Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Liu Grandma said her granddaughter was not ordinary autism; now, Li Zhuoyuan believed her.

"Sanjiang Uncle, Sanjiang Uncle!"

Behind him, Niu Fu's voice and footsteps were getting closer. The girl's gaze was still fixed on him, unmoving.

He couldn't just keep staring at her…

Li Zhuoyuan walked towards the girl, stopping about four meters in front of the threshold. Then he moved two steps sideways, using his body to block the girl's line of sight towards Niu Fu.

Actually, it would have been simpler to walk up to the girl and cover her eyes with his hands, but he didn't dare.

Liu Grandma's previous warning was definitely not empty words. Moreover, there was still the lesson of Li Sanjiang's blood.

Li Zhuoyuan noticed the girl's eyelashes were trembling slightly.

He didn't know if it was because of his approach as a stranger, or because of how she was 'seeing' things.

However, the girl didn't turn her body to try and bypass his block and continue looking. Instead, she turned her neck back to its previous position, her gaze fixed straight ahead.

She was in a daze again.

Li Zhuoyuan sighed with relief. He was really afraid the other party would suddenly become violent and rush up to bite him.

However, this was the first time he had looked at her from such a close distance.

The retro dress on her body matched her really well, one could say they complemented each other.

As she sat there, it was as if he were the outsider, intruding on her era, her villa.

Liu Yumei walked over at this time, placed her hand lightly on Li Zhuoyuan's shoulder, and said softly, "Xiao Yuan, Grandma reminds you, don't get too close to A Li."

"I remember, Grandma." Li Zhuoyuan pointed to the threshold in front of him. "I won't go any closer."

Perhaps the previous interaction had given Liu Yumei a good impression of this boy. She couldn't help but tease, "So, my A Li is pretty, right?"

"Yes, very pretty, like you."

"Hehehe…"

Liu Yumei laughed, amused. She walked into the room, glanced at the six-tiered wooden rack placed on the shelf inside the room. It was filled with memorial tablets. The left side were all Liu surnames, and the right side were Qin surnames.

She picked up an empty small plate, selected a few pieces of pastry from the offering plate below, turned around and walked out, handing the small plate to Li Zhuoyuan:

"Come, Grandma invites you to eat pastry."

"Thank you, Grandma." Li Zhuoyuan reached out to take it.

"It's taken down from the offering plate, it's clean."

"Okay."

Li Zhuoyuan didn't mind. He picked up a piece of crispy pastry and took a bite. It was soft and fine to the taste, with a rich aftertaste.

Liu Yumei asked, "Is it sweet?"

Li Zhuoyuan shook his head. "It's delicious, not sweet."

Liu Yumei sat down on the threshold and looked at Li Zhuoyuan. "When will your mother come to pick you up and take you back to the capital?"

"Depends on when Mom has time."

"Do you miss your mother?"

"I do."

"You do? How come I don't hear it?"

"I miss her in my heart."

"Indeed, a steady child. Do you have siblings?"

"My parents only have me."

"Our A Li is also the only one." Liu Yumei said, looking at the girl, her eyes full of affection.

She made a gesture as if wanting to touch her granddaughter's head, but then withdrew her hand.

"Liu Grandma, where are you from?"

"Grandma's ancestors were river boat sailors, so we have no ancestral home. But if we really have to discuss it, this Yangtze River is where Grandma and her grandfather's ancestral home is."

Mentioning Qin Li's grandfather, a hint of nostalgic color appeared on Liu Yumei's face.

Immediately, with that expression, she looked at Li Zhuoyuan.

Li Zhuoyuan understood and asked, "Grandma and Grandpa had a very good relationship, right?"

"Perhaps not good at first, our two families were considered enemies. Later, that shameless man took a fancy to me, insisted on marrying me, making my dad and my brothers angry, they almost tied him up and sank him in the river. The two families almost fought again."

Seeing that Liu Yumei was not finished, Li Zhuoyuan continued to ask, "Then what happened later?"

"Later, well, maybe I was just tricked by him and became relatives with him, and gave birth to his child."

"Did your family accept Grandpa?"

"Yes, they accepted him, and they also sank into the river together."

Saying this, Liu Yumei suddenly realized, how did she get to this point?

"Right, Xiao Yuan, why did your parents divorce?"

After asking, Liu Yumei immediately regretted it. How could she ask a child this?

"Because they couldn't live together."

"Was it your father's problem?"

"Father loves mother very much."

At this moment, Niu Fu's voice came from far behind: "Alright, Sanjiang Uncle, it's settled then. I'm leaving, I'll wait for you at home."

Li Zhuoyuan was a little surprised, so fast?

He secretly turned back and glanced, seeing that Niu Fu, who had walked to the edge of the dam, was still seriously hunched over. Li Zhuoyuan breathed a sigh of relief, but he still immediately went to find Li Sanjiang.

"Great-grandfather, Great-grandfather."

"What?"

Li Sanjiang heard the calls but didn't stop. He went straight to the front of the toilet, unbuttoned his pants, and sat on the dragon chair.

The short Li Zhuoyuan stood below, just missing a whisk.

Actually, Li Sanjiang's toilet was quite well built, constructed behind the new house to avoid people.

Many other toilets in the village were next to the main house, facing the village path. Sitting on them during the day with people coming and going was like accepting audience from hundreds of officials.

If they encountered acquaintances, they would even take the initiative to greet and stop to chat for a while.

"Great-grandfather, you promised him?"

"Yes, why?"

"He doesn't have a backer, he has that…"

"Great-grandfather knows, originally I didn't plan to go, but he doubled the interest, and it's three siblings together, so I have to go, hey hey, he really gave too much."

"But it's dangerous…"

"Xiao Yuan Hou, money can make ghosts push mills. Danger is relative to not enough money. You watch, Liu Blind will definitely go too."

"Great-grandfather…"

"Xiao Yuan Hou, your Great-grandfather eats this bowl of rice. Besides, it doesn't matter, your Great-grandfather has seen many winds and waves and hasn't capsized yet."

"When will you go?"

"That depends on when Liu Blind sets the date, but it's probably soon. We need to do it in advance. When your grandfather Han Hou came to send you clothes, he said they would organize everyone to dig the river soon."

"Dig the river?"

"Yes, dig the river. It's a tradition tens of years old. Ten miles, eight villages… No, basically all the strong labor force in the whole Jiangsu countryside has to go.

So, we need to finish the Ming Shou before digging the river, otherwise the family won't be peaceful."

...

"We need to finish the Ming Shou before digging the river, otherwise the family won't be peaceful."

Not far from Li Sanjiang's house, Niu Fu stood under a tree by the small river. He leaned against the tree with one hand and unbuttoned his pants with the other, preparing to relieve himself.

After he finished and tied his pants, he inexplicably felt that his back seemed to straighten up a bit, and he even jumped a little on the spot.

Turning back to look at Li Sanjiang's house not far away, Niu Fu couldn't help but sigh in his heart:

"Look, Sanjiang Uncle is the same as Liu Granny, also full of spirit!"

...

Li Zhuoyuan walked into the room and saw Liu Aunt just coloring the paper figures. Liu Aunt smiled and waved at him:

"Xiao Yuan, want to come play?"

"No, Liu Aunt, I have something to do now."

"Okay, you go do your business first." Liu Aunt laughed. She felt this child's serious appearance was really cute.

Li Zhuoyuan carefully moved away a paper house blocking the entrance to the stairs and went down. He saw a rusty iron door.

There was a pair of cloth shoes on the ground in front of the door. Li Zhuoyuan bent down and found a key inside. He inserted the key, unlocked the door, and pushed inwards. A gust of sealed, moldy smell immediately surged out.

It was pitch dark inside. Li Zhuoyuan reached out and fumbled along the wall near the door, finally touching a rope and pulling down.

"Drip drop."

No reaction.

He pulled down two more times.

"Pa!"

The lamp didn't light, and the rope broke.

There was no other way. Li Zhuoyuan could only run back up and find a flashlight in the drawer of the cabinet by the door.

He twisted open the back cover, and it was empty. Fortunately, the batteries were also in the drawer. He threw two large batteries inside, twisted the cover back on, tried it, and the light came on.

Returning to the basement, he shone the light inside. The space wasn't big, it wasn't excavated down from the original area of the first floor. But there seemed to be a lot of things inside, and they were arranged by category, in an orderly manner.

Looking at it, Great-grandfather had indeed tidied it up with care initially, but he hadn't been down here for several years. The dust accumulated on the things was already a thick layer.

Li Zhuoyuan walked to a shelf. His gaze was first attracted by a peach wood sword. He picked it up and blew on it, and dust flew.

"Cough... cough cough…"

After coughing, Li Zhuoyuan held the flashlight and carefully observed the sword.

It was carved with various patterns he didn't understand, and there were also some metal pieces that could reflect light stuck to it. In addition, there were some seal characters.

In short, the shape was very ancient, and the content was very rich.

Li Zhuoyuan appreciated it very carefully and intently, until he shone the flashlight on the lower end of the peach wood sword hilt and read out the words above:

"Shandong Linyi Furniture Factory."

Li Zhuoyuan: "..."

Putting the peach wood sword down, Li Zhuoyuan picked up a copper coin sword beside it.

This time, he learned his lesson. He looked at the sword hilt first, then the side of the sword, confirming there was no factory statement before carefully observing the sword body.

"Kangxi Tongbao, Qianlong Tongbao, Jiaqing Tongbao..."

Although the era of the copper coins wasn't long, they should be real.

However, as Li Zhuoyuan continued to carefully hold the flashlight and shine it, he suddenly discovered that there were other things mixed inside, and their size was very different from the copper coins.

He used his finger to dig, but couldn't dig it out. He could only continue searching in other positions on the sword body. Soon, he found the same size again. This time, he saw it clearly…

Actually, there were many 1 fen and 5 fen coins!

This sword used copper coins on the outside, but all coins on the inside, and not even a 1 jiao coin was found.

Although fen coins were also coins… they couldn't be considered fakes, but mixed like this, Li Zhuoyuan always felt strange in his heart.

Putting the copper coin sword back, Li Zhuoyuan continued to search downwards.

He saw two very large flags. No, judging by their long shape, it would be more appropriate to call them banners.

These two banners occupied a large table space. One was completely black, and the other was purple.

The black one was embroidered with many skulls and flood dragons, looking evil and chaotic;

The purple one was embroidered with many flowers, birds, and gold dragons, looking righteous and imposing.

Li Zhuoyuan tried to take one of them down, but found that he couldn't move it with one hand. He could only lean closer to the table, bring the flashlight closer, and continue to examine it carefully.

He didn't know what he was looking for, but he felt he should be able to find something.

Sure enough, on the wooden handle of the black banner, Li Zhuoyuan found a line of crooked brush writing: Li Ji White Affairs Team.

It wasn't even simplified characters, but something even simpler.

Li Zhuoyuan recalled that when they handled the funeral at Big Beard's house, Xiao Huangying's White Affairs team also took out many magical tools and props. Those things were all calculated by the bundle and packed up and thrown into the truck after finishing.

Soon, on the purple banner, Li Zhuoyuan also found words, but this time they were simplified characters, and there was even an extra sentence:

"Xue Ji White Affairs Class, if you take the wrong one, your son will have no butthole."

"Alas."

Li Zhuoyuan sighed and pulled the banner cloth back.

The anticipation and excitement he had felt when he first came in had gradually faded. Now, his heart was becoming more and more peaceful.

Great-grandfather hadn't deceived him, he had indeed collected a bunch of… rags.

In his childhood, he was often taken to his mother's workplace. At that time, cultural relic protection was not as strict as it was now. Many cultural relics didn't even have glass covers, and he could even touch them at close range.

So, Li Zhuoyuan had once observed many magical tools up close: the solemnity of Buddhism, the ancientness of Daoism, and the mystery of Lamaism.

He had felt some disgust when looking at them before because they were too full, but no matter what, they couldn't compare to the ones in front of him. At least… they didn't have labels.

Yes, on the next few Daoist robes, Li Zhuoyuan saw labels, and they even marked the size.

On the back of that bright yellow Daoist robe, there was still a sticker that hadn't been torn off, which read: Exclusive for drama troupe.

Li Zhuoyuan also discovered three large baskets of talisman paper. He first picked one up and looked at it carefully. It felt smooth, and he didn't understand the patterns, but he could see that they were written with a single stroke and were very beautiful.

This couldn't help but make him feel interested. He flipped through other talismans and discovered that there were many kinds inside.

But soon, Li Zhuoyuan discovered something was wrong. When he placed two identical talismans in front of him, he couldn't distinguish the difference. Even the finishing stroke in the lowest corner was the same.

So… this was printed?

Li Zhuoyuan rubbed his eyes. His eyes were a little sore. He even suspected that Great-grandfather stocked so many things here possibly because he originally planned to form a White Affairs team, and with the tables, chairs, basins, and paper figures, it would just make a complete funeral industry chain.

He no longer looked at those objects. Li Zhuoyuan walked to the innermost part, where there were more than ten boxes placed.

He remembered Great-grandfather saying that these were deposited here by others, and they were all books inside.

"Hmm?"

Li Zhuoyuan bent down, held the flashlight, and carefully examined the boxes. This material… was almost the same as the piece they collected from Zhou Grandpa's house in the family courtyard.

At that time, because Zhou Grandpa collected a box, he was so excited that he immediately called his old friends over to show off, and he was also called over to drink tea.

In his eyes, there were three boxes like this one.

Although the material and color of the other boxes were different, Li Zhuoyuan observed them and found that the quality was not bad at all.

Li Zhuoyuan couldn't help but have some expectations again. What could be inside such precious boxes? They shouldn't be books from publishing houses, right?

Furthermore, state-owned publishing houses in the past couldn't possibly publish books like *Jinsha Luowen Jing*, after all, it was feudal superstition.

There were traces of the original seal strips on the boxes, which should have been torn off early. There were originally locks, but they had also been pried open.

Li Zhuoyuan felt that it must have been Great-grandfather who did it. So, were these really deposited here by others with Great-grandfather?

Even without a lock, Li Zhuoyuan had to use a lot of effort to push open the box lid. After opening it, he shone the flashlight inside. Li Zhuoyuan immediately took a deep breath.

Books, books, books, all books!

And they weren't printed. From the covers, he could tell they were handwritten.

When he was in school, several sets of textbooks were updated every semester, but he only felt interested the first time he flipped through them.

Now, he finally experienced the happiness of being surrounded by books.

He picked up several books continuously, looked at the covers, and found they were all *Jianghu Strange Records*, divided into many volumes.

The 'Jianghu' here was not martial arts, but the real rivers and lakes.

Li Zhuoyuan clipped the flashlight and flipped open the first volume. He found that it not only had words but also illustrations. Among them, there was a picture of a person walking in the flowing water.

This book actually described dead falls?

This wasn't a place to read books. After closing the book, Li Zhuoyuan rummaged through this box for a while and finally found this set of books together.

*Jianghu Strange Records*, a total of forty-two volumes.

The number of volumes was a bit large, but it was not surprising. After all, it was handwritten with a brush, and the font was relatively large.

Li Zhuoyuan decided to read this set first. This should be similar to an encyclopedia specifically describing the strange existences in rivers and lakes, considered entry-level reading.

Li Zhuoyuan didn't open the other boxes. He wanted to keep some expectations.

Next, Li Zhuoyuan started acting as a book porter, making three trips to finally transport the full set of *Jianghu Strange Records* to his room on the second floor.

He also re-locked the basement door and kept the key on his person instead of putting it back in the cloth shoes.

"Xiao Yuan Hou." Li Sanjiang's voice came from outside, "Xiao Yuan Hou, come out quickly."

Li Zhuoyuan opened the door and walked out.

"Whoa... did you just roll in the mud?"

"Great-grandfather, I just need to wash and change clothes."

"No hurry, look at this first, hehe. Come, Li Hou, put it here, we grandfathers and grandsons can sit side by side."

"Okay." Qin Uncle carried a rattan chair over.

Li Zhuoyuan felt a wave of warmth in his heart. Yesterday, he had just told Great-grandfather that he wanted a rattan chair, and Great-grandfather actually bought him one today.

"Great-grandfather, I also want a desk lamp."

The brightness of the bulb in the room wasn't enough. It was bright enough in the evening, but it was a bit difficult to read books. Li Zhuoyuan saw that there were kerosene lamps at home, but there was no need to suffer hardship.

"Want a desk lamp, for reading?"

"Yes."

"Alright, Li Hou, you go to town again, buy the lad a desk lamp, and buy some more pens and notebooks. I see other lads still have that stationery box... Forget it, just buy whatever you think is appropriate."

"Okay, I'll go after dinner."

"No, not this afternoon. There's still some time before lunch, you go now."

"Okay."

Li Sanjiang looked at Li Zhuoyuan again and said seriously, "When your grandfather came before, I specifically instructed him to ask Ying Hou to come over this afternoon to tutor you."

After saying this, Li Sanjiang's old face actually showed a teasing expression of "Ha, you didn't think of that, did you?"

"Ah?"

Li Zhuoyuan's face showed disappointment. He was planning to concentrate on reading and didn't want to help his sister with tutoring.

When his sister was doing her first year of high school summer homework, there weren't too many topics she didn't understand. Now his sister was already previewing her second year of high school courses, and there weren't too many topics she didn't understand.

Li Sanjiang reached out and rubbed Li Zhuoyuan's head, saying earnestly, "This child of yours, you take after your mother. What a pity to have such a smart brain and not use it to study?"

"But, Great-grandfather…"

"No buts, study hard. Later, go to a good university like your mother, that's the right path, understand?"

"But Great-grandfather, I'm already taking classes in university."

"Hey, you still dare to fool your Great-grandfather? Your Great-grandfather hasn't eaten pork but hasn't seen pigs run? Listen, that's how it is!"

"Oh, right, Li Hou, when you go to town later, buy some snacks for the child, buy whatever you see, and buy a share for your daughter too."

"Okay, Uncle."

Li Zhuoyuan looked at Qin Uncle, pointed his hand to the southeast corner of the balcony, and said, "Uncle, can you help me move the rattan chair over there?"

Qin Uncle: "Yes."

"What are you going to do over there?" Li Sanjiang saw that Li Zhuoyuan was unwilling to sit side by side with his rattan chair and walked over to the southeast corner curiously. Good heavens, looking down, he saw the little girl sitting inside the east room threshold.

"Hey, Xiao Yuan Hou, what are you doing here?"

Li Zhuoyuan: "Great-grandfather, I think the feng shui is good here."

"Pah!" Li Sanjiang laughed and scolded, "Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You just want to look at the pretty girl."

That girl Qin Li was indeed good-looking, otherwise Li Sanjiang wouldn't have taken the initiative to give her candy initially, but that girl was really fierce.

Qin Uncle moved the rattan chair over, then greeted Li Sanjiang. He would go to town to buy things next.

After Qin Uncle left, Li Sanjiang pulled Li Zhuoyuan aside and pointed his finger to warn him: "I'm telling you, Xiao Yuan Hou, it's fine to just look at this girl, but don't think about getting close to her and playing, otherwise she will scratch your face. Look at your face, how fair and tender it is, what a pity to scratch and disfigure it, how will you find a wife later?"

"Okay, Great-grandfather, I know."

"Besides, why like any girl, like one with a problematic brain? Even if she's pretty, it's useless. Do you really want to take care of her for a lifetime?"

These words were not convenient for Li Sanjiang to say when Qin Li was around.

"I understand, Great-grandfather."

"Forget it, you're still young, why am I telling you all this? It's still early to get married. Alright, Great-grandfather is going out, I won't be back for lunch, you eat by yourself."

"Okay."

Li Sanjiang walked downstairs with his hands behind his back, humming a little tune. When he reached the dam, he turned back and looked at the balcony above, a smile appearing on his face.

Xiao Yuan Hou wanted things from him, and he didn't feel bad about the money, he had money!

He suddenly felt that earning money for children to spend was also a kind of happiness.

Before, he felt that Han Hou was a son slave and had no prospects, especially since that group of sons were not very filial. But now, he suddenly understood something.

If raising children is not for taking care of oneself in old age, but purely for the feeling, would it have some meaning, and make one's life more substantial?

We gave birth to you, and we don't ask you to be grateful to me. Anyway, the old man is also living for himself.

Hey, this feeling is quite good too.

Li Sanjiang shook his head. Forget it, what's the use of thinking about this now? He was already nearing the age of being buried, and he was doomed to have no sons or daughters in this lifetime.

After Great-grandfather left, Li Zhuoyuan washed and changed clothes impatiently, then picked up the first volume of *Jianghu Strange Records*, sat on the rattan chair, flipped open the book, and started reading.

The words in this book were in slender gold style, which made it much more comfortable to read. Compared to the words in that *Jinsha Luowen Jing*, which were like dog scratches.

He silently made a wish in his heart: Hope the other books in the box have good handwriting.

Li Zhuoyuan quickly immersed himself in the reading atmosphere. However, every time he turned a page, he would glance down at the girl sitting there with her feet on the threshold.

He had no distracting thoughts in his heart, he just purely felt that good-looking things, when looked at, could nourish the eyes and make people feel more pleasant.

Only, the girl had no other actions since she turned her gaze to look at Niu Fu's back in the morning.

Reading time passed very quickly. In the middle, Qin Uncle came back and delivered him a desk lamp, a set of stationery, and many snacks.

After reading for a while longer, Liu Aunt's shout came from below: "Xiao Yuan Hou, time to eat!"

"Okay, I'll go down."

Putting down the book, Li Zhuoyuan went downstairs. Lunch was still eaten on the dam, but he had a table to himself.

On the square stool was a plate of chicken pieces with burnt beans, a plate of leeks fried with eggs, and a bowl of crucian carp soup.

Li Zhuoyuan couldn't help but sigh. The living conditions at Great-grandfather's house were indeed good.

At his grandfather's house, Pan Zi brother and Lei Zi brother, they were probably still eating porridge now.

However, he didn't think about bringing the dishes back to share. He knew it wasn't appropriate.

On the dam, Liu Grandma squatted beside Qin Li, persuading her in a soft voice.

Finally, Qin Li lowered her head and started eating.

It was still the same way she ate breakfast, with very frequent switching between dishes and rice, and the rhythm was absolutely not chaotic.

After Li Zhuoyuan finished eating, he rushed to collect the bowls and chopsticks and send them to the kitchen before Liu Aunt appeared, then washed his hands, returned to the second floor, and continued reading.

The first volume of this book started by talking about the matter of dead falls. There were many kinds of dead falls. The kind like Xiao Huangying, who could stand and walk, was only considered moderately dangerous in this book, even slightly on the lower side.

But the more dangerous dead falls were recorded with more vague years and places, and the pictures were also more abstract, gradually having some feeling of reading *Shan Hai Jing*.

Li Zhuoyuan felt this was also normal. For such dangerous dead falls, not many people who saw them could come back alive, so the records were naturally vague.

"Yuan Zi."

Ying Zi came over with a stool and a small stool.

Li Zhuoyuan looked up at Ying Zi. "Sister."

"I'm here, hehe, come, have some candy." Ying Zi took out candy from her pocket and handed it over.

"Thank you, Sister." Li Zhuoyuan peeled a candy, put it in his mouth, and then walked into his bedroom.

Ying Zi opened her cloth bag and placed her books and homework. She curiously reached out and flipped through the book Li Zhuoyuan had left on the rattan chair. She frowned slightly; she didn't understand the words.

At this time, Li Zhuoyuan came out with snacks and placed them beside Ying Zi. "Sister, eat."

"This is too much, how can I eat so much?"

"Take it back to share with everyone, don't let Grandpa and Grandma see."

The snacks Li Zhuoyuan took out were the ones Li Weihan had sent in the morning. The ones Great-grandfather bought, he didn't touch.

"You're my younger brother, eating your things, it feels strange and embarrassing."

Seeing that Li Zhuoyuan had already picked up the book and continued reading, Ying Zi could only continue to say, "Yuan Zi, when Sister works and earns money later, I'll buy you more delicious things to eat."

Li Zhuoyuan looked up and replied with a smile, "Okay, Sister."

Then he lowered his head and continued to read.

Seeing that he was engrossed in reading, Ying Zi also lowered her head to preview her own lessons. However, this time she didn't ask Li Zhuoyuan whenever she encountered something she didn't understand, like before. Instead, she wrote it down and waited until the end to ask all at once, so as not to disturb him for now.

After Li Zhuoyuan finished the first volume, he stood up, walked to the empty space in front, and seriously did a set of national middle school student radio gymnastics.

Many contents in this book were written obscurely and difficult, plus vague. He had to look and ponder at the same time. This was the first time he had felt so tired from reading a book.

But it was really substantial and rewarding.

Li Zhuoyuan was very happy because he could finally empathize with those classmates who had poor grades in class. It turned out they always lived so happily and substantially.

After finishing the gymnastics, Li Zhuoyuan went to the toilet. During the daytime, he didn't need a spittoon. He went downstairs and ran to the back of the house. Along the way, he saw the girl sitting behind the threshold and stopped to greet her:

"Good afternoon."

Of course, the girl didn't respond, not even giving him a glance.

After returning to the second floor, he put the first volume back, took out the second volume, and continued reading.

With the first volume as a foundation for adaptation, Li Zhuoyuan could gradually understand the author's writing habits and even empathize with some of the other party's mentality. So, the second volume only took half the time to read as the first volume.

He immediately went to change to the third volume. By the time he finished the third volume, it was already nearing dusk.

Li Zhuoyuan put down the book and looked at his sister Ying Zi beside him.

"Sister, is there anything you don't understand?"

"Yes, this, this, this, this, this, and these…"

Li Zhuoyuan took his sister's pen and started writing down the problem-solving process. He tried to write it as detailed as possible so that his sister could slowly read it herself. At least, it was much more efficient than him explaining it orally.

Watching his younger brother "shua shua" writing quickly in the notebook, Ying Zi only felt very envious.

Indeed, if the Old Li family removed the little aunt and younger brother, the whole family, so many people, might not add up to one brain.

She also truly felt very lucky. Although her dad and mom would give her money to buy teaching materials, auxiliary books in this era were originally very rough. Many real problems and explanations only remained within some key schools, and even if you were willing to spend money, it was very hard to get them.

Not to mention the role of her younger brother, which had long exceeded auxiliary books. He was simply her private tutor. Her dad and mom, even if they were more open-minded, couldn't possibly hire a school teacher to tutor her alone, and they couldn't afford it either.

After Li Zhuoyuan finished writing, he exhaled a long breath, rubbed his sore wrist, and said, "Sister, I suggest you should first fully grasp the concepts, then match them with simple problems to deepen your understanding. This way, your study efficiency can be improved."

Ying Zi: But, I'm doing exactly that?

Ying Zi lowered her head and started looking at the problem-solving process her younger brother had given her. She could feel it was very detailed, but as she looked at it step by step, she still felt a little effort.

It was like her brain was being forced open, pouring knowledge points in bit by bit with great difficulty, and spilling half of what was poured in.

At this time, Li Sanjiang came back. He walked onto the dam and looked up, seeing Li Zhuoyuan and Ying Zi sitting in the southeast corner of the second floor.

He saw Li Zhuoyuan with a relaxed expression and a smile on his face, and then saw Ying Zi with a sorrowful expression and no desire to live.

"Humph, this stinky kid, not studying seriously, making his sister headache!"

...

Ying Zi didn't stay for dinner. When she came, Li Weihan had already instructed her.

This time, Li Sanjiang actually spoke up and tried to keep her. Seeing her insist on refusing, he finally gave up.

In the past, Li Sanjiang had always looked down on Li Weihan's four sons and paid little attention to their children. But who told him to ask Ying Zi to come tutor Xiao Yuan Hou today?

"Xiao Yuan Hou, tomorrow, share some of the snacks with your sister."

Li Zhuoyuan, who was eating, replied, "Great-grandfather, I will."

"Okay."

Li Sanjiang felt relieved in his heart. He couldn't make the girl child angry, or she wouldn't come to tutor tomorrow.

After dinner, as usual, Li Zhuoyuan was the first to wash up. When he came out after washing, he saw Li Sanjiang standing at the northern edge of the balcony, holding a cigarette in his left hand and gripping the railing in his right hand. In front of him, reflected in the moonlight, a parabola of water appeared.

"Xiao Yuan Hou, finished washing?"

"Finished, Great-grandfather, you go wash up."

"Okay, wait for me in the room."

Li Sanjiang shook his shoulders, straightened his chest, then shook his thighs back and forth.

Li Zhuoyuan then understood. It turned out he didn't need a spittoon in the evening.

Walking into Great-grandfather's bedroom, the array was still there, but it was newly drawn.

After enduring a look at the array, Li Zhuoyuan blinked his eyes doubtfully. He could tell that tonight's and yesterday's were the same array, but it was still different from the one drawn in *Jinsha Luowen Jing*.

The difference from the book was understandable, after all, it was the same yesterday.

"But, how is it also a little different from yesterday's drawing?"

Li Zhuoyuan could only suspect that this was Great-grandfather making fine adjustments based on the effect of yesterday's array.

One reason was that he was still reading the entry-level book and hadn't seen the array diagrams;

The second reason was that in his world, which was full of rigor, he couldn't temporarily jump out of the inertia of rigorous thinking to consider another possibility.

Li Zhuoyuan sat in his own position.

Not long after, Li Sanjiang walked in after washing. He was wearing a pair of white shorts today, and there was still a hole in them.

Just like yesterday, he first tied himself and Li Zhuoyuan with a black rope, still in the old position. Then he lit a candle, and finally, he also sat inside the circle.

This time, Li Zhuoyuan looked carefully and discovered that Great-grandfather's talisman paper was taken out from inside his shorts, and the shorts had no pockets.

Lighting it, reciting the scripture, then catching it before it burned his hand,

"Pa!"

He slapped it on the ground.

The candle didn't go out, and the bulb didn't flicker either.

"Okay, Great-grandfather?"

"Not yet, wait a bit."

Saying this, Li Sanjiang took out another talisman, lit it, and repeated the action, but this time he used more force to slap the talisman on the ground.

"Pa!!!"

This crisp sound made the corners of Li Sanjiang's mouth twitch with pain.

But the strong force had an effect.

With a "Shua" sound, the candle went out, and the head bulb also flickered twice.

"Success!"

Li Sanjiang sighed with relief and said calmly, "Xiao Yuan Hou, go to sleep, remember, don't untie the rope."

"I know, Great-grandfather."

After Li Zhuoyuan went out, Li Sanjiang immediately blew on his palm:

"Hu hu... Si si... So painful."

After blowing, he looked at the bed again, and a bitter expression immediately appeared on his face:

"Damn it, will there be a zombie meeting again tonight?"

...

After returning to his bedroom, Li Zhuoyuan didn't go to bed. Instead, he turned on the desk lamp, took out the fourth volume, and continued reading.

After finishing the fourth volume, he took out the fifth volume. But before he had read a few pages of the fifth volume, he leaned his forehead against the tabletop and fell asleep.

...

In the rice field, an old lady's figure appeared. If Li Zhuoyuan saw her at this time, he would recognize her as the one carried on Niu Fu's hunched back.

She was stooping, and green light emitted from her eyes. On her originally wrinkled face, wisps of fine hair actually slowly grew out.

Her figure disappeared from her original spot, and the next moment, she appeared on the dam, then immediately disappeared again. This time, she appeared in the first floor room again.

She stopped in the middle of the paper figure pile, looking at so many paper people, paper horses, paper houses… She tilted her head, and a strange smile appeared on her face.

...

Li Zhuoyuan rubbed his eyes and lifted his head. He had actually fallen asleep while reading.

He planned to go pee and then go to bed, just as Great-grandfather had demonstrated.

Standing up, he walked to the bedroom door, pushed it open, and walked out. Li Zhuoyuan didn't notice that Ying Zi, who was sitting behind the small desk, was still sleeping soundly with her head resting on the book.

When he came outside, a cool evening breeze blew, and Li Zhuoyuan only felt refreshed.

But soon, he heard a noisy commotion coming from below.

So late, who was making a fuss?

That's not right… Great-grandfather's house was very quiet even during the daytime.

Li Zhuoyuan walked to the edge of the balcony and listened with his ear tilted downwards.

He heard men and women singing and speaking, heard horses neighing, heard cats and dogs barking, various sounds. It was as if a carnival party was being held on the first floor.

But there was only a big pile of paper figures on the first floor, could it be?

Li Zhuoyuan was startled at first, then immediately enlightened: Oh, I must be dreaming.

Just at this moment, Li Zhuoyuan's gaze swept downwards, and he was stunned to see a figure in a purple cheongsam standing on the dam, Qin Li!

Eh, how did you walk out of the threshold by yourself?

No,

No,

Why would you appear in my dream!

()