Chapter 2

She,

is so beautiful.

The water waves rippled gently, twisting the light and shadow just right, and combined with Little Huang Ying's posture and movements, it was as if a filter had been rendered over it.

Li Zhuiyuan had been taken by his parents to see cultural performances at their workplace before and had seen many professional singers and dancers, but the impact of Little Huang Ying's performance on him yesterday was no less than it was on his older brothers and younger brothers.

Under his parents' education, he had always been very sensible and followed the rules, but Little Huang Ying under that crude shed had shown him another kind of wild style.

It was seductive, it was loose, it was earthy, it was not presentable, but that scent was really good to smell.

She was coming over, getting closer and closer, like a person in a painting, walking out of the painting, and walking into the painting.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan had forgotten his situation, as if he didn't remember he was still in the water, ignoring the panic of being unable to breathe and the water constantly choking into his mouth and nose.

Until,

She reached out her hand.

Yesterday, when he was squeezed in the front with his brothers to watch the performance, Little Huang Ying twisted her waist and sang as she came to him, and even specially reached out to touch his face, because Li Zhuiyuan was as fair as a porcelain doll among that group of children.

Originally, Li Zhuiyuan was looking forward to being touched by her again.

There were many recesses on the local earth stove, and one recess was usually opened at the back of the stove, with the Kitchen God pasted on it, and a small incense burner placed in the recess.

This time she reached out both hands.

Both hands grabbed Li Zhuiyuan's shoulders on both sides.

"So cold... so painful..."

In an instant, the atmosphere was twisted and torn, and the previous strange and inexplicable fascination disappeared.

In Li Zhuiyuan's eyes, fear finally revealed itself, like a person whose anesthesia had worn off, suddenly regaining the sense of pain.

But gradually, a scary scene appeared, and Cui Guiying covered her mouth directly.

At this moment, a force came from behind.

Li Zhuiyuan felt himself being pulled, like tug-of-war he had played at school before, but this time he was the rope.

Finally, accompanied by some kind of detachment, Li Zhuiyuan was pulled up.

In his field of vision, he floated up, floating higher and higher, while Little Huang Ying below became farther and smaller.

Her arms were raised toward him, and between the two of them, an abyss that shouldn't have appeared gradually separated them.

"Hey-yo!"

Fortunately, his grandson was carrying a bamboo basket, and Li Weihan was grabbing this bamboo basket to exert force upward.

Heavy, it was that kind of dead heavy. Clearly, he was just a child, but Li Weihan felt like he was struggling with a bull in heat.

Below this, there was a force not letting his grandson come up.

Lei Zi also came to help at this time, hugging Li Weihan's waist and exerting force backward.

Finally,

"Splash!"

When his grandson was pulled out of the water, that struggling force suddenly disappeared. Li Weihan, Lei Zi, and Li Zhuiyuan, who had just been grabbed out, all fell onto the boat.

"Go quickly!"

Li Weihan didn't have time to get up before roaring at Pan Zi.

Pan Zi didn't drop the ball this time, using all his strength to pole, quickly moving to the other side.

"Grandpa, she's coming, she's coming!"

Lei Zi pointed in horror toward the front.

Li Weihan looked over there, only to see that accompanied by the movement of the boat, that clump of black hair on the water surface was actually following them here.

She was chasing!

"Lei Hou, go help Pan Hou pole the boat, quickly!"

"Okay, Grandpa."

Lei Zi got up and ran over. The brothers shouted slogans and exerted force together, and the boat speed further accelerated.

Li Weihan picked up a fishing rod, his expression solemn. After discovering that the clump of hair was still shortening the distance to the boat, Li Weihan shouted and poked the fishing rod at a point slightly in front of the clump of hair.

The fishing rod entered the water. It should have poked something but didn't receive any resistance. Instead, a huge force appeared, continuing to pull the fishing rod downward.

"Oh my..."

Li Weihan exclaimed. Fortunately, he let go of the fishing rod in time, otherwise he would have been dragged into the water by this terrible force.

The hair was closer.

Standing by the side of the boat, Li Weihan could see the woman's black cheongsam figure underwater in front.

Clearly, the river was flowing eastward, but she was moving against the current.

She was walking, she was really walking by herself!

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

The boat began to shake, gradually becoming violent.

Li Weihan found it hard to imagine what the consequences would be if the boat capsized and he and his grandsons fell into the water. This was no longer a question of whether their swimming skills were good or not; this dead fall was extremely evil!

At this moment, Li Weihan's eyes swept to the fishing net at his feet. Without time to think more, he immediately grabbed the fishing net and cast it toward the position of the hair, which was now less than two meters away from the boat.

The fishing net first covered the water surface, and the surroundings quickly sank by half.

At first, the fishing net on the water surface was still being dragged to continue moving, but gradually, its speed slowed down. Finally, it stopped.

It worked, it tripped her!

Li Weihan rushed to the stern and reached out to grab the bamboo pole: "You go check on Little Brother Yuan Hou!"

"Okay, Grandpa."

Pan Zi and Lei Zi were just older children after all. The previous burst of poling had already made the two boys somewhat exhausted. After Li Weihan took over, they immediately ran to Li Zhuiyuan's side.

"Yuanzi, Yuanzi? Yuanzi, wake up, wake up quickly!"

"Grandpa, Yuanzi won't wake up."

Li Weihan continued to pole while looking at the fishing net that was gradually moving away, and shouted back: "Is there any breath!"

"Grandpa, there's breath!"

"Pat Little Brother Yuan Hou on the back."

The brothers immediately followed the instructions, one helping Li Zhuiyuan sit up and the other patting his back with his hand.

But after a long time of tossing and turning, Li Zhuiyuan still didn't wake up.

"Grandpa, it's no use!"

Li Weihan didn't answer, just gritted his teeth and kept poling, not daring to let go to wipe his eyes even as sweat flowed into them.

Finally, the boat reached home. Li Weihan threw the bamboo pole, didn't care about tying the boat rope, picked up Li Zhuiyuan, and jumped off the boat. He was very tired, and when he jumped down, his body stumbled. To protect the grandson in his arms, he could only use his knees to brace against the blue-brick steps below.

"Hiss..."

A cut was knocked on his knee, but the next moment he forced himself to get up and carried the child into the house:

"Guiying, Guiying!"

"Back so early?" Cui Guiying was clearing ash behind the stove. Hearing the movement, she stood up. Seeing her old man holding a child in his arms, she immediately shouted anxiously, "What's wrong, what's wrong, what's wrong with the child?"

Li Weihan first carried the child to a mat in the inner room. There were many children in the family, and the bed couldn't sleep them all. It was summer, so they all slept on floor mats collectively at night.

Cui Guiying held Li Zhuiyuan's head and patted his face lightly, but found that the child wouldn't wake up no matter what, and immediately cried:

"Oh my, my child, my child, what's wrong with you."

"Stop howling!" Li Weihan kicked Cui Guiying's calf. "Quick, change the child into dry clothes."

Cui Guiying hurriedly wiped the corners of her eyes and got up to get clothes.

"Pan Zi, go call Zheng Datong!"

"Okay, Grandpa."

Zheng Datong's name was Zheng Huamin, the clinic doctor in Siyuan Village, also known as a barefoot doctor. Because he liked to use a large syringe to deliberately scare children, the children gave him this nickname first. As time went on, the adults followed suit.

"Lei Zi, go call Blind Liu."

"Okay, Grandpa."

Blind Liu's real name was Liu Jinxia. Her parents died early, and her uncle arranged for her to marry from Sian Town. In the first year of her marriage, her parents-in-law died of illness one after another, making many wives in the village secretly envious.

As a result, in the second year, her man drank alcohol at night, went to the toilet, fell into the cesspit, and drowned, leaving only a daughter who had just been born.

At that time, rumors spread in the village that Liu Jinxia's fate was too hard.

It was difficult for a widow to raise a child. In addition to doing farm work at home, Liu Jinxia started the business of fortune-telling and suppressing bad luck for others. The more fierce the rumors about her spread, the more people believed in her ability.

In these years, scratching for food in the fields could only mix a full stomach. To live a more prosperous life, one had to rely on other businesses. Liu Jinxia relied on this business to recruit a live-in son-in-law for her daughter Li Juxiang.

As a result, in the second year after the son-in-law moved in, it was said that he had a sudden heart attack. While planting rice in the fields, the man fell headfirst into the field and died.

Leaving Li Juxiang to raise a daughter who was also just born.

Now, let alone the village, people from all around were convinced of the fate of Liu Jinxia's branch, and Liu Jinxia's business became even better because of this.

She simply rented out her land to others to farm, and let her daughter buy a tricycle in town. Wherever there was business, she would let her daughter Li Juxiang ride the tricycle to carry her there.

A few years ago, Liu Jinxia got cataracts and couldn't see very clearly, which could be considered to have completed her personal commercial image.

On this side, just as Cui Guiying finished changing Li Zhuiyuan into wet clothes, she saw her old man take a ladle of well water to rinse the blood on his knee, and then open the locked cupboard to take out three packs of cigarettes.

He threw one pack to Cui Guiying first and instructed: "When Zheng Datong comes, dismantle it in front of him and pull one out. Pull another one when he leaves. Put the medical expenses on the account."

Immediately after, Li Weihan threw over another pack: "Give Blind Liu a whole pack. Don't talk about anything else."

Cui Guiying reminded: "I heard that this Blind Liu is very expensive for a trip now."

Li Weihan shook his head: "It's fine if she's blind, but don't let her conscience be blind."

Blind Liu's man used to play in the mud with Li Weihan when they were growing up. In the few years after her man died, the orphan and widow had a hard time at home. It was Li Weihan who often sent relief and helped with farm work during busy farming seasons. Therefore, Li Weihan was often gossiped about at that time.

Although the two families didn't visit each other much now, if that Blind Liu dared to take his family's money, he, Li Weihan, would dare to spit in her face.

The last pack was put into his own pocket by Li Weihan.

Cui Guiying asked in surprise: "Are you going out?"

Li Weihan nodded: "I'm going to find Uncle Sanjiang."

"What! What did you bump into?"

Li Weihan glanced at the children around him and glared at his old woman: "Wait until I come back to tell you."

After speaking, Li Weihan pushed the 28-inch bicycle out the door.

Cui Guiying sat back down by the mat, stroking Li Zhuiyuan and calling his name non-stop.

A little granddaughter asked curiously: "What's wrong with Brother Yuanzi?"

Hu Zi immediately said: "I know, Brother Yuanzi bumped into a water monkey and was pulled down to be a substitute!"

For a time, the children around all showed fearful expressions and retreated one after another.

"Clap!"

A slap mark appeared on Hu Zi's face.

Cui Guiying scolded: "Pah, you're dizzy to talk nonsense. Go outside and see if the person we invited has arrived, go quickly!"

"Hey! Going now!"

Hu Zi wasn't pretentious. Although this slap hurt, he didn't take it to heart, and ran out with Shitou and the others to look for people.

Cui Guiying instructed her eldest granddaughter Ying Zi to help her get a bowl with water and a needle. She picked up the needle, scratched Li Zhuiyuan's forehead and top of his head several times, and then placed the needle flat in the bowl.

There was such a custom locally: whoever had a headache or fever or felt uncomfortable in the body would use this needle to "call" them.

Before long, a voice came from outside: "Zheng Datong is here, Zheng Datong is here!"

Zheng Datong walked into the house carrying a wooden medicine box.

"Doctor Zheng, take a look at the child, take a look at the child."

Cui Guiying took out the cigarette, unsealed it, pulled one out, and handed it over.

Zheng Datong took the cigarette, tucked it behind his ear, squatted down, looked at Li Zhuiyuan, and asked: "What's wrong with the child?"

"Fell into the water and can't wake up."

"Fell into the water?" Zheng Datong first pried open Li Zhuiyuan's mouth and nose, then flipped open his eyelids to look, and then took out a stethoscope from the box and listened carefully.

When he put away the stethoscope, Cui Guiying leaned over and asked: "Doctor Zheng, how is it?"

Zheng Datong frowned, helped Li Zhuiyuan sit up, and Cui Guiying hurriedly reached out to help.

He patted the child's back and observed for a while. Zheng Datong put the child back down, took off the cigarette from his ear, and bit it in his mouth.

Cui Guiying hurriedly got up to get matches from the stove, but saw that Zheng Datong had already lit it himself and took several puffs in a row.

"How is it, doctor?"

Zheng Datong looked at Cui Guiying: "How long has the child been in the water?"

Cui Guiying looked at Pan Zi.

Pan Zi: "Just a little while, Yuanzi was grabbed by his grandfather as soon as he fell."

Zheng Datong frowned again and took a big puff of the cigarette. After exhaling the smoke ring, he said: "Auntie, the child didn't drown, and he didn't choke on water. There's nothing wrong."

"Then why can't he wake up?" Cui Guiying asked.

"Take the child to the town health center for another checkup. It might be other problems." Zheng Datong packed up his things and stood up. He couldn't do anything.

Cui Guiying pulled out another cigarette and handed it to him.

"Not smoking, not smoking." While saying this, he took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear.

Immediately, Zheng Datong stepped on the cigarette butt of the one in his mouth after smoking it to the filter, and whispered: "Have you asked Blind Liu to look?"

"Ah, I have." Cui Guiying was a little embarrassed.

Zheng Datong nodded. Pan Zi told him some things on the way here. At this moment, he could only instruct: "If he still doesn't wake up by night, send him to town tomorrow morning."

"Alright, alright, sorry to trouble you, sorry to trouble you."

At this time, Lei Zi ran in, reached out to wipe the sweat on his face, and said to Cui Guiying: "Blind Liu is here."

Cui Guiying scolded: "You little rascal, you have no manners. You should call her Grandma Liu."

Zheng Datong knew he had to give way, walked out of the house, and happened to see a tricycle being ridden over from a distance, with an old woman sitting on it.

"Heh..."

Zheng Datong suddenly remembered the various new medicines that had been hyped up in the newspapers recently. Wasn't he participating in it? Hey, what was that called?

Oh, right...

Integration of Chinese and Western medicine.

Lei Zi ran home to notify first. Li Juxiang was pedaling the tricycle behind, complaining a little: "Mom, you shouldn't have been so slow. You should have come earlier."

Earlier, someone from the neighboring Shigang Town came to discuss the arrangements for her mother's birthday. She could have let the person wait at home and come here first, but her mother insisted on finishing that person's business before going to the toilet, and only came over after dawdling.

Liu Jinxia, sitting on the small stool in the back, exhaled a smoke ring and said irritably: "Why are you in such a hurry? Anyway, we won't get any money from their family."

"Mom, do you really have the nerve to collect?"

"Pah, if he wants to give, I'll collect."

"I remember when I was young, Uncle Han helped us a lot."

"He has four sons, why didn't he send one to me?" Liu Jinxia shook the cigarette ash. "None of them are live-in sons-in-law, and I don't want his family's betrothal money. He wouldn't even give me a daughter-in-law for free, heh!"

"How can you blame Uncle Han for that."

"I'm telling you, Xiang, it's fine if others talk nonsense about us mother and daughter, after all, mouths are on people's faces. Why do you have to trample on yourself like this?" Li Juxiang pursed her lips.

"Xiang, Little Cui is still young, and your mother doesn't have many years to live. In the future, Little Cui will still have to rely on you. So what if there's no man? I, Liu Jinxia, want to prove that without a man, we mother and daughter can also eat well and drink well, and live better than other families!"

"We're here, Mom."

The tricycle rode onto the dam and arrived at the old Li family's door.

Cui Guiying took the initiative to step forward to help Liu Jinxia get off the car. Liu Jinxia patted the back of Cui Guiying's hand and said: "Oh my, how can I be embarrassed to let you help me? Your family's Han is my benefactor."

"Grandma of the child, come and take a look at the child quickly. The child still hasn't woken up."

Liu Jinxia: "I heard from Lei Hou that he bumped into something in the water?"

Cui Guiying: "The child's grandfather has already gone to invite Uncle Sanjiang."

Hearing this, Liu Jinxia's heart tightened. She grabbed Cui Guiying's hand tightly and urged: "Quick, take me to see the child."

She had also heard some things when Lei Zi came to pass the message earlier, but at that time she thought the child was adding oil and vinegar to talk nonsense. Now that Li Weihan had gone to find that Li Sanjiang, this matter was really serious!

She, Liu Jinxia, still cherished Li Weihan's kindness from before.

Entering the house, she heard the chatter of a group of children. Liu Jinxia had poor eyesight and felt like she had walked into a duck nest. She immediately waved her hand and scolded:

"Little rascals, move aside, don't make noise, you're disturbing the Kitchen God!"

Cui Guiying hurriedly told the older children to take the younger ones out and closed the door.

"Where is he?" Liu Jinxia asked.

"In the inner room." Cui Guiying prepared to take her in.

"Bring him to the kitchen, there's a stove here."

"Alright, I'll go carry the child out."

With Li Juxiang's help, Li Zhuiyuan was placed on the kitchen dining table.

Liu Jinxia's pair of old hands first touched Li Zhuiyuan's legs, then touched from the legs all the way up to his face. After touching his face, she stopped at the child's shoulder position and pressed lightly.

This pair of her hands was full of smoke-cured flavor in the crevices of her fingers because of smoking, and she liked to soak in white vinegar for maintenance, so the smell was even more pungent.

People standing nearby could smell it. If it were smelled close up, ordinary fainting might really be woken up by the smell.

Liu Jinxia felt it for a while and asked: "Guiying, have you called him?"

"Called, called." Cui Guiying immediately brought over the bowl with water and needles, and then she was scared and shouted: "Ah!"

The needle in the bowl was not only rusted, but it was red rust, and a patch of it spread around the needle at the bottom.

Seeing this, Li Juxiang beside her immediately leaned into her mother's ear to describe it.

After listening, Liu Jinxia took a deep breath and said with a solemn expression: "Sister, the child has been cursed."

"Ah?" Cui Guiying was scared again and immediately begged: "You save him, save him. My daughter only has this one child. If he's raised here, nothing can happen."

As she spoke, Cui Guiying took the pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and handed it to Liu Jinxia.

Liu Jinxia pushed it away and sighed instead.

Cui Guiying: "You smoke it first, we'll make up the money later..."

Liu Jinxia interrupted Cui Guiying: "I won't take your family's things. I can't take it, it's hot."

"I'm telling you, sister, don't say that, my child..."

Liu Jinxia turned to her daughter and smiled bitterly: "Did you hear that? It's the son of the little girl your Uncle Han likes the most."

"It's Lan's son." Li Juxiang paused and added, "Lan used to be very good to me."

Lan's name was Li Lan, Li Zhuiyuan's mother.

At that time, people in the village thought Liu Jinxia's family was unlucky, and parents would instruct their children not to play with Li Juxiang, so Li Juxiang's childhood was lonely. She couldn't run around like other children, because when she went to other people's houses, she would be rolled eyes at by the adults.

Li Lan didn't care about this at that time and often invited her to play together. This partnership lasted until Li Lan was admitted to university and left the village.

Liu Jinxia closed her eyes and was silent.

Li Juxiang looked at Li Zhuiyuan and said to Cui Guiying: "This child is really good-looking, and he looks very much like Lan."

Cui Guiying responded twice, her attention still on Liu Jinxia. She couldn't tell whether Liu Jinxia was shirking or acting coy.

Li Juxiang continued: "Before Little Little Cui Hou, there was a brother named Little Brother Yuan Hou who gave her chocolate to eat and went to pick stones by the creek with her."

Li Juxiang was isolated when she was young, let alone her daughter Li Cuicui now. On weekdays, her daughter could only stand far away and watch other children playing together.

Cuicui didn't dare to get close. If she got close, the children would say that the adults at home said they couldn't play with her, and then they would disperse.

The day before yesterday, Cuicui went home very happy, saying that there was a very good-looking brother who played with her for an afternoon. Other children told him not to play with her, but the brother didn't care and even gave her chocolate to eat.

Liu Jinxia opened her eyes and looked at her daughter with helplessness and heartache, and then she turned to Cui Guiying:

"Sister, let me tell you the truth."

"Hey, you say."

"Usually, for twenty deals, fifteen are actually nothing. I just go through the motions, and people just want peace of mind.

Among the rest, four look like something, but in the end, it's still nothing.

So, at most, one is something that brings out a little thinness, but it's not hard to wipe.

I won't take your money. First, your man really helped us mother and daughter before, so I can't take your money; second, the money for going through the motions is not necessary to take in front of this kind of matter."

"This, you this, the child, you have to save him, sister."

"I'll help him." Liu Jinxia smiled and said, "Give me some incense ash from the stove."

"Alright."

Cui Guiying took down the incense burner and sent it to Liu Jinxia.

Only to see Liu Jinxia grab a handful of incense ash, hold it in her hand, and mutter words.

She couldn't understand what she was chanting. Anyway, she chanted for a long time.

Liu Jinxia: "Cover it up well."

Before Cui Guiying could understand, Li Juxiang took the first step to cover Li Zhuiyuan's mouth and nose with her hand.

Liu Jinxia smeared the incense ash on the child's neck and shoulder position, rubbing and rubbing, as if she were applying prickly heat powder.

Liu Jinxia applied the incense ash to the child's neck and shoulders, rubbing and rubbing, as if she were applying prickly heat powder.

Because she saw that on her grandson's shoulder, two purple marks appeared, looking like two palm prints!

Liu Jinxia: "So fierce... daughter, start."

"Hey."

Li Juxiang responded, went out of the house and took some things back from the tricycle. Only to see her first put an empty bowl and a brush in Liu Jinxia's hand, poured ink into the bowl, and then took out a red thread ball from her pocket. It looked very much like the one used for knitting sweaters, but after untying it, it exuded a fishy smell, and Li Juxiang's palms were also left with a lot of red.

Next, Li Juxiang tied one end of the red thread to her wrist and the other end to Li Zhuiyuan's wrist, stood well after a distance.

Liu Jinxia dipped the brush in ink, and then kept drawing circles on the child's forehead, chanting things while drawing circles.

At first, everything was as usual, and nothing happened.

But as Liu Jinxia's speaking speed and hand speed became faster and faster, the red thread actually began to tremble.

Cui Guiying subconsciously wanted to see if the other end of the thread was moved by Li Juxiang, but as soon as she looked up, she saw Li Juxiang opening her mouth in great pain, and then "plop" knelt on the ground, her upper body leaning forward, as if being pressed to kowtow.

Liu Jinxia glanced at her daughter with heartache, but didn't slow down her speaking speed and hand speed.

"Ah... ah... ah..."

Li Juxiang rolled on the ground in pain, holding her arms, her feet kicking wildly, her mouth constantly overflowing with saliva, her eyes wide open, her face turning blue.

Cui Guiying stood by, worried about her grandson and worried about what would happen to Li Juxiang.

However, after the pain reached its peak, Li Juxiang gradually calmed down. Finally, she lay on the ground with her limbs spread out, panting heavily.

Liu Jinxia also stopped, her body swaying, and Cui Guiying hurriedly reached out to support her.

"Go get a basin of hot water and wipe the child."

"Hey, alright."

Cui Guiying immediately followed suit, took a basin, uncovered the small stove cover in the middle of the stove, and scooped hot water with a wooden spoon.

After the towel was wet, she began to wipe the incense ash for Li Zhuiyuan.

What was wiped away was not only incense ash, but also those two purple handprints, which melted like paint.

Cui Guiying even specially looked at the towel and found that no purple was left on it.

"Sister, is the child, okay?"

Liu Jinxia took out a cigarette, lit it, and coughed violently after taking a deep puff. Tears and snot fell down. This was choked by her own cigarette.

However, although Cui Guiying didn't wait for Liu Jinxia's answer in time, she found that her grandson, who had been in a coma, slowly opened his eyes.

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, Little Brother Yuan Hou, you're awake!"

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Cui Guiying blankly, looked around, and finally shouted in a hoarse voice: "Grandma."

"Hey, you're finally awake, Bodhisattva bless, Bodhisattva bless."

Beside, Li Juxiang climbed up from the ground, took a clean bowl by herself, poured some water for herself, and sipped it in small mouthfuls.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out, grabbed Cui Guiying's arm, and his body leaned a little, wanting to enter Grandma's embrace.

Cui Guiying hurriedly hugged Li Zhuiyuan into her arms and coaxed: "My child, my Little Brother Yuan Hou, my obedient child..."

Liu Jinxia: "You take care of the child, let him sleep again, he'll be fine when he wakes up."

Li Juxiang walked over and supported her mother out of the house.

Cui Guiying said: "When Old Han comes back, I and him..."

Liu Jinxia waved her hand: "Wait until the child is completely well before talking. We're going home first, don't send us off."

Cui Guiying really couldn't send them off anymore and could only continue to hold her grandson.

At this time, Li Zhuiyuan, who got comfort in Grandma's embrace, began to sleep again, but this sleeping posture was much more peaceful, unlike the heart-wrenching one with lips tightly pursed and brows furrowed.

On the way back on the tricycle, Liu Jinxia half-squatted up, pushed aside her daughter's collar to look at the blue bruise, and asked:

"Does it hurt?"

"Mom, you sit properly, don't fall off."

Liu Jinxia sat back, and after a long while, patted her thigh and scolded:

"Old Xiang, are we mother and daughter really born with a cheap life!"

Li Weihan didn't come back for a long time. Cui Guiying sent Hu Zi and Shitou to find Li Sanjiang. After Hu Zi and Shitou came back, they told her that Li Sanjiang's servant said he went out to deliver paper offerings, and Li Weihan went to look for him.

Cui Guiying understood. Li Sanjiang went to deliver paper offerings. According to the usual practice, the host family would leave a meal, and he liked to drink. Waiting dryly, she didn't know how long it would take. Her old man went to urge him.

For dinner, Cui Guiying asked a few older children to help do the chores. Li Weihan didn't come back after dinner, so Cui Guiying arranged for the children to sleep in the inner room.

She herself slept on a door panel in the kitchen with Li Zhuiyuan alone. Li Zhuiyuan slept very soundly.

Cui Guiying fanned the child with a cattail fan while wiping tears with heartache. The child really suffered this time.

She also thought of her daughter who had just divorced, and didn't know how she was doing now.

Unlike other families who valued boys over girls, the couple Cui Guiying loved this little girl the most.

The girl wanted to study, and she studied well, so they always provided for her. No matter what others said about girls' study being useless and not as good as marrying early, they were unmoved.

This favoritism toward her daughter naturally extended to her grandson.

Li Zhuiyuan had a dream, dreaming that he was in class in the youth class, and the old professor on the podium closed the book and said: "Alright, class dismissed."

He followed his deskmate out of the classroom, walking through a group of tall adults.

The two of them walked into the toilet and stood on the steps of the urinal.

The deskmate had already unzipped his pants and started to pee, then urged him:

"Zhuiyuan, you pee too, what are you waiting for?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded, just as he pulled down his zipper, he woke up suddenly.

This dream woke him up. He opened his eyes and, through the moonlight outside, saw his grandmother sleeping beside him, still holding the cattail fan in her hand.

So close, he almost wet the bed.

Li Zhuiyuan had already blurred the memories of the day. He climbed up lightly and prepared to pee.

The toilet was a separate small house far from the main house. A pit was dug underground, a large vat was buried, and a hollow wooden seat was placed on the vat. When Li Zhuiyuan saw it for the first time, he thought it looked very much like the dragon chair in the movie.

Therefore, locals generally called going to the toilet "going to the porcelain vat."

At first, Li Zhuiyuan also went there for urination. Later, under the experience sharing of his brothers, Li Zhuiyuan finally understood that as long as he left the house and the courtyard, he could mark anywhere.

If he went out the front door, he had to go out of the dam, which was a bit far. Li Zhuiyuan chose to go out the back door and come to the riverbank, which was close.

Just as Li Zhuiyuan was getting ready, he suddenly heard a "thump... thump... thump..." sound.

He looked down and found that the boat tied to the shore was shaking.

Li Zhuiyuan's mind seemed to think of some pictures. Did he seem to go out on a boat to catch fish with his grandfather and brothers during the day?

Then, did they catch fish, what did they eat for dinner, why didn't he have any impression?

"Thump... thump... thump..."

The boat was still shaking, but there were no waves on the river, and there was no wind.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan recalled the events of the day, remembered the black hair, remembered falling into the water, remembered underwater... Along with the memories, there was fear.

Li Zhuiyuan's body softened, he stumbled, sat on the ground, and subconsciously reached out to touch his shoulder, as if there was still a pair of cold hands grabbing him there.

It was this sitting action that changed the height, making the boat bottom that couldn't be seen fall into his field of vision.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

It turned out that there was a person under the water surface. Her head occasionally surfaced, hit the bottom of the boat, and then went down, then continued to probe, hit again, repeating over and over, tireless.

Suddenly, the hitting sound stopped, and the boat stopped shaking.

That head surfaced again, didn't continue to hit the bottom of the boat, but slowly turned around, accompanied by wet black hair constantly sliding down to both sides, barely revealing half of a rich and beautiful woman's face.

Her face was very white, so white that it seemed it would melt in this moonlight at any time.

At this moment, she seemed to have found the person she wanted to find, the corners of her mouth slowly outlined an arc, gradually revealing a smile.

Her lips were still bright red, and in this quiet night, it was a bit dazzling.

Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his eyes hard. When he looked over again, he found that he didn't know when her upper body had surfaced, and her arms were hanging down on both sides of her body.

Not daring to delay any longer, Li Zhuiyuan crawled up with his hands and feet and ran toward the house. He was tripped when crossing the threshold, but fortunately, he grabbed the door frame and stabilized himself.

Glancing back, Little Huang Ying, who was only half-exposed in the river, had already left the river surface and stood on the bottom blue stone steps.

"Grandma, Grandma!"

Li Zhuiyuan ran to the door panel bed and reached out to push Cui Guiying, but Cui Guiying continued to sleep soundly, holding the cattail fan.

"Grandma, wake up, Grandma, wake up!"

Li Zhuiyuan continued to shout, but Cui Guiying still showed no signs of waking up.

"Drip... drip... drip..."

The sound of water droplets came from behind him.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head. First, he saw a pair of red high heels, then fair and swollen ankles. The black cheongsam tightly wrapped her body, and water droplets kept dripping along her hem and hair tips.

She,

stood straight on the threshold!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3 =====

(End of chapter)