once worked for the Shanxi Geological Bureau. On an expedition with his team, they encountered a wolf pack. Strangely, while his teammates were all attacked, Min Xiangxi, who stood still, remained unharmed—the wolves didn't even glance at him. While everyone else became wolf food, Min Xiangxi miraculously survived.

However, due to his unknown identity, local Red Guards accused him of espionage and imprisoned him. The worst part was that all proof of his identity was with his teammates, either in the wolves' bellies or lost somewhere. The harder it was to prove his identity, the more suspicious the Red Guards became, resorting to severe torture for confessions. Their instruments of torture made infamous places like White Mansion's Reeducation Cave seem mild. 

After enduring severe beatings and having a leg broken, Expert Min, barely clinging to life, was held in a cow barn belonging to Mrs. Liu’s family, whose surname was Sun. Despite the Sun family being labeled as one of the "Black Five Categories," their initial struggle against counterrevolutionaries meant the Red Guards overlooked them. Mr. Sun secretly rescued Expert Min and hid him, assigning young Mrs. Liu to carefully feed and tend to him in the cellar. With Mr. Sun’s ancestral bone-setting knowledge and Mrs. Liu’s care, Expert Min recovered and was taken to another county to evade further danger.

Having nothing else to repay them with, Expert Min gave his half of the wolf’s fang to Mrs. Liu.

“Yazhi!” Mrs. Liu's original name used to be Sun Yazhi. “Do you know why the wolf’s fang is split in half?” Min Xiangxi asked. Mrs. Liu shook her head.

“This was left by my great-grandfather, a fossil turned gem. He split it in half because he noticed a crack down the middle, making it a family heirloom,” Min Xiangxi explained, hesitating, then changed the subject. “You and your brother sent me to the train station back to Taiyuan, but when I returned to your village with proof, I was too late. Your entire family had disappeared, and even the ancestral graves were dug up. All I could do was collect the exposed bones of the Sun family ancestors and provide a proper cremation and offerings.”

Min Xiangxi spoke with tears in his eyes, barely able to recount the painful memories. Mrs. Liu was also overwhelmed with sorrow.

“Later, I inquired everywhere about your whereabouts. They said you fled after releasing an ‘enemy’ like me. Your brother couldn't endure the torture and escaped to a foreign place. Heaven finally allowed me to find a descendant of the Sun family,” Min Xiangxi said, tearfully.

By this point, Secretary Liu fully understood the entire story. It turned out that Mrs. Liu's deceased father had saved Min Xiangxi’s life, and Min Xiangxi's help with the permit was an act of gratitude. Regar

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