Chapter 6

At this time of day in the summer heat, the heat begins to dissipate, and even the wind blowing through the rice paddies brings a bit of coolness.

Li Zhuiyuan faced the rice paddies, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths.

"Xiao Yuan Hou, what's wrong? Does Great Grandpa smell bad?"

"No, Great Grandpa, I'm smelling the scent of rice."

"Oh, did you smell it?"

"No, it's not like what the books say. They say the rice smells really good."

"Silly child, your timing is off. Wait until after they've fertilized or sprayed pesticides, then you smell it. I guarantee, that smell will be very strong!"

"Great Grandpa, you're teasing me."

"Hahaha." Li Sanjiang twisted his neck and continued walking along the field path with the child. "They don't have much smell now, but wait until harvest, when they're sun-dried and hulled, and then steamed into rice cakes. With that hot, white steam rising, can't you smell the fragrance from far away?"

"You're right, Great Grandpa."

Li Sanjiang stopped and also looked at the rice paddies. "Actually, what you read in those books isn't wrong either. For us farming people, when we see the crops in the fields growing well and the granary full of grain, we don't have to worry about starving. Our hearts feel secure. If we just stand anywhere and close our eyes and take a breath, it all smells sweet."

"I understand."

"No, you don't understand, Xiao Yuan Hou. If you haven't truly experienced hunger, you can never really understand that feeling. It hasn't been that many years that we've been able to eat until we're full.

But no matter what, it's nothing compared to before Liberation."

"Huh?" Li Zhuiyuan asked in surprise. "Before Liberation, did everyone eat until they were full?"

"Yes, before Liberation, everyone could eat until they were full. No one starved."

"Great Grandpa, that doesn't sound right."

"Because livestock don't count as people."

"Ah?"

"Xiao Yuan Hou, before Liberation, your Great Grandpa here, I even ventured to Shanghai Beach."

"Then, Great Grandpa, do you know Xu Wenqiang?"

"Who is Xu Wenqiang? I don't know. Your Great Grandpa went by boat that year. It was very convenient since Nantong and Shanghai are just separated by a river.

At that time, I thought, big Shanghai, big Shanghai, it must be easier to find work there. No matter what, it's better than working for a landlord at home.

And I was lucky, as soon as I arrived, I immediately found work."

"What kind of work did Great Grandpa find?"

"Corpse carrying team."

"Did Great Grandpa work in a funeral home?"

"Heh, there were funeral homes back then, but which ordinary person could go to that place? If you were carried in horizontally with your front foot, you'd have to jump up and run out with your back foot. Dying was expensive!

Your Great Grandpa joined a corpse carrying team. At that time, the city government allocated some funds, and some rich merchants donated money. The work was... every morning, we would collect corpses, carry up the bodies in the big streets and alleys, and send them to the nearby charity burial ground for processing.

When times were good, there were still a few donated coffins, but it wasn't one person per coffin. It was many people squeezed together. One coffin stuffed full was what they called full.

Your Great Grandpa still remembers one time, a lot of kids your age were collected. It took a lot of effort just to stuff them in.

Alas, no matter how hard you shake it, it won't move.

Do you know what that means?"

"It means the coffin is too heavy to shake from the outside, and the people stuffed inside are too tight and stuck dead, so they can't be shaken either?"

"Correct. And that was when times were good enough to have a coffin. When times were bad, those corpses were just rolled up in straw mats and disposed of. There was no time to burn or bury them. They were just thrown onto random burial mounds in the suburbs, cheap food for wild dogs.

If it was winter, whoa, good heavens, that was really tiring.

In the early morning on the street, you could see quite a few families huddled together, frozen stiff.

Xiao Yuan Hou, that was big Shanghai! It was a big city back then, very rich. Any random person there, if they just loosened one finger and let a little something fall, it would be enough for a large ordinary family to chew on grain.

But your Great Grandpa, I was truly busy from the beginning of the year to the end, with work that never ended. It simply couldn't be finished.

At that time, I just kept thinking...

Clearly, there were so many foreign cars on the street, clearly, just within that ten-li foreign concession, when you looked up, there were dance halls, theaters, and big buildings, and people coming and going, wearing foreign clothes, old masters, and richly dressed ladies. But right in the cracks of the walls and in the alleys, people who had starved to death were collected every day.

After thinking for a long time, your Great Grandpa finally understood a truth.

Everyone has one pair of eyes, one nose, and two legs to walk, but only that small group of people are considered people. The other people... no, the other heads, they are all just lowlife livestock.

Eh, that's not right. Livestock are valuable. When they're hungry, they'll still be given a handful of fodder. But they didn't even deserve a piece of a coffin board. The reason they were collected after they died was because the higher-ups felt it affected the city's appearance."

Li Zhuiyuan hugged Li Sanjiang's neck a little tighter and pressed his face against Great Grandpa's back. "Then, Great Grandpa, did you learn skills during that time?"

"You could say that. Back then, carrying corpses for a day would just earn you enough to eat for a day. Now, if I fish up one, it can let me eat well and drink spicy for a while.

Liberation is still good. People are finally people and have become valuable."

"My grandpa also said that when he was a child, he was beaten with a whip while working for a landlord."

"Listen to Han Hou fart. His hair had just grown when we were liberated. Those landlords were also all... Ai, Xiao Yuan Hou, aren't you talking about Han Hou?"

"It's Bei Gong."

"Hahaha, the one in Beijing, your dad's dad?"

"Yes, he said that if he really couldn't survive, he wouldn't have followed the team to make a revolution."

Li Sanjiang's steps suddenly paused. He turned his head to look at the child behind him.

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

"That Bei Gong of yours, did he fight in wars?"

"Yes."

"Is he still alive?"

"Alive."

"Did he fight the Japanese first?"

"He only fought later."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!"

"What is it, Great Grandpa?"

"Xiao Yuan Hou, are you on good terms with your Bei Gong?"

"During festivals, I'll go back with Mom and Dad to eat."

"Normally?"

"Don't go."

"Ah, you just don't visit?"

"Bei Nai and Mom don't get along."

Li Sanjiang: "..."

"My big uncle and his family live with Bei Gong and Bei Nai. Mom, Dad, and I live outside. Mom doesn't let me go to Bei Gong's place, and even Dad occasionally goes home secretly, not daring to let Mom know."

"What is this Lan Hou thinking?"

Li Sanjiang was very confused. He knew that conflict between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was the most normal thing, but it depended on the mother-in-law!

With in-laws like that, if you don't try to butter them up, what are you thinking?

But then, Li Sanjiang suddenly felt that this seemed like something Li Lan would really do.

From a house of honest mud, a golden phoenix suddenly appeared.

If Li Weihan's ancestral grave wasn't next to his, he would really suspect that Li Weihan's family's ancestral grave was on fire, not just smoking enough.

That girl was sweet-mouthed and well-behaved when she was little, making people like her. After she grew up a bit, she could train her four older brothers to fear her. The local idlers and gossipy women in the village didn't dare to make dirty jokes about her either. One look from her, with a smile on her face, could still make people's hearts shudder.

He remembered the year she brought her boyfriend home. Han Hou and Guiying were restrained and didn't look at people properly, but he, Li Sanjiang, had seen the world. He stared up and down for a long time and even actively went up to chat.

It was then that he noticed that the man in front of Lan Hou was being disciplined to just nod his head like a little chicken pecking at rice. Anyone who didn't know would think that fair-faced man was some poor wife who had just been abducted into the village by human traffickers.

Li Sanjiang also knew about Lan Hou's divorce. Otherwise, Xiao Yuan Hou wouldn't have been temporarily placed here. Normally, when a man and woman divorce, everyone's sympathy tends to be on the woman's side first, but Lan Hou's divorce... Li Sanjiang actually felt a little sorry for that man in his heart. He could actually endure it for over ten years, which wasn't easy.

"Xiao Yuan Hou, have you changed your surname?"

"Yes."

"Alas."

Li Sanjiang sighed. Leaving was one thing, but you actually changed the child's surname back. Even if you divorced without changing the surname, Xiao Yuan Hou would still be considered a child of that family.

"Xiao Yuan Hou, listen to Great Grandpa's advice. After you go back to Beijing, find more opportunities to get close to your Bei Gong and Bei Nai, okay?"

"Don't go."

"You listen to me, child. Great Grandpa won't harm you."

"Can't go. Mom will be unhappy if I go."

"You..."

"If Mom is unhappy, she won't want Xiao Yuan."

"Alas... what are you saying? You're all mother and child. Your mom will always love you, no matter what."

"No." Li Zhuiyuan's voice was very low but very firm. "If I make Mom unhappy, she won't want me. I understand her."

Li Sanjiang had to change the subject. "Xiao Yuan Hou, did you bring your homework?"

"I didn't bring it back."

"Ha, you're a little clever trickster. You deliberately didn't bring your books back so you could play fully in the countryside during the summer vacation, right?"

"Yes, it's very fun."

"You still have to study properly and go to school. That way, you can live better later. Wait a few days, and I'll have your sister Ying Hou come and tutor you. You study properly with her."

"Okay."

"That's being obedient."

The great-grandson and grandson chatted all the way and walked to a riverbank. Next to the river was farmland. They walked along the small road by the river for a while, and suddenly, it opened up.

Li Sanjiang's family courtyard was several times more spacious than Li Weihan's.

There were three buildings. The middle one faced south, a newly built two-story building, but unlike Cui Cui's family's square building style, Li Weihan's family's new house was very wide, extending from east to west, a big long strip.

However, although it had a second floor, there were only a few separate rooms on the second floor, like several building blocks placed on a large platform.

To the left and right of the new house were two one-story houses, each facing each other.

"Great Grandpa, your house is so big."

"Isn't it?" Li Sanjiang's tone was proud.

Besides fishing for corpses, he also did paper offerings business, which required spacious places to pile raw materials and finished products. Besides, he also rented out tables, chairs, and dishes.

Any family nearby who wanted to hold celebrations or funerals had to rent from him. Although the fees weren't high, he had long since recovered his costs. Now, this was a stable hen laying eggs.

So, the first floor of his new house was equivalent to a large warehouse. The second floor only had three rooms, empty like the sky platform. He was indifferent anyway. He was alone, and it was enough to live in.

Li Sanjiang put Li Zhuiyuan down from his back and led him into the middle room. Looking inside, he felt the space was even bigger, like a small factory.

In the western half, tables and chairs were neatly stacked, and in one large basket after another, there were all kinds of dishes and bowls.

In the eastern half, there were paper figures, paper houses, paper horses... Li Zhuiyuan even saw a paper-made Santana.

A simply dressed woman, about the same age as his mother, was painting. She held a paint tray in her left hand and a brush in her right, painting very quickly and smoothly.

The woman noticed someone had come, turned around, and looked at Li Zhuiyuan, sizing him up a bit, and asked:

"Uncle, whose child is this? He's so fair and delicate."

"Ting Hou, let me introduce you. This is my great-grandson, named Li Zhuiyuan. Zhuiyuan, this is your Aunt Ting Hou."

"Aunt Ting."

Li Zhuiyuan felt that this seniority seemed a bit off, but in front of people with no blood relation, it was just a matter of individual preference.

"Ai, good." Liu Manting put down her things and walked over. She bent down and touched Li Zhuiyuan's face with both hands. "Truly cute."

Li Zhuiyuan stepped back half a step to avoid her, a shy smile on his face.

"Uncle, you haven't brought a child to play here before."

"Ha, before, no child dared to come here to play." Li Sanjiang took out a cigarette from his pocket. "Ting Hou, this child will be staying with me for a while. Help him tidy up a room. Oh, right, Xiao Yuan Hou, are you afraid of sleeping alone in a room?"

"Not afraid, Great Grandpa."

"Okay, it doesn't matter. Anyway, Great Grandpa will just sleep next door to you, hehe. Alright, Ting Hou, he's in your hands. I'll go relieve myself first."

Li Sanjiang lit his cigarette and went out to the toilet.

"Come, Xiao Yuan, follow Aunt upstairs."

There were really too many things piled up on the first floor, even blocking half of the stairs. It wasn't easy for someone coming for the first time to find them.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that there were steps going down at the stairs and asked: "Aunt Ting, is there another floor below?"

"Yes, there's a basement below, as big as this place."

"Are the same things kept there too?"

"No, they're all your Great Grandpa's things. Your Great Grandpa is reluctant to throw them away, so he specially dug another floor just to store them."

"Oh, I see."

"Also, Xiao Yuan, my name is Liu Manting. You can just call me Aunt Liu from now on."

"Aunt Liu, are you not from here?"

"No, Aunt is from out of town, a small worker doing paper offerings for your Great Grandpa."

"Is it just Aunt Liu?"

"Aunt's husband is also here. He rents your Great Grandpa's fields, and usually, he'll also help out with the work, sending paper offerings, tables, and chairs. He should be back from the fields soon. When you meet him, you can call him Uncle Qin.

Besides, Aunt's daughter and mother-in-law are also here. You saw the one-story house on the east side when you came in. My husband and I live on the west side.

Aunt's whole family is here, making a living by working for your Great Grandpa.

Before Liberation, we all had to call you Little Young Master."

Perhaps because he had just heard Li Sanjiang talk about the corpse carrying team on the way here, Li Zhuiyuan was a bit uncomfortable with this joke and subconsciously shook his head:

"That's feudal dross."

"Huh?" Liu Manting was stunned for a moment. Coming from a child's mouth, these words were indeed surprising.

"Aunt Liu, just call me Xiao Yuan."

"Okay, Xiao Yuan. I heard your Great Grandpa mention you. Are you back from Beijing?"

"Yes, yes."

"Are you used to living here?"

"Used to it. It's very good here."

"Don't you feel bored?"

"No, there are many fun things here."

"That's good. Aunt paints the paper figures every day, and her hands are all numb from painting."

"Aunt paints very well, very professional."

"What professional? Aunt was forced to learn to draw this. I don't know how to paint."

But your posture with the paint tray and brush is exactly the same as an art academy teacher's.

"If Xiao Yuan wants to paint, you can help Aunt. Painting isn't actually difficult."

"Okay."

Since coming back from his hometown, this was the first time he had a full conversation in Mandarin with someone, without so much Nantong dialect and so many 'Hou'.

Even his school-going siblings only used Mandarin to help him "translate" at first. Then, when they spoke among themselves, they naturally switched back to dialect.

Coming to the second floor, Liu Manting opened a room door. The furnishings inside were very simple, an old-fashioned bed and a wardrobe. Besides that, there wasn't even a stool, but it was very clean inside. It must be cleaned often.

"Xiao Yuan, you'll live here. Your Great Grandpa is right next door. You wait here for a while, and I'll bring you a washbasin, a cloth, and a chamber pot."

"Thank you, Aunt Liu."

"This child is really polite."

Liu Manting went out. Li Zhuiyuan looked around his room and also walked out. It really was... there wasn't much to see.

The second floor was just a large open platform. Three rows of clothes drying poles stood in the center. There was no balcony or railing around.

He walked to the edge. From here, he could see the courtyard in front. Further away were the small river and the farmland.

Li Zhuiyuan thought that a chair could be placed here. Sitting here and zoning out would definitely be very enjoyable.

Not far away on the field path, a middle-aged man carrying a hoe was walking towards here. The man was very tall. The places the white vest couldn't cover clearly showed muscles, which had a very glossy texture under the sunset glow.

He should be Aunt Liu's husband, Uncle Qin.

Looking at Uncle Qin, he didn't seem like a farmer before.

Although farmers generally have considerable strength, due to their diet and other living habits, very few can grow such a strong back and muscles. They are usually lean.

His gaze moved down and looked towards the left side.

"Huh?"

When he came in earlier, his line of sight was blocked by the woodpile in the courtyard, so he couldn't see the door of the one-story house on the east side. Now, standing high up, he could see it.

Inside the middle door of the one-story house, a little girl about his age was sitting.

She was wearing a red embroidered top and ink-colored pants with white patterns. Her hair was styled in a bun, and she wore a pair of light green embroidered shoes on her feet.

This outfit was very retro, without any modern elements, yet it didn't look old-fashioned at all.

Because this wasn't clothes that a mother had just cut a piece of cloth and casually made for her daughter. The details on her clothes were full of design sense and must have taken a lot of manual effort and thought. And the overall match was very harmonious, giving her a dignified air of a young lady from a wealthy family.

Most importantly, the girl's face was fair, her eyebrows like crescent moons. Although she had a melon seed face, it had just the right amount of baby fat. She was like a finely carved work of art. You simply couldn't find even a thread that needed to be changed, as if any excess would be blasphemy and sin.

At this moment, she was sitting on a stool inside the door threshold, with her feet placed on the threshold, just gazing ahead. The last wisp of stubbornness in the mountain before sunset cast a light shadow line, which happened to lie horizontally on the door threshold in front of the house, exactly where her feet were placed.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head. It was impolite to keep staring at people, although... she really was very good-looking.

She should be Aunt Liu's daughter.

He lifted his head again and saw that the other person was still maintaining that posture, gazing ahead.

Logically, since he was standing high up on the second floor, a person as big as him, and looking at her, she should have noticed, or at least glanced at him.

Could she be too absorbed in her thoughts?

Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand and waved. He was sure this action would definitely catch the other person's attention, but... nothing.

The girl still sat there, her feet on the door threshold unmoving, without lifting her head, turning her head, or even blinking.

Could she be blind?

Li Zhuiyuan opened his mouth and shouted: "Hello."

Still no reaction from the girl.

Also deaf?

A strong sense of pity arose in Li Zhuiyuan's heart.

Children of this age have pure hearts and are not yet tainted by the thoughts of adult men and women. Even Li Zhuiyuan was the same.

He simply felt pure heartache. If the girl in front of him had a disability, it would be like a bloody wound being cut into a beautiful thing. Whether it was a man or a woman, anyone would feel deep regret.

"Xiao Yuan."

Aunt Liu's voice rang out from behind. She walked up to Li Zhuiyuan and said with a smile: "Xiao Yuan, she's Aunt's daughter, Qin Li."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

"Okay, Xiao Yuan, go into the room first. Aunt will help you tidy things up."

Li Zhuiyuan was slightly surprised because Aunt Liu only introduced her daughter's name, with no follow-up. Generally speaking, she would ask about their ages, introduce them as brothers and sisters, and add a sentence: you can play together later.

There weren't many things. After tidying up, Aunt Liu patted her hands and said: "The toilet is at the back on the first floor. You can use the chamber pot in the room tonight."

"Okay, I understand, Aunt Liu."

"Then Aunt will go make dinner. I'll call you when it's ready."

"Okay."

He walked out of the room again and returned to the open platform on the second floor. Li Zhuiyuan's gaze involuntarily looked towards there again.

The girl was still in the same posture as before, still gazing ahead. She was like she was fixed there, never moving.

At this moment, he saw Uncle Qin walk to the front of the door threshold, squat down in front of the girl, and speak gently to her.

But from beginning to end, the girl remained in that posture, not even sparing a glance for her own father.

It gave the feeling that although she was there, she didn't have any sensory connection with this world.

Uncle Qin noticed Li Zhuiyuan and waved: "Hello, little friend."

Li Zhuiyuan replied: "Hello, Uncle."

"Xiao Yuan Hou, come down for dinner!"

Li Sanjiang's voice came from downstairs.

Li Zhuiyuan was a little surprised. So fast?

Downstairs, in the empty space between the paper figures on the first floor, two square stools had been placed together as a dining table. On it were a plate of braised pig's head meat, a plate of braised pig's ears, a plate of cold mixed kelp, and a plate of fried peanuts.

No wonder dinner was prepared so quickly. They must have been bought from the market during the day.

"Sit." Li Sanjiang opened a bottle of white wine and poured himself a full cup.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down on the small stool opposite him and looked at the large bowl of rice piled high in front of him.

"Great Grandpa, I can't eat so much."

"Heh, of course Great Grandpa knows." Li Sanjiang smiled. "You eat first. The rest is mine."

"Okay."

Li Zhuiyuan started eating.

Li Sanjiang handed the wine cup over and asked: "Xiao Yuan Hou, do you want a little drink?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "Children can't drink alcohol."

"Right, that's right." Li Sanjiang was just teasing. He took the cup back and took a big sip, then continuously picked up several peanuts and put them in his mouth. "At Han Hou's house, there aren't these good dishes?"

"Grandma makes pickled vegetables, which are also very delicious."

"Heh."

Li Sanjiang clipped a piece of pig snout into Li Zhuiyuan's bowl.

"Your grandpa and grandma are silly, spoiling that group of kids. If you ask Great Grandpa, managing the generation of sons is enough. They still have to manage the generation of grandsons. They've been slaves to their children for half their lives.

Actually, if your grandpa's family didn't have so many children and so many mouths to feed, they wouldn't need to drink sparingly. He could also have some wine every evening."

Li Zhuiyuan ate in silence, not answering.

"You're different." Li Sanjiang waved his hand. "Your mom gives money. That group of your uncles are really white-eyed wolves, a bunch of shameless things."

Li Zhuiyuan continued to eat.

"Soup is here." Aunt Liu brought over a large bowl of loofah egg drop soup and placed it on a stool. "Eat up."

Then, she just left. Only then did Li Zhuiyuan realize that Aunt Liu's family didn't eat with Great Grandpa.

"Xiao Yuan Hou, there's one thing Great Grandpa has to remind you of. After you live here, you can wander around other places, but don't go to that east room."

The east room, where the girl was sitting.

"Why?"

"Ting Hou's daughter is in the east room." Li Sanjiang poked his forehead with the end of his chopsticks. "That little girl has a problem here. Don't go near her. It won't be good if she scratches or bites you."

Scratch or bite?

Li Zhuiyuan found it very difficult to imagine the little girl called Qin Li being associated with these behaviors.

"Don't take it lightly. The year her family first lived here, I still gave candy to that girl. Who knew that as soon as I put the candy in her hand, she threw it away and then rushed at me like a crazy person, scratching and biting. Even death wasn't as fierce as her."

"I know, Great Grandpa."

Okay, so she wasn't deaf or blind after all.

"Okay, eat, eat well. Great Grandpa will meditate for you."

Li Zhuiyuan finished his meal first and put down his chopsticks. Li Sanjiang also conveniently finished his drink and took over the rice bowl to eat the rice.

The toilet was at the back of the house. Li Zhuiyuan first walked around the courtyard and happened to see the little girl being led by an old grandma to stand up and walk to the dining table inside.

She should be Aunt Liu's mother-in-law.

In this old grandma, Li Zhuiyuan seemed to see the shadow of his Bei Nai. Both had a dignified and elegant air.

The little girl sat at the edge of the dining table and didn't pick up her chopsticks. The old grandma kept gently persuading her.

When Li Zhuiyuan came back from the toilet, he saw the little girl starting to eat. She only ate what was in her own bowl. The old grandma used a small plate to clip dishes for her.

He noticed the corner of the old grandma's eye glance over him, but she didn't greet him. Li Zhuiyuan hesitated for a moment and didn't go over to say hello either.

Returning to his room, Li Sanjiang had already finished his meal, and Aunt Liu was tidying up.

"Xiao Yuan, the place to bathe is in the innermost room on the second floor. Aunt has already poured hot water for you. It might be a bit hot. You can add some cold water yourself."

"Thank you, Aunt."

Coming to the second floor, the full and well-fed Li Sanjiang was already lying on a rattan chair that he didn't know where he had gotten from. He held a toothpick in his left hand and a cigarette in his right, humming a tune and letting out wine hiccups.

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze stopped on the rattan chair.

"Ha, tomorrow I'll have Li Hou go to the market and buy one for you too."

Li Hou should be referring to Uncle Qin.

"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan smiled. He indeed wanted one.

"The bathing place is over there." Li Sanjiang pointed. "You wash first, then I'll wash."

"Got it."

The bathroom was very narrow and seemed to have been added later. It had a rubber water pipe connected to a water tank.

Li Zhuiyuan tested the water temperature. It was a bit hot, but he didn't need to add cold water.

When he quickly finished washing and came out, Li Sanjiang also stood up: "Go to my room and wait for me."

"Okay."

By now, it was completely dark outside, with the moon hanging in the air.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the east room again. The door of the one-story house was closed, and there was bright light inside.

He opened the door to Li Sanjiang's room and walked in. Li Zhuiyuan reached out to the wall by the door and found a string, pulling it down.

"Drip."

The light came on.

The furnishings in Great Grandpa's bedroom were simply a copy of his own bedroom, an old bed, and a wardrobe.

However, in the middle area that should have been empty, there was an extra circle of dense lines and a row of small candles. An open old book was also placed on the ground next to it.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the book and found that it wasn't printed but handwritten.

The cover said "Jinsha Luo Wen Jing".

He opened it and found that it was basically all array patterns and some notes. The patterns were drawn very sloppily, and the notes were written very casually. Most importantly, the handwriting was really ugly.

Compared to the handwriting of Grandpa Xu, the Chinese literature teacher who was good at making Dongpo pork and lived in the same family compound, it was too far apart.

Soon, Li Zhuiyuan found an array diagram in the book that was exactly the same as the one drawn on the ground. It said——"Zhuan Yun Guo Sha Zhen".

The effect was to transfer the negative energy from one person's body to another person's body, and it also noted: harmful to others.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the diagram in the book and then at the one Great Grandpa had drawn himself on the ground.

"How do I feel... there are several places where the drawing is different?"

However, the diagram in the book was also handwritten, and it was also drawn crookedly, so it wasn't easy to compare.

"It's also possible that Great Grandpa didn't draw it wrong, but the diagram in the book is not standard."

With two freehand styles, even when drawing the same thing, comparing them was truly very difficult.

At this moment, Li Sanjiang finished washing and came in. He was bare-chested and just wore a pair of blue large shorts.

Seeing Li Zhuiyuan holding the book and looking at it, Li Sanjiang couldn't help but laugh: "Ha, you can understand it, Xiao Yuan Hou?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "I can understand it."

"Good, good, good. You can understand it. Our family's Xiao Yuan Hou is the smartest."

Li Sanjiang patted Li Zhuiyuan's head and took the book from his hand, throwing it aside.

The book was full of messy brushstrokes in traditional characters, even with connected strokes. Initially, to understand a bit, he had to go ask the retired old village teacher in the next village several times. That person liked calligraphy.

Later, Li Sanjiang stopped going because the last time he went to his house and saw him, Li Sanjiang had also brought his own family's paper figures.

He gave them for free, without collecting money, and the person's children repeatedly thanked him.

So, how could he believe that Li Zhuiyuan, a ten-year-old child, could understand these things?

"Okay, Xiao Yuan Hou, you sit there, don't move."

Li Zhuiyuan listened and sat down in the designated position. Li Sanjiang then bent down and lit all the candles on the ground. Then he took out three black ropes and tied them respectively on Li Zhuiyuan's wrist, ankle, and neck. After he also sat down, the other ends of the three black ropes were also tied to the same positions on himself.

The candlelight flickered, and Li Sanjiang began to chant. He chanted very fast, still using the Nantong dialect. Li Zhuiyuan listened intently but didn't understand.

But he felt the tone was very similar to the tune Great Grandpa was humming earlier while lying on the rattan chair after eating.

After chanting for a while, Li Sanjiang finally stopped. He smacked his lips, seemingly a bit dry-mouthed, but it wasn't suitable to leave the array to drink water. He just cleared his throat with a dry cough, then reached back to touch something. When he brought his hand back, he had an extra talisman in his hand.

Li Zhuiyuan was a little curious. Great Grandpa was only wearing shorts. Where did he put this talisman earlier?

After sending the talisman to the edge of the candle to light it, Li Sanjiang started waving the talisman paper.

"Hiss, hiss!"

Almost burning his hand, Li Sanjiang patted the talisman paper between himself and Li Zhuiyuan.

"Bang!"

Instantly, all the candles were extinguished, and the white incandescent bulb in the room flickered several times before returning to normal.

Li Zhuiyuan looked left and right, then lowered his head to look at the black ropes tied to his body.

Is that it? Is it over?

It seemed like there was no feeling.

"Good!"

Li Sanjiang stood up, walked in front of Li Zhuiyuan, bent down, and used his teeth and hands to pull and break the extra parts of the three ropes. However, there were still black rope circles left on Li Zhuiyuan's neck, wrists, and ankles.

"Xiao Yuan Hou, don't untie these three rope loops tonight. Just sleep like this. I'll cut them off for you when you eat breakfast tomorrow."

"Okay, Great Grandpa."

"Okay, you go back and sleep."

"Good night, Great Grandpa."

"Good night, good night."

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and was just walking to the room door when he heard a "thump" sound behind him. He turned his head and saw Li Sanjiang had fallen to the ground, holding his feet.

He had just helped break the ropes with his teeth. Now, he must have fallen while trying to break the rope on his ankle.

Li Sanjiang crossed his legs, one hand under the back of his head, and the other hand waved at Li Zhuiyuan: "Hurry up and go to sleep."

"Oh."

Li Zhuiyuan returned to his own bedroom and lay down on the bed. He hadn't felt sleepy at all earlier, but as soon as he touched the bed, sleepiness immediately overwhelmed him.

He pulled the thin quilt over his belly and fell into a deep sleep.

Next door.

"It should have worked, right?" Li Sanjiang muttered to himself. "It definitely worked. The bulb flickered. It can't possibly be a loose connection."

Immediately, Li Sanjiang glanced at the book thrown on the ground again and doubted himself: "That's not right. The person who wrote this book shouldn't have seen a bulb, right?"

But soon, Li Sanjiang found new evidence: "What am I talking nonsense about? The candles are all extinguished. That definitely means it worked."

After speaking, Li Sanjiang stretched lazily and walked to the edge of the bed to lie down.

"Aiyo, today was really tiring. Sleep... sleep."

He had done too many things today, carrying corpses, fishing for corpses, and drawing array diagrams. He was old, and he really couldn't keep going.

As soon as his head touched the pillow, he started snoring.

But as he slept, Li Sanjiang turned over, mumbled a few sounds, and gradually his eyebrows furrowed.

He had a dream.

In the dream,

He found himself sitting on a white jade stone steps platform. Around him were towering palace walls and grand halls.

To his front right was a gate arch, and to his left was a large open ground that extended straight to a pool and a dragon bridge.

"Grandma's, is this the Forbidden City?"

Li Sanjiang hadn't been to Beijing and naturally hadn't been to the Forbidden City, but he had seen it in calendars and on outdoor movie screens. Wasn't this where the emperor lived?

Hey, it was interesting that he would have this dream.

Li Sanjiang subconsciously wanted to touch his pocket for a cigarette. Why not have one?

But when his hand reached down, he grabbed something furry. He looked down and saw an orange cat lying on his legs.

The orange cat seemed to have been sleeping and was disturbed. It rolled over, a little dissatisfied.

"Go away."

Li Sanjiang mercilessly pushed the orange cat aside.

The orange cat rolled in a circle after landing and stood up, meowing at him in dissatisfaction:

"Meow!"

Li Sanjiang didn't care. He reached out and patted the cat hair remaining on his legs, then took out his cigarette pack again, put a cigarette in his mouth, and took out a match to light it.

Just then, a dull grinding sound came from the diagonal front. It must be the palace door being opened.

Li Sanjiang took a drag of his cigarette: "I remember hearing people say you have to buy a ticket to enter the Forbidden City. Will I be checked for tickets and fined now?"

Immediately, Li Sanjiang patted the back of his head: "I'm dreaming, damn it! Buy a ticket for what!"

He exhaled a beautiful smoke ring and laughed proudly: "This is really cost-effective. People have to take a long-distance train to Beijing and buy a ticket to get in. I'm just visiting as a tourist in this dream."

The grinding sound of the palace door finally stopped. In front, from the three gate arches, came the sound of footsteps.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Dull, neat.

Li Sanjiang leaned forward slightly, wondering in his heart: Do you still have to line up and march when visiting the Forbidden City?

But soon,

Li Sanjiang was completely stunned because from the three gate arches came out not tourists, but three rows of people wearing Qing Dynasty official clothes, with feather plumes on their hats and pale faces. They hopped out in the same rhythm.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The cigarette in Li Sanjiang's hand, he didn't know when, had already slipped and fallen.

Suddenly, they all stopped hopping and fell into stillness and silence.

The next moment,

They collectively turned left on the spot and faced Li Sanjiang.