS tracker installed on Ning Ye's car and confirmed that his son had parked the car in the "Huangshan Village" area...

Suddenly, he smiled slightly, turned his head, took out his car keys, and said to Bai Chu:

"Let's go. I'm free today, so you don't need to book tickets. I'll take you directly to the countryside."

……

……

Chapter 206 Head-to-Head

Bai Chu never imagined that Master Lu would have such leisure and refined tastes to accompany her on a trip to the countryside.

She had never noticed that Lu Shi's car was actually a brown, top-of-the-line Panamera.

Sitting in the passenger seat, watching the street scenes rushing past the window like the wind, the girl felt extremely uncomfortable.

"The normal journey takes one hour and twenty minutes, but if we speed up a bit after leaving the city, we can get there in less than an hour."

Lu Shi's driving skills are beyond question. Although he is usually picked up and dropped off by cars, he is certainly not careless when driving himself, which makes Bai Chu think a lot.

Little did she know that the car she was riding in today might be a small item in a "compensation gift package" that someone would receive someday.

Now, there is only one thing she wants to figure out—why Master Lu, who came from the countryside, was able to start from scratch in Tianhai and become so successful.

What exactly did he go through? Is he the "shining light of the whole village" that his grandmother mentioned when she told him stories since he was a child?

"The first child in the village lived alone in the countryside since he was a child. His father left him alone in the yard and gave a large sum of money to the neighbor next door to take care of him until he reached school age."

At the age of twelve, he was taken away to a junior high school in Tianhai City to begin his studies. He skipped the sixth grade of elementary school and developed his career in the city step by step.

By the time he was in college, he was already able to support himself with his skills and even pay his tuition.

Before graduation, it's said he adopted several cats and treated them very well. After being cared for, they all became prominent figures in Tianhai City, helping him complete his vast industrial chain.

This is what Grandma mentioned when she looked back on the past. What Grandma envied most was the second neighbor, who, after receiving a large sum of money, moved to the city with his whole family, completing the transformation from rural to urban life, which can be considered a kind of upward social mobility.

The daughter of that family was also given a good job in the city, and after so many years, she must have become a senior executive by now, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Considering Master Lu's proactive assistance this time, and the matter of the "mark" mentioned during their conversation at the door last time, Bai Chu had a vague premonition...

I have a feeling that Master Lu is connected to some people I know.

No, I need to find out more about this when I have time. We can't keep being kept in the dark forever.

Bai Chu disliked the feeling of not being able to see through things, because she wanted everything around her to be transparent, only then would she feel at ease.

-

The sports car sped forward, and at the same time, Gu Zhi and Su Che walked into the small temple in the countryside together.

As always, offering new fruit requires removing the old, rotten offerings and cleaning up the temple grounds.

Su Che helped sweep away the dust with a broom, while Gu Zhi dealt with the items on the altar and cleaned the dust off the prayer cushions on the floor.

"It doesn't seem like no one has been coming all the time."

She pointed to the tribute fruits that were not completely spoiled and said, "When we came last time, we didn't seem to bring these kinds of tribute fruits."

"Yes, this means that other people came to worship Buddha between the two visits, which is normal."

Su Che glanced at it and said, "Everyone in the village knows there's a temple here. Although it's been abandoned for a few years, we came all the way from the city to worship, so it's easy for others to notice it. It wouldn't be surprising if anyone came to visit recently."

"That's true."

Gu Zhi thought for a moment and decided to figure out what kind of wish she should make later.

Actually, she had already made a plan on the way here. She wanted to make just the right number of wishes – three.

The first aspect is care. My ecological niche in the team is not as high as the other members, so if possible, I hope he can pay more attention to me and spend more time with me, like this time, to satisfy my need for physical intimacy.

The second aspect is the taste of pleasure. Last time in the music room, he had already taken things to the next level. Before leaving, he did some things he hadn't even expected. He didn't know if it was because he was suppressing his feelings or because he had a burning desire, but in any case, he had already tasted the pleasure. Some things, once enjoyed, are always wanted a second time. Therefore, he couldn't let himself stop after a taste; he had to continue.

Third, and most importantly, regarding the results.

All problems can be analyzed from a results-oriented perspective. Gu Zhi believes that since the seal has been broken, why not play something big every time and give him a fresh feeling that is never the same?

Taking advantage of the slight fever I feel today, I plan to make a request to him around tonight. The request is very simple—"Could we spend the night together in the car?"

That's all. So I hope the Empress Dowager can make this happen, get him to agree, and carry it out.

[I don't know how many of my wishes will actually come true. But based on Yuan Xiao and the others' feedback, I can deduce that the Ancient Buddha's fulfillment rate is at least one-third. In other words, even if only one comes true randomly, I definitely won't lose out.]

Gu Zhi had a clear understanding of the situation.

Seeing that she looked thoughtful and seemed to be pondering something, Su Che couldn't help but ask:

"You seem to have a lot to say to the Empress Dowager today?"

"That is."

Gu Zhiyan turned her head and said, "After all, it's a rare opportunity to come here. Since we're here, we should show all the greed in our hearts and let the Empress Dowager see which idea is more acceptable to humans. Hehe."

"..."

Su Che felt ashamed, as he could more or less guess what she probably wanted.

In fact, once a wish involves oneself and one has a feeling about it, the factor that determines whether it succeeds is not necessarily the Empress Dowager.

For example, Su Che guessed that one of Gu Zhi's wishes today was for him to spend more time with her.

If I truly follow her wishes, accompany her, and take care of her feelings, and accept all her requests without refusing them, would that mean the Empress Dowager's wishes have come true, or would it mean I have made sacrifices for her?

Even if we take a step back and say that in this situation, wouldn't I be essentially her "Buddha"?

If you deliberately do the opposite, contradict her, refuse everything, and reject all her needs, then no matter how efficacious the Buddha is, can he not change this fixed outcome?

Su Che pondered for a moment, and for a second, he suddenly felt that he was the Buddha in this temple.

The two tidied up the small temple, and Gu Zhi solemnly lit three incense sticks and replaced the holy water for the ancient Buddha. She then knelt on the prayer mat, hands clasped together.

muttering to myself with my eyes closed:

"Almighty Buddha, forgive me for having no faith before. I am a realist, I am selfish, and I only believe in things that are beneficial to me and truly satisfy my needs."

So this time, if you can grant my wish, I will return unconditionally and an unlimited number of times to fulfill my vow, even on behalf of my sister.

"My requirement is..."

[...Tonight I will devour the person behind me completely, until the pent-up lust within me is fully released. I'm so hot right now, so hot I feel uncomfortable all over, like I have a fever.]