A few nights later, after I visited the bureau on an errand, I received a guest at the store. Luo Youyou said mysteriously, "Song Yang, there’s someone here to see you."

When I walked into the store, there sat Song Xingchen. Upon noticing me, he stood up and said, "The Song family has responded!"

"What did they say?" I asked.

Song Xingchen pulled out two train tickets and placed them in front of me, "The elders want us there in person!"

The train tickets were for Jianyang, Fujian, which was a long way from here. "Why didn't they buy plane tickets?" I wondered out loud.

"Because airplanes aren’t safe!" cried Song Xingchen.

I smiled at his conservative thoughts. "I’ll get ready then," I nodded.

I informed Xiaotao that I was going away to deal with some family affairs. "What family...