ATBWSTBP Chapter 40

Chapter 40: I Saw You, But You Didn’t See Me

Just as Auntie Ran said, this Guiwu Library was converted from an old house, perfectly blending tradition and modernity.

Jin Mo walked slowly inside, looking around.

There were quite a few books in the library, enough to fill five or six shelves.

The old house conversion wasn’t very regular, and the seating wasn’t in neat rows, but scattered throughout.

Several rows were placed around the curved floor-to-ceiling windows, some hidden behind the shelves.

Outside the window was a cliff, and lifting your eyes you could see the rolling mountains in the distance. The scenery was stunning, like a traditional ink wash painting, making you feel as if you were inside the painting.

“My brother would probably like this place!” Jin Mo suddenly said, feeling emotional.

Xu Jiahao rolled his eyes and kicked him.

“Stop daydreaming here, let’s go and ask the staff over there!” After saying that, he dragged him towards the service desk on the side.

Little did they know, the moment they entered the door, they were spotted by Bai Xian, who was sitting by the window.

The shelves provided cover, preventing him from being exposed.

His hand gripping the book involuntarily tightened, and his gaze, visible outside his mask, involuntarily stuck to Jin Mo. His heart, which had been calm, was awakened again.

The obstruction of the shelves quickly made him lose sight of his target.

He wanted to stand up, but his body felt stiff and unable to move.

The conversation from not far away, filtered through the bookshelves, into his ears.

“Hello!” Xu Jiahao walked up to the library staff and greeted them politely.

The staff member was a young man in his early twenties, dark-skinned with a shy smile, probably a local.

Seeing someone greeting him, and clearly not an ordinary person, he immediately stood up and returned the greeting, “Hello, is there anything I can help you with?”

Hmm, his Mandarin wasn’t very standard!

Xu Jiahao handed over the photo in his hand.

“Could you please help me see if you’ve ever seen this person?”

The young man was taken aback, quickly extending his thin, dark hand and taking the photo.

“Okay! Let me take a look!”

After saying that, he looked at the photo again and again, then shook his head.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t seen him!”

Jin Mo visibly sank into depression again!

Dragging his heavy legs, he sat down at the table beside him, resting his head on the table, as if all his energy had been drained away.

Bai Xian’s gaze, through the gaps in the bookshelf, fell on Jin Mo.

His heart trembled slightly!

Intuitively, he felt that perhaps his past memories were related to the person in front of him!

He wanted to approach, but a feeling of fear arose from the bottom of his heart, making him instinctively want to watch him from afar!

Xu Jiahao finished his business and came over.

“What do we do next?”

“I don’t know?” Jin Mo replied weakly.

“There’s a teahouse around the corner to the right, should we go and ask there too?” Xu Jiahao pointed outside the library.

Jin Mo didn’t say a word. At this point, he began to doubt his own judgment again!

He knew he shouldn’t doubt his judgment, but he couldn’t help but doubt it!

He was truly scared, scared that his stubborn thoughts would make him make a mistake again!

“Brother Xu, I’m afraid I’ve judged wrong!” After a long while, Jin Mo finally looked up and muttered softly.

Xu Jiahao suddenly felt a little sad.

The original Jin Mo would never be so unconfident, so doubtful of himself!

“I’m afraid I’ve judged wrong, and missed a clue to find my brother, and I’ll never see him again in this lifetime! I’m really scared!” Jin Mo buried his face in his elbows, feeling very down.

Xu Jiahao patted his arm.

“Jin Mo, trust your instincts! Didn’t you say you and your brother have a telepathic connection? As soon as you got here, didn’t you smell his scent? Cheer up. Not finding him only proves one thing.” Xu Jiahao leaned forward and said softly, “That is, your brother has hidden himself again!”

Jin Mo raised his eyebrows and blinked a few times.

“Really?”

Xu Jiahao nodded.

“To make you unable to stop thinking about him, he has to torment you, making you sink deeper and deeper into the pit he dug!”

Jin Mo’s mouth was wide open! He was shocked by Xu Jiahao’s bizarre theory!

Xu Jiahao pursed his lips and held back a laugh.

Behind the bookshelf, Bai Xian’s gaze remained fixed on Jin Mo’s back as he lay on the table. He couldn’t hear what the two were whispering, but he couldn’t help but guess what they were talking about!

He forced himself to withdraw his gaze and focus on the open book on the table, but he couldn’t read a single word!

Xu Jiahao’s words gave Jin Mo some energy. He looked at his phone, it was already after ten o’clock.

“Okay, let’s go to the teahouse. If they have any snacks, we’ll eat something there and fill our stomachs!”

“Okay!”

The two reached a consensus, got up, and walked outside.

As soon as they stepped out of the door, they experienced the sensation of being steamed and baked!

“Oh my god, this sun is too strong!” Xu Jiahao wailed, while scrambling towards the shade of a tree nearby.

Jin Mo scrambled even faster than him.

The two, while avoiding the sun, ran towards the Guiwu Teahouse two hundred meters away to the right.

From afar, they could see that the Guiwu Teahouse was also converted from an old house of the villagers, with weathered earthen walls and blue tiles on the exterior.

Walking into the teahouse, they immediately saw the old-fashioned wood-fired stove by the wall on the left.

The hall was furnished with a dozen or so uniform square tables and bamboo chairs.

Copper teapots paired with celadon cups gave people a feeling of going back in time.

As expected, they still didn’t get any news about Jin Baiyan here.

Jin Mo was numb!

The two found a seat by the window, ordered a pot of tea, two plates of peanuts, and two servings of mixed noodles, which would serve as lunch!

There weren’t many people in the teahouse. Including the two of them, there were only five or six.

Two were obviously student tourists, with their travel backpacks next to them, and they were suffering from the heat, their faces still flushed.

Another one looked like an intellectual, holding a book, reading for a while, then taking a sip of tea, enjoying himself immensely.

There were also two old men, who were clearly local villagers, drinking tea and playing chess while enjoying the air conditioning!

“Feiwu and the others are holed up in a gym now, and Huzi and his partner found a lake in the woods, and they’re swimming and cooling off!” Xu Jiahao opened WeChat, looking and talking at the same time.

Jin Mo finished the last bite of noodles, pushed the bowl forward, picked up the celadon cup on the table, took a big gulp, leaned back in the chair, and asked with some doubt, “Didn’t they eat anything?”

Xu Jiahao shook his head, “I don’t know, let me ask!”

Soon, information from the others came back.

“Feiwu said they ordered takeout, which will be delivered directly to the gym in a while! Huzi said that the lakeside is a large orchard, and they went to the orchard to pick some fruit to stave off hunger!”

After saying that, he glared at Jin Mo.

“Aren’t you in the group too? Why don’t you look for yourself, why do I have to relay everything!”

Jin Mo “Hehe’d” twice and said, “I’m not in the mood to look! I’m annoyed!”

After saying that, he rested his head on the back of the chair and looked up at the wooden ceiling above!

After watching for a while, he closed his eyes and began to review the situation of the past two days in his mind.

Starting from entering his brother’s room, he thought back little by little, wanting to see which link went wrong?

Just as his thoughts were wandering, Bai Xian walked out of the library.

Jin Mo’s arrival disrupted his previous rhythm.

Originally, he planned to go down the mountain at ten o’clock, detour for ten minutes to pick some vegetables in the greenhouse, and then return to Slow Residence to make lunch.

As a result, he was in a daze, and it was already almost eleven o’clock, so he couldn’t go to Guiwu Teahouse to eat a meal, nor could he make his own food.

He thought for a while, turned and walked towards “Auntie Ran’s Coffee Shop”.

He ordered a cup of milk tea, two egg tarts, and a bread, then turned around and returned to his original location.

Bai Xian looked at the milk tea in his hand, and the corners of his mouth under the mask twitched slightly.

He ordered the same milk tea as Jin Mo!

He took off his mask, took a sip, and the milky aroma was rich!

A smile appeared on Bai Xian’s cold face!