Journey to the Roots

Seeing Jiang Nian's nervous expression, Lu Yu coughed lightly. "Everything that needed to be said has been said."
Jiang Nian: ???
She pursed her lips, feeling a little uneasy in her heart. She always felt that what Lu Yu said was too broad. She was afraid that in her drunken state, she had revealed the truth: that her origin and this world were all a predetermined book. Therefore, she hesitated for a moment before daring to ask, "What did I say?"
Lu Yu replied, "You are not Jiang Nian. The real Jiang Nian swapped bodies with you."
Jiang Nian: !!!
Her fingers curled tightly, her eyes almost wide with shock. "And, and what else?"
Her speech became a little stuttered.
Lu Yu said, "The world we live in is a predetermined book."
Jiang Nian: ......
She stared blankly at Lu Yu, then stiffly asked, "Did I also tell you... about you and Sun Ying?"
Indeed, there was no doubt in Lu Yu's eyes. He nodded, then continued, "You told me everything. You banged your head against the wall to commit suicide because you wanted to transmigrate back."
Jiang Nian: ......
Looking at Lu Yu's calm and unruffled demeanor now, Jiang Nian found it hard to imagine Lu Yu's state of mind last night when he heard her say those things. She was silent for a moment. Seeing that Lu Yu had no reaction, she couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Don't you want to ask me anything else? For example, what will be the outcome of this book? The development between you and Sun Ying, and also you—"
Her lips were firmly blocked. Jiang Nian was kissed until she almost couldn't breathe, her brain also short-circuiting a bit. When Lu Yu released her, she hadn't even fully recovered before he gently pressed her down. The man held her waist, kissed her collarbone, his voice hoarse, "I only care about our future. As for what you said, to me, it doesn't exist."
Jiang Nian: ???
Her shirt was pushed up. Jiang Nian said in alarm, "Wait a minute!"
Her reply was Lu Yu's passionate kiss.
Jiang Nian: ......
This development wasn't right, was it?
Under normal circumstances, if the male lead in a book knew he was living in a book, shouldn't he be very curious? Curious about his future development, curious about the plot of this book? Why was Lu Yu so indifferent to these things?
"Nian Nian."
"There's one more thing I want to reiterate."
Jiang Nian was held by Lu Yu, who turned her around to sit on him. Her hands were a little weak, resting on his shoulders, her consciousness a bit dizzy. "What is it?"
Lu Yu said, "If you dream of another 'Jiang Nian' again, don't talk to her."
Jiang Nian's sluggish brain immediately cleared. Under Lu Yu's continuous actions, she didn't even have time to ask what he meant before she was tormented to the point of almost fainting.
Jiang Nian: ......
Until she fell asleep, she still hadn't managed to ask about that sentence, but Lu Yu's words kept echoing in her mind.
— If you dream of another 'Jiang Nian' again, don't talk to her.
Just how many secrets had she told Lu Yu?
How did she even manage to tell him about her dreams without missing a single word?

Early on the second day of the New Year, Lu Yu woke up first. After making breakfast, he woke Jiang Nian. After they ate, they cleaned the house thoroughly, folded the bedding neatly, and then left with their backpacks. As they left, Lu Yu told Song Bai to send the bedding and basin in the room to Yuan City when he had time. Those things had all been used by Jiang Nian, and he didn't want to keep them.
Early that morning, he had gone to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy many things and placed them on the table, leaving a note thanking Song Bai and Tang Ze for their care these past few days.
Song Bai had bought train tickets for the 12 PM train. Jiang Nian boarded the train and saw Song Bai and Tang Ze standing outside through the window. Song Bai's gaze was always on her, making it hard for Jiang Nian to avoid. She steadfastly met Song Bai's dark eyes, waved her hand, and said through the glass, "Goodbye."
A smile appeared in Song Bai's eyes, and he also waved back at her.
Lu Yu finished placing their luggage and sat beside Jiang Nian, completely blocking Song Bai's view. He also waved to Song Bai and Tang Ze, while his other hand held Jiang Nian's, giving it a gentle squeeze. After the train departed, Lu Yu took his military thermos to get hot water. Jiang Nian looked out the window at the vast, boundless desert. The wind howled, and she could see sand and dust swirling in the air.

Jiang Nian was afraid to sleep alone, so Lu Yu would hold her at night.
The bunk was very narrow, so both had to lie on their sides. Jiang Nian looked up at Lu Yu's features, faintly visible in the dim light, and softly asked, "Are you nervous?"
After all, she was about to meet her birth mother. Even if there was hatred, meeting after more than a decade would surely bring nervousness.
Lu Yu said calmly, "Not nervous."
In his previous life, he had always been in the military. Except for missions, he usually didn't go out, and there was no interference from Du Jiang like in this life. In this life, it was also because of Jiang Nian that he met Du Jiang and learned of his mother's whereabouts. In his previous life, he often wondered if he would ever meet his mother, and if he did, he would definitely ask her why she abandoned him.
This journey carried the obsession of his two lives.
With Lu Yu by her side, Jiang Nian slept peacefully. The train arrived at 8 AM, while it was still dark. Jiang Nian, wearing a thick cotton jacket and a cotton hat with ear flaps, was led by Lu Yu off the train. Outside the train station, it was desolate and bleak, the dirt road full of potholes. Jiang Nian walked out of the station, one foot sinking deep, the other shallow. She felt Lu Yu's hand on hers pause for a moment, then heard a somewhat familiar voice.
"Is that Lu Yu?"
Jiang Nian looked up and saw a figure approaching in the darkness. The person wore a thick cotton jacket, a cotton hat covering their ears, and old but clean clothes, faded in some places.
Lu Yu said, "Uncle Du."
Jiang Nian also followed, calling out, "Uncle Du."
Du Jiang smiled and said, "You must be tired from the journey. Come, get in the car. I've laid thick padding, so you won't be cold."
In his hand, he held a whip, as if for driving horses. He reached out to take the backpack from Lu Yu's back, but Lu Yu tilted his body to avoid it, saying indifferently, "No need, I can carry it myself."
Du Jiang smiled. "Let's go, get in the car."
Jiang Nian walked over and realized the "car" Du Jiang spoke of was a horse-drawn cart. Behind the cart was a carriage bed, covered with thick padding and clean bedding, but along the way, it had accumulated quite a bit of dust. Du Jiang patted the bedding, telling Jiang Nian to lie down and cover herself, then told Lu Yu to sit up front as well.
Lu Yu said, "I'm not cold."
He helped Jiang Nian onto the cart, told her to lie under the blankets, carefully covered her, and then sat in the front. Du Jiang sat on the other side, pulled the reins, and cracked the whip. When the horse started moving, Jiang Nian was a little surprised. She tightly gripped the blanket and looked at the dark night sky. She looked forward. Lu Yu and Uncle Du sat in front, one on each side, both silent, neither speaking.
She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. In this situation, it was better for her to say less.
Du Jiang took out an old-fashioned cigarette from his pocket, pulled one out, and offered it to Lu Yu. Lu Yu waved his hand. "I don't smoke."
Du Jiang smiled. "Not smoking is good."
He bit the cigarette in his mouth, held a match to shield it from the wind, lit it, took a puff, and said, "It's a day's journey from the train station. If you're cold, get under the blankets to warm up. Don't catch a cold."
Lu Yu said, "Yes."
Even though Jiang Nian was mentally prepared, knowing she had to ride a horse-drawn cart for a day, she couldn't help but sigh.
She was lying under the blankets and still felt very cold. How could Lu Yu and Uncle Du endure it?
After daybreak, Du Jiang stopped the horse-drawn cart. He took out dry rations and warm water from beside him, telling Lu Yu and Jiang Nian to eat first. The dry rations here were steamed buns, cold and hard to bite. Du Jiang saw Jiang Nian struggling to bite and smiled. "When we get home, I'll stew meat for you to eat."
Jiang Nian smiled and said, "Thank you, Uncle Du."
As soon as she spoke, Jiang Nian started a conversation. She sat on the horse-drawn cart, wrapped in a thick blanket, her face covered by a scarf, only her eyes visible, sitting behind Lu Yu. The man's tall figure perfectly shielded her from the cold wind.
Jiang Nian asked, "Uncle Du, are you a local here?"
After asking, she remembered Du Jiang had mentioned it before.
Du Jiang smiled. "Yes, I'm a local of Xinjiang. My grandmother's generation has lived here. My family and your family happen to be neighbors." He finished speaking, looked at Lu Yu, cracked the whip, and after a moment of silence, told Lu Yu, "Your mother is also a local of Xinjiang."
Jiang Nian was startled, a little surprised.
Lu Yu was also slightly stunned. He turned to look at Du Jiang. Ever since he could remember, he knew his mother had followed someone to Hongmang Village, Er Gong Commune, Feng County. His father had fallen for her at first sight, and then they married. Not many years after his father passed away, she also left him and went away.
He knew nothing about her background.
Even when he knew he was a character in a book, knew all the plot of this book, and had been reborn once, he still didn't know his mother's background.
Lu Yu turned to look at the vast desert and asked, "If she's from Xinjiang, how did she end up in Feng County, a thousand miles away?"
Du Jiang took a deep drag from his cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, feeling a kind of relief as if shedding decades of accumulated sorrow. He said, "Your grandmother followed her second aunt to settle in Xinjiang, and they happened to be neighbors with my family. Through a matchmaker, she and your grandfather met and married. A year after they married, your mother was born. Your grandmother was also injured during your mother's birth and couldn't have any more children. Your grandfather wanted a son, so he drove your mother and grandmother back home to marry another wife. There were only your grandmother and your mother, two women, in their house, and our family always helped them. Your mother and I grew up together from childhood; I'm four years older than her. Later, your grandmother wanted to return to her hometown to visit relatives, so she took your mother with her. That trip lasted eleven years."
At this point, Du Jiang paused. He lit another cigarette, as if thinking of Lu Yu's grandfather, his face growing a few shades colder.
Jiang Nian sat behind them, listening to Du Jiang recount the short decades of Lu Yu's mother's life, and couldn't help but be shocked.
She never expected Lu Yu's mother to have such a difficult life. In that older, more rigid era, a widow raising a daughter was not easy at all, she knew. The mother and daughter must have endured much humiliation and curses. Those years, they were fortunate to have Du Jiang's family helping them; otherwise, it was truly hard to imagine how they could have persevered.
Jiang Nian sat behind, only able to see Lu Yu's tall, straight figure, not his expression, but at this moment, she seemed to discern a hint of stoop in Lu Yu's upright posture. A moment later, she heard Lu Yu ask, "How did she later meet my father?"
His voice was hoarse and thick, somewhat similar to the desolate desert before them.