I Have Decided to Go Look for My Father

Chapter 13 – She was thinking about how to tell him that he had a daughter her age.
(2)

Zhang Qiang’s house smelled too pungent and Lin Xi did not want to go back inside.
It was already darked outside and she had nowhere to go.
Lin Xi stayed inside of Zhang Qiang’s yard until 3 or 4 AM.
When it was about daybreak, she picked up her backpack and took off.

It was not her idea to stay at this godawful place for so long.
She had booked a ride ahead of time but, this place was so remote that nobody would come.
Early in the morning was the earliest time that she was able to book.

Zhang Qiang was still hanging from the doorframe and he was either asleep or passed out.
One way or another, he had no idea that Lin Xi had already taken off.

***

It was only after Lin Xi had taken off and it was bright outside when some villagers saw that the door into the courtyard of Zhang Qiang’s place was wide open and there it was, Zhang Qiang, hanging by the doorframe.

Many came in a very short while and all of them looked Zhang Qiang up and down incredulously.

“How did you do this Zhang Qiang? How did you get yourself stuck like this when moving the benches out?”

“I,” Zhang Qiang, not daring to say that this was Lin Xi’s handy work, could on muddle through it by saying, “Had no idea.
It just happened, okay?”

His words brought a round of laughter from those who had gathered around.

It took a few strong men to break the legs of the benches in order to free Zhang Qiang.

An older woman stuck her head over at this point and peeked inside his house.
She asked curiously, “Didn’t Zhang Cui said she dropped off a child who is a distant relative yesterday? Where is she now?”

He dared not say that Lin Xi had already taken off.
What if these people asked him why she left? These villagers had big mouths.
Words would get distorted over time.
What if the cops went to look for Lin Xi and she gave them the recording? He would be done for.

Zhang Qiang had no idea what to say so he just made something up.
“She fussed too much so I locked her up in a room.”

The older woman nodded.
She didn’t find anything was wrong with that: Other families had sent over children to stay in the village in the past and they always wanted to run off at the beginning.
It was common to lock them up at the beginning.
They would quiet down after a while.

“Zhang Cui had paid you.
Don’t forget to feed the child.” The older woman took off with the others after giving him the reminder.

***

On the other side, at the same time, Lin Xi had already walked for 1.5 hour toward the entrance of the village.

She squatted there for half an hour before she saw a white car with a City B license plate driving up to her.

In the car, the driver saw a scrawny little body squatting at the entrance of the village all by her lonesome.
There was nobody else next to her.

Stopping in front of Lin Xi, the driver was surprised, “Just you?”

“Yes, just me.” Lin Xi nodded.
Her lips curved upward and she said to him, “I am going to look for my father.
He lives in City B.”

Lin Xi felt that this whole idea about a novel was still somewhat metaphysical and then there was that boss father that she had never met before…

As such, even though the idea of going to look for Gu Shao had crossed her mind at the beginning, she never gave it too much thought.

That was, until the day when she overheard the conversation between Song Kexin and Zhang Cui and remembering the darkness of what happened to “her” in the novel after she was sent to the village.
Lin Xi finally made a bold decision – she would go look for her own father.

As such, even though Lin Xi didn’t bring with her much that was valuable, she brought with her those that were important to her.

***

In the car, the driver had a look of understanding after he heard Lin Xi’s explanation.
It was commonplace in villages like this that the parents would go out to work elsewhere, leaving the children back home with the elderlies.
The children would then go and rejoin them when they reached school age.

“Your parents didn’t even come to pick you up? They just have you go alone?” The driver grumbled as he got out and helped Lin Xi load her bag into the car.
He then confirmed the location with Lin Xi.
“You are heading to 77 Chongshan Street…”

Having said that, the driver looked surprised all of a sudden.
“You are heading to NTN Technology Center? Your father works there?”

NTN Technology Center was a big enterprise and very well known.
Even an on-demand driver like him had heard of it.

“Mmm,” said Lin Xi.
He was the boss so that counted working there as well.

“He must make good money working there,” sighed the driver.
Rumors had it that even the cleaning personnel there made more money than those at other companies.

Lin Xi smiled.
“Yes, my dad is very mighty.” Mighty did not begin to describe him.
Whether it was in the novel or in real life, Gu Shao was the boss of all bosses.

The thought of being able to meet him soon made her feel surreal.

The driver didn’t pay too much attention to her “mighty” comment.

On their way, the driver saw Lin Xi grabbed onto the seat belt with a very serious look on her.
Sometimes she’d frown and sometimes she’d rub her head.
Thinking that she might not be feeling well, he asked her, concerned, “Are you getting car sick? Would you like me to slow down?”

Lin Xi recollected herself and shook her head.
“No, I am fine.
You don’t need to slow down.” She was thinking about how should she explain their relationship to Gu Shao when she saw him and how to convinced him of the fact that he had a daughter her age.