A fine drizzle silently soaked Gaolin County.
A passenger boat slowly approached the dock.
Chen Qing was dressed in green robes, holding a common oil-paper umbrella.
He stood at the bow, gazing at the county's skyline—a sight both familiar and strange. A wave of emotion washed over him.
Several years had passed. It felt like another lifetime.
The boat shuddered gently as it came to a stop, and the gangplank was secured.
Chen Qing followed the few other passengers off the boat, drawing no attention. Like an ordinary traveler returning home, he slowly melted into the county seat's misty rain.
Following the address Wu Manqing had left in a previous letter, he passed through streets and alleys, arriving before a quiet and elegant courtyard in the Inner City.
White walls, black tiles, and a vermilion gate left ajar—a world apart from the dilapidated, interconnected fishing boats of Mute Bay he remembered.
