Upon leaving the Lin family’s house, Long Yue immediately clamored, "Quick, let’s hurry to the post office and see what’s going on?"
He had nightmares about it all of yesterday. He dreamt that a masked person had smashed all his watermelons.
Long Yue’s dream was scarily prescient, as the post office manager told them that when one of their staff had transported their shipment of watermelons from the train, not only had they gotten smashed but they had also dirtied other fruits.
The employee had already resigned over the mistake but had left behind some compensation.
Shen Ci sneered, "How much compensation did he leave?"
The employee candidly replied, "A total of about 1,500 kilograms of fruit, including 1,000 kilograms of watermelons, and about 500 kilograms of apples and pears. Calculating by market price, watermelons at ten cents per kilogram, and the other fruit at two yuan per kilogram, it totals to 1,100 yuan; adding shipping, it’s altogether 1,300 yuan."
Long Yue, enraged yet bemused, said, "Ten cents a kilogram for watermelon, two yuan for other fruits; do you think we would send them all the way from the Imperial city? Let me tell you the truth, our fruits are of premium quality, with apples and peaches at thirty yuan per kilogram and watermelons at ten yuan each. You’ve been duped by that guy; hurry up and give us his name and address, we need to file a report."
The employee, turning pale, said, "Seriously?"
"Whether it’s serious or not isn’t for you to decide. Hurry up and atone for your error. Otherwise, that’s over twenty thousand yuan — enough for a charge of embezzlement... that’s enough to land you in jail."
The employee quickly disclosed the information, "He... his name is Zeng Xiaolong, living at 109 Baisha Road. Can I, may I make a call to our manager first?"
"Feel free," replied Shen Ci, signaling to Long Yue, "Go file a report." Let the police handle the rest, he and Meng Chuyue still needed to rush back to the Imperial city.
Hearing they were leaving today, Long Yue panicked, "How can you leave so quickly? Aren’t you tired from the train ride? You should rest a bit."
Shen Ci shook his head, "There’s business waiting for me there."
Knowing Shen Ci’s stubborn streak, Long Yue and Fu Ran gave up.
Well, whatever, they weren’t going to be long before they themselves headed to the Imperial city.
Shen Ci and Meng Chuyue arrived in the Imperial city around midnight.
This trip was calm and peaceful.
They had purchased sleeping berths, and their compartment-mates, a couple in their twenties with their six-year-old son heading to the Northeast military region, were all very nice people. They enjoyed meals together and had a pleasant interaction overall, leaving each other with addresses and phone numbers at the end.
Han Muyang and Su Jinnian came to pick them up.
After getting into the car, Shen Ci sighed, "I’ve had dreams about being a soldier myself; it’s such a pity."
Han Muyang and Zou Xiaojun burst into laughter, both admitted they had similar dreams.
After laughing enough, Han Muyang asked Meng Chuyue, "What about you? Have you ever dreamt about being a soldier?"
Meng Chuyue shook her head, slowly saying, "I’ve only dreamt of being a soldier’s wife."
Han Muyang and Zou Xiaojun laughed so hard they almost choked, and Shen Ci also laughed for a good while.
Once they calmed down, Han Muyang asked, "So do you feel any regret?"
Meng Chuyue shook her head, "Don’t forget, Shen Ci and I are collaborating with others, speaking of which, we’ve already fulfilled half of those dreams."
Everyone agreed unanimously.
The next morning at just past eight, Long Yue called, "We’ve apprehended him, but it seems he was also deceived. The person who deceived him has vanished with all the goods."
Shen Ci rubbed his temples, "Send me the information and a photo of that person. From now on, let the police handle this matter. You all carry on with your lives."
Hesitating slightly, Long Yue added, "I understand, but how will you continue sending fruits to Director Song and the others?"
He and Fu Ran were soon heading to the Imperial city, and they could stop sending fruits, but what about the others? Especially Song Zhitin and some of the professors at Hai University.