Chapter 2

She,

is so beautiful.

The water rippled gently, bending light and shadow in just the right measure, and combined with Xiao Huangying's posture and movements, it was as if a filter had been applied to her.

Li Zhuiyuan had previously been taken by his parents to watch cultural performances at their work unit, where he had seen many professional singers and dancers, yet yesterday the impact of Xiao Huangying's performance on him was no less than on his older and younger brothers.

Under his parents' upbringing, he had always understood and adhered to rules, yet beneath that crude shed, Xiao Huangying had displayed to him a different kind of wild splendor.

It was flirtatious, it was wanton, it was rustic, it was unfit for polite society, yet that scent, it truly smelled so good.

She was approaching, getting closer, like a figure from a painting stepping out of the canvas, yet simultaneously walking back into it.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan had forgotten his predicament, as if he no longer remembered he was in the water, ignoring the panic of being unable to breathe and the water constantly choking into his nose and mouth.

Until,

she reached out her hand.

Yesterday, when he had squeezed to the front with his brothers to watch the performance, Xiao Huangying had swayed her hips and sung her way to him, specifically reaching out to touch his face, because among that group of children, Li Zhuiyuan was as fair and clean as a porcelain doll.

Originally, Li Zhuiyuan had hoped to be touched by her once again.

But,

this time she reached out with both hands.

Two hands grabbed Li Zhuiyuan by both shoulders.

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

In an instant, the atmosphere was twisted and torn apart; the previous strange, inexplicable fascination vanished.

Fear finally surfaced in Li Zhuiyuan's eyes, like someone whose anesthesia had worn off suddenly regaining the sensation of pain.

He wanted to struggle, to dodge, to escape, yet those hands held him fast; no matter how he thrashed, he could not break free.

Just then, a force came from behind.

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

Finally, accompanied by a sensation of detachment, Li Zhuiyuan was pulled up.

In his field of vision, he floated upward, rising higher and higher, while Xiao Huangying below grew increasingly distant and smaller.

Her arms were raised toward him, and between the two of them gradually opened an abyss that should not have existed.

"Heave-ho!"

Fortunately, his grandson was carrying a bamboo basket on his back; Li Weihan was gripping that basket to exert upward force.

It was heavy, the kind of dead weight; although it was only a child, Li Weihan felt as if he were wrestling with a rutting ox.

Down below, a force was preventing his grandson from coming up.

At this moment, Lei Zi also came to help, wrapping his arms around Li Weihan's waist and pulling backward with all his strength.

Finally,

"Splash!"

When the grandson was pulled out of the water, the opposing force suddenly vanished, causing Li Weihan, Lei Zi, and the freshly rescued Li Zhuiyuan to tumble together onto the boat.

"Go quickly!"

Before he could even stand up, Li Weihan roared at Pan Zi.

This time, Pan Zi did not drop the ball; he exerted every ounce of his strength to pole the boat, rapidly shifting to the other side.

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

Lei Zi pointed forward in terror.

Li Weihan looked in that direction and saw that as the boat moved, that clump of black hair on the water surface was actually following them.

She was chasing!

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

"Yes, Grandpa."

Lei Zi got up and ran over; the two boys shouted their work chants and exerted force together, further increasing the boat's speed.

Li Weihan grabbed a fishing rod, his expression grave; upon noticing that the clump of hair was still closing the distance to the boat, he let out a loud shout and thrust the rod toward a spot just ahead of the hair.

The fishing rod entered the water; it should have hit something, yet it encountered no resistance at all. Instead, a tremendous force yanked the rod downward.

"Aiyo..."

Li Weihan cried out in surprise; fortunately, he released his grip on the rod in time, otherwise he would have been dragged into the water by that terrifying force.

The hair was even closer now.

Standing by the boat's edge, Li Weihan could clearly see the figure of the woman underwater ahead, dressed in a black cheongsam.

Although the river was flowing eastward, she was advancing against the current.

She was walking; she was truly walking on her own!

"Hum! Hum! Hum!"

The boat began to shake, gradually becoming more violent.

Li Weihan found it hard to imagine the consequences if this boat capsized and he and his grandsons fell into the water; this was no longer a matter of swimming ability, for this dead corpse was exceedingly sinister!

Just then, Li Weihan's gaze swept over the fishing net at his feet; without time for further thought, he immediately grabbed the net and cast it down over the position of the hair, which was now less than two meters from the boat.

The fishing net first covered the water surface, and its edges quickly sank halfway down.

At first, the net on the surface was still being dragged forward, but gradually its speed slowed, and finally, it stopped.

It worked; it had tripped her up!

Li Weihan rushed to the stern, reached out to snatch the bamboo pole, and said, "You two go check on Little Yuan Hou!"

"Yes, Grandpa."

Pan Zi and Lei Zi were, after all, just big boys; the previous bout of furious poling had already left them somewhat drained, so after Li Weihan took over, they immediately ran to Li Zhuiyuan's side.

"Yuanzi, Yuanzi? Yuanzi, wake up, hurry and wake up!"

"Grandpa, Yuanzi won't wake up."

Li Weihan continued poling the boat while gazing back at the fishing net drifting farther away, shouting over his shoulder, "Is there breath!"

"Grandpa, there's breath!"

"Pat Little Yuan Hou's back."

The two brothers immediately followed orders; one propped Li Zhuiyuan up into a sitting position while the other slapped his back.

But after much fussing, Li Zhuiyuan still did not wake.

"Grandpa, it's no use!"

Li Weihan gave no answer, merely gritting his teeth as he kept poling, letting sweat run into his eyes without daring to lift a hand to wipe it away.

Finally, the boat reached home; Li Weihan tossed aside the bamboo pole, disregarded tying the rope, lifted Li Zhuiyuan, and jumped off, but exhausted as he was, he stumbled upon landing, and to protect the grandson in his arms, he could only brace his knee against the green brick steps below.

"Hiss..."

His knee was scraped open, yet the next moment he forced himself up, carrying the child into the house:

"Guiying, Guiying!"

"Back so early?" Cui Guiying was clearing ash behind the stove; hearing the commotion, she stood up, and seeing her husband holding the child, she immediately cried out 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; with so many children in the family, there wasn't enough bed space, and since it was summer, everyone slept together on floor mats at night.

Cui Guiying lifted Li Zhuiyuan's head and lightly patted his face, but finding the child utterly unresponsive to her calls, she immediately began to weep:

"Oh dear, my child, my child, what has happened to you?"

"Stop wailing!" Li Weihan kicked Cui Guiying's shin, "Hurry, change the child into dry clothes."

Cui Guiying hastily wiped the corner of her eye and stood up to fetch clothes.

"Pan Zi, go fetch Zheng Datong!"

"Yes, Grandpa."

Zheng Datong's real name was Zheng Huamin; he was the clinic physician in Siyuan Village, a barefoot doctor. Because he liked to scare children with a large syringe, the kids gave him this nickname first, and over time, the adults started calling him that too.

"Lei Zi, go fetch Blind Liu."

"Yes, Grandpa."

Blind Liu's real name was Liu Jinxia; her parents died early, and her uncle arranged for her to marry into the village from Sianzhen. In the first year of her marriage, her father-in-law and mother-in-law fell ill and died one after another, making countless daughters-in-law in the village secretly envious to the point of tears.

Then, in the second year, her husband drank alcohol, went out to relieve himself at night, fell into the latrine pit, and drowned, leaving behind only a newborn daughter.

At that time, rumors spread through the village that Liu Jinxia had a fate that was too hard.

Life was difficult for a widow raising a child; besides managing the farm work at home, Liu Jinxia took up the trade of telling fortunes and suppressing bad luck for others. The more vicious the rumors about her became, the more people believed in her abilities.

In those days, scraping a living from the land only ensured basic subsistence; to live with some surplus, one had to rely on other trades. Relying on this business, Liu Jinxia managed to secure a matrilocal husband for her daughter, Li Juxiang.

But only in the second year after this son-in-law arrived, it was said he suffered a sudden heart attack; while transplanting rice seedlings in the field, the man collapsed face-first into the mud and died.

This left Li Juxiang to raise another newborn daughter alone.

Now, not just the villagers, but people from all the surrounding villages were convinced of the fatal destiny of Liu Jinxia's lineage, and consequently, Liu Jinxia's business flourished even more.

She simply rented out her family's fields for others to farm, had her daughter buy a tricycle from the town, and wherever there was business, she had her daughter Li Juxiang ride the tricycle to take her there.

A few years prior, Liu Jinxia developed cataracts and her vision became poor, which somewhat completed her personal commercial image.

Meanwhile, just as Cui Guiying finished changing Li Zhuiyuan's wet clothes, she saw her husband rinse the blood from his knee with a ladle of well water, then unlock a cabinet and take out three packs of cigarettes from inside.

He tossed one pack to Cui Guiying first, instructing, "When Zheng Datong arrives, open it in front of him and pull out one cigarette, then pull out another when he leaves; put the medical fees on credit."

Immediately after, Li Weihan tossed over another pack: "Give Blind Liu the whole pack; don't discuss anything else."

Cui Guiying reminded him, "I heard that Blind Liu charges extremely high fees for a job nowadays."

Li Weihan shook his head: "It's fine if she's blind in the eyes, but she must not be blind in conscience."

Liu Jinxia's husband had grown up playing in the mud with Li Weihan; in the few years right after her husband died, when the orphan and widow faced hardship, Li Weihan often sent aid and would go help with farm work during busy seasons, for which Li Weihan received no small amount of gossip at the time.

Although the two families didn't visit each other often anymore, if that Blind Liu dared to charge his family money, he, Li Weihan, would dare to spit right in her face.

The last pack, Li Weihan put into his own pocket.

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

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

"What! What thing did you bump into?"

Li Weihan glanced around at the children, then glared at his wife: "Wait until I get back to talk about it."

With that, Li Weihan pushed his Erba Dagang bicycle out the door.

Cui Guiying sat back down by the mat, gently stroking Li Zhuiyuan and constantly calling his name.

A little granddaughter asked curiously, "What happened to Brother Yuanzi?"

Huzi immediately said, "I know, Brother Yuanzi encountered a water monkey and was dragged down to be a substitute ghost!"

Instantly, fear appeared on the faces of the surrounding children, and they all retreated.

"Slap!"

A palm print appeared on Huzi's face.

Cui Guiying scolded, "Pah, have you lost your mind spouting such nonsense? Go outside and see if the people we invited have arrived, go quickly!"

"Ai! Going right now!"

Huzi didn't make a fuss; although the slap hurt, he didn't truly take it to heart, and pulling Shitou and a few others, he ran out to look for the guests.

Cui Guiying instructed her eldest granddaughter, Yingzi, to fetch a bowl of water and a needle; she took the needle, scratched several times across Li Zhuiyuan's forehead and the top of his head, then placed the needle flat in the bowl.

Locally, there was such a custom: whenever someone had a headache, fever, or felt unwell, one would use this needle to "call" them.

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

Zheng Datong entered the house carrying a wooden medical case.

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

Cui Guiying took out a pack of cigarettes, tore open the seal, 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 happened to the child?"

"He fell into the water and hasn't woken up since."

"Fell into the water?" Zheng Datong first pried open Li Zhuiyuan's mouth and nose, then lifted his eyelids to check, before taking a stethoscope from his box to listen carefully.

As he put away the stethoscope, Cui Guiying leaned in and asked, "Doctor Zheng, how is it?"

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

After patting the child's back and observing him for a moment, Zheng Datong laid the child back down, took the cigarette from behind his ear, and put it in his mouth.

Cui Guiying hurriedly stood up to fetch matches from the stove, but saw that Zheng Datong had already lit it himself and taken several deep drags in a row.

"How is it, Doctor?"

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

Cui Guiying looked at Pan Zi.

Pan Zi said, "Just a short while; Yuanzi was grabbed by his grandfather the moment he fell in."

Zheng Datong frowned again, took a large drag of his cigarette, blew out a smoke ring, and said, "Auntie, the child didn't drown, didn't choke on water; there's nothing wrong with him."

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

"Take the child to the town Weisheng Academy for another checkup; it might be some other issue." Zheng Datong packed up his things, stood up; he had no more solutions.

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

"No more smoking, no more smoking," he said while taking the cigarette and tucking it behind his ear.

Soon, having smoked the cigarette down to the filter, Zheng Datong dropped the butt on the ground, stamped it out, and whispered, "Did you invite Blind Liu to take a look?"

"Ah, yes, we did," Cui Guiying replied, somewhat embarrassed.

Zheng Datong nodded; Pan Zi had told him some things on the way here, so now he could only instruct, "If he still hasn't woken up by nightfall, take him to the town first thing tomorrow morning."

"All right, all right, we've troubled you, troubled you."

Just then, Lei Zi ran in, wiped the sweat from his own face with his hand, and said to Cui Guiying, "Blind Liu has arrived."

Cui Guiying scolded, "You little rascal, so disrespectful; you must call her Grandma Liu."

Zheng Datong knew it was time for him to make way; he walked out the door and happened to see a tricycle being ridden over from a distance, with an old woman sitting on it.

"Heh..."

Zheng Datong suddenly recalled the various new medicines recently touted in the newspapers as almost miraculous; wasn't he now participating in that? Hey, what was it called again?

Oh, right...

Integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Lei Zi had run home first to give notice; Li Juxiang was pedaling the tricycle from behind, complaining somewhat, "Mom, you shouldn't have dawdled like that; we should have come sooner."

Earlier, someone from the neighboring Shigang Town had come to discuss arrangements for his mother's posthumous birthday; they could have asked him to wait at home while coming here first, but her mother had insisted on finishing that person's business first, then going to the toilet, dawdling before finally coming over.

Liu Jinxia, sitting on the small stool at the back, blew out a smoke ring and said irritably, "Why rush? We won't get any money from that family anyway."

"Mom, you really have the nerve to expect payment?"

"Pah, if he offers, I'll take it."

"I remember from my childhood that Uncle Han helped us a lot."

"Then he has four sons; why didn't he give one to me?" Liu Jinxia flicked off some ash. "None of them would marry in; I wouldn't even ask for a betrothal gift from his family, yet he wouldn't even accept a daughter-in-law given for free, heh!"

"How can you blame Uncle Han for that?"

"I'm saying, Xiang Hou, if others talk nonsense about us mother and daughter, that's one thing, since mouths are on people's faces, but why do you demean yourself like this?" Li Juxiang pressed her lips together.

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

"We've arrived, Mom."

The tricycle rode up onto the embankment, arriving at Old Li's doorstep.

Cui Guiying actively stepped forward to help Liu Jinxia off the vehicle; Liu Jinxia patted the back of Cui Guiying's hand and said, "Oh my, how can I let you help me up? Your Han Hou is my benefactor."

"Grandmother of the child, please come quickly and look at the child; he still hasn't woken up."

Liu Jinxia said, "I heard from Lei Hou that he encountered something in the water?"

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

Hearing this, Liu Jinxia's heart tightened; she gripped Cui Guiying's hand firmly and urged, "Quick, take me to see the child."

Earlier, when Lei Zi had come to deliver the message and summon people, he had mentioned some things, but at that time she thought the child was exaggerating or making things up; now that Li Weihan had gone to find that Li Sanjiang, the matter was truly serious!

She, Liu Jinxia, still held fond memories of Li Weihan from the past.

Upon entering the house, she heard a chorus of children chattering; Liu Jinxia's eyesight was poor, and it felt as though she had walked into a duck coop, so she immediately waved her hand and scolded:

"You little rascles, all move aside; stop making noise, or you'll disturb the Stove God!"

Cui Guiying hurriedly told the older children to lead the younger ones outside, then closed the door.

"Where is the person?" Liu Jinxia asked.

"In the inner room," Cui Guiying replied, preparing to lead her inside.

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

"All right, I'll go bring the child out now."

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

Liu Jinxia's old hands first touched Li Zhuiyuan's legs, then moved all the way up from the legs to the face; after feeling the face, she stopped at the child's shoulder position and pressed gently.

Her hands, due to smoking, had the smoky, cured-meat scent of tobacco trapped between her fingers, and since she also liked to soak them in white vinegar for care, the smell was even more pungent.

Someone standing nearby could smell it; if one were close enough to sniff it directly, even an ordinary fainting spell might truly be smoked awake by it.

After feeling for a while, Liu Jinxia asked, "Sister Guiying Hou, have you called out to him?"

"It moved, it moved." Cui Guiying immediately brought over the bowl containing water and needles, but then she herself let out a startled scream, "Ah!"

The needles in this bowl had not only rusted, but had developed red rust, which had spread from the bottom to form a halo around the needles.

Seeing this, Li Juxiang nearby immediately leaned in to whisper a description into her mother's ear.

After listening, Liu Jinxia took a deep breath and said with a grave expression, "Sister, your boy has been afflicted by an evil spirit."

"What?" Cui Guiying was startled again and immediately pleaded, "Save him, save him! My daughter has only this one child; he cannot come to any harm while under my care."

Saying this, Cui Guiying took a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and offered it to Liu Jinxia.

Liu Jinxia pushed it away and instead let out a sigh.

Cui Guiying said, "Just smoke it for now; we'll make up the ritual fee later..."

Liu Jinxia cut Cui Guiying off: "I cannot accept things from your family. I dare not; it would burn my hands."

"Oh, sister, don't say that. My boy..."

Liu Jinxia turned her head toward her own daughter and said with a bitter smile, "Did you hear that? He is the son of the little girl your Uncle Han liked best."

"He is the son of Lady Lan," Li Juxiang paused, then added, "Before she became Lady Lan, she and I were very close."

Lady Lan's name was Li Lan; she was Li Zhuiyuan's mother.

At that time, everyone in the village considered Liu Jinxia's family unlucky; parents would warn their children not to play with Li Juxiang, so Li Juxiang's childhood was lonely. She could not run around freely like other children because whenever she went to someone else's home, the adults there would roll their eyes at her.

Li Lan did not care about such things back then; she often invited Li Juxiang to play with her. This friendship lasted until Li Lan passed the university entrance exam and left the village.

Liu Jinxia closed her eyes and fell silent.

Looking at Li Zhuiyuan, Li Juxiang said to Cui Guiying, "This boy is truly handsome; he looks very much like Lady Lan."

Cui Guiying murmured in agreement twice, but her attention remained fixed on Liu Jinxia; she could not tell whether Liu Jinxia was making excuses or just putting on airs.

Li Juxiang continued, "Before Little Cui became Lady Cui, there was an older brother called Little Yuan. He gave her chocolate to eat and even went with her to the creek to pick up pebbles."

Li Juxiang had been ostracized even when she was a child, let alone her daughter Li Cuicui now. Usually, her daughter could only stand far away on the sidelines, watching the other children play together.

Cuicui dared not approach; if she did, the children would say their elders had told them not to play with her, and then they would scatter in a clamor.

The day before yesterday, Cuicui came home very happy, saying that a very handsome older brother had played with her all afternoon. Even though the other children told him not to play with her, that brother did not mind and even gave her chocolate.

Liu Jinxia opened her eyes, glanced at her daughter with a look of helplessness and heartache, and then turned her head toward Cui Guiying:

"Sister, let me be honest with you."

"Oh, please go ahead."

"Usually, out of twenty cases I handle, fifteen turn out to be nothing at all; I just go through the motions, and the family seeks peace of mind.

Of the remaining five, four appear to have something wrong, but in the end, they amount to nothing.

So, at most, only one case out of twenty involves something slightly serious, but even then, it is not difficult to clean up.

I will not take your money for two reasons: first, your husband did indeed help us mother and daughter in the past, so I cannot accept your money; second, the fees I usually charge for going through the motions are unnecessary in a case like this."

"But... you... the boy... you must save him, sister."

"I will help him." Liu Jinxia smiled and said, "Bring me some incense ash from the stove."

"Alright."

Local earthen stoves often have several recesses carved into them; one such recess is usually located at the back of the stove, with an image of the Stove God pasted above it and a small incense burner placed inside.

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

Liu Jinxia grabbed a handful of incense ash, held it in her palm, and began chanting incantations.

No one could understand what she was chanting; in any case, she chanted for quite a while.

Liu Jinxia said, "Cover him up tightly."

Before Cui Guiying could comprehend the instruction, Li Juxiang had already covered Li Zhuiyuan's mouth and nose with her hand.

Liu Jinxia smeared the incense ash onto the child's neck and shoulders, rubbing and rubbing, as if applying prickly-heat powder.

But gradually, a terrifying scene unfolded, causing Cui Guiying to immediately cover her own mouth with her hand.

Because she saw that two purple marks had distinctly appeared on her grandson's shoulders; they looked exactly like two handprints!

Liu Jinxia said, "So fierce... Daughter, begin."

"Yes."

Li Juxiang responded, went outside to retrieve some items from the tricycle, and returned. First, she placed an empty bowl and a writing brush into Liu Jinxia's hands, poured ink into the bowl, and then pulled a ball of red thread from her pocket. It looked very much like the kind used for knitting sweaters, but after it was unwound, it emitted a strong fishy odor, and Li Juxiang's palms were stained with quite a bit of red residue.

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

Liu Jinxia dipped the brush into the ink and began drawing continuous circles on Li Zhuiyuan's forehead, all while continuing to mutter incantations.

At first, everything seemed normal; nothing happened.

But as Liu Jinxia's chanting and hand movements grew faster and faster, the red thread actually began to tremble.

Cui Guiying instinctively wanted to check whether the other end of the thread was being pulled by Li Juxiang, but the moment she raised her head, she saw Li Juxiang gaping her mouth in agony. Then, with a thud, Li Juxiang collapsed to her knees, leaning her upper body forward as if someone were pressing her down to kowtow.

Liu Jinxia glanced at her daughter with great heartache but did not slow down her chanting or her hand movements.

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

Li Juxiang painfully rolled onto her side on the ground, clutching her arms as she writhed, her feet kicking wildly, drool constantly spilling from her mouth, her eyes wide open, and her face turning greenish.

Standing nearby, Cui Guiying worried both about her grandson and about whether something might 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, gasping for air.

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

"Go fetch a basin of hot water to wipe the child."

"Yes, alright."

Cui Guiying immediately complied, fetching a basin, lifting the small lid in the center of the stove, and scooping out hot water with a wooden ladle.

After wetting a cloth, she began wiping the incense ash off Li Zhuiyuan.

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

Cui Guiying specifically checked the handkerchief and found that no purple dye had transferred onto it.

"Sister, is the child... better now?"

Liu Jinxia pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and then coughed violently until tears and snot ran down her face; she had choked on her own smoke.

However, although Cui Guiying had not yet received an answer from Liu Jinxia, she discovered that her grandson, who had been in a coma, was slowly opening his eyes.

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

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Cui Guiying somewhat blankly, then glanced around, before finally calling out in a hoarse voice: "Grandma."

"Ai, you're finally awake; Bodhisattva protect, Bodhisattva protect."

Nearby, Li Juxiang climbed up from the ground, helped herself to a clean bowl, poured some water for herself, and began sipping it in small mouthfuls.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out, grabbed Cui Guiying's arm, shifted his body slightly, and tried to crawl into his grandmother's embrace.

Cui Guiying hurriedly pulled Li Zhuiyuan into her arms to comfort him: "My child, my Little Yuan Hou, my good child..."

Liu Jinxia said: "You take care of the child; let him sleep another while, and once he wakes, he'll be fine."

Li Juxiang walked over, supported her mother, and led her out the door.

Cui Guiying began to speak: "When Han Hou returns, I and he..."

Liu Jinxia waved her hand: "Let's talk about it once the child is completely recovered; we're heading home now, no need to see us off."

Cui Guiying indeed could not see them off any further, so she simply continued holding her grandson.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan, having found solace in his grandmother's embrace, fell asleep again, but this time his expression was peaceful, unlike before when his lips were pressed tight and his brows furrowed in a way that tore at one's heart.

On the way back in the tricycle, Liu Jinxia half-crouched up, lifted her daughter's collar to examine the ring of greenish bruises around her neck, and asked:

"Does it hurt?"

"Mom, sit properly, or you'll fall off."

Liu Jinxia sat back down, waited a long while, then slapped her thigh and cursed:

"Xiang Hou, are we mother and daughter truly destined by heaven to be lowly?"

Li Weihan had not returned for a long time, so Cui Guiying sent Huzi and Shitou to Li Sanjiang's house to look for him; when Huzi and Shitou returned, they reported that Li Sanjiang's hired hand said he had gone out to deliver paper offerings, and Li Weihan had gone to fetch him.

Cui Guiying understood; Li Sanjiang had gone to deliver funeral paper goods, and by custom, the host family would provide a meal; since he loved to drink, waiting for him could take an indefinite amount of time, so her old man had gone to hurry him along.

For dinner, Cui Guiying had the older children help prepare the meal; after eating, Li Weihan still had not returned, so Cui Guiying arranged for the children to sleep in the inner room.

She herself took Li Zhuiyuan alone into the kitchen, set up a door plank as a bed, and Li Zhuiyuan slept very soundly.

While fanning the child with a palm-leaf fan, Cui Guiying wiped away tears out of heartache; the child had truly suffered this time.

She also thought of her daughter, who had recently divorced, wondering how she was faring now.

Unlike other families that favored sons over daughters, Cui Guiying and her husband doted most on this delicate little girl.

The girl wanted to study and studied well, so they kept supporting her; no matter what others said about education being useless for girls and that they should marry early, they remained unmoved.

This favoritism toward their daughter naturally extended to their grandson as well.

Li Zhuiyuan had a dream where he found himself attending class in a juvenile program; the old professor at the podium closed his book and said, "Alright, class dismissed."

He followed his desk mate out of the classroom, weaving through a crowd of tall adults.

The two of them entered the restroom and stood on the step before the urinals.

His desk mate had already undone his trousers and started urinating, then urged him:

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

Li Zhuiyuan nodded, but just as he pulled down his zipper, he suddenly jolted awake.

The dream ended, and he opened his eyes; by the moonlight from outside, he saw his grandmother sleeping beside him, still holding the palm-leaf fan in her hand.

That was close; he had nearly wet the bed.

Li Zhuiyuan's memories of the daytime were already somewhat blurred; he climbed up quietly, preparing to go urinate.

The toilet was a small separate building quite far from the main house; a pit had been dug underground with a large vat buried in it, and atop the vat sat a hollow wooden seat; when Li Zhuiyuan first saw it, he thought it looked very much like the dragon throne from movies.

Therefore, when locals spoke of going to the toilet, they generally called it "going to the porcelain vat."

Initially, Li Zhuiyuan also went there to urinate, but later, after sharing experiences with his older brothers, Li Zhuiyuan finally realized that as long as one stepped outside the house and the courtyard area, one could mark territory anywhere.

Going out the front door required crossing the courtyard as well, which was a bit far, so Li Zhuiyuan chose to exit through the back door to the riverside, which was closer.

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

He looked down and discovered that their family boat, moored at the shore, was swaying.

Images seemed to flash through Li Zhuiyuan's mind; hadn't he gone out on the boat with his grandfather and brothers to catch fish during the day?

Then, did they catch any fish, what had they eaten for dinner, and why did he have no impression of it?

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

The boat continued to sway, yet there were no waves on the river surface, nor was there any wind.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan recalled the events of the day; he remembered the black hair, remembered his fall into the water, remembered what lay beneath the surface... and along with these memories came fear.

Li Zhuiyuan's body went limp; he stumbled and sat down on the ground, instinctively reaching out to touch his shoulder, as if a pair of icy hands were still gripping it there.

It was precisely this act of sitting down that changed his elevation, bringing the bottom of the boat, previously invisible, into his field of vision.

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

It turned out that there was a person beneath the water surface; her head would occasionally break the surface, strike the bottom of the boat, then submerge again, only to emerge once more and strike, repeating the cycle tirelessly.

Suddenly, the thumping stopped, and the boat ceased rocking.

That head floated to the surface once more; instead of continuing to strike the boat's bottom, it slowly turned, and as wet black hair slid away to both sides, it barely revealed the lower half of a heavily made-up woman's face.

Her face was very white, so white it seemed as though it might melt away at any moment under this moonlight.

At this moment, she seemed to have found the person she was seeking; the corners of her mouth slowly curved upward, gradually forming a smile.

Her lips remained vividly red, appearing somewhat glaring in this quiet night.

Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his eyes hard, and when he looked again, he discovered that the other party had somehow already exposed their upper body above the water, with arms hanging straight down against their sides.

Not daring to delay any longer, Li Zhuiyuan scrambled up on all fours and ran toward the house; he tripped over the threshold but managed to steady himself by grabbing the doorframe.

Glancing back, he saw that Xiao Huangying, who had previously been in the river with only half her body visible, had now left the water's surface and was standing on the lowest bluestone step.

"Grandma, Grandma!"

Li Zhuiyuan ran to the plank bed and pushed at Cui Guiying, but she merely held her palm-leaf fan and continued to sleep soundly.

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

Li Zhuiyuan kept calling out, yet Cui Guiying showed not the slightest sign of waking.

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

The sound of dripping water came from behind him.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head, first seeing a pair of red high-heeled shoes, then pale, swollen ankles. A black cheongsam clung tightly to her figure, with waterdrops continuously falling from the hem of her clothes and the tips of her hair.

She,

was standing straight as a board right on the threshold!

(End of Chapter)