When Li Sanjiang carried Li Zhuiyuan back home on his back, the sky was just beginning to lighten.
Cui Guiying took the child over, and after Li Sanjiang chatted with Li Weihan for a while, he left.
Li Zhuiyuan was settled on the mat bed, closing his eyes for a bit and then opening them again.
He couldn't sleep; every time he closed his eyes, it seemed as if he saw the little oriole dancing in the fish pond again.
Cui Guiying and Li Weihan didn't go into the inner room to rest either, but sat in the kitchen instead.
The woman kept rubbing her fingers, rubbing them until they turned red; the man kept smoking his water pipe, one bowl after another.
Looking at the already brightened sky, Cui Guiying got up and said, "I'll make breakfast for the kids first."
Li Weihan exhaled a mouthful of smoke and said, "The smoke is a bit early."
Cui Guiying had to sit back down and looked at her husband, "Then when should we wait until?"
"Wait for someone to notify."
"Who will notify?"
Li Weihan didn't answer, just continued to suck on the pipe mouth.
After sitting for a while longer, a knocking sound came:
"Guiying Hou, Guiying Hou."
It was their next-door neighbor, Zhao Simi.
Li Weihan tapped his water pipe bag and said, "The notification has arrived."
Cui Guiying got up, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she opened the door, puzzled, "What's the matter, Simi Hou?"
Zhao Simi reached out and grabbed Cui Guiying's arm, shaking it vigorously:
"Big Beard's family has a death!"
"What?"
"Two dead, Big Beard and his youngest son, just seen floating in their family's fish pond. Everyone has gone to see, let's go together!"
"Let's go!"
Before leaving, Cui Guiying shouted into the inner room, "Ying Hou, the rice has been washed, you make breakfast later."
"Got it, Grandma."
After getting a response, Cui Guiying went out with Zhao Simi.
Li Weihan waited for a while, felt the opened pack of cigarettes in his pocket, put the water pipe bag on the table, and also went out.
Zhao Simi's previous knocking had already woken up the children. Knowing that something serious had happened, the children also got up and ran out to watch the commotion.
No matter how Yingzi shouted "brush teeth and wash face" from behind, they couldn't be called back.
At this time, the fish pond of Big Beard's family was surrounded by people, and villagers were continuously rushing here along the village path, men and women, old and young, with their families in tow.
Two bodies were floating on the fish pond, with no one dealing with them, even though a small boat was parked by the pond.
Although Big Beard's family had a bad reputation in the village, the villagers weren't that cold-hearted;
The reason why no one helped to bring the bodies ashore was that the two bodies were like biscuits soaked in a bowl for too long, swollen and deformed, and their appearance was semi-transparent flesh crystal color, like two large pieces of human-shaped pork jelly.
Everyone knows that drowned bodies will swell after being soaked for a long time, but how could two people who were alive and well yesterday morning end up looking like soaked wood ear mushrooms overnight?
This was too eerie, causing no one to dare to touch the bodies.
Big Beard's wife knelt by the pond and wailed loudly, but she just knew how to cry and didn't know what to do. People around her tried to persuade her, but she ignored them, just wailing about her own misfortune.
Finally, Big Beard's eldest son rushed back from the town, and there was finally someone in charge.
However, seeing the state of his father and younger brother on the pond surface, the eldest son was so scared that his face twitched. He didn't dare to go down to retrieve the bodies and could only ask someone to invite Li Sanjiang.
Li Sanjiang arrived pushing a cart, which was loaded with his tools.
Upon arrival, Li Sanjiang first took a look at the situation on the pond surface, and then was so frightened that he kept shaking his hands and retreating:
"I dare not retrieve these bodies; it would shorten my life! Find someone else, quickly find someone else!"
His sudden outburst caused an even greater commotion among the onlooking villagers, who began to whisper among themselves about what kind of sin Big Beard's family had committed to attract such evil.
Soon, some villagers brought up the incident with the little oriole from yesterday, as the funeral team had almost really had a fight at Big Beard's house, and it's hard to keep secrets in a village.
At this moment, Li Weihan also spoke up, telling those around him about his experience of taking his grandchildren boating on the river yesterday, saying that his grandson had fallen into the water, had a nightmare about seeing a woman walking in the water, and was scared into a trance. Even Zheng Datong's visit was of no use, and it was only after Liu Xiazi's intervention that things were resolved.
Immediately, many people came over to listen to Li Weihan's account and kept expressing their own opinions.
Cui Guiying stood beside Li Weihan with a very nervous expression. Normally, if she didn't need to cook or do laundry, she could sit on the dam with the village women and chat about gossip for three days and three nights, but today, she was instead wooden and (un - dared not speak).
Her heart felt empty and panicked, as if a thief was crying out to catch a thief, and a cat was deliberately crying for a mouse.
Panzi, Leizi, Hu Zi, and Shi Tou also began to talk, saying that they had seen a female water ghost yesterday, which almost dragged their little Yuan Hou down to be a substitute for the dead, and it was here for revenge!
For a while, the surroundings seemed like a large-scale open-air tea party. After thoroughly discussing the little oriole incident, the villagers, still not satisfied, even brought up the old grievances of Big Beard's family and continued to stir them up.
Not long after, Big Beard's second son, along with his wife, and two daughters with their husbands, also rushed back home. The two daughters hugged their mother and started crying together, while the two sons and two sons-in-law stood together and negotiated with Li Sanjiang.
Li Sanjiang put on a big act, making an excuse that retrieving two bodies at once and the corpses being so eerie, he directly asked for ten times the usual price for retrieving one person.
After the price was agreed upon, Li Sanjiang set up an offering table, made offerings, lit candles, burned paper, and additionally provided an extra half hour of "calling friends and companions" with muttering, attracting the attention of everyone present.
Although this performance was indeed not as bright as the funeral team's, everyone knew that the funeral team was just for show, while this person was the real professional.
During this time, two Santana cars drove over, each with a police light on top. This was the town's police station sending people over.
Usually, if someone drowned, it wasn't a big deal; but this time, two people drowned at once, and they were father and son, right at their doorstep, which made the nature of the incident different.
The police came over to take a look at the situation and were also stunned for a while. They had seen swollen bodies before, but they had never seen any swollen so exquisitely.
Seeing this, they could only wait for the bodies to be retrieved before doing anything else. They didn't interrupt Li Sanjiang's ritual, but also didn't go over there, instead returning to their cars by the roadside and slowly waiting while smoking.
Finally, after Li Sanjiang had finished his work, he slaughtered a rooster and scattered a bowl of what might or might not be real black dog blood, and then went down to the pond and poled the boat to the center.
First, he used the "guiding hook" to pull the bodies to the side of the boat, then used the "soul-returning basket" to secure and lift the bodies onto the boat, and then covered the bodies with the "homeward net". After poled the boat to the edge of the pond, he bent down, lowered his head, and used a specific technique to place the bodies on his back, and then went ashore.
This is a very important rule in the profession of body retrievers. The retriever's own feet must step ashore first before placing the bodies, because this is the act of "sending" and "carrying" them home.
Finally, only under the invitation of the family head can the bodies be put down. This is considered a complete task, allowing the deceased to know that they have truly returned home and not become wandering spirits following the retriever.
After imitating this process twice, the father and son of Big Beard finally ended their drifting and were placed on two straw mats.
After everything was done, Li Sanjiang looked towards the center of the fish pond with a lingering fear. He had just retrieved the bodies in a proper manner and didn't dare to really delve deeper to investigate.
Heaven knows if she is still in here.
The police came over and cordoned off the bodies, but the villagers didn't care and still stood at a distance, craning their necks to watch. From time to time, there were screams of fear from the children.
Li Sanjiang received his payment, packed up his tools, and then pushed his cart back with a cigarette in his mouth. All the surrounding villagers avoided and made way for him. Having just retrieved the bodies, everyone was eager to stay away.
The police began a formal investigation, with a temporary office set up at Big Beard's house. The village secretary also came to assist, helping to call people, boil water, and serve tea.
Big Beard's wife couldn't provide any coherent information. She just woke up one morning and didn't see her husband sleeping beside her. It was only when someone passed by their fish pond and saw the father and son floating in the water that they called her.
The deputy director in charge asked the village secretary if there was anyone in the village who had a grudge against Big Beard's family. The village secretary cleaned his ear and indifferently replied:
"Oh, there are quite a few."
Next, those with grudges lined up to make statements.
Including Li Weihan, who told the story of "Little Oriole," as well as Panzi and Leizi, were all called in for questioning.
At first, the police thought another body had been found and even sent officers to follow Li Weihan to search that section of the river, but to no avail. Coupled with the fact that Li Weihan's account was somewhat too bizarre, it could only be treated as a superstitious story that an old rural man told his grandchildren.
The police didn't know whether to take this statement seriously. Seeing that everyone didn't believe him, Li Weihan became anxious and kept reiterating that what he had experienced was real, trying to get the police and those around him to believe him. In the end, he was "coaxed" away by the village secretary.
The funeral team that had caused trouble the day before was also summoned for investigation, but they had gone to the neighboring township to handle affairs the day before the incident, and the entire team had an alibi.
As for the disappearance of Little Oriole and the entanglements within, firstly, the person or the body could not be found, and secondly, the responsible parties, Big Beard and his son, had already died. So, it could only be reported as a missing person case.
This father-son drowning incident was ultimately handled as an accidental investigation result. The general idea was that Big Beard and his son had drunk alcohol in the evening, got in a mood, went to the fish pond to act drunk, and then both drowned.
Big Beard's family didn't make a fuss about further investigation. After the funeral, the two sons and two daughters started arguing over the division of the family property, tearing their faces and making a very ugly scene, adding another topic for the village to talk about.
That day, after finishing their statements, it was already dusk. Li Weihan and Cui Guiying walked home with the children, the children walking in front, and the old couple walking behind.
Cui Guiying patted her chest and asked with lingering fear, "Why did you take the initiative to go up and talk, and even be called in for questioning by the police? You scared me to death."
Li Weihan casually threw the empty cigarette pack from his pocket to the side of the road, pursed his lips, and said:
"It's what Uncle taught me. We have to speak it out, we can't keep it bottled up. Little Yuan Hou's matter, Zheng Datong and Liu Jin also know something about it."
Cui Guiying complained, "Just give them a heads-up and keep it a secret."
Li Weihan shook his head, "Even if the adults can keep the secret, can the children keep it and not slip up?"
"This..."
Li Weihan let out a long sigh and said:
"Uncle said that the best way to keep a secret is to speak it out in public."
...
Almost everyone in the village went to Big Beard's fish pond to watch the commotion. Li Zhuiyuan didn't go. He couldn't sleep lying in bed, so he (moved a small stool) and sat on the dam outside the house, gazing at the distant fields.
After a while, Yingzi, who had washed the dishes, also came out. She first (brought out a square stool), on which she placed stationery and books and homework. She herself sat on a small stool, and a makeshift desk was thus constituted, with the bright sun of the day serving as the台灯 (table lamp).
Yingzi's parents had never been very concerned about her studies, but they also never said things like "It's useless for a girl to go to school," "It's better to get married early," or "Use connections to get into a textile factory to make money."
At the beginning of the semester, they would provide the tuition when it was due, and for regular expenses like materials fees, there was no need for her to feel shy or guilty; it was normal to ask for them.
But everything is afraid of comparison. Compared to other girls in the village, Yingzi's parents' pure laissez-faire attitude was actually considered a model of valuing their daughter's education.
Yingzi knew that this was due to the influence of her aunt, Li Lan.
Back then, her aunt had changed her own destiny through education, becoming the pride of her grandparents. Even her father and uncles would unconsciously straighten their chests with pride when mentioning her aunt to others.
However, Yingzi's academic performance could only be considered average, even though she indeed studied hard and didn't slack off;
Of course, her grandparents back then couldn't have deliberately sacrificed their sons to only support their daughter. It was simply that her father and uncles really couldn't absorb knowledge from books.
This led her to wonder, could it be that all the brains of the old Li family were given to her aunt?
At first, this thought was just there and not very strong, until the second day after little Yuan Hou was sent here. He sat beside her, a bit reserved. When she faced a math problem and had no clue for a long time, a soft voice came to her ear:
"The square root of 3."
Later, whenever Yingzi had a problem she couldn't solve, she would ask Li Zhuiyuan to do it. Yingzi also found that little Yuan Hou almost didn't need to think; he could just glance at the problem and give the answer.
Perhaps for him, the biggest trouble was having to write out the solution process, otherwise his slow-witted sister wouldn't understand!
After all, she was already in the first year of high school.
Yingzi had asked him what school he attended in the capital, and Li Zhuiyuan answered: the youth class.
Yingzi subconsciously understood "youth class" as primary school,
Thinking to herself: No wonder it's a primary school student from the capital; the curriculum is surprisingly advanced.
Li Zhuiyuan just daydreamed like this, occasionally coming back to his senses to help his sister with a problem, and then continuing to daydream.
Feeling a pen cap gently (nudge) him, Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to look at the problem, only to see his sister pointing again to the west side of the dam, where there was a step, and at the foot of the step stood a little girl in a floral dress.
It was Cuicui, Liu Jin's granddaughter, standing there timidly, not daring to come up.
Yingzi frowned at Li Zhuiyuan, signaling not to pay attention to her.
Usually, she would have spoken up directly, after all, the village children had a consensus not to play with her; but yesterday Liu Jin and her daughter had come to their house to "treat" her brother's illness, and she now felt embarrassed to say it out loud.
Li Zhuiyuan stood up and took the initiative to walk to the edge of the dam, coming to Cuicui, and asked with a smile:
"Did you come? Is there something?"
Cuicui looked in other directions, her fingers pinching the edge of her skirt, and said: "I came to find you to play."
"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan turned and waved to his sister Yingzi, "Sis, I'm going to play with Cuicui."
Yingzi didn't say anything, just sighed, and lowered her head to continue with her homework.
In fact, there wasn't much to play; often it was just a simple desire not to stay at home anymore, then running to a friend's house, calling the friend out, and then the group wandering aimlessly together.
Cuicui looked at Li Zhuiyuan who was accompanying her out, with a smile in her eyes. This was the first time she had done what the other village children did, going to someone's house to call someone out to play.
However, she still didn't dare to step onto someone else's dam without permission. Children of this age may not understand many things, but they are more sensitive. She didn't want to face the disdainful looks from the adults.
"Yuan Hou brother, my mom said you were sick yesterday?"
"Mm-hmm." Reminded of this, Li Zhuiyuan's mind once again conjured up the image of the little oriole, and his smile gradually faded.
"Ah?" Cuicui immediately apologized, "I won't say it again, I won't say it again. Being sick is really not pleasant."
Li Zhuiyuan felt in his pocket and said apologetically, "Um, I forgot to bring you any snacks."
Actually, it wasn't that he forgot. With his grandparents not at home, the cabinet where the snacks were stored was locked and couldn't be opened. Yingzi probably knew where the key was hidden, but Li Zhuiyuan knew that if he asked her for help, she would say bad things about Cuicui from inside the house.
"Snacks? We have them at my house, a lot. Let's go to my house to eat."
"Go to your house?"
"Mm-hmm, let's go to my house to play."
"Okay."
Having been agreed, Cuicui mustered up the courage to take Li Zhuiyuan's hand, and the two walked together on the ridge path.
At this moment, she really hoped that the adults on the dams of the houses along the road could see her and ask her, "Hey, little Cui Hou, who are you playing with?"
She also hoped to encounter peers on the road, letting them see that she had a playmate too.
It's just a pity that most of the villagers had gone to Big Beard's fish pond to watch the commotion.
However, she was still very happy, her smile never fading. If it weren't for holding hands, she felt she would be so happy that she would spin around.
"Yuan Hou brother, do you have trouble understanding our speech?"
"At first, I couldn't understand it at all. Then, when they spoke slower and in shorter sentences, I could understand. Now, I not only understand everything, but I can also speak some myself, although not very standard."
When he was first sent to this family, he really couldn't understand a word when the elders spoke to him. Only his brothers and sisters who had been to school could communicate with him in Mandarin.
He remembered that every time he called Li Weihan and Cui Guiying "Grandpa" and "Grandma," they would clearly be a bit unhappy and repeatedly correct him, insisting that he call them "Grandpa" and "Grandma."
Indeed, the local area didn't have the terms "Grandpa" and "Grandma." Often, to distinguish between grandmother and maternal grandmother, they used directions, such as calling the one living in the south "South Grandma" and the one living in the north "North Grandma."
"By the way, Yuan Hou brother, have you been to the Forbidden City?"
"Mm-hmm, I have."
"I want to go there too in the future."
"Okay, let me know, and I'll take you."
"Really? You must not deceive me?"
"I won't deceive you. I'm very familiar with the Forbidden City."
In Li Zhuiyuan's memory, there was a period when Li Lan worked at the Forbidden City, and he was left to play there by himself. Sometimes he would sit on the steps of the side entrance, holding an orange cat in his arms, watching the endless stream of tourists coming in from the main entrance, watching for an entire afternoon.
"By the way, Yuan Hou brother, have you ever had douzhi?"
"Um..."
"Have you had it?"
"Had it."
"Is it delicious? What does douzhi taste like?"
What does it taste like?
Li Zhuiyuan's mind conjured up the scene from last week when Cui Guiying was rinsing the pickled vegetable jar that had gone bad at home.
"Some people like it, some people don't."
"Is that so? Then I must try it when I go to BJ in the future."
"Mm-hmm."
"Yuan Hou brother, look, that's my house."
Following the direction of Cuicui's finger, Li Zhuiyuan saw the two-story building behind a field.
"You live in a building."
The village had all kinds of architectural styles. Most were brick and tile bungalows, a few very poor families still had mud houses, and similarly, a few families with good conditions had already built two-story buildings first.
Walking onto Cuicui's family dam, in the living room on the first floor, Liu Jin was playing bridge with a cigarette in her mouth.
Her card partners were two old ladies and an old man. They came to play cards with Liu Jin and could have a meal at her house, with decent food, including meat and alcohol. So Liu Jin didn't lack card partners, and she was also willing to spend some money to "buy" people to accompany her for entertainment.
The card table was indeed a magical place. Liu Jin clearly had cataracts and poor eyesight, but it didn't affect her card-playing speed at all.
"Grandma, I've brought Yuan Hou brother to our house to play."
"Grandma Liu." Li Zhuiyuan greeted.
"Mm, play." Liu Jin responded, then focused her attention back on the cards in her hand, "Peng!"
Just now, the card players were still talking about what was happening at Big Beard's house. Liu Jin was casually responding while blowing smoke rings. When she heard her granddaughter bring Li Zhuiyuan in, she couldn't help but be slightly stunned, her eyes narrowing through the smoke.
This child was possessed yesterday, and today Big Beard and his son were found floating in the fish pond.
If there's no hanky-panky in this, she Liu Jin would never believe it even if she were killed.
However, she didn't voice any objection to her granddaughter playing with Li Zhuiyuan. Joke, both are considered unlucky stars; who would disdain whom?
Cuicui led Li Zhuiyuan through the hall to the inner room, where Li Juxiang was sitting on a stool picking vegetables. Seeing her daughter bring someone back, she was surprised for a moment. Upon recognizing Li Zhuiyuan, a smile couldn't help but浮现在 (float onto) her face.
This reminded her of her childhood when Li Lan played with her.
Li Juxiang immediately stood up, wiped her hands on her apron: "Sit down, little Yuan Hou."
Then, she quickly went into the room and brought out a lot of snacks to entertain them. Liu Jin霞's family was indeed well-off, and with only Cuicui as a child, she had the enviable snack treatment that other children in the village could only dream of.
Li Juxiang also opened two bottles of lemon soda, giving one to Li Zhuiyuan and one to Cuicui.
This kind of beverage, shaped like a beer bottle and with bubbles, was cheap and very popular. The children were too lazy to pour it into a bowl and would directly pick it up and drink from the bottle, imitating the boldness of adults drinking alcohol.
"Little Yuan Hou, how is your mother?"
"Fine, Auntie."
"I heard that your mom she left..." Li Juxiang suddenly realized it was inappropriate to ask a child this and quickly changed the subject, "I used to play with your mom a lot when we were kids. We had a very good relationship."
"Yep, mom has mentioned you, Aunt Xiang, Aunt Xiang."
Generally, the suffix "Hou" is used between elders and peers, and not by juniors.
But of course, Li Juxiang wouldn't be angry about this; instead, she was very happy. She could imagine the scene where Li Lan talked about her to her son, using the term "Aunt Xiang." This proved that she hadn't been forgotten.
"Your mom was very smart back then, with good academic performance, unlike me, who would get a headache just seeing textbooks." Li Juxiang brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "When is your mom coming home to visit?"
"My mom is busy with work. She said that once she's done, she'll come to pick me up."
Cuicui said, "Mom, I'm taking Yuan Hou brother upstairs to play."
"Mm, go ahead, and take good care of little Yuan Hou."
Cuicui pulled Li Zhuiyuan and, when they reached the stairway, she skillfully took off her shoes and changed into a pair of slippers. Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan also went to take off his shoes.
"No, Yuan Hou brother, you don't need to take them off, just come up like that."
Li Zhuiyuan still took off his shoes, planning to go up barefoot. Cuicui had to hand him her mother's slippers to put on.
Wearing the large slippers, Li Zhuiyuan followed Cuicui to the second floor, to her room, where a black-and-white television was placed.
Liu Jin霞's family had bought a TV long ago, but they didn't publicize it. Since the villagers were cold to them, she was also reluctant to invite people over to watch TV at her house.
Cuicui turned on the floor-standing electric fan, but the blades didn't move: "Hmm, is there a power outage?"
Li Zhuiyuan: "The plug isn't in."
"Ah, that's right." Cuicui bent down, picked up the plug, and inserted it into the socket on the wall:
"Buzz... Buzz... Buzz... Buzz... Buzz... Buzz... ——"
The heavy blades slowly began to rotate, producing a heavenly sound that could blow away the midsummer heat.
"Yuan Hou brother, do you want to watch TV?"
"Either way is fine."
Cuicui turned on the TV and then twisted the dial. After a full circle, there were only a few channels, half of which were just snow.
"Brother Jing, are you alright?"
"Sister Rong, I'm fine."
"Humph, Ouyang Feng, you this person..."
Every winter and summer vacation, "The Return of the Condor Heroes" would be shown on TV as a regular feature.
The two sat on the edge of the bed and watched TV for a while. Suddenly, Li Zhuiyuan felt sleepy.
He hadn't rested since last night. Before, it was due to excessive emotional tension, and now that the emotions had subsided, the feeling of fatigue quickly overwhelmed him.
Cuicui mistakenly thought that Li Zhuiyuan didn't want to watch TV and got out of bed to start introducing her dolls, toys, and picture books to him.
Although very sleepy, Li Zhuiyuan still watched her and tried to respond to each of her introductions.
The little girl was immersed in the joy of sharing, but soon she realized she wasn't getting any responses. She turned her head and saw that Li Zhuiyuan had already leaned against the edge of the bed and fallen asleep.
Cuicui immediately stopped talking, approached quietly, and carefully helped Li Zhuiyuan lie down. She folded the thin quilt used in summer and covered Li Zhuiyuan's stomach.
Then, she pushed the electric fan a bit towards their side and pressed the small knob at the back, causing the fan to start oscillating.
After doing all this, she brought over a chair and sat by the bed, propping her face with her hand and watching the sleeping Li Zhuiyuan.
After watching for a while, she would secretly smile, her earlobes flushing red, and she would turn her face away. After a while, she couldn't help but continue to look at him.
Time passed by unconsciously.
"Little Cui Hou, little Cui Hou, bring little Yuan Hou down for dinner." Li Juxiang's voice came from downstairs.
Cuicui immediately went downstairs and said to Li Juxiang, "Mom, Yuan Hou brother is asleep."
"Then you come down and eat first. We'll save his meal."
"No, I'm not hungry. I want to wait for Yuan Hou brother to wake up and eat with him."
Most parents in the village with a sense of responsibility would stop their children from going out to play with friends around meal times, fearing that they might be invited to sit at the table for a meal, which would seem like they were deliberately taking advantage.
However, sometimes it was inevitable, and they would end up sitting at the table.
Cuicui had never experienced this; she was willing to wait for Li Zhuiyuan to wake up and eat with him.
Li Juxiang smiled, nodded, and went to the living room to invite her mother and the card players for lunch.
Cuicui ran back upstairs, sat back in that spot, and continued to watch Li Zhuiyuan:
"Huh?"
Cuicui approached with some confusion because she noticed that Yuan Hou brother's eyebrows were furrowed.
"Is he dreaming?"
...
"Grandma, I've brought Yuan Hou brother to our house to play."
"Mm, play. Peng!"
Li Zhuiyuan looked at Cuicui standing in front of him and then at Liu Jin playing cards with three partners in the living room. He was clear that he was in a dream.
Because the scenes around him were too detached from reality. His field of vision was entirely in black and white, and all the people and objects seemed to be traced with charcoal.
Although they could present the corresponding people and objects, they were somewhat blurry and distorted, with rough lines exuding an eerie sense of randomness.
Li Zhuiyuan looked down at himself and found that he was still normal. What was abnormal were the other people and objects in the dream.
This couldn't help but remind him of the tracing drafts in his mother's study, with the same white background and charcoal traces.
He dreamed of the scene when he and Cuicui first arrived at her house and greeted Liu Jin. Next, the Cuicui in front of him held his hand and walked in.
The originally delicate hand of the little girl now felt rough in his hand, a bit painful, like sandpaper.
He couldn't help but break free, stopped in his tracks, but Cuicui continued to walk in by herself, with her arm still maintaining the posture of holding someone's hand.
And behind him, the four people playing cards in the living room suddenly fell silent.
Li Zhuiyuan looked back and saw that these four people were all frozen, motionless.
Even the smoke rings exhaled from Liu Jin's mouth were fixed there, not continuing to disperse.
This stillness also gave Li Zhuiyuan the opportunity to observe. The carbon traces on the three card partners were soft and shallow, while the image of Liu Jin had very thick, deep, and hard lines.
Standing in place for a long time, Li Zhuiyuan was very puzzled. In previous dreams, once he realized he was dreaming, he could wake up immediately, but this time, he was still in the dream.
In the end, Li Zhuiyuan still chose to walk in and saw Li Juxiang sitting there picking vegetables. The lines on Li Juxiang's body were also very hard, which was very incongruous compared to the fine and light patterns around her.
Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Li Juxiang, and the profound carbon traces outlined her facial expressions. She was smiling, with a look of reminiscence in her eyes.
"Aunt Juxiang, Aunt Juxiang?"
Li Zhuiyuan tried to call out a few times and even waved his hand in front of her, but Li Juxiang remained motionless, not blinking at all.
After leaving here, Li Zhuiyuan came to the stairway. Before going up, he took off his shoes and walked up barefoot.
He arrived at that bedroom, where the floor-standing electric fan was stopped and no longer rotating, and the TV only showed a blurry sketch of Guo Jing and Huang Rong.
Cuicui was pointing at one of her dolls, her mouth open as if she was narrating, also motionless.
The lines on Cuicui's body were clearer and harder than those on her grandmother and mother, almost becoming black, rigid lines.
It was as if all other people and objects were drawn on, while she was carved on.
Li Zhuiyuan looked at the bed, and there was no one on it; it was empty.
What was static was not only the objects but also the sounds. Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized that his ears hadn't heard any noise for a long time, and the entire world was terrifyingly silent.
He began to feel a bit panicked because he didn't know how long he would have to stay in this dream.
He opened the door from the bedroom to the balcony. The balcony on the second floor of this building was connected, with red and white tiles pasted on it.
Looking into the distance, apart from some scribbles near the houses that could barely be recognized as fields, most of the view was a dismal blank.
Looking up, where the sun originally was, there was only a white circle with a halo, very much like an eraser that would fall at any time and erase everything here.
"Hey, is this Grandma Liu's house?"
A voice came from the dam below, which seemed so abrupt and even harsh at this moment.
Li Zhuiyuan, standing on the second floor, looked down and saw a man who looked to be around fifty years old, carrying an old lady on his back.
The old lady was very thin, with only a layer of shriveled skin covering the small amount of bones visible from under her sleeves. Her hair was long and messy, draped over her back.
"Hey, is this Grandma Liu's house?"
The man asked again, anxiously carrying the old mother on his back and turning around in place.
Li Zhuiyuan didn't know whether he should answer or not.
At this moment,
the old lady, who had been lying on the man's back, suddenly raised her head, her face facing Li Zhuiyuan standing on the second floor.
Although everything was drawn with charcoal, the old lady's eyes presented a level of detail that transcended the limits of the drawing style.
They were filled with anger, ruthlessness, and venom!
In the next moment, Li Zhuiyuan found that everything around him began to spin and twist, like a whirlpool that appeared out of nowhere, tearing and pulling everything in, including himself.
...
"Yuan Hou brother?"
Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes and saw Cuicui's concerned face.
"Yuan Hou brother, were you dreaming?"
"Mm-hmm." Li Zhuiyuan sat up and responded, "How long did I sleep?"
"Not long, about two hours. Yuan Hou brother, let's go downstairs for dinner."
"No, I'll go home to eat."
"Oh, come on, don't be polite, Yuan Hou brother." Cuicui pulled Li Zhuiyuan's hand and led him downstairs, "Mom, Yuan Hou brother is awake."
At this time, Liu Jin霞 and her three card partners had already finished lunch and started the afternoon session.
Li Juxiang smiled and lifted the red cover on the kitchen table, revealing the meal that was specially saved: "Little Yuan Hou, come to eat. I'll heat the soup for you."
"Auntie, I'll go home to eat."
"Be good, don't be polite to auntie. Your mom and I were never polite to each other either. Besides, Cuicui waited for you to wake up to eat together."
"Thank you, auntie."
"Yuan Hou brother, sit here." Cuicui sat down first, and Li Zhuiyuan went to the other side of the counter to help get the bowls and chopsticks.
"Go away, go away, you sit there. Auntie will get them."
"Okay, auntie."
Li Zhuiyuan walked back and sat down, and soon Li Juxiang placed the chopsticks and a bowl of rice in front of him.
Although the dishes on the table were served in small bowls, the quantity was not large, but it was more than enough for the two children to eat. There were two meat dishes and two vegetarian dishes, especially that bowl of potato braised pork. There were only two pieces of potato as a garnish, and the rest was all meat, obviously specially set aside.
Li Juxiang brought over a bowl of braised fish soup, with sesame oil dripped on top and some vinegar added, making it fragrant and tempting.
In addition, she opened a can of fruit cocktail, pouring a bowl in front of each child.
It could be said that in the village, this was really a very sumptuous meal.
"Little Yuan Hou, stay for dinner again in the evening. I'll make some more delicious food for you," Li Juxiang said with a smile.
Li Zhuiyuan put down his chopsticks and said to Li Juxiang, "There's already a lot. Thank you, auntie, for your hard work."
"Hehe, don't put down your chopsticks, eat." Li Juxiang touched Li Zhuiyuan's head, secretly admiring how Li Lan managed to raise such a sensible and polite child, who was easy to like wherever they went.
"Little Yuan Hou, does your mom cook for you at home?"
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, placed his chopsticks on the bowl, and answered, "Mom can't."
"Is your mom busy with work?"
"Mm-hmm, she's very busy."
"What about your grandparents on that side? Don't they cook for you?"
"Not often."
"Then where do you usually eat?"
"At neighbors' houses."
Generally, after school, in the family compound, those grandparents who had finished classes or were retired would take the initiative to lead him to their homes for meals.
"Alas, poor child." Li Juxiang stopped asking further, instructed the children to eat by themselves, and then took the thermos to refill the water at the card table.
At that moment, a shouting voice came from outside:
"Hey, is this Grandma Liu's house?"
Hearing this voice, the chopsticks that Li Zhuiyuan had just picked up slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
"Clatter!"
...
In the hall, Liu Jin threw the bridge cards in her hand onto the table and clapped her hands, "Scatter."
The three card partners nodded, got up, and ended the card game. Apparently, they were already used to such situations.
However, before leaving the hall, they took turns walking to the basin placed in the corner to wash their hands.
The basin was filled with banana leaves. When washing hands, they would rub the leaves on their hands, shake their hands, and finally dry them with the towel on the rack.
The purpose of doing this was to ward off bad luck, an arrangement made by Liu Jin herself. She not only didn't care about the villagers' attitude towards her family anymore but also deliberately set up some ritualistic feelings to enhance her own mystery.
Li Zhuiyuan and Cuicui walked into the hall, and Liu Jin霞 was also getting up from her chair, asking, "Have you eaten?"
"Still eating, came out to have a look," Cuicui said.
"What's there to see? Never mind, little Cui Hou, help grandma pack up the cards."
"Okay, grandma."
After giving the instruction, Liu Jin walked towards the inner room by herself. There was a room away from the sunlight, which was her office.
"Be careful, there's a threshold here," Li Juxiang's voice came from outside. She had gone out to greet them upon hearing the inquiry.
"Okay, it's fine, it's fine."
Li Zhuiyuan looked towards the hall door and saw Li Juxiang supporting an old man to step over the threshold and come in.
The old man was stooped, with his body leaning forward, his waist hunched, and his hands behind his back at the waist, a hunchback.
It also seemed like... carrying a non-existent person on his back.
"Is this your child?" The old man looked at the two children and asked with a smile.
"The girl is from my family, and the boy is from my sister's. My mom is waiting for you, go straight in the front door and turn right to the end."
"Okay, okay, I'll go right away. I can't let Grandma Liu wait."
The old man continued to walk inside.
Li Zhuiyuan, standing behind, kept staring at the other's hunched back.
The old man entered the inner door of the hall, turned right, should have continued to walk inside, but suddenly stopped.
Because he was a stooped man leaning forward, his shoulders and above were now blocked by the wall, leaving only the hunchback still in sight.
Then,
the hands that were resting on his lower back unconsciously lifted a bit, the left arm pressing down, the right arm lifting up, his buttocks shifted inward, his shoulders turned outward, and his profile was already pressed against the wall.
Li Zhuiyuan looked at his empty back, and at this moment, he felt as if there was someone on his back, propping up and "looking" at him.
Li Juxiang asked, "What's wrong with you?"
The old man's originally rough voice suddenly became a bit shrill and hoarse, saying:
"This child... is really well-behaved."
Li Zhuiyuan nervously clenched his hands. He suddenly remembered when his mother had once led him to browse a wall of murals. He asked his mother why such a large area was left blank without painting anything. His mother replied:
"Xiao Yuan, this is called 'liu bai' (leaving blank), it's for you to imagine on your own, and the effect will be even better."
At that time, he was still a bit puzzled, but now, he seemed to understand a bit.
"Hurry up and go, my mom is waiting for you inside," Li Juxiang urged again. She really didn't know why this person had stopped here, but she didn't find his posture strange either, after all, he was a hunchback, and even if he stood still, it was quite odd.
"Okay." The old man responded, but suddenly squatted down, his body leaning slightly backward, his hands supporting the ground.
"Ah, what's wrong with you?" Li Juxiang reached out to help, but despite the man's thinness, the force with which he went down was really heavy, and she couldn't pull him up at all. Fortunately, he maintained his balance with his hands, just squatting down by leaning back, without falling over.
Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan staggered back a couple of steps.
This posture was very much like the action of putting down the person on his back.
The sunlight from outside shone into the hall. The old patterned tiles on the floor didn't reflect much luster, at most showing some changes in light and dark.
Li Zhuiyuan's gaze shifted downward, and at the position of the inner door, it seemed that two areas the size of soles had darkened a bit.
Very slightly, so slightly that Li Zhuiyuan thought he was seeing things, or that he was overthinking.
But then, two new areas darkened and recovered, but the distance from himself was getting closer and closer.
Finally, those two darkened areas appeared on the tiles in front of him and did not dissipate.
A cold wind blew over. Li Zhuiyuan felt his face, chest, and limbs starting to feel cold, but the problem was, he was facing the inside of the house. Where could the wind be coming from in this room?
The latter half of those two darkened areas disappeared, and the front half intensified. The coldness in front of him increased.
Li Zhuiyuan swallowed his saliva, his gaze began to flicker and shift. An instinct made him not dare to look straight ahead, as if an emaciated old lady was in front of him, leaning forward, her face pressing towards him.
Li Zhuiyuan bit his lip tightly.
Suddenly, he felt the coolness on his left cheek intensify further, as if a piece of ice had been pressed against it, and his scalp began to tingle, in a stroking manner.
The old man, who was squatting on the ground, turned his head and looked here, continuing the words he hadn't finished earlier:
"This child is really well-behaved."