We followed her closely, entering the supermarket. He Xin pushed the shopping cart, tossing snacks into it as she saw them.
Within a few minutes, she had placed a considerable amount of snacks in the cart. I thought the checkout would be terrifying.
I quickly tried to take some out for her, but she pouted and said, "Is it only once a year? Don't be so stingy!"
"This is too much! How many suitcases will you need to carry it all?" I chided.
"If it doesn't fit, I'll just eat some at home. I won't waste it anyway!" He Xin replied.
It seemed I had no choice but to buy these things today. I resigned myself to taking out more items. Liu Yu Ning was off buying something else on her own. I noticed her discreetly tuck a pack of sanitary napkins into her hand, and then she also bought some skincare cream and sunscreen oil.
Girls are really something. Buying so many things when we're on an assignment.
After we finished checking out, He Xin took the other shopper's cart. The sales assistant behind us called out, "Little sister, you can't take the shopping cart away!"
"I'll just push it to the car and return it later!" He Xin said, coming behind my car and loading many snacks into it. Once done, she returned the cart, and we drove back.
Liu Yu Ning left mid-way.
He Xin asked me, "Do you have feelings for Liu Yu Ning?"
"What are you talking about? We're just colleagues, and we haven't known each other for long. There's nothing between us yet!"
"So, what you're saying is, you have considered it, but you just don't think the time is right?"
I was speechless and could only continue driving in silence. When we returned to the courtyard, He Xin immediately started opening the snacks she bought at the supermarket. I thought she would ration them for a long time, but in less than half an hour, she had eaten half of what she bought.
I couldn't be bothered with her. I stayed in my room thinking about tomorrow's events. However, after some deep thought, I realized I couldn't change anything for now, so I decided to rest.
The night passed uneventfully. The next morning, He Xin and I returned to the police station. Around 6 PM, a police officer drove us to where we were supposed to board the ship. The email also contained an address: Zhenshui Pier, the largest pier in Fuming City.
In fact, we didn't have to travel to Guangming City by water. However, this tour explicitly stated we had to take a ship operated by Longteng Company.
So, we had to wait here. After dropping us off, the officer drove away.
For some reason, as soon as we arrived at the pier, light snowflakes began to fall from above. I looked up and realized it was snowing.
Fuming City rarely experienced snow. But the weather seemed a bit unusual this year. As we watched the snow fall on Fuming City, we were all lost in our own thoughts.
Suddenly, He Xin ran out, looking quite excited. She kept exclaiming, "It's finally snowing! I remember this is only the second time I've seen snow in Fuming City. So this is what snowing looks like!"
She excitedly scooped up some snow and began to build a snowman. Gao Ming Qiang, perhaps influenced by her, also ran over. The two of them acted like children, playing together.
They picked up snow blocks from the ground and piled them onto the snowman, even fashioning a hat for it with an iron bucket. Liu Yu Ning and I couldn't help but walk over.
"Have you two played enough? You're adults now, yet you're still so childish!" Liu Yu Ning remarked.
"We're just excited because it's snowing! Don't you know? The first time I came to Fuming City, I also saw snow. I will never forget the sight of that snow."
Many years ago, He Xin's family suffered a catastrophe. I had only recently started working as a consultant then and encountered the case that happened to her.
That day, she was walking home from school with her backpack as usual. Little did she know that drug dealers had broken into her house. They were the same drug dealers who had killed my parents. That day, they had also gone to He Xin's house. The criminals initially intended to take over He Xin's home as a hiding place, but her parents fought back fiercely.
Later, the couple were murdered, and the drug dealers escaped. When He Xin returned home, she witnessed the bodies of her parents.
He Xin was terrified. She wanted to call the police, but the drug dealers returned. She carefully hid in the wardrobe in her room.
The drug dealers couldn't find her at first. One of them sat on the bed, looking injured. He forcefully pulled off his clothes and bandaged his arm.
He Xin watched the man intently, covering her mouth and nose, too scared to make a sound. The man was about to get up and leave when footsteps were heard from outside.
It was He Xin's older sister, He Rui, returning home. When she saw the bloody bodies of the two people in the living room, she collapsed onto the floor in shock. The drug dealer grabbed a knife and lay in wait. He Rui, unaware that someone was in the room, went to look for her sister and was immediately knocked unconscious by the drug dealer.
Seeing that He Rui was young and beautiful, the drug dealer's wicked intentions were stirred, and he raped her. He Xin, from the crack in the wardrobe in her room, witnessed the entire ordeal.
Finally, after he was done, the drug dealer decapitated He Rui with a knife, chopping her again and again. He Xin watched her sister being brutally murdered before her eyes.
For her age at the time, she should have been extremely frightened. However, when the drug dealer was apprehended and the officers asked her about the situation, she remained remarkably calm. I was also present at the time.
Everyone around found it hard to believe a 9-year-old girl's account, but I did. And I adopted her.
As I reminisced, the snow fell harder. The pier and other parts of Fuming City were instantly covered in a layer of white. Even the sea began to form a thin layer of frost. Looking up at the countless snowflakes drifting down from the blue sky, I couldn't help but feel an endless sense of loss.
We all retreated into a lighthouse near the pier to shelter from the snow. Fortunately, we had checked the weather forecast and knew about the temperature drop, but we hadn't expected snow. We all put on the coats from our luggage and watched the snow outside. It was almost 6 PM now, and we hoped the ship would arrive soon.
Otherwise, we would have to stay out here longer. Normal weather would have been fine, but with the snow, it was quite inconvenient.
We waited, everyone standing side by side in silence, watching the minutes tick by. Gao Ming Qiang couldn't help but say, "It's already 6:10. Why hasn't the ship arrived yet?"
"Could we have been tricked?" He Xin guessed.